Paris Deco Off is an offsite event during the Maison et Objet show that features 70 prestigious brands of fabrics, trimmings, furniture and lighting, that open up their showrooms and galleries to launch their new collections.  in 4  districts: Bastille, Saint Germain des Prés, Place des Victoires and Palais Royal.

 Here’s a partial list of participants:

ANGELY PARIS

ART ET DECOR

ARTE

BART HALPERN

BRAQUENIÉ

C&C MILANO

CHRISTIAN FISCHBACHER

CRÉATION BAUMANN

DE GOURNAY

DECLERCQ PASSEMENTIERS

DEDAR

GASTÓN Y DANIELA

HARLEQUIN

HOULÈS

JAB

JACQUES CHARPENTIER

JAKOB SCHLAEPFER

JOHN BOYD TEXTILES

KINNASAND

LE MANACH

LORCA

MANUEL CANOVAS

MÉTAPHORES

NOBILIS

NYA NORDISKA

OSBORNE & LITTLE

PHILIPPE PARENT STUDIO

PIERRE FREY

POUENAT FERRONNIER

 Just in time for  holiday gift giving a flurry of design books have been released ; offering creatives and clients inspiration. Here are the top ten ( in no particular order) on my wish list:

1.

Live, Love and Decorateby Martyn Lawrence Bullard

With the release timed with the launch of Bullard’s fabric collection for Schumacher and his design center speaking tour, get a copy and have it signed as a gift for a fellow design pro. The book  shows off the author’s mastery of the dramatic and balance between contemporary and traditional.

2.

Celia Birtwell

Considered one of the most influential textile designer of  this generation, muse to David Hicks and friend of the Beatles, Jagger and Picasso this book , British print designer, Celia Birtwell, is celebrated in this new publication. Her beautiful hand painted prints have appeared on apparel for former husband, Ossie Clark, as well as on new collections for Topshop and John Lewis. This book is a wonderful addition to any surface designer’s bookshelf.

3.

The Impossible Collection of Fashion by Valerie Steele. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!

From Poiret to Pucci, Doucet to Dior, Vionnet to Valentino, Valerie Steele,  chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (MFIT), selects the one hundred most iconic dresses of the twentieth century. This magnificent collection, while certainly subjective, is sure to receive gasps of pleasure as well as of surprise. Steele’s selection, hand-picked for this luxury volume presented in a linen clamshell case with a cutout metal plate, astounds in every regard. 
 

4.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel

Having always  admired the legendary “High Priestess of Fashion,” Diana Vreeland’s impact on fashion and style was legendary. I am looking forward to getting a peek inside her rich life. With more than 350 illustrations, including original magazine spreads and many famous photographs, this intensely visual book shows fashion as it was being invented, and how Vreeland shaped American taste through her superb vision.

5.

For my Francophile fix- In The New French Interior by Penny Drue Baird, authority on all things French, moves beyond the traditional historic styles to explore the design elements that make up the fresh, clean look. To illustrate the style, Baird draws on ten of her own recent projects, apartment and house installations, and presents French precedents and influences through specially commissioned photography of Parisian interiors.

6.

My Midwestern roots draw me to Chicago Spaces published by Chicago Home and Garden and hopes to vanquish the notion that we only design conservatively. The book showcases spaces that the editors loved or spoke to them representing a broad range of styles.

7.

Sister Parish, American Style  by Martin Wood revisits her sumptuous and quirky interiors. Her trompe l’oeil sawgs and cascades come to mind.

8.

Katie Ridder: Rooms by Heather MacIssac is the designer’s first book showcasing her  eclectic cool  interiors.

9.

The New Bespokeby Frank Roop lets the reader into his head as he works through the entire creative process- from inspiration to installation.

10.

Influential design blogger Grace Bonney penned  Design*Sponge at Home,the ultimate design manual for her fans. This says it best- “ Thank you,” wrote a reader to Design*Sponge creator Grace Bonney, “for teaching me that houses don’t have to be frumpy and formal. They don’t have to be matchy-matchy or rigidly modern.”

OK… 2 more I can’t seem to do without…

11.

Patina Styleby the Giannettis

12.

The Way Homeby Jeffery Bihuber

The WCAA Chicago Chapter presents WINDOWS PALOOZA. Come join us for a day of education, networking, Vendor show and Door Prizes! Over 30 Vendors to visit and Four hours of education. I’ll be speaking with Jackie Von Tobel and teaching Textiles Crash Course, What Makes this Window Treatment Work? and my signature showcase When Inspiratiion and Technique Meet. Click here to register

When: Tuesday, October 18th
Time: 8 AM to 7 PM Central Time
Where: Stonegate Conference Center
2401 W Higgins Rd
Hoffman Estates, IL 60169
Cost: Chicago Chapter Member $75.00
National Member $100.00

I am in the market for a new sofa, so I was doing a little window shopping when I came across these stunning possibilities.

Favn

“Design needs to solve the problem and be long lasting – off-course. But it is important to remember that my design is made for humans – to be used by humans. I believe that design should provoke emotions. Design should make you feel good. Create happiness.”   Jamie Hayon

 Jamie  Hayon’s new sofa- FAVN does all of the above. FAVN – the Danish translation for embrace, is the result of an experimental dialogue between Fritz Hansen& Hayon. “FAVN is picking up from the long tradition of Arne Jacobsenin the sense that I wanted to create a form that was based on a shell, like the Egg™ and the Swan™ which looks equally beautiful from all angles.” Hayón continues.

“I wanted the sofa to be based on a shell. A shell being hard on the outside, soft and welcoming on the inside. I wanted to create a form that embraces you, something really organic – that’s why we named it FAVN.”  There is something very Mad Men about this sofa.

Personally, while I love the sofa, I find myself drawn to the sketches even more.

The Cape

This gives new meaning to a slipcovered sofa. Love! the idea of changing out the cover with the seasons.

  Cape by Konstantin Grcic is an upholstered sofa with an overlay cover. Cape grew organically from the initial design challenge to create covered seating with a casual yet luxurious feel to it. The inspiration came from the informal way in which loose fabric is draped over a piece of furniture as protection  in hotels or country estates off season. ( I know, you can’t remember when the last time was that you throw a cover over your couch as you closed up the country home for winter…. just go with it.)

The Cape pieces have  moved beyond the slipcovers and tight-fitting, washable coverings seen at last year’s Milan furniture fair. Grcic’s mantle is much more free-flowing, casual but still tailored — less Snuggie-for-your-sofa than these pictures might imply. It’s available in different colors and weights so customers can change looks over the years or even change textures with the seasons. It also allows for an instant update as an interior changes.

 I am thinking a subtle houndstooth; maybe a fine wool sateen???

Noted for its adaptability to a commercial or residential setting as well as its dual-function as room divider and acoustic barrier, judges selected MOD SCREEN as the 2011 Ample Sample Design Challenge winner At first look,  I immediately saw this asa window covering hung from a vertical or panel track so its traverses . In addition, Mod Screen earned high marks for number of samples used and the use of zinc fasteners which make the screen totally recycleable at the end of its lifespan.

Mod Screen designer, Steven Rothe, Meyer Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd, Minneapolis, MN, takes home $500 cash in addition to having his design featured at NeoCon 2011. Congratulations !

The design story behind Mod-Screen is one of utter reuse, taking small strips from cut up or whole carpet tile samples and assembling them into a reticulated screen of any size. Too many times, carpet tile samples get cut down for presentation purposes and the remainder is thrown away, not being seen as useful. Mod-Screen seeks to change this by taking small strips of the high performance raw material, each of which is less than 3% of the sample, and transforming it into a space dividing screen with acoustical properties. By taking advantage of carpet tile’s tensile strength and linking it with zinc hardware fasteners, the entire screen is completely recyclable at the end of its lifespan. The proof-of-concept mockup, made from just over four carpet tile samples, is 36” wide by 30” high with the rendering showing six of these units together.