Video: Jack Lenor Larsen, Fabric Designer

Irwin Weiner ASID - Elle Decor magazine recently featured short quotations from fabric design icon Jack Lenor Larsen, and it became immediatley apparent why this creative man became so successful. For those not entrenched in the interior design industry, his signature Larsen Fabrics company is now owned by Colefax and Fowler. Here are a few of his gems of wisdom, which I find very inspiring.

Sparrows build their nests to suit. Homes should be like birdhouses: Build them out as needs arise.

A common problem is that someone will have a blue rug and a blue sofa, and the two shades don't go together. What do you do about it? I would buy five more shades of blue, in pillows and other things. Pretty soon you'll have a color symphony.

If you want a color contrast, do it in small quantities. Take risks, but ones that can be changed.

It's more important to reinforce one's identity than to worry about taste. You won't learn taste until you've made some mistakes. Be courageous. Experiment. It's much more fun.

Click on the Jack Larsen link above to see the Elle Decor article, and enjoy today's featured video, an earlier "Handmade in America" interview, to learn more about his process.

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Whirlpool's Fireplace Tabletop Cooking Concept Makes Perfect Sense

Irwin Weiner ASID - This new futuristic appliance concept is brilliant, and I wholeheartedly support what Whirlpool would like to create around its new Fireplace product. A table that functions as a cooking, warming, and chilling surface in the center is below a smart light-hood combination that controls the air and humidity. You can bring any meal to the table and gather everyone around for conversation. At a party, drinks stay chilled or tea and coffee stays piping hot.

Click here for more information on Fireplace, and enjoy the concept video. This is a product that's been shown around the world for the past two years, and has now been introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show. It would be a gas to have one in our house, if Whirlpool ever decides to move beyond their futuristic concept and hit the production button. This is exactly the way contemporary families eat and entertain.

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January Is Traditionally the Month to Refresh Your Towels

Irwin Weiner ASID - There are still January White Sales, with bedding and bath linens going on sale during the month, but it's not such an obsession any more with homeowners. I kind of, sort of wish it were, and I'm speaking for myself and my family, too ... in a wistful kind of way. It was nice to have an annual "trigger" or prompt to get us to change out something in our homes.

Fresh bedding and bath towels are a great way to add a necessary jolt to a bedroom and bath - but today, I'm obsessed with bath towels! Here are some of my favorites, and perhaps this post will prod me into action this year. Replace some fading, fraying towels with fresh ones. Click on each photo for more product information.

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Video: 3D Graphics and Lighting Rock the Architecture of This Old House

Irwin Weiner ASID - Graphics entrepreneur Luca Agnani created a digital light show that brought to life the inner architecture of an older Italianate apartment building through his programmed 3D mapping of the structure and its details. His digital lighting, choreographed to music, highlighted the architecture of the building, its predictable blocks of windows, flat facade, and arched doorway - but his architectural video mapping turned the building into a playful fantasy, with features lighting up, morphing, turning, exploding, and otherwise creating quite a spectacle. Enjoy!

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