Beautiful Jewelry and Decorative Objects at De Vera

Irwin Weiner ASID - Last week I told you how I was early for a client appointment in lower Manhattan and took advantage of the extra time to go for a Soho neighborhood stroll, discovering some teriffic design stores. A cluster of posts on Design2Share have been devoted to telling you what I found during my pre-meeting walkabout - and my final post is on De Vera.

Federico de Vera designs jewelry. He collects art, religious artifacts, historic antiques, rare and curious oddities from all over the world - and they're found in NYC in two stores. I discovered his One Crosby Street location, but there's also one at 26 East 81 Street on the Upper East Side. It's difficult to describe any single object that I saw because, quite frankly, objects zoom in and out of the De Vera shops. Consider this the H&M of high-end decorative objects and one-of-a-kind jewelry. By all means, visit De Vera and enter Federico's fascinating world of collecting, designing, curating, and decoration.

 Click here to subscribe to our daily design videos and features.  

5 Favorite Vermilion Home Goods - Our Unusual Color of the Day

Irwin Weiner ASID - When we think of colors, we usually default to the primary, secondary, and possibly the tertiary hues. Think, however, of all the colors in the spectrum. Where would paint companies be without their exotic colors? They've made collections with over a hundred different variations on white alone! So imagine our delight when Merriam-Webster, the dictionary and reference company, came up with a feature on the definitions and origins of more unusual colors. Today's unusual color, courtesy of M-W, is vermilion. Here's what the dictionary experts have to say about it:

Color

Vivid reddish orange

About the Word

Spanish painter Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (who painted in the late 1700s and early 1800s) was so fond of this vibrant color – shown here in the woman's head scarf and the man's vest – that vermilion also became known as goya.

The word vermilion traces to the Late Latin vermiculus, meaning "kermes." Kermes are the dried bodies of insects (of the genus Kermes) used to produce this ancient red dye.

Full Definition

: a strong red that is deeper than geranium, yellower and deeper than geranium red, and bluer and deeper than average cherry red

In celebration of vermilion, we've chosen five different home good objects that share a hint - or more - of this magical color. Click on each photo for more information.

Click to read more ...

5 Favorite 1940s Glamour Furnishings from Metropolis Modern

Irwin Weiner ASID - This is Hollywood Regency Glamour Week at Design2Share, and I can't help but focus on some of the amazing 1940s antiques that epitomize this chic decorating trend, courtesy of NYC's Metropolis Modern. Not every piece from the Forties carried regency domination; some, like the divine X-shaped black-and-white magazine rack from France (top photo), have startling modernist appeal - but glamourous, nonetheless. Click on each photo for more information, and visit the Metropolis Modern website to see other incredible, well curated collectibles.

  Click here to subscribe to our daily design videos and features. 

Use Offbeat Accessories to Add Storytelling to Your Decor

Irwin Weiner ASID - I think it's fun to go into someone's home and hear stories about bits and bobs and oddities found on a coffee table or proudly displayed in a hutch. Unusual accessories bring interest into a home, and it's delightful to be able to trot out their provenance or past use ... or tie a story of how you discovered the piece into your guests' remarks - "We were antiquing in Osaka two years ago and came across this little shop near the main temple ...." So bottom line: sprinkle some unusual items into your decor; but leaven them in selectively as you don't want your home to come across as Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe. I've chosen a few oddities from 1st Dibs (always loaded with quirky, fun items), and you can click on each photo to learn more information about each piece.

Toy collectibles make the world go round ....

Can't go wrong with anything combining pheasants, wheat sheafs, and gargoyles ....

Not necessarily just for the birds ....

Beam me up, Scottie ....

Yes, I'm a garden gnome lover ....

Here, fishy, fishy ....

 

Click to read more ...