be a deer, would you? (more tales of the junque whisperer™)

the above photo is one of the most popular pictures from the maison21 design portfolio, added to over 3000 ideabooks on houzz.com, and 4 years after it was first published here on the blog,  i still often randomly run across it on the internets- usually uncredited-  but i guess that's the price of being a superstar... (please read 'superstar' in your best sarcastic voice)

and one of the most frequent questions i get asked about the photo is "where did you get the deer statue?", and sadly, i have to answer that it was vintage and the client's own, so i can only steer them in the direction of 1stdibs  with a "good luck!" (good luck to you *and* your checkbook!)

well, guess what the junque whisperer™ led me to yesterday? that's right, deer-landia, where we picked up this fabulously large version, all for our very own (much bigger than the one shown in client project photo- it's 3 feet tall, the largest of these thai brass deer we've ever seen in person).  it also turns out that even though they are separate rooms, our 3 foot plaster monkey and our 3 foot tall brass deer do not get along at all, so sadly, we need to find our deer friend a new home. if you live in southern california,  would you be a deer and drop by our hipswap shop to say hello? of course, there is a modest adoption fee involved (well, i guess that would be modest in comparision to 1stdibs... it's all relative, you know? ;-)

here's a round-up of some more little "dears" for inspiration...

coco chanel's paris apartment (maybe the most famous deer statues in the history of decorating)

deer at the atelier, circa 2007 (from our pinterest. these were about half the size of out current dear little friend)

designer fawn galli's home in domino

san francisco residence by redmond aldritch

last, my deers, i'd like to send you out with a song...

marc phillips rugs: design loves ps arts, cole sternberg studio tour

artist cole sternberg, ginna christensen of marc phillips and annie crowninsheild, owner of empiric studio.

marc phillips rugs will be holding a fabulous fundraiser this fall to benefit ps arts, an organization devoted to keeping the arts alive in public schools (so important in this age of budget cuts). marc phillips' ginna christensen, has gathered 8 los angeles based artists to design rugs for marc phillips, and they will be auctioned off to benefit ps arts and this past friday, ginna hosted a studio tour of downtown loft of cole sternberg, one of the artists whose work will be turned into a rug, to meet the artist and see his work and studio.

always cool to see an artist's work in progress.

loved this work.  i came very close to buying it on a payment plan- except for the whole not even being able to afford the payments on it thing! ;-)

cole's work while abstract in appearance is actually layered with political and social commentary, but you know us- we just like it cuz it's pretty.

i was actually impressed with the neatness of cole's working area. dude is a funny, extroverted, character, but serious about his work- qualities we like (and hopefully share a bit).

we were drawn to the the energy of cole's multilayered pieces.

the phrase "one day" is a repeating theme in cole's work, inviting the viewer to infer their own meanings from it.

this piece has quotes from politicans denying climate change, layered with animal themed paper shooting range targets.

i may not be able to afford one of cole's pantings (today ;-) but we all went home with a book of his work.

thanks ginna, cole and marc phillips for hosting such an artful afternoon- looking forward to the ps arts benefit this fall!

tvilum (high point market sponsor)

after posting about high point market the other day, now i can't stop thinking about how much i can't wait to go back in october, and how much i'm looking forward to seeing all these fantastic people again:

market kick-off dinner at the dee-lish bin33 restaurant in downtown greensboro-  from the top, moi, chemmine taylor smith, high point market authority; jaime derringer, design milk; scot meacham wood, the adventures of tartanscot; katie amour, matchbook magazine; jill seidner, material girls, and marisa marcantonio, stylebeat.

moi and cassandra lavalle of coco + kelley and ashlina kaposta of the decorista, having a late night snack at proximity hotel, the unofficial afterhours of high point market.

moi and katie armour of matchbook magazine

moi avec crystal gentilello of rue magazine and ashlina from the decorista at 220 elm

but before i can get excited about october market, i need to finish up coverage of april...

my second high point sponsor was tvilum, yet another member of the danish furniture mafia in the 220 elm building.  tvilum specializes in offering  quality-made furniture with contemporary european styling at a value price point (translation: they are tres affordable but you wouldn't know it by looking). one of the things that makes tvilum stand out is their commitment to sustainable furniture practices, something usually overlooked in the market at their price point- it's not so shabby to save money and feel good about doing it! fun fact learned in the showroom: did you know that the danes have been sustainably harvesting their forests since the 1700's? talk about green movement pioneers!

one of my favorite pieces was the above adjustable "move" bookcase- tons of style, storage and sculptural sensibility! we particularly like it in the shown driftwood finish. check out the video featuring our gorgeous spokesmodel, ashlina of the decorista as she gives "move" a demo:

we also loved the classic scandinavian styling of these modular storage pieces. we'd use them in a home office or media room paired with lots of vintage for an affordable mid-century modern chic vibe.

contract furniture sleek enough for the chicest design office, yet at a price that is realistic for an office budget!

we were really taken by the minimal styling of the monaco sideboard/media cabinet. simple yet chic enough to compete with much higher priced italian design.

and when we found out it came in black lacquer, our mind got to working on how we would use this chic but completely affordable piece in a client's home. we LOVE taking "low" budget items & pairing with other chicness, so the result looks high end but doesn't break the bank!

so we thought we'd pair it with some other great things we saw at high point like this brass lamp from arteriors, and create a little hi/lo vignette

we loved this carved and gilded rope mirror from alinea

and this abstract carpet from marc phillips

and we brought all it all toegther (via olioboard) and thought our sample hi/lo vignette looked like a million bucks. we'd EASILY put that budget sideboard  in a client's home, or even our own! would you ever guess it only retails for 600 clams?

click to visit the entire tvilum collection

thanks, tvilum! can't wait for october!

innovation (high point market sponsor)

you know, it was just a little over a month ago i was having a blast at high point market, though honestly, it seems like a lifetime ago- how time flies!  and here i am, just now getting a chance to post some more of the photos i took while there (which of course, is making me even *more* excited about market in october, which will be here in the blink of an eye. literally).

one of my first stops in high point is always to my friends over at 220 elm- they have a concentration of 'modern' showrooms that works well with my personal "mix it all up, but keep it modern" sensibility, plus, heinz kattenfield, the big cheese behind 220 (or the mayor of highpoint, as i like to call him) is just an awesome guy and a visit to high point wouldn't be the same without a chance to hang with him!

in one of those weird twists of fate, as i was getting off my plane in charlotte, i retweeted a tweet from one of the kids over at apartment therapy showing a cool black and white patterned wall.  i had no idea it was actually part of the decor of the showroom of one of my high point sponsors, innovation... small world, right?

i am ashamed to admit, i honestly didn't know a thing about my sponsor, innovation,  before i went to their showroom, and to be frank, after having recently shopped for sofa beds with a client, i had more than a little trepidation about having a convertible sofa manufacturer as a sponsor.  i was expecting to see the clunky and traditional sofabeds i saw  online, and here in LA and that made me a tad nervous. thank goodness my fears were laid to rest the minute is saw the below convertible sofa with its updated chesterfield styling:

"oldschool"

pretty stylish, right? no wonder innovation is now carried by ABC carpet & home in NYC. this awesome guest bed alternative is perfect for urban small apartment living, cuz' let's face it, we all need somewhere to park a guest now and then (talkin' to you, my drinks too much friend!).

the addition of a matching ottoman turns 'old school" into a sectional! the table grouping features sustainably harvested american hardwood tops.

this danish modern inspired styling on "unfurl" is pretty hip and cool (no surprise as innovation is a danish company- part of the 220 elm "danish mafia" family of furniture manufacturers).

love the simple conical wooden leg

florence knoll-y, no?

"pyx sleek" was a favorite as it reminds me of classic 70's italian styling. i'm thinking of converting my guest room back into a home office to give me space to park an intern or two, so this might be moving in as well, as i still want to be able to stash an overnight guest (you know, my "drink too much" friend ;-). plop a couple of bright ikat pillows on it, and you'd never know it was a sofa bed.

kids & teen rooms always need a place for overnight guests, so i'm keeping this ultra-modern transformers-esque chair in mind...

unfold and un-zip...

and voila! a bed for one!

click the red circle to visit innovation online!

more high point market highlights to come!

confetti collection lighting by avram rusu studio

we get a LOT of press pitches in our inbox every day (like, you have no idea. it's overwhelming sometimes), but not many of them make us wake up and take notice (air freshener? laundry soap? energy efficient windows? are y'all trying to bore us to death?)

but this one certainly got our attention:

cool stuff, right?

confetti collection lighting by avram rusu studio.