Metrocon Update and Review

Every year there's an event in Dallas called Metrocon for Interior Designers. It's a local version of Neocon which takes place in Chicago and has designers travel from all over to attend.

I look forward to this every year. It's a nice 2 days to get out of the office, continuing education gets knocked out and I get to see friends who work at other design firms and all the new products that have been released.

Here's a few photos overlooking the show.

My friend Lori who works at Club Design.

Ashley from Tri-Kes. Check out the beautiful wallcovering on the table. I want to use fun wallcovering on a project!

The Poulsen lighting display. Beautiful fixtures, a little expensive but one of my co-workers did get to use some on a job once.

This year I felt as though many of the vendors had smaller booths than in years past and less giveaways and drawings. It seems as if the economy has affected everyone. Someone mentioned there were quite a few designers there without jobs which is sad. Hopefully this gave them an opportunity to network with future employers.

The major problem I have with metrocon is a problem I have had for a few years now. The continuing education classes are BORING and some are not related to our field as much as I would like for them to be. I had a hard time finding anything that sounded interesting enough to take. I did end up having a few good classes that I really enjoyed but I had more that were snoozers. We have a requirement to have a barrier free class and I think there were 2 that were offered. A few more barrier free classes would have been helpful!

So, what was my favorite thing? Well, there was too much to say but here are a few:

Pantheon had some beautiful new tiles.

The Generation Chair by Knoll was good looking and very comfortable. I registered to win one but I didn't. I like to sit with my legs crossed under me or sideways or other silly ways and this chair will let you do all of that comfortably.

Check out this furniture from Greenplay. I hope I can use that on one of our Church projects soon!

Dunkin Donuts New Prototype

Have you seen the new Dunkin Donuts? They just put one near our house and I think they did a great job on the new look. The one by our house I actually like a lot better than this picture. It's really nice to see a chain restaurant using some modern design on the exterior of their building, especially one like a donut shop where high design isn't typically the norm. Unfortunatly, i'm not a huge fan of their donuts, their vanilla chai on the other hand is fabulous, but haven't found a donut there that I like. Their cool building makes me want to support them though so I stop by every once in awhile to grab a snack... like it's my personal goal to keep businesses with attractive spaces in business.

Umbra Loft at Target

You have to hand it to Target, they do a great job of getting well known designers in the store for an affordable price. They have recently introduced the Umbra Loft collection. I have been a fan of Umbra for awhile, we even have some umbra kitchen chairs, and it's not outrageously priced, but the pricing here is much better. Most everything in the collection is black and white right now, I'm hoping that will change as the line evolves since nothing in my house is black and white, but I can appreciate the design. I know some stores are following their lead and getting designers in at reasonable prices but I wish that even more would follow. I think everyone should be able to experience modern design at a price the average person can afford (love you DWR but sorry, there's nothing within reach at your store except the location). So check out the umbra stuff online or at the store. I'm sure there's something there you will like.

Modern Nursery

While a lot of modern styles are becoming more and more affordable, modern nursery items are still a bit pricey and hard to find. Now that I'm looking to supply a modern nursery of my own, I'm trying to hunt the coolest style and the best bargains. Here is a bit of what I've been finding.

Cribs:
This is one of my favorite cribs and it can easily be yours for at least $2,100 at this web site.Now, here is one that's a little more reasonable and I love the way it looks. It's also convertible which seems like it will save even more money in the long run. This one will cost you only $299 and you will be surprised at where I found it- web site


Changing Tables and Dressers:
Another beautiful changing table. Since I'm thinking about doing dots in the nursery, this would work perfectly. But.... it's going to cost a mere $1500. Check out this web site for more great looking changing tables.
Here is one I also love. I think it's a great design, a great price ($299), and it's easy to access from this web site.

If you are interested in further research, here are some of my favorite baby furniture web sites. I don't know if I will be able to afford anything from these but it would sure be fun! Enjoy.

DucDuc
2 Modern
Baby Star
Stokke
Modern Nursery
My Urban Child

Modern Tea

It's no secret that I love having tea. I'll have a glass in the morning and again in the afternoon. Enjoying an afternoon tea ceremony is one of my favorite things to do. If your curious, here's a brief history of Afternoon Tea.
With my love for Tea, I decided to collect tea pots but It's hard to find tea pots that also fit in with my modern decor. So, after a little research, I found some new favorites. In no particular order...


There are many glass teapots but I like this one. The spout and handle are unique as well as the chrome lid and center. This one is from Bodum and there are plenty of other great finds on their web site.
I think this is my favorite of all of them. It's perfect for one pot, I love the chrome and the flat top is unusual. I found this at Living Comforts.
Go figure, Amazon.com has modern teapots. Is there anything you can't find on Amazon? This one comes in several colors, another unique flat top, and it is just too cute.


You can't have modern teapots without an Asian inspired pot. The angles make this one unique along with the shape of the handle. eteapot.com has many other teapots but I picked the best.

I can't end without mentioning my favorite place to have afternoon tea. I have had tea everywhere from DC to California and I have one spot that is my favorite. It's a little place called Savannah Tea Room on Broughton Street in Savannah. The decor is Mackintosh inspired and the food is incredible. If you are ever in the area, that's the place to go.

Hope these tea pots have inspired you. If you have any other great tea finds, leave me a message so I can check them out!

Designing a Party

I'm so hoping I can have a party soon that requires me to buy table decorations from this next place. It's called Social Couture and you can order full table decorations for a variety of party themes. They are incredibly beautiful and the prices are not bad. Check out the web site and all the other party options Social Couture

Modern Shoes

I would call this a modern shoe shopping experience. I found this shoe store and it is a very enjoyable shopping experience. Piperlime is a Gap company that sells only shoes. You can narrow the thousands of selections by your size, color, type, price, and more...That makes it easy to find exactly what you are looking for. When they arrive in the mail, you get a white box with green lining; your shoe boxes are wrapped in brown tissue with a lime sticker and your receipt is tucked in a green envelope. What a great way to get your new shoes. Check it out and buy some shoes that rock!

Modern Fireplace Screens?

I've been looking for a modern fireplace screen over the past few days and I've found that it's a lot harder than one might think. There are some beautiful options out there but finding one you can afford is nearly impossible. Here is what my research has found...

Chiasso has 2 of my favorites:
Screen 1 - This is probably my all time favorite although I wonder if it would be hard to keep clean
Screen 2- This one is way too expensive but I love the way it looks!

Kitchen Accessories Unlimited
This site has some really great screens and even better tools. They act like it's a bargain but they don't seem like that great of a deal to me.

Crate and Barrel
This is actually the one we ended up going with. It's a good looking screen and the best price I found.

Fine Living
Several nice options here the first one is a great price but $700 for the last one? I don't think so.

Target
Contemporary Fireplace Screen. This is actually a bad example. I love target but this ugly screen looks anything but contemporary.

Okay, I'm tired of looking- I hope this gives you a good start to find your own modern fireplace screen.

I'm Tired of Green.

I'm not trying to say that I want to kill the earth, or destroy the ozone, or leave a polluted mess for my grandkids to take care of, but I'm so tired of this "green" craze that's going on right now. I do think that in the future, green will be the only way, there won't be a differentiation between the green products and non-green products because they will all be environmentally friendly in some way or another... but right now, green is trendy. You can't go anywhere without having green shoved down your throat. There are so many things labeled "green" I wonder if it has become another subjective term like "low fat". I feel like you are not cool unless you buy "green", live "green", talk "green"... I feel guilty every time I go shopping if I don't buy the "green" product, like I'm going to be personally responsible for destroying the earth. They just promoted a news report about "green" clothing. Are you telling me I can't buy regular clothes anymore? I'm ready for green to no longer be trendy... for people to use green because there is no other option, that's just what you do, and it doesn't define your "cool" factor.

Modern vs. Contemporary

I was going to write about this exact thing but I found this article on the 2Modern design blog and felt there was no reason to paraphrase another good blog. I think it's worth reading, especially since I ask myself this question often.

Modern vs. Contemporary

There is a little debate going on here that I thought I would throw some commentary on:
http://2modern.blogs.com/2modern/2007/10/2008-dream-ride.html

What is the definition of MODERN vs the definition of CONTEMPORARY?

MODERN: from the dictionary:
adjective:Characteristic or expressive of recent times or the present; contemporary or up-to-date: a modern lifestyle; a modern way of thinking.noun:One who lives in modern times.

So...by definition, anything that is of current time, is modern. So isn't everything contemporary then modern because it is of "modern time"...aka "now"? Well, no, not really...because just because it is "new", doesn't mean that it is "modern".

Why is it that classic "modern" design is defined by some as "modern" and new design is considered "contemporary"?

Is the term "modern" forever frozen in mid 20th century?

CONTEMPORARY: from the dictionary:
adjective1. Belonging to the same period of time: a fact documented by two contemporary sources.2. Of about the same age.3. Current; modern

Now I am confused..."modern" is listed under "Contemporary" and "contemporary" is listed under "Modern".

Now..."Modernism" of course is something a bit different. That term often refers to the movement from traditional forms within the art, design, architecture and literature during the 20th century.

Is it fair to say that "Modern" should be the phrase that refers to any contemporary design that is moving away from traditional forms of design? If that is the case, when does the old guard of "Modern" become more stale and traditional and the new designers of current times become more "Modern" based on the definition?

I guess there will always be "Classic Modern" defining the innovative design from the past and "Modern" which refers to "Contemporary Modern" design of now (and the future).

My new favorite thing (this week)

I found these knives on Amazon and liked them immediately. I have a magnetic strip that I hang all my knives from so the fact that they are decorative was very appealing. My question was, do they cut? Well, I ordered them... all of them, and they are great- incredibly sharp and they look wonderful. I have washed them a few times and they still look just as good. They have other patterns but this one is my favorite. Heres the link: CulinHome
Hope you like them as much as I do!

What's Your Design Style?

I've decided I hate that question. I realize that I have a poll on the right asking just that but that's beside the point. I also realize that in my business, it's the easiest way to start to figure out what your client might want, but it's too limiting. Why do you have to limit yourself to a particular "style"? I think everyone should be allowed to have a personal style that may draw from other eras and styles but not confined by them. I tend towards a contemporary style, with touches of mid century modern, fabrics from the baroque or victorian periods, the woods of prairie style, a couple of things out of the latest pottery barn catalog, the affordability of ikea, and asian acessories. Does that give me bad taste or make me a bad designer? I don't think so. Maybe a better question is "What inspires you?". So, what inspires you?