Modern comforts

We came across these images over at The Brick House some months ago and have been dreaming about them ever since.  This 'stateside' home blends modern classics - Bertoia's Bird Lounge Chair and Ottoman, an Eames Lounger and Walnut Stool and half a dozen Navy Chairs by Emesco - with contemporary furniture in the form of this mid-century style sofa upholstered in inside-out denim, to create a comfortable and laid-back living space.

Images:  The Brick House

Show time

Midcentury Modern seems like a distant memory now, yet it was only a week or two ago that we headed over to Lords Cricket Ground to sample the delights of the fifty or so dealers who had pitched up to peddle their wares.  With the likes of Jacobsen, Eames, Alto and Perriand represented alongside the homegrown talents of Ernest Race, James Leonard and Robin Day, there was something to suit all tastes, not to mention budgets.  Here's a small selection of the delights on offer .......

back to basics

Another Country makes contemporary craft furniture and their first collection, Series One, takes familiar forms and pares them back to their most basic elements.  The whole collection is based on the concept of a family of pieces that have grown out of the design of the stool - all tops are of a similar thickness and design, all legs are mounted at the same angle to the horizontal plane and all the heights are consistent.  The overall concept is to be able to sit, eat, sleep and share one's space with pieces that are tactile, beautiful, timeless and that will age gracefully.

Our favourite, the super stylish Day Bed One is a practical piece of furniture upholstered in an understated yet classical fabric from Bute, the Scottish contemporary textile manufacturer.

     

Credits/Images:  Another Country, Dwell

Wednesday wonder

You can come and live with us little chair ..... we'd make room for you, give you your own space!

Images: dosbananos

Oyster haven

Pierre Paulin studied stone carving and clay modeling at the Ecole Camondo in Paris in the early fifties where he began designing furniture for Thonet.  In 1958, he became the designer for Artifort where he created a series of sculptural chairs with an inner structure of steel tubing, covered in foam and fabric.  Paulin's Oyster chair was originally designed in 1960 and was in the Artifort collection until 1979.  By request, it was brought back into the collection in 1999 - no need to ask why!

Images/Credits:  Deconet, Bonluxat

a classic collection

An eye catching apartment in Stockholm, with an equally eye catching collection of classics by the likes of Hans Wegner, George Nelson, Arne Jacobsen and Eames.  Mmmm, what's not to like?

Images:  La maision d'Anna G

Executive summary

One of the comfiest chairs we managed to sit on at Midcentury Modern - and we sat on quite a few - was a battered old Executive Chair by Charles Pollock for Knoll.  Whilst we have a picture of the one we sat on, sadly our photography skills don't do the chair justice.  So, courtesy of Midcentury Online, here's a delightful substitute set on a swivel base with striking orange velour upholstery, aluminium trim and a black plastic back. 

Images:  Midcentury Online

Black or white

It was only going so well ..... until the powder-coating man asked "So what colour then, black or white?"

Image:  Cococozy

Black and white

After what seems like an eternity, we've finally managed to lay our hands on an original model 420C side chair by Harry Bertoia.  We didn't plump for a shiny new chair from a fancy shop, oh no!  Rather, we decided to rescue this forlorn and generally unloved looking chair which, as you can see, is in desperate need of some TLC.  This baby has, at some point, been sprayed white and sadly left to go a little rusty around the edges.  But with the 'new' paintwork chipped in places, there are small glimpses here and there of the original black vinyl-coated finish.