style obsessions: splayed leg furniture

I suppose this goes along with my love for mid-century modern furniture and anything Knoll, but here are some other favorites around the web of "splayed-leg" furniture. Enjoy!

"Splay-Leg Table and Tray" [coffee table] by George Nakashima for KnollStudio. (image via Knoll.com)

Scissors Chair | Knoll Studio Museum

Mantis Chair | Designed by Craig Bassam for BassamFellows | Design Within Reach

Prouve EM Table | Designed by Jean Prouvé produced by Vitra| Design Within Reach

Eames Plastic Side Chair | Designed by Charles + Ray Eames | Hive Modern

Adams Nightstand | West Elm

Kingstown Bar Stools | Studio Dunn

Studio Desk | Blue Lounge
(this desk is pretty cool - very tech-oriented / cable-friendly! click the link above to see more about it!)

style obsessions: retro credenzas

Another style obsession of mine is RETRO CREDENZAS or sideboards. I love them in their original 70's orange-y wood, I love them repainted in fun colors, I love modern, streamlined styles in metal or laminate. I love them all!

Here are some faves:

originally from Apartment Therapy Harper + Caleb House Tour.
(also, can we talk about how awesome that wallpaper and starburst mirror are!?)

originally from Apartment Therapy Vintage Furniture post.

originally from Apartment Therapy Vintage Furniture post.

Florence Knoll credenza. Painted with marble top.

Okay, so this is more of an end table/chest, but I still love it!
Florence Knoll Chest 125 from Knoll Museum.

MG-4 Credenza from Luna Lounge Design

Sussex Credenza by Terence Woodgate from Design Within Reach

Design*Sponge Before+After: Mary's Credenza

fun find: Jewelry Storage

I have been wanting a new way to store my jewelry for quite some time now. I have an Ikea Malm dresser w/ flip up top for jewelery storage, but I'm running out of room and have some necklaces that get way too tangled when lying down and really need to be hung up.

I have loved the idea of shadow boxes or picture-frame jewelry storage every since I saw it a while ago, can't remember where I first spotted it though.

This post from Apartment Therapy reminded me again how I would love something like this.

image from Better Homes and Gardens

It was rumored that my friend Katie might have had something for me like this for my birthday, but that someone...might have damaged it...so I never got it. I want to make my own but I'm wondering if I should just hold out. Katie? Thoughts?

window frame jewelry display from The Borrowed Abode

frame + old radiator grill - love this! from i could so make that

these are gorgeous. originally from Pottery Barn, but no longer available. you can totally DIY these!

another awesome tutorial. vintage picture frame + hardwire mesh = funky, functional storage. from Julie Ann Art. seriously, this is just cutting wire and stapling it to a frame. how easy is that!?

How do you store your jewelry? Box? Hanging on a wall? Hidden in your closet?

style obsessions: arc floor lamps

I've been trying to find information on who started the "arc floor lamp" trend, but have only been able to come up with a few names: George Kovacs and Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. 

The Castiglioni brothers designed the floor lamp with inspiration from a street lamp in 1962. Their arc lamp is considered one of the classics of modern lighting design and is part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection. It is the last image below (Arco Floor Lamp) and link for more information.

Kovacs is a well known name in modern lighting for introducing the first American made halogen torchiere ("lamp on a tall pole with a small head holding a slender quartz bulb") and the "Save Your Marriage" lamp ("twin adjustable lights attached to the same plate above the bed"). Info from here.

Here are some of my favorites:

Possino Euro White Marble Base Floor Lamp from Lamps Plus, $299.99.

George Kovacs Polished Chrome Arc Floor Lamp from Lamps Plus, $360.99

Twiggy Floor Lamp, made in Italy, Hive Modern, $2338.00

Arco Floor Lamp, made in Italy, Design Within Reach, $2,696.00

style obsessions: sectionals

One thing that has remained consistent in my design style is my love for sectionals. Now I'm not talking cheesy, bulky, leather wrap-around sectionals - but modern, retro, neutral colored chaise + sofa sectionals.

Funny how when I had the opportunity to buy a sofa/sectional I ended up buying a pretty basic, transitional and still-not-broken-in-or-very-comfy-even-after-four-years couch and matching loveseat.

Here are a few of my favorites from the web:

Image from Apartment Therapy. I adore this sofa. Have no clue where it's from though.

Karlstad sofa + chaise from Ikea. I love it in grey.

Cini Boeri Lounge for Knoll Studio (I know these aren't sectionals - but i still love the low, comfy look). Image from Neocon 2011 Showroom Highlights.

Gus Modern Carter Sectional Sofa from All Modern/CSN Stores. I love this style.

Santa Barbara Sectional from Vivavi.

Modern Fabric Sectional Sofa from Tosh Furniture.

Grey Fabric Sectional Sofa from Tosh Furniture.

Modern Grey Fabric Sectional Sofa by Tosh Furniture.

I'm definitely drawn to a few key elements: neutral (mostly grey) colors and textured fabrics, visible metal frame/leg and a medium height back with floppy, loose cushions.

before + after: dining room chairs

well, it happened. i finally got the supplies and painted two of our dining room chairs!

here are the chairs before priming and painting. of course i had to take the worst picture in the worst possible location.

chairs after priming (please note that gorgeous linoleum we have. also, you can faintly see in this picture the random wood-grain patch under the drop cloth and paint can)

finished chair!

the process was pretty easy - i wiped the chairs with a damp cloth, used fine grit sandpaper, wiped down again, primed and then painted several coats of red (two full coats and a third touch up). i ended up using a latex semi-gloss though i originally wanted an oil-based high-gloss because it's more durable and cures faster (so i've read). however, the oil-based only came in set colors (and i didn't really want stop-sign red), so i was willing to give up on the oil-based and high-gloss finish to get the paint color i wanted.

this gives you a great shot of the rotting wood that is bee infested. they were pretty quiet and out of the way when i was taking these picturse, so that was nice.

when i finish up the other four chairs here's what i'll do differently:

1. focus more on the priming and allow more time to dry between prime coat and final paint. there were some parts of the chairs that did not cover well with the primer and those parts covered worse with the red paint. also, i think that the hour i left to dry in between priming and painting wasn't enough, as it seemed like some of the prime coat came off when i was painting with the red.
2. sand more. i think i'll focus more on sanding the legs and the back in hopes that it will help with the primer situation described above.
3. do all steps in the basement. i did the priming and first coat in our kitchen. although it was nice doing it with the doors open, it was easier after i put them downstairs and had lots of room to spread out my drop cloth. especially when i do the four remaining chairs, having the extra room will be great!
4. get a smaller or foam brush. although my brush is nice, it was more of a medium size and was hard to do the legs and the spindles on the back. i think that the foam or smaller brush would help with primer coverage as well. also, with a second brush, i will be able to enlist the hubby's help!!

check out that amazing tomato-herb plant we have growing!

i'm hoping to do the other four chairs this weekend and maybe start on the table. the table will be in white and possibly with an oil based paint.

UPMC Hamot Women's Hospital

We were honored to win the bid for the Patient and Waiting Room furniture for this project last year. We worked with our Hamot contact and the interior designers from Rectenwald Architects to finalize the furniture and layouts as well as coordinate the fabrics, vinyls and finishes. The hospital has been open since December 2010 and was featured in this month's Healthcare Design Magazine!

Hamot is on the cover! You can read the article here.

For the project, we used Carolina and Versteel furniture in both the patient and waiting rooms. The waiting rooms were composed of the Voyage, Embrace and Basil series and Versteel Companion side chairs. The patient rooms have Carolina's Orchestra recliners, Coronado sleeper loveseats/chairs and Solace gliders in select areas. The patient rooms also had the Versteel Companion side chairs.

Here are some pictures.

you can check out more images on flickr. these pictures were taken by my sister, Rachel Lusky of Puremotif Photography or by me (they are noted on the flickr site).

thoughts: interior design

i was out at Mercyhurst College the other night for the Interior Design senior show and every year i'm struck by how things are continually changing and improving. back when i graduated (five years ago) we only had one or two seniors doing computer rendering (that's right - i rendered my entire 10-board museum project on craft paper with chalk and oil pastels). almost every year since, 100% of the students have been using some form of computer rendering. this year, many of the students printed their renderings directly to formcore with the help of FastSigns. they looked awesome.

most of the projects start in AutoCAD. some students go from there to Sketchup (if they haven't started in Sketchup). somehow it goes through PhotoShop and Artlantis (i don't even know what that program is) and this year, they have been starting to use Revit along with the others.

i've been using AutoCAD for over 10 years, so it's definitely something i'm comfortable using. because of the nature of my job (mostly furniture space planning, layout design and coordinating fabrics and furniture finishes mostly in existing buildings), we don't have a huge need for rendering programs other than those like 20-20 Visual Impressions, or sometimes throwing things into SketchUp for a quick visual.

so, here's my first question - what do you interior designers and architects out there use? still hand sketching? have you transferred to Revit? if you're a student, what are you learning or what do you prefer?

another thing i noticed at the show is how the students' focus is really on the architecture portion of the interior (and sometimes exterior) and the finishes that go along with that (flooring, paint, wallcoverings). however, they don't really put any emphasis on furniture AT ALL - they just pull in random symbols that look cool. being a major furniture nerd (and selling it for 6 years), i don't think this is such a good thing. personally, i think that Interior Design of both commercial and residential spaces is based HEAVILY on the furniture and fabrics that are used in the space. i think they affect the design thesis equally as much as (if not more than) the walls, floor plan/layout, room placement, etc. i think it would be nice to see a focus back on that in future shows. working in healthcare a lot, we really see a focus on how the furniture affects the patients and healing (with comfort, anti-microbial finishes, functions) as well as the paint colors or layouts of the space. i think it would be good to know the rational of why for the furniture they pick.

i'm not sure about other colleges and schools and what they are teaching. interior designers (and students) out there - what's your opinion? what's your preferred platform and how do you see the industry of interior design changing today?

Versteel Trip

so, i know i've talked lots about going to Jasper, IN for work to visit this awesome company called Versteel, but i never talked much about the trip itself.

my boss and i left bright and early Monday morning and headed for the Erie "International" Airport. okay, so, the airport may only go to like, three different other airports, but i tell you - 10 minutes to check in and no line at security at almost ALL times? it's worth an extra layover.

we arrived in Jasper, checked into our hotel (where they had shirts for us and little goodie bags of water, coffee and a coffee mug), then went on a short tour of the town before hitting up the showroom and offices.

Versteel showroom/offices on right, manufacture plant on left

the first day we received an overview of Versteel products and got to check out all the fun things in the showroom. Versteel started as a company providing parts to other furniture vendors until they realized - hey, why don't we just do it all? all of their manufacturing takes place in their plant in Jasper, with some specialized parts (like chrome plating) done in a facility a few hours away.

lobby, new furniture series Immix (in orange)

on Tuesday we were given a tour of the manufacturing facility by non other than the president of the company. it was so cool how he understood and explained everything that went on in the plant, knew the workers by name and had such a passion for his employees and what his company stands for. the majority of the parts they use are recycled and what isn't used is recycled. and again - all of their products are made in the USA.

we were able to meet our customer service representatives, government contract specialists, product designers and engineers, tech engineers - pretty much everyone on staff. being able to meet and know your vendors personally really drives you to want to sell their product. and again - seeing how the company functions, what they stand for and how they operate - this is a great company. i love selling product we believe in.

furniture showroom

we also got to see some of their new prototypes of furniture and ideas they are working around (that are still secret!!) as well as see some cool images of custom product that they do. because they are a small company that builds everything on-site - they pride themselves in the ability to do custom work - you want something you don't see as standard? just ask! more than likely, they'll do it - or at least try.
 

one of the lovely German delicacies at the Schnitzelbank Restaurant

there were three birthdays to celebrate - the waitresses sang to us

i had never been on a plant tour before, and their's was just awesome. walking through and seeing robotic machines bending steel for chair and table parts that we've sold to customers was just so neat. we got to watch them laser cut steel, weld pieces together, go through powdercoating, upholster chair seats and backs, assemble everything and get it in boxes. i suggest anyone selling any type of furniture to try to see how your lines are made! it gives you such a different perspective and appreciation.

another shot of the Immix seating system

Versteel reception. all the metal is done like their Vela series bases.

so, the trip was great. thanks, Versteel, for the opportunity to learn more about your company! now - let's sell some Versteel!