Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Continuum Table



Jason Philips was born in 1983 and grew up in the furniture industry. From 2006 through 2008, Philips worked at The Philips Collection as Director of Product Development & Merchandising. The Philips Collection has won many awards for design and sustainability.

Now Jason Philips as Jason Philips Design has come up with this imaginative table, Continuum, reminiscent of the tree of knowledge from Avatar

Inspired by models of the space-time-continuum where 'spaghetti-like' structures orm an invisible network of folds of space and time in our universe.

Dimensions - 96x42x30"h







Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design gallery
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Saturday, December 26, 2009

Have you been to New Era's site?

New Era offers distinctive art for designers and has a special drawing that ends December 31st. (see below)
With over 65 artists and a highly experienced Creative Director, we react to style and color trends fast. We also release more new limited edition artwork than any other source. We can create custom images for your project quickly.
One of the first things you notice on the site is the revolutionary PANTONE color search engine. Search through thousands of images using the PANTONE Paints+Interiors color guide. Select the PANTONE colors you'd like to see in an image and click Search Colors. Now you can search for original art based on colors you have chosen.

They have a special drawing going on now. Register to win a Dean Jacobs original that has a $1,500 value.



Hope you win!

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design gallery
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Have you ever been chosen to be featured in a magazine?

ASID Group's Alice Krueser writes:

Art & Design Matters, a digital magazine, is seeking it's next Featured Designer at the DESIGNERS page and three other designers to feature at our HOME page at http://www.ArtandDesignMatters.com .

Designers who are interested must be included in our Directory of Interior Designers first. Here's how you get listed > Email your 1. digital logo (640 x 480); 2. your name, your company's name & website address; 3. a few SHORT lines of text that best describes you and your services; 4. and, the city (one, please) that you would like to be listed to info@ArtandDesignMatters.com . Once our editor has reviewed your submission, your listing will be uploaded to the directory. The winning designers will be announced in one of our upcoming digital publications with links directly to their websites. Be sure to SIGN UP to receive our periodic publications here >> http://bit.ly/SIGNUP . Submissions must be received by 12/31/09 to be considered as one of our next featured designers.

Designers who are listed at our directory are randomly chosen to be promoted within our publications that are published at our NEWS page.

Also, here's a free eBook if you would like to request a download about Gail Doby's 2009 Interior Designers Fee Schedule & Salary Survey Results .....it's a must read....filled with tons of information for your design business. Request Download here >> http://bit.ly/DSU_eBook

Good Luck!

Alice Krueser, Proprietor
Art & Design Matters
…..a complimentary online magazine
Sign Up to Receive Your Complimentary Copy of Art & Design Matters Here: http://bit.ly/SIGNUP
alice@ArtandDesignMatters.com
http://www.ArtandDesignMatters.com
713.816.7400
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http://www.twitter.com/AliceKrueser
Become our Facebook Page Fan >> http://bit.ly/

Monday, December 21, 2009

White Pumpkins

While this story is late for Halloween, it was interesting none the less.



Why not try decorating with white pumpkins? Kim Knox Beckius, writes in "Kim's New England Travel Blog" that decorating with these "white orbs are all the rage."

CBS News in White, The New Orange For Pumpkins writes "The albinos are called Ghost pumpkins, Snowballs, Luminas or Caspers — presumably a reference to the friendly ghost. And the ones about the size of a baseball? Baby Boos."

The white pumpkins are orange inside. They still can be used for pie, just the outside is different. They look great!

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design gallery
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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Jason Ball: Top 20 Designer For 2009

Each year, Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery in Portland, Oregon rewards the most loyal interior designers based upon their use of our various lines of furniture and accessories. We call the list our Top 20 Designers. We know there are many fine furniture stores in the area and we are grateful for the design community’s support.


This year’s top position goes to Jason Ball, owner of Jason Ball Interiors. Jason Ball was kind enough to sit down with me and share some thoughts about his business.


LF+DG: Jason how did you become a designer?

Jason: I think I’ve always been interested in design at some level. As a kid, I constantly rearranged my room and put up new posters. My room was just never right. I was working as a market researcher in 1999, when my wife, Julie and I bought a 91 year-old NE home. A previous owner tried to modernize it with thin baseboards, gray carpet and white walls, rendering it not very interesting or comfortable. We decided to restore/remodel the house in 2001. We brought back some of the period items of 1908 like wood floors, custom woodwork and period light fixtures, but modernized it as well. I fell in love with the restoration and remodel process and decided to take on remodeling as a sideline. Then in 2004, I was laid off and decided to devote all my time to my new interior design business. It’s amazing how my life changed when I was laid off.


LF+DG: What kind of training do you have?

Jason: I have a Masters in Experimental Psychology and I had business and marketing experience. The first thing I did in 2004 was to consume every design book and magazine I could find to see how the professionals do it. At this point in my design career, I have over 5 years of experience behind me. This on-the-job training, I feel, is the best kind of training anyone can have.


LF+DG: How do you decide on the look and colors.

Jason: When I first start working with a new client, we go through the discovery phase of the project. Clients may not know specifics, but they know what they like and don’t like. I often have them walk me through their house to show me the pieces of furniture or art that really speaks to them. We may go though magazines and I’ll ask them what they like. Through all of this, I’m taking mental notes on the styles, colors and materials clients are drawn to. Clients often say they want a particular style, but the things they point out may lead us in a different direction. Then the clients and I will visit hard surfaces, tile, lighting and furniture stores, where I will steer them toward a limited set of options based on our previous conversations.


LF+DG: Would an informed person walk into one of your finished projects and say this look is Jason Ball?

Jason: While I work with all styles, I would love it if someone came to me and said, design my house to be a “Jason Ball” house. I’m working on it. The look is a contemporary to modern. The look involves clean simple lines that are edited down. It’s traditional in its bones, but with a contemporary/modern flavor. I love how in European design magazines, they’ll take an old space with traditional details (moldings, plaster work, etc.) and mix it with really modern furniture and lighting. I want the rooms I design to have just a few pieces with huge impact. Each piece has to have meaning on it’s own, as well as contribute to the overall look. Right now I’m really into custom glass pieces and original artwork. I wish more homeowners would take the risk to buy original pieces and support local artists at the same time. In the recent Condos In The Pearl, I felt right at home in the Manhattan Condo in Block 90.

LF+DG: Many men like the clean, black and chrome modern look, but it can be cold. How do you remedy that?

Jason: You’re might, modern design is generally thought of as cold and sterile. But, I don’t think it has to be this way. Color, texture, natural materials can all be used in such a way that the look is modern, but the feeling of the room is one of warmth. For instance, why not bring some natural wood pieces in like a coffee table cut from a tree stump? That one piece would go a long way to adding warmth to a space.




LF+DG:
How do you know when you are done? How do you know when it’s good design?

Jason: I recently found and adopted Suzanne Trocme’s definition of good design as my design mantra. She’s a writer and journalist specializing in interior design, architecture, art, and fashion. She said, “Good design is movement that comes to rest.” For me, a project is done when everything is in its perfect place and changing anything more would ruin it.


LF+DG: You have been an early adopter of Social Media. Why?

Jason: I have a marketing background and think that this is the best way to stay in contact with people about my business. While I’m not the first in the design community to adopt social media, I’m learning quickly the importance of having my name out there. I currently manage a website, a blog Insight into Design, a Facebook page, and am working on getting my portfolio on Flickr. This new media gives me another way to interact with clients and potential clients that wasn’t around just a few years ago. However, I’m also a firm believer in traditional media. I regularly submit finished projects to the shelter magazines, because they are always looking for good content. I’ll be appearing soon in Oregon Home magazine.


LF+DG: I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us and thank you for shopping at Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery.


Bev & MIke

Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery

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Friday, December 11, 2009

Amy Wells: Set Decorator For Mad Men

Reprint of Amy Wells: Set Decorator For Mad Men at Home Accents Today:



Judging by the Emmy nominations, Americans are fascinated by the hit TV show Mad Men. In case you've been living in a cave the past few years, Mad Men is more than the early 60s on Madison Avenue. It's about the roles of men and women just 40-plus years ago. It's about double standards, smoking, and glass ceilings before we even invented the words.

Sherwin Williams' magazine Stir has an interview with Mad Men set decorator Amy Wells, who also has worked on Last of the Mohicans, There Will Be Blood and Sex and the City. The challenge has been to make the sets and the clothing as real as possible. Wells not only talks about how she uses color to achieve the feeling of the period, but what colors are associated with the lead characters.

The article is a good example, too, of how a writer needs to know his characters. For example Wells started with,
Who are Don and Betty Draper? What kind of taste do they have? Do they have enough money to buy the things they want?
From there she painted the walls oatmeal yellow in the Draper bedroom.
Then I added a vibrant blue period headboard for contrast. There are no primary colors; we’re not in that era yet. When I think of Don, I think of graphics and the color of his office — deeper blues, black. With Betty, I think of pastels.
Does Mad Men interest people because many of us lived through that era or is it because we find the writing and characters interesting? Both probably and it's fun to see how much things have changed since those years.

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design gallery
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Friday, December 04, 2009

The quest for quality

The quest for quality: "Three-fourths of home furnishings shoppers are looking for quality product. T..."

Dana French at FURNITURE Today writes
Three-fourths of home furnishings shoppers are looking for quality product. That’s one of the key findings from the more than 8,500 U.S. consumers responding to Furniture/Today and HGTV’s exclusive survey, The 2010 Consumer.Here’s what several home furnishings shoppers have to say about quality.


Hat tip Carrie Farmer's Blog