Harry and Sal's Design Blog: October 2007

HARRY: We had the belle magazine architecture award's last night. I was the project director...which basically means I helped organise the judging process. Perfect for the control freak in me! House of the Year went to Jackson Clements Burrows for a home in Perth (it also won that state's top archi award). And the Apartment of the Year was won by EAT architects for their Windsor Loft in Melbourne. Two of my favourite houses - Mark Casham's Melville O'Connell house (see the pic above - it was beautifully photographed by Shannon McGrath) and Alex Popov's at Whale Beach were finalists. Unfortunately belle doesn't have a website, Popov doesn't have his house on his site and Jackson Clements Burrows don't have a website. Extraordinary. Sometimes Australia feels depressingly behind the times.

Labels: Architecture, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 10/31/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: Inspired by Harry's recent post on buying art for your spouse - yes I can't get it out of my head! I was inspired to write about a local gallery here. I drive past the Applegate Gallery in Santa Monica almost every day and they always have really interesting work to see. Right now they have a great exhibition on Mexican pulp art featuring top novella artists from the 1950s and 1960s, together with gallery artists Mattia Biagi and Robert Palacios. Check out some of their other artists below, I particularly like Mark Hobley and Anne Faith Nicholls.

Labels: 711, Art, Sal

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/30/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: What a great idea to give art as gifts? Now let me just get on the phone to my husband... Something local today, these modern quilt designs are from LA-based Murge Designs. They have a great selection of bedding for your baby as well as great matching aprons and pot holders.

Labels: Sal, Textiles

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/30/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: Ahhhh...Christmas. My husband and I used to give each other art as gifts. And then we had kids and somehow we fell into the background and Thomas the Tank Engine and buckets of dinosaurs took over. Well, the kids are getting older and we are slowly getting back our focus. I want art again! I have always loved the work of Narelle Autio. She was (and still is) a photographer at the Sydney Morning Herald where I used to work. In her spare time she has perfected the art of underwater photography. You can see one of her pics above (to see more - and buy - go to Stills Gallery). She is also included in a beautiful new book (and exhibition at the Museum of Sydney) called 'Sydney Now: New Australian Photojournalism' (it'll be out in December). I interviewed the book's editor for Monument magazine - it really is an extraordinary snapshot of life in Sydney right now.

Labels: 94, Art, Gifts, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 10/30/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: Sounds like Harry had an amazing trip to Melbourne! I lived there long before Federation Square was completed - it looks and sounds quite an achievement. Now October is almost behind us, my thoughts are turning to holiday gifts. A touch premature perhaps, but I for one am determined to be prepared this year. I've already stashed away some great finds from Muji from my UK trip and also got a spare set of the resusable bags which I know a bunch of folks would love. Calendars also make a great gift and there are some beautiful ones out there. Check out this lovely one made from an original design by Keisuke Serizawa. These calendars are stencil-dyed and made on hand-made Japanese paper. They first became popular during the American occupation of Japan, appealing to high-class officer's wives in U.S. Forces.

Labels: Gifts, Japanese, Sal

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/29/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: Got back from Melbourne feeling very inspired about city living. They really do it so well down south - great cafes, shops and exciting architecture. I was particularly impressed by Federation Square. I'd heard a lot of criticism about the Lab Architecture Studio design - but the scale of the space, the activity it attracts and the building's dynamic forms (see atrium above) all make for a really interesting public arena. So good to see brave public work. We spent quite a bit of time at the Ian Potter Centre which is a branch of the National Gallery and houses a permanent indigenous collection...such beautiful work (see pic below. I forgot to write down the artists name! Hard when you're trying to keep kids from touching the dots). The National Design Centre has a store in the building and are selling great posters from their design competition (see Waiting for a Rainbow by Marie Schultz at bottom). They asked designers to create a poster around the idea of climate change. Timely. And beautiful. They are very graphic and strong. All in all a great trip. Just way too short.

Labels: Architecture, Art, Green, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 10/29/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: It's dinner time and I've got two hungry grumpy kids so this is a real quick one. Couldn't resist these recycled melamine plates. How cool are they! I love the segmented dinner plates and the simple little tumblers. Perfect for picnics, bbqs or the kids.

Labels: BBQ, Dining, Green, Harry, Outdoor

posted by cerentha harris at 10/28/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: I've got my eye out now for stylish recycled products and Target has quite a few. Check out these cool vases made from recycled newspaper. The paper is wrapped around a glass vase. Clever. Looking for other smart vases I came across Frank Kerdil's lovely Noming Vase (below). It's made out of a special material that is paper-based but waterproof. And you can draw on them. Nice touch.

Labels: Green, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 10/27/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: You may remember the excitement over Blue Art Studio's Alphabet of Design Classics poster (see below) - a must-have for precocious nurturing of our dear offspring's nascent design sensibilities. Well, now you will be pleased to know that Blue Art have released a new poster series featuring icons of Mid Century Modern furniture. Really very very beautiful work. The posters feature the work of famous designers like Prouve, The Eames', Saarinen, Bertoia, Nelson, Panton and come in a range of brilliant colors. They are extremely reasonable as well, at $35 for the first one and $30 for anything after that. Via Materialicio.us

Labels: 711, Art, Gifts, Sal

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/26/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: A friend (thanks Meredith!) put me on to the wonderfully eclectic collection of homewares and oddities available from Silverlake-based Reform School. The site is wonderfully designed (by the same folks that gave Design*Sponge it's fabulous new look) and just a joy to browse through. These dolls/art pieces are made by Shelly & Mary Klein of Kstudio. The mother/daughter team has put together a wonderful selection of pillows and home accessories that use only sustainable materials. LOVE that. I also really like Shelley's paintings. More Reform School goodies below.

Labels: Art, Kids, Sal, Textiles

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/24/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: Our renovation is on board to start up early next year. So I am thinking more seriously about....everything. I'm trying to figure out lights right now. DWR has picked up Tom Dixon's lovely copper pendants and David Trubridge's planet-friendly light fitting (below). And then of course there's the amazing Noguchi shades. I like the idea of these fine sculptural pieces. There's something ethereal and lovely about a paper light fitting.

I'm heading south to Melbourne for three days so I'll leave you in Sal's very capable hands til Sunday!

Labels: 94, Harry, Lighting

posted by cerentha harris at 10/24/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: Air purifiers, I'll be one of the first to admit are not known as particularly design-friendly appliances. Many of our must-haves for the home are still relegated to some 1980s concept of utilitarian design that can ruin even the best thought-out home decor. So when my beady eyes fell upon the Baby's Breath air purifier by Austin Air - well, you can imagine my delight. This little gem comes in pastel shades of blue and pink (of course) and is really rather fetching!

Labels: Appliances, Kids, Sal

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/24/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: Love love love those lights from Harry! Here are a couple more random goodies I wanted to point out from my recent tour of the Project 710 house. First is the flueless fireplace from Ecosmart. Ecosmart were also the supplier of the fireplace in the Ray Kappe Living Home house too, their fireplaces burn Ethanol - which is a renewable fuel that also burns clean. The fact that it is open on both sides is a real bonus, allowing it to work beautifully as a room divider - elegant enough to stand on its own as a piece of furniture. On a fun note - check out the green to do list (below) that was posted in the kitchen, I have to say I'm a HUGE fan of kitchen chalkboards. I've emailed them to find out where they got this particular one, but if you're in a rush, Pottery Barn has some chalkboard tiles that are a good size and are also magnetic.

Labels: 711, Fireplace, Heating, Sal, Stickybeak

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/24/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: Just had a wander through Target to bring me down to earth after those gold cups. Found this lovely stationery (above). They are perfectly plain with a single word printed on the cover - like 'joy' or 'sorry'. Nice. I'm still using the notecards I bought from Target before we left Los Angleles. Unfortunaltely the Target in Australia is not up to scratch. It has a KMart feel to it and none of the cool design stuff you find in the American stores. Such a shame. Also found the lovely note cards below on etsy from Magnolia Moonlight (oh, the names!)

Labels: Harry, Stationery

posted by cerentha harris at 10/23/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: How lovely are these? In an interesting pairing redstr/collective and Tobias Wong took the Alma Fortune cup and saucer and added a lush lick of gold. They were inspired by the age old tradition of Tasseography, Turkish coffee fortune telling. Here the coffee grains are replaced by 22k gold. Very decadent.

Labels: Ceramics, Harry, Kitchen

posted by cerentha harris at 10/22/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: Nine days to Halloween to go and I can scarcely contain myself! OK, I exaggerate. As I've mentioned before, this isn't my favorite holiday - way too many spiders for my liking! However, for those of you wanting to indulge and add a little Halloween Goth to your home decor scene here are a few gems that caught my eye. A good place to start is Etsy's Halloween showcase, I especially liked the Little Witch print (above) from Bad Bird who has a definitively dark point of view. On Design Public I found these elegant new cushions from Dwell, that have a certain Gothic quality and Coe & Waito have these lovely porcelain vases that are very dramatic - available online at Peek Keep. For outdoors you can try something a little different from your regular Jack-O-Lantern, with a Pumpkin Topiary from Smith & Hawken. And when you're out trick or treating - go a little crazy with these sexy costumes from Baby Girl boutique - well, we can but dream!

Labels: Halloween, Holidays, Sal

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/22/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: It's going to be hard to resist going on to ebay to check out those cool Aboriginal prints that Harry picked out. You have to be very careful when buying Aboriginal art - there's a lot of corrupt practices going on so it's important to go through reputable dealers or artists with established reputations. Anyway, something for the wee ones now. I'm always on the look out for interesting books for my 2 year old and absolutely fell in love with the sensibility of the selection that Julia Rothman over at Book by Its Cover writes about on her blog. Check out the wonderfully whimsical illustrations by Junzo Terada above. Terada also has designed a very cool wallet that can be found online at an Aussie shop Harry will love - Via Alley. Check out more from Julia's selection below. I think I remember the Lazy Lion from my own childhood!

Labels: Books, Gifts, Kids, Sal

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/21/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: This is a quickie. It's late and I really should be doing other work! I just had to post Marimekko's latest fabrics. I love the colours here. Those browns and blues in Iiro A. Ahokas fruit bowl are wonderful. Plus they are 100 percent cotton. I have absolutely no idea what I'd do with either of them - I just like them. They also brought back Kristina Isola's 2006 leaf pattern in a new brown colourway (top) which sits beautifully with the newer Autumn collection.

Labels: Harry, Textiles

posted by cerentha harris at 10/21/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: I bought my husband a rather selfish present for father's day last month (one of those gifts that was as much for me as him!) It was the new beautifully illustrated and researched book on Australian aboriginal art, One Sun, One Moon. We've been interested in these beautiful paintings for a long time but never known enough about them to feel confident buying one. Armed with lots of knowledge from the 'One Sun' I've now started doing my own research. I'm collecting info on reputable galleries - like Cooee, Annandale, The Artery and Flinders Lane in Melbourne (who ship to the US). But I've also discovered art on ebay. My brother's lovely girlfriend just bought two wonderful graphic aboriginal paintings on ebay so I checked it out and am now bidding on 6! I'm hopeless, hopeless, hopeless with this kind of stuff. But they all seem like such bargains - (and, best of all, most ship to the US). Of course, there are good dealers and not so good dealers but it's easy to check all that stuff out on ebay and with Google. Right now I'm loving the work of Mitjili Napurrurla (above) and the amazing Gloria Petyarre (below) and Ngoia Pollard Napaltjarri (bottom). I'll let you know if any of my ebay finds work out!

Labels: 94, Art, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 10/20/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: Project 10 represents the first traditionally built (ie not prefab) LEED platinum-certified house built in California. I went on a tour of it today and was very impressed by the design. It's modern, but warm and very spacious. Although they have opted to build to the max of the setbacks and some of the finish work leads you to think they were running out of time to completion, overall it's impressive. The house can virtually live off the grid, emits no harmful gases and uses the latest in recycled materials from insulation, to the lumber to the steel supports. For more information you can visit the Project710 website.

Labels: Architecture, Green, Sal

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/19/2007 1 Comments

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HARRY: Sal introduced me to Blik and their wall art back in May. I've been a fan ever since. Sal likes the Undoboy range but I'm partial to the Asian-inspired Mel Lim. Now you can send Blik your favourite quote or poem and they will print the words for you as decals. You choose the font, colour and size. Such a nice idea. For a bit of inspiration check out their Blik This Wall competition. They've also got some very sweet new designs for kid's rooms. They've certainly been busy.

Labels: Harry, Walls

posted by cerentha harris at 10/19/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: Every time I go to the supermarket these days I've been cursing myself for not having got around to buying some reusable bags. So today I got moving and bought a couple of these stylish designer totes from SKN now available at Amazon.com. I bought a set for myself and one as a Christmas present for somebody - what a great gift idea! Via Shefinds.

Labels: Bags, Gifts, Green, Sal, Style

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/19/2007 1 Comments

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HARRY: Lovely to have Sal back! As usual she's bought a nice bit of colour to the site. Inspired by her UK finds I came across these teapots (via Trunkt) from Daisy Dog Studios. The perfect antidote to beat winter gloom for all you northerners heading towards the cold weather. Also check out Grace's very handy teapot round-up on design*sponge...some nice finds there. On another note entirely, while searching through Trunkt I found these great leashes from The Modern Pet. We're seriously considering getting a dog (hopefully less hassle than a third baby!) so, of course, I've started obsessing about the accesories.

Labels: Harry, Kitchen, Pets

posted by cerentha harris at 10/18/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: How's this for a wonderful idea? Leave this frosted-glass bell jar out in the sunlight for a few hours and thanks to some inner-wizardry, combined with a couple of solar panels and LEDs, you get to keep the sunlight through the night. Designed by Tobi Wong, available through Charles & Marie. Speaking of green wizardry, I combed through the Living Homes site today and listed out some useful green suppliers. So if you're looking for things such as low VOC paint and denim insulation, take a look.

Labels: Green, Lighting, Sal

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/18/2007 0 Comments

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SAL: Apologies dear reader for the lack of posting. I had to zap back to the UK for a flying visit. Although I was only there a couple of days, I did manage to get in some shopping - of course. :) Well, the holidays are only just around the corner! In Neale's Yard I fell upon a very cute store called Octopus. Unfortunately they don't have a website up yet. The theme of the store is pop-arty bright colored accessories and homewares mostly made by a company called Pylones. Pylones have a decent site and it seems I'm not the first to fall upon their eccentric designs. Check out more fun below.

Labels: Furniture, Kitchen, Sal, Style

posted by Sal Taylor Kydd at 10/18/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: I also found these lovely prints on etsy. They are made by a Sydney-based artist who calls herself Yellow Monday (the name of a local cicada). I like the simple shapes, pure graphics and knocked back palette. There's something very peaceful about them.

Labels: Art, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 10/17/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: It's either high end architecture or down home ceramics right now! I found these great cups on etsy. New Zealand based designer Trixiedelicious (love the name) creates one off bits of china with cheeky words or images scrawled across them. She's got a great sense of humour. She also takes custom orders, so if you've got something you'd like to say on a plate here's the girl to sort that out for you.

posted by cerentha harris at 10/17/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: Check out these Polish architects. Very interesting work. And unlike a lot of architect's websites, KWK Promes has great content. You see the house develop from plan to model to finished project. The Aartrial house is one of my favourites, just look at that driveway - OK, so I realise I am getting excited about a driveway but the stonework is amazing.

Labels: Architecture, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 10/16/2007 0 Comments

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HARRY: I'm on a green run at the moment. You know, Al Gore wins a Nobel Prize, (check out these letters in the New York Times - some very good points) - there's definitely something going on out there. Artek jumped on board early this year with an elegant line of bamboo furniture. As they say - it's Alvar Aalto meets ethical furniture design. I also noticed that Shigeru Ban did Artek's pavillion this year for Milan Furniture Fair. If you're in Helsinki you can stop by this extraordianry crisp white barn-like building. I love Shigeru Ban's work. When I was involved in Sydney Design Week we brought him out and he spoke at the Powerhouse Museum. He was an intelligent, passionate, humble visionary. I've been following his work ever since. We were lucky enough to visit his temporary gallery in Los Angeles that housed the Ashes and Snow exhibition. Shigeru has been considering the environmental implications of his buildings for years (just look at his amazing structures made from recycled paper tubes like the Paper House on Lake Yamanaka below). And he's just produced a book on Aalto - nice tie back to Artek!

Labels: Furniture, Green, Harry

posted by cerentha harris at 10/15/2007 0 Comments

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