The Sculptural and Metal Furniture of Paul Evans!

We admit it: the first time we ever came across a Paul Evans piece we were less than impressed. It was one of his dining tables, and the base was a loud, wild mix of crazy metal shapes and metallic colors. It wasn’t our particular cup of tea. But, one of the perks of writing for the lovely Swank Lighting blog is getting to experience a number of design styles, and we started noticing that we were falling in love with one particular line from a designer called “Cityscapes.” Imagine our surprise when we realized the designer of our favorite “Cityscapes” line was the same as the wild metal base dining table! That example just goes to illustrate the across-the-board talent Paul Evans possesses.

Though the pieces designed by Evans in his long career come in lots of different shapes, colors and styles, two of the elements that tie all of his work together are his use of metal and his great sculptural style. All of his work is quite functional, but also always works as amazing sculptural art, as well. From dining tables, to coffee tables, to bookshelves, credenzas, lighting and even chairs, all of Evans’ work is both unique and recognizable.

Originally from Newton, Pennsylvania, Evans attended many schools during the 1950s, racking up all kinds of knowledge and experience, like the Philadelphia Textile Institute, the Rochester Institute of Technology the School for American Craftsmen and even Cranbrook Academy of Art. His career began at that same time with him creating copper chests, but he soon moved on to making cabinets with sculpted steel fronts. His work at this time was certainly noticed by design lovers, and he even had a show in 1961 at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York (known as the Museum of Contemporary Crafts at the time). His big break came in 1964 when he was invited to become the lead designer for popular furniture manufacturer Directional Furniture. This led to a long and fruitful career of furniture making, eventually going on to produce several popular furniture lines like his Argente line, Sculpted Bronze line and his most famous (and our favorite) Cityscape line of furniture and accessories.

Though Evans is known and revered for his furniture designs, he was also known as a fan of handmade art and furniture, and he took it on as his mission to ensure that every piece created at Directional Furniture was made by hand and supervised by the artist at each step of the process. This dedication to uniqueness, quality and handicraft was ahead of its time, and has really become the model for the limited edition art furniture that you see popular in certain circles of today. Making Evans pieces even more valuable is that he strove to sign and date each one of his furniture creations. Evans’ furniture might not be your tastes at first glance (remember, he designed through the 1980s) but give his work a shot—we think you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Design Blogger Profile: Katia and Minna of Nestled In!

We bring you a newly discovered (at least for us, anyway) blog from Finland today, called Nestled In. While perusing the recent list of the top 50 design blogs put out by the Times UK, we were struck by Nestled In, and decided to surf on over. What we saw stopped us in our tracks! We’d be lying if we didn’t say Nestled In is one of our newest favorite blogs…

Started in 2007, the blog began when the lovely Katia and Minna moved in together in December of that year. Wanting to share their journey of decorating and filling the home they share with the rest of the world, they began chronicling their uncanny abilities to find gorgeous wares both in thrift stores and online. When they purchased a home together in 2008, the blog also started to catalogue their new roles of renovators and decorators of a house.

Though there are plenty of blogs out there that feature simple and clean layouts, there’s just something about Nestled In’s look that attracts us so much. The header of the blog is one of the simplest we’ve ever seen: only reading “Nestled In,” and the rest of the page is divided into three columns, with the middle column being full of big pictures and relevant posts. Since Katia and Minna seem to blog about things that they either put in their home or really love, everything featured seems to follow similar tastes—and the color schemes and patterns are beautiful! The colors are mix of natural ones—light blues, wood browns and greens—punctuated with small pops of bright, warm colors.

We even really love the categories that Katia and Minna have set up on the blog. Unlike other blogs, Nestled In features categories like At Home, Green Thumb, Inspiration, Interiors, Nestled In, Products, Projects and more. It makes for convenient and enjoyable searching and browsing. Overall, we just love the feel of Nestled In. It feels warm, clean, simple, loving, fresh and exciting. There is definitely lots of inspiration for your own home, whatever stage of renovating or decorating you are in! We highly recommend you check it out.

And as always, you can also check out some of our previous design bloggers we’ve profiled, like Kim and Jo of Desire to Inspire, Johnathan Lo of Happy Mundane, Victoria Smith of sfgirlbybay, the blogger behind Mer Mag, and Erin Gates of Elements of Style!

Flickr Features: Holiday Home Inspiration!

With the holidays here we can't help but feel inspired by all the gorgeous holiday decor we spy everywhere. In order to get you and your home into the spirit (in case you aren't already), we thought we bring you a collection of gorgeous interiors that are full to the brim with all kinds of sweet holiday details. We love seeing all the colors and textures of the season---don't you?

Septa & Penta Flakes

Christmas decorations

Project 366 - 357/366 Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah menorah

The Stockings Were Hung...

Christmas Living room

Christmas Fireplace

Getting in The Seasonal Spirit

My Christmas

Happy Holidays!

Holiday Decorations

Holiday Decorations in Ferry Building

Ruby's advent calendar

Twin christmas trees

This Week's Top 5 Favorite 1stdibs Items: Quirky Medical Accessories!

Just the other day we were thinking about how much we love old-fashioned medical anatomy posters. Maybe it's their attention to detail, their slightly grotesque subject matter or maybe we just think they're cool. Whatever the case, we were tickled to find one in the newest batch of 1stdibs listings. Along with it, we stumbled across four more items that would make perfect gifts for the doctor, scientist or dentist that you know! Or, they'd just be a quirky addition to an interior space!

1) Rare 19th Century Mexican Anatomical Painting
Here it is, a gorgeous Mexican anatomical painting to adorn a wall. According to the 1stdibs post: "Richly detailed medical school anatomy chart depicting an animated skeleton standing in a verdant landscape flanked by illustrations of the torso, heart, and lungs. Anatomical features are numbered and identified on two painted banners and faux marble tablets."
Price: $17,500
Dealer: Colonial Arts

2) Giant Tooth Stools
These adorable stools were designed in 2001 by Phillipe Starck for the Saint Martin's Hotel in London. Though a little quirky, we can't help but enjoy these simple and silly stools.
Price: $300
Dealer: 2120

3) 19th Century Chinese Ivory Doctor's Model
The story behind this lovely model is a gem: apparently this was used by doctors so that their female patients could point to where they had pain---rather than have to say the part out loud! You'll have a kick telling this story to guests when they inquire as to the lovely lady statue in your home.
Price: $2,700
Dealer: Andrew Spindler Antiques

4) Anatomical Model of the Eyeball
We just love how interactive this great piece is. Delight and scare your guests all at once with this great model of an eyeball. It looks cool, as well, so it'd be a great sculptural addition to a space!Price: contact dealer
Dealer: Coup d'Etat

5) Entomological Collection of 30 Insects in Lucite
We've always been a fan of bugs in decor---no really! Entomological collections in a room are a classy, vintage and geeky element to a room, and just look cool! With this collection you have 30 bugs to choose from, offering lots of flexibility for your decor!
Price: contact dealer
Dealer: Gustavo Olivieri

Don't forget to check out the rest of this week's listings from 1stdibs, where you can find more fabulous, one-of-a-kind show-stopping pieces, as well as a number of other great pieces!

A Perfect Pair: The Knitted Chair and Natural Stone!

Marcel Wanders, yesterday’s Design Influence, has always been a favorite designer of ours, if not for the wide variety of work he’s completed. And though we certainly have a large body of designs to choose from, for today’s perfect pair we decided to start with his beginning: his first piece to gain him fame!

The Knot Chair propelled Wanders to the front lines of design when it premiered in the mid-1990s, and even with just a glance it’s easy to see why. The Knot Chair features a slingy, casual shape of a chair, with a low seat and no arms. Its shining characteristic is that it’s made up of delicate and intricate looking knots. The construction of the chair was actually quite an industrial marvel: “This lightweight chair combines industrial techniques and handcrafting. A thread constructed of aramid and carbon fibres, is knotted into the shape of a chair and then impregnated with epoxy resin and hung in a frame to dry, leaving the final form in the hands of gravity.” Earthy, casual, handcrafted and delicate-looking, this chair is full of texture, warmth and beauty.

Swank Lighting’s Tangerine Calcite Stone and Lucite lamps are a contradiction in ideas. A slab of beautiful and natural tangerine calcite is enveloped by two hunks of industrial acrylic, giving the lamps a simultaneous modern and very earthy look. Used with double cluster sockets, the light shines down the calcite creating an otherworldly glow. We just love the straight lines of the piece, the wonderful color, and just the idea of using a natural stone in such an industrial way.

When thinking about what to pair the Knot Chair with we immediately knew we needed something substantial. Though the piece is gorgeous, it also gives off a delicate and almost untouchable quality. It’s sturdy, but it doesn’t obviously seem that way. We paired the chair with the tangerine calcite stone lamps to help give a visual rock for the Knot Chair to complement. Together, the composition becomes strong, sturdy and beautiful. We also love the color combinations of the tangerine stone and the lovely neutral rope. Both pieces have interesting twists to their design, together, creating a gorgeous, warm and earthy look!

The Unique and Modern Designs of Marcel Wanders!

We’ve brought you another contemporary designer for today’s Design Influence post. Though he’s described as an industrial designer, Marcel Wanders' work spans much more into the furniture and interior design worlds, reaching tons of people and inspiring fabulous style. He’s not only been a huge influence in his native Netherlands; he’s a huge influence everywhere!

It’s hard to peg down Wanders’ exact style. His pieces and designs makeup a wide range of colors, shapes and styles, but no doubt a similar characteristic of his work is its accessibility. Though his pieces do often stretch the limits of design, most of his work has the ability to work with anyone’s home or tastes. Featuring curves, straight lines, crazy materials, standard materials—though you can’t always pinpoint a Wanders' piece right away, you can always see how high-quality it is.

Wanders’ fame no doubt began in 1995 with the design of his Knotted Chair, which he designed for the collaborative Droog Design. The Knotted Chair, with its gorgeous aesthetics and innovative material use put Wanders’ name on the map, and his subsequent work with the influential Droog Design group helped cement his status. Droog Design is an internationally known Dutch design collective responsible for the design and manufacture of forward-thinking furniture and architectural features.

Wanders has gone on to do plenty of other designs for Droog Design, but he’s also worked with and designed for other European furniture companies like B&B Italia, Bisazza, Poliform, Moroso, Flos, Boffi, Cappellini. He not only designs for the famous company Moooi, he’s also the art director and co-owner. Other famous furniture and design pieces of Wanders include his Crochet Chair, Container Table, Pebbles stool/container, Eppo chair and much, much more.

Wanders has also lent his eye to interiors, which have been stylish, sophisticated and beautiful, like the Interior of the Dutch Embassy in Berlin, the interior of WanderDuck the flagship store in London, design of the VIP room in the Dutch pavilion at the Worldexpo in Hanover, and more.

Wanders hasn’t just stopped at interior and furniture design; he’s often a lecturer around the world, is involved in global exhibitions of his work, covered in all types of design media outlets and more. To even list all the awards he’s received for his work would take up five blog posts. The most impressive thing about Wanders, though, (and our favorite thing) is that he’s never forgotten the most important thing about design, and that’s to make people’s lives better. That’s why this internationally recognized design influence has even collaborated with outlets like Target to share his style with everyone.

Design Blogger Profile: Erin Gates of Elements of Style!

We’ve covered a lot of inspiring blogs on our own blog so far. From blogs that show how to live a better, more organized life, to showing inspiring photos of interior spaces, to how to create the spaces of your dreams, today’s favorite blog pick does it all. With the talented interior designer Erin Gates behind the blog, the Elements of Style has risen to popularity among home owners in recent years!

Started in 2007, Elements of Style is the offshoot blog of Gates’ successful design business, called Element Interiors. Specializing in genuine, sophisticated and colorful interiors, Gates prides her business on being able to create beautiful spaces for any budget or style. Gates herself proclaims to love all styles, from “modern to traditional, global to local.” While we can’t be sure, we’d bet this great variety of design love is what helps make her blog so successful.

Recently having seen a revamp of the look of the blog, you can now surf through all of Gates’ inspiring posts by category if you’re looking for something specific, or just poke around the archives for a few years worth of great ideas. As mentioned, you can find gorgeous photos of interior spaces to help inspire your own projects, product information, ideas, tips and more. A favorite on her blog to us are her giveaways and gift guides! We like the way Gates frames all of her finds, like organizing things into “What I’m Loving,” so you know what trends or looks Gates is into currently.

Another unique aspect to both Element Interiors and Elements of Style is Gates location: Boston! Unlike other famous blogs that hail from Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, Gates bring the elements of Boston style to us through her blog, but in a way we can all enjoy! The look of the blog is really fresh and fun, too: photos are big, text is easy to read and it all contains a heavy dose of Gates’ fabulous style.

If you’re looking for inspiration for your own interior spaces, it’s worth a look to check out both the Elements of Style blog and Gates’ firm’s website, Element Interiors. And as always, you can also check out some of our previous design bloggers we’ve profiled, like Kim and Jo of Desire to Inspire, Johnathan Lo of Happy Mundane, Victoria Smith of sfgirlbybay, and the blogger behind Mer Mag.