The Evolution of Bond & Bowery
A lot of Web sites and blogs love to feature their “latest finds” from eBay and Craigslist, but they usually seem kind of junky to me.
That’s why I was excited to find out about the new contemporary look and feel at Bond & Bowery, the DC-based art and furnishings shopping site that was founded in 2007 as an additional player in the online antiques market. We profiled them in a Web-extra article last year.
So, how’s this for a latest find?
Or this?
Bond & Bowery has found most of its success with modern design in particular, so while you can still find antiques on the site, the real stars are modern. “While this has been to a great extent dealer driven, modern dealers seem to be doing well and driving buyers to the site,” President Ben Spaisman wrote in an e-mail. “It has become apparent to us that the modern category is what’s selling right now and continues to trend upward.”
Here’s a sampling of my personal favorites from the site. I’m happy that Bond & Bowery can fill the void of high-end mid-century furnishings that the dearly departed Good Eye in DC’s Friendship Heights left behind when it closed its doors earlier this year.
Anyone with a contemporary loft would love this vintage industrial cabinet.
Check out the lovely details on this mid-century lacquered dresser.
An Andy Warhol! Right here!
A far-out wall hanging for any 70s-pop-art connoisseur.
You can find these mid-century architectural renderings by Carlos Diniz here and here.
Even if you are not into sewing, this distinctive sewing chest from Poland has great lines.
I saved the most fabulous piece for last: This 1960 Dior necklace. Wouldn’t it look great on you, lounging in a hot-pink Saarinen Womb Chair?
Make Me Drool, Baker
Because that’s what you always do when I’m in your showroom. I get all weak in the knees over your furniture – especially if we’re on a tour with the likes of Bill Sofield, whom Trish blogged about earlier this month.
You define “covet” in the dictionary – yes you do, you tease, and you know it.
That’s why I got the butterflies all over again when I saw pictures of two model units the Baker design team recently decorated at 22West downtown (which seems to be where all the cool designers show off their work – I blogged about Vastu and Contemporaria’s model units last year).
See what I mean:
Unit 2K/ Two Bedrooms
The living room includes designs from the Thomas Pheasant, Jacques Garcia, and Laura Kirar collections. Highlights are the Biomorphic Mirror and the carved lion’s head chair from the Stately Homes collection.
Round walnut dining table by Bill Sofield, surrounded by upholstered dining chairs by Thomas Pheasant
I would never leave this intimate library. I especially love the chaise longue and the monumental étagères.
The owner’s bedroom features a velvet bed by Jacques Garcia. Velvet. Bed.
The guest bedroom is furnished with mahogany bed and side tables by Thomas Pheasant.
Unit 2E/ One Bedroom
The dining room screams out (in a good way – always in a good way) with the bronze-and-alabaster Brighton chandelier, which hangs above a white lacquer table from the Lexicon collection. The Ming-inspired sideboard is colored “a brilliant Blaze.” Even their color names are sexy.
The living room includes Salon chairs by Bill Sofield, and a dramatic 104-inch sofa by Jacques Garcia.
More drama: An orange den with a rich chocolate sofa, and one of Sofield’s trademark tiny tusk stools.
I’m LOVING these hip lamps, which sit atop ivory lacquer side tables that flank a Scandinavian-inspired bed – all from the Baker Studio line.
I’m hoping someday to afford you, Baker, but until then, I will have to worship you from afar (sigh…).
The Suave Bill Sofield
Meeting Bill Sofield was one of the highlights of my recent trip to High Point, NC. This is a guy who earned three degrees from Princeton University – in art, architecture, and urban planning – in four years. He has also designed stores for Gucci, Tom Ford, Yves Saint Laurent, Boucheron, and Bottega Veneta. Plus, he decorated Ralph Lauren’s homes in Montauk and Bedford, NY. He’s currently working on the flagship store for Santa Eulalia in Barcelona.
Superstar Architectural and Interior Designer Bill Sofield in his Baker showroom in High Point, NC, pauses for a moment during the recent fall market.
What struck me most is that Sofield is such a stealth designer. Take the Bill Sofield collection he designs for Baker. It makes me dream. I look at the Crawford Vanity, for instance, and imagine prinking for glamorous black tie events. (It’s fun to fantasize.) I see refined, thoughtful, high quality design, rather than some designer’s immediately recognizable fingerprint on furniture.
“If I do a really good job, nobody will know I existed,” said Sofield, who has the greatest respect for his clients’ individuality and personalities.
The Crawford Vanity provides storage, and even dips down in the back so that cords will disappear.
“Most of my job is about problem solving,” Sofield said. For instance, people often put their sweaty cocktails down on tables and leave watermarks, so he designed a sophisticated glass bar cart.
The urbane bar cart precludes watermarks.
The masterful workmanship in his designs is a big part of the appeal, too. Inlaid, exotic wood, such as in the Wisteria Table here is exceptional.
I was particularly surprised to learn that his Gracie bed is king size.
The way Sofield designed this king-size bed creates the illusion that it’s smaller than it really is. It doesn’t overwhelm a room at all.
“I travel all the time and I pull from everywhere,” said Sofield, who lives in New York.
I was struck by the sense of luxurious refinement and timelessness of his furniture designs. “These pieces are going to be expensive, so damn it, they should look expensive and have staying power,” he said, his eyes smiling.
Truck Tarps – and Other High-end Upholstery
Furniture makers are taking the recycling trend to a whole new level. Just say you heard it here first: Truck tarps and old Army tents. That’s what we’re finding on high-end upholstery these days.
Let’s start with Thomas Bina, the designer I wrote about yesterday with a new collection for Four Hands. Most of his work is done in wood and metal, but he has a few upholstered pieces with fabric from Brazilian truck tarps.
“After it’s been on the back of a truck for 40 years, it’s pretty much waterproof,” Bina said. They boil, treat, and dye those tarps into a soft, almost suede-like finish, but it’s all cotton. And, Bina adds, “these patches are all authentic, original patches. We didn’t do a thing to them.”
Here’s a close-up of the hastily-sewn patches, which look oddly artistic.
While we’re in Brazil, let’s visit a company called Será O Benedito, or SOB for short. The environmentally-oriented fashion company that makes items such as shoes and handbags also has a small line of small furnishings, including this “Puff Mike,” which is also made from what must be ubiquitous truck tarps down there.
Um, well, this might be great for a bachelor pad, maybe? Put it this way – spilled beer stains might even enhance the look.
Moving back to the United States, I couldn’t help but think there might be some giant conspiracy going on when I saw a chair at Central Station Interiors that was upholstered with old Army tents. The company buys surplus military camping tarps – with all their labels, patches and pockets – and has them sewn by hand into upholstery for the Cargo Chair.
And over at Cisco Brothers, a company that has been green from the very beginning, its new lines include Army-tent upholstery, too. They also have pillows embroidered with old Army patches. Drab green never looked so good, for sure.
“We’re using every scrap of the tent,” said Rosie Pinedo, who does the fabric and product buying for her brother Cisco Pindeo’s company. They used scraps of tents on pillows, including the grommets, stitching, and lettering.
“Part of our society is being so negative on the war. It was our way of supporting the troops,” she said. “Cisco saw these tents at the Rosebowl. Some of these are from the early 1900s and were never used. Some are even from the late 1800s.” She added that the sofas, chairs, and pillows covered in the canvas tents will be sold as one of a kind. “The details are part of the beauty and a little of history.”
I knew this all sort of felt like déjà vu, because when we were in High Point in April, we saw the first evidence of this new trend. Vanguard Furniture debuted its Bloomsbury collection of furniture, which included the Campden Settee, upholstered with patched and stamped – let me guess! – truck tarps.
Vanguard Marketing Director Diane Hubbard notes that the tarp is available on “almost any” upholstery item – “so sustainable!” she wrote in an e-mail.
As an end note, for your viewing pleasure, I’ll include this picture of a mannequin dressed up to look like a goddess in the Tritter Feefer showroom at High Point. Her toga? Recycled drop cloths.
Thomas Bina's Show-Stopping Design
Four Hands founder and CEO Brett Hatton, left, stands with Designer Thomas Bina.
If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em – or get ’em to join you. That was Brett Hatton’s approach after Hatton, the founder and CEO of Four Hands, a furniture manufacturer and importer based in Austin, TX, saw the work of Thomas Bina.
“I’ve been a fan of Thomas Bina for 15 years,” he said recently at the furniture market in High Point, NC. Earlier this year, Hatton and Four Hands President Matthew Briggs persuaded Bina to start designing for them.
The result is a new line of furniture made from an incredible array of salvaged wood from South America, Indonesia, and China – three stops on Bina’s career-long travels across the globe.
“That’s my true passion – sourcing and developing the materials,” Bina said. “That’s what I look for – I look for the next material that I can turn into something new.” His sources include downed telephone poles and 1,000-year-old wood reclaimed from 100-year-old flooring.
Bina’s interest in building furniture came from spending 10 years in Indonesia and learning the craft. He has much in common with Hatton, who spent many years doing the same thing in India and Pakistan. “We went to the same school together,” Hatton joked.
How’s this for a diploma:
Bina’s collection will start arriving in stores in January. If you want any, retailers include Horchow, Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, and Pottery Barn.
Thom Filicia, In Great Shape
Thom Filicia wears Spanx – or at least he said he does.
Thom Filicia poses for a second in front of the Saratoga sofa in his showroom.
Designers Filicia and Alexa Hampton were guest speakers at a breakfast in High Point, NC, over the weekend and when Hampton was introduced, it came up that in addition to all of her work – she designs collections for Hickory Chair and Stark Carpets, among other projects – she has three children under age 3. Hampton turned to the audience and said, “I’m currently wearing a pair of Spanx under my skirt.”
Filicia, known for his appearances on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, his celeb clients including J. Lo and Marc Anthony, his show Dress My Nest, his designs for W Hotels, and his namesake furniture collection, was next. Following his introduction, Filicia quipped, “First, I’d like to say, I’m also wearing Spanx.”
His sense of humor alone made me beat a path to see the new Thom Filicia Home Collection that’s manufactured by Vanguard Furniture. All kidding aside, I like Filicia’s thoughtful approach to design. “It’s about honesty in design. Years ago, homes were about who we wanted to be. Today, our homes are about who we are,” he said. “It’s about connecting with yourself.”
Filicia said he wanted his eponymous collection to be fresh, have substance, and a timeless quality. “I want this to look great in 15 or 20 years,” he said. “I also wanted it to be accessible. I wanted people to see it and connect with it.”
The collection has an upbeat feeling, partly from the way he presented it. Take a look:
Love this Toggenburg chair and whimsical Solvay cocktail table.
The butterflies and birds flitting on the wallpaper give a light touch to Felicia’s Greek Peak chair… and his Durston Road console.
The design and workmanship on the Hogue Lane table is handsome.
A longtime champion of eco-friendly furnishings, Filicia’s faux boix fabric design for Kravet, which comes in gray and yellow, is eye candy, too.
Filicia uses color strategically.
His wing chair with hot tomato leather accents surprised me. “I’m a big fan of red. It’s rare that I design a space that doesn’t incorporate red. It’s such a fabulous, dynamic, and rich color,” he designer said. “I like fresh, fun pops that kind of float in space.”
Asked how the luxury market will change once we come out of this recession, Filicia said, “Consumers will demand a better product. They will be very thoughtful about the purchases they make.”
Whatever his choice of shapewear, I think he’s right.
Mariette Himes Gomez's Style Sensibilities
As promised yesterday when we blogged about New York designer Mariette Himes Gomez, who has been selected to decorate the presidential yacht, we’ll look at her elegant, eclectic style today.
Mariette Himes Gomez designed this space integrating an antique console.
The essence of Gomez’s designs is a purity and simplicity that’s hard to pinpoint. She often integrates exquisite antiques, which provide character to the rooms she designs, and she prefers muted tones, especially an array of whites that whisper. But to her credit, Gomez lets the lifestyles of her clients guide her designs rather than inserting herself in them too much. You don’t look at a room and automatically know she designed it. Rather, you look at a space and your eye lingers – you wonder, “What is it that makes this so appealing?”
Gomez, author of Houses, Inside and Out (2003, HarperCollins), and Rooms, Creating Luxurious, Livable Spaces (2007, HarperCollins), will launch Apartments, HarperCollins, in February, 2010. She gave a fascinating talk at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, NC, on Sunday, and used images from her books to illustrate her points.
The distinguished designer has an unfailing eye, and the spaces she designs are superbly edited. She selects art and furnishings for clients because she knows they’ll work well for that specific client, not because of their provenance.
Mariette Himes Gomez’s former flat in London includes a mirror that reflects the beautiful ceiling.
For example, Gomez once chose a particularly distinctive bookcase for a client because “he was a man who needed interesting things; they had to have integrity. I love art, I love great furniture. I don’t mind putting time into [searching for] that,” she said. “When you’re that earnest about things, you want them to have soul.” Gomez didn’t learn until years later that the bookcase she had found for her client was by Paul Frankl, the renowned Austrian art deco furniture designer, and was one of only two of the now famous Skyscraper bookcases he had made.
Gomez’s clients often request English antiques. “Everyone thinks that English furniture is so elegant and so serious and so wonderful.” She paused, and then said, “Well, some of it isn’t.”
The designer, who was reared in a small town – Alpena, MI – has a great love and appreciation for American antiques. “We forget that we have so little… Most of it is in museums.” She has often built entire rooms around a single rare and important antique, including here in Washington. “It’s to the credit of these people who can afford these things to actually live with them and not treat them like they’re in a museum.” She adds that serious furniture needs to be complemented with serious draperies and rugs, and art appropriate for the era of the furniture.
Bedrooms are among Gomez’s favorite rooms to design. This one’s a beauty.
Gomez’s boudoir chair for Hickory Chair is the perfect bedroom chair.
Subtlety reigns throughout Gomez’s designs. You won’t find bling. Instead, she works with nuances, such as ambient light. “We always ignore the immense possibilities of a lamp table… I have a thing about that… We always need more lamps and less recessed lighting,” she said.
Naturally, the designer understands scale. “All men need a good-sized desk, whether working in London or New York,” she said, while showing the image of the large round table in a London flat with a Knoll chair at it.
Gomez designed the Belle mirror and Continental demi-lune cabinet seen here for Hickory Chair.
Gomez loves mirrors. “Never underestimate mirrors. They open up any room – the bigger, the better.” Louvered shutters can provide privacy, plus a lot of light, she added.
For a spectacular room she decorated that has a water view, Gomez purposely chose spider-back chairs that don’t block the view.
Gomez was inspired by her flat in England when she designed the London arm chair for Hickory Chair.
Gomez introduces a large-scale circular artifact in this room that somehow feels just right.
It will be fascinating to see how Gomez decorates the Sequoia, the classic 1925 Trumpy yacht. She’s already taken hundreds of photos. When she’ll fit it into her schedule – between decorating homes for clients, designing a collection for Hickory Chair, and overseeing her store, The Shop in Manhattan, will be a challenge. But we expect smooth sailing from this international design star, who is expected to have the Sequoia shipshape by the spring of 2011.
Reeves Design, Organically Grown
Yeah, it’s recycled, blah, blah, blah. Isn’t that what everyone says these days, like, in their sleep? Tell me something I don’t know.
Designer John Reeves, who totally reminds me of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis, whom I’ve always had a secret crush on.
Well, I didn’t know John Reeves until recently, a UK-based designer who has this new series of cast aluminum furniture with oak slats. The pieces look like they were formed along with the trees and river rocks in some primeval forest, for goodness sake. (And yes, the aluminum is 100-percent recycled.)
I love how the oak almost melts into the aluminum frame. And according to the company, the aluminum casting process is incredibly efficient – any mistakes can be quickly melted back down and recast.
The all-metal table looks like a river rock that sprouted legs, and the oak lends so much warmth to the rectangular table. I’ll take both, please.
And on the side, here are some adorable accent tables.
I always get so excited about British design, followed almost immediately by a deep depression when I find out that it can’t be purchased stateside. But lucky for us, Reeves Design is distributed not only in this country, but locally through the lovely interior designer Lisa Bartolomei. You can reach Bartolomei & Company right here.
I think I’ll start saving up for this about…. now.
Potomac Fever, Neighborhood Pride at the Fall Design House
The Fall Design House at The Washington Design Center opens this Friday (the preview party is Thursday, get tickets now), and it’s packed with diverse, regional design references that don’t feel the least bit contrived. We have a rich pool of talent here, and the eight-room show house shows it off to great effect.
The tour starts off with a bang. Designer Beverly Claiborne of Beverly Claiborne Designs began her Le Droit Park-inspired foyer with a deep moss-hued Robert Allen sofa…
…and then she got going with currant and citrine accents and framed Swarovski-studded textiles. A luscious Alex Turco painting completes the look. Claiborne quotes neoclassical and Victorian influences, which are found throughout Le Droit Park row houses.
The bling continues in Designer Lori Ludwick’s U Street artist studio – a magenta lacquered tabletop sits on a carved wood base with a driftwood finish, and more Swarovski crystals are embedded in the rough wood of the back wall.
“I wanted the bones of the room to look like it was something we found,” Ludwick says, pointing at the tintype ceiling and the irregular plaster walls. There’s a hearty blend of inexpensive and high-end items, which is true to the neighborhood she’s referencing.
Next up: Kalorama.
“In Kalorama, you always walk through a vestibule,” Designer Dana Tydings says, so she inserted one in her formal parlor, complete with a faux koi pond painted by Billet Collins Studios.
Inside the parlor, unusual textures are everywhere: a Fendi Casa armoire in alligator, an enameled tobacco-leaf table. Luminous birch tree wallcoverings and an inventive “view” are unexpected delights.
It’s time to duck out for a nap on Embassy Row. Designer Karen Mitrano Snyder of Interiors of Washington Ltd. started with a phenomenal, high-contrast J. Asher rug and used a Suzani-inspired fabric from Pindler & Pindler sparingly in bedding, throw pillows, and drapes.
Oil paintings by Elio Lazzari and Farrow & Ball wallpaper add texture to the calm, softly lit room.
The Wesley Heights dining room by Designer Christine Hecht Payne of Christine Hecht Payne Interior Design is stuffed wall-to-wall with all things Washington – from the Jefferson Memorial centerpiece to the Liberty Toile standing screen, this is a room you couldn’t find in any other city.
Antique obelisks, 19th-century German paintings, and presidential place cards are a few of the room’s finer details.
The tour continues with a fun Navy Yard sports lounge by Designer Debbie Wiener of Designing Solutions, where everything looks elegant, but is of course made to be slob-proof for when the games get rowdy.
The Capitol Hill Congressional quarters and library, designed by William and Katherine Tarleton of Tarleton Interiors, includes, amid the more traditional textures, a stunning piece of mid-century expressionist art from the couple’s collection and a compelling, high-contrast piece painted by William Tarleton himself.
They quote the moody, powerful ambiance of the show “Mad Men” as an influence.
And finally, the centerpiece: the patriotic Georgetown social living room, designed by Brooke Steuart of Brooke Steuart Interiors LLC. A mosaic water wall invokes the mighty Potomac …
and a beautifully textured vignette showing the American flag superimposed over the iconic Marilyn Monroe brings it all home.
The Fall Design House is located at 300 D St., SW, Washington, DC, and opens Friday to the public.
Flea Market Shopping with Eddie and Jaithan
Jaithan Kochar, left, and Eddie Ross
I’ve got to hand it to Eddie Ross and Jaithan Kochar for getting me excited about a flea market. I’m always so overwhelmed by them that I just tend not to go. But I caught up with the guys at the D.C. Big Flea on Saturday as they were scoping out booths to bring their tour group later that morning. It was on this whirlwind scouting trip that I learned how to find some really cool stuff.
When I got there, Eddie had already purchased a leaf-shaped ironstone compote. It had crackly “crazing” lines in it and was discolored in a couple places. “I’m thrilled,” Eddie said. “You only usually see a round compote; you never see a leaf – perfect with cranberry sauce on a Thanksgiving table.” And about the lines and discoloration? “It adds just so much more charm than if it were completely white. It would look like you got it at Crate & Barrel.” He also marveled at the fact that he got it for $38. “In New York, this would go for at least $120.”
Eddie and Jaithan then stopped at a booth with vintage postcards. “Remember what I did on Martha’s show, blowing them up and turning them into wrapping paper?” he said to Jaithan. (Ok, I never would have thought of that.)
Next stop: jewelry.
Eddie shares a laugh with jewelry seller Heidi Strelick
“You see Kate Spade and all these people are reproducing this stuff,” Eddie said of all the fabulous oversized brooches here. (And I think to myself, Michelle Obama is also doing her part to bring them back into style.)
Shortly past that booth, Eddie stops elsewhere to see smaller pieces of jewelry in tiny baggies. Rehearsing his tour, he tells Jaithan that “this is stuff you don’t mind breaking up, to use as napkin rings or magnets.” (Never thought of that, either.)
Moving right along, he finds an interesting pitcher that looks like black basalt. But he’s been to so many flea markets and knows so much about what he sees, that he quickly moves on. “It’s pretty, but it doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t have that gritty weight.”
I loved what Eddie had to say about old linens. “You can’t go to Macy’s and get this,” he said. “It’s been loved and hand washed. They’ve been used so many times” – that you can wash and even bleach them without worry.
Eddie helped me see past things that initially might seem pretty bad, like this chair. “These chairs are frightening in the fabric they’re in, but lacquer the frame, add mod fabric and silver nailheads – it would take that granny aspect and turn it into a ‘wow’ factor.”
He pounced on this adjustable sterling-silver toast rack. “I’ve never seen an adjustable!” he said. “You can’t go into Tiffany and get something like this.”
When Eddie worked at Martha Stewart Living, he would look to old magazine covers for MSL cover inspiration, such as a certain camera angle, or the way things were arranged.
“This, to me, is a whole [theme] inspiration for Halloween,” he said of this old Cinderella book.
“I’d blow these up and make art” from the illustrations in this 1884 fashion magazine, Eddie said.
Eddie gasped when he saw this set of six chairs for $195. “Insane!” he said. All you need to do is upholster them.
Flea markets are great to shop for wonderful vintage wedding or anniversary presents, Eddie said, such as this classic Heisey glassware, which was produced between 1896 and 1957.
This sterling Victorian ice cream slicer can also be used for serving cakes, chicken, or fish. “Unusual serving pieces are great to give as gifts,” Eddie said. And for $25, who can beat it?
Another great gift idea, or a way to add to your own stock for entertaining: Sterling silver spreaders. Adorable.
Eddie took his tour group to these racks of old coats. When he used to style shoots for House Beautiful and Martha Stewart Living, he said they would make throw pillows out of vintage fabric to add some oomph to a room’s look. Old coats are a great way to find this kind of fabric, such as the black lamb’s wool boucle he’s pointing out. Purchased new in New York, this fabric would be $500 per yard.
Remember the booth with the Heisey glass? Well, I bought myself a jelly dish, and it goes perfectly with my Tiffany china and silver patterns.
And taking Eddie’s advice, I also purchased these vintage 1940s silverplate servers ($6!) and adorable cocktail napkins ($15) as a wedding gift for a friend.
When my husband and I were in New York last month, we almost bought a vintage flour sack from a shop in the East Village for $65, because we wanted to turn it into a pillow for our new sectional in the basement. We didn’t end up getting it, and it’s a good thing, because I found these wonderful feed sacks – for a total of $10!
Thanks, Eddie and Jaithan, for a great flea-market education. And thanks, too, to Michele of My Notting Hill for hosting such a wonderful cocktail party the night before for them and local bloggers and designers. For a recap of that affair, go to her blog right here.
John Hutton, Par Excellence
This children’s bedroom in the late Designer John Hutton’s Paris apartment makes me want to have a temper tantrum. I want one, too!!!!!
Although the designer is gone, his company lives on. I just got word of Hutton’s new children’s furniture line, called Baby Bijou. As you have all seen my own children’s bedroom recently, we’re not quite at that level. So, since I need to watch my waistline anyway, I’ll go to sleep tonight with visions of these sugar plums dancing in my head:
I’ll also dream of Paris. Keep reading to see the rest of Hutton’s apartment.
Ooooh. La la!
Keeping it simple, Parisian-style:
With curtains on all the walls, it’s as if this entire bedroom were enclosed in a huge canopy bed.
If you want John Hutton to fill your own rooms, call the company at 1-888-HUTTONH. Collection Pierre Par John Hutton (where Baby Bijou comes from) is sold to the trade through David Sutherland Showrooms.
Althorp, Fine Furniture Through the Ages
Charles, Ninth Earl Spencer charmed the socks off the 200 guests gathered at Colony House in Arlington, VA, last Friday evening. He spoke of Althorp, the stately 501-year-old home where 19 consecutive generations of his family have resided, and where he currently lives with his six children. Spencer also told anecdotes about Althorp Living History, a collection of finely made reproductions of the Spencer family’s furnishings. His reddish blonde hair, clear blue eyes, commanding 6’3” height, and gracious manner, reminded me of his sister, the late Princess Diana, whom I had the pleasure of meeting on two occasions.
Friday was the second time JR Diffee, president of Colony House, had welcomed the earl to his store, where the Althorp collection is carried exclusively in the DC area. When Spencer glanced around at the guests, he was clearly thrilled to see that the crowd had grown nearly tenfold compared to the number of guests who had greeted him five years earlier on his first visit. The collection has grown, too. It now numbers 450 pieces and is carried in 150 stores around the world.
Charles, Ninth Earl Spencer, poses with the Colony House staff. Standing, left to right: President JR Diffee, Spencer, Keith Woodside, Edward Huggins, Colony House Vice President Michael Diffee, and Victor Escamilla. Seated, left to right: Marybeth Evans, Herland Baker, Mary Rose Vasko, and Lara Medlej
Spencer signed the furniture.
Spencer surprised guests when he zoomed around the showroom wielding a silver Sharpie and signed almost every piece of furniture early in the evening. He signed beneath the seats on chairs, inside cabinet doors, and on the bases of lamps. He delighted guests further when he personalized pieces they purchased that night. All photographs by Carrie Russell.
Jamie and Glenn Nick bought “a little Butler’s tray,” which the earl signed – “Happy Anniversary, Charles Spencer” because the couple was celebrating their 27th anniversary that night.
The Althorp Squiggle chairs
When the Nicks told Spencer they already own eight of the Althorp Squiggle chairs, he mentioned that those are his favorites. “He said, ‘Those are the ones in the house everyone uses,’ ” Jamie said. She asked for a recommendation for a table and he suggested the Althorp Jupe table, a magnificent round table that expands to seat 10. She and Glenn are seriously considering the “pie crust table,” as she calls it. Meanwhile, they also bought a tea caddy that Spencer dedicated to their daughters, Lauren, Amanda, and Jillian.
The Althorp Jupe table
Margaret Handley is another big fan. “I collect pieces from the Althorp collection,” she said, adding that she owns the French card table. “I won’t let anyone play cards on it.” She also owns a beautiful chest. “I can put all of my cards in it for bridge.”
“I’m from London, I was raised in Canterberry,” Handley said. “I’ve been to Althorp. It’s breathtaking, anyone from England adores Althorp. I like the elegance and the heritage of it.”
Many people admired the quality of the Althorp collection.
Interior Designer Frank Babb Randolph remarked on how perfectly the wood grain was matched on the Jupe table. “It’s all beautifully made,” he said.
“It’s impeccable. Look at the dauphin-shaped sabot [foot] on the leg,” Architect Christian Zapatka said.
Here’s a glance at some of the other exquisite details of the Althorp collection.
Left to right: David Koehler, president, North America, of Theodore Alexander, which manufactures the Althorp Living History collection, Mary Rose Vasko of Colony House, and Toni Tallent, director of Theodore Alexander and Althorp Living History, enjoyed the evening.
Charles Sherrill of Sherrill Furniture, which is responsible for the upholstered furnishings in the Althorp collection, said a selection of 200 fabrics with 20 different trims is available.
Also enjoying the party were Washington Spaces Associate Publisher Heather Heider and her husband, Scott Van Pelt.
Washington Spaces Account Executive Jill Yager with Glen Redmond of Hardwood Artisans
Ed and Carmen Stull
Several members of the Washington Spaces team pose with the earl. Standing, left to right: Editor in chief Trish Donnally, David Koehler of Theodore Alexander, Charles Spencer, JR and Michael Diffee. Seated, left to right, Senior Editor Jennifer Sergent, Jill Yager, Marketing Director Meghan Marino, and Senior Account Executive Emilia Philip
JR Diffee introduced Spencer, who addressed the crowd. Be sure to see the November/December issue of Washington Spaces for my exclusive interview with Spencer and the anecdotes he shared with guests.
NY Gift Show: The Industrial Craze
The industrial-chic trend has landed. Hard.
I blogged that the look was becoming prevalent in January, and it persists in the new fall catalogs for Crate & Barrel…
Turner bar stools
Lyle metal chairs
…and, of course, Pottery Barn:
Bryce adjustable barstool
Tolix chair
This style is being put to use in today’s Washington Post Home section.
And in case there remains any doubt that the industrial trend is here for a while, wholesalers erased it last week in New York, where the factory-turned-home-decor look was on display in every possible iteration. That means it will be showing up even more at retail stores this fall. Keep reading to see what I mean.
A striking light from Groundwork, which handcrafts its furniture in Pennsylvania using reclaimed wood and industrial zinc, among other things.
Industrial lighting from Peddler’s Home Design
A dramatic floor light from Design Workshop.
Design Workshop makes all of its products at its shop in Warsaw, NC.
Desk and double-component frame
Screw-top table and stools
Rolling tray cart
GoHome Ltd. had these offerings from its “Hip Vintage” collection:
The rolling cart would be great for a kitchen island, and check out swiveling candy-shop jar on top.
Locker storage
Finally, Blue Ocean traders offers many industrial-themed antiques and reproductions.
So, how long do you give this trend? Is it the new shabby chic?
NY Gift Show: Colonial Chic
Maybe it’s because I’ve just been watching the “John Adams” miniseries on DVD, or because Washington is steeped in the colonial style of its founding fathers, but a number of items caught my eye at the gift show last week that hearken back to the elegance of old. (Remember, these are wholesale companies. Check the Web sites or call for local retailers.)
Lunares, a tabletop manufacturer, rolled out its new Chantilly collection under the heading, “Everything Old is New Again.”
Madison Bay Company, which started in 1976 as a collection of historic photographs, has evolved into an entire home-décor line of historic American reproductions.
A few booths down, HomArt was featuring a similar style among its new products, through art and picture frames.
Roost, one of my favorite companies, offered this modern take on the classic silhouette, which was popular in our early days of independence.
I was surprised to see Julian Chichester, which normally has a very contemporary look, offer this bedside table:
And I was enchanted by its lamps, with bases crafted from antique wallpaper-print rollers – complete with a book about 18th-century writer Samuel Johnson in the display.
I also came across a company that recycles used books to make bookshelf displays look much more substantial, inspired by centuries-old bookbinding craftsmanship. It’s called Middleton’s Old World Library. They don’t have a Web site, but they are in Kentucky: 859.816.2110.
So, now that I’m back home, thinking about these wonderful old styles, I started looking to the shops at George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, both an easy day trip from DC.
This mirror from Mount Vernon would look great in a foyer.
The Monticello tableware is stunning – I’ve always loved those old knife cases.
I am coveting the stemware in particular.
Jefferson’s Campeachy chair is of course reproduced from the early 19th century, but there’s something quite contemporary in the feel as well.
It’s heartening to see these days that things that are quite old can still be fresh and inspiring. I wonder if these styles could be making a comeback, or have they been “In” all along?
Odds and Ends from High Point
It’s August. Not many people are around. So those of us who are actually working while everyone else is at the beach must find something useful to do, like clean out the desk.
And what a jackpot I found in the process – press kits from the spring furniture market in High Point, NC, just as these new introductions are becoming available in stores. Have a look:
Gorgeous and unusual sofas are in abundance:
The Asian Spice sofa from Century
The Pearson Company has these beauties – one for your urban pied-à-terre, and the other for the country cottage:
The 2328-10 sofa in 9165-94 leather
The 2331-10 sofa/ 1618-92 base fabric/ 2200-93 damask seat and back
Highland House, which carries the Pierre Deux collection, has this Chinon Settee,
and this luscious daybed:
Central Station Original Interiors features new, eco-friendly designs from Belgian Designer Paul Delaise, made from reclaimed teak:
I’m loving this mod Evette chair from Palisser:
And this leather strap mirror from Jamie Young has my name written ALL OVER IT.
The new Ming console and mirror from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. I’m showing the mirror because I think it’s so funny that the picture includes a guy in stocking feet holding it up.
One of the latest from Martha Stewart, the Greenwich Street Gentleman’s Chest. Brings to mind the elegant steamer trunks of old – with holes in the back for your lamp, cell phone chargers, etc.
Leif Petersen Inc. International Furniture has this new offering, the Cristallo chair by Filippo Sibau with beautiful, undulating arms:
And, from Bonaldo, these Glam Poufs.
And finally, I never thought I would be giving publicity to Ty Pennington, who looks forever confused and distracted, but his tables for Howard Miller are actually pretty nifty. Perhaps I stand corrected.
Metal/leather ottoman cocktail
This end table has slots for books and magazines, and one of the drawers serves as a charging station. The top is travertine marble.
Round gate-leg table with fret cage base
Square end table with removable basket
Night stand with drawer that serves as a charging station. There’s a power supply with USB port and a “mood light” with a touch dimmer. The top is tumbled travertine.