burlap: revisited

After last week's post about burlap, my sister and I decided to give this industrial textile another look. Has the potential to bring the burlap out from the bottom of allora chairs been there all along? After further investigation, we decided: yes. Lauren came to town with the supplies, and we got down to business for our "craft weekend." Between her post-consumer, green coffee bean filled burlap sacks and my pillow form collection and sewing machine, we were pretty busy! AND happily surprised to see that the natural burlap (i.e. pre-dyed) is much softer on the skin. The pillows are everything we hoped they would be and then some! We also worked on some chairs this weekend (surprise!) that are different than the rest of the allora collection... you might be seeing more of the burlap soon!

charles. ray. gustave.

Charles and Ray Eames made several significant contributions to design, but the Eiffel Plastic Side Chair (1950) is without a doubt one of my favorites. Aptly named, this chair has a distinct chrome-finished base that suggests the Eiffel Tower. The seat of the chair is made of molded plastic and comes in a variety of colors. This chair is versatile and modern and altogether lovely! Perhaps one day, I'll have these around my dining room table.

allora.custom.GIRARDEAU

I love to start a week off with the debut of a new chair, and I am especially happy to bring allora.custom.GIRARDEAU to you on this otherwise typical Monday morning! Leave it to my friend, Sara, to have the coolest chair just hanging around her house... I love the lines and the detail and oh, the upholstered back, the arms, everything about this chair! I am so happy that she let me borrow it for a few weeks to give it a little face lift! Painted "regal red" and upholstered in a dyed linen jungle print, this chair is overflowing with character and should--hopefully--make sitting at a home computer that much more exciting! I also love how the bronze upholstery tacks bring out the darker tones in the fabric and provide some additional interest. Have a happy Monday and look for photos of GIRARDEAU at home soon!

barcelona, me encanta

I just realized that today's post is the third day in a row featuring a fantastic chair "we love." I must say, of all the many many chair and furniture designs that I love, I would be a happy and content woman to own just this one. The Barcelona chair. Ah... one day. I've mentioned my trip to Spain last April on several occasions, yet somehow I have managed to neglect this most important detail. My poor sister had to spend the last weeks of her semester abroad racing around with me to see every significant and insignificant item relating to architecture that I could think of (and some more that we stumbled upon). I am satisfied, however, that she took away at least one thing from the craziness; she too loves the Barcelona pavilion (and even recognized the meaning of a "faux-Mies structure" in a book she was reading, but I digress). A sort of Mecca to architects around the world, this recreation of Mies van der Rohe's German pavilion for the Barcelona International Exposition is simple and clean and oh so modern. I mentioned yesterday that all good design is, at a minimum, detail deep, and the Barcelona chair designed to go in this spot, in this building, is a fine example. Have a good weekend!

high on the high line

Like that marketing genius before me, I HEART NEW YORK. There are a million and one reasons to love the city to begin with and now my all time favorite architects have given us another. The first part of the High Line has officially opened up on the west side, right at the Meatpacking District, and I'm doing everything in my power to not blow my whole budget and get up there immediately to explore it. It looks absolutely incredible! My friends, Brian and Jennifer--lucky ducks, have already gotten to visit this wonderful urban intervention that hovers over traffic and reaches out to the Hudson, and I'm overwhelmed with jealousy (but very thankful for the pictures!)! I was looking at said photos, and just when I thought I knew every reason to love the High Line, BAM, another one. I firmly believe that good design is based in good details, so I'm not sure why I was surprised to discover that even the furniture in this raised park is wonderful! Now, wouldn't you feel special if you got to sit in the lovely green chair?