"I just broke a nail...better call my tile-setter"

Heath meet Heath (tile week)

There  is no suitable introduction on how we feel about Heath ceramics. Randy cherishes all the Heath that owns. Now the team at Heath have teamed up with the people at Dwell Studio, and made a pretty good line of tile that we approve of. We are not generally ever thrilled with what Dwell does since their designs can be a bit repetitive and predictable, but this actually has good character and composition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Q-bert?

How we love thee... (tile week)

We at the studio love to work with tile in a myriad of ways. It really is a form of art that is not bond by any rules. Its array of textures and hues make its possibilities endless, and we love using them, as you can tell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pomona Tile Brochure (tile week )

Pomona Tile did colabs with a bunch of famous designers of the time. Here is a scan of a pre-George Nelson brochure including the work Saul Bass.
I wish I had this book.

David Lynch’s Box

The man who is best known as a director is also a visual artist dabbling in painting, photography, illustrations and builds lamps and boxes for friends on the weekends. He recently shared a couple photos of his handy work, including the beautiful keepsake box shown above. Love it!

Rough Aalto

I LOVE these awesomely beat up Alvar Aalto stools. I like to imagine that these stools came from an online liquidation auction of a Finnish reform school, because the probable real story--someone bought them for $1 one Saturday morning, then spent the rest of the weekend artfully tagging them with vintage pocket knives--makes me feel really lazy.

IDEAS!!

Abitacolo Bed/Play Thing By Bruno Munari

I know it kind of looks like it belongs in the laundry room, but isn't that part of its charm? Also, each one comes with a personalized license plate?

Bruno Munari designed Abitacolo [Italian for "cockpit"], a bed/play/study/storage structure for kids, for the retail fixture manufacturer Robots [!] in 1972. I thought it was lost to the ages, but I just found out yesterday that Robots still makes and sells Abitacolo in Europe.

TILE TIME!!!!

Its tile week!! Today is the first day in a series of posts dedicated to the amazing world of tile. I cant tell you how many hours I have spent staring at tile patterns and colors...its an illness I'm sure of it. An illness filled with love.

Happy 4th of July!

Little Samba

THIS is how its done!

Tartan: Part 2

Tartan Round-Up

With all this tartan talk, I’ve begun noticing tartan everywhere! And although a little plaid goes a long way, here are a few of my favorites!

[image above: long plaid chain necklace $19.99, tartan tape shade $128, audrey wallpaper £35. antique tartan print $120, henning sofa $3,998, ralph lauren chair $649, set of 6 coasters $14. 95, converse sneakers $44.80, brockhampton knob $2.95, laugharne blanket £71.00]

[image above: vintage plaid stamp sign $75]

[image above: tartan dessert plates $48, computer case $107.50, plates memo tray $9.99, tartan baubles bracelet $28 matteo scarf $60, tartan playing cards £5.99, plaid steamer truck $84.59, plaid locket $26.00 throw blanket $70]

Ilene "Cinderella" Woods (1929-2010)

The L.A. Times is reporting the passing of Ilene Woods, the voice of Walt Disney’s Cinderella (1950). She died Thursday at age 81. According to the Times obit:

As a favor to songwriters Mack David and Jerry Livingston, she made demo recordings of Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes and So This is Love in 1948. The songwriters made their pitch to Walt Disney, who had already auditioned more than 300 singers and wasn’t satisfied with any voices. When he heard Woods, he asked her to audition and she got the role.

Woods was declared a Disney Legend in 2003. Without a doubt, her voice will live on forever. RIP sweet Cinderella.

Book for your Book

This morning i’ve got mac products on the brain. normally i’m pretty simple when it comes to lugging my laptop around (throw in bag, shove 2 scarves on either side to keep it from slamming into things) but when i saw these cool “book covers” for your laptop i was instantly intrigued.

made of distressed leather, each “bookbook” is unique and is designed with dual zippers with leather pulls that look like bookmarks on first glance. you can keep your macbook charged while it’s protected because of the dual zippers (zip them to one side and leave a small space for your cord to plug in) or zip it up and carry it with you. i absolutely LOVE the idea of hiding your computer (something i never like looking at, despite its sleek design) inside of a book that looks like its been around for ages. for me, this is the perfect way to house something that looks a little too sleek and modern to match the rest of my house. click here for more information on bookbook and to place an order ($79.99). i need one.

Today I’m rounding up 35+ of my favorite pendant lamps in a wide range of styles, from modern and retro to country and romantic- all under $100. i hope you’ll enjoy the selection!

[images above, clockwise from top left: maskros pendant $89.99, garland light $90, copper cage pendant $90 $129 (sorry guys, i missed that the shade was separate), minx pendant $55.80, metal etch pendant shade $48 (combine with this lamp kit $10), melon mini light $49.49, e27
pendant $99, barn warehouse pendant $85, kartell suspension lamp $106 ($6 over, but worth the extra few bucks)]


[images above, clockwise from top left: capsule lights $75, p445 pendant $100, deep bowl pendant $75, radial shade pendant $85, string lights $84, fillsta pendant $29.99, midsummer light $92, mibo small pendant shade $80, knappa $29.99]


[images above, clockwise from top left: mibo pendants $80, kulla $49.99, lyon light $85, ball jar pendant $95, future lamp $69.95, brasa pendant $49.99]

Portfolio

Here is some art team member Xavier is working on inspired by the amazing Mary Blair and animation story board art in general. Hope you like.

image above by julia rothman

If you’re thinking of a Scottish textile, chances are you’re thinking about tartan. The design was originally based on a simple two-color check, but today you can find an enormous variety of tartan patterns. So pour yourself a glass of scotch (OK – so it’s only 10am and we don’t live on the Mad Men set – but a girl can dream.), and let’s delve into tartan!

Difference between plaid and tartan?
Here’s the million dollar question. And it seems like nothing gets historians arguing quite like tartan! Here’s the basics: historically – plaid referred to a material/garment, while tartan was that checked pattern that we all know and love. A plaid was actually a large long shawl – usually 10 x 5 feet – the kilt was known as the belted plaid. Later the word ‘plaid’ came to mean any fabric that had a tartan pattern.

sir james macdonald (1741 – 1765) and sir alexander macdonald (1744 – 1810) by william mosman in about 1749, national galleries of scotland

Clan Tartans
The 18th century painting above of the Macdonald boys is often used to illustrate the point that the association of tartan patterns with a particular family was a 19th century invention rather than an ancient tradition. The boys are wearing three different tartan patterns. (By the way, note the date of 1749 on the painting, we’re coming back to that!) Historians believe that tartans had an association with the location in which they were produced rather than the particular family who chose to wear them. But because the tartans with similar color ranges would have been found in the same location (due to the use of local dyes) those living in close proximity would have worn the same colors and patterns. (So for example, tartans in the west of Scotland were produced in blue, black and green and worn by the MacLeod, MacNeil, and the MacDonalds, while tartans in the north-east used blue or black and green stripe on a red ground and were worn by the local families such as Macintosh, Robertson, and MacGillivary.)

an incident in the rebellion of 1745, david morier

Tartan and Rebellion
In 1746 the English defeated the tartan-clad Scots at the Battle of Culloden. As part of an effort to assimilate the Scottish Highlands and thwart their ability to revolt, the Act of Proscription made the wearing of tartan illegal. (This section was referred to as The Dress Act) Remember I told you to note the date of the MacDonald boys painting? It was painted in 1749, during the time that wearing tartan in Scotland was prohibited by the Parliament.)

george iv by sir david wilkie, 1829

The laws were repealed on July 1, 1782, and in 1822 George the IV wore tartan on his visit to Scotland – it was the first visit by a British monarch since Charles II in 1650. The visit was contrived to strengthen the bond between Scotland and the British king. The novelist Sir Walter Scott organized the ceremonial events – the highlight was the “Highland Ball” where all guests were required to wear Highland costumes. It was a tartan fest – and suddenly tartan was a must-wear item.

the balmoral tartan designed by prince albert intended to be worn by only the royal family

Living with Tartan
When you think of tartans making the leap from clothing to home textiles, two words should come to mind – Queen Victoria. Well, and maybe two more – Prince Albert. Although Victoria was Queen, Albert certainly wore the pants in the relationship. Victoria pretty much did whatever he thought was best. And we can say one thing for Albert, he knew how to manage money. Victoria was the first monarch who never needed to borrow money from Parliament.

balmoral castle in 1956, the new york public library

The couple became so smitten with the Highlands after a trip to Scotland that they purchased the estate of Balmoral Castle in 1847 sight unseen. Albert enlarged the castle and redesigned its interior – in the Scottish Baronial style. He even designed a Balmoral tartan (which is still in use today as the royal tartan) – and tartan was the textile of choice in the castle interior decoration.

above: balmoral castle’s drawing room in 1863, then in 1983.

Balmoral became a favorite summer home of the Queen (although not of her entourage who complained of the cold!) and it is still a royal summer residence.

master h.g.e. gladstone in 1862 by camille silvy (1834-1910) from the v&a museum

Queen Victoria said that she wished to make tartan desirable throughout the world and she certainly did her part to make it a lucrative export. All that tartan certainly did trickle down. Master Gladstone’s tartan (called a Scotch suit) above was a direct result of the Queen’s influence in the vogue for all things Scottish!

above left: duke of windsor photographed by lord lichfield via the windsor style; above right: part of the sotheby’s sale in 1997 – the rothesay hunting tartan lounge suit made in 1897 for his father george v, then tailored to fit the duke of windsor

Edward VIII might have given up the throne for divorcee Wallis Simpson, but this great-grandson of Queen Victoria certainly wasn’t about to give up his tartan. The catalog for the Sotheby’s Duke and Duchess of Windsor auction highlights the tartan lounge suit that was thought to belong to King George in 1897. King George apparently wore the tartan suit to tea after hunting. The Duke credited his father’s retrofitted tartan suit as the catalyst for tartan vogue in the 1950s!

the Duke and Duchess dance as one of the couple’s many pugs looks on via the windsor style

elizabeth II with (from left) princess anne, prince philip, prince andrew and prince charles via britannica online encyclopedia

During World War II, in order to escape the London blitz, the future Queen Elizabeth II and her sister, Princess Margaret Rose spent quite a bit of time at Balmoral Castle. And to this day, Queen Elizabeth II frequently wears tartan when visiting Balmoral.

I couldn’t resist closing out our look at tartan with this image of the Draper kitchen from Mad Men (For an insight into set decoration, see behind the scenes of Mad Men).