Bold And Beautiful

I've talked before about how I love the way fashion and interiors seem to intermingle and it seems this is happening even more now than ever before. 

Missioni are on the whole predominately known for their gorgeous clobber but they also do a mean line in interiors too. 

From rugs and cushions to china and towels, they've covered it all. 

But I didn't know about their furniture until I stumbled across American website Unica Home. 

Missoni Home's collection of seating ranges from exquisite loungers and comfy armchairs to this piece of design genius. 

I love everything about this chair. I love the shape. I love the colour of the wood. And I adore the bold print fabric. 

Ok, so now we've established I love it, I'm off to buy it (well, in my dreams anyway...) 

Every Cloud And All That

Although this chair is more silver covering than silver lining. 

But still, however tenuous my headline for this posting might be, it seemed more than appropriate for this gorgeous chair. 

Brissi, is a great interiors website, one that stocks beautiful and simple homes accessories and furniture. 

Sometimes in life, the simplest things are the most beautiful and this chair is no exception. It would be perfect for a bedroom, perhaps a hallway or if you were feeling particularly decadent as elegant dining tables round a simple table. 

Degisn Maestro

Anyone who follows architecture or any aspect of design, will have heard of  Le Corbusier - he was one of the most important players in the world of modern architecture. 

To celebrate his work, the Barbican have put together an exhibiton, Le Corbusier - The Art of Artchitecture. Which, I can't wait to see and promises to be a real treat with talks, events and imagery of this amazing man's achievements. 

Of course, he also designed a chair or two as well! In fact, it seems everyone who's anyone in the design world, has at some point designed a chair.

I love this LC1 chair (design is now under license by Cassina) and short of being able to afford one of his buildings, I'll settle for this chair to add to my ever growing museum of design classics. 

New Find

I blogged the other day about how Twitter is exposing me to American interiors blogs and so opening up a whole new collection of shops and websites. 

In fact I'm seriously considering cashing my pounds for dollars (although the exchange rate isn't exactly great at the moment) and heading for the states to stock up on gorgeous homewares. 

The newest one I've discovered is Brocade Home. 

Their furniture is simply beautiful and I particularly adore this pretty, cut work chair which is also available in white. 

Vintage Vibe

It's no secret I adore vintage furniture. While I can appreciate modern designs and embrace new designers, it's vintage furniture that really gets me excited. 

There's something mystical about vintage finds. It's not just the fact they've survived the years (especially in a time when things are bought and thrown away without a second thought) but I love imaging who owned it, where it came from and what it was used for. 

Take this gorgeous desk chair from H is for Home for instance. Was it a writer who owned it or perhaps it sat at a lady's desk used for RSVPing to fabulous parties. 

I've been thinking a lot about desk chairs recently, which is odd seeing though I don't have a desk, but working from home for me at the moment means sitting on the sofa or leaning on the dining room table. 

Neither are ideal and I'm sure I'd be much more productive if I had one of these...

Wonderful Wood

Isn't the simplest things if life that often provide the most beauty and pleasure? 

Take these chairs for instance. Stunning as they are, they're no amazing design feat and they're not going to challenge you in the way some furniture can. But I adore them. 

They're by Bryce & Kerry Moore for Context Furniture and I love their use of different shades of wood and their thoroughly modern seats and backs complimented by the turned wood legs. 

Wouldn't they work beautifully with a chunky, battered old table for the perfect dining room set? 

Gently Rocking

I think I'm becoming slightly obsessed with rocking chairs. 

It seems, I just can't get enough of sleek chairs on rockers and after the RAR chair by Charles & Ray Eames and Reno Bonzon's Gaivota design, now I've found this little gem by Blu Dot, an American design company which is fast becoming a favourite of mine. 

I love the way the wood has been moulded to look like fabric and how it appears to gently drape. 

This post is a bit exciting for me because it's the 60th one since I started back in October 08, I love blogging about chairs even more than I did when I started and I can't wait to write my 120th post...

Winging It

Tom Dixon is without a doubt one of our most prolific and important designers. After all, you would kinda have to be to be given the role of Head of Design at Habitat. 

So I decided it was high time, on this decidedly frosty Saturday morning, to feature one his creations. 

This is the Wingback Chair and I adore everything about it. 

Firstly, I love its shape, so dramatic and curvaceous, then I love its colour. I would usually steer clear of black furniture but you can't really imagine this theatrical chair in any other shade and lastly I love the fact that it looks so comfortable. 

It looks like it would swallow you up, not a bad thing when the temperature outside continues to drop. 

Miss Potter?

Not entirely sure Terence Conran for Content by Conran had Beatrix Potter in mind when he designed and named this chair as I fancy she would have preferred something a little more floral. 

I, on the other hand, love this Beatrix chair and everything about it. 

I love the shape (comfy enough but still with a design edge), I love the colour (most unlike me - I usually wouldn't have anything other than cream or dark brown leather) and I love its little spiky legs. 

I have to admit, when I first started this blog back in October 08, I worried I would struggle to find new chairs I liked. In fact, a few people even asked me if "I'd run out of chairs?" 

The answer is no. In fact a resounding no, because as fast as I can write about them, there are designers dreaming new ones up and long may it continue. 

Just What The Doctor Ordered

I could really do with this chair at the moment. 

I'm in the middle of having my entire flat decorated, which has meant by day I tiptoe round the painters, trying (and failing miserably) to not get paint on my clothes and by night, me and the boyfriend re-shift all our stuff from room to room. 

You'd think it would be cosy sitting in one room all day but it's not - when I think of cosy I think of a chair like this. 

The Lansdowne by Terence Woodgate at SCP is possibly one of the comfiest chairs around. 

Observe (now I sound like David Attenborough) but anyway, look at how the arms would positively hug you and it's deep seat and button back only add to it's beauty. 

I think it's an all round winner so it's definitely going on the wish list/book...

Call It A Day

It's been a while since my last post. It's not been out of sheer laziness but more that I tripped and  dropped my laptop last Wednesday and the screen went blank. 

Panic set in, my Mum called and said she was glad I hadn't fell over (I know that's a Mum thing to say but personally, I wished it had been me that had landed with a thud rather than my brand new, beautiful machine) and try as I might it just wouldn't work. 

Anyway, it's back in action and so am I. It made me think though how reliant we are on technology and machines.

 Accessing email was a problem (no one talks on the phone anymore - so I was effectively cut off from the world) I couldn't have the access I wanted to Twitter or Facebook and most importantly couldn't check Gorkana (despite the lack of jobs - I like to regularly log on to the site - I think it's probably some weird kind of self-imposed torture! 

Sorry, clearly off on a bit of a tangent there. So here's the first chair for a week:

I thought long and hard about what my comeback chair would be; something large and traditional, something quirky, something bright or something serene. 

In the end, I plumped for something classic. 

Day Birger et Mikkelsen are best known for their fashion but they actually produce a great range of simple, classic homewares. 

I love this Woven Leather Camp chair. It's so simple in its design and but really, really beautiful. 

However, I think it's way too nice for camping (I definitely wouldn't risk it at Glastonbury) perhaps I could take it Glamping...

Family Heirloom?

I'm sure we had one these chairs in the family home when I was growing up. I distinctly remember it sitting in the dining room, ready to accommodate unexpected guests. 

Thing is I don't know where it is now. Probably another casualty of my parents downsizing from a large Edwardian terrace house in London to a beautiful (but considerably smaller) Georgian cottage in Wiltshire. 

But I always loved this chair, so was really pleased to find out what it actually was. 

It's the 14 chair by  Thonet (available at SCP) and is made from bentwood, which was created by using steam to bend the wood. That was back in 1830 and since then has become a design classic. 

Annoyingly it would look rather good in MY dining room, so I'm off to call the parents to find out where on earth it is...

New Launch

I recently attended the PS Ikea launch which threw up some amazing finds. 

We all know Ikea is a trusted and much loved store (and you get to eat meatballs too!) but if you actually think about the design of their products, functionality is usually key. 

Sturdy bookcases, colourful, plastic moulded CD storage boxes and the student and first-time buyer staple, the Klippan sofa. 

So, it's always exciting to see they haven't lost their mojo when it comes to designing cutting edge and thought provoking pieces. 

Take this Slingra chair, at first glance, it wouldn't look out of place at Tent or 100% Design. It's elegant sweeping armrests, use of colour and texture and you have a statement piece on your hands. 

Much is written about mass produced furniture, usually with the design glitterati adding a condescending sneer but not everyone can afford designer furniture. 

That doesn't mean they don't know about style, that doesn't mean they don't want their homes to be just as beautiful. 

So for all its huge queues, sometimes unfathomable layout and screaming kids (my tip: never, ever visit Ikea on a Sunday) it seems Ikea has got it right. 

Affordable, stylish furniture that your average Joe can afford to bring into their homes. 

That definitely gets the thumbs up from me.