DESIGN FOR MEN

Living in Washington, DC,  I find myself surrounded by military culture.  Despite the sometimes questionable fabrics used, I am often impressed by how polished the men and women look.  This spring, I am into sprinkling in some military touches into the wardrobe.   Thanks to On Display Men for sharing photos from a military inspired photo shoot of model, Jesse Blum, who won the Hunkdujour.com and OnDisplayMen.com 2010 Model Search.  I also love that the clothes used are affordable.  The shirt and hat worn above are from the Gap.

Grey sweater jacket by  INC from Macy’s and Black Skinny tie, Macy’s

Black and white check shirt with epaulets from Nordstrom

IMAGE CREDITS:
Courtesy of: On Display Men
Model: Jesse Blum, click here to go to his site on On Display Men
Photography: Image 1 & 2 by Adam Medders Photography, Image 3 by Jay Fuertez (click on the names to go directly to their sites)

Modlife, located in Chicago, IL, specializes in mid century modern furniture, lighting, and accessories. Proprietor, Robert Zizzo, travels the country for unique finds. The collection includes items by renowned designers of the 20th Century including Eames, Ed Wormley, Paul McCobb, Milo Baughman, Hans Olsen, Paul Evans, Eero Saarinen and Tommi Parzinger. Here is just a sampling of items that caught my eye.  Above, Eames Aluminum Group chairs – Love the color combo here

Vintage Overman Sofa reupholstered in white leather

Danish Modern Walnut Credenza

Cubed Chrome platform chair in chocolate stamped leather & velvet

Orbit Chandelier

Danish Modern Sette Bench
Images from Modlife

Simply stunning, this San Francisco penthouse dwelling is located in  a concrete building in Aquatic Park.  Craig Steely Architecture converted the 4-bedroom, 4-bath home into an spacious environment by combining rooms to center the design around the captivating views.  The hand made  stone wall in the corridor is breathtaking.  Wood flooring and black walnut cabinetry expand the living and kitchen area.   I also enjoy the blending of the bedroom and bathroom in the master suite.

IMAGES from Craig Steely Architecture

Founded RISD graduates, Bill Hilgendorf and Jason Horvath, Uhuru Design, started in 2004 and is certainly a young company on the move. This New York based, design/build furniture company is making waves by creating sustainable yet stunning hand crafted pieces of furniture. Uhuru’s standard chair (pictured above) is now on display at The Brooklyn Museum of Art in the Luce Center for American Art on the 5th floor along with iconic chairs by Harry Bertoia, Eero Saarinen, Frank Gehry, George Nelson, and Charles Eames.  All of their pieces possess a certain simplicity and cleverly use materials that might otherwise be overlooked.  Here a few of my favorite pieces.

Fenced In Table                                                                Ohana Bar

Bilge Lounge (this piece would be great in the apartment…hmm)

Moo Bench (love that name)                                      Stoolen

Canopy Bed

Click here to check out the Uhuru for more info on the company and their work.

Images from Uhuru Design

There I was in the U street corridor area of D.C. planning to purchase a sofa from Urban Essentials, a contemporary furniture store I discovered a month ago.  On the way there I noticed a store that I recognized from my online hunt, called RCKNDY, pronounced “Rock Candy”.  I walked in the door and it was love at first sight. There it was, the perfect sofa, the Paramount from Blu Dot in a deep charcoal.  I recall eliminating it from the short list because of the fabric color.  At some point, I decided to go beige/light khaki so the sofa would go with everything.  I was wrong! As soon as I saw the Paramount in person, the ideas flowed.  I thought, it will go perfectly with my walnut credenza and add depth to my monochromatic color palette.  The  design channels the Florence Knoll sofa which I love but can’t afford.  Speaking of cost, I splurged paying $1700 for the Paramount medium sofa (shown below).  The sofa is 80″w, 32″d, and 31″h…perfect size for a studio apartment.  Oh and it is comfortable which was an important consideration.

My rules of thumb are to spend more for quality and not to settle for something you don’t love.  So be patient, the right sofa will find you and consider important elements such as scale and aligning with your style.  I realized that in my frustration with not having a place to sit, that I almost invested in a piece that I would soon resent. And no piece of furniture deserves that.

Is the Paramount Sofa, your perfect sofa?  You can purchase and view it and other Blu Dot pieces at RCKNDY or shop online at Blu Dot’s website, by clicking here.

IMAGE CREDITS: Photo 1 by Kibwe Daisy, Photo 2 from Blu Dot

For the Boston readers, check out this event.  The Room to Dream Foundation is having it’s annual gala on April 1st and you don’t want to miss this fabulous event for a great cause.  The foundation does room makeovers for chronically ill children from low income families.  I first became involved with Room to Dream when designing a room for Ethan, who has severe cerebal palsy.  The experience changed my life and I realized that design can really change people’s lives.

The event will be spectacular as four local designers will be creating rooms to be on display at the event.  So, become a kid again for a night by attending this carnival themed event.  For more information, check out the Room to Dream site by clicking here.

David Yurman has done it again! Loving these necklaces from the Wave Collection, inspired by the stunning antique Japanese tsuba shown above.  A tsuba or sword guard is a flat metal disc that helps keep the sword balanced and protects the hand from sliding up the blade while in use.  Tsuba originated in Japan around the late 14th century and the one above dates back to the 19th century, during the Edo period.   The necklaces pick up on the wave motif in the tsuba.  I love the richness and depth of the relief.  I am curious about pricing.  I could see myself wearing the silver one with a white v-neck come spring.  Check out my previous post on their tag necklaces, by clicking here.
IMAGE from Details Magazine