A Fresh New Look

Knock Knock

We created this suite of hardware for SA Baxter in 2007 and even though it has been a commercial success, it never really had much time in the spotlight. So, we thought we would share it with
you again.

Referred as Suite 5900, the design features a unique human modernism. The basic form is a spare geometry, but the grip is an imperfect stack of discs. The effect is slightly romantic and they feel great in hand. It's amazing what a little misalignment can do. People have told us they look like they are wrapped in leather, or a stack of coins. The design is the perfect compliment to SA Baxter's manufacturing capabilities. Their brand-new upstate New York foundry produces an exceptionally high quality product.

Fab.Eclipse

Our Eclipse lamps for Vialight are available on FAB.COM!

JNRL X STR

On my way to meet a friend at Yunnan Kitchen on Clinton St. (yum) I passed this smart little SUMMER display featuring two of our white pigs and one of our new Coil Rope Bowls in the window of JNRL X STR.

X-Rated Reality

Well, almost.

First I got this from my friend, Adam Raphael, who photographs all things young, beautiful, male, and half-naked. As much as I love my Banana Bowl, it just sort of feels like its in the way.

And then Laura Young from Areaware sent me this "mistake" from the printer.

Again, if I was art directing I might ask for "less pig," but as I said, it was just a happy accident.

I wish I had a nice dirty third image to round out this story, so let me just put it out there that we are accepting submissions.

What a way to start the new year.

Pack This

Our Platinum Pentaward winning bottle in the pages of The Package Design Book!

Guyton, at last

It took me four tries to make it to the Whitney before the 1/13 closing of Wade Guyton's show but I did it, and I celebrated by having a drink of water from one of my Guyton/Walker glasses.

Wade Guyton is a very interesting artist that uses digital print as his medium. He delights in all of the technical glitches and misprints the same way that an abstract painter would delight in the drips on a canvas. I love his work. 

The glasses are from a collaborative project between Wade and Kelly Walker. They were used at the gallery opening and then sold off as art. The simple stock glasses are printed with a silver, distorted grid pattern.

Color Report: Canine Camo

Our Basset Hound, Ben, provided a beautiful color story yesterday.

Ben is a lover not a hunter, but he was definitely showing his roots as he blended into the landscape. White and tan is such a classic combination, and camouflage is an interesting color strategy.

I must also make note here of John's winter garden. He is replacing our lawn with wild grasses, and not only do they need less water and attract wildlife, but look at that winter color and texture. They provide interest in the garden all year long.

My Friend John

One of the great perks of a creative profession are the interesting friends you make along the way.

John Robshaw was my roommate at Pratt Institute. He was a painter then, but has since become a very famous fabric designer. I was so happy to see his apartment on the cover of Elle Decor last month. You just can't fake having an interesting life. John travels the world over sourcing his printed fabrics and his apartment is filled with all of the beautiful objects and art he has collected along the way.

Of course, John and I have been having a creative dialogue for a long time. My homes are filled with his fabrics, and I was very happy to see my Walnut Bowl on his coffee table and Eclipse lamp prototype in his kitchen!

Decoration by Sandy

Many people were hit much worse than my family, but I thought everyone might be interested in seeing what 40" of water does when it goes through a house. My family beach house in Mantoloking, NJ was right in the path of Sandy. As you can see in the aerial view below it was a hard hit area. The water breached from ocean to bay across the barrier island about three blocks north of our house.

The day after a friend sent me the image below. The house was still standing, and someone had even gone over and raised the flag up the flag pole. It was an inspirational image at the time.

My mother never invested much money in the house - it is a true beach house - sandy and uncomplicated. Mom was raised on the NJ Shore and knows the hazards of shore life - she lived through the 1962 hurricane and is aware that building houses on sandbars is not the best strategy. The house, however, was filled with memories. 

When we were finally let in it was a surreal scene. These pics were taken on that first day. Note the water line and markings from all of the floating debris and furniture along the wall.

It was odd how some things survived while others completely disappeared. You can see from the images that the house fared pretty well structurally. It's still on its foundation and is pretty much intact. 

The water blew out some of the the windows and doors on the ground floor. The day we went down was beautiful - sunny and clear - and all was calm in the house, so it was hard to imagine the water at the height of the storm, rushing in and out of rooms, but it had left its trail.

Not much was disturbed above the waterline. So things on the mantle went untouched, hats on hooks stayed in place, and pots an pans hanging on racks were ready for the next meal. Upstairs the beds were still made and everything was in its place. Eery.

Who knew that refrigerators floated?

The soft goods like the pull-out sofa and rugs were disgusting. They were the first things to get dragged out.

It was just amazing where things ended up, and what made it through unscathed. Note the antique hutch that is on the floor in two pieces in the image below - filled with glass and china - the only thing that broke inside was one martini coup. 

The damp silt that gets on everything is unimaginable.

This chair floated out, around the house, and ended up in the entry to the crawl space below the house - as did many books and other things. It was hard to figure out why and how things travelled where they did.

The the rear deck floated about six feet north.

Mom's car in the garage ended up perpendicular to doors, banged up and waterlogged.

Every drawer in the kitchen, and bowl under the counter was filled with bay water.

40" of water.

Three trips down with my Mother and my Brother and it is pretty much cleaned out. 

"There they are!"Our dining chairs ended up three houses away - in the neighbors trash pile.

Others fared much worse. These images were taken on our last trip down and the Army Corp of Engineers had been hard at work filling in around collapsed houses to preserve the island, but you can see the devastation was huge. Many houses collapsed and others are just gone into the sea.

For my family there are many decisions to be made, yet many opportunities ahead. Thankfully this was not a primary residence, but we are worried about mold, and raising it against the next flood, and it needs a new kitchen, bathroom, and electrical - at least. But it made it through the storm, and I might say that is a testament to its simplicity. It is an old heavy wooden box - no insulation, no sheetrock, and honestly most of the furnishings that made it through the storm were antiques. The house started its life as a garage  in the early part of the 20th century and has weathered many storms. In fact, on the day that my parents bought it in 1979 there was a hurricane that brought the bay into the street and right up to floor level, but no water went into the house, and my father closed on it! We always knew this was a possibility, but I have a new appreciation for the reality of flood damage, and my heart goes out to all who lost their homes in the storm.

Ted Maines

Love this postcard for an open house that Ted Maines Interiors in Winter Park, FL sent out.

They look like a fun bunch, and it seems they like our products!

Look What I Made

We're loving the plaid-on-plaid styling of Harry's full-page spread in Interior Design's Market Tabloid. What better way to show off his latest creation, the Paperwork Lantern, a combination of low-tech papier maché and high-tech LEDs.

one last thought on voting day

Color Report: Oxydendrum is the Diana Vreeland of Autumn

                                                                                      

Just imagine Diana camouflaged in a grove of these maaarvelous blood orange trees.

Must see movie! Must see tree!

Columbus Discovered

A few us from the studio took a field trip uptown to see the Discovering Columbus installation. Artist Tatsu Nishi built a living room around the sculpture and it is free to all.



The scaffolding was beautiful, and I have a touch of vertigo that adds to the excitement to any climb. Turns out the black protrusions on the column are the Nina the Pint and the Santa Maria.

The views from the center of Columbus Circle were also nice.

And getting up close and personal to the great explorer (even though he did not discover America, and only brought disease and destruction to the natives) was a unique experience. The scale was fun, and I loved the intimate access to a usually inaccessible NYC landmark. I'd love to to see Mercury, on top of Grand Central, up close.  

I did not, however, get the living room scenario. I know that is Tatzu Nishi's schtick, but it was not great design and did not really contribute to the dialogue. In fact, I felt it detracted from the experience. I would have preferred a gallery setting, a nice white box.

Poor Columbus. He's a victim of acid rain, and desperately in need of restoration. Which he will get soon!

GOBAMA

You may not agree with my politics, but you must admit I made a handsome sign for our house in Pound Ridge.

At 4' x 4' it is what I think a political sign should look like. I just hope there are no regulations against a large expression of freedom like this and/or rowdy GOPers that pull it down. Sign painting is not my forté, but I managed with some Sharpies and house paint. It features my favorite quote from the campaign and has been stopping traffic on Long Ridge Rd all morning!

Pink Jalk Project

Twenty leading interior designers, architects and design icons were asked to customize the Grete Jalk GJ Chair. Bid now for a one-of-a-kind chair to benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Auction closes on October 31st.

DECORTREND

Silicone Key Keychain in Elle Decor Italia.

Gardener's Party

The annual Gardener's Party at Wave Hill is one of the high points in our social calendar. We were invited by Adam Rose and Peter McQuillan, who are very generous in their support of all things horticultural.

Drinking and shopping is a great fundraising formula so they hold a plant sale and silent auction during cocktail hour. I admired this Jackpot at the silent auction, designed by Jack Lenor Larsen for Seibert and Rice and planted up with an Agave plant.

John and I bought this little Hydrangea Sargentiana at the plant sale / cocktail hour. It will go in the garden this weekend.

When the party moved inside for the dinner and live auction, I was very impressed with the clear plastic tent - so expansive under the twilight sky. 

This Marten house was on the block. Made of wood reclaimed from the garden it also sported a green roof.

Reckless bidding was encouraged, and the auction supports the garden. John and I bid on some tree work but were quickly bulldozed by someone with more money (and sicker trees, I imagine).

On our way out, the greenhouses glowed.