I am particularly fond of viewing photos of Design Public products in action…like folks swinging on a Fatboy Headdemock, or modeling with their Vitra Nelson Clock, or dressing up their OFFI My Pet Lamp. In this case, the “action shot du jour” is of four legged friend Mr. Buddy scratching his little heart out on a Marmalade pet care Sweet Lounge Cat Bed and sitting on a Hepper Wave Pet Bed. Obviously, Mr. Buddy’s owner, Anthony, has done a might fine job of pampering his purry pal.

Name: Anthony and Mr. Buddy (the cat)

Where do you live? Seattle, WA

What do you do? Director of Development

DP Purchase/s: Marmalade pet care Sweet Lounge Pet Bed, Hepper Wave Pet Bed, Hepper Nest Pet Bed, Weegee Floor Lamp.

What’s your favorite DP product and why? All the cat goodies. Mr. Buddy (our cat) can’t live without them! All the items in pet stores are bland.

How would you describe your design style? Retro modern

Sites/blogs you visit daily: velonews.com, yahoo.com, nytimes.com

What was the best advice anyone ever gave you? Don’t shave your legs with goosebumps (I’m a cyclist and yes we shave our legs!)

Tell us about your home, office, workspace, or favorite nook and cranny. New modern dwelling built by elemental architecture (elementalarchitecture.com)

What’s your favorite color or material? White

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Silver

If you could redo any space, past or present, what would it be? The “Biblioteca Nacional” in Buenos Aries. Great buuilding that needs a little love

Any favorite design ideas? Old spaces revamped with an acute design sense for interiors

Any design pet peeves? “Euro” Modern, overstuffed couches and “knick-knacks.”

Do you collect anything? Tell us of your treasures….Any prized possessions? Not really a collector, but I own lots of fancy race bikes that I’d die (or get fat) with out.

Favorite member of the A-Team: Their black and red van.

Movies you can watch over and over: Anything that DOES NOT include Tom Hanks and/or Julia Roberts.

Four places you would rather be right now: In Phuket, Thailand at Twin Palms resort; Winthrop Washington hiking in the woods; Italy watching the “Giro D’Italia” bike race; Stumptown coffee shop with my wife.

Thanks Anthony and Mr. Buddy!

Your turn! We can’t wait to see your photo of your friend sitting on your Orange22 Botanist Bench, or an incredible spread set our on your Blu Dot Strut Table. Join our “Design Public Peepsâ€� Flickr group and upload a photo showing how you use your Design Public purchases.

Posted by Bluelines

While the biggest music release of the season will be Coldplay's Viva La Vida, it's not exactly the kind of album that will prompt non-stop dancing and fun at your summer party.

For that, you will want something that moves and sways. Chuck Brown is a perfect good-time starter.

Known as the "Godfather of Go-Go" (a musical mix of funk, R&B, and hip-hop), Chuck is over 70 and still pumping out exuberant, swaggering songs.

You won't regret picking up a classic like "Do You Know What Time It Is" along with extra ice and bug candles.

What gets your party started?

A while back, I wrote about the much loved Le Lac print and its popularity with designers. Well, with so many wonderful prints on the market, Le Lac is not alone in the pantheon of iconic designs. What other prints seemed to have passed the test of time? Why, La Portugaise by Brunschwig & Fils, and it's one of those prints that seems to pop up over and over again.

According to Brunschwig & Fils Up Close, La Portugaise is reminiscent of indienne prints and is "a nineteenth-century adaptation made up from the borders of a palampore formed into stripes." And in Keith Irvine: A Life in Decoration, Irvine notes that the print, one of his favorite fabrics, used to be available at Rose Cumming's shop before Brunschwig & Fils began to offer it. Just another tidbit to add to the print's illustrious history.

Now, I know that many of you might look at this print and think "No way!" La Portugaise is certainly not for everyone. I like how the print has been used in the rooms below, but would it work in my home? Probably not. Still, there is a delightful quality to this print that lends to its allure. And as it is a favorite of so many design legends, it certainly deserves recognition as a top ten fabric!

How can you argue about a print that is found in THE most famous room in the history of American design, Brooke Astor's famed oxblood lacquered library designed by Albert Hadley. (My tip to you: save any photos you can of this glorious room- just in case the new owner decides to disassemble this masterpiece.)




Keith Irvine has used La Portugaise throughout his career. It seems that this print as well as Le Lac are his two favorites.




Jeffrey Bilhuber used the print on an upholstered chair in this room; it's a nice counterpoint to the hushed neutrals used in the rest of the room.



And that charming, erudite Mark Hampton used the print in the living room of his Hamptons home. With a painting like this, who needs a photograph?

Image at top: A close-up shot of a La Portugaise upholstered chair in the library of the late Brooke Astor.

Celia
Priya Sebastian is an awesome artist and illustrator who works mainly in charcoal and pastel.
Whenever I see her work I feel 'black' is the most beautiful colour. Congregation Self-Portrait
The most striking feature in most of her illustrations are the 'eyes' of her characters, they seem to express so many different emotions!Yama
She uses colours also beautifully just to give that extra punch.* Sigh*
Cats
Woman
I am still under the spell of the amazing works by these two extremely talented artists. Hope you enjoyed their work as much as I did showcasing them.:-)

(images of Kalyani's work from Jellicle Cat and Priya's from The Plum Tree)

P.S. A special thanks to Masala Chai, who introduced me to Kalyani's work.

From Julie:

We love this idea from Daily Danny, by the irrepressible Danny Seo: lining a pathway with beach rocks painted with luminous glow-in-the-dark paint. During the day, they charge in the sun, and in the evening, they reflect the stored light. A 7-ounce can of Rust-Oleum Glow-in-the-Dark Brush-on Paint is $7.79 at Blick Art Materials.

I recieved an email the other day bearing some of the best news I've heard in weeks.

One of my favorite culinary TV series, "Two Fat Ladies," is finally coming to DVD!

For anyone who doesn't remember this fantastic British show (which aired back when Giada's decollete was just a glimmer in some TV executive's eye), there's still reason to check it out.

Don't expect healthy twists or 30-minute meals here. Instead, prepare to ride off with Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright (by motorcycle and sidecar, naturalement) around Britain (and beyond) to prepare seriously hearty meals.

How about joining a hunting party in Scotland for a menu that includes roast grouse and venison with blackberries (episode 5)? Or perhaps you'd enjoy making lobster for a sisterhood of Benedictine nuns in Ireland (episode 14). Soused herrings, Welsh rarebit souffle, onion soup with Stilton, fruit tartlets...the list goes on.

These aren't all recipes that you'd likely rush out and make, but that's not really the point. The settings are verdant and the ladies are undeniably charming, entertaining, and passionate about food.

Even though the show itself is dated, it's novel and refreshing to see them, polar opposites of the squeaky-clean, book-deal-sniffing personae of today's food TV stars, preparing honest food without pretension.

Welsh Rarebit Souffle
Ingredients:
    2 large slices of good-quality white bread
    1/2 pound of high-quality, aged cheddar cheese
    3 egg yolks
    4 egg whites
    1 level teaspoon dry English mustard
    1 vigorous shake of Worcestershire sauce
    1 vigorous shake of Tabasco sauce
    Salt and Pepper

Grate the cheese and place in a bowl. Beat in the egg yolks, a level teaspoon of mustard, a good shake each of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce, and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Toast the bread; whip the egg whites until they stand in stiff peaks. Add a spoonful or so of the beaten egg whites into tothe cheese mixture then gently fold the rest of the egg whites into the bowl. Put the toasts into an ovenproof dish and pour the mixture over them. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 10 minutes until browned and risen. Serve at once with a salad or spinach on the side.

Recipe reprinted from the Two Fat Ladies DVD box set, Acorn Media, 2008.

Personalised Stationery from Whitney English


Sunshine Pillow from Hable Construction

Moroccan Key Table from Burke Decor (via Creature Comforts)


Love Heart Map Scrap Art from Bombus


Pair of Vintage Cane Armchairs from C. Bell


Chinnoiserie Cushion from Thomas Paul


Vintage Pagoda Chandelier from C. Bell

Xi Li Chair from Burke Decor

it’s been a busy week here at d*s and today ac and i are heading off to savannah for a much needed break and a little wedding-location scouting. i’ll be blogging from savannah on monday and tuesday so stay tuned for some photos of the places we’re checking out while down in georgia. in the meantime, i’ll be posting a link to the good morning america segment i filmed as soon as it’s up, along with the date and time it will air on tv! i better run and finish packing so i’ll see you all on monday from sunny savannah. until then, here’s a summary of this week’s highlights. [image above: graham and brown wallpaper: $60 per roll at design public]

• thank you to TIME magazine for including d*s in their “the design 100″ list for design!
• d*s under $100 roundups at domino: decorating essentials and eco-friendly home products
• this weekend: the first ever brooklyn flea and the d*s collective
• 2008 d*s reader survey and alena hennessy print prizes!
• new york magazine shop-a-matic: design*sponge 100-product roundup
• new sneak peek: skinny laminx
• new before and afters: chair love (6 chair makeovers), natalie’s lamp, joanna and marc-peter’s amsterdam home
• new diy projects: subscription card art, bridget’s wood veneer lamp, kate’s leaning shelf
• new city guide: dublin design guide
• new in the kitchen with: mod green pod beet risotto
• new d*s guest blog: elka from popsugar
• interior inspiration: wonderful white
• interior inspiration: alma and nancy’s joshua tree home
• new: porcelain paper plates by virginia sin
• new: orla kiely stationery
• new: cave dwellers print by rachell sumpter
• new: textiles from anna drastik
• new: karen karlstrom pillows
• packaging by palatal collective
• wedding invites: white lettering on dark brown
• eco-friendly: bedding from plover organic

Remember this?

Well, Crate and Barrel has this:

[via]

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Known for his spare interiors as well as his use of humble, natural materials, Jean-Michel Frank is one of those designers who is often credited by contemporary designers as being a major influence, yet he has remained a bit of an enigma. Perhaps this was due to his all-too brief career and life, having committed suicide in 1941. Or maybe it was because some critics labeled Frank a society decorator. Whatever the reason, critical study of Frank's career did not begin in earnest until the 1980s with a monograph written by Leopold Diego Sanchez. Unfortunately, this book is a bit scarce as well as cost-prohibitive. There is, however, a new work on the design legend that is not only quite comprehensive and informative but will probably prove to be yet another authoritative work on Frank.

Jean-Michel Frank: The Strange and Subtle Luxury of the Parisian Haute-Monde in the Art Deco Period (Rizzoli) initially took shape as the doctoral thesis of Pierre-Emmanuel Martin-Vivier, a historian and authority on twentieth-century applied arts. The book provides the reader with a biographical account of both Frank's life as well as an in-depth look at his career as a designer of both spaces and furniture. While Frank's success was certainly guided by his talent, it was also nudged along by Frank's fortuitous friendships with the French and European beau monde, something which is explored in the book.

But Frank certainly developed a style that was all his own, and this is really the heart of this book. Much attention is given to Frank interiors, including his work for Jean-Pierre Guerlain, Andre Meyer, Templeton Crocker, Cole Porter, and of course Charles and Marie-Laure de Noailles. Today, Frank seems to be recognized more for his furniture designs than his interiors, so the text and photographic record of Frank's tables, lamps, and chairs are a major asset of Jean-Michel Frank. Also, Frank's career was characterized by collaborations with other gifted designers and artists, most notably Adolphe Chanaux, Alberto Giacometti, Christian Berard, and Emilio Terry, and this work is given due diligence in the book.

I'll admit that I have not yet finished this book; I'm taking my time reading the text, and I find myself getting lost in the gorgeous black and white photos chronicling Frank's work. But so far, I do feel that I better understand the genius and the style of this sad artist, and for this alone I highly recommend this book.



The Sitting Room in the penthouse of Templeton Crocker, San Francisco, 1929. The walls and ceiling were covered in squares of parchment, while the armchairs were upholstered in white leather. One of the Parsons-style cocktail tables was covered in brown shagreen, while the other was sheathed in patina bronze.


The Music Room in Cole Porter's Paris apartment. Although Armand-Albert Rateau was responsible for the paneling (silver lacquer at that), Frank designed the furniture.


Image at top: A Fire Screen covered in straw marquetry, c. 1924. The cabinet at bottom was covered in parchment, c. 1931.


A set of parchment nesting tables and an X lamp made from terra cotta.

From Janet:

Forget stocking up on reams of paper for your child’s creative urges: consider this simple Chalkboard Table instead. The Offi Woody Chalkboard Table is $299 at Design Public.

Helen Amy Murray’s surface reliefs on everything from chairs to headboards to walls are just unbelievably gorgeous. The detail is just as amazing as the overall effect.

http://www.helenamymurray.com

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