I must admit, I’ve met my match. I’m so perplexed about this that I’m at a loss for words. And for those who have personal knowledge of my prodigious gift of gab you know that that’s saying something. This is actually meant to be a chair. It wasn’t some accident and then the designer said, “Hey this is comfy to sit on!” And that designer would be Tom Price. Since Tom is a well-known designer, I’m thinking that I’ve got to be missing something. Hence my speechlessness. So, here’s what Tom has to say about Meltdown:

This chair is created by heating and pressing a seat-shaped former into a ball of clear PVC hose. The hose begins to melt as it comes into contact with the heated former and, due to prolonged exposure to the heat it starts to burn. Once cooled the surface of the seat looks charred and brittle but is surprisingly flexible and comfortable to sit on.

So there you have it! I’ll take a dozen. How about you?

Darcy has a problem with her family room. “We need some sort of end table under the window because there’s no coffee table,” she reports. “We don’t have a coffee table because the kids use the floor area to play.” Darcy says she doesn’t want more furniture because they already have a lot. She feels the rug, which she bought from Anthropologie, overwhelms the room. Also, Darcy has tried lots of different furniture placements without finding fulfillment. Finally, should she change the wall color to white?

I didn’t have all the measurements, so I had to guess on some of them. But I think I had enough fix this room. First, let me describe what you don’t see in the photo. Darcy included a small drawing which shows a large TV, set on an angle in the corner across from the sofa. She also has a chair next to the TV. A hall divides two desk areas - one for adults and one for the kids. The doorway across from the sofa is an entry into the home.

As I see it, the problems are not about the coffee table. The first is with scale. We’ve got a large sofa and chair in a small room (14-1/2′ x 11-1/2′) along with too many tiny pieces. The second issue is storage. Small children collect a lot of small toys, and she needs a place to put them.

Let’s start with problem number one. As I said, there are too many tiny things which make any small room looks cluttered. So we’ll keep the larger pieces and lose the little ones. Now we’ve got a clean room, where everything is the same scale.

The next problem is storage. Because the sofa is on the only blank wall, Darcy has no place for storage. So I moved the sofa across the room, under the window. Some people have a problem with this, but it works here since the top of the sofa is lower than the window. And, Darcy’s blinds won’t interfere. This gives us a wall for the TV and some shelves.
I suggest something like CB2’s True Media Console (above). It has room for a TV and storage for toys underneath and out of sight.

Overhead I’d replace the framed photos with some shelves. West Elm has a variety to choose from such as their Bracket Shelves (above). Hang the simplest of the three at different heights to create some added interest. Some of Darcy’s plants and framed photos could go here. As you can see in the floorplan (below) I angled the chair and now that fits nicely. But no coffee table!

How about some nesting tables next to the sofa? Again, from CB2, Their Checkmate Nest Tables (below) would be perfect. You can take the little one out and use it when needed.

I didn’t include in on the floorplan, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t put one of the two round seats next to the chair and use it as a table.

But wait, there’s more! The wall over the two desks is another great place for storage. You can find wall cabinets just about everywhere. IKEA makes some great ones. But not everyone has access to IKEA and their shipping costs can be expensive. I found the Hideout Cabinet at CB2 (two-stop shopping today) which would work really well. In this case much better than shelves because the doors hide the clutter.

Finally, the paint color. I agree that the existing color, with the brown trim, closes in the space. But white would be very boring. I suggest using a shade of the sofa color - two notches darker. This will still be a light-to-midtone color, but will be more calming. It will go with the brown window treatment, too. Finally, keep the rug. It’s wonderful, and with your new, neutral paint color the rug will gives your new room just the right amount of zing.

Darcy, are you pleased? If so, send me photos of the after and I’ll post them. DH readers, let me know your ideas. What would you have done? Do you have a dilemna of your own?

Check out Hable Construction’s sale, going on now. This beach bag is on sale from $160, now $96.

While I was looking at the sale things, I spied this pillow in the “What New for Fall” section. I love it! It sells for $160. Hable discounts to the trade, too!

Today I’m welcoming Architectural Depot to Design Hole as my first advertiser. See “Sponsored Links” on the sidebar? Their request to advertise was an easy thing to say yes to because I really do like their site. Chum Bucket (our beach house in North Carolina) needs some shutters on the front windows and these prices are pretty good. So I think I’ll check out their sale. They’ve got all kinds of architectural elements for both inside and out. So, welcome to Design Hole Architectural Depot!

I can think of all kinds of bad puns for a chair called Looper, but I’ll try to refrain. I’m wondering who thought of the name Looper? Did the marketing gurus at Living Divani sit around, drinking at the bar wracking their brains until they were looped? When I started this Chair of the Day thing I thought furniture was serious stuff. Not.

Anyway, if Living Divani designers, Harry and Camila weren’t at the bar, then they must have been watching too much Italian television when they named this chair. But then LD have lots of other great names like Frog and Pod Speed, which makes me think of a flying pea. But I like the chair. It’s really cute. I would have named it Satellite Legs. What do you think? What’s your favorite name for furniture?

I just heard about this new (for me at least) site for pillows and throws called Pillows and Throws. Catchy name, huh? Anyway, I was wishing I’d known about this back when a client of mine wanted me to accessorize her family room - including some throw blankets. They’re much harder to find when you’re pounding the actual pavement.

The throws are nice and they have sheets as well. Oh and some lamps and other things. But I really liked their selection of pillows.

I usually have pillows custom made for clients, so I have exactly what I want. You can also get really creative with trims and things, too. But hey! These are pretty darn nice. And the prices are good, too. I wish I needed some pillows right now.

Design Milk blog editors, Jaime and Jordan Derringer have opened their own on-line shop called Vitamin D(esign). I love that name. So perfect. It gets a Vitamin A from me. Jaime says she decided to start selling things because readers were always asking where they could buy some of the things they wrote about. One of those items is this light box painting. Right now, you can get 10% off your purchase. So, be sure to stop by because I dream of my own shop one day. How about Design Holesale? Hmmm….

I’m back to the benches today. Is this a bench or two chairs? It’s two seating units for the price of one! Designed by Canadian designer Matthew Kroeker for Jane Hamley Wells, The Splinter Chair is made of plantation grown teak and stainless steel. You can take it outdoors, too.

I’m honoring one of my most favorite designers today, Patricia Urquiola. So here is her most awesome creation - Antibodi. I love everything about this lounge chair, especially the name. Well, really it’s the use of fabric. Urquiola designed it for Moroso and I really wish I owned one. Maybe I will. It’s on my list. You can buy one at the new Moroso/Maraham shop at Moss. Or, give Linear a call and support a Detroit retailer.

I’ve never seen anything like this. Have you?

Patricia Urquiola is one of my favorite designers working today. I especially appreciate her use of textiles in her furniture designs. Her lounge chair, Antibodi (see today’s Chair of the Day) comes directly to mind.

Urquiola lives and works in Milan. She has worked with top Italian furniture manufacturers such as Molteni, B&B Italia, and most especially, Moroso. Recently, her association with Moroso expanded to include a collaboration with Moss in New York.

Moss owners Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell have set aside 3,800 square feet of space dedicated to pieces designed by Urquiola for Moroso and fabrics from Maharam. Urquiola designed the installation herself. It will change seasonally. To read more about this joint venture, take a look at the cover article from this month’s issue of Interior Design.

Glove Chair for Molteni

Design Boom was lucky enough to interview Urquiola last March. They began their piece with this brief biography:

Patricia Urquiola was born in 1961 in Oviedo, Spain. She studied architecture in Madrid, later transferring to Italy where she earned her degree from the Milan Polytechnic in 1989 (with a thesis mentored by Achille Castiglioni).

From 1990 to 1992 she assisted in the courses held by Castiglioni and Eugenio Bettinelli, both at the Milan Polytechnic and at the ENSCI, Paris. In 1991 she started working for the furniture company de Padova in Milan, heading the product development office, where she also designed her first furniture items (together with Vico Magistretti).

T-Table for Kartell

Between 1993 and 1996 she opened an associated studio with two friends, working on architecture, interiors, showrooms and restaurants. From 1996 to 2000 she became manager of the Lissoni Associati Design Group and in 2001 she opened her own studio in Milan, focusing on product design, displays and architecture. She became best known through her many pieces for Moroso.

Bloomy for Moroso

Patricia has won many design awards and spoke at conferences and seminars in various international universities. her recent work includes projects for Depadova, Moroso, Agape, B&B, Alessi, Driade, Foscarini, Kartell, Flos, Molteni, Artelano, and others.

To read the rest of the interview visit Design Boom here.

Shanghai Tip for Moroso

Patricia Urquiola is an important designer to know, first because of the obvious fact that her work is so innovative, second because she’s one of the very few successful female designers working today. I hope one day there will be more. How do you feel about this? Do you like her work? Do you think her gender matters?

Keeping with today’s eclectic mood, today’s entry is from Baker Furniture. The Bill Sofield Collection, in particular. The Thoroughbred Casual Settle is beautiful, but I have no idea what a settle is. Did it get its name because you settled into it - perhaps in front of fireplace?

This settle is constructed by weaving leather into a checkerboard pattern. It’s then upholstered onto the metal bench made of bronze. Mmmm, the combination of soft leather and warm bronze is very nice. Yummy. But, is it worth the $3,654 price tag? What’s your opinion?