With five painting projects in line on my summer runway, I’ve been looking for ideas. Next month my life will change when we take a parting look at the Manhattan apartment where we’ve happily spent the past 20 years and move to our house in the country. Among other things, that means I’ll get some [...]
Archive | May, 2011
Modern Acrylic Furniture
Contemporary acrylic pieces are a clear winner in design. German chemist Otto Rohm was in the process of developing safety glass for use in automobiles and airplanes when he inadvertently cast the first acrylic plastic sheet. It became commercially available under the trademark Plexiglas in 1936, and instantly became a design sensation. Its physical properties [...]
Decorative Interior Barn Doors
Simple wooden doors become a masterpiece with artwork and trim. Interior barn doors are a currently trendy (they are everywhere), but what first caught my eye wasn’t the hardware or vivid color, but the theatrical horse with Siamese cat at his back leg. This track mounted folk art painting was actually once part of a [...]
Making Sense of Kitchen Faucets
Six questions and answers before replacing or buying. Updating a kitchen faucet is a quick way to give any kitchen a mini-lift. If it’s 20 years or older, it’s time to change what’s arguably the most often-used kitchen fixture. Nothing is more irksome than a faucet that’s not functioning well or is badly matched to [...]
Black and White Dhurrie Rugs
Flat-woven rugs feel crisp and contemporary. I never tire of black and white as a design motif and lately I’ve noticed it turning up on the floor. Nate Berkus used it on the floor to give some visual buzz to an otherwise neutral living room. Earlier this week we saw the very same dhurrie carpet [...]
