XMAS WISH LIST - WHITE LOG BASKET

I really really want this for xmas even though it is a little too large for my fireplace... maybe with some jigging I could get it to fit... Its from Graham and Green priced at £95.. click on title for link to their site... here's wishing!

It reminds me of this magazine rack which www.city-furniture.be had a while ago.. now why didn't I think of it as a log holder!!!

TRULY INSPIRATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND PLACES - SPOMENIK by Jan Kempenaers

Book by Jan Kempenaers
called SPOMENIK

These structures were commissioned by former Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito in the 1960s and 70s to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place (like Tjentište, Kozara and Kadinjača), or where concentration camps stood (like Jasenovac and Niš). They were designed by different sculptors (Dušan Džamonja, Vojin Bakić, Miodrag Živković, Jordan and Iskra Grabul, to name a few) and architects (Bogdan Bogdanović, Gradimir Medaković...), conveying powerful visual impact to show the confidence and strength of the Socialist Republic. In the 1980s, these monuments attracted millions of visitors per year, especially young pioneers for their "patriotic education." After the Republic dissolved in early 1990s, they were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings were forever lost.

From 2006 to 2009, Kempenaers toured around the ex-Yugoslavia region (now Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, etc.) with the help of a 1975 map of memorials, bringing before our eyes a series of melancholy yet striking images. His photos raise a question: can these former monuments continue to exist as pure sculptures? On one hand, their physical dilapidated condition and institutional neglect reflect a more general social historical fracturing. And on the other hand, they are still of stunning beauty without any symbolic significances.

as found here

http://www.cracktwo.com/2011/04/25-abandoned-soviet-monuments-that-look.html

HOUSE TOUR!

OK here is my home!
Enter House Tour
Survey:
My Style: mid-century modern danish and british with a quirky splattering of surrealism.
Inspiration: Art, books, magazines, other people's homes!
Favorite Element: Art.
Biggest Challenge: I don't own it.
What Friends Say: That is is just me.
Biggest Embarrassment: cheap flooring.
Proudest DIY: new doors from B&Q.. love love DIY.
Biggest Indulgence: Probably the penguin donkey bookcase in the living room and the prints.
Best Advice: From my lecturer at college on lateral thinking :Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic.".. it just made sense.!

Resources of Note:
PAINT & COLORS
• white, grey, french grey, baby sick colour spare room, vintage green in hallway

ENTRY
• soholm plaque
• B&Q chrome light

LIVING ROOM
• mogens hansen sofa, conran beep light, balzac chair, penguin donkey, various op artists, moller desk, kaiser idell light, fornasetti vase, habitat catherin gray memento vase,


Kitchen
• sarineen marble table, eames chairs, cathrine holm

main bedroom
• Hans wegner bed, stag chest, vintage papa chair

spare bedroom
• Sanderson curtains and duvet

THINGS IN MY HOME - BALZAC CHAIR - SCP - MATTHEW HILTON

Hi been a long time since I posted anything on my home and need to do some up-dating!. I have wanted one of these chairs and stool for along time and finally found one on ebay and managed to buy it. It's in the right colour too as they do not produce black anymore. Yipeee.. Its very comfortable and not as big as you would think.

BALZAC CHAIR

SCP Balzac Armchair by Matthew Hilton. A seminal piece of furniture designed by Matthew Hilton. Solid beech frame with steel springs and elasticated webbing, covered in multi-density foam with feather cushions gives medium to soft support. American Oak legs. A contemporary piece with organic form, upholstered in beautifully soft, full-aniline leather.

"1991 SCP make their first upholstery piece, the Balzac armchair by Matthew Hilton. The chair initially receives mixed reviews, but goes on to become the biggest selling SCP chair of all time, something of an icon, included in the well known Taschen book “1000 Chairs” and a permanent resident at the Geffrye Museum, the Museum of the English domestic interior. Other design of the year at the Auberon table by Matthew Hilton and the Bishop table by Konstantin Grcic." Taken from SCP's History on their website.

Matthew Hilton (1957- ) is a British furniture designer of modern furniture.
Hilton attended Portsmouth College of Art and then Kingston Polytechnic. After graduation he was an industrial designer and model maker until 1984. In 1991, he designed the "Balzac Armchair"[1] for SCP Limited a company started by Sheridan Coakley in 1984 and now based in Shoreditch, London. His furniture is held in the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Geffrye Museum, London and the Manchester City Art Gallery. He was elected a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in 2005. In 2007 Matthew launched his company Matthew Hilton Limited.

BEST OF BRITISH & DANISH - IB KOFOD LARSEN ROSEWOOD SIDEBOARD

I don't think you can get any better than this in the most beautiful mix of Danish design and English Craftmanship.

Furniture desginer Ib Kofod-Larsen's furniture from the 1950's and 60's are today more desirable than ever before. Danish Kofod-Larsen designed storage and seating for the Swedish market in the 60's but did not really reach any commercial success. Maybe his organic design was to extreme for the Swedish taste at the time. In Denmark, on the contrary, his sideboards produced by Faarup won immediate recognition. Today his creations are sold at higher and higher prices, as his clean designs, often in beautiful rosewood or palisander, have become highly appreciated by a global community of design enthusiasts.

The success of G-Plan led to E Gomme becoming one of the UK's largest furniture manufacturers, with profits increasing sixfold between 1952 and 1958 when it was floated.
Another part of the direct marketing was the showrooms where the public could see the furniture. There were small centres over the country, and "The G-Plan Gallery" in Vogue House, St George Street, Hanover Square in London.
Donald Gomme left the company in 1958, perhaps the peak of the company's success. In the early 1960s the government introduced restrictions on hire purchase (the most common method of purchasing furniture), and in response to competition from Danish furniture the company introduced a Danish Modern range (designed by Ib Kofod-Larsen), which made the rest of the range seem dated, and Gomme lost their market-leading position, though they continued to be a major manufacturer making innovative designs with a very well known brand name.

BEST OF DANISH - STOUBY, MOGENS HANSEN, ERIC JORGENSEN, THAMS, FREDERICA - the danish style sofa

The story of the Danish Style Sofa.

KAARE KLINT - MODEL 4035 - 1929 - Rud Rasmussen

An example is owned by the Danish Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen. The grandaddy of most danish design. One can see the influence he had on many designer after.

OLE WANSCHER - 1960 - A.J. Iversen

Not far behind Klint, they were friends and Wanscher studied under him.

ARNE VODDER - 1959 - Nielaus



BORGE MOGENSEN - FREDERICA SERIES 2213 - SOFA SET

What we would term the classic danish sofa design was by Borge Mogensen for Frederica. It was designed in 1963 for Frederica 2213 series who still produce them at a price of £7500. This my seem an awful lot for a sofa, but they use the best quality leather, down filled cushion and solid mahogany frame. It is true quality. Vintage would still set you back around £3000.

GEORGE THAMS - Vejen Polstermøbelfabrik - 1970




STOUBY - EVA, HANNE, MIA SOFA



The closest to the Borge Mogensen design, they are hand made, using again the best material, aniline leather, goose filled cushions. Retails at £3000 or vintage around £1000. Hard to say when they started producing theirs.


Erik Jørgensen Møbelfabrik - EJ 260 - EJ315-2


Denmark has been the home of a good number of top furniture designers like Erik Jørgensen. He founded his family business in 1954 and still produces furniture designs which are true to Erik Jørgensen designs. These days the Erik Jørgensen furniture company is considered to be one of the top providers of designer sofa's & chairs. The company also has an annual EJ design award to help the new generation of furniture designers integrate into the trade.

MOGENS HANSEN



Slight variations on the design - but still of high quality and design.


There are some classic designs used in furniture building that have become very well known. Among some of the classic styles you will find the danish couch. This particular design is made in a very rectangular shape with square seat cushions. The Danish have been praised for their modern designs in furniture as well as for their sturdy construction. You can find many pieces of Danish furniture in museums that showcase some of the more originally designed pieces. Their couch design is created in either a traditional two arm style or with one arm rest and one open end.
The frame used in creating a danish style sofa is often made of wood. In some of the more elegant or formal designs the wood will be covered with fabric that is padded on the back section. The fabric coverings are available in assorted materials as well as in various colors and prints. A very contemporary style uses a sleek wood base sanded to a smooth finish. The backrest section is covered in black leather with a filling placed between the wood and the leather material. The seat cushions are created as separate items that are also covered in leather. This particular couch works well when used in today’s modern designed rooms.
In the category of the Danish sofas you will also see some variations on their modern couch that have the item made as a chaise style of couch. This item will also have the wood frame, but will have the back section placed along one end with the arm extending part way along the elongated side. The modern design has the wood in strips or rails so the back is formed by using spindles to create a rail style of back section. This chaise uses a separate cushion to provide comfort for sitting on the hard wood base.
In addition to the classic designs there are also several fun styles of the Danish piece. The covering can come in a interesting animal print that can be used to enhance the décor of a rustically themed room or a cabin. Some of the newer styles are made as sofa beds that easily convert to create additional sleeping space. The new styles can also be found in the new synthetic materials used to imitate the look and feel of genuine suede or leather. Some Danish style sofas are made to coordinate with similarly designed chairs so you can purchase both items to create a professionally designed room. If you are looking for some interesting modern furniture pieces you might like the styles found in the Danish lines.

CREDITS: IMAGES: furniture indeX

ERCOL - BEST OF BRITISH - the story continues

Hi I wanted to do an up-date on ercol. It seems that the company is going from strength to strength, which is so good and promising to see in Britain. They have always made beautiful and high quality furniture and it seems now us Brits are finally realising it. They also have a great team of management there, who seems to be forward thinking, not only in reissuing key pieces from their midcentury catalogue, which had become design classics to commisioning new designers and being on trend now with their pilgrim range. There has always been a new england Quaker vibe to their designs, and it's good to see them continue this.

Also I received an email from Ian Cater who was Art Director for Ercol in the late 80's. He has kindly allowed me to print his email, which gives an insight into how very quickly and how hard it is for Furniture manufactures and designers to survive in the UK. Denmark has long celebrated and cherished its cabinet makers/designer and manufactures and finally I think we are.

"Just found your blog while looking for Lucienne Day fabrics and the name of Ercol caught my eye. I worked as an art director on the Ercol advertising account in the late 1980's and through most of the nineties in a period when many the old Windsor designs were being consigned to the scrapheap due to non-existent sales. With their spindly legs and fifties curves they did look like throwbacks in furniture showrooms of the day and in our market research people hammered them mercilessly. Unfortunately they didn't take much to Ercol's newer ranges either which, being incredibly well made by people who really cared from solid wood, joined and crafted with modern techniques based on traditional skills, were more expensive than most of the 'mass market' competition.
Lucien Ercolani, the then managing director and son of the founder took this very personally. He was a fantastic man, very principled and correct, generous and modestly self-effacing despite his achievements. He referred to the classic Windsor designs as 'our old friends' and was obviously upset as they were consigned to the scrapheap. Many had been kept on in the range simply out of respect for his father, as had many other processes at the factory. I think Lucien died last year and I haven't been involved with Ercol since the late 90's, but I think he would have been very pleased at the resurgence of interest in Ercol Windsor, insisting that good design would always be recognised.
There is an excellent store in Newbury called Octopus (worth checking out) selling 50's/60's Ercol and contemporary brands, I was in there last year and it reminded me that I have a fascinating film on VHS video made in the old Ercol factory in about 1988 and watching it again, it's all there, the good and the bad and the things that made Ercol totally unique even then. Things, I guess, are very different now, but as Don Pedel, the chief designer used to say to me, "what you do is here today-gone tomorrow. This chair will still be here in a hundred years time." And, of course, he was right." Ian Cater

PLEASE CLICK ON TITLE - to take you to ercol website or

visit JOHN LEWIS -

http://www.johnlewis.com/Home+_26+Garden/All+Furniture/Designer+Furniture+/Ercol/15910/ProductCategory.aspx