Tag Archives: style

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.

 

 

 

Birthday Celebrations

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Ok, no one likes to admit they are getting older but is there any day more special than your birthday!? It is the one day of the year when it is ‘your day’. There are ~7 billion people on this earth but the day you were born feels as if it belongs to you! Whether you choose to share the celebration with anyone or keep it all to yourself the day you were born is special.

As tradition goes balloons are often part of the celebration like the Balloona Stool from Umbra www.umbra.com with its playful personality and punch of colour. With over 500 balloons this stool is guaranteed to make a ‘pop’ in any décor.

Who doesn’t love cake on their birthday! The Modular Kar Sofa makes lounging a piece of cake chair. Each ‘slice’ clicks into one another creating a piece of furniture that allows you to mix and match towards a design of your choice. 4-6 slices creates a chair, 10-12 slices forms a sofa.

Flowers, another beautiful addition to your day just like the striking design of Giovannetti’s Flower Chair. A true centerpiece with wit, style and naïve simplicity in visual impact.

And not to forget – the birthday toast. One must raise a glass and the Martini Chair designed by Zoran Svraka www.svrakadesign.com does just that. A flexible molded plywood chair connected with rubber string is both screw-less and glue-less.

To anyone celebrating a birthday today, this weekend or this month – enjoy!

PS. Happy Birthday Modmissy!

Images via: 1. Umbra 2. & 3. Opulentitems.com 4. Contemporary-home.co.uk 5. Svraka Designs

 

Art – Wherever, Whatever

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Art.  A word that describes a diverse range of activities.  Visual art – painting, sculpture, photography, film etc.  Interactive art – music, theatre, dance, literature etc.  Sometimes it is the simplest things in life that is art.   Last year while shopping in NYC I saw this store display of all white mannequins dressed in all white clothing. (I don’t even remember what store; there were lots!)  It was the layering of white that the stylist had assembled with pops of colour which made me stop and admire.  Art – and it was not in one of the many NYC galleries either.   I took a photo and loved the result. Reminds me of a room with all the furniture slipcovered in white and the beautiful azure blue ocean just outside the window.

Photo #1 – Modmissy, Photo #2 Houzz.com

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!!

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

 

 

 

More Fence Designs

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Last fall I wrote about my fence design dilemma. https://modmissy.com/2011/10/14/my-fence-design-dilemma.  Well the dilemma is still ongoing as I have not yet decided on the design of the fence that desperately needs replacing in my backyard.  Last weekend I decided to hang out in the city or as I like to call it I was a “tourist in Toronto” and took the opportunity to visit many different neighborhoods.  No sense travelling to other world cities if I don’t know my own city!  While walking through various residential areas I made a point of looking for interesting fence designs.  This is a great time of year to do some research as the greenery that will soon hide fences has not yet started to grow.  I noticed a design theme emerging with many of the style of fences that I came across – horizontal fence boards.  With my camera in hand I took photos of my findings.

One of the first fences I came across was this one and I liked it for a few reasons.  I liked the framing effect of the horizontal boards giving the appearance of panels; like a Shoji screen.  And I like the colour.  Definitely a good contender.

Next was a fence with horizontal boards that was not framed.  I really liked how the fence mirrored the design of the garage door.  Not to mention the fabulous contemporary house!  Although I thought that if it were not for the garage door this fence could have appeared less residential and more commercial-like.

 

Then I came across this unique fence that appeared both traditional and contemporary in design.  Built into a brick wall were panels with horizontal wood.  Breaking up the hardness of a solid brick wall the wood gave a soft relief to the fence.   This fence felt like English Garden meets Zen Garden.  I think this backyard would be interesting to ‘room scape’ in the summer.

Then I came across this fence that also had horizontal boards but the boards were staggered.  Being built in sections with very tall fence posts I felt that the mix of horizontal boards with prominent fence posts was a juxtaposition of styles.

So after a day of research I think I have come a little closer to solving my fence design dilemma.  Or maybe not!

All images via Modmissy