Tag Archives: HOME

Time to Recline

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There is nothing better than getting supine in the summertime!  Stretching out and enjoying the sunshine atop a fabulous chaise lounge.  As we head towards the weekend I thought I would share some beautiful chaises to put you in the mood to lay back and relax.

The first chaise is the Faz Tumbona by Vondom.  www.vondom.com.  This contemporary modular chaise designed by Ramon Esteve is available in 11 fabulous colours.

The Canasta Chaise Longue by Patricia Urquiola for B & B Italia www.bebitalia.it is both traditional and contemporary in design.

Next is the Tropicalia Chaise from Moroso www.moroso.it.  The design envisages a tubular steel structure with complex geometrical shapes, embellished with a clever weft of threads that alternate solids and voids to a specific pattern, paying meticulous attention to detail.  Fun!

The Papillon Contoured Chaise by Michael Berman for Brown Jordan www.brownjordan.com is a contemporary take of a design classic.  This chaise’s curvilinear and cocoon-like shape with wing details echoes that of the papillon (butterfly).

The Bask Lounger from CB2 www.cb2.com is a study in sleekness.  This minimalist reclining lounger in grey-on-white stands on its own or looks great en masse poolside or dockside.

Have a great weekend!

The Tulip

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Significant to spring is the tulip.  A perennial favourite but too short-lived.

But the long-lasting variety, the Tulip™ Chair Collection, designed by Eero Saarinen has been around since 1956.  Stating that he was designing a furniture collection to “clear up the slum of legs in the U.S. home”, Saarinen created furniture that had a single pedestal or ‘tulip’ base versus the 4-legged style.  Inspired by a drop of high-viscosity liquid the cast aluminum base became Saarinen’s “one piece, one material” furniture philosophy.

Designed by Eero Saarinen for Knoll® is the Tulip Armchair.

The Tulip Stool.

The Tulip Side Table

The Tulip Table

So whether your tulips are in your garden, in a vase or one of the pieces from Eero Saarinen’s Collection, enjoy.

Furniture photos via www.dwr.com

 

Donald “Duck” Dunn

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Donald “Duck” Dunn, the legendary bass guitarist of Booker T. and the MG’s died this past weekend at the age of 70. Dunn was notable for his 1960’s recordings with Booker T and as a session bassist for Stax Records. It was Dunn’s bass lines recorded on many songs of the 1960’s that gave the world its ‘groove’; Otis Redding’s “Respect”, Sam and Dave’s “Hold On, I’m Comin’” and Albert King’s “Born Under a Bad Sign”. The influence of this ‘groovy’ music also had a large impact on fashion and décor of the 1960’s as you can see in these photos.

The popular Better Homes and Garden Decorating Ideas was the magazine of the time that captured home décor as seen in this 1960 issue.

 

Colour blocking and swirls were very popular for patterns of fabrics as seen in everything from furniture to clothing. The Rive Droite chair designed by Patrick Norguet covered in Pucci fabric.

 

Airline stewardesses circa 1960.

The lava lamp was invented in 1963.

 

‘Mid-Century Modern’ furniture was in full swing with Eames, Platner, and Panton to name a few creating the design classics of the 20th century.

 

This white Panton Chair designed in the 1960’s feels very similar to these ‘mod’ Go Go Boots designed by Clark Shoes in the 1960’s.

 

Fringes on lamp shades, doorway curtains and clothing were all the rage. Tie-dye, shag carpet, peace signs were signs of the times also. As we bid a final farewell to Donald “Duck” Dunn his legacy will live on forever in the music and the ‘groovy’ influences of that music that reverberated into décor and fashion.

BHG.com/Allmodern.com/Planetlava.com/Vitra.com/Candysays.co.uk

 

 

 

Breakfast in Bed

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Mother’s Day. A celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March, April or May. This weekend is my time to honour my ‘Mothers’. And what better way than to start the celebration with honoring thy Mother with breakfast in bed brought to her on a beautiful breakfast tray. Thought I would share some beautiful examples of breakfast trays.

The first tray is the Tiffany from Habitat, UK. www.habitat.co.uk. Constructed from oak with folding legs this handy wooden wonder will work every time.

Next is the Bent Wood Bed Tray from The Bed Tray Shoppe www.breakfasttray.com. Molded from birch veneers this tray includes 2 cork-lined beverage holders and a side slot to hold Mother’s morning paper or favourite magazine.

For a pop of colour there is the injection molded Le Petit Dej from ByWhiteDesigns available from Dwell. www.dwell.com. Peter White designed this acrylic tray with a built-in vase to solve the problem of ‘wet toast’ caused by the inevitable topple over of a water filled vase containing Mother’s flowers.

The X-Tray designed by Claus Langhoff available from dk Vogue www.dkvogue.com makes the delivery of Mother’s breakfast a cinch with the addition of the chrome base equipped with castors.

 

I love the Clear Acrylic Breakfast Tray with Magazine Rack by Wrights Plastics Ltd available from www.amazon.co.uk.

Whatever your style, breakfast in bed whether it is for Mother or yourself is a surefire way to start your day. Have a great weekend. And Happy Mother’s Day to all.

 

 

 

Martha Sturdy

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In the sidebar of my blog I have the ‘Modmissy Wish List’; the location where I place the item I am ‘wanting’ (not needing!) at the moment.  My current obsession – Martha Sturdy resin bowls.  www.marthasturdy.com.  Actually I have been enamored by Martha Sturdy resin bowls for some time.  I would love to have a large resin bowl on my dining table.  For over 30 years at her studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Martha has been creating statements in resin.  Each resin design is exclusive to itself; having its own colouration, air bubbles, irregularities and textures. The unique quality of each handmade piece makes it a true original piece of functional art.  (Functioning as a salad bowl?? – never!!)  With an international reputation in art, sculpture and design, Martha Sturdy is known for her distinctive style that is sophisticated, minimal and bold.  Martha also creates in steel, brass and aluminum.  Her three-dimensional sculptures are made from resin and hand cut hot rolled steel.  Architectural by nature Martha designs the artwork with cutouts to capture light and form drawing people in and asking them to interact with it; touch it, feel it.

Martha Sturdy Resin Bowl in Shimmer Red

Resin Bowl in Soft Grey Marble – looks like real marble

Resin Bowl in Plum

Martha Sturdy Brass Trays

Three Dimensional Sculpture “Marmalade” – resin and steel

Smile – it’s the Weekend!

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This past week has been a little grey outside and the weekend is calling for rain.  Therefore I believe that the upcoming ‘colour’ forecast calls for some cheery yellow.  Add a splash of yellow in your life like this Pantone Yellow M colour chip.

If you are brave enough paint a feature wall in a guest bedroom, the inside of a cabinet or a small piece of furniture.  If that’s too much how about listening to soothing sounds from a Tivoli radio. www.tivoliaudio.com

How about pumping up the energy of a neutral kitchen with the Jake chair from Room and Board www.roomandboard.com .  Takes tea time to a whole new level.

This contemporary yellow sofa from www.bebitalia.it would definitely create a statement.

So wherever you find yourself this weekend I hope it is a cheery one. And remember – smile!!

Blue Shutters

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Taking advantage of the nice weather yesterday I decided to get some exercise while the sun was still shining.  As I passed by this home now vacant and under major renovation the words of Forrest Gump played in my head, “You can tell a lot about a person by their shoes”.

Well there were no shoes lying about or construction boots either but the tell-tale signs were still present – the blue shutters.  The house had been sold and the previous owners are gone but the shutters still tell the story of who used to live there.  The shutters shade of blue was a paint colour very popular in the 1960’s and unless the previous owners were a young couple with a penchant for retro colours (which I highly doubt) this was the home where Grandma and Grandpa had lived for decades.   Colours have history.  In 1961 the Dulux® paint colour guide included Summer Blue, the same shade as these blue shutters.  Dulux no longer includes Summer Blue in their colour palette.  It’s dated.  (Just like clothing with huge shoulder pads that scream 1980!)

Blue is still a popular colour but it is the shade and hue that has changed to make it more current and up-to-date.  In the midst of all this renovation one can still tell that this home had been greatly loved and meticulously taken care of and I am sure the new owners will do the same but the blue shutters will be gone and replaced with colour that is more 2012-like.

My Desire for Pink

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This spring I have had a real desire to decorate with colour – especially pink.  I have never been a ‘pink’ person but I have been imagining my décor with hits of this bright hue.  It could be that the neutral colours of winter have me wanting anything but taupe, linen and grey.  I have been imagining how fun it would be to have something like this bright pink sofa from www.jamesstuartduncan.com and decorate a room around it with other hits of colours like juicy orange, sunshine yellow and chartreuse green.

So this past weekend I went shopping…..but for clothing/shoes/accessories.  Something I love to do!  A session of retail therapy always works wonders.  Of course a change of season is always a good excuse to go shopping too!  My subconscious mind must have been preprogrammed because the first thing that I found was a pink (actually raspberry) patent purse from www.badgleymischka.com.  I realized that my desire for colour had transferred over to my wardrobe.  It was way over my budget but I had to have it so I justified it by the fact that it cost a lot less than the pink sofa.

This purse became the ‘springboard’ for the shopping adventure that followed.  Those who know me will agree that generally I dress in black and white not bright colours so this shopping spree was a departure from the norm.  My eyes scanned the racks of clothing looking only for pinks, oranges, purples and chartreuses.

So this is what I came home with.

Whereas had I gone furniture shopping I would likely have come home with this – same colours, different pieces  Funny how that works!

Sofa and Chair: www.jonathanadler.com  Bouquet Chair: www.moroso.it    Lacquered Trays: www.westelm.com    Striped Pillow: www.roomandboard.com  Chartreuse Pillow:  www.westelm.com

 

 

 

Garden Mirrors

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My backyard is both my sanctuary and my little ‘green space’ in the city.  I look forward to being able to return to my summer hangout.  But until the warm weather is here I can patiently only watch spring’s progress in my backyard.  From my kitchen window, which is elevated above the backyard, I have a bird’s eye view to observe all the activity going on.  The buds on the trees are just starting to come out and some of the perennials are beginning to poke up out of the soil.  And the birds are so busy at this time of year.  Blue Jays, robins and cardinals are constantly flying about; looking for mates and starting to nest.  But here is the thing – I have a garden mirror that hangs on a wall in the backyard.  The mirror tucked in behind some greenery gives the appearance of creating visual space where none exists.  My yard is small so this ‘trompe l’oeil’ (French for ‘fool the eye’) is perfect for tricking one into believing that my backyard is spacious.  Same tactic as when a mirror is used inside a home.  But each spring I have to cover the mirror over with a plastic sheet to prevent birds from hurting themselves.  The birds, mostly robins, upon seeing their reflection in the mirror believe it to be another bird that is in their territory.  The bird fights itself to such a length that I have noticed blood on the mirror.  Not nice for the bird!  So I thought I would pass this info on to anyone who may have a garden mirror.  Cover over the mirror during springtime until the birds are finished mating.

A photo of a robin in spring – let’s protect him.

My garden mirror in spring before plant foilage covers over.

My garden mirror in summer somewhat hidden from surrounding foilage.

All images via Modmissy