#chairloom

styling by: barbara botting

shooting molly andrews of chairloom was such a thrill for me.  chairloom has inspiration in every nook & cranny and molly's home is pretty jaw-dropping as well. here is just a sneak peek of the story.

to see the whole article in print —which i highly recommend — of this month’s anthology magazine check out your local anthropologie store.

molly, in the chairloom showroom, sitting on a newly upholstered John Robshaw's Chowk fabric

OK.  I know that a few days ago, I mentioned knowing about some online design mags but what I negelcted to mention is that I had never actually looked at them.  Oops!  Today I rectified that with a tour through the current issue of Lonny.  I had been wary of online publications since my battle with the original Williams Sonoma Home catlogue but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.  It took me a while to get used to having to zoom in on the pages and clicking through instead of flipping, but it was well worth the e-learning curve.  For those of you who are as leery as I was about the world of online magazines, it costs absolutely nothing to subscribe so jump into the 21st century with me, won't you?

Right off the bat, their was a fantastic ad for Chairloom (one of my favorite companies): And one for an extremely cool exhibition at the San Francisco Legion of Honor of an artist named Isabel de Borchgrave who recreates grand couture gowns out of paper.  What?  There may have to be a trip up north in the near future...  The market section is full of great items to incorporate into your design and lists of what's getting the editors hot and bothered this month.  I particularly like the page on color blocks.  Go figure.

Next hit for me was their interview with Ashley Stark, who has recently taken over the family business.  You may be familiar with their little company, Stark Carpet?  I liked both Lonny's questions and Ashley's answers, especially the tidbit about her great aunt(ish) being the one and only Iris Apfel.  Damn!  Then it was on to a line up sheets to freshen things up a little in the bedroom.  I like that you can click right through to see the manufacture's website to get more info and order if you want.  My fave of the options was Diane Von Furstenberg's new collection (I am itching for that black, white and yellow pillow!) There is a fantastic Q&A with Bunny Williams, who gives savvy advice on hiring a decorator and being one.  Her impeccable workroom is so inspiring (and ever so slightly more tidy than our workroom here at M. Design...)

I thought the quality of the articles was good, too.  I found the article on Lilly Pulitzer especially interesting, since I grew up waering her patterns and had no idea about where they came from.  I loved seeing some of the design team's inspiration boards and learning about their cool in-house process. And how great is this backdrop painted by print designer, Paige Smith?