Chairs that you REALLY Must Have

I was hunting around last night for some interesting chairs....and look what I found! This set of black leather swivel chairs....beautiful! They are from a vintage store called City Foundry in Brooklyn.

A quick scout of the web site and I am sure you will find a bunch of stuff that will take your fancy, from Garden decorations to cool industrial era furniture. Not sure what the prices are like, but as the ad goes "4 jetson style, black leather swivel chairs....? Priceless!"

My Favorite Mirrors

The simplicity of this one, makes it a personal favorite. The faceted edges give it a little bit of interest, and I think it would be a great idea to give a coat of paint, I think in Flamingo Pink it would be terribly chic. It is from Oly Studio, so you know it's also not going to be too expensive.

I have to be honest, I have been a fan of Aesthetic for many years. Their work is all inspired by classical architecture, so the pieces are all quite different from many other things on the market. This mirror inspired by the Mannerist movement captures the elements of this classical style. A collection of these on a wall would look amazing!

Richard Shapiro is an antiques dealer in Los Angeles. His store is like a museum visit, some of the most exquisite examples of art and furniture from throughout Europe can be found there. He has also started creating his own furniture, which is simple, but elegant, and creates a beautiful counterpoint to the antiques. I love the way he has incorporated sconces into this mirror.

Thursday is Resource Day: Portera

Today I am very excited to talk about this new resource. It was brought to my attention by a designer friend of mine who worked on the home of the owners. The resource is Portera Doors, and they sell old and antique doors from all over Europe. To say that they are old door sellers is like saying Christies is a used furniture store, this place will take your breath away!

I had the pleasure of meeting the owners, a young couple from Southern California, who developed a passion for doors when they were remodeling their Mediterranean house a couple of years ago. They met a dealer in Spain, during their process and the rest is proverbial history, their business smarts mixed with his great collection and you have one of the finest specialist dealers I have seen in a long time.

For those of you not in California, a quick trip to their website will convince you to hop on a plan and visit (www.porteradoors.com). The site is well organised and easy to navigate, but apparently only grazes the surface of what is available, so if you have something specific in mind give them a call.

While all they sell is doors, you should think a bit more about other ways you can use them. I am planning to make a headboard out of one, and for another project I think a pair of doors would make a great art piece just hung on the wall. I am sure other great uses will come to me too.

I hope you enjoy the site, and visit the store if you can, I am sure you will be as excited as I obviously am.

Portera Doors

27 S. El Molino Ave

Pasadena, CA 91101

ph: 626.639.2130

Thursday is Resource Day

I love writing on Thursdays because it gives me a chance to highlight another resource and hopefully give them some great exposure. As a designer, you are only as good as the resources you are able to find, and today's resource Dos Gallos is a great one.

Located in West Hollywood this company provides an incredible one stop shop for all sorts of antiques and reproductions from Central and South America, as well as Spain, Italy and Greece. I have bought anything from tables and chairs to incredible old doors (that make great art pieces hung on a wall if you don't have a doorway big enough).

I think that the staff is very knowledgeable and above all, pleasant to deal with and are willing to find that special piece you have been looking for. My other favorite thing is that they keep their website up to date with new pieces, so I can stay current while sitting at my desk.

So give this company a try, I think that a trip to their warehouse is a real adventure, or just try them on the Internet, either way, I am sure you will like what you find.

Dos Gallos

924 N. Formosa Ave,

Los Angeles CA 90046

www.dosgallos.com

Mixing Antiques with Modern Pieces

There is a new posting over at DesignTalk today, where I discuss techniques of mixing Antiques with more modern pieces. Drop by and take a look.

http://designtalk.homevisions.com/

Have a great day!

Thursday is Resource Day

The resource today that I want to feature is probably one that most of you have heard of before. I know that on some of my favorite Blogs, such as Peak of Chic and Desire to Inspire this company has been mentioned with some regularity. However, I decided to feature them today, because, in a very short time 1stdibs.com has almost single handedly transformed the antique market across the globe by using the Internet to match up buyers and sellers.

Basically the idea is that Antique dealers place ads on the website, which is incredibly easy to search, using a variety of criteria, such as location or type of object or even style or period. The simplicity of the model is astounding, but the true genius is the quality of dealer they have managed to attract. I have been fortunate to travel the world on various antique shopping adventures for different clients, and have amassed quite a black book of all my favorite stores in NYC, London and Paris, this website has made that obsolete, I can now shop Europe over coffee in my Living Room.

Another great way to use the site, especially if you are not in the antique market, is to use it almost as a study tool. In the upcoming weeks, I plan to do a posting on the value of Auction Catalogs as a learning tool, this operates in the same way. Every Friday the new stock comes out, I pore over the new stuff and download great images, with detail shots, of things that catch my eye, that I can use as inspiration. My Ideas file is overflowing with some cool things that I never would have seen without this amazing resource.

Anyway, check it out, and see what you think, I hope you get as much out of it as I do.

Thursday is Resource Day

In an effort to give the Blog some structure, I thought it was a good idea to dedicate certain days to certain topics, Mondays to answer questions on design etc (if you have any questions, please do post them, there is only one the at the moment and i don't want to have to make them up LOL!). So, I thought on Thursdays I could share some valuable resources with you, and today that resource is Aesthetic Decor out of Los Angeles. http://www.aestheticdecor.com/

The Designer responsible for these pieces is Richard Johnson, he takes his inspiration from classical architecture, and he transforms them into decorative items for the home that transcend periods and styles, I think that they work equally as well in modern settings as they do in traditional. His work can be seen at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, as well as showrooms throughout the U.S.. I think he is definitely someone to check out because of his unique point of view. Enjoy!

By the way the pieces are not meant to be Blue! I am new at this and these images just came up that way, when I work out how to get them back to their real color, I will change it.