GET RUFFLED?? NOT!!

ARRAY MAGAZINE ASKS TOP DESIGNERS ABOUT DESIGN TRENDS THEY LOVE TO HATE :)

GLENN LAWSON'S RESPONSE: RUFFLES IN THE LIVING ROOM!  ESPECIALLY ON SOFAS AND CHAIRS!  RUFFLES IN THE DINING ROOM - -ESPECIALLY ON CHAIRS!  THINK 1980'S AND EVEN THE EARLY '90'S.  THINK OF THE TASTEMAKERS AT THE TIME.  SISTER PARISH AND EVERYONE IN HER SHADOW.  YES, SHE WAS A WONDERFUL MIX-MEISTER, BUT PLEASE...... :/

THIS CELEBRITY ROCKS!!

& ROLLS & SWIVELS & RECLINES!!  ARRAY MAGAZINE'S Design Dish ASKS THIS ISSUE HOW WE FEEL ABOUT CELEBRITIES WHO MOONLIGHT AS DESIGNERS.  ARE THEY GOOD FOR THE INDUSTRY OR SHOULD THEY LEAVE IT TO THE PROS?

MY ANSWER? I THINK A  VERY SUCCESSFUL PAIRING MADE MANY YEARS AGO WAS TODD OLDHAM WITH LA-Z-BOY.  THE HUGE DIFFERENCE IS THAT HE IS A FASHION DESIGNER WITH A WONDERFUL QUIRKY SENSIBILITY- PERFECT TO ELEVATE LA-Z-BOY FROM THE MAN CAVE STAPLE TO SOMETHING MODERN AND FUN. 

C'mon Devon! Lead Me To Your Chambers!

WOW! SO MUCH HAPPENING LAST WEEK IN THE DESIGN COMMUNITY!200 LEX'S "WHAT'S NOW WHAT'S NEXT"TO SHOW OFF NEW AND WONDERFUL PRODUCT AND ON A HUGE & AMBITIOUS SCALE "TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS" IN CONJUNCTION WITH ASID.  THE PROGRAM FEATURED OUR VENDORS BELOW 32ND STREET, A SPECIAL GO-SEE FOR OUR SOMETIMES OVERLOOKED DOWNTOWN GREATS.  I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO STEP INTO THE DEVON SHOPS FOR A CHAMPAGNE RECEPTION & REINTRODUCED MYSELF TO THEIR SPECIAL HIGH END PERIOD-INSPIRED FURNITURE ( NOT UNLIKE THE DINING ROOM I RECENTLY DESIGNED, ABOVE ).  WITH ALL THE MODERN, TRANSITIONAL & MIDCENTURY INTERIORS  WE'VE BEEN INUNDATED WITH IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS ITS NICE TO OCCASIONALLY STEP AWAY AND INTO A LUSH TRADITIONAL INTERIOR.  LONG LIVE DEVON SHOPS - TRULY AN ORIGINAL, TRULY ONE OF THE BEST!

"I CAN'T - A ; I CAN - A ; - IKEA !"

I CAN'T BELIEVE I FINALLY MADE IT INTO IKEA!  THE ONE IN TRENDY RED HOOK, NO LESS.  THERE I SAW THE USUAL AND A FEW UNUSUAL THINGS.  AT FIRST I THOUGHT MY FAVORITE FIND WAS A BAR STOOL NAMED Glenn !  HOWEVER A LITTLE FURTHER DOWN THE AISLE WAS THIS INGENIOUS Fusion TABLE FOR 4 WHOSE CHAIRS TOTALLY TUCK UNDER WHEN NOT IN USE, THE CHAIR BACKS THEN APPEARING TO BE Hugging THE TABLE TOP.  GREAT FOR NY SPACES AND THOSE ON A BUDGET $299. for table & 4 chairs; Can't beat that & Can't go wrong! 

LAURA ASHLEY ON A MAN HUNT

Ok, ok what's the first thing you think of at the mention of Laura Ashley?  Need I say?  The image is branded on our brain.  But - -look - -something very new and different.  Take these Dining Chairs in the photo.  Why they're downright brawny!  A slightly updated take on a French design with bulked-up proportions.  These are chairs men wouldn't be embarrassed or afraid to sit in.Way to go L.A.!  Any other reactions?

Halloween, Already

Ok, ok - Labor Day really is over so now let's jump the gun. It's time for........Halloween!  Seriously once the sun and sand fade away we Designers (and humans in general) seek the heat in other ways.  Like let's talk wall colors.  Shown here is the delicious wall scheme at Lychee House, the Modern Chinese restaurant on 55th Street.  Ok in the summer, but especially appealing in the Autumn.  Marketers are well aware of this phenomenon.  Check George Clooney's latest billboard for the movie that just came out (Fall release) "The American" with a photo image background created to draw you in: ORANGE!   

Warm to Cool / Cool to Warm - Opposites Attract in Nature's Role Reversal

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Soon as we move from warm Summer to the cool Fall and Winter something odd happens.  We designers & humans in general crave the opposite.  In colors, that is. For example check out the walls  I found at my local Bally Fitness gym.  The blue mosaic tiles feel like a welcome cool relief from our sometimes brutal NY summers!  Yet the warming yellow / orange -terracotta tones are what we seek in the the dead of winter.  But I'm not quite ready to let go of my blue relief just yet, are you??