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Chair of the Day: Marchand Chair
“As a designer with technical expertise, I combine all-around abilities with diplomatic and creative skills.” That’s how Christophe Marchand describes himself as a designer. His studio is based in Zurich.
Christophe has named this beautiful, wooden desk chair after himself. Good idea. If I had designed a chair that was both gorgeous and wonderfully functional, I’d name if after myself, too. To purchase, contact his studio site.
Design Dilemma: A Vibrant, Contemporary Living Room
Anyone who loves a Charles Sofa is my kind of person. I was delighted to hear from Georgia B., who aspires to owning the real thing one day. In the meantime, she has settled for a less expensive version inspired by the original. It’s sitting in her newly constructed Florida home and she asked me to come up with some ideas to complete the room.
Georgia loves strong colors. The room needs some extra seating and a proper place for the television that might offer some storage. She’s replacing the white carpet with hardwood flooring and would like to advise everyone to stay away from white carpet in the living room!
Inspiration
Georgia sent me some wonderful images for inspiration. “I was really stunned by a trip I took to France,” Giorgia explains. “We saw the Ochres of Roussillon there. My husband is Jamaican and I’m Italian, so we love bright colors.”
Design Solution - Vibrant and Contemporary
Keeping in mind, that budget is an issue, I chose furnishings that would fit with the contemporary look Georgia is looking for that aren’t too expensive. As always, for these dilemmas, I try to use resources that are readily available nation-wide. I don’t always know which stores readers have access to.
I started in the middle, with a vibrant area rug that Georgia can easily clean - and take with her if she moves. Madeline Weinrib’s Otto Carpet is just the thing to set the scene. The warm orange will look great with the warm tones of the hardwood floor. This cotton carpet comes in a variety of sizes. I recommend an 8′x 10′. Check Madeline’s website for retail locations. All her carpets can be ordered through ABC Carpet & Home.
Furnishings
Next comes the seating. Georgia mentioned that she likes chair-and-a-halfs. They are fun to snuggle up in. However, the scale is too large to sit next to the sofa. Scale is really the most important thing to consider when choosing furniture. To figure this out, check out seat heights. They should match. Also, choose similar styles. I chose a love seat with the same contemporary look. CB2’s Annex Love Seat will add extra seating that looks sharp and comes in a gray neutral that will fit in nicely. It retails for $749.
I chose CB2’s Spool Coffee Table ($449) and a couple of their Xtra Square Side Tables ($179) to finish up the living area. I like how the round table off-sets all the strong squares. It reminds me of the classic Knoll table designed by Walter Platner, but if much more affordable. And the side tables are light and airy - just the thing for a small room. Georgia’s floor lamp is great. I’d add another and remove the little table lamp.
Now for the television wall. Georgia made my life very easy by selecting IKEA’s Besta wall system. It offers a style in keeping with the rest of the room, has great storage, and look great. Georgia even came up with some choices she liked. She’s got a great eye. Here’s the one I like. Switch it around so that the cabinet is on the left.
Accessories
I say keep it simple here. Remove all the clutter and the Mexican throw. Exchange it for a soft throw blanket. Add a collection of toss pillows, in solid colors (below), to the sofa. Leave the love seat bare naked. Artwork suggestions are Rothko prints, or paint your own. They’re pretty easy to duplicate (please no angry comments from art critics). You don’t even need to buy a frame if you buy a canvas that’s wrapped around the frame. Keep the look crisp and clean.
Paint & Palettes
Finally, let’s take a look at color. Georgia likes bold colors - but not lime green! I’d like her to consider a violet hue for all the walls, with a darker shade on the inner part of the tray ceiling. The rest of the ceiling should remain white. If this color seems too strong, play with it. Or consider leaving the inner walls of the house white. Be brave and go for the whole shebang.
Why violet? I chose a cool color to balance the warmth of the wood floor. The cool color will recede, making the room look larger. Using something like orange, which Georgia was considering would be blinding in a room with orange tones on the floor - meaning the hardwood.
I’ve stopped making exact suggestions because the colors differ widely from computer screen to computer screen. And you really have to test the samples in the space. I do recommend giving Benjamin Moore’s Aura paint a try. It’s a new resin-based paint with low VOCs that doesn’t need mixing. The color doesn’t differ from can to can. Best of all, it often covers in one coat. Make sure you test the colors first. Paint them on a sample board and view them at different time of the day and in different lights.
Final Thoughts
As Georgia mentioned, she’s Italian and her husband comes from Jamaica. They must make a lively and fun pair. I can’t wait to see the finished room. If I’m lucky, maybe one day they’ll invite me over for some Italian/Jamaican Meat Patties. Georgia, send me a photo and I’ll send you a Design Hole tee shirt. Okay?
Do You Have A Suggestion?
Feel free to add your own thoughts and ideas. I love a good discussion. Of course, you can just tell me I’m a genius. I like that, too. :)
Friday Favorite: Spoonflower
What’s not to love? Spoonflower is the first site to offer custom printed fabric at a reasonable price. You design the fabric, they print it up. All for $18 per yard and $5 per swatch.
What’s really amazing? There’s no minimum order. In my business, there’s almost always a minimum order. Spoonflower is still in its Beta phase. Reports on quality have been good.
Need some ideas for custom fabric? Check out Spoonflower’s Flickr site.
Chair of the Day: Context’s William and Mary Side Chair
Why is wood so beautiful? I love furnishings that are simply finished. Beautifully smooth wood surfaces with that bare naked look. It’s marvelously contemporary, and an excellent way to take a classic design and give it a modern twist.
Case in point: Context Furniture’s William and Mary Side Chair. I like it. I like their tables, too. The chair retails for $1,078.
What do you think?
Lunch Anyone? Or, Decorating With Cedar
We all have those days when our list of things to do goes awry. The vacuum breaks, a child is sick. Or, as in the case of my day today, a small project turns into a large one. I thought I’d spend an hour or so moving my winter clothes out of the cedar closet and into my bedroom closet.
Ick! It seems moths decided to make a meal out of some (thankfully not all) of my sweaters.
See?
There went my plans to write up a Design Dilemma. So, with the limited time I have left today, I thought I’d zip upstairs to write a quick post about cedar closets. My clothes were in one! Whence came thine moths?
I called my trusty exterminators, Rose Pest Control, to get the low down on moth prevention. I spoke with Jim. He told me some interesting things, which I’m passing along to you lest such a fate be in store for your woolens.
Cedar Closets and Moth Prevention
- Cedar needs to be refreshed. That means either painting it with cedar oil every couple of years, or sanding the cedar so that you get a strong scent.
- The cedar kills both the moths and the larva. It’s the latter that actually dines on your cashmere. The larva looks like a fine, white web.
- Moths like to breed in pockets and rolled up things. Or things in boxes. They especially like so feast on soiled wool. So make sure you take your clothes to the cleaners before you pack them away for the winter.
- To get rid of the pests, take everything out of the closet and either have them drycleaned or washed. If they don’t look infested, and weren’t expensive, you can hang them out in the sun. Moths are like vampires - they like the dark.
Avoid Moths! To do so, you can use moth balls. But they take a long airing to get rid of the odor. As I said, cedar works really well as long as you refresh it. Which I didn’t do. You can make your own cedar closet out of an existing closet. Avoid the attic. The basement is better. You can buy cedar planks at a lumber yard or some hardware stores. Just line the closet with the planks.
So, that’s how I spent my day. Now I’m off to the dry cleaners.
Playing Host Martha Style - Not
I had a good laugh yesterday reading this post from Manolo for the Home. The post refers to houseguests, but I’ll extend the advice to all aspects of life. Please, don’t be a Martha. Be yourself. Find your own style and be proud of it. Every fool knows that empty cat food tins can make a very decorative statement. :-)
“I am currently hosting houseguests in the form of my MIL and one of The Beard’s cousins. I’m sad to say that other than cleaning the house and giving up my bed, I did nothing to make them feel welcome.
I did not pull a Martha Stewart and stock a chair with water bottles, roses, and a basket o’ towels. Nor did I provide a glass of water topped by a second glass, to make things look classy AND keep the cats from dipping their paws into the agua. What else did I not to that Martha Stewart Living (which I only get because they canceled Blueprint) tells me I ought to do?”
Read the rest of the post here.
Chair of the Day: Wilder Chair
I’ve been chatting with my cousins from New England over the last several days. So in honor of Shahida and Gordon, here’s an antique chair from the land of pilgrims, lobsters and pine needles.
This is an antique chair circa 1820. Many of these chairs were painted decoratively. I found this particular side chair over at Old Village Paint. They make buttermilk paints that replicate the original finishes on these antiques.
The Balanced Mantel: 10 Ideas
Mantels aren’t just for hanging Christmas stockings. Doh. They’re often the focal point of the room they reside in. Decorating the mantel doesn’t require symmetry. And it really, doesn’t require photos of the family. Please stay away from that. What they do need is a little extra attention, and an open minded attitude.
Here are ten visual ideas to get those creative juices flowing.
image: Pieter Estersohn
We’re used to thinking that a mantel requires a mirror hanging above, or a painting. It requires a mantel loaded down with photos and figurines. There are no rules. Which is why I’m starting with the idea that you don’t have to hang anything over the fireplace. Here, the ferns and artwork on either side are enough to frame the fireplace. The decorative objects on either side are small. They’re also different. There’s no need for a pair of symmetrical objects.
image: John Dummer
Then again, there’s nothing wrong with a mirror. I like the way the mantel is dressed with a series of eclectic candlesticks that play with the bright colors in the room. It’s okay to block the mirror, too.
image: Joshua McHugh
Textile designer, Gretchen Bellinger, has taken a contemporary fireplace and given it a traditional spin. The painting, with its elaborate frame, is enough to make a statement. The yellow flowers, with the little pots, are the simplest of embellishment. Nothing else is needed. Traditional doesn’t have to mean frou-frou.
image: Deborah Whitelaw Llewellyn
As I said, symmetry isn’t a requirement. However, balance is something to keep in mind. And it can extend beyond the actual fireplace. Consider the hearth and walls that surround the space. Here, the mantel is weighted with objects toward the left. By itself, the look might appear lopsided. But the basket filled with logs balances the look. I’m dying to scooch that map over to the left a bit.
image: Henry Bourne
In the same vein, here is a classic, ornate fireplace with an asymmetrical decoration. Leave the silver picture frames for the table. A silver pitcher is just the right touch - balanced by the beauty of the flowers. The silver whispers “luxury”. There’s no need to scream, dahling.
Keep reading after the jump.
Kim Vallee Interview: Part II
My buddy, Kim Vallee recently interviewed me for her entertainment and lifestyle blog. We talked about some hip places in Detroit. Here’s the beginning of the second part of the interview.
At Home with Kim Vallee (AHWKV): Which are your favorite home décor shops?
Jennifer: I enjoy:
- Bureau of Urban Living: super cool, funky gifts, housewares, and décor
- Mezzanine: the sell high-end European furniture and accessories
- The League Shop: dishes, silver, accessories, and gifts
- Vertu: vintage furniture and accessories
- Shine: where to get cool and funky accessories
To read the rest, and learn a bit more about what’s doing in Detroit, follow this link.
Chair of the Day: Alvar Aalto’s Chair 403
Alvar Aalto designed this stackable 403 Hallway Armchair in 1931 for the Paimio Sanatorium, which is now regarded as an archtectural icon. If you had to have tuberculosis, at least you could could cough in the highest style.
The chair, manufactured by Artek, has been reissued and is available in six colors.
Antonio Citterio’s Spoon Table
I can’t figure out why Citterio named this table Spoon. Can you? Maybe he’ll read this post and explain his decision in a comment. :-)
I like it. Kartell commissioned it for their office furniture. But how about the ‘ole dining room? Its colorful legs (or white if you’re the monochromatic type) could look great. Plus, it’s perfect for the apartment dweller because it folds up for easy storage.
My Interview with Kim Vallee
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by my blogging pal, Kim Vallee. She writes At Home With Kim Vallee, and entertainment and life-style blog. We took some time to chat about interior design and blogging. We had a long talk, which she’s turned into three separate posts. Here’s an excerpt from part one (and no, I don’t like my hair in this picture).
At Home with Kim Vallee (AHWKV): When and how did you get into blogging?
Jennifer: I’ve always loved writing and have written free-lance pieces for magazines and newspapers for years. A blog gives me the chance to pursue my love for design and my love for writing. I decided to start a blog on an impulse. I had been forced to slow down my working life due to a hip injury. One day, while I was feeling particularly cranky about it, I decided that if I couldn’t practice my craft in real life (however temporary) then I’d write about it instead. I had no long-term plan, or any plan, for that matter. Two years later, I’m still writing. I feel lucky to be a person who’s vocation is also my avocation.
Follow the link to read the rest of the interview.
Thanks Kim!