Furniture Fridays

Today I am thrilled to have Bethany from Dwellings by DeVore with us for Furniture Fridays! Bethany is the super talented author of this wonderful blog and mother to the cutest little one.  She has a wonderful flair for design and her posts are informative, creative (amazing DIY ideas) and always inspiring. Please stop by, have a read and enjoy her fun selection below.

I was so honored when Anna asked me to be a part of her Furniture Fridays series.  It took me forever to decide on what I wanted to choose, there are so many great pieces out there!  Then it came to me, this coveted lucite bench.  Even though lucite seems to be a pretty trendy option these days, I feel like this bench is a classic staple that will stay in style for many years to come.  I love the combination of the tufted upholstery with the flawless look of the lucite legs.  It's such a great combination.  This bench could be used at the foot of a bed or even in an entryway or perhaps as a coffee table in a small space.  No matter where you choose to use it, you can't go wrong!  

Credits: Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3, Photo 4 

Furniture Fridays

What a busy week it has been with client meetings, new projects and friends visiting from London.  I am happy that the weekend is almost here and am thrilled that today is Furniture Friday! Today we have the most wonderful Laura author of Creative & Ordinette blog with us to share her favourite piece of design. Based in the incredibly inspiring city that is Rome, Laura has an eye for design and her blog brings new and exciting ideas, products and projects to all her readers.  Grazie Laura!

Hello Canoe Design Readers! First of all I want to thank Anna for welcoming me in her wonderful blog! When she kindly asked me to choose a favorite piece of design for her weekly feature, I must confess, I found myself in great embarrass. But after a little thinking about what I wish I owned there is  the beautiful  Fornasetti Plate and whatever of the other Fornasetti objects representing the beautiful face of Lina Cavalieri. Did you know that she was a famous Italian opera singer in the 19^th century? She had a very adventurous and interesting life and was one of the favourite show women of the founder of the Fornasetti Dinasty. In my view, that image has just a kind of a spellbinding effect to me. I love every single object that represents it, because it can really make a statement about an interior and tell a lot of the tastes of the owner. I reckon it a very decorating piece of design, extremely elegant and quite an Italian Icon.

The leitmotiv of the Fornasetti plates has been declined in a white range of different guises. One of the ultimate purposes in the life of a décor addict is to collect as many of the Fornasetti plates as possible. They add a dramatic effect and a good dose of style to interiors. Here are some pictures featuring the Fornasetti iconic image. Aren’t you craving to have some of them? 

Fornasetti

Furniture Fridays

Today I invite you all to join me in welcoming Sandie from  from Powder Grey for Furniture Fridays! Based in the UK and working as an Interior Designer, Sandie has a keen eye for design and always features wonderful and interesting posts on her blog.  She has a fresh look and enthusiasm to her posts, and Powder Grey is a daily read for me always with something new for me to see.  I am truly excited at her selection and what an incredible interesting and unique selection it is. Thank you and enjoy!

I was pleasantly surprised yet touched when I received the email from Anna requesting me to do a write up for Furniture Fridays, considering I am very new to the Interior World.  My chosen piece is the Lockheed lounge by Australian Industrial designer Marc Newson. This aluminium clad lounge took Newson over 2 months to create and was his most celebrated piece in 1986.

I first saw this when it appeared in Madonna’s video “Rain” in 1993, long before I was interested in a career in Interiors. I remembered thinking WOW at the time, as I hadn’t seen anything like it.  A cool solid powerful piece yet its elegant curvaceous curves looked like a mercury blob that had leaked from an old antique mirror. I don’t own such a piece, unfortunately, if I did it would set me back over a million dollars.

Although Newson created the Lockheed Lounge over 25 years ago its futuristic design will, in my opinion, always remain a timeless piece.  See more of Marc Newson's work at marc-newson.com

                                                          Lockheed Lounge, 1986

Designer - Marc Newson
Material - Aluminium and fiberglass
Dimensions - 89x63.5x152.5 cm

Furniture Fridays

The thing I love about Furniture Fridays is that there is something new and exciting for all of us each week.  Well today is no exception, and I am so happy to have a duo post with Milly and Sally from A Piece of Toast.  Whether it is fashion, interiors or design these sisters have inspiring posts that bring me back day after day wanting to see what's next.  I am truly happy to have them both here to share their favorite pics for today. Thanks ladies!

Hi Canoe Design readers!  We are so excited to be part of Anna's fun Furniture Friday series - any time we get to talk about furniture pieces we love we jump at the chance.  And with such similar taste and style, it's no surprise that our favorite pieces closely resemble each other :)  Hope you enjoy and please stop by our blog, A Piece of Toast for more musings on interiors, style and more!

MOLLY: love Jonathan Adler's Mongolian Lamb Bench

For the record, this is one ridiculously expensive item.  Made even more ridiculous because I want two of them... The combination of chunky lucite and ivory Mongolian lamb hair makes it the ideal piece to define the grown-up, neutral pallet I'm going for in my own apartment space.  Sure it might be a little impractical (would I ever actually sit on that Mongolian lamb hair?  Probably not) but those benches could travel from room to room, home to home, and always look cool.  Picturing two at the end of my bed or in front of a killer coffee table.  Allow me to dream?

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SALLY: love Philippe Stark's Ghost Chairs

Oh I love these chairs so much.  To have a rustic wood dinning room table full of them is my dream.  Or to use one with arms as my own desk chair.  Or even just to have a pair to sit in my some-day living room with a fabulous pillow on each... They are just so timeless and classic, I can't think of anything better to invest in and have my entire life.  I adore the classic clear but also love the smoky grey... And even though the decorating world might be a little over-saturated with Ghost Chairs, I still love them to pieces!

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xx

Molly & Sally

Furniture Fridays

Hello and welcome to another wonderful end of the week instalments of Furniture Fridays.  Today I am thrilled to have Milda from Margas with us.  Milda has an incredible eye for design and her posts are always thoughtful, inspiring and beautiful to look at.  Living in Kaunas, Lithuania, she is the voice behind this wonderful blog as well as a fashion journalist and stylist.  Please stop by her blog as it really is inspiring, and enjoy her ever wonderful selection below. Thanks and have a great weekend!

About me

I am a fashion journalist and stylist, but my passion for interior design lately has been eclipsing everything else. I write the Margas blog in order to educate myself about interior design and share the things I find interesting with others.

About an iconic design piece

When Anna asked me to contribute to her blog writing about my favorite piece of iconic furniture design, my mind went blank. The thought of having to choose ONE item was horrifying!

So I thought about my favorite Mies Van der Rohe’s chairs, and Hans Wegner’s, and Niels O. Møllers, then about tables, then sofas…and ended up with a lamp. Don’t ask. It just felt right at this point in time – maybe because I am on the hunt for lamps for my living room. The ‘Arco’ design by Achille Castiglioni and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos (1962) is instantly recognizable. The elegant arch, the luxurious marble – I’d call it an aristocratic piece of design (the marble bit really does it for me; I’m slightly marble-crazy).

‘Arco’ is also aristocratic for another reason – you can’t really put it in a small room… It needs space! I like to imagine this lamp in an Italian palazzo with really tall ceilings and modernist furniture; they go together like salt and pepper. That is not to say that ‘Arco’ is not practical. Apparently, Achille Castiglioni designed it when he grew frustrated with ceiling lamps. Big as it is, ‘Arco’ is a real multi-tasker: you can use it to light your work desk or dinner table or reading nook.

Yes, this lamp has been slightly over-used and over-copied, as have all design classics. But its elegance is timeless and I would totally like to have one in my living room. Thank you for inviting me to be your blog-guest, Anna!

Furniture Fridays

Hi everyone and welcome to another wonderful edition of Furniture Fridays! Today I am beyond words (I know, a little difficult for a blogger) excited to have Cassandra with us to share her favourite furniture! For those of you not familiar with Cassandra's achievements, she is the creative mind behind the wildly successful blog coco+kelly, she is one of the voices of Rue Magazine, and for those of you who are fashionista's she has also been part of Gap's Styld.by campaign with Rue. Thanks for joining us this week Cassandra!   

It's hard to imagine choosing one piece of historic or iconic furniture to count as a favorite. Many other guests in Anna's fantastic Furniture Friday series have chosen a few that popped into my head as first options (the Saarinen Tulip table and X-bench both came to mind). But as I took some more time to really think about, I quickly narrowed myself down to one area of design that consistently speaks to me - the Campaign Style. 

All furniture via 1st Dibs

I find the very concept of this furniture historically romantic, which may be part of the charm. Originally designed to easily fold up and then reassemble for traveling armies, these pieces had to be strong and functional to fulfill their purpose. However, they were also created to be comfortable and beautiful to make the British officers feel a little bit of luxury (no doubt affiliated with their status as well) while traveling away from home. As such, these pieces encompass everything I look for in furniture today - the ability to withstand wear and time and even some travel, while being aesthetically pleasing and cozy. 

Of all the pieces that I've seen, however, it's the campaign dresser that truly sticks in my mind as an iconic piece... 

Images: 1. innovative interior 2. etsy 3. lonny 4. one kings lane

Whether old or new, we've seen this dresser been given new life in the past few years with bright, lacquered surfaces and updated hardware (personally, I prefer the traditional brass to the nickel). The style continues to insert itself seamlessly into modern day decor, and I myself have a version of this dresser in my own bedroom - it's a very Dorothy Draper meets Campaign style piece, and I absolutely adore it. To me, the simple lines but stunning details make this a piece that definitely deserves icon status! 

Furniture Fridays

Happy Furniture Friday everyone.  Today is a busy day for me as we are moving (cannot believe we have been in New York for a year!), and I am so happy to have Dionne from Dionne Designs with us to share her fav piece (and what a great one it is!). Dionne is the creative mind behind this wonderful blog, and she also runs her own design consultancy Dionne Trifiro Design LLC.  Thank you so much for being with us today and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

I was so excited to be asked by Anna to contribute to Furniture Fridays, scanning past posts I saw many classic pieces of furniture that I truly love. I was secretly glad that no one had yet featured the Apothecary cabinet!

Via Veranda & 'The New Traditional' by Darryl Carter. 

Photograph by Gordon Beall 

Via Veranda & 'The New Traditional' by Darryl Carter. 

Photograph by Gordon Beall.

Apothecary cabinets were used in the 18th & 19th century by pharmacists and physicians and were designed to store medications and medical accessories, hence the multiple drawers. Sometimes there can be up to 50 drawers making this piece of furniture not only interesting to look at but also functional. I confess to being a symmetry maniac, which is possibly why I am attracted to this equally spaced, perfectly sized, drawer filled cabinet.

I would love to use it as a free standing piece of furniture in a kitchen design, it can help break up the monotony of wall to wall fitted cabinets by introducing a different style and a new material. Many have a space for labels on each drawer front so remembering where you put your kebab skewers is easy! Adding a hanging pot rack above can create a nice practical vignette.

I really like that they are available in so many finishes and wood species and that the design is so simple that it can be placed in any room in the home; as shown above in a sitting room or dining room. Smaller ones can be a useful storage solution for a bathroom which as we all know is a room always desperate for organization.

A favorite of mine has to be the Asian apothecary, the patina'd cherry red lacquer would make an impact in any foyer and as a additional bonus great for holding mail, leashes and keys.

Via Elle Decor

Put two together.

Via Pencil Shaving Studio 

Make your own labels.

Via Elle Decor

Unusual wall cabinet. (LOVE the lamps!)

Via Being-red

Kitchen storage.

Thank you Anna for having me guest post, it truly is a pleasure.

Dionne