design with aluminum.

itbox furniture system. these come in a range of eleven different sizes and seven different colors that can be freely combined to suit home or office!


easy chair theselius by kallemo. leather seat, wooden framework and finished in polished aluminum. gorgeous!


crude aluminum sheet side tables by lehni


tris light by martinelli luce, italy. satin blown glass, screens in silver lacquered aluminum.


topiary collection by richard schultz. you must check his website out. fabulous outdoor collection.



zero-in low table by established and sons, london. a metal bodied glass topped table.


aluna sideboard from nut & grat


haiku wardrobe also by lehni. large, roomy and lightweight.


"part" tables by b&b italia. aluminum folded as if it were origami. treated with a soft-touch paint helps give shape to the "part" table.


"s7" by schoenbuch, germany. with cool elegance these "floating boards" are dominated by right angles, lengths and purely geometrical in design.


paraflex screen by seledue. very cool room divider for home or office, you can attach mirrors like shown, shelves, rods to hang clothes, the list is endless.

sorry for the late post but it's been a crazy couple of days, picked up a new car, school, work and life, well you all know...anyway as you may or may not realize at this point i absolutely love texture in design and i do love the relationship between metal and other fabrics and materials such as wood, paint, etc. i happened upon a bunch of companies that produce some fabulous products using aluminum and thought i'd share. each piece will have a link to their company if you'd like to research further. i love the polished, brushed smooth appearance and coolness of aluminum and other metals for that matter. powder-coated, painted or left raw and to it's own devices aluminum accents any piece it accompanies, gives it weight, line and design. great companies to eyeball!

edi's files

friday and happy weekend. i just wanted to take today's post to recognize a blog that i enjoy visiting. edi's files says little and says alot. her blog is beautifully simple, can move you, can make you laugh with a funny video or dance with a musical video. edi responded to my pay-it-forward (my old post is below) and she is the winner of my special package in the mail. i've enjoyed talking with edi "off the blog" as well and she is an entrepreneur with a great sense of style. her style blends the simplest of accessories to the ultimate in architecture. her blog is a must visit and a must go back. thanks edi for playing the pay-it-forward game and for creating a fun blog. also, thanks for the conversation.

shoal.

do i have to even speak here? how amazing are these lights!!! you almost forget this is actually a chandelier! especially from a distance they literally appear as that beautiful school of fish swimming and swarming beneath the ocean. one of the prettiest displays of lighting i've witnessed to date without question. the artist is dominic bromley and the company is called scabetti. when visiting the scabetti site you'll find quotes from observers, interested parties and press. one quote that stood out summed it up for me..."pure, dead brilliant! love this shoal." yup. what he said. inspired by the sight of dense shoals of fish dominic bromley has designed shoal. "continuing in his sculptural work with fine bone china, his latest design takes full advantage of the diverse qualities of this beautiful ceramic material. A mass of bone china fish, each 16cm(6") long and carrying delicate sculpted detail, circle a central light creating a captivating cylindrical form. Each fish is lit not only by reflected light from its neighbors but also from within with the light passing through the delicate translucent china body." you must check the site out, scabetti offers sculpture and tabletop accessories as well. let me know your thoughts on your first look at shoal!
photos courtesy of mark wood.

in unison.

these amazing bed linens, table linens and pillows add instant art to any bedroom, kitchen or living room. what caught my eye about these products was the impact that they make and add to a space with their simplicity, their bold use of color and design. many of the products from unison home are made with organic cotton and thoughtful graphics. "unison home was formed by robert segal and alicia rosauer with the vision that modern design can be a livable, breathable, everyday part of life." how true. with their extensive background in both photography and textile design, these two artists at unison home have melted together talents then transposed them onto linens for us to enjoy and become simply mesmerized by. inspired by nature and architecture that surrounds them in chicago robert and alicia bring to life an essence of both. line, life, texture and color. i have to have some of these...do you?

quasi modo, no not that one...

put together this algae curtain...great natural texture.


this light, from an artist in denmark consists of individual polypropylene balls with each engraved with the designers signature.




how interesting are these stools...!

not the guy with the hump on his back but rather an ultra modern furniture and accessory company located in toronto canada. canadian house and home featured their company, more specifically the fabulous green algae curtain shown here on my post. you can sort of piece it together and make it as large or small as you'd like. very fun for curtains say leading out towards the deck outdoors or perhaps just adding texture to a room that may or may not have a nautical feel...it's up to you, that's the fun. quasi modo offers up fresh takes on coffee tables, candle holders, stools, outdoor pieces and more. a very different company making it's own mark and thinking maybe there is something unusual and funky you'd like to add to your space.

crestview doors.

"custom mid-century and modern entries." when is saw these doors it spiraled me back to growing up in the 70's and the style that surrounded every move i made in that era. how great. captured by the design magazine atomic ranch, crestview doors stood out. they are those doors that used to be on homes and offices but not anymore...until now. located in austin texas crestview's story goes like this: "david and christiane erwin began the renovation of their mid-century home in 2005. they looked for a solid-wood door that would compliment the vintage aesthetic they were trying to recreate.

the design they wanted was on the house across the street, and on the home around the corner, but nowhere online or in any showroom. it seemed that the doors of the 50's were everywhere in the brentwood and crestview neighborhoods of austin, texas. but they were disappearing quickly as the 50-year-old homes succumbed to the heat, lack of care, or to remodeling.

david went to a neighbor's house on pasadena avenue and measured their door in order to create a reproduction. once built and installed, countless strangers knocked on the door of the erwin house and asked where the door came from. cavid realized that the he and christiane weren't the only ones looking for a crestview door." once you are on their site they have an interactive design guide page where you can pick your style, your finish, dimensions and other specifics. so...if you love the look of a vintage style door instead of all of the mass produced doors out there, head on over to crestview, you'll find it there!

my package. and happy weekend.

well my week was made by the arrival of my pay-it-forward package from julie at belle maison! personalized note pads, a gorgeous wine opener (she shares a love of red wine with me), a delicious recipe to bake, a personalized card from her and sweet gift tags. i posted a story about the pay-it-forward fun we are all having and so far i don't have any takers so i thought i'd post it one more time. i actually was having a stressful day my package arrived and how fun to have something to open, something unexpected and completely surprising. not knowing when it will arrive, just perfectly sweet and thoughtful. if you'd like to participate in our pay-it-forward please click on my links to my old post to read all about the fun details. random acts of thoughtfulness in a busy world, very fun. thanx julie!

the conran shop.

love love love these stools. i'm not sure if they remind me of my childhood and school but for some reason i want a bunch but in raw metal, no color applied...that is an option on their site.


great industrial metal legs against a fragile top on this table. great contrast.

love the bubble ball bed. the circular bubble wooden balls appear to be floating up to the sky like bubbles in a drink.

when i saw this coffee table i thought what a beautifully simple design...then i thought it looks like something at the playground my son used to love to crawl through. still very fun.

this leather chair is divine, curvy, seductive in shape and material. fabulous!



more for my pillow obsession, these are playful and cheery!


believe it or not one of my favorite pieces from the conran shop are their tolix stools, shown in the first photo above. they are industrial in design, economical, resilient and simple enjoyment around a kitchen bar or island, or in front of a child's drawing table? the conran shop also has a table with similar steel leg features that i love as well. just sort of raw looking. making it look like it was constructed from found objects. love that. the conran shop has stores in the us, uk, japan and france. lucky for all of us. they feature objects for your home from lighting to outdoor, to kitchen and gift ideas. an eclectic variety to flip through on line, definitely worth having a looksy.

it's also a sad day and a beautiful day. here in massachusetts the sun is shining as it did 7 years ago on this same morning. the air is crispy sharp here, kids are off to school and everyone is going about their day. i was driving my son back from school today with flags at half mast and sort of slowed down my car a bit, looked around and thought how hard it is to be sad on such a beautiful day. but it can't be helped...burned into our memory are the events that took place those many years ago now, but somehow certain tragedies linger, make us slow down from time to time and reflect. boston's logan airport, where another beautiful day began 7 years ago is where i fly out of when traveling. a new 9/11 memorial was unveiled and dedicated this week. a place to go to for families, friends and strangers. 2 walkways representing 2 planes flight paths lead up a small knoll to a green grass cube containing the names of 148 people who vanished that morning, that beautiful day where nothing ugly should have happened and did.