abode features allora!

As if this wonderful week couldn't get more exciting--with the Southern Living article, Thanksgiving, Auburn v. Alabama, being home with family and friends, and Carolina v. Clemson--allora has been featured once again in a great publication! There is something so sweet about making it into my favorite Columbia weekly: the Free Times. Along with several other fantastic products for your home, allora's GIRARDEAU chair was featured in the trends section of abode--a monthly home insert. You can officially sign me up for VH1's greatest week ever! Have a happy Thanksgiving!

southern living!

I could not be more excited on a Monday morning! allora has been featured in Southern Living!!! It is so flattering to be included with so many wonderful products in the 24 Gifts Made by Southern Hands story. What an honor! I recently read an article about Pat Conroy, whose Aunt didn't count him as successful until he was written up in this great publication, and I can't help but giggle at the surreal feeling that allora has been included! Not to mention the fact that, as a Southern woman I have grown up with this magazine all around me and have no doubt been influenced by it. I wish I could describe to you the joy I felt when I popped into a Hudson News in the Birmingham airport yesterday and found the write-up (alongside the Robert Pattinson Vanity Fair, no less)! In this week of Thanksgiving, there is so much to be thankful for! Thanks to everyone who has helped allora along the way!

eye for style

How would you define your style? Are you more of a Risom lounger or a Chippendale high boy? Get to know yourself before you invest in a new piece of furniture or paint job with the style quiz (the perfect cure for the mid-week doldrums). Curious about my results? Check here. Happy hump day!

charleston home: recognize anything?

What an exciting week! Charleston Home unveiled its first issue [and a new look] on Monday and low and behold, guess what I spotted while perusing its pages? allora.signature.VINE! We're thrilled to be the image to accompany one of our favorite blogs: Parker Sims Interiors! If you haven't had a chance to check out the magazine, grab a copy and a glass of wine and indulge yourself this evening with all of the wonderful ideas for your home! Oh, and yes, let us know if a custom chair is what you need!

urbanSHED arcade

I know that I've mentioned that September was a crazy month, and I feel certain that in the same breath, I mentioned, among other things, deadlines. One of these deadlines was the urbanSHED competition that Alicia and I entered on behalf of Liollio. Our scheme, ARCADE, is built around over-emphasized structure which is secured by water ballast via q-drums. These q-drums roll on site easily before being filled (again, easily) with water. They not only serve, however, as efficient connections, but as street furniture for passers-by and regular pedestrians, as a place where they can read the paper, talk on their cell phones, rest their feet, or wait to hail a cab. Seating at its best!

ode to the holy city

For my birthday, I requested and happily received Pat Conroy's new novel South of Broad, in which I have been immersed (when possible) for the past two weeks. I love Conroy's Prince of Tides for many reasons, but it struck a particular chord in me as a South Carolinian reading with familiarity as a transplant to New York. Reading this most recent ode to the Holy City while actually being here has been quite a juxtaposition, if not more of a palimpsest, and though I find the same familiarity when reading, it has become somewhat of a distraction. The penultimate master of name-dropping, Conroy made this book for blue-blooded Charlestonians who will recognize, appreciate, and best him in the category. With this undisguised social and physical context, I feel like I could be reading about people I know and thus am currently having quite the heightened experience of this city.

Add to that the general Charleston-y weekend that I had, and I'm sure you will all understand the complete and eerie confusion that I am experiencing between the fictional and the real. Friday marked the first French Quarter Art Walk of the season; the weather was perfect, the wine was good, and we had a wonderful time! I awoke early on Saturday with the french doors to my screen porch wide open and headed off on my bike to the Farmer's Market in Marion Square. I managed to fit in a little more reading time before making my way to the first of two weddings downtown, which were appropriately located S.O.B. and/or sufficiently near by. I found myself moving between St. Michael's, St. Philip's, Society Hall, and Hibernian Hall all in the space of a night. I'm not sure if I would call it irony, but I was definitely feeling something like it, while imagining characters with names like Worth Rutledge circulating around the cheese table with me.

I've been known to get a little too involved with the books that I'm reading (I thought at one point in college that my life was The Odyssey), but I thought it was only appropriate, in light of the circumstances, that I reveal what has been consuming my mind as of late! I've also been thinking about an allora tribute to the Holy City, which is full of such rich, deep colors and textures that I can't help but want to translate into a chair. Be looking out for the Charleston signature collection; you heard it first here!

a new month

Looking at the blog, it is oh-so painfully evident that I have neglected allora for quite sometime now... one post all month! Unbelievable. T.S. Eliot said that "April is the cruelest month," but I do beg to differ. My vote is firmly for September. On a brighter note, I'm so happy to have a clean start for October: a month of football, renewed commitment to boot camp, and several fun weddings. Ladies and gentlemen, its going to be a great month!

Now, back to business. I'm so excited to share with you that allora has spread to the far-reaching lands of Georgia--even to the big city of Atlanta! Lulu Interiors featured several of our favorite chairs on their design blog! Check it out and stay tuned for the multitude of posts to come!

roygbiv? somewhere in between?

I was recently inspired to take a color test when my friend Raven of Fat Beagle Studio posted her own color test results to her blog. We were in studio together at Auburn and in New York for a year together as well, and I've always admired her sense of style! Now she's making quilts and coasters and all sorts of wonderful things that can be purchased on Etsy--definitely worth checking out!

SO, back to the color tests. I'm not sure how valid they are, but it is kind of fun to try anyway--particularly on a rainy Monday morning. To take the test, click here. Here are my results, though I'm not sure that "shades of pale" is necessarily what suits me best... Have a great day!

allora featured as

parker-sims product pick!

check it out here.

We're so excited and honored to be featured with such an impressive and creative group of local designers! Thanks Ivie and Adrian!

...and an interview with mary mac!read more here.

I love keeping up with the Parker-Sims blog myself, so check back often for their always interesting designs and ideas. Don't forget to check out their website, as well! You'll want to stay on top of what these creative ladies are up to!

what to read.

When I first embarked on this little hobby, I decided that some research was in order. I have a small obsession with big, pretty books and an even larger obsession with big, pretty books that are interesting. Naturally when I googled "history of chairs," I was drawn to this particular book by Florence de Dampierre, which not only satisfies the big and pretty criteria but the interesting one as well--and it happens to be critically acclaimed. Chairs: A History is full of information on seating, from Ancient Egypt to Bertoia, which de Dampierre disseminates with her keen understanding of antiques, particularly Parisian. She also uses her knowledge of interior design, gleaned from years of styling an elite clientele, to provide context for the pieces she discusses. So, if you're tired by the light beach reads of the summer and looking for some interesting non-fiction, curl up in your favorite chair and learn about where it came from in Chairs: A History.