2 things

The rooms at the San Francisco Decorators Showcase are usually too overdone for my taste, but at the very least they are always entertaining to look at. This year there was a lot of eye candy, and my two favorite things had to be:

this amazing moss fireplace (try to ignore the ugly chair to the left)

this gorgeous desk (and light fixture!)

Barlas Baylar

Barlas Baylar is a bad-ass designer. He's the man behind one of my favorite furniture / lighting showrooms, Hudson Furniture and creates sexy, edgy statement pieces. Here's a few of his latest...

ping-pong

james dewulf's concrete dining/ping-pong table.

winter bed

I want to hibernate for the next three months in this bed. so cozy. (from Metrofarm)

icff

New York was amazing as always, although with the torrential downpours I didn't get to see most of what I wanted to at ICFF...but here are a few things i was diggin'

Finnish designers paspas' beautiful patchwork vintage anatolian rugs

Jonathan Nesci for volume gallery's General Desk, made of aluminum plate

uhuru's new collection is made of reclaimed wood from the coney island boardwalk..love the feathered look of this console table..
from the beautifully twisted mind of alex randall comes the squirrel wall light (at future perfect)
john derian on a monday - closed! lame!
the sketchy looking entrance to kiosk
the fun and cheerful display of random gifts inside kiosk

Salon del Mobile

Unfortunately my broke ass couldn't afford to fly to Milan for the Salon del Mobile this year, but some of my favorite blogs did a stellar job of reporting back. After weeding through all the random and bizarre conceptual pieces I did come across some gems...

Kartell's dreamy Snowflake installation / Yoshioka's Invisible chair which would look perfect in my Modernist ice palace.

Blow High table by Konstantin Grcic for Established & Sons
Weird bird cage / fish tank combo by Constance Guisset...instead of housing a menagerie of strange animals, I think this would look pretty on a smaller scale hanging by itself, or perhaps as a light fixture?
Robi Renzi (RenziVivian) created this amazing series of patchwork cabinets made of salvaged materials.
J'adore the Melt bookcase by Thomas Sandell, but the OCD in me keeps freaking out over the dust I can imagine lurking behind there.
Rich Brilliant Willing created this table as part of  the Clinkers collection for Innermost

Gorgeous gold mesh lamps by Tom Dixon
Love the brilliant colors in the Stretch Collection chairs by Carnevale Studio
Dig the exposed ribcage look of the Struttura Due Table by Davide Vercelli

and of course, the genius that is Yves Behar, for Swarovski Crystal Palace..

photos from dezeen, contemporist, and sight unseen

Upholstery Project #1

Last summer I thought it would be fun to start refinishing old furniture. So I enrolled in an upholstery class at CCA. Then I bought this lovely (40's-era?) chair at a thrift store for $20, covered in this amazingly hideous 70's fabric and screaming for me to rescue it. All I needed was fabric. I fell in love with a gorgeous mohair the color of the ocean on a foggy day. Was beyond excited to start working on it.

Five weeks of blood, sweat, and tears later, and being reminded repeatedly that i was a masochist for choosing such a difficult piece to work on, it was left unfinished and banished to my closet for 9 months. Recently I was able to resurrect and finish this baby thanks to my local upholsterer who was kind enough to let me use his workshop and teach me some skills. Here it is undergoing surgery...
After this experience I have a newfound appreciation for the art of furniture making. It takes an incredible amount of skill and patience to create something that is functional yet well designed and crafted. Those exquisite little details produce a feeling you certainly don't get from mass produced Ikea crap.
And here it is! finally finished and looking hot in my bedroom.. I still haven't sat in it. I just stare at its beauty and think about how well it ties the room together.