Spring forward with West Elm

Before the Hols I got to meet up with the always inspiring Alex Bates, West Elm's creative director, to get the lowdown on what was happening at WE for Spring, and what we can look forward to for - dare I say it - Summer!

Alex's current influences centre on both the art world and artistic expession - Art Basel in Miami and the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo - as well as architecture and the move towards greener materials, and then travel, she absolutely LOVES the Jaipur region in India. In store, terrariums and indoor gardening is big news at West Elm this coming season since they are, as Alex explains, healthy, wonderful and calming and we should all be living with plants (and the collection designed by stylist Shane Powers is gorgeous). There'll be more antique influences, like in the rather swank Modern Windsor Chaise (here) and the Scroll Headboard below, which takes a trad form and re-interprets it so it can be layered into an interior to give it what Alex would descibe as soul - it really is all about the mix this year at WE, and how you personally interpret their pieces.

One of Alex's most fave pieces from the new line is the artist designed rug collection, expecially John-Paul Phillippé Art Rug, a fantastic modern design which is woven using natural un-dyed wool (it's lovely enough to hang on the wall). Tabletop steps it up too, as does a whole new look at bath, which encompasses three different looks that you'll see hinted at throughout the store - Swedish, Globalist and Naturalist - and then for Summer keep an eye out for WE to move into the kitchen and really get into cooking and entertaining in a big way, as welll as intro-ing the first David Starck Summer collection. Phew!

From the top - Here's one of the Shane Powers layered indoor garden pieces. Next is the Scroll Headboard, as well as some lovely block printed bedding. Then there's the John-Paul Phillippé Art Rug, see what I mean about hanging it on the wall? LOVE this mixed-up tabletop shot. And finally, here's a bathroom to definitely get stylishly wet in...

Were you in Milan?

I was not. In fact, during the gigant-o Milan furniture fair I think I had laundry to do, which must've been the reason why I didn't get over to Italy. There was some fabulously barmy and brilliant stuff on show though from, well, just about everyone who's anyone. One of the big names who exhibited was Vitra, who intro'd the new customizable Suita Sofa by Antonio Citterio in a series of cool room sets styled up to give you the design equivalent of the warm and fuzzies. Whadya think? The first is sweet (love the owl pillow), but then, that shade of blue is pretty great in the second shot, not to mention that tie-dyed rug, and oh, last but not least, that lemony yellow is pretty darned fresh and yummy... Check out more on Vitra at plan b. [all images: Vitra]

California dreaming (again)

There’s probably not too many folks you can name that have worked on projects for both the Beastie Boys and Trina Turk, and published their own book, not to mention had homes show up in Dwell and the LA Times Magazine practically simultaneously. That person is California based architect Barbara Bestor, who was nice enough to say yep when I e-mailed her about running some of her work here on the blog. The book (which you might already have a copy of) is Bohemian Modern: Living in Silver Lake and her projects are – from my point of view - just about a perfect combo of modernist sensibilities and a laid back style of living. Take a boo below at Bestor’s home Glendower, uh-huh, that exterior shot shows it sitting beneath Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis-Brown House in Los Feliz, and the following image is a peek at the shaded back patio and pool. Next up is a couple of shots of the Floating Bungalow (check the March issue of Dwell to see more), and finally an exterior and interior of the Surf Shack, designed for photographer Dewey Nicks, which popped up here in the LA Times mag. Seriously, with this kind of inspiration I could so easily be talked into buying a one-way ticket to LA... [Image 2: Vårt Nya Hem. Image 3,4: John Ellis. Image 6: Dewey Nicks. All other images: Bestor Architecture]

Simply gorgeous

Okay, after a slight fashion-y detour in the last post, we're back in a particularly gorgeous all wood architectural space. While I'd like to think I could live this kind of simple, uncluttered life in the snap below I just don't think it would be possible. Where would all the collectibles go, and what about some art? Anyways, this is the rather lovely new Raleigh line of sofas and chairs from the folks at DWR. The seating, designed by Jeffrey Bernett and Nicholas Dodziuk, has a swish streamlined Danish modern feel to it (the cantilevered walnut frame is extra sweet) and looks awfully nice with DWR's Skagen coffee and nesting tables.

Julia Black: Staying in the closet

With New Year’s resolutions and must-do lists in mind, just the thought of tackling my closet gives me a headache. This January, not only do I need to clean mine, I also need to source an entirely new closet system that can smartly handle all my clothes and accessories, all while staying within a relatively thrifty, post-holiday budget. Thankfully, West Elm has once again managed to answer my prayers in efficiently chic home décor, this time with the Bergen Closet Collection. All the shelves, drawers and racks within the line are both stackable and portable, so I'll get that posh custom look and can always take it with me should I ever want to move! The icing on the cake: The collection (available in chocolate & white) is made with FSC-Certified wood veneers (which means it’s using material from sustainably managed forests), uses eco-friendly hardwood construction (so no MDF and therefore less glue and other icky stuff) and is finished with water-based stains and lead-free lacquer. If that isn't good news enough, most of the hardware is made from recycled materials. Love!

To read more posts from Julia click here, and to check out her cool blog click here.

Jealous of the kidlings

I am a bit of a kid at heart, so, when you match that up with some great design, I'm completely sold. Our Children's Gorilla is a Stockholm based design firm that's hits both of those fronts absolutely perfectly, so much so that I'd love to get my sticky mitts on most (or all) of their gear. The three ceramic money boxes below, designed by Pernilla Jansson, manage to be both edgy, fun and cool at the same time. Il Buono and Il Cattivo have a bit of a 60's craft vibe about them and hark back to iconic Spaghetti Western characters The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Il Brutto - The Ugly - didn't make it into this shot, but check out the OCG website for a look at him. I fancy all three of them, though maybe they're a bit too cool to smash open once they're full of pennies, buttons and bits of string.

For more stuff that may make you slightly jealous of the kidlings check out their fun (and award winning) Facestape, as well as the totally fab Skullcave.

Every day is a holiday

Wouldn't that be nice? Yes, we're rushing headlong into that busy time of year. So, rather then letting things look like Christmas has exploded in your house why not take a more pared back approach to the whole shebang? Talking of pared back, you should definitely pop in to Ikea to rifle through their Holiday collection. The line this year is simple, fresh and graphic, like the cool Kallt light fixtures below that - I think - are fab enough to leave up all year round. Thankfully they haven't forgotten the nuttier side of things, just take a gander at these hilariously quirky gift bags printed with what looks like a veritable army of elves. I think they'd be just the ticket filled with chocolate covered almonds and tied up with a scrap of red ribbon. There, I just sorted out all the folks on your impossible-to-buy-for list.

Bowling 50's

Lovely news this morning from Normann Copenhagen about the company reviving a design classic; the Krenit bowl. The fine-edged and ultra-simple enamel bowls, designed by Herbert Krenchel in 1953 (they won a gold medal at the Milan Triennale in 1954) were in production until 1966, and now have hit hot collectible status. Normann Copenhagen's re-issue comes in three rather sober colours - white, blue and green - so we'll just have to keep our digits crossed that they go and get all the original happy colours (like the red and yellow) back into production. Krenit is available in two sizes, including the large never-before-produced badekarret size (which translates into English as bathtub) and, well, I totally fancy a slew of them scattered down the centre of my dining table...

That first snap shows the original bowls, the second is Mr Krenchel himself, and the third shows the new Krenit bowls in all the available colours. If you'd like to get your sticky mitts on them, drop Canadian online design retailer Lumiaire a line to see when they'll be available.

  

PS I love you

The other day I overheard an interior designer say how much he hated Ikea, slagging it off as cheap and nasty, and I thought to myself how he'd completely missed the point. Their affordable design means that anyone and everyone can have access to cool gear, no matter what stage of life and how deep their pockets might be. I've gotta say, if you're too posh to have Ikea in your house, then you obviously far too posh for me, lol.

The new Ikea PS collection is finally in select stores across the country (hello Boucherville, Etobicoke, Edmonton and Coquitlam) and is definitely on the cool side. The line employed hot designers such as Hella Jongerius, and edgy all-woman Front Design group, to come up with a slew of fab stuff. In researching the stories behind each piece I stumbled across a bunch of Ikea PS videos that I thought would be sweet to share. The first gives an animated overview of the collection, the second (subtitled in French) digs deeper and follows Hella Jongerius to India where the Mikkel wall hangings are made - and how brilliant that each one is signed by the craftswoman that made it... Click here to check out the rest of the videos (be sure to watch them in HD).

   

IKEA PS Hella Jongerius en Inde
Uploaded by Hopscotch_NM - Arts and animation videos.

Buh-bye serial killer's den

We are totally ending the week on a high note. The laundry area is now a picture of streamlined modernity, completely kitted out with Ikea kitchen cabinetry to maximize on desperately needed storage (errr, coz we had none, lol). Just take a look at that first shot below, snapped when we first bought the house 13 months ago. Ummm, yep, it was obviously the vile den of a serial killer. If anything, the photo makes it look way nicer than it was - Seriously.

I hafta tell you the Ikea installers were stellar. Apart from doing a brill job fitting the cabinets into quite the wonky space, they swept up after themselves and left the place spotless. So, here's the what's what in laundry land, with a few extra pics below to help figure things out - Abstrakt white hi-gloss doors, aluminum and white Numerar countertop, Strecket handles, a Lagan sink and a completely gorgeous white Ringskar faucet (which'll be installed on Monday). It's laundry love fo' sho'.

     

My sister's fridge

We've been having a shoptastic time and are back in London after a few fab days in Glasgow. I'm working on a lovely London market post as well as a piece on Glasgow too, but while you're being patient for that, here's what I found on my sister's fridge - A gorgeous postcard from Stoke Place. They're the same folks behind the Ilse Crawford designed Crown Inn in Old Amersham (more on that here), so the interiors are just as jammy. Love the dining room below, and make sure to check out the rest of their website for more great shots.

Puzzle piece

Hmmm, do I have room for another wallpaper in the house? lol. Maybe... When I saw Puzzle from Graham & Brown in person I immediately started planning where and how it could fit into our scheme. It's quite the hardwearing little monkey - splash resistant, UV resistant and scrubbable - and the faceted textured hi-gloss pattern is really quite fantabulous. Oh, and sneak peek alert; I'll be visiting G&B when I'm in the UK soon, so I'll hafta let you guys in on whats coming down the pipe in print and pattern!

Have knife, will travel

The Swiss Army knife, y'know, the one with the tool that'll get boy scouts out of horse's hooves, is turning 125 and as part of the celebration has hooked up with Airstream. They'll only be making 125 of their Victorinox Special Edition 19ft trailers which, if you take a look below, are pretty sweet. The interior is hooked up with polished surfaces, custom bedding and more Swiss Army tools than you can shake a stick at (though I might ixnay those red dishes...). I've always fancied an Airstream, not only for a road trip, but how fab would it be to park one at home for when the inlaws show up for a few days? And, if the Swiss Army trailer isn't to your taste, then take a boo at Airstream's 16ft DWR model, which comes kitted out with bits and bobs by George Nelson, Tom Dixon and Objekto.

 

No acid wash, but...

I blogged about Successful Living From Diesel, Diesel Jean's new furniture line with Italian manufacturer Moroso, over on Posted Homes the other day (take a read here). At the time there was talk about the lighting side of the collection, designed by Diesel and manufactured by Foscarini, but no snaps had surfaced. So, after a bit of noodling online I've discovered enough worth sharing. The lighting has the same vibe as the furniture - young, laid back and edgy - just check out the sweet lightning bolt pull on the Graf table lamp in the first shot below. Picking up from the furniture's rock and roll direction you'll see the Cage pendant and table lamps (that look like mics), images of mixing boards and amps on the Graf lamp shade, punky metal on the Studs lamp base, and crunched facets on the Rock pendant. Oh, and of course Diesel hooked up a music video to launch the line... lol. Click here for a list of Canadian dealers for Foscarini.

    

Snap judgement

I do love good photography, combine that with vintage modern objects that are for sale and I'm solid gone. Roan Barrion of Modern Love (who I've posted about here before) certainly has a way with a camera, and has an eye for finding special and unusual pieces that could finish off any interior. Take a peek below and you'll see what I mean. Oh, and Modern Love is based in Winnipeg which adds that nice dab of Canadian cool, though of course Roan will happily ship worldwide. He's also just launched a Facebook page for Modern Love (check it here), so I suggest you become a fan so you can instantly see all of his latest finds, not to mention all that brill photography.

  

Streamlining Louis

My mate Bev Hisey has had the vintage Louis loveseat below kicking around for the last 15 years. In its last incarnation - slipcovered in white denim - it leaned definitely to the Shabby Chic side of things. Then trouble struck, when Aisha, Bev's cute yet troublesome cat, decided to use the loveseat as a litter box one too many times. The slip was dumped and the loveseat was shipped off to collect dust in storage at the upholsterer's.

A while back Bev and I had hit the road to check out a fabric outlet where she discovered a tough as nails and terribly sharp slate grey wool; perfect for a re-do for the loveseat. Bev stuck with the distressed painted finish, had the guts entirely replaced (oh, Aisha...), then went for a severe yet chic upholstery job. I think it looks rather smashing, and just goes to show that a good frame can last years, survive both cats and Shabby Chic, and still look streamlined and modern.

 

No, don't put it over the fireplace

For those of you asking the perennial question Where do I put my flatscreen? this might be a swanky solution worth considering. The M21 Flat Panel Console from Visionary Boutique looks like it was swiped directly off the set of Mad Men yet is designed to fit your lcd or plasma. Each made-to-order piece is crafted in sustainably forested American Black Walnut then hand-rubbed with a non-toxic oil finish, and yep, that is actually vintage speaker cloth behind the latticework.

via Retro To Go 

Update on 2009-05-05 00:46 by Arren

I kindly heard back from Magda at Visionary Boutique - The M21 is designed and made by the very talented Joe Wilkerson of Wilkerson Furniture.

White, white, white

I was feeling terribly uninspired today until I saw this; the French home of designer Jane Whitfield, Marc Jacob's right hand woman at Louis Vuitton. It's quite the de-lovely modern rustic place with lots of white, white, white. Setting off all the white are scads of vintage finds and wallpaper (that's Farrow & Ball Silvergate in the first shot). I'll let the beautiful images speak for themselves, so take a look and enjoy, and click here to read the full article on the Telegraph newspaper's site. [Images: Birgitta Wolfgang Drejer]

Via Telegraph 

Fast love

Just a quick one - The rain has just stopped bucketing down (finally) and I must pop out and get that grass seed done. Yesterday we ran out of daylight prepping the soil and digging out all the bleedin' weeds on out on our hands and knees so it's now or never! The lovely print below arrived in the mail yesterday from some wonderful friends in Scotland and totally made my day (thanks Sara, Steve and Eve!!!) so I thought I'd let you see it too. It's the Love print in Poppy Red by Bold & Noble in the UK (take a boo in the April issue of Living Etc to see more of their work). Yes, they will happily ship to Canada and they also have some luvverly kid's alphabet prints too, so they're definitely worth checking out.

  

5 quick questions: Alex Bates

I was lucky enough to have a fascinating chat with Alex Bates, West Elm's creative director, back when West Elm opened up in Liberty Village in October of last year. She was just back from a whistle-stop tour of incredibly inspiring places and was starting to plan the next collections for the affordably on-trend brand (which also happens to be one of my fave places to shop). To continue that conversation I recently asked Alex if she wouldn't mind answering a couple of questions on her personal style and she happily obliged. And, from the sound of it, she's also racking up more Air Miles as we speak.

Below you'll find a couple of snaps of recent West Elm intros - The Beanstalk bed linens, Beach Glass vases and Twist melamine dishware. Click here to check out more 5 Quick Questions interviews.

Arren Williams: What's inspiring you now?

Alex Bates: All things Calder. His recent show at the Whitney blew me away. The installation of his wire face sculptures was a stroke of genius. I also loved the Met’s exhibition of his jewelry – crazy and elegant. I’m loving simple wire and pencil sketches in general; especially Martin Ramirez’s black and white sketches at the American Folk Art Museum.

AW: What's the next thing you have your eye on for your own house?

AB: I am fixated with all shades of grey, still. You can see it manifested in our summer collection at West Elm. I’m dying to paint my front hall. I think it would be very cozy and create a great background for my art. There is also a pair of vintage Cherner Chairs I want. I know they would look like pieces of sculpture against the gray.

AW: How would you describe your current style, and how has it changed over the years?

AB: My house is more about collecting that decoration. It’s very laid back and comfortable with worn family antiques mixed with modern – and of course a lot of West Elm. It’s a hodge podge of things I absolutely couldn’t live without from years of traveling. Every wall is covered in paintings and tons of books. I am officially out of wall space and have stacks of paintings and books growing in the corners. I’m trying to pare back and I fantasize about a certain Piet Boon house – spare but cozy. I know my little bits would start to slowly creep back in.

AW: Is there anything that can drive you crazy when you walk into a room?

AB: Bad art. Fake flowers. “I Married Adventure” by Osa Johnson.

AW: What's next?

AB: Spring is a busy time for us. We just opened out our new West Elm store at Broadway and 62nd in New York with an amazing opening party and a fun collaboration with David Stark. We’re finishing up our spring 2010 collection and trying to continue to be as green as we can in our processes, materials, and finished products. Next we're off to Italy for the Milan furniture show and then India. We have started some great new partnerships, working with Craftmark and Aid to Artisans in India, and I’m excited to explore new ideas with them.