happy 4th!

silly humans. what good are fireworks? if you can't chase it, bite it, or eat it, why bother?

oh well, enjoy your noisy, useless holiday anyway. 

oxoxo, 

richard the lionhearted

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hmmmmmmm...

something's brewing behind this construction wall on the corner of melrose and croft...

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california home + design digital edition

quirky art and refreshed mid-century modern furniture on the cover signals a new look inside...

do y'all remember waaaaay back in 2007 & 2008, when it seemed like the shelter magazine was going the way of the dodo bird, with titles shuttering left and right?  well, who'd imagine just a few short years later that design magazines would be flourishing, with the remaining print titles doing quite well, and a whole crop of new online digital titles expanding our pretty little world?  yay!

color!

even in the dark days of what then seemed like the implosion of design publication industry, one of the bright spots was the thriving regional design magazines from all over the country who continued to publish great homes, issue after issue.  the drawback of course, was the availability of these titles- unless you live in new york or LA and have a kick ass magazine stand down the street, your chances of finding a regional magazine outside of its region served ain't so good- but not any more, thanks to the internets!

eclecticism with an industrial edge.

the latest magazine to go digital, and thus instantly expand it's circulation from regional to national is one of our favorite titles, california home + design, and a title that is getting even better under its young and savvy new editor, erin fehrer (yay for new blood and new ideas!)  the recently launched digital edition is the first under erin's leadership, and by next issue, the magazine should showcase her new vision in it's entirety- can't wait!

loved this kitchen 'refresh' (existing cabinets repainted and freshened with new countertops, appliances and light fixtures, and that bold fabric really updates the look)

we loved the july-august issue's eclectic selection of homes, and can't wait to see what erin has in store for september!  why don't y'all take a spin through the new digital edition (attached below) and let us know what you think?  oh- and pay extra attention to page 34 where you might see a familiar face smiling out at you!







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glassy-eyed (home grown favorites from dwell on design, 2011)

as we mentioned in an earlier post, we had the privilege of spending the day at the dwell on design conference on friday- the largest design event on the west coast (and my aching feets agree- it's pretty big).  all kinds of design goodness is on display, like furniture lighting and home accessories, as well as kitchen, bath and building products- even cars and pre-fab houses!  for those of you lucky enough to live in the LA area, we recommend that you get on down there tomorrow (sunday) for the last day to do some design 'splorin (if you didn't go already- seems like half the people we know already did); and for the those of you who live out of town, plan on being *in town* next june to partake in all the fun...  lastly, for those of you who have design products to push, i would say to FOR SURE book a booth for next year, as we attended on the media/trade day, and it's excellent way to get your product in front of the eyeballs of designers and architects, who might become loyal, repeat customers, as well as bring your product to the attention of media outlets and influencers to maybe score a little publicity- who knows you might even get lucky enough to get your product in front of someone like *me* who's going to not only recommend my clients buy your products, but i'll throw some free publicity into the deal as well! ;-)  of course the final two days is open to the public, so you can actually sell right off the floor direct to consumers- it's win-win-win.

two of my favorite product lines from the show had much in common- both are artisan, hand-made products; both use the same raw material and techniques (yet produce different aesthetic results); and both are made practically in my own back yard- we love that the economic benefits and jobs stay local, a true rarity in this day of chinese made everything...

caleb siemon glass studio

first up is the glass studio of caleb siemon- m21 was blown away by the quality and richness of his hand-blown vessels and in particular, his new line of amazing lighting fixtures. the fixtures have a a great price-point for what are basically hand-made works of art. what surprised us the most about the line is that though it is less than 50 miles from our doorstep, we'd never heard of it or seen it before (and it's not like we don't shop for a living or anything...)

the chaos pendent is much prettier in person.

again, you can't get an idea of how lovely these pieces are via a photo...

we were very happy to have made this discovery at dwell, and we will be using some delicious caleb siemon pieces in a future project to be sure...

joe cariati glasswre

next, we loved the fanciful shapes and colors of the glassware of of joe cariati (retro influenced, but wonderfully modern too).  we were familiar with cariati's work, and even posted it to our tumblr, but had no idea he was locally based as well (el segundo) and we've never seen the enitre line of vases and bottles all grouped together- cariati's booth was like a little jewel box of glassy goodness.

these white pieces are new to the line and blew us away- so sexy.

we'll be posting some more finds from dwell on design in the coming days, but again, if you can make it to downtown LA tomorrow for a visit, m21 highly recommends you check it out for yourself, and if not, we'll see y'all next year, k? start planning now...
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yay!

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