High Style for the Home

One of my favorite trade shows is the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, or ICFF, and it begins in New York this weekend. Ordinarily, these kinds of shows are closed to the public, open only to retailers, designers and architects. But ICFF will admit the public next Tuesday, May 20, so if you are a contemporary design junkie, this is the day to play hookie from work and hop the train to New York.

I won’t be going myself, but my friend Grace at Design*Sponge is previewing lots of great products that will be on display, and she will be blogging from the show this weekend. Just enter “icff” into her search box.

Among Grace’s previews, I love the furniture coming from Iannone Design Ltd., which is known for its intricate carvings into the sides of credenzas, dressers, and tables.

Also, I was excited to see that Thomas Paul has new rugs. I have a fabulous pencil holder of his design, as well as a mouse pad/notepad. One of these adorable rugs would certainly complete my workspace.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of working with Troy Englert of Patrick’s Fine Linens & Home Décor in Old Town Alexandria. Troy, an interior designer, provided bags and bags of sumptuous accessories from his shop to style a photo shoot for our summer issue. He cared so much about how it would all look in the space we were photographing that he came to the shoot to accessorize the room himself, and ended up consulting with our photographer, Greg Hadley, to make sure each shot was perfect. I hope you will keep your eyes out for our next issue to see the result. In the meantime, Here’s a peek at some of Patrick’s many treasures.

And let me not forget the wonderful ladies at Helen Olivia, an Alexandria florist who provided the flowers for our photo shoot. Their arrangements are beautiful.

Globalism isn’t all bad. I’ve been seeing a huge build-up in the past several months of textiles influenced by the suzani, a vibrant hand-stitched cloth fabricated by women in central Asia for centuries. The look keeps coming in this spring’s new offerings. Whether it’s the real thing you’re after, or fresh updates on the theme, feast your eyes:

The real thing: This eye-catching textile screams for attention, available with many others at Yurdan:

The Washington, DC-based Beautiful Pillows and Home have two new pillow collections that echo the suzani theme:

“Passage to India”

and “So Beautiful”

The venerable Brunschwig & Fils, whose suzani-inspired Dzambul pattern has been around for almost 30 years, just introduced five new colorways. “These glorious suzani designs are enjoying huge popularity with a new generation of admirers,” the press release says.

Laneventure will have a new suzani pattern in the fall:

Baker just introduced furniture collection called Baker Studio, which is aimed at younger customers between 34 and 45. Most of the pieces have heavy Asian influences. I couldn’t help but notice a suzani whisper in the bedding and upholstery on this bed:

And finally, you know the look has gone mainstream when Pottery Barn starts selling it.

Say what you will about Martha Stewart, but as the proud owner of one of her dining tables, I can say that the stuff she puts out there is solid and dependable. That’s why I was eager to hear what she had to say on stage at the recent International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, NC, where she was introducing new lines of:

furniture

lighting

rugs

and framed photography. 

Whew!  Read on for some of her more interesting observations from High Point,

Can’t decide between art and wallpaper? Here’s one item that beautifully combines both looks.

You can find it right here.

Photography by KENNETH M. WYNER

We all saw the forces of nature at work in the DC region last night, with the heavy rains, the thunder, the lightening…. So let’s pause today for a few words from a local architect who is internationally known for his embrace of nature, Travis Price.

“It’s great to see modernism emerging all over DC at last, but in the rush, how do we go seriously green , not token green,” he writes in an e-mail. “I think we are all tiring of green, green, green….and we may get more traction with a little purple!”

For more on Price, whose thoughts we’ve featured in the magazine,

Renowned designer Mario Buatta is known for many things, from his heavy English-country style of decorating, to his penchant for all things chintz, to his love of dog portraits.

But stand-up comedian? Who knew? Those who came to the Georgetown House Tour benefit last week looking for a dissertation on design must have been deeply disappointed – and drowned out by all the laugher – because most of Buatta’s one-hour talk consisted of improv, from making fun of his Italian name to needling members of the audience – and making note of who the pretty ladies were.

No WAY. That is NOT tile. Has to be wallpaper, right?  Wrong! At Ann Sacks anything is possible. 

They say you should look to the colors in your wardrobe for inspiration in decorating your home. So who better to design a new furniture collection than a fashion stylist? Tina Chai, who styles celebrity photo shoots, New York runways shows, and fashion shoots for magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar and Glamour, is now behind a new collection of furniture for Robin Bruce.