Home and House: September 2006

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Thursday, September 28, 2006

searching for colors

photo: : www.henryroad.com

: : me, I am always searching for colors. came across .henry road.
orange pillows, yep, I'd like those, thank you very much.

"Henry Road's designer is Paula Smail. As a child growing up on Henry Road in South Africa, Paula remembers sitting in the apricot tree eating unripe fruit, the smell of chlorine in her hair, and sleeping in a red room. Since then Paula has lived in Paris, London and New York, and traveled extensively. Underpinned by her love of color, the Henry Road collection is inspired by her childhood in Africa, her global travels, and the sunshine and flora of Los Angeles, the city she now calls home." www.henryroad.com

photo: : www.almadecubarestaurant.com

: : not exactly design related...but I have to rave about my Saturday night's dinner at Alma de Cuba with my sweet .iz. one of the most fantastic restaurant experiences we've had!

it was a surprise...... I was flying down to Philly for the weekend and wanted to do something special for .iz. ....oh, it was special..... appleton rum mojitos. absolutely incredible cuban food. fantastic service. amazing atmosphere; modern, yet romantic and authentic ...I could keep going.

we stumbled home with our bellies filled and our heads dizzy from sweet rum and love...

boxx

photo: : red.house

: : this will be my last post for now about the Boston .south end open studios. of course I will always keep my eyes open for local artists and art events around town and share them with you.

last one out is,boxx, a truly contemporary furniture company with interesting use of materials and colors. the orange glass dining table was love at first sight. and the red sofa table was of course also one of my favorites.

: : i found these two ladies on the third floor of one of the open studio buildings. two friends who now run their separate business,.emily. makes beautiful prints for cards and calendars [gallardoworks] and .megan. [MEGillustrations] does illustrations for books but is also bringing some of her characters into 3D on these fun handmade pillows. it was a pleasure to meet them both. i bought a few prints that are now waiting to be framed...I can't wait until they are up on the wall.

hudson design

photos: : red.house

: : Hudson is a new addition the continuously expanding design culture in Boston’s .south end. I found it on my way to the .south end o pen studios. and decided to pop in to see what it was about. Owner and designer Jill Goldberg has created a retail space where you almost feel like you are in someone’s living room. a space filled with a wide collection of home décor products from all over the world.

If you’re thinking about stopping by for a visit, may I also recommend a cup of coffee or a light lunch at the newly re-opened .south end buttery. next door.

Find Hudson at 312 Shawmut Avenue.

morgan&milo

photos: : www.morganandmilo.com and red.house

: : found this great, fun shoe brand for kids, morgan&milo while at the .south end open studios. above are some pictures of their studio space as well as a few pairs of shoes from their collection.

"Morgan & Milo was established in January 2003 as a brand that would take children's footwear in a refreshing new direction. Playful, fun and whimsical, Morgan & Milo captures the essential blend of fashion and function. It's the perfect choice for the practical, modern parent who doesn't want to compromise on style, quality and price." [www.morganandmilo.com]

boston's mod green pod

photos: : red.house and modgreenpod.com

: : i can't even tell you how excited i was when i stepped in to .modgreenpod's. studio at the .south end open studios. on Saturday. i love their work and have seen their fabrics all over the place lately, the were recently featyred in domino as well as home&garden. it was happily surprised to find out that they are Boston locals.

run by sister-in-law team .nancy. and .lisa Mims., all their products are completely organic, fabrics are 100% organic cotton, wallpaper are vinyl-free and all their inks are waterbased. produced locally as well, everything within New England.

unfortunately, i didn't get the opportunity to meet .lisa. and .nancy. as they were away for the weekend. but i was able to snap a few pictures of their studio space. i hope i'll get the chance to meet them at some point. : : enjoy : :

boston etcetera media

photos: : etceteramedia.com

photo: : red.house
:: one of the most exciting discoveries of the weekend was the etceteramedia stand at the .south end open market. where I met .kelly smith., a 26 year old local artist, with a background in architecture, now working part time as an architect and part time building her new company etceteramedia.

etceteramedia is a whole new line of felt bags, cases and iPod accessories. each product designed with the intention to protect digital products such as laptops, cameras and music players. beautiful, handmade bags and totes in all colors, with Knoll textile patterns hidden on the inside.

all of her products can be bought from her website.

above are pictures of their product line the blackstone, the harrison, and a photo of .kelly. at her stand.

: : although, this was not part of the .south end open studio. tour, i want to mention it because it really is for the local artists. every Sunday there is an open market on Harrison Avenue in the .south end. local artists, and even artists from New Hampshire, Maine and Connecticut come in to sell their products. There was a great big flee market where I found this beautiful blue vase and the fun green old fashioned candy bowl! and then there was jewelry, art, clothing, food and much more more.

the .south end. open market is there every sunday through the end of October. definitely worth a visit if you're a Bostonian.

boston local

: : i was overwhelmed by inspiration this weekend! it was so exciting and i'm thrilled to be able to share it with everyone.

this weekend was the .south end open studios. every year in September, all artists in the city open their doors to the public. every weekend it's a new part of the city and this weekend, it was the .south end. one of my absolute favorite neighborhoods of the city. very eclectic, very charming, lots of restaurants...and more artists than I could have imagined!

so, this week, and maybe even part of next week will be dedicated to presenting some of Boston's young local talents. I interviewed several of the artist and was able to take photos of their studios, so stay tuned for some really inspirational stories!

photo: : amybutlerdesign.com

: : oooh, i was so inspired by .amy butler's. beautiful fabrics yesterday!! i have seen her fabrics many times before, but i had never actually visited her website. i found it via .mary. one of my new Swedish readers. not only is it a beautiful website...it is soo inspirational. it gives you a million ideas for things to make with her fabrics, bags, dresses, skirts .....you can buy the patterns from her website. however, i couldn't find a pattern for the hats...i love the hats! you can buy her fabrics via .reprodepot.

blogger of the week

photo: red.house and annika engström

: : exciting news...lovely .frida. at Swedish design blog cult design is featuring me as blogger of the week. so exciting! if you have a minute, check it out [in Swedish].

: : welcome to the green.house. i have always been an advocate of green design. if i could, and maybe sometimes in the future, i would love to work with environmental design. so, i wanted to share some products, blogs, companies, books...things i've collected over time that is all about sustainable living.

first out, is .mio culture. mio is a design company dedicated to creating sustainable and innovative design experiences and making it affordable for everyone. started by two brothers, one who does most of the design work and the other one handles the business side.

here is their pendant lamp and bendant lamp. i really love both of them.
the pendant lamp is made from two capsule-like felt shells [100% wool]-one in color to direct light and the other in natural to diffuse it. these lamps can be returned to the manufacturer for recycling.

the bendant lamp is a flat-packed chandelier composed of a series of leaf-like shades surrounding a central fixture. bend the shades up or down and create unique light and shadow arrangements. [mioculture.com]. the bendant lamp is such a fun, creative idea, you can make it into whatever you want, it's a bit like creating your own piece of art.

: : i thought these vintage cups gone wine glasses were really creative. made from second hand cups combined with a wine glass stand, which makes every cup unique.

designed by .hrafnkell birgisson. called hoch die tassen, which i think means...let's raise our cups.

find them on .thorsten van elten., a wonderful place to be. there are so many other interesting ideas there.

: : i have the best sister in the world!! just look at these adorable crocheted slippers that she's made for me! and they're green and orange, two of my favorite colors.

I don't know where it all started, or where the inspiration came from, but just this year .karin. , my sister, started crocheting...... it started with a hat for herself I think, then she expanded her line to slippers....now she's gone crazy with the crocheting...popping out slippers, hats and potholders left and right . i love how she puts these little flowers on everything.

syster yster, tack så jättemycket! du är världens finaste syster!

beautiful birch

photo:: isokonplus.com

photo:: tunto.com

: : i was inspired today by British furniture company isokon plus i, of course, am a personal fan of birch...i think any scandinavian has a special love for birch wood. first is storage unit/bench ,donkey 3, and below that, shipshape, storage and stool. i'm sure there are even more functions built in...there's no limit to the functionality of these pieces! and they are so beautiful too!

finding the isokon reminded me of .tunto. a Finnish furniture company. i have always loved all of their products, especially the ones with bold graphical prints, like their storage boxes and swing.

photo:: once-upon-a-forest.com

: : i found these wonderful creations by webartist .maruto. [through a friend at work]. supposively these are flash creations with a mix of different motifs relating to a forest. I haven't completely understood it, but think they are beautiful. following is some more information about him from digitalthread

: :The prolific Maruto as he is known here, assembles a new page each month (even if it feels like the pages assemble themselves) into a beautiful and scalable one-page Flash wonder.
Once-Upon-A-Forest is a book of ephemeral cyber paintings that at anytime could entropy back to nothing on a blank screen.

svenskt tenn

: : i was so happy today when I visited .lena corwins. guest blog on design*sponge as i noticed that she had mentioned .josef frank. and .svenskt tenn. .josef frank. is one of my favorite artists. i have such a deep love for all of his patterns and they are such classic design icons in Sweden. I love how they are so strong, bold and of course, colorful. I hope one day I will be able to bring many of his patterns into my home.

.svenskt tenn. is the most well known design store in Sweden, started in 1924 , which .josef frank. as their greatest contributor, they have been incredibly influential on Swedish design. .svenskt tenn. created some of Sweden's most recognizable design icons. Their store is located in Stockholm, I hope you do visit if you are in the city. It is a wonderful place! and .josef frank's. work is truly inspirational. he designed more than 160 patterns for .svenskt tenn. most of them with his typical organic, imaginary motifs. To .frank., nature's forms and colors as part of your interiors was a way to breath and feel freedom in closed rooms.

photo:: goodmagazine.com

: : i was introduced to a new magazine today .GOOD.

their very first issue is out this month. there was so much interesting reading I didn't even make it through more than 10 pages. but, they do a better job themselves explaining what their magazine is about, so here's a quote from their website : :

: : "we see a growing number of people tied together not by age, career, background, or circumstance, but by a shared interest. This revolves around a passion for potential mixed with fierce pragmatism and creative engagement. We sum all this up as the sensibility of giving a damn. But to shorten it, let's call it GOOD. We're here to push this movement and cover its realization ": :

photo: : goodmagazine.com

: : their first topic is " America Love It or Leave It", offering different perspectives of this great big country we live in...good and bad. for each issue, .GOOD. asks an artist or group to set the tone for the magazine with a visual interpretation of the issue theme. the two images above is the result of that. happy reading : :

design house stockholm

photo: : designhousestockholm.com

: : this isn't brand new news, some of you might have already read about it. design house stockholm has launched their new website. with beautiful imagery and of course, wonderful products. one of my favorites, is the tall cup, .spin.

locally, you can find some of their stuff at .black ink. on Charles Street or by Harvard Sq. [Boston].

photo: : red.house

: : I just wanted to share my first item of my collection of vintage cups with you. [ i've mentioned before that I want to start collecting vintage cups and in particular Scandinavian vintage cups. you can find a good selection online on Japanese website flaska] .erica. was so sweet, and brought me a classic vintage Rörstrand cup, when she came to visit me last week. the name of the series is .alba. I'm calling the cup .alba. and I'm working on creating a very special place for her, where I can display my future collection. I am so excited! .thank you erica. !

pillow madness

photo:: design public

: : fall is here, there is no point in trying to deny it anymore. I love the summer, but I'm very thankful for our seasons. and there are things to look forward too about the fall. for example, cuddling up on the couch with a hot cup of cocoa after a long day at work. so, in that spirit, I thought I would suggest some pillows to spice up your favorite comfy spot.

i tried to pick pillows that would represent a broad spectrum. please visit the sites for many, many more choices.

above are pillows, variegated, by designer .corbett marshall and jim deskevich. my personal favorites because of the bold colors.

photo:: ikea.com

in the category of most affordable I think IKEA almost always wins. here are pillows bettan blom and bettan figur. so much fun, and so colorful!

photo:: habitatliving.com

inhabit has one of the largest collections of pillows. and YOU can be their next designer for their pillows. their "softer side of design" competition for new pillow patterns is going on right now. 36 more days left to enter! visit their website for more information.

photo :: thisisswigg.com

i've mentioned swigg before. a lovely place to be! these are their swigg snoozers, with different fabrics and patterns on each side of the pillow.

I found this Danish apparel company that also has a home collection via inreda.com, called .day birger et mikkelsen. great selection of pillows!

photo: : greenergrassdesign.com

greener grass design is one of my favorite places to shop online. they have a small, but wonderful selection of pillows. these are called amenity. perfect for the fall, rich colors and organic, natural patterns.

antigirl

photo: www.antigirl.com
: : my friend .ali. at work seem to have a stock of all these great artists. recently she sent me the works of antigirl. I just love her graphics! such beautiful organic forms. thank you .ali.

photo: www.intrade.se

: : I found this Swedish company called Intrade, through my Swedish design magazine Sköna Hem. Intrade is based out of Göteborg, my home town but has retailers all through the country. they import wallpapers from companies around the world. and it's one of the best collections I've seen. they have a lot of kids wallpapers too. definitely worth a visit to their website, and if you're in Sweden, find their products at any of their retailers.