Finding Inspiration: Josef Frank–The Unknown Watercolours
John picked up this beautiful book from Svenskt Tenn. It’s interesting to delve into how a creative mind works, from still life exploration to timeless and delightful patterns for the home. The book also covers his life and various relationships and how they inspired his work.
It showcases Josef Frank’s watercolours of nature, still life and street scenes.
Tulip inspiration for his famous Primavera print.
A Greek myth painting and Svenskt Tenn pattern based on Greek poet Anacreon.
Réunion at Pom & Flora
This post is very tardy (where is my head?!?). Everyone has since come and gone from Milan, so I figure I better share this, even if it’s just for posterity.
During Stockholm Design Week (February 2017), we had a Réunion with Luca Nichetto and Nichetto Studio. We co-hosted an event with Residence Magazine (newest book is now available in the shop) at the ever lovely Pom & Flora cafe, designed by Emma Olbers. It was an opportunity to showcase our growing collection with Nichetto Studio.
The newest member of the Nichetto Studio / Mjölk family is the Réunion lamp. The base is made in Murano, Italy and the painted aluminum shade is made in Toronto.
Pre-party atmosphere and the new colours for Han and Zen.
Uki, Zen and Han in use.
From Left:
Réunion – not yet available for sale
Stockholm 2017
This visit we decided to stay at Hotel Skeppsholmen. Located a little off the beaten track, the hotel is nestled on a small island surrounded by water and trees. I found this beneficial since we spend so much time running around and having meetings, a dose of nature helped take the edge off.
This has been one of my most positive hotel experience to date. It’s the type of place that is exceptionally pleasant, where the staff go out of their way to be generous and kind—I really felt taken care of.
The hotel restaurant is excellent. Not only do they offer a free breakfast buffet that is actually fresh and delicious, their lunch and dinner menus are also very good. After a shockingly long day’s travel (a flight from Copenhagen to Stockholm, with no delays, seemed to take us from 8am to 2pm!), we had the best steak and fries I’ve had in a long time.
The hotel is designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune, whom we’ve exhibited and worked with in the past. We were given a spacious room with a view of the water. It had no blackout blinds–which normally would bother me but in this case there wasn’t so much artificial light outside–yet we had such a wonderful deep sleep, and were awoken naturally by the rising sun every morning. Most importantly, it was incredibly quiet.
The walk to the hotel isn’t so bad either.
Over at Svenskt Tenn, there was a special design week show featuring lighting by Harri Koskinen. Inspired by Philodendrons, with a play on light and shadow.
Furnishing Utopia was at the fair. Our production of Hallgeir Homstvedt’s Doverail Mirror / Shelf and Toolboxes were on display, along with a lovely selection of Shaker objects and new Shaker inspired design pieces.
Mayor Sofa by Arne Jacobsen for &Tradition in a new colour. We’ll be getting one in the showroom in a few months. Also the Palette Table by Jaime Hayon for &Tradition dressed in new materials.
Catch Lounge Chair by Jaime Hayon, one will be arriving in our showroom in the spring. On the right, some new accessories from &Tradition, like the Tricolore glass vases and the brass 721 grams stackable and interchangeable candle holders.
Tea time at Ett Hem.
Artek and Norwegian designer Daniel Rybakken team up for the installation “124° – Artek on Skeppsholmen” and a new collection.
L: Kiila coat stand and rack.
R: Riihitie Plant Pot, designed 1937 by Aino Aalto (new production)
Classic tables and chairs in new colours, and shapes that can be put together to make a larger conference table.
124° wall mounted mirrors. Two faces are placed 124 degrees apart creating an unexpected dual-aspect reflection of the surrounding space.
A whirlwind as usual, we missed a lot of events and were passing ships with many of our favourite people.
Stopover in Copenhagen
On our way to the Stockholm Furniture Fair a few weeks ago we stopped over for a few nights in Copenhagen. We stayed this time at the Scandic Palace Hotel, which was ideally situated in the centre and has free breakfast. Since this was a quick trip I wanted everything to be accessible and easy. Grey and cold, we arrived in the early afternoon so we took a walk.
Grabbed a coffee at Atelier September.
Popped into Frama, who happened to be open on the weekend because they were having a sale. You can see more photos of their studio here, as at the time it was overrun with their sale items. I liked this brass screen tucked away in the back.
The colours of the Scandinavian cityscape always bring joy on dull days.
First visit to the Danish Design Museum and they had a chair exhibition on.
They had the chairs grouped according to basic aesthetic similarities, which is always nice for comparison.
Nice to see some well worn Børge Mogensen on display.
The other featured exhibition happened to be titled Learning from Japan, exploring Japan’s influence on Danish design.
Happy to see Kaori Juzu‘s jewellery on display.
Classic.
A lovely dinner at 108.
Christian from OneCollection and I totally had to have this dessert after spying it pass by our table.
Post meeting lunch with the multitalented designers Tanja and Petra from All the Way to Paris at the beautifully considered Admiralgade 26. We were fairly obsessed with the ambience and design choices, but the French food served was also exactly what we wanted for lunch–fresh and simple.
Floor details: loving the increased use of terrazzo I’ve been seeing in Scandinavia. Also wood inlays and vintage rugs.
One thing I really like about the design of the restaurant is that it has different zones, for a variety of uses. From cozy intimate groupings to large round tables perfect for a gathering.
Furniture and a variety of lamps make the space home like.
Unique pottery, ceramics and glass create an interesting focal point throughout.
We joined our friends from Queen West Antique Centre, for a very over the top dinner at Kiin Kiin. They start you off in the lounge where they ply you with drink and appetizers, then give you a menu. At this point you are thinking you have to just choose an item off the menu but no, you will be consuming the entire menu. So many courses but amazingly I felt good at the end.
I had to stop and take a photo of this salad dish. Yes, that’s cotton candy. In the background you can see the server preparing the dressing.
The dressing melts the cotton candy and neutralizes the sweetness.
In many ways the drama during the meal could be perceived as a bit much, but in the end it was an enjoyable evening spent in good company, and the food was exceptional.
After dinner we popped over to a jazz club, which unfortunately was having a comedy night. Oh well, next time!
That Is Best Which Works Best Exhibition
Thom Fougere’s fire tools received a coveted Designlines Loves tag during our amazing opening reception Wednesday night. Unlike past years, our new products are available for purchase, as are a selection of Shaker items (to be added to the website next week, apologies).
This show came together serendipitously. We’d been talking with Thom for years about his fire tools design, while this spring John saw Hallgeir’s pieces for Furnishing Utopia at Hancock Shaker Village. Meanwhile, all of us visited Hancock within a month of each other. So Shaker has been on our collective minds!
Original Shaker stove – $3500 CDN with Thom Fougere fire tool set
Wall mounted is a Shaker chopping board – $3000CDN
Shaker inspired towel rack from Momogusa, special order – $675CDN
Shaker Bench – $3500CDN
Shaker cabinet – $22,000 CDN
In the foreground, a Portable and collapsable herb drying rack – $1800CDN
Shovel used by the Shakers – not available
Wall mounted candle holder – not available
Sabbath day Lake Shakers’ Herb Containers (set of 5) – $ 400
Herb Cultivating Basket – not available
Chabako Tea Kit by Masanobu Ando, with shaker inspired box – $1300
Doverail shelves and mirror by Hallgeir Homstvedt.
Enfield Shaker Table – developed by John Baker and Jason Collett
Portable, by Hallgeir Homstvedt receives a Designlines loves tag.
A variety of handmade Shaker Whisks – not available
Shaker inspired George Nakashima bench – personal collection
Tyndall Stone Vases by Thom Fougere – available for a variety of prices
A unique Shaker invention: The apple peeler $2200 CDN
Børge Mogensen J39 chair next to a Shaker chair (not available). Both hanging on our shaker peg rail made by Jake Whillans.
Hans Wegner J16 rocking chair and stool next to a Shaker side table – not available.
That Is Best Which Works Best: Contemporary Works
Back in 2009, John and I were green, fresh faced bloggers, checking out the Interior Design Show and making new connections. One such connection that has grown through the years is with Winnipeg designer Thom Fougere.
We started working with him on his fire tools project because we simply couldn’t find a nice set of fire tools for the cottage fireplace. We immediately responded to the simple language Thom uses to create a clean lined and concise response to our problem, and set to working with him to bring his drawing to fruition. We worked with various makers, most notably building on our ongoing relationship with Toronto-based Harnisch for the metal components.
We have two versions available for sale, brass and blackened brass with horse hair bristles, walnut/oak and natural leather handles.
[click on images to see more details and pricing]
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Photo credit: Charlie Schuck
John originally contacted Hallgeir Homstvedt back in May regarding his Shaker pieces for the exhibition Furnishing Utopia. John simply wanted these pieces for himself, but when he found out they weren’t in production, we decided to work with Hallgeir on bringing them to market. Using Ontario-based Speke Klein for the wood components, we will be launching these pieces on Wednesday as well.
On the left is the Doverail Mirror, which can be moved up and down using a brass knob. No peg rail necessary for mounting, it is more of a reference to Shaker peg rails, made for the modern home.
On the right, the adjustable Doverail shelves, perfect for a small entryway catch all, bathroom accessories, or any where you need a little #shelflove.
[click on the images to see more details and pricing]
Photo credit: Charlie Schuck
Portable is a toolbox that functions as a desktop organizer, with a reference to Shaker cabinets.
[click on the images to see more details and pricing]
Photo credit: Charlie Schuck
