The 2010 Austin Modern Home Tour features 16 modern homes in the Ausitn, Texas area. Even if you can’t go, check out the website to view the homes, like the home pictured above. Designed by Jay Hargrave, the 1700 square foot residence and photographer’s studio designed to respond to its environmental context and endure the test of time with minmal maintenance.
Onward and Upward – always good to see good people doing good things. Upward Bound House is a community based social service agency in Santa Monica, California. Founded in 1991 to help deal with the affordable housing crisis in West LA County, the organization focuses its efforts on homeless families with minor children and very low income seniors. Currently Upward Bound has two facilities Family Place and Senior Villa.
This Friday, January 29th 2010, Upward Bound House will celebrate the grand opening of a new Family Shelter in Culver City. Each of the units in the house have been decorated by some of LA’s Finest: Kelly LaPlante, Vanessa de Vargas, Erica Islas, Brigid Coulter, Nichole Sassaman, Cory Pernicano, Linda Graveline, Jessica Brende, Nadia Geller, Rachel Winokur, Carlo Rios, Cozzette Coffman, Christy Biberich, Elizabeth Bomberger, Typanie Peterson, Rhonda Konowalow Angell, Melissa Capehart and Lynnea Schwieters.
Wanna go? RSVP to Ali Shiry ashiry@upwardboundhouse.org
The Catifa 53 Chair by Arper was created in 2001 by Lievore Altherr and Molina. Since then the range has expanded to include several variations on the theme with the Catifa 46 a little more compact, Catifa 60 an executive line for the workplace, Catifa 70 a padded lounge version and Catifa 80 a lower and wider chair. A versatile chair that seems to pop up in so many places: homes, restaurants, hotels… So I thought I should look at this chair a little more closely. Aside from its slim, modern profile, Catifa offers so many options. The shell seat can be done in curved plywood or single or dual colored polypropeleyne or upholstered in leather (real or faux) or any number of fabrics. The choices don’t end there, the base can be 4 leg, trestle, sled, 5 star, with wheels. Catifa is available with or without arms and can be stacked. OK, so all that may be too many choices for some, but look at the possibilities:
Take a look at Arper’s Installations with alot more in place images of this incredibly versatile chair.
Decorative Pillows that have broken the mold – designs with themes that are edgey. Mean Street by Lovegrove & Repucchi is more of an artwork, an observation. While Green Octopus Boudoir Pillow by Ige Design features a nature-inspired theme, the execution in materials that are in stark contrast to the subject give it that extra edge – after all, who expects an octopus to be rendered in rich velvet and gold embossing? Jonathan Adler also hits us with the unexpected by pairing buttons and tassels with a handgun in Collage 22 Pillow – that one caught me a little off guard. I love the idea of using these pillows with their more traditional cousins. Check out a great selection of pillows from many designers and showrooms.
We are pleased to report that Semigood will be donating a portion of their sales to help with humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti.
You’ve gotta love Illusion Side Table - Created by John Brauer for essey (Denmark based design house with a really small catalogue). Made from acrylic, a representation of the oft seen table draped in a floor length cloth – of course the twist here is that there is no table and the drape is rigid, forming its own base. You can also add a clip light which makes the table glow. Illusion comes in two sizes and is available in clear, ice, grey, brown or pearl, but I can’t see past the sort of tounge-in-cheek clear version. Price from $275.
INFORM Seattle: Modern Furniture Sale through January 23 2010.
Re-design, re-creation and re-invention are not easy – but that is the challenge for designer Susanna Kost who works with many repeat clients. Often projects require rethinking the client’s original collections and furnishings, with an eye towards simplfying.
Kost believes “Rooms should leave space for the occupant’s personality…for candles, flowers and music and party guests…” Rooms should celebrate the client’s personality, which can be complicated.
One of her favorite quotes is from Jean Cocteau “Style is a simple way of saying complicated things”. Kost uses art, collections and accessories in rotating combinations to keep a room fresh. Her feeling is that rooms that do not evolve, become stale.
So how is style expressed without becoming cluttered or overdone? According to Kost, restraint and careful editing aka controlled exuberance. Displaying collections allows each piece to retain its importance and yet the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
Current passions? “My current passion is metallic anything – I love reflection”. The wall panels in this library are finished with a metallic automotive paint (the backdrop for a rotating art collection), under a mirrored ceiling and furnished with metallic pink leather chairs. “The shimmer in the night with candles is spectacular”.
How to describe her work? Kost loves to combine divergent styles in what may be described as uber-eclectic. She has completed projects that she labels “The Jetsons meets LA Confidential” and “Mid-Century meets Cribs”. Currently she is working on her own home which looks to be moving in the direction of “Zen-Glam” – think hemp, metalic gold, Asian antiques.
See more from Susanna Kost.
Created by John Beck Paper & Steel, Fire Cube is a great looking portable fire element that can be used inside or out. Fueled by four cans of SunJet fuel, a clean burning alcohol based product, the fire can burn up to three hours. SunJet also puts out some heat, about 3000 BTUs per can. What a great way to create a little ambiance. $510.
Vazo Methusela by Seattle based Rotoluxe makes a very big statement. At 44″ high and 48″ diameter, this giant lighted pot works indoors or out in public or private spaces. Rotoluxe’s mission is to bring a clean contemporary look in an environmentally friendly package – mission accomplished on both fronts. The products contain recycled post industrial consumer plastics and are, themselves, 100% recyclable. They are powered by a low wattage CFL or battery powered LED source. Available in 13 colors, although I’d have a hard time passing up natural, shown here.