Modern Furniture Design with Fashion Vision from STUA

Irwin Weiner ASID - I was very taken by STUA's founder Jesus Gasca and the story he relates about his mother working for Balenciaga - "The most important element of the design is in the back." Hence, Gasca makes certain that the back of furniture items are importantly designed, particularly with chairs that are meant to be seen from all angles, as when dining or desk chairs are pushed in and viewed completely from the back.

I also like their unique take on design, being Scandinavian furniture with a Mediterranean twist, evoked by the company's headquarters in the Spanish resort town of San Sebastían. Today's video showcases STUA and Gasca's vision for the company, the thought that goes into individual furniture designs, his manufacturing process, and the all-important details that are part of successful design - part function, part beautiful sculpture. Click on each image for further product information.

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The Fashion of Furniture - Handmade, Tailored in Spain

Jay Johnson - Design2Share celebrates handmade goods all the time. Our message is simple: handmade products add warmth and humanity to any home. In our search for home goods counter to the machine-made bloc, we found a Spanish firm dedicated to bringing fashion and tailored design back to classic furnishings. La Tapisseria focus on made-by-hand processes, a love of classic antiques, a blending of interior design and fashion, and a respect and knowledge of antique upholstery and restoration.

Founders Abo and Rusinol started their business in 1992, launching the use of artisan upholstery, traditional techniques, and eco-friendly materials. Today's featured video shows off their making-of skills, and it's fascinating to see some of their own collection pieces built from the frame up.

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Exotic Hotel Therapy Is Good for the Designer's Soul

(Hotel Amiris, Marrakesh, Morocco)Janet Ramin - One of my main thrills in traveling abroad is the hotel experience. Sure, tasting new cuisines and meeting the natives is always exciting but I look forward to kicking off my dusty shoes and just relaxing at my lodgings too. First, there’s the small but important detail – the room is already clean and neat – you don’t have to deal with personal messes. Then there are the amenities that you may not have in your own home – the powerful jet spray in the shower or the spa toiletries on that dual sink marble vanity. And of course, there’s that menu near your phone – cocktails and midnight snacks ready to be ordered in a moment’s notice. 

Besides service amenities, you have the lifestyle aspect. You may live in a cramped city apartment but for a few days or so, you can experience life in a lakeside rustic cabin or a petite villa by the sea. Then there are the grand old palaces that some enterprising soul converted into hotel rooms – borrowed luxury to be remembered for a lifetime. I personally look forward to checking out the hotel designs, especially those in foreign countries.

(Courtyard, Riad Amiris, Marrakesh)My first stop on my trip was behind the walled medina of Marrakesh. I opted to stay at a traditional riad, instead of a regular hotel. Riads are converted courtyard palaces – the word “ryad” comes from the Arabic word for garden. These traditional Arabic homes featured small windows on its exterior – to keep the hot sun out – and inner courtyards to maintain Islamic beliefs of privacy. 

Above are two photos of the Riad Amiris in Marrakesh. The courtyard has an opening above – with a retractable canopy - to let the light in but still allow for privacy for its guests. The walls and doorways are decorated with traditional Moorish carvings of intricate geometric designs. The low tables are also set with the traditional tea glasses and silver, ready to serve mint or verveine tea - a verbena-infused tea. 

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Accent Walls - Home Decorating Thumbs Up or Down?

Irwin Weiner ASID - Whenever you get six interior designers in the same room, you're going to come up with six different approaches to decorating solutions - and widely varying opinions regarding what they consider good or bad. Accent walls - the painting or treatment of a single wall in a startlingly different treatment from the other walls and the ceiling - are controversial. Many respected designers shun the single-wall treatment as being an amateurish decorating shortcut. Click on this link for a House Beautiful article and slideshow on Colors Perfect for One Wall, and you'll read quotes from great designers who can't stand the technique, while at the same time showcasing others who like specific colors to pop a wall. You might also take a look at Maria Killam's lovely Colour Me Happy blog and her Do You Need an Accent Wall? Take This Test article.

Where do I fall? I find accent walls to be a page out of reality TV decorating shows. They're done to death, and oftentimes with disastrous results. Use a strong accent color on the wall behind a solid wall of built-in bookshelves; the shelving materials and accent pieces on the shelves (or books, for that matter!) tone down the "look at me, I'm an accent wall" effect. Apartment Therapy has a good idea with an article and photo illustration of Matching An Accent Wall with One Piece of Furniture, using the color to tie better into the design scheme of the room with the colors of upholstery and accessories. In the photo below, note how the lilac of the accent wall color is the base color for the rest of the walls and ceiling (just a paler version of the accent), unifying a small and symmetrical room. The heavy moldings around the accent wall and the focal-point fireplace also make the accent wall color a more obvious solution.

Elle Decor

Or treat an accent wall as art, as in the case of Spanish muralist Aurelio Cachafeiro (see top photo), and put up a professionally painted mural or unusual stone or wood treatment instead of choosing an oddball accent color and having one wall stick out for no reason. Today's featured video shows Cachafeiro and his work team in thrilling time-lapse photography installing an accent wall mural over a three-day period. Notice that the mural is on a curved look-at-me-I'm-different wall, which practically begs for special treatment.

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