Tiny Little Chairs is a wonderful series of pendants celebrating mid-century modern design. Each tiny chair pendant has been hand made by Canadian design studio BruxeDesign.
The pendants come in Gold, Silver and Antiqued Bronze and are miniaturized perfection of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair, Eero Saarinen’s Tulip Chair, and Ray & Charles Eames’ LCW Chair, Shell Chair(with Dowel Base), and Aluminum Series Management Chair. They are rather expensive, but are a unique homage to iconic mid-century design for any modern design enthusiast. I know what’s on my Christmas list for next year…
Bruxe Design also sells these fabulous t-shirts in a number of colors.
Rejuvenation Lighting is having a great give-away this month. Enter your name to win your choice of light fixture from their Hourglass Collection based on the 1959 Stockholm Series manufactured by EJS Lighting. The Hourglass Collection is available in Brushed or Bronzetone Aluminum, Black or White Enamel.
The lighting shapes are iconic of mid-century modern and would look great in any modern home. Fresh and futuristic when first introduced, the handcrafted aluminum fixtures are an elegant update for pre-war, postwar, mid-century modern, and contemporary houses. More than just “retro,” the Hourglass family truly stands apart. With authentic space-age materials and sleek, streamlined profiles, they feel a bit like the past tense in fast forward.
In my non-stop surfing of the internet for cool hip things that mid-mod lovers might like, I found the Philco PC. Now, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Mac user and I doubt this will ever change but if I had to make the switch, a computer like this would make the transition a whole lot easier (at least I’d have something pretty to look at while it reboots after crashing).
The design of the “Philco PC” was inspired by the 1954 design classic Philco Predicta, as well as an eclectic mixture of modern minimalism, the steampunk movement, and antiques. As lead designer Dave Schultze of SchultzeWORKS explains, “The result is a design aesthetic that blends multiple elements of the familiar, but with some surprisingly fresh styling that just so happens to house a state-of-the-art Windows 7 PC.”
The Philco PC was created for a 3d modeling competition so is only a concept design right now but Schultze is in talks with a number of companies to actually start producing them. I’m looking forward to finding out what happens!
We’re pleased to announce something entirely different at Lushpad. Our Partnership Program. If you have a web site that promotes mid-century modern, furniture, architecture, home and garden, or interior design then you can get earn 20% commission when you join us. All you need to do is place one of the banner ads provided in our partnership package on your site and when someone clicks through from your site and lists an item with us – even up to 30 days after they click through from your site – you will earn 20% of the ad listing fee. Easy.
Our banner ad creative comes in many sizes – from a regular link you can include in blog entries to skyscraper ads, square ads and smaller button ads (see some examples above). We can also create custom banner ads for your site if there aren’t any in our package that suit you.
We’re really looking forward to partnering with some amazing people and web sites, so what are you waiting for? Help us democratize design! Join our Partnership Program Now!
Over the past few months we’ve had a number of people ask us for badges for their site to promote their listings on their own web site or blog, so we’ve whipped this button up just for you!
1. Download the lushpad badge above, then add to your site, with a link to your listings. The link to show all your listings can be found this way:
2. Go to one of your lushpad listings
3. On the right hand side, click on the link that says “Other Ads by this Seller” See example below.
4. Copy the URL of the page with all your listings visible. Use it as the link URL on your lushpad button that you place on your site. This link will be unique to you and will show all your lushpad listings.
Let us know if you have any difficulties with this and we’ll help out!
Martha has lived all her life in the Denver area and has the most amazing collection of vintage glassware. She’s been kind enough to share some photos of her fabulous finds. You can follow Martha on Twitter @ProjectSupport.
The living room is one of Martha’s favorite rooms in her house. The Grundig hi-fi was purchased by her husband’s parents when they were in Europe in 1955. It still works and sounds like a charm. The left panel opens up to reveal the radio, and the right panel opens down for the record player. Her husband received the Laurel Mushroom lamp as a trade for a small debt owed him about 30+ years ago. Martha received the fabulous teak candlesticks from her very good friend (on Twitter she is @jamiefoley) as a Christmas gift this past year (I wish I had a friend like that!). The pair of the Danish Modern chairs, were found on e-bay about 5 years ago. They have a spindle back, and double cane side panels. Not signed or attributed, however.
The owls were purchased by Martha’s mother at the local May D&F store in the early 1970’s and used to have pride of place in their living room. She was going to give them away when Martha asked if she could have them a couple of years ago. They are wonderful! There is a tremendous amount of hand-detailing and painting. They are signed and still have the original labels “Created in Italy for Rosenthal-Netter, Inc.” The largest one is about 12″ tall.
The outdoor shot is their backyard. The butterfly chairs are originals, that were, again, purchased by her parents. Possibly purchased them prior or just after Martha was born in 1960. There is a set of 4. They have a wonderful patina on the hand-forged iron frames.
As well as collecting furniture, Martha has an extensive glass collection, gathered over many years by both her husband and herself. She’s found them in goodwill stores, antique stores, flea markets, neighborhood jumbles, e-bay etc. The very tall, free-edge turquoise vase, which is about 20″ high, was a gift to Martha’s parents in honor of her birth in 1960!
If you’d like to have your home displayed in our lushpad series, send us an email and we’ll be glad to showcase it!
I recently found this beautiful textile and wallpaper pattern manufactured by Sandersons in the UK. Inspired by the 1950s designs of British textile designer, Lucienne Day, the distinctive graphic lines of this pattern are bold, happy and retro yet still incredibly modern. If you’re interested, you can purchase “Dandelion Clocks” online at John Lewis.
Lucienne and Robin Day are considered the British equivalent of Ray and Charles Eames. A fantastic indepth biography of the husband and wife team can be seen on the Design Museum web site.
Check out these Augmented Reality 3D models of the iconic Eames LCW chair and Arne Jacobsen’s Egg Chair. All you need to do to have some virtual fun is print out the Procentris Marker and launch the application for either chair here. So far its been a great way to waste half an hour!
You can also visit some Le Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy-France, Pont Neuf Paris, Taj Mahal, the Frank Gehry Disney Concert Hall, Le Grande Arch Paris and the Guggenhiem Museum in 3D.
There’s no doubt that the late Arthur Erickson’s work was highly influenced by his travels to Japan. One only needs to look at the iconic Smith House to see a beautiful blend of Japanese and West Coast sensibilities at play.Michelangelo Sabatino, Assistant Professor at the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture, University of Houston retraces Erickson’s first trip to Japan in 1961 in his illustrated talk touching on – amongst other things – Erickson’s award-winning design for the Canadian Pavillion for Osaka 1970.
Journeys to the East: Arthur Erickson & Japan lecture will trace Erickson’s journeys and writings on Japan, identifying specific buildings and gardens that Erickson actually visited and studied, particularly in his first visit to Japan in 1961 and as recorded in his critical essays for Canadian Architect in the ‘60s. The lecture will also situate Erickson’s “Journey to the East” as part of a longstanding tradition of modern Western architects who appropriated cues from Japanese art, architecture and landscape ranging from Frank Lloyd Wright and Bruno Taut in the first half of the century, to events such as the display of a Japanese house at MoMA in New York (1953) and the publication in English of Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Walter Gropius, and Kenzo Tange’s study of Katsura in 1960.
The lecture is on November 25th at 7pm, Vancouver International Film Centre. Tix and more information can be found on the Arthur Erickson Conservancy web site.
If you ever fancy a get-away with all the mid-mod conveniences, then you need to check-in to Kate and Monica’s Lazy Meadow Motel near Woodstock, New York. Kate Pierson, co-owner of Kate’s Lazy Meadow Motel is most likely best known for being the singer in The B-52s. Her quirky styling has certainly come through in the themed décor for each room.
Their sprawling 9 acre property is home to rustic cabins, a lodge, and a fleet of vintage airstream trailers all decked out in retro space-age glamour. The motel is definitely decorated in more of a kitsch 50s theme than mid-century modern, but there are some beautiful Hay-Wake and Danish Teak pieces and a Bertoia or two scattered amongst the ephemera.
There is mention of a tiki-themed cabin and airstream trailer, but no photos on the Lazy Meadow site yet. I’m pretty sure Dr. Tiki of Tiki Bar TV will be chomping at the bit for a weekend holiday there sometime soon. Other rooms include a UFO- and a psychedelic gnome-theme.
For more info or to book a visit to this groovy wonderland, visit Kate’s Lazy Meadow Motel web site. In the meantime, here are a few images of their rooms to drool over.
