Friday, February 27, 2009

Stainless Steel for Modern Crafts



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Above is a bud vase of glass and stainless steel screen.  The screen is so fine that it looks like gray silk.

Are there crafts for people who live in modern digs?  Yes.  Think steel.  Or specifically, stainless steel screen.  Having seen items made of this material in high-end shops, I wanted to try my hand at making them.  Tall Husband sourced a local company that would sell me small rolls of differing gauges of screen, which are usually used for industrial applications.

For the above bud vase I used:
  • An inexpensive bud vase with waited bottom
  • 38 gauge stainless steel screen
  • Rubber gloves (working with steel screen is like working with fiber glass...it cuts your skin.)
  • Jewelers shears for clean, straight cutting of the steel
  • Metal ruler for measuring and making/pressing hem
  • Pencil for marking cutting and folding lines
After marking with pencil, cut a square of stainless steel screen, while wearing gloves; then hem the edges by folding over a quarter of an inch; then fold that hem over again, as you do not want to leave any raw edges, for they are dangerous.  Next, make small diagonal pleats to the square...think Fortuny fabric.  Hem a steel strip for tying the pleated square onto the bud vase.  Finally, center the bud vase in the middle of the pleated steel square and gather and tie in place, as in photo above.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Fly in the Face of Reason

Shh, I think I hear a fly.


You get this one; I got the last one.


Oh.  So that's what's on your face!?
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These fly swatters, by the French designer Philippe Starck, bring out the kid in everyone...even kids. Besides being witty, this swatter follows the rules of good design: looks good and is useful.   I guess that's why this swatter has been around for twenty years.

Fly swatter: Dr. Skud (1989): with the image of a face imprinted on the business end.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Ligne Roset Houston: Opening Day

Bruce Wolfe, owner of Ligne Roset Houston, arrives with French Champagne to toast the new showroom.  You know there will be the perfect ice bucket in which to chill it.


Day one: the paper has come off the windows and the showroom is looking so very Ligne Roset.


These chairs are the most wonderful, dark leather.  Nobody does leather like Ligne Roset.


Ditto!
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Click on photos to enlarge.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Ligne Roset Houston: Moving Day

For Ligne Roset, Houston, Sunday was moving day. They moved from their showroom on Kirby Drive to 1992 West Gray Street, The River Oaks Shopping Center. Ligne Roset will open for business on Monday February 16th in their new, larger showroom.


The moving trucks backed in early Sunday morning to begin the move of the chic French furniture and accessories line from the Kirby showroom.



Meanwhile, at the new location, Dakota, the Lab with a nose for design, awaits the arrival of the first truck...


...Karl of KVM Design completes the installation of a modernist Ligne Roset lighting fixture.


The plans have been drafted...


Plenty of hot French roast and croissants, along with classical music, fuel today's creative activities.


Consultants and principals of Ligne Roset of Houston confer while waiting for the arrival of the next truck-load of French furniture.


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The placement of the furniture begins according to plan. Anne Breux, a top French Designer, is in charge of showroom design. She will use mainly whites, greys and blacks with just a hit of red and that wonderful orange that the French do so well.

The Ligne Roset Team will work well into the night to ready the new showroom for Monday's opening.

Stay logged in for a look at the finished showroom.
I promise, it will be cool, minimalist, chic and very French. Oh, and you will get to see what Bruce Wolfe the owner of Ligne Roset Houston has brought to the new showroom to celebrate the move. Ahh, Le Style de Vie!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Housewares by Architects

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The china above is Tuxedo from Swid Powell and was designed by Gwathmey Siegel, the architect.  At My Ranchburger we have numerous household items, collected over the years, that were designed by architects.  The appeal of these pieces, I believe, is that their designs are so intelligent and therefore functional.  I cannot afford to live in a house designed by one of the great architects of the world but I can still have something their work.  There is a certain snob appeal in that small ownership.

Note:  This design, which Tall Husband and I purchased from the Houston Museum of Fine Arts Gift shop, has long been out of production.  "Tuxedo," along with many other Swid Powell designs by architects, is represented in the Yale University Art Gallery collection.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Zamore Homes Open House

The Design Within Reach furniture and accessories used in styling the Zamore Homes event were a perfect combination.


Zamore Homes of Houston held an open house today to show off their Kit Collection 2009. On display were two homes on Center Street, one furnished and the other unfurnished, plus a small guest house. (By the way, the two homes are for sale and the guest house is for rent.)


The Architect's models for Kit Collection Homes were on display in the guest house.


The unfurnished house allowed one to appreciate the absolute perfection in the execution of a perfect minimalist design. The real luxury in these kit houses, aside from built-in quality, is the use of high ceilings and the abundance of natural light.


Every entrance was an exercise in minimalist drama. The stylist used a light touch to continue the theme.

This is perfect, affordable minimalism; and you thought that was an oxymoron.
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Friday, February 6, 2009

Barbara Hill's Pulpoetry

Pulpoetry pillow by Barbara Hill, punctuates vintage Roche Bobois black leather at My Ranchburger. Pulpoetry at Found for the Home.


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