Arren Williams Design Lab

Simply gorgeous

Arren — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:41:50 +0000

Okay, after a slight fashion-y detour in the last post, we're back in a particularly gorgeous all wood architectural space. While I'd like to think I could live this kind of simple, uncluttered life in the snap below I just don't think it would be possible. Where would all the collectibles go, and what about some art? Anyways, this is the rather lovely new Raleigh line of sofas and chairs from the folks at DWR. The seating, designed by Jeffrey Bernett and Nicholas Dodziuk, has a swish streamlined Danish modern feel to it (the cantilevered walnut frame is extra sweet) and looks awfully nice with DWR's Skagen coffee and nesting tables.

The industrial Dutch at V&R

Arren — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:03:59 +0000

I saw all the Tweets about the ultra cool Viktor & Rolf runway show in Paris for Fall/Winter 2010, but only just realized that there was an extra layer of fabulous added to the show by the edgy Dutch design team of Studio Job. The couple behind Studio Job - Nynke and Job - collaborated with V&R and designed that stunner of a backdrop, inspired by the marquetry designs on Industry, this collection of furniture and objects created back in '08. Love it, love the tones of grey, and can totally see it as a surface treatment on textiles or wallpaper. And well, it doesn't hurt that I've always had a thing for erstwhile supermodel Kristen McMenamy - who V&R undress and then re-dress on a revolving stage - ever since she shaved her eyebrows off back in the '90's. Ah, the things we remember from Fashion Television and Ms. Jeanne Beker...

California dreaming

Arren — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:09:41 +0000

Right about now, at the tail end of winter, I'm at my wits end with the cold and the grey and my dreams turn wistfully to California. I'll noodle through real estate websites and find Palm Springs gems like this and this that I've been trying to talk friends into buying. Then reality sets in, and the sun - thankfully - comes out.

But it's good to dream, and it's extra good to dream on a blurry post-Oscars® Monday morning. So, when I found this gorgeous Santa Monica home splashed across the glossy pages of the LA Times Magazine, I knew I had to share. The home is owned by photographer Dewey Nicks and was designed with a nod to mid-century California style by architect Barbara Bestor. The interiors are smashing, and shake together kid-friendy glamour with a keen vintage eye by designer Paul Fortune. Maybe the Nicks family needs a pool boy?

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Hey, where did the shots go??? Well, I got a rather nasty legalese e-mail regarding copyright infringement, so they just had to come down. Sucks, huh? And the first time that I've ever been asked to do that too! In the meantime I'll be checking in with the Barbara Bestor to see if she has any shots available (check out the rest of her firm's portfolio here, it's brill). If you fancy scoping out the original LA Times article, click here.

Julia Black: Old school movie style

Arren — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:30:59 +0000

Ever since I can remember the Oscars® have been somewhat of a religious holiday for me, and every year I start counting down the days way before the spectacular event. Of course all the award shows leading up to the Oscars are also scribbled into my agenda, and the most recent ceremony, on the 21st of February, was the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden. Checking into the BAFTA's I discovered illustrator and graphic designer extraordinaire, Tavis Coburn. Tavis was commissioned to design the program covers of the five Best Film nominees, and he brought each film to life in his brilliant retro-style. I love his work, and how his inspiration - 1940s comic book art, the Russian avant-garde movement and printed ephemera from the 50s and 60s - informs his take on each film. Now, with his illustrations in mind, I am over-the-top excited for Sunday night! Oh, and btw, The Hurt Locker won Best Film at the BAFTA's! Click here to see more of Tavis Coburn's work, as well as his online store. [images via: Joey deVilla]

To read more posts from Julia click here, and to check out her cool blog click here.

Of sport and flashlights

Arren — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:26:56 +0000

While I might not have a sporty bone in my body, I did recognize the baseball reference in Belgian designer Sylvain Willenz's Homerun chair. It's not just the yellow and grey colour choice, or the friendly, curvy cartoon influenced design, that makes them a standout for me (tho' I am an acknowledged chairaholic), it's also the fact they were a collaboration with a Japanese furniture firm - Karimoku - and use the waste wood byproduct of thinning out trees in managed forests. Check below for snaps of the chairs, and a couple of shots that show production and a prototype.

Willenz is also resonsible for the rather mouth watering Torch lights (that's flashlights to you North Americans) he designed for Brit firm Established & Sons, shown below in a shot from the Milan furniture fair, and then a closeup which I had to include, as much for the light as for that tiled floor. Yum. For more on Willenz you can become a fan here on Facebook (btw, I love all the shots people have sent in that show his designs in their homes).

More affordable modern

Arren — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:42:19 +0000

So have you heard that CB2 has finally announced their first store north of the border? The edgier kid brother of Crate & Barrel is taking on the old Big Bop on Queen West in Toronto as their flagship location, and expects to have the space all fixed up and doors open in early 2011. Yep, not exactly next week (we'll be keeping our fingers crossed it might be sooner) but in the meantime don't fret - CB2 ships to Canada, and you can always use the wait as an excuse to head to either NYC or Chicago to shop one of their stores. Just remember to carry along an extra suitcase.

Julia Black: Follow that sign

Arren — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:09:26 +0000

Boris Bally has a talent for discovering a second life for one of the most mundane things that surround us at - ahem - every turn. Street signs. An extraordinary industrial designer and metalworker, he continually creates pieces that provoke conversation, and often times, a chuckle or two. His humorous yet sophisticated furniture, installations, jewellry and even flatware mashes up recycled street signs, scavenged weapon parts and found industrial materials in a process he calls humanfactured. I love how on-trend his pieces feel from both a green angle (Bally reckons he's upcycled close to 70 tons of signage in his career so far), as well as how they'd add a lovely jolt of colour and wit to a space. Click here to check out all the galleries that carry his work in the US, Canada and further afield. From the top: BroadWay Armchairs, Small Square Transit Tables, Transit Chairs.

To read more posts from Julia click here, and to check out her cool blog click here.

Joining the Hansen family

Arren — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:15:24 +0000

Nope, it's not a cult, not unless there is a Scandinavian furniture cult. Umm, is there? I discovered The Hansen Family - art director and designer Gesa Hansen's modern furniture firm - on a very cool UK design blog called Bright.Bazaar (bookmark it, you won't be sorry!) and immediately fell for the whole collection. Each piece is handcrafted in oak, and I love the touches of colour in the desk cubbies and dividers in the sideboard (which made it into the March issue of Monocle). Oh, and if The Hansen Family tote bags ever end up on sale, sign me up!

Jenn Hannotte: Things are piling up

Arren — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:49:48 +0000

I've been noticing the floor getting a lot of attention by stylists recently. From piling magazines and books straight off the ground to create side tables, to using the surface to display art and objects.

It's a fast and dirty way to update a corner or a whole room, and likely won't cost you a penny. Now, I'm not a designer in any professional capacity; I'm a mother of two who usually writes these wearing a house coat and drinking coffee while the baby naps! But I do love design and I think there are a lot of you out there like me, so take a look at my inspiration shots below and how I styled it up in my own home in that last shot. I have a soon-to-be mobile baby, Beatrix, and an off-the- wall 5 year-old, Willa, so it wasn't practical to have things directly on the floor for safety reasons. Instead, I've taken a vintage low coffee table, stuck it in an awkward corner and used books and mags to give the lamp and other objects some practical height, but it also conveys that sort of super-relaxed, eclectic aesthetic that we see in those delicious inspiration shots. [Image 1: Dos Family. Image 2: Andrea Ferrari. Image 3: Manolo Yllera]

For more of Jenn's take on style click here.

3 for the framers

Arren — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:11:11 +0000

I could totally blow the bank on artwork, and have fortunately/unfortunately found someone new on Etsy to jones over. I don't know much about Hocus, except she has a bit of a thing for vintage Danish pottery, and that she (?) is a designer/illustrator based in Toronto. Her work is sweet, but not too sugary, and I love all the textures and detail in each piece. Below you'll find all three of her limited edition, signed and numbered prints - Key Finder, Feathers and Snyder Goes For Walkies. For my money I think they'd all look brill in simple white gallery frames, hmmm, now to find a spare wall to hang them...