Valentino Spring 2012

As I flipped through magazine after magazine, a particular trend caught my eye.

Louis Vuitton Spring 2012

Designers were embracing lace.

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2012

A LOT of lace.

Which means that the current trend for vintage lace in interiors is only going to get stronger.  But how do you embrace the look without going full on frilly?  Here are some suggestions….

First off, you should limit yourself to only one, at most two, lace items in a room.  This vintage lace hanging lamp, from Etsy seller Nice, makes a great statement, without seeming fussy.  Plus, the shadows from the lace further soften the room.

Speaking of softening a room, that is the second thing you should take away from this post – lace works best as a way to introduce a softer line to rooms that would otherwise seem too harsh or stark.  So if there is a room in your house that feels dead or cold, try adding a touch of lace.

Lastly, keep in mind that the vintage lace look doesn’t actually have to be, well,… lace.  It can take the form of a stenciled floor…

a pretty piece of decorative ceramic (love these bird bowls!)…

or even a concrete curtain.

So go on, give vintage lace a try.  You KNOW you want to!

Oh, and to find out more about these images, and many other cool ways to use lace, check out my Trending – Vintage Lace board on Pinterest.

Thanks for visiting!

Rachel

Think of it… a lampshade you wouldn’t look half bad in if you party just a little too much during the holidays!

The lovely Miss Wool knitted lamp, with that charmingly feminine bow, is from Italian design company Doimo Decor.

Sadly, it only seems to be available in Italy at the moment.  Guess that’s another excuse for me to go to the Salone Internazionale del Mobile next year, right?

Thanks for visiting!

Rachel

Equal parts ethereal and threatening, this prickly looking lamp is by Amsterdam based product designer company Ilias Ernst.  By using magnetic fields to attract and hold nails to the lamp, the configuration of pendant can be easily manipulated, resulting in a completely unique piece every time.

I’m just not quite sure I would want to stand under it, you know what I mean?

You can see more of Ilias Ernst’s creative design ideas here.

Thanks for visiting!

Rachel

Seen on Inhabitat

The little wooden robot sits there, head cocked, arms outstretched, vacant drilled eyes staring into space.  Its expression is puzzled and innocent.  It looks like it wants a hug.  It’s cute.

Sometimes, in the earnest seriousness of striving to live green, we forget our sense of humor.  Marjolaine Poulin of M Design hasn’t forgotten… and she loves nothing better than to make other people smile, hence the little army of wooden robots marching out of her workshop in El Salvador.

Marjolaine (“Mao”) has taken scrap wood & discarded furniture and raised them both into art.

A native of Quebec, Canada, Mao splits her time between Montreal and El Salvador, always looking for inspiration.  Her introduction to woodworking came in 2004 in Guatemala, where she learned classical bamboo carpentry from a Taiwanese master.  Shortly afterward she began crafting her own designs hoping to promote bamboo’s many advantages as a building material in Central America.

Bamboo, a fast-growing, imminently sustainable crop, grows in diverse climates and after treatment is strong, durable, yet lightweight.  Discoveries of its usefulness and applications continue to expand.

“In the United States and France,” Mao said, “It is possible to get houses made entirely of bamboo, which are earthquake and cyclone-resistant and internationally certified.”

Her own work with the material is on a more modest scale, consisting of beautiful furniture crafted from bamboo and tropical wood.

Mao has recently turned her attention to a problem local to Montreal: unwanted furniture abandoned on the city streets.  As though collecting lost puppies, she rescues the unloved, discarded furniture and gathers it in her workshop, where it waits to be transformed.

“I walk around my workshop and try to mix and match,” she explained.  “To repair or repurpose old things with more old things.  To be able to sell my pieces at a reasonable price, I try to buy as little new material as possible, which means I need to be really creative and reuse as much as possible.”

This pastime blossomed in 2010 with the Scrap Project, an exhibition of Mao-transformed furniture, the second edition of which took place this past August.  The positive feedback from the show’s first run freed her this year to explore new techniques and let herself slip into the creative process.  And what are her plans for 2012?

“My Montréal’s workshop is full of amazing abandoned pieces of furniture and I can’t wait to start working on them next summer,” the artist said.  “I still have a lot of concepts in my head that I haven’t had time to bring to life, so that’s what the Scrap project 2012 will be about: making it real.”

For Mao, new is overrated.

“It makes me so angry to see how much stuff people in the first world are throwing away,” she said.  “It’s unbelievable how much a human can buy and send to the dump every year.  I wanted to do my part and feel better about the issue.”

Despite that anger – or perhaps as a salve upon it – there is a deliberate lightness to her work, which is full of opposites and contradictions, whimsical robots, clean lines next to old textures.  The unexpected often brings a smile, and it is that smile that opens doors in the mind to new ideas, like sustainability.

More information about Scrap Project 2011 is available on Mao’s blog.

~ Emerald

You decide.

There’s simplicity in these glass and steel designs, a clean look, one that’s versatile enough to be used in any number of decoration schemes.  I think they would complement just about any setting.

As much as possible, the materials are reclaimed objects.  Old glass & ceramic insulators, traffic light lenses, and hardened steel parts – the clips, spikes, and random hardware so abundant along unused rail lines – all hand-gathered by the artist and repurposed into lighting, door & cabinet hardware, and home furnishings.

The disparate parts are cut, drilled, sanded, ground, and bent where needed before being given their new purpose.  Although the creations are thoroughly cleaned the rust remains and is, according to the artist, an “essential part of the look.”  Even the new sections of steel are purposefully rusted so that the entire is whole.  Then comes a steel sealer and hand-rubbed oil finish.

So what was once abandoned is again made functional.

The business sprang, almost by chance, from Tim’s long-term interest in lighting and a collection that started with the purchase of a single glass insulator back in 2004.  Now he crafts a full line… as well as custom work, some of which can be seen here.

There’s much more to the story than this, however.  To learn it, please stop by the RailroadWare website.

~ Emerald

I might also need this lamp!  Created out of 300 of those classic “It’s our pleasure to serve you” coffee cups (though I fear they were not used), by designer Christian DuCharme, this fun lamp hangs at the Lafayette Espresso Bar + Market in New York.

Lovely, no?

I’m off to brew that much needed cuppa joe now.

Thanks for visiting!

Rachel

Originally seen on Inhabitat, images via CollabCubed

Hear that?

You don’t?

Perfect!

Milano Wall

That sound you don’t hear is Zephyr’s new Next Generation Europa line of range hoods.

Napoli Island

The reason you hear hardly a thing isn’t because the hood is so loud it drowns out your smoke alarm when you set the bacon on fire (come on, it’s happened to all of us, right?).  No, it’s because these range hoods are equipped with Zephyr’s DCBL™ Suppression technology.

What’s that you ask?  Well, let’s take a look under the hood, shall we?

Modena Wall

By utilizing an on-board computer, and a DC, brushless motor (the industries first), Zephyr is able to generate precise wattage and more torque at lower RPMs.  This allows for both greater air movement, and a significantly quieter operation.  At its lowest setting – which is plenty strong enough for standard cooking needs – you might just forget it is even on!

Zephyr has another trick up their sleeve, which manages to make this hood as energy efficient as it is quiet.  If you look at the photo above, you will see four lights shining down from the canopy.  Those are ultra low energy Bloom™ LEDs, which are standard with the Next Generation Europa line.  Cool to the touch, but warm to the eye, these LEDs provide an evenly distributed light to the cook top below, without adding heat to the kitchen.  Best of all, they are also dimmable!

Verona Wall

Of course, speaking of LEDs, check out what the Verona range hood can do…  (cue theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind)

Yep, it has an LED lighted edge that shifts from color to color while you cook.  Dang!

Napoli Island

Whether you like it or not, the range hood you select will have a significant impact on the overall look of your kitchen.  Isn’t it nice that you can now have an environmentally friendly option that is also friendly to your ears AND your eyes?

Visit the Zephyr website to learn more about the Next Generation Europa line of range hoods, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter to catch up with their latest news.

Thanks for visiting!

Rachel

Full disclosure – Although I was not paid for this post (I never am), I was invited to participate in a two day Discover Zephyr event in San Francisco, which is where I learned a lot I didn’t know about how these hoods work, and also where I found out just how quiet they can be!

Since I have such a severe case of wanderlust, I thought it appropriate to make this week’s “Etsy Find” a globe and map themed one.  Enjoy!

Map covered wooden chair by New Yorganize.

Collier’s 1935 Map Drawer Pulls by Sherry Truitt

Reclaimed chalkboard globe by Stamp Your Art Out.

Corrugated Basket with Map of Vancouver, Canada by CORRUGATED Mosaic.

Recycled map end table–Detroit, Michigan by Hocus Focus.

Artichoke Road Map Pendant Light by Zipper8Lighting

Elephant Atop A Globe Repurposed Dictionary Art

Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!

Rachel

The ancient Greek poets were said to be inspired by the Muses, nine goddesses who were the source of all art.

Visitors to the whyrHymer Store in Los Angeles may well believe that a tenth Muse is informing Brandon & Sundeep Morrison on their own creations.  The couple & their work have been featured in California Home & Design and California Homes.  The style of their lighting & furniture is solid yet elegant, evoking the philosophy of the early 20^th century Arts & Crafts movement yet speaking in its own distinct, thoroughly modern voice.

At present the couple hand-craft about forty pieces a year, which work ranges from beds, tables, cabinets, and seating – including a rocking chair that somehow embodies the spirit of a hot rod – to lighting of truly innovative design.

Creativity is essential to the heart of whyrHymer.  The Morrisons are fully involved in all aspects of their business, from conceptual design to marketing, from the ancient act of sanding wood to the employment of software and website design.  They also produce & edit films to promote their work.  Says Brandon, “I love hitting the end of a chisel as much as I love the click of my mouse.”

All furniture is made from eco-friendly hardwoods & finishes, including exotic woods certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.  They also use FSC-certified sheet-goods, Kirei Board, Bamboo, and Wheat Board.  Finishes include low-voc plant based oils & varnishes.  Lampshades are variously made from recycled aluminum or glass, linen, rice paper, shoji material, hemp, silk, or from a translucent wood veneer gleaned from sustainable sources.  The furniture is built to last generations, lovingly hand-crafted with mortise & tenon, dovetail, and dowel reinforced joinery.

As they feel themselves blessed, the Morrisons strive to “give back” not only by observing a green building philosophy but also by donating a portion of each sale price to a charitable organization.  Clients are asked to match this gift.

“Being creative for us is about how much we can leave behind,” said Brandon.  “My wife and I have no formal training in furniture design or construction.  We have learned what you see by making mistakes and moving on.”

The Morrisons’ business, like their lives, is a testament to innovation and what can accomplished when life is lived with passion & gratitude.  When he first moved to Los Angeles, Brandon had little idea of what waited for him.  Yet, by being open to change and mindful of opportunity, his present life took form: a family, a business that allows the fullest expression of his creativity, and work (one could say “art”) that brings pleasure to others.  The latter has a spirit that matches its maker.

“The ‘things’ I sell are not necessities for sure,” he said.  “But what I try to bring to my work is an awareness of self that transcends my actual work and what that provides to my clients.  I hope that my awareness that has come from pursuing the non standard life will inspire someone else, or at best, have them feel that they are supporting someone who has their best interest at heart.”

ATOMIK MADNESS from Brandon Morrison on Vimeo.

The whyrHymer Store is located on 138 N. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA  90036.  (Hours Mon-Sat 10-5.)    It can be seen on their website.    Brandon & Sundeep may be reached by phone at 323-402-0250 (home/shop)  323-964-9900 (store).

There are many lights in New York City, but perhaps the most unusual are created by Allison Patrick of Zipper 8 Lighting.

Although the core idea behind her designs is simple – the covering of plain lampshades or paper lanterns with repurposed materials – there is a playful wit at work there: quirky, modern, fun… and green.

Allison has always been a creative person and early on was influenced by a craft-loving family friend with whom she was “constantly creating things.”  Over time she realized that what she truly loved was creativity within the physical world, which led to a degree in Architecture.  Place, too, influences her work, as the “already built” nature of NYC limits the scope of creativity while focusing the latter into the elaboration of interior space, such as the transformation of “a simple white box of a room” into something personable and unique.

Part of that transformation rests in how a space is lit, and thus Zipper 8 Lighting was born.  It is her current obsession.  As she says: “Pretty much whenever I get a new idea or see a cool material or project my thoughts are immediately, could that be a light?  I don’t know what it is about lights, but there’s just something so magical about turning on that light and seeing what you’ve created come to life.”

From a plain paper lantern or a plastic drum shade she takes the mundane and, by using repurposed materials, transforms it into a thing of unique beauty.  Coffee filters, old books, maps, plastic bags, phonebooks, and the New York Times are only some of the items which would normally be headed for a landfill or recycling plant but have found new purpose and life in Allison’s hands.

“I love using materials in a new way,” she said, “a way they have never been used before.  Sure the coffee filters that I use to create lights haven’t been used before, so they might not be traditionally considered as ‘recycled’ but I like to think that the traditional cycle of those coffee filters was to be used, and thrown away.  Instead I stepped in and gave then a new and much longer function.”

She’s always been interested in the environment and has long believed that every small action towards preserving it counts.   Replacing one light bulb with a CFL does make a difference, and she suspects that many people underestimate the potential impact of their seemingly insignificant daily choices.  Any choice can be a positive one.  Environmentally-friendly design can be as stylish and fun as any New Yorker (or anyone) could desire, and such is her goal: to make lights that are “green” without sacrificing design.

“I think its all about a general awareness of our surroundings,” she said.  “Putting a little thought into our daily lives and the materials we so often consume and discard.”

Ms. Patrick’s work can be found online on Etsy under the name Zipper 8 Lighting.