Design Public

Thanks to Elements of Style for this post about how to live a Hollywood Regency dream by renting from Room Service.

Oh My God! THE LIZA ROOM TAKES THE CAKE! If you missed SF20, you can lament your loss by perusing these fabulous images Leah posted at More Ways to Waste Time.

Oh My God Part II: Oh Patricia Gray, thank you for this. At first I thought it was a Chelsea Lately sketch, but it really is Sarah Palin’s office

Home Rejuvenation’s posts blow my mind all the time. I’m giddy over the The Next Generation House by Sou Fujimoto Architects.

I’m just nuts about Mrs. Blandings. I don’t know how I missed this charming Kansas City-based blogger’s writing for so long.

I don’t know how it took me ten days to find fellow, the new online design magazine from decor fellow blogger James Saavedra. Thanks to Habitually Chic for the tipoff.

Check out the list of the most inspiring design books of all time from O At Home magazine. I’m such a dork; I circled the ones I already have, which added up to ten. I was really excited to see Luis Barragan, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown and J.B. Jackson included on the list, but was disappointed that landscape architecture was not represented more.

Bummer! The Farnsworth House, in spite of the plinth it sits on above the ground, is majorly flooded. To make a donation towards repairs, click here. (via AT: Chicago).

Design Bloggers in Print! The New York Times did a huge feature on design bloggers yesterday, and included some of my favorites, like Jennifer Dwyer from The Peak of Chic. Congratulations! Hey, you know what’s weird? Wordpress has the word “bloggers” underlined right now like it’s not a word. It has Wordpress underlined as well. What’s up with that?

• photo from Room Service via Elements of Style

• photo by Leah Hennen at More Ways to Waste Time

• photo from The Anchorage Daily News (Landov) via The New York Times, via Patricia Gray Interior Design

• photo by (I think) Sou Fujimoto Architects, via Home Rejuvenation

• image from Mrs. Blandings

• image from fellow by James Saavedra

• image from amazon.com

• image from landmarks.org

It may not come as any surprise to learn that at Design Public we LOVE bedding. We treasure bedding pieces that make it a joy to go to bed at night as well as hard to want to leave in the morning…not to mention look sharp all along the way.

With the introduction of Sanford Burrows we knew right away that we found something amazing. Take a look at the embroidery, the Italian crafted textiles, and the attention to detail Jill Sanford Burrows puts into her work and you’ll see what we mean. Enjoy the Q&A!

I’d love to learn a little bit about your background…how did you get into working with linens and designing for the home? How did Sanford Burrows come together and get off the ground?

I had a long career as a graphic designer. Years ago, I was living and working in London and found myself wanting to design something more tangible—something that people would have an immediate, emotional reaction to that didn’t carry a marketing message— so I decided to take a few fashion design classes. But, my interest kept being drawn (more…)

The newest addition to the DP family: Mod Mom Furniture. Mod Mom, aka Kiersten Hathcock, personally designs and builds all of her modern, mid-century inspired children’s furniture from her home garage.

Personally, I think it is hard to beat beautiful handmade furniture built by a mom with a power saw.

Enjoy the Q&A!

We know a little bit about your story…ex-TV network marketing executive turned stay-at-home mom turned self-taught furniture designer/builder. I absolutely love that you went for the power tools rather than the sewing machine or knitting needles. Now we want the full scoop. How did Mod Mom Furniture really get off the ground?

Mod Mom Furniture really came out of me needing two things: 1.) Another source of income (since we lost my salary) and 2.) An outlet to channel all the drive and creativity that surprisingly didn’t go away when I decided to stay home with the kids (then 6-months and 4-years). After leaving the corporate world, I took freelance marketing jobs and even nannied to help make ends meet but also be home with the kids. During that time, in 2005, I rekindled my love for woodworking while building a tiki bar and luau tables with a friend for my husband’s birthday party. I had forgotten how much fun it was to build and started to really think about how I could turn it into a business.

I started very slowly building toy bins and selling them to friends (who were kind enough not to point out the flaws because they wanted to be (more…)

Designers Matthew and Ariana Broerman of Paper Cloud have brought a truly handmade approach to design. All of their pieces, from journals to pillows to cards to lampshades, are made solely by the duo in their Cincinnati studio.

If you are on the hunt for a geniunely handmade item for your home, Paper Cloud is a great place to start. Enjoy the Q&A!

I find it inspiring that you two went from making handmade holiday cards for your friends and family to starting a business as extensive as Paper Cloud. A dream for many of us (myself included)! How did Paper Cloud come together and get off the ground?

When we started Paper Cloud in the fall of 2005, we had both been working as designers for two years in Cincinnati. We got great responses from the cards we were making for friends and family and we loved the idea of working and designing for ourselves. Matt comes from a very entrepreneurial family, and he grew up seeing the freedom and flexibility you have when you own your own business. Both of those things (more…)

Spring is just around the corner so now is the time to start thinking about outdoor living. With the warm welcome of sunny days ahead, let me introduce the Zen Outdoor Bench by Aric Mayer and Marni Saling of Aidan Olive. The Zen Outdoor Bench is beautifully crafted using local materials, local builders, and local facilities. Enjoy the Q&A!

I am very curious about both of your previous experiences or “past lives”…

Aric, you appear to be a man of many artistic talents. I noticed that you have worked with all sorts of mediums such as paint, wood, film, photography…you even learned how to build your own tools! How has your artistic background impacted your designs and business practices? How would you describe your design style/philosophy?

AM: It seems that what I work in comes first from a personal need to be in that medium. Then I start at the beginning and strip the materials back to their basics. With painting for a while I went all the way back to Vasari’s notes and made all my own paint and ground from scratch, (more…)

I am pleased to introduce the newest baby and kid furniture line to be added to our site: Spot on Square. Co-founders, Bob and Nicole Springer bring a clean and calm collection to the scene, keeping unnecessary noise away from your child’s treasured space.

The Hiya series, a nickname given to Bob and Nicole’s son by his twin sister, conveys a childlike sense of purity, simplicity and sustainability. Enjoy!

Where did the name Spot on Square come from?

Our son was drawing on the driveway with chalk. He had drawn a square with a circle in it. When I asked him about it he referred to as the spot in the square. Nicole and I thought this was great graphically and began to think about how we could use it. After a bit of thought we came up with Spot On Square. We felt that this was a good fit being a bit of a play on words yet it was quite playful at the same time.

Bob, you appear to have quite an extensive industrial design background. Tell us about your experiences and how has it evolved into to starting Spot on Square? How about being a father, how has this played a role?

I had the opportunity as an undergrad student to be an understudy to an eccentric Finnish designer named Stefan Lindfors. During this time I worked on a number of furniture projects and gained a love for furniture design. My time since has been primarily in a corporate environment. (more…)

Jed Crystal of Hepper has done exactly what I have hoped someone would do with pet products…he has created pieces that are aesthetically pleasing (especially for a modern home) while also perfectly functional for your furry friend. A true master of form and function.

If Jed Crystal is the designer, who then is Hepper? Hepper is the name of a rat-cat who moved in with Jed and was subsequently nicknamed Hepper (as Jed notes, “short for Hepburn, as in Audrey, as in elegant, beautiful and oh-so stylish”). Hepper is now the official product tester for all Hepper pieces. Enjoy the Q&A!

You seem to be a man of many hats. I saw that you have history and experience designing backpacks, gloves, footwear, lighting, furniture, housewares and now for pets. My goodness! What was the turning point that led you into pet design? How did Hepperâ„¢ come together and get off the ground?

Design is around me all the time I’m the guy who is under tables in the furniture stores looking at joinery so the pet products have actually been brewing for quite a while. The first inspiration was when Booker (big fat shadow tiger cat) came to live with me 12 years ago. He’s had (more…)

Fresh off the Q&A boat: an interview with Jesse Johnson, the Co-Founder and CEO of Q Collection Junior. We couldn’t be more excited about the addition of their eco-friendly baby furniture to our site. Their products are made from locally sourced materials, with non-toxic, low VOC water based paints and stains, and formaldehyde-free glues (not to mention design savvy and beautiful). Enjoy!

Please tell us a bit about the path that led you into founding Q Collection. What was the turning point that lead to Q Collection Junior?

Back in 1999, Anthony and I (the co-founders) were looking around for home furnishings for my apartment in lower Manhattan. Anthony was an interior designer and I was immersed in the world of environmental management. We asked ourselves if we could find items that had the quality and design Anthony was used to working with while also having the sustainable features I sought. We failed to find anything already in existence. If we wanted truly green things, we had to give up on quality and design. If we wanted quality and design, we had to give up on sustainability. That planted the seed. What about all the folks, like us, who want both - high quality and fresh design with the healthiest, most environmentally friendly materials?

We made some prototypes and opened a temporary showroom in 2003. There was far less understanding and awareness around (more…)

I recently did a Q&A with one of my favorite designers of bold, graphic prints: Thomas Paul. Rarely a day goes by when a few of us at Design Public don’t talk about which pillows or rugs we want most. Unfortunately, the conversations tend to be pretty lengthy simply because we can’t narrow down our favorites from his overwhelming array of options…

I know you have a very extensive background in the fashion industry which I feel is very evident in your pillows. What was the turning point that led you to transition into the home?

I was bored. I was mainly working in designing and coloring prints and patterns for (more…)

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Trine Andersen, the creator of ferm LIVING’s beautiful wallpapers and clever wall stickers.
I understand that you found the word “ferm” (Danish for “clever”) while leafing through your grandmother’s needlepoint book (great “how our company got its name story, by the way!). Did needlepointing grandma have any other influence on your design style? She was obviously way ahead of the curve, as needlepointing is hot right now!

Grandmother did not, even though it would have been a great story, had any else influence on the designing. To be honest, I don’t know if she really likes it I think she wonders that this stuff can sell. She is 95 years old today.

What is your design background, that is to say, when did it hit you that you wanted to design for a living? (more…)