Tchochkes

I came across these sofas from Milano bedding that are quite expensive and I think pretty darn ugly.  This company not only boasts style but also ultimate comfort.  I searched and searched for the comfort aspect on their website and I could not come up with anything to show.  The price tags starting at 9,000 and up to 40,000 NIS are not in the bargain shopper range to say the least.  I even think that IKEA has some comprable sofas for half the price.

Ouch, this sofa looks sooo uncomfortable.  I would not last long sitting here.

It looks like they left the down comforter on the sofa… Where is the style here?

Oh, that’s where I left my yellow sleeping bag!

This sofa had possibilities but I think you can find a similar one at IKEA.

I almost thought this one was nice but then I noticed that they forgot to iron the skirt.  The crinkle thing just does not work for me.

Not only is the couch boring and uncomfortable looking, the room setting is horrible.  Are those square covered in the same fabric as the couch, yikes!

I love this “cafe chair” by Haldane Martin, a South African based design company . It also comes in a few tropical brights and a nice ivory as pictured in the room setting below.  If you want to see it for yourself, Tollman’s in the Gan Hair in Tel Aviv has floor samples in all of the colors. 

All of their products have a distinct tie to their South African roots.  The cafe chair is crafted in a ”zulu basket weaving” technique, the materials used are recycled plastic.  Their entire line is designed and produced in South Africa,  It’s great that this company supports its local artisans.

Industrial Design

Industrial designer Yaron Elyasi makes some really interesting items out of string and partially recycled plastic.  The colorful chairs and open vessel above are some of the pieces that he is best known for.  Nature and organic form are a definate influence in his work. 

The same chair as shown above but in black partially recycled plastic takes on a totally different feel.  I like the colored pieces better.  The black is kind of creepy… 

This nest- like dipped string vessel is something of a conversation piece and then there is the string bowl below…   I actually like these last two items and think they make good accents for shelves or coffee tables.  Sometimes an accent is just what a room needs to polish it off.

I came across this designer, Elizabeth Trost in one of the local magazines here in Israel.  Something about these chairs just don’t look right to me… 

I like the striped fabric on this chair, but then those black wooden legs don’t go with the rest of the piece porportionally and the placement of the two back legs seems odd and unbalanced.

The brown textured fabric shown here makes this chair look like it came out of someones attic and again the legs are all wrong.  These legs are too delicate for the weight of this chair and the back legs don’t follow the same style as the front legs.  These legs are a little too ”zen meets woodcutters cottage” for me.

I lost it when I saw this one, the bright patchworkish fabric and then the chair legs that look like they came off of a dresser… I think these are the same legs as seen in the first chair but in brown wood.

And this chair had potential fabric wise, I could see it looking cute in a girls room but again the legs just don’t mesh with the rest of the chair.  It almost looks as if it is sloping forward…

 I have no kind words for this chair.  My guess is that the style was an attempt at “shabby chic”. What are those brown spots on the back?  They look like stains or mold… your guess is as good as mine! 

Performance Design

FRONT, the Swedish design group has developed a new technology from Japan that translates motion into product.  Pen strokes are recorded onto 3D files and actualized through the process of rapid photography… WHAT!!!

I saw a demonstration of this process at the MOMA design show in New York in April.  It took me a while to figure out what was going on.  Designers can draw anything they want and create an actual 3D prorotype. 

These designers are drawing their products that will become solid 3D objects like the chair below.   

In the future, I wonder if we can apply this technology to the oven and have it make a 3D dinner?  Now that would be awsome!

Tree of Life
Olive trees are a Mediterranean native.
They are “human like” in appearance with
graceful arms and rooted feet (we are not alone on this planet)…

Referred to as “the tree of life”, the olive tree
has earned its title over the last 4,000 years.

In climate friendly regions throught the world , the olive tree has made a come back in landscape archetecture.

Aside form its low tolerance to cold, it is one
of the most resilient trees available.

Wood in its natural form is making its mark on design today. With so much awareness on being “Green” (green, green, green, green!), designers are integrating more of these aspects into their projects. The recent hype on fast growning wood products like “bamboo” and “sugi” confirm this point.

Above are products made from sugi” wood, a fast growing cypress tree found in Japan.

George Nakashima was a well known woodworker originally from the Pacific North West. His work preserves the natural shapes and beauty of large slabs of wood while intergrating shaker elements. This combination is easily accepted into many design styles.

I love the use of exisisting materials used in their natural form. This furniture is sophisticated, comfortable (I once owned a chair of his!) and relatively affordable for high end Product.

Artist Hugo Franco goes even more rustic by using dead “pequi” trees that he finds with the help of local foragers from the fisihing village of Tran Coso in North Eastern Brazil. His work pushes the concept of using raw materials to the extreme. These pieces are one of a kind.

There’s an interesting story that goes with the Aeron chair (and if you have read Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking you don’t need to read on).

Herman Miller decided to do test the chairs marketability on focus groups - and they hated it. They thought it was awful and ugly and deemed it would be a total failure.

So much for focus groups.

I am in love with this chair and will someday own one in size small - yes, they come in sizes, and if you are tiny like I am and sit at a desk all day in a chair designed for a man around 6ft tall (1.82 meters) then you know how important those sizes can be.

The chair is one of the most prestigious pieces of furniture in the history of design. It was not used by ordinary people until the 16th century, before this time only dignity and royalty sat in chairs.

I think I finally understand why people fight over the same chair…

This drawing has personality; it was made by David Byrne of the Talking Heads, guess who has an obsession with chairs?!

The chairs featured above are specific choices for therapist’s “home office”. Photographer Saul Robbins features these currently in his online show “Initial Intake”. The popular television series “In Treatment” reflects this latest seating trend.

What to look for in a chair: A chair must have two basic qualities, comfort and personality. As easy as this sounds, these features are hard to find.

Charles and Ray Eames are known worldwide for being the first furniture designers to work with molded plywood. They started working as a team on furniture in 1945 and went on to change the face of design. Today their work is still alive and kicking!

Everyone has seen the chair shown here on the left, it is considered “the most famous chair of the century”.

The chair on the right is another Eames creation referred to as “the childs chair”. Although it is quite different, you can still see the Eames style shine through.

These are Herman Miller’s most
popular office chairs. The black
“Aeron Chair” came out first, its
claim to fame is its ergonomic
posture and back support system.

The purple “Mirra Chair” below is the
latest from Herman Miller, it comes in 8
environment and image reflecting colors.

Pine is my nemisis, it was never meant for furniture, and if it was used for furniture back in the day it was cheap and painted. Pine is a softwood, and as such it’s pliable, gets knicked easily and doesn’t last like a hardwood.

With that said I have pine in my house. I’m not proud of it, I don’t like the look of it - and come this spring (which is just around the corner) it should all be painted - probably a deep strawberry red.

Pine is inexpensive, and as such used often.

Method of construction is just as important as the wood used to make the piece. Drawers should be dove-tailed. Armoirs should have levelers on the feet.

Vintage is located in the southern part of souk ha’pishpishim in Jaffa in the area by Fuah (or is it Puah - honestly it’s the most bizaarly named cafe but the place is simply amazing) on Uli Sivan 13.

Vintage (as their sign says) or HVH (as their website says) has Israeli made and imported original mid century modern furniture. They have the largest collection of MCM furniture in the country.

Eran, the designer who handles the restoration of the pieces, is obsessed not only with the history of Israeli furniture design but with the history of Israeli ceramics as well. Their collection of Israeli ceramics is something you need to see.

The prices are fair. I would recommend doing a walk-through the souk first, however, so you can see what else is out there and can negotiate accordingly. If you are on a tight budget they have unfinished pieces which are in decent condition.

I picked some of my favorite pieces from their website - but this is just the tiniest fraction of what you will find from their store.

I was watching TCM the other day and saw The Tender Trap with Frank Sinatra. The furniture in his apartment in that movie was identical to the type of things they have in this store.

I’m not nuts about the coverings on the chairs, but I’m loving that table. I think I would go for some sort of icey mint and bronze brocade on the chairs to contrast with the ultra moderness of the table.

For more information on the store location or any of the pieces mentioned here you can call (03) 518-8755