Out of hiding

I used to be a visual intern at ABC Carpet & Home back in the day and one nice friday I decided not to show up. So basically, I hadn't been there in a long time because I was too embarrassed to show my face. They have this whole Zen look going on that I'm not so crazy about now, but a lot of this organic wood that I'm getting into. They had some great bowls way out of my price range that i was successfully able to find at Marshall's Homegoods for 30 bucks. Anyway, the store is just worth going into, they have great ideas and amazing furniture.

knockoff on wood

My cousin Raul, an architect by trade, but freelance writer/interior designer/anything fabulous in actuality sent me this great site called White on White. You can get a lot of that mid century modern stuff for a fraction of the price (its not related to the original designers) but they are like exact case studies. For the budget starter the quality looks quite nice. I really want this side table. Can't decide between the wood and the stone.

S.A.L.E.

A.P.C. is having its semi-annual sale!
Another one I'm missing, at least its online. For some reason the site is giving me trouble!
This is all God watching out, he knows sales are a bad thing for me.
Thanks Carla for the breaking news!

p.s. there is boy stuff, love the boat shoes.

Sample Sayle.

It starts today and ends tomorrow 11 am to 7 pm. I get in tomorrow at 5:30..but there's no way I'll make it, besides all the good stuff will be gone. The good thing is a lot of this stuff will probably end up on ebay. So start checking like today.
The address: 95 Canal Street, Suite 300, (between Eldridge and Forsythe streets); 212-941-7210.

milano kooky

Love the look of the girl on the right taken by the Sartorialist in Milan.

Nothing makes me want to go thrifting...

....Like a little Chloe Sevigny.


I picked up the latest issue of the French self service magazine a month ago and was treated to an entire issue all about her. This magazine has amazing art direction, greaty experimentation with type and image. Really recommend it, even with its 25 dollar price tag, its hard cover and makes a very interesting coffee table piece. The photography is dynamite,( i love that word)
Anyway, back to Chloe, I don't know what it is, maybe her hint of prep that she somehow manages to make look cool or the fact that her hair works in more ways than one. She also is a big advocate of mom jeans, and god knows I love those.
The only time I've ever run into her was at that Church thrift I mentioned before on Park Ave S. and 21st. She just seems like she got a lot of good quirk.



Carla sent me this. See, she's funny. Flamingo Plaza anyone?

Kino on that idea

I don't want to sound like the world isn't entitled to fabulous products, but there's something special about finding that one great thing and sharing it with your friends, and keeping it to yourselves. Everytime I think I've come across something semi fresh within 6 months it blows up in the States and you suddenly feel like its lost its special something. Like Havaianas. I picked these up at a supermarket in Brazil and when I got back suddenly the cat got out of the bag (I think giselle's obsession had something to do with it). Same with Acne and Cheap mondays. I remember when Nora (always ahead of her time) came to visit me in Stockholm and I was so excited to tell her about Acne jeans. We get back to the states and within weeks Bam! They are available at Barneys. So what, I know isn't the whole point of this site to share the good finds? Yes, so I'll stop complaining but!!!! I still have one semi secret to share and who knows if these will every make it to the editors. Back in the day, my best friend Lauren was walking around in these gorgeous grecian style sandals. She told me she got the in Key West. For like years I had asked her to get me a pair and finally for my birthday two years ago she did. Kinos, they rock. Recently my sister went down and brought me a couple of pairs. They are all under 13 dollars more or less, and the quality is superb. Annnnd, now they are available online, so if you aren't planning to schlepp all the way down south you can just find them there.


Kino came from Cienfuegos, Cuba in the 1960s and set up shop a few years later in Key West, ever since he's been crafting these very comfortable, classic style sandals.

Rocking Chair Winner

Modernica has been making these Eames RAR rocker case studies for a while. I like them because they come in that plastic/ fiberglass look instead of the cheap looking plastic ones from DWR. Also they have a much broader color selection, you can get it as just a chair, not a rocker, you can get it as an armchair or without. They cost about the same as DWR but have a little more similarity to the originals. Maybe I'll find one on ebay...maybe I find something better that's not in every mid-century modern style home. This one piece is the exception, everything else is way overdone. but then again I'd take a Saarinen side table anyday.

The List

I have quite a bit of shopping to do for the new place, its time to make a list and prioritize. I really want to get nice furniture one piece at a time instead of just going to Ikea and buying a whole room. I'll definitely be frequenting the Chelsea flea market quite a bit. So in order of importance I need to find:

an air conditioner
a full size mattress
sheets/towels
hangers
a couch/ sleeper ( I have my first visitor on July 8th)
a bed frame
a full size mirror (tsk tsk vanity)

after I find those necessities, I get to find the fun stuff:
a coffee table
a lamp
rugs
a vase for flowers
a mirror for my mantle
a candle
and george foreman
a ricecooker
a bodum tea infuser
an eames rocker!!! more on this later...

Not to Wary

I came across this couple in a recent issue of Domino, and I suddenly had a big time crush. Linda Wary used to be a freelance art director (what a coincidence) and John Meyers went to Parsons (another coincidence) and headed the display departmentfor Anthropologie. They threw in the New York towel, and moved to Maine to start WaryMeyers Decorative Arts. They pretty much do interior design involving all things vintage. They spend just about everyday scouring flea markets, websites, estate sales, etc. and buy pieces they can't resist. When a client calls they go into their archive and resell. On the side she makes clothes and he paints and makes custom wallpapers. They also do set design. Can you see why I'm in love?


The dining room. Love the wallpaper.


Great bookshelf. I need to start a quirky collection of some sort.


And a peek into the bedroom.

Book Review #6: Second hand ideas

I picked up this book, Flea Market Style, by Emily Chalmers, a while ago, but now it will come in handy. It has great interiors that give plenty of ideas for someone going for this look. I'm having trouble deciding exactly the style I'm trying to go for, I want some mid-century modern pieces, but a) I don't have a big budget and b) my anthropologie loving side keeps veering my eyes for some things frilly. I'd be ok doing frilly but my room in Miami is already so pink and french and all that jazz, I want something completely different. What I like about this book is that many of the rooms have modern pieces but have managed to warm it up with some details from other periods, and it works. We'll see. For now I may have to settle for a mattress and a futon for my visitors.

Back to school.

I may get mixed reviews about this, but I've always loved Saddleshoes, and thanks to Muffy's, you can get them in all sorts of colors and styles for under a hundred bucks. They've been making these for decades, so you have to love that, get originals before Urban Outfitters goes and makes their own pleather version.

A penny saved

is still just a penny, and I'll be needing a lot of those now that I signed my lease. This Harry Allen pig bank from his Reality series came to mind. Too bad I can't afford it.


Harry Allen is one of a few New York based industrial designers represented by Areaware.


I also found the Fauna cushions that I love on the site, they've been around for a bit, I think they are pretty cool, and I love owls, my personal favorite animal.

The hills are alive.

Heidi Johansen, her name alone makes me want to yodle, and when you see her pics you'll agree. She's mastered that old postcard look with muted tones with selective saturation. I'm also digging the Austrian ensembles she nonchalantly throws in there, very Sound of Music chic. Check out the rest here.

On the topic of Ice Cream

This looks like it could be interesting, too bad I'm in Miami for the next week. Someone go look!

I scream you scream we all scream....

For Heartschallenger
Last week I was walking down Prince and was distracted by this baby pink ice cream truck called the Heartschallenger. If my info serves me correctly the driver was Lyla Safai, from L.A., but she's brought her little truck to the NYC, and its filled with ice cream and candies from all around the world. The seats were upholstered in Marimekko to add to its already cute exterior coverd in pink and unicorns. Word is you can rent the truck for private events and what-not. Once again, must be nice.....

Just one of those days.

Walking around waiting for stuff beyond your control...like the mail. Anyway I went to get some lunch at Dean & Deluca, and as I'm walking out, I nearly get runover by a stroller, I look up and it was Sofia Coppola and her semi-new baby, Romy. Made my day slightly more tolerable. On another note, I may have found a bed. There's a great charity shop near my old apartment on 21st and Park, that has amazing antiques at very reasonable prices. I think I may go back tomorrow to buy my first piece for my place. I have pics, but the girl hasn't moved out completely, so I'll hold off until I sign for sure and get the keys. Very excited!

SALE

Opening Ceremony is have a sale starting today. I'm saving for an apartment so I cannot attend, but apparently they'll be having some shoes for $45 dollars, Cheap mondays for $45, and other goodies. They pretty much carry Swedish labels and nice publications.


If I was a rich man....Odin is where I'd shop. Its another store that carries a very Svensk aesthetic on Lafayette. Its for men, but the accessories and what not are unisex. The same owners just opened a small shop next to the Odin in the East Village, called DEN, which will work as a small (like tiny, and no AC) boutique dedicated to one label at a time. The first ones up, who else, Cheap Monday. They not only have jeans, but sweats, dresses, sneakers, and more menswear.

Next of kin

You've surely read about the Olsen Twin label The Row, the ultra-luxury line they have at Barneys. Its quite a bit overpriced, but I guess if it makes you feel better to know you have that kind of stuff, then go for it. (I love the Olsen twins, I'm just saying, it would be nice to see something with their look, that one can afford while still paying rent, but clearly thats not their target, so its fine, the rest of us have Uniqlo and personality to hold us over) Anyway, now they are launching Elizabeth and James, named after their other two siblings, and the clothes is supposed to reflect "a relationship between a young boy and a young girl". I think thats a euphamism for "what we think is cool", but we'll take the inspiration story, they dress well enough to buy it. Pretty much its a mix of vintage looking pieces along with some modern looks, and I think they will have it at Intermix and Bergdorff Goodman and Neiman Marcus in the fall of this year. They've been wearing some pieces here and there. Here is a peak at the collection.

Book Review #5: Look at this

So our good friend Adrian Shaughnessy, who wrote the last book I mentioned, also just put this book Look at This: Contemporary Brochures, Catalogues, and Documents. It has amazing design work from Non-Format and a bunch of other people in Europe, here and Asia. It has a lot of pages, and a lot of pictures, and its ALL good stuff. Sometimes these design books get filled up with a bunch of crap and in between you get a garnish of something actually decent to look at, but this book I highly recommend. Its also refreshing to see that some "boring" clients actually do hire good shops to do beautiful design work for things such as annual reports. Anyway buy it or go sit at Barnes and Noble with some time and look at it thoroughly.

You'll like the sound of this...

Panasonic just put these out, the RP-HTX7 headphones. My lovely friend Whitney hooked it up with this lovely cream color, but they come in black, white, a funky green, and a baby blue. I think they retail at 60 dollars or so. You can find them on turntablelab.com. Another handy tool for distraction at the office. Actually they're better for staying focused.

Funny lady.

"I wouldn't want to be trendy, but not being trendy seems to be trendy at the moment."
Alice Lane, British make- up artist on her personal style

Hmmmm...then why the Wayfarers?

I spy...

this bright yellow corner on orchard street that I love, then find out its an optical institution. If only I didn't have 20/20 vision (I'm secretly hoping all this time in front of the computer screen will pay off, and soon I'll have an excuse to wear glasses once in a while.) Anyway Sol Moscot has been making glasses for 92 years in the Lower East Side, the frames are thick and nerdy, but I love them. Guys, take a hint, Johnny Depp is an Moscot man.
There's something for everyone, The store carries more than just their own kind, such as high-end designer frames, as well as vintage ones, and even some pharmacy style models.

Book Review #4

I picked up this book recently and read it on the plane. Adrian Shaughnessy is a British guy that started the design firm Intro, and now writes in all of our favorite design publications about the subject. This particular book is a quick but insightful read. I really like his tone and honesty, and his advice seems reasonable to follow. The book was designed by Bibliotheque, I like how the table of contents is on the cover, although lately I've been seeing that here and there. The Tiffany Blue book has an Intro written by Stefan Sagmeister, and each chapter is followed by interviews with some pretty well known designers like Neville Brody. It kind of makes you want to start your own design shop...which he doesn't suggest you do alone...Hmm...

take note

Rhodia. I love these French notebooks. So does Paul Smith apparently. I read in his book that he has stacks and stacks, he ended up making his own line for them. Must be nice to be Paul Smith. Anyway, they come in fun sizes, graph paper or plain and are perfect for doodling during meetings.

Uniqlo UT Project

Uniqlo rocks. The clothes is simple, good quality, and the design collaborations are like no other. Now the UT Project gives me one more reason to love this brand. Creator Kashiwa Sato called upon a mass of designers to create T-shirts, each catering to a different client of the Uniqlo brand. They have almost 1000 designs in the works. Most of the designs are great, but the packaging alone is beautiful. The shirts come in clear plastic cans, a la tennis ball. The labels boast a Pantone color pallete.


Terry Richardson shot the ads...


I love this girl, I saw The Kills perform in Stockholm, and she is seriously the most beautiful girl I've ever seen.


Mine.