Let’s Shop: Simon Pearce

New England glass blowing and so much more.

Posted by Kara Butterfield on 5/8/2012 at 5:00AM | No Comments

Simon Pearce, located at 103 Newbury Street, is easily one of the best stores in Boston to fill the china cabinet. Beyond the perfectly displayed store window are two floors stocked full of hand blown glass and handmade pottery. Each Simon Pearce piece is handcrafted by their small team of master artisans and has a signature handcrafted finish. The range of tableware designs could live just as well in a classic as in a contemporary home. Vases for every type of flower, candle holders, serving platters, bowls, drinkware and dinnerware fill the wooden shelves.

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Living Large: Back to the Future

This 1980's Weston real estate gem has withstood the test of time.

Posted by Rachel Slade on 5/7/2012 at 5:00AM | No Comments

I don’t get out to Weston much — this urban gal’s ankle monitor usually goes berserk when she crosses Route 128 — but I had to see if my instincts were correct about an alleged gem from 1983. Designed by architect Leland Cott and landscaped by Zen Associates, the house has a respectable lineage, but I wondered: Had it stood the test of time? (The ’80s are not exactly synonymous with quality construction.) READ MORE

On-the-Spot Silhouette Portraits at Coco Baby this Saturday

Update your space with an original work of art.

Posted by Hannah Lott-Schwartz on 5/3/2012 at 5:00AM | No Comments

Why wait for Mother’s Day to treat yourself (or your spouse or your in-laws) to a chic, super-personalized memento? On Saturday, May 5, head down to the South End’s Coco Baby boutique and watch as third-generation silhouette artist Erik Johnson fashions a portrait of your favorite noggin, be it your child’s or your own. Using just a tiny pair of shears, some paper, and five minutes of your time, the North Carolina native snips and shapes while his muse of the moment poses, creating an original 18th century–style silhouette keepsake.

“It’s a truly unique gift,” says Kim Austin, assistant manager at Coco Baby, “something that everyone can cherish.”

At just $25 for each six-inch portrait, your whole family can sit for their five minutes of fame. And if you find yourself wanting any duplicates, Johnson will gladly make it a double for just $15 more per copy. Both Johnson and Jill Goldberg of Hudson Interior Designs will offer on-site framing options to customize your portrait even further.

Time slots fill up fast, so call or email ahead to make an appointment.

Saturday, May 5, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Coco Baby, 617-247-2229, 1636 Washington St., Boston, MA 02118

The Slade Index: May

What's hot and not in Boston home design.

Posted by Rachel Slade on 5/2/2012 at 2:16PM | No Comments

 

Photos via iStockphoto (typewriter, coffee), Martin Poole/Digital Vision/Thinkstock (dog), Zoonar/Thinkstock (chalkboard).

Designer du Jour: Vladimir Kagan

The 85-year-old German-born designer continues to rock the interiors world.

Posted by Kara Butterfield on 4/30/2012 at 9:58AM | 1 Comment

From architecture to textiles to furniture, German-born Vladimir Kagan has been a giant design for more than 60 years. Looking at his shapely pieces, like the amazing jet-age lounge above, it’s easy to recognize his initial training as a painter and sculptor. Kagan eventually studied architecture at Columbia University and in 1947, joined his father, a woodworker, to learn how to build furniture from the ground up. READ MORE

Let’s Shop: Restoration Resources

Eat your heart out, Restoration Hardware. This Boston shop's the real deal.

Posted by Kara Butterfield on 4/25/2012 at 12:51PM | 3 Comments

Renovating? Sprucing up your décor? Prepare to be inspired.  Restoration Resources at 1946 Washington Street is the epicenter of historic salvage in New England.  When we shopped around last week, we found a bounty of unique architectural elements that could be used in restoration projects. But even better, some of these fantastic pieces would look great in contemporary settings as well. Established in 1988 by Bill Raymer, the store got a serious face-lift last summer by Steven Morris. Now, angled aisles and organized products show off the huge collection of doors, lights, mirrors, furniture, mantels, hardware and antique relics within the 7,000 sqft showroom.

Baluster spindles hung at various heights resemble found art sculpture; hardware is grouped together by color; hanging lights of all different styles create a historic home awe. READ MORE

Boston’s Own Jennifer Glickman Competes for Big Money

Will this young, hip designer walk off the HGTV set $10,000 richer? Find out tonight!

Posted by Hannah Lott-Schwartz on 4/24/2012 at 4:18PM | No Comments

A blank slate—be it page, canvas, or room—sucks the creativity out of even craftiest of people. Not so for Boston’s Jennifer Glickman, one of four designers battling it out for $10,000 in prize money on HGTV’s new series the White Room Challenge. A spin-off of the network’s popular Design Star, the show premiers tonight and challenges designers to transform a stark white room into a well-designed space. There are twists, of course: rooms without full walls, tiny budgets to work with, and strange venues to shop. Glickman, whose clients include Chez Henri and Restaurant Dante, dishes on her stint as a reality star and her life as a self-proclaimed professional schlepper.

You must be excited. It seems like there’s a lot going on right now for you.

I kind of had a flip-out session last night.

How did you get involved with HGTV’s White Room Challenge?

I’ll talk about design until people turn around and walk away. So last summer, I had some friends sending me this link for a casting call for  Design Star. So I go, and they kept pushing me through to the next round. They finally brought me down to New York for the semi-finals. That was like design boot-camp or reality TV boot camp all rolled into one. They called me back a couple weeks later and  said, “So we cast for Design Star, but we have this new show that we want to put you on.” A couple weeks after that, they flew me out to LA. For four days we filmed, we designed nonstop, we ran around—you didn’t sleep. But it was fun. It was awesome. I would totally do it again. READ MORE

The Other Audubon

A 19th century woman's work is rediscovered.

Posted by Rachel Slade on 4/23/2012 at 11:41AM | No Comments

I can’t get enough of Princeton Architectural Press—they always come out with the most beautiful and interesting books and the right price point. This one looks like a keeper: America’s Other Audubon by Joy M. Kiser. It features the finely crafted drawings of a little-known 19th century artist, Genevieve Estelle Jones, who began work on two volumes illustrating eggs and nests in 1877. Jones had been inspired by Mr. Audubon himself, and strove to create her Nest and Eggs of Ohio Birds as an addition to the famous artist’s work, which focused on the animals themselves rather than their unique architecture.

Subscriptions were sold to cover the cost of the project but sadly, Jones died of typhoid fever before she could complete the work. Devastated, friends and family took up the cause and finished the project in 1886, but only 90 copies are thought to have been printed.

Thanks to the PAP, the book is back in production in its original size with the artist’s field notes, plus a new text by Kiser. It will be released on May 9th. Keep an eye out for the book signing at the Mass. Audubon Society, the date TBD.

I just adore those little eggs!

Avian architecture at its best.

Your Whiteness Offends Me

There are many things in this world better than a white bathroom and kitchen.

Posted by Rachel Slade on 4/16/2012 at 5:00AM | No Comments

Blah blah blah, white tile bathrooms and kitchens, blah blah blah. You know, taking a shower or using the throne shouldn’t feel like a visit to the doctor. But designers in New England seem to be in some kind of time warp where white = clean and clinical = cutting edge design. That’s so 1920s, people!

Does your bathroom look something like this? Really?

Which is why I’m always on the hunt for advanced thinking. You know, décor that gets us a little closer to happiness, a little further from pharmaceutical design circa pre-WWII. After all, we didn’t just discover bathing. That’s why I flipped over these water-resistant graphic panels by Alex Turco Art. Oh, you mean I don’t have to buy a huge slab of Carrera marble for my shower wall? Well golly, sign me up. READ MORE

Drive-By Shooting in LA

Artist Andrew Bush's fascinating view of American car culture.

Posted by Rachel Slade on 4/11/2012 at 5:55PM | No Comments

During the ’80s and ’90s in LA, Andrew Bush drove around with camera attached to his passenger door and snapped photos of cars and their unsuspecting drivers. Of course, LA has a disproportionate number of photogenic freaks, and this fascinating compendium at NYC’s Yossi Millo Gallery gives us a tiny slice of California life.

Bush’s titles usually detail the place, direction, speed, and time, like this one: Man continuing east at 67 mph on Interstate 10 near Palms Boulevard in Los Angeles at 4:14 p.m. in February 1991.

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