Design Public

Yesterday I was perusing one of my favorite neighborhood shops, urban cottage, and I came across some beautiful beads. It turns out they were part of the Akola project. The Akola project is part of the Ugandan American Partnership Organization. The Akola project has employed over 90 widows to make necklaces that are sold in Atlanta Georgia and Greenville South Carolina, for the purpose of stimulating economic development and providing relief to widows in rural villages. The beads are absolutely stunning, by the way. To learn more go to TheUAPO.org; to purchase visit urbancottage-atlanta.com.

photo from UAPO.org

Yesterday I forgot to mention that Vanessa De Vargas of Turquoise in L.A. is now offering E-decorating services to her repertoire. This meansanyone from anywhere can simply email Vanessa pictures of their decorating dilemmas and receive her help over the web. These consultations include “furniture placement, wall and furniture color ideas, where to buy and what products and artists to purchase from.” For more information, please go to the Turquoise website to contact Vanessa. Did I fail to mention awhile back that Vanessa is now blogging for decor8? Be sure to check her out there as well!

photo from turquoise-la.com

I rarely venture over to Buckhead. The traffic sucks. Usually Jeffrey (formerly Bob Ellis, by FAR the best shoe and accessory boutique in the country) and the Neiman Marcus Last Call sale (starts today! 65% off) are the only reason I will sit in the horrible traffic of Piedmont, Lenox, and or Peachtree. However, a quest for a nickel lamp from Circa Lighting (that store rocks!) sent me sailing right past Pieces, the store I’ve been hearing so much about for years. The first time was in Cottage Living (green bungalow bedroom below). It was everything I thought it would be and more.

The owner, Lee Kleinhelter, has exquisite taste - everything in the store was perfection, from Hollywood Regency light fixtures to vintage bamboo sofas painted bright yellow, from fabulous custom driftwood mirrors to Hable Construction fabrics showcased in the best way possible. Do you pay for Lee’s amazing eye? Big time! But if you are not a thrifter or a do-it-yourselfer-fixer-of-furniture-upper, Lee has it all figured out for you. I saw dashes of Kelly Wearstler, Jonathan Adler, Dorothy Draper, Billy Baldwin and David Hicks all rolled into Lee’s unique style. There are also great affordable gifts, including preppy dog collars, Adler and Hable Construction accessories and a nicely edited selection of design books. If you are ever in Atlanta, Pieces is worth braving the Buckhead traffic. Plus it’s in very close proximity to Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, ShopSCAD, DWR, Circa Lighting, and a slew of other great design shopping.

Most recent glossy spotting of Lee’s work, as seen in Cottage Living Nov. 2007:

horse lamp available at Piecesinc.com (click on photo for purchasing information)

second photo by Timothy Street-Porter for Cottage Living

third photo by Robbie Caponetto for Cottage Living

When you need an item for your house, do you search and search non-stop until you find it?  Or do you simply keep an eye open, knowing that the right thing will cross your path eventually but you can’t push it?  I’m in the latter group.  Two days ago, I splurged on some tulips at the grocery.  The only vase they really fit in was this old metal coffeepot with a wooden handle.  A few hours later, my new dining room chairs arrived.  They are even better in person, and I love the way they look with the wood table my great great grandfather made.  It was like the coffee pot and the tulips knew they were coming and urged me to put them on top before they arrived.

oops, obviously I got too excited about taking the picture and missed a tag - tacky!

I have to give major props to decorators who can throw a room together in a short time frame.  I have to be patient - my dining room has been without proper chairs for almost two years, but it was worth the wait!  Now if I could just find the perfect light fixture (over the tulips, wires have been hanging from the ceiling for 2 years)…do you guys have any suggestions?  I don’t want a drum shade or a chandelier.  Perhaps a lantern, or ideally, one of those amazing fixtures from South of Market, you know, where they turn a French trash can or basket into some awesome and unique light fixture and charge $2,000 for it?  I need the cheap version of that!

So it’s about that time of year when the stores open at 5 a.m. and you can’t park within two miles of the mall until after the holidays.  I’m all about shopping from this very laptop and coming up with something more original than Isotoners, and I’ll be sharing some of my interesting finds with you all month.  I hope you’ll do the same and share some of your favorites with me.

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Growing up, my parents always had this ugly Howard Johnson’s ashtray* they used as a soapdish at the kitchen sink.  At the end of their honeymoon, they had asked the desk clerk if they could buy said ashtray as a memento, and he was so shocked and charmed by their honesty, he told them they could just have it.  I thought of this when I saw a small feature in Lucky about hotelsurplus.com . 

Personally, I was hoping for some really tacky velvet Elvis paintings or some fabulous Ian Schrager hotel castoffs, but alas, they had none.  I have to say, when I looked over the furnishings on the site, it looked more no-tell motel to me, but actually, most of their pieces come from really nice hotels.  Let’s just say that from the offerings, I could definitely see why these places were redecorating, and it must have been long overdue.  However,  if you sort through, you can find some interesting items.  Who wouldn’t want a locking minibar (think moochy college roommate) or an electronic pedestal safe?  I’ll recommend if ordering that you use common sense - for instance, 1) From my experience with hotel televisions, I’m guessing they are way past their primes.  2) Mattresses and Bedding - EW EW EWWWW!  3) Never put any of it  under a blacklight (I’ve never recovered from that episode of 20/20).

*BTW, that ashtray is from the ’60’s, and it is now pretty retro-HoJo’s-cool.  I recently picked up a similar funky Holiday Inn one over at Victory Vintage.

The flickr photo that made me stop and click click this week comes from effigy1111 .  She simply wanted to show us that she decided to add a pear to her inspiration board.  Personally, I’d love to take this image of her board and frame it and prop it up on my mantle!  Love it! 

As I got nosy and clicked around effigy1111’s flickr space a little more, I found out that she is an artist named Heather and has a blog called Creature Comforts.  Creature Comforts is DEFINITELY worth checking out. I’m in awe of how much time and energy some people can give to their blogs to make them so wonderful.  As I clicked around there, I found out that she is about to open an online boutique that, in part, grew from her blog and the community she was able to meet through blogging.  The boutique is called Wren Eleven and it will be opening soon.  Wren Eleven will "serve as a supportive environment, where talented independent artists and craftspeople can come together to market their work while gaining the exposure and recognition they deserve."  Thanks for sharing it all with us Heather!

Oh, P.S.!  I emailed Heather and asked her if she had any images of the entire board, and she was gracious enough to email me back in the amount of time it took me to finish this post.  You can see it here.   Thanks again Heather!

The other day I was thumbing through Country Living and a big yellow industrial cart caught my eye.  Turns out the owners bought it at Victory Vintage Home, just a few miles from my home in Atlanta (well, technically, it’s in Decatur).  I have been meaning to tell you all about this special spot for awhile but keep forgetting.

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So Eric and I spent some number of hours Sunday (you lose track of time when your brain sizzles in your brainpan) in the 4000-degree heat trekking the Avenues of Art and Design in West Hollywood for the annual Art & Design Walk. It was fun–shops and galleries were open, there was all kinds of free wine and food, the parking meters were bagged for the evening. Got to see a lot of great furniture in person, including some things we sell (Angela Adams rugs, Bendant lamps, Vitra Butterfly stools) and some things we don’t (George Nelson’s Sunflower clocks, Eames storage units, a Kartell store full of delightful acrylic lunacy). It was a nice way to get a feel for what’s going on in the showrooms and galleries of one of L.A.’s most important design districts.

Holly over at decor8 informed us that Vessel (Candela, Squat, Candeloo etc.) have a NEW storefront now in downtown Boston. Being a Boston native myself I had to give some love to the local boys who done good. Congrats fellas!

Now, if you’re wondering who is this rogue blogger on "Hatch"? I’m the Design Public web/creative/everything else guy and this is my (gasp) third post! I’m sure my parents will call at any moment to discuss my new found fame…

Anyhoo, if you’re in or around the Hub, go check it out at 125 Kingston Street. If not, you can see some great pics of the interior via Holly’s design blog. Go Vessel . Go Sox!