Cool Stuff: Assorted CB2 Goodies

Photo by Ed U. (sorry -- I was lame and forgot my camera)

I stopped in yesterday to check out the new CB2 outpost in San Francisco, and wound up walking out with a few inexpensive goodies, plus one new possibility for the couch wish list:

Ada Porcelain Hanging Vase, $7. Great idea, and a row of these filled with cheerful blooms from the supermarket would be lovely in a kitchen.

Ibiza Glasses, $4 each. Like Moroccan tea glasses, but with a modern edge.

Morocco Dinnerware, $5 to $13 per piece

Resin Ring Holder, $8. Yes, I'm a sucker for anything with a branch motif.

Oha Placemat, $4. I am totally going to open up one seam on this, stuff in a lumbar pillow insert, close the seam back up, and be all smug about how clever and cheap that was.

Slipcovered Movie Sofa, $1,199. I love that this is so deep -- 40 full inches -- because I work from my couch and want something that I can basically live (and take the occasional afternoon siesta) on. I just wish the back was a little higher and the slipcover didn't hide the cute midcentury-style legs.

By the way, if you're curious, I'd say that in person, the quality and looks of CB2's items were reasonably good. Probably on par with West Elm, and better than lots of IKEA stuff -- which looks pretty decent in the catalog, but more often than not you realize is crap when you get to the store (or, worse, get it home).

Still, let's not fool ourselves into thinking that most of CB2's goods are anything other than "disposable decor." Sometimes there's a place for that, though -- especially at these prices. Don't you think?

Cool Stuff: Industrial Chic from CB2

I'm finding myself more and more drawn to items with a rough, industrial vibe these days -- whether they're vintage workshop finds with the wonderfully battered patina that can only come from being well-used, or new furnishings that take their inspiration from the factory floors and shop classes of days gone by.

I love to picture a brick-walled converted loft accented with pieces that allude to its previous life, or a spare, serene, and quietly feminine farmhouse with just a few notes of masculine industriousness injecting a bit of aesthetic tension.

So while I was flipping through the latest CB2 catalog last night, my eyes immediately lit upon these new items from Crate & Barrel's hipster younger sibling. Clockwise from top left: Wire and rattan Contour Baskets, $60 and $80; steel Industry Pendant Lamp, $199; Track Brass Wall Strips, $129 for three; chromed-steel Mantis Floor Lamp, $119; welded-iron Spool Coffee Table, $449; and wood and steel Alchemy Stool, $129.

(Hint: If you crave the real thing, trying running a search for "vintage industrial" on trusty old eBay.)

Trendspotting: Modern Needlecraft

I'm seeing more and more knitting, crochet, and macramé utilized in home-decor products lately. But these aren't your grandmother's tissue cosies -- while still undoubtedly feminine and ornamental, the traditional needlecraft techniques are more likely to be applied in graphic ways to utilitarian materials and furnishings, giving the finished product a sense of freshness and humor that their matronly predecessors lacked.

In addition to the macraméd chairs, knitted pillows, and crocheted light fixtures, hanging pendants, and pottery (top) that I've recently blogged here, several more industrial-meets-handicraft furnishings have caught my attention in recent weeks:

The Macramé Lamp from Sweden's Pernilla Jansson is an art piece rather than a retail product. Still, I want one.

This Macramé Hanging Shade, $168 from Anthropologie, is more "Granny Chic" than industrial, but has a somewhat modern sensibility thanks to the simple drum shape and all-white palette.

These petite Crochet Tables, $50 each from CB2, are rendered in iron and wire, making them both delicate and tough.

Marcel Wanders' Crochet Table for Moooi, $1,448 from UnicaHome, is made from cotton and hardened with epoxy.

Check out the gigantic needles Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma uses to knit her Flocks Poufs, $800 and $1,600 each at Design Within Reach.

I think it's nice to see handicrafts coming back into vogue, even among die-hard modernists. What examples have you spotted lately, and what do you think is behind this melding of traditional needlecraft and modern design?

Good Reads: Trends That Are "So Over"

All photos by Raeanne Giovanni-Inoue for The New York Times

There's an interesting piece in today's New York Times on the big decorating trends of 2007 that are due for demise -- at least according to prominent designers like David Netto and Celerie Kemble, tastemaking editors like Domino's Deborah Needleman and Metropolitan Home's Donna Warner, and the doyenne of design bloggers herself, design*sponge's Grace Bonney.

One of the most intriguing reasons given for certain trends playing themselves out is the so-called "democratization of design." With the proliferation of companies such as CB2, West Elm, and even Design Within Reach interpreting high-end modern design for the masses -- and so many design bloggers out there writing about them -- these designs are destined to lose their exclusive cache.

Though the statement comes off sounding pretty snooty (I mean, if just anyone can be savvy to -- and possibly even afford -- things like baroque mirrors and geometric rugs, then of course those things are no longer desirable), the author does have a point. When we all see the same thing over and over again, of course we're bound to grow weary of it -- no matter how fresh the concept may have seemed at first. Even good ideas, like eco-friendly products, eventually inspire design fatigue when everyone jumps on the bandwagon, writer Penelope Green asserts.

Among the decorating fads on their way out?

Antlers

David Hicks-influenced design (that means you, Jonathan Adler)

Suzanis

Cowhide rugs

Flatscreens over the fireplace

Ironic takes on "Hunting Lodge Chic"

Over-the-top Baroque Modern and Hollywood Regency style

"Green" products like bamboo sheets

Check out Ms. Green's article right here -- then tell me what you think: Do all of these trends deserve to be relegated to the design dustbin? Are design blogs and the burgeoning interest in design among the hoi polloi (that would be me and you, people) causing trends to cycle in and out ever faster?

Post a comment and let me know.

eBay Find of the Day: Donut Phone

'Seventies-era Western Electric Sculptura telephones (aka "Donut" phones) are popping up all over the place lately:

In the new CB2 catalog ...

... in actress Ione Skye's David Netto-designed bedroom, featured in Domino ...

... in the latest "Trendy Objects Drinking Game" on Hatch ...

... and, of course, on eBay. The model pictured at top, in cheery of-the-moment yellow, is in good working order and has a handy touch-tone pad. (Rotary dialing, after all, is just so onerous.)

Current bid: $22. Hurry -- the auction ends Monday night.

Cool Stuff: Pimp My Cubicle, Part 2

Because See Jane Work isn’t the only company out there that has some seriously fun, affordable office style on the agenda:

Ora-Ito's The Hub, above, lets you plug in up to six USB and FireWire devices at once and also has a fan, a light, and an AC adapter. $90 at A+R.

Top left: CB2 Open Storage Boxes, $20 each; top right: West Elm Trellis Print Storage Boxes, $24 and $34; bottom: Container Store Library Desktop Files, $26 each.

Left: Binth Notepad, $16; right: Russell + Hazel Pattern Binders, $24 each.

Top left: Target File Folders, $16 for nine; top right: Cavallini File Folders, $15 for 12; bottom: Spiro File Folders, $5.50 for six at The Container Store.

Left and center: Kassett Magazine Files, $4 each; right: Lingo Magazine Files, $4 for five, all at IKEA.


Left: Russell + Hazel Butterfly Clips, $20 for two; center: Karim Rashid Micro Garbini Cans, $3 each; right: Crate & Barrel Memo Clips, $5.50 each.

Left: Snille Chair, $20; right: Skruvsta Chair, $139, both from IKEA.

Top left: Jagga Writing/Magnetic Board, $25 from IKEA; top right: Blu Dot 3D In/Out Box, $29; bottom: Bin Bin Wastebasket, $50, at Velocity Art + Design.

Left: CB2 Titanium-Finish Trig File Cabinet, $149; center and right: Expedit Bookcase, $179, and Helmer Drawer Unit, $40, both from IKEA.

OK, seriously, people -- back to work now.