Design of the Month: Viva Diseño Mexicano!

When thinking of last-minute summer travel, Mexico may not be the first place that comes to mind. But consider this, Señora: airfares to Mexico are lower in the summer, and it won’t be any hotter there than it is in northern North America. Whether you actually go there yourself or just want to enjoy a desktop trip, we’ve found Hacienda Las Trancas: a place that is so beautifully designed it would be a pleasure to visit any time of the year. Let’s take a look at how the designers put it all together to create a space that’s welcoming, soothing, and exciting all at once.

(photo: Hacienda Las Trancas)

After all, design this good knows no season. 

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Eye Candy from ICFF

Attending the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) is akin to visiting the candy store for designers and architects alike.  You have the standard goodies from the big manufacturers but you also have the surprise sweets from new designers lurking around the corner tempting you.  This year’s ICFF in New York City is full of eye candy from countries around the world and the U.S.

(Flux Chair) Our first sample is the Flux chair from tulip country, the Netherlands.  You can call Flux a folding chair but this isn’t your boring garden-variety folding chair.

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Twilled: What's in Store

With the economy in freefall last year and everyone unsure of their financial security, probably about the dumbest idea was to open an elegant little store selling home furnishings. Even more risky, selling art as well. We all know that when the economy flags, people cut back first on the the things they don’t think are necessary: a nest of gorgeous glass dishes, for example.

But Michael Hennessy has never been one to follow conventional wisdom, and that’s what makes his store, MH Home in New York, such an interesting source for the unique home furnishings. And for art.

Hennessy knows plenty about both furniture and about art, and his store in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan shows off the intersection of the two. Having worked in furniture repair and finishing, and having worked as an artist, Hennessy is able to choose pieces that are both functional and pleasing to the eye. 

“I like carrying furnishings which are art,” he said in a recent interview at the store.

When you enter the store on 18^th Street,

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Student Postcard: Thomas Craig

Give him your tired, your poor...your furniture, that is. Distressed divans and crestfallen couches find new life in the skilled hands of Sheffield Interior Design student and professional upholster Tom Craig. After calling on him to transform some of our own pieces we could not pass on the opportunity to find out all we could about Craig: what makes this talent tick?

(Upholster Tom Craig in his studio. Photo: Tom Craig)

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Ode to Spain: The Fashions of Balenciaga

Balenciaga 1951 Red Coat, Photo: Nova Colette BronsteinIf you are excited by bold sculptural forms and evocative color, then Balenciaga and Spain is for you! This spectacular exhibit currently on display at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco, chronicles hi-lights from the prolific Spanish fashion designer, Cristobal Balenciaga.

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