What’s up y’all, busy week—no Observer, very few auctions, so let’s get some chatter going on this slow pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday. Light it up with your furniture and design questions below, and I’ll answer them when I get back from the gym. Anything you wanna know.
Also, baking a pie if anyone has any recs. In the past I’ve made pecan and huckleberry.
Start w/ a big one// Need couch - required: sloppy american sunday lounge-able, 16.5 in seat height - everything else is low & visiting parents need seats (excludes most loves off the bat), leather preferred but not dealbreaker, 3 seat or modular, $10k or less (if auction, findable w/o euro shipping) - ohhh baby what we got?
I feel like w that price point you can do a Eames sofa, Nelson sling w the hard back... lots of new/licensed options. If it was me w that cash and needed it sooner rather than later, I'd rock something from Pamono, which has the best crap imo
there are a few Maralungas on there... but those are not the most most comfortable. There's this one:
Sonneman is the best deal in lighting to this day, serious POV, not very expensive. Consider uship or something similar and get something west of Chicago
Set up a monthly cash save kitty so you can counterpoint your theoretical bargain basement purchases with the occasional flourish/spend. This is how successful baseball teams ran themselves in the late 2000s. Over time, the gulf between the two items will disappear and you will find where you need to be
Hi There! Any thoughts on a twin bed frame that'd feel at home in a home office? I'm looking for alternatives to the Burrow, Thuma, West Elm sameness of social media adds.
A more general question I guess would be: how do we coax our loved ones into agreeing to bringing more adventurous and expensive design in our home?
though in my opinion the slicker move is getting a daybed. Italian design is full of them
And good luck. I've found it works best to start small—lamps, maybe a chair, doorknobs, spigots, etc. Go see design exhibits together, get books, leave old apartmentos laying around. Sort of takes a critical mass. Or just throw the hammer down honestly
Would love some recs on solid office/desk chairs, vintage or not. I remember my dad's - it was something from the late seventies (chrome base and arms with puffy, camel-colored leather cushions) that I can still see in my dreams.
Was that an Eames softpad? That and the Executive are among my favs. Obvious, but offices are better set and forgotten. AKRacing gaming chairs ... are also low-key good but haven;t had a good color in a while
That's the good stuff, back a decade ago there was no one putting Sottsass, hideous furniture, other stuff, etc. on display; I have 2 feelings on this:
1 the work they showcsse is the tip of the iceberg, and as many non-highlighted designers and artists are just as important. Prob chickenshit behavior to go through them for taste
2 I welcome the day when this stuff will be out of vogue again. It won't affect the work whatsoever
Is there a single piece of Eames/Herman Miller that is worth purchasing retail full price? For example, I love the coconut chair but have never seen it on LA.
Great question— there are a few, IMO. I think the wood stuff is decent and hasn't suffered the quality dropoff that the leather and plastic items have. The ESUs esp, the fiberglas chairs, the table (and most of the harsh office gear), and the elephant are all competent retail buys. There's something about the coco chair that just doesn't translate to repro, i think it's the materials
Anything Danish that precedes him I feel is the right move here, I'm partial to Moller, Poulsen... and on the other end you can go Shaker adjacent and just full wood. Nice thing about going Danish is that non-designer items are very high level
Another easy option is just to lean into full ubiquity, get Cesca chairs and appreciate how correct it is to be on a 20 lane highway w everyone else
Pie: I’m baking a salted maple pie from the Sister Pie cookbook. Grade B maple syrup and Maldon sea salt are the keys.
Thanks amigo. Might try this.. i stick to the Celtic salt as I'm 1/3 friend of the Irish
Not a design question but is there an alternative subscription method? I want to give you my money but I don’t want to use ApplePay.
Thank you, feel free to email me at sami.reiss@gmail.com and we can do an alt system — venmo, zelle, paypal, what have you
Hi Sami, I hope your pie(s) turned out great. I venmo’d you so please hook me up with full access. Email is mollyguenzer at yahoo. Thanks!!!!
Sister in-law came through with raw milk yesterday. Just sayin
need
Do you like cranberry sauce? I made too much and I'm leaving town in a few days
Just seeing this. Hit my line
I’m dying for a shoe fly pie
Wishing you all a seed oil free thanksgiving
Well said
Start w/ a big one// Need couch - required: sloppy american sunday lounge-able, 16.5 in seat height - everything else is low & visiting parents need seats (excludes most loves off the bat), leather preferred but not dealbreaker, 3 seat or modular, $10k or less (if auction, findable w/o euro shipping) - ohhh baby what we got?
I feel like w that price point you can do a Eames sofa, Nelson sling w the hard back... lots of new/licensed options. If it was me w that cash and needed it sooner rather than later, I'd rock something from Pamono, which has the best crap imo
there are a few Maralungas on there... but those are not the most most comfortable. There's this one:
https://www.pamono.com/mid-century-blue-veranda-sofa-by-vico-magistretti-for-cassina-1970s which I have... prob shouldnt be that much tbh
https://www.pamono.com/four-seater-leather-sofa-by-hans-eichenberger-for-straessle-switzerland this is fascinating but also a bit overpriced,
the move IMO is getting this Salotti
https://www.pamono.com/mid-century-modern-italian-modular-sofa-in-black-leather-by-doimo-salotti-1970s-set-of-6
and selling one of the pieces to make iup for some of it. lmk if that helps
We've got a honey lavender pie situation this year. the top is bruleéd and you finish with salt. tastes like baklava without the nuts.
Recs on an interesting but cheap-ish floor lamp? I'm in Denver and the secondhand scene is not what it was when I lived in Brooklyn
I will peep, thank you
Sonneman is the best deal in lighting to this day, serious POV, not very expensive. Consider uship or something similar and get something west of Chicago
Thanks so much, my man. Will do!
New flatware and set of Colombo-esque tall drinking glasses
Not a question, but thank you.
New flatware and set of Colombo-esque tall drinking glasses????
Castiglioni for Alessi is always a great purchase
Sferico number 2 or similar for cups?
if you could send a sleeper agent into ivy league design schools to initiaize self-actualization through black markets what would you tell them
Set up a monthly cash save kitty so you can counterpoint your theoretical bargain basement purchases with the occasional flourish/spend. This is how successful baseball teams ran themselves in the late 2000s. Over time, the gulf between the two items will disappear and you will find where you need to be
Suggestions for small ish storage boxes? Weirdly such a hard thing to find nice ones.
Those Snowpeaks aren't bad, thanks Tipton
I frankly like what's on the Uline site, politics aside... they are super without style. I say something there imo
Toyo makes good stackable ones. Their larger ones start to get more toolbox or suitcase -like.
https://www.toyosteel.jp/en/
Probably seen - and might not fit ‘smallish’ - but these won’t make you regret spending the $:
https://www.snowpeak.com/search?q=stacking+shelf+containr&type=product
If I see an old timey coca cola bottle in a thrift store is it defo designed by Loewy or are there different ones?
Non-zero chance, everything before '57 predates him. Those bottles are super fat/curvy. His design's a little slimmer
Hi There! Any thoughts on a twin bed frame that'd feel at home in a home office? I'm looking for alternatives to the Burrow, Thuma, West Elm sameness of social media adds.
A more general question I guess would be: how do we coax our loved ones into agreeing to bringing more adventurous and expensive design in our home?
I'll be honest, I really like Bed Bath & Beyond's Corinne frame - actually has a design POV.
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/Home-Garden/Corinne-Twin-size-White-Platform-Bed-Frame/13817699/product.html
though in my opinion the slicker move is getting a daybed. Italian design is full of them
And good luck. I've found it works best to start small—lamps, maybe a chair, doorknobs, spigots, etc. Go see design exhibits together, get books, leave old apartmentos laying around. Sort of takes a critical mass. Or just throw the hammer down honestly
Thanks Sami -- great insight! I look forward to reading more of your work.
Would love some recs on solid office/desk chairs, vintage or not. I remember my dad's - it was something from the late seventies (chrome base and arms with puffy, camel-colored leather cushions) that I can still see in my dreams.
Was that an Eames softpad? That and the Executive are among my favs. Obvious, but offices are better set and forgotten. AKRacing gaming chairs ... are also low-key good but haven;t had a good color in a while
Lighting—can we do better than Akari, or is anything else overthinking it?
Yeah man. That's the floor. Flos (esp by Castiglioni) has some designs that are similar to Akari but less wishy washy
is 'collectible design' washed, or just getting started? was it fake all along?
What's that? I'm not familiar w the term
But I don't think anything in design is washed, no one has good furniture, no stores sell it, we're in the straight up dark ages
i guess i'm referring to the types of work sold by places like r+company, friedman benda, etc
Oh. Great question, thank you.
That's the good stuff, back a decade ago there was no one putting Sottsass, hideous furniture, other stuff, etc. on display; I have 2 feelings on this:
1 the work they showcsse is the tip of the iceberg, and as many non-highlighted designers and artists are just as important. Prob chickenshit behavior to go through them for taste
2 I welcome the day when this stuff will be out of vogue again. It won't affect the work whatsoever
agreed on both points, ty for your thoughts
Is there a single piece of Eames/Herman Miller that is worth purchasing retail full price? For example, I love the coconut chair but have never seen it on LA.
Great question— there are a few, IMO. I think the wood stuff is decent and hasn't suffered the quality dropoff that the leather and plastic items have. The ESUs esp, the fiberglas chairs, the table (and most of the harsh office gear), and the elephant are all competent retail buys. There's something about the coco chair that just doesn't translate to repro, i think it's the materials
There's a vintage Coconut chair at Billings in LA, also on LA, right now!
Hey Sami, looking for a set of Lubke Circo chairs…if you happen to know of an under-market listing. Cheers!
Great choice! I'll probably find a piece of the true cross before I find that, but if I do, I'll holler
Thoughts on dining chairs in the Wegner-sphere that are not quite so ubiquitous?
Anything Danish that precedes him I feel is the right move here, I'm partial to Moller, Poulsen... and on the other end you can go Shaker adjacent and just full wood. Nice thing about going Danish is that non-designer items are very high level
Another easy option is just to lean into full ubiquity, get Cesca chairs and appreciate how correct it is to be on a 20 lane highway w everyone else
Cool orthopedic stairs for my aging and beautiful senior dog to get up and down from the couch????? (None, impossible)
Maybe tape a bunch of skateboards together, or stack them on top of each other