Photo: Laura Resen
From flouncy skirted slipcovers to sleek shapes and calm neutrals -- see this month’s Veranda magazine for Frances Schultz's story on this 1926 French-style home in Houston’s Museum District.
The Eames Lounge and Ottoman, shown in white ash. Photo: Laura Resen
The February issue of Dwell magazine (on newsstands now) features two products available at DWR. The Vitra Toolbox was selected by editor Kelsey Keith as a great way to help organize work spaces in Say Yes to the Desk, while the Hot Stuff column themed around the Danish concept of hygge – "a sense of warmth that pervades even the sleekest modern household" – includes our colorful Dot Cushions by Hay.
So who does have the best seat in the house? According to Monica Khemsurov for the December/January issue of Details magazine, it belongs to whoever is sitting in one of DWR’s favorites; the Eames Lounge and Ottoman.
Dear Readers,
Happy modern new year and welcome to 2013! I want to personally thank you for your support last year. It was the best in DWR’s history. This company was founded by and for people who are passionate about design, and your dedication and loyalty to authentic modern is why we continue to thrive.
This month, we continue to bring you more new future icons than ever before: Roll & Hill lighting, Muuto, the Herman Miller® Collection, Lampes Gras, bedding, rugs and a fabulous new table from Brad Ascalon. Many are exclusive to DWR; all are authentic modern.
Revel in our luxurious new catalog, and please dig in to our new iPad App to get the stories behind the stories. We are charged up and ready to explore the world all over again in 2013 to satisfy our faithful fans. Our new Costa Mesa Studio is now open, and later this month we’ll debut new spaces in Miami and SoHo.
We appreciate you more than you can know!
Happy new year.
John Edelman
President and CEO
1. Kaleido Trays - They're perfect for my mom, and make a fun, festive pop for a holiday party.
2. Eames Elephant (in pink, of course) – This is such a memorable gift for my best friend to give her new baby girl. How gorgeous would this be in the new nursery?
3. Girard Wooden Dolls – I would give this to myself so I could display the whole collection on my mantle.
4. Merino Wool Throw – My sister would fall in love with this blanket. I love the neon trend; the perfect blanket with amazing color and contrast.
5. Eames Wire Base Low Table – My dad would really like this as a side table next to his favorite lounge chair.
Today is your last chance to save 15% on the Eames® Lounge Chair, which will be handcrafted to pithy piano music by a man wearing all white, alongside a magically appearing ottoman, as this 1956 video shows. Okay, maybe not. But you will receive it within two weeks, like all DWR in-stock items. Shop the entire Herman Miller Sale until midnight tonight.
Been noodling the purchase of a new task chair? The design that ushered in a new era of ergonomics, Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf’s 1994 Aeron® Chair, is on sale now. Work perches like the Setu, Sayl® and Eames® Management are also included in the sale, ensuring you’ll find a home or office desk chair or conference chair to suit your unique needs. Through Monday, during the Herman Miller Sale, save 15%, enjoy free shipping – and get to work.
The above chair – recently introduced in a lightly padded, upholstered version – would likely not exist if it wasn’t for Charles and Ray Eames’ flagrant disregard for landlords. The famous LCW was an eventual evolution of experiments the couple did in their first apartment as newlyweds. Their first place (which happened to be designed to Richard Neutra) was on Strathmore Avenue in Westwood, a suburb of Los Angeles. They took the liberty of turning it into a workshop.
“When we launched BassamFellows in 2003, our whole thing was oiled teak and oxidized brass, but we were surrounded by bright plastics,” Craig Bassam told design writer Mandi Keighran last February. “We were this odd thing, this very natural thing. Craft wasn’t a word used much back then.”
Le Corbusier and one of his assistants working under the light of a Lampe Gras, 1959
We are so excited to present the iconic Lampes Gras Collection, a DWR exclusive.
This is not a lamp designed to satisfy the ego of a designer. Rather, it is the product of Bernard-Albin Gras’ passion to improve working conditions for hundreds of laborers in ordinary machine shops, research laboratories and design studios in the 1920s. His success in creating a beautiful form by reducing a lamp to its pure function made Lampe Gras an emblem of modern design in the early 20th century.
Continue reading "Form follows function – and a fabulous story. " »
Alan Heller knows design innovation, and his collaborations with Frank Gehry, Massimo Vignelli and Mario Bellini have resulted in some of the most recognizable chairs and accessories. With his patented ErgoErgo, he has created a benefit-rich seating solution for the modern-minded. More stable than an exercise ball, ErgoErgo allows you to rock gently in any direction (building strength and flexibility in the process) but it doesn’t deflate, roll away or collect detritus like hair or dust off the floor. Studies have shown that making small movements while seated will stimulate circulation, send oxygen to the brain and improve concentration, all of which make the ErgoErgo a win-win.
P.S. I wrote this post while sitting on an ErgoErgo. It rocks! (no pun intended)
Happy 10th anniversary to the Louis Ghost Chair designed by Philippe Starck in 2002. To celebrate this postmodern triumph of technical innovation and historical style, we're having a Ghost Anniversary Sale. Save 10% for 10 days: October 22–31.
The Chieftains Chair by Finn Juhl has received the Danish Design Award in the Classics category for 2012. Designed in 1949, the chair is produced by OneCollection, who accepted this prestigious award at last week's ceremony held at the Danish Design Center in Copenhagen.
The founders of Onecollection, Henrik Sørensen and Ivan Hansen at the award ceremony.
With distinctive shapes inspired by primitive weaponry and a seat that appears suspended above the frame, the sculptural form of the Chieftains Chair changed the future of Danish design. Finn Juhl created the chair for the 1949 Cabinetmakers’ Guild in Copenhagen.
Continue reading "And the Danish Design Award goes to ..." »
Dear Readers,
Happy September! Summer is over, school has begun, and at DWR we’re focused on dining and entertaining.
We’ve launched so many products over the past two years that this catalog is like a refresher course on design. From chairs by Philippe Starck, Møller, BassamFellows and Gubi, to our Mapp Dining Table, the Cross Extension Table and the classic Saarinen Pedestal, we have more choices to suit your modern needs than anyone in our industry – many of which are exclusive and in stock.
We build our catalog with you in mind and plan our photo shoots to demonstrate the many ways you can live with our products. Modern is not cold. Modern is not stark (even when designed by Philippe Starck). Modern is timeless. Visit your local DWR Studio and let us design your home with a 3-D rendering, or request an in-home visit and we’ll help you learn what goes with what. Our passion for design shows on every page of this “back to school education in design.”
Enjoy it, and thank you for believing.
Our Sapien Bookcase made the pages of this week's Times, as a featured item in "Must Haves for the Micro Pad" by Jesse McKinley.
Do you have any small-space tips to share? Drop us a comment and share your big ideas for thinking small.
"More than ten years in the making, the designer's new chair pushes Emeco—a manufacturer long famous for its iconic aluminum furniture—in a whole new direction." That's how Marc Kristal begins his piece about the Broom Chair in Metropolis magazine.
Made of a new eco-friendly material, the Broom Chair is available for preorder at Design Within Reach and these chairs will ship in late July. Keep reading Kristal's article to hear the whole story, or place your order on dwr.com. The Broom Chair can be seen at Dwell on Design this week in Los Angeles, and you can take it for a test-drive at our Beverly Boulevard, Pasadena and Santa Monica Studios.
On your to-do list for 57 years...
Designed in 1956, and still the most-coveted lounge chair today, the Eames Lounge and Ottoman is on sale (+ free standard shipping) through Monday, June 11. Shop the Herman Miller Sale at DWR.
Designed by Charles and Ray Eames, this collection is on sale through Monday, June 11.
Charles and Ray Eames believed that “design is a method of action,” and continually updated their work as new materials became available. Their molded plastic chairs were originally designed in metal, and entered as a prototype in MoMA’s 1948 International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design. They then changed the material to fiberglass in 1950, and today the chairs are made of recyclable polypropylene.
“The chair that Charles and Ray were designing,” explains grandson Eames Demetrios, “is the chair that’s made tomorrow.”
Elena Gasca, CEO of Stua, talks about this family-run company founded by her father 25 years ago. In addition to hearing what makes something "very Stua" and why this company has always focused on reaching an international audience, you'll also be treated to beautiful photographs taken at the Guggenheim and other iconic settings in New York City. Design Within Reach is proud to be the exclusive retailer of Stua products in the U.S.
