Blog | Chatfield Design

Decorative Collective

01/15/2012 @ 6:14 pm

It’s not often that I come across a piece of furniture that stops me dead in my tracks. Usually it’s a picture in a magazine or off of an internet website. This particular time it was both.

I was at work looking through the latest World of Interiors magazine that has just come in the mail. My favorite section is in the back where all of the European shops list their ads, or in Euro speak, stockists list their ads. It’s everything I want but can’t get sort of teaser. It costs just as much to ship the item as it does to purchase it in most cases. It’s still fun though, because if I really want something, I can have my upholsterer replicate anything, and I mean anything!

The picture that made me pause wasn’t in the back with the others. It was a full page ad for an Italian flooring and cabinetry company called “I Vassalletti”. I love this chair. I love the modern table beside it too.

As I made my way to the back of the magazine I spied an ad that has a similar piece of furniture attached to it and it’s advertising a website called “Decorative Collective”. Looked it up and it turns out that it’s the “1st dibbs” of Europe. When you log on their home page, the have a logo that says, “ONCE VISITED, FOREVER ADDICTED”, I’m like - really? Catchy, bold, but how true?

Well, its been 48 hours and I’m still plowing through their never ending inventory. My favorite category is the “Resortation & Re-Uphostery” link. I already have a favorite shop, Stringer Antiques and Interiors, with an email into them about shipping costs. I'm in love with these chairs too!

The really great thing about this site is that all of the merchandise is listed with the top three currency’s so you’re not stuck doing the math. I once dropped a small fortune when I bid on something from the UK Christie’s Auction House, but that’s another story. So with Decorative Collective you get the price in Pounds, Euro and Dollars. I emailed the vendor and received a response within 24 hours.

Share the Wonder, a Farnsworth Art Museum Event

12/24/2011 @ 5:56 pm

Every year the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine, pulls together a wonderful Christmas event for families and children called “Share the Wonder”.

The Wyeth Center is the venue for this magical display. Complete with a train set that runs around an entire replica of a New England village entirely decked out for the Holiday Season. There are ornaments hanging from the ceiling, life size Nutcrackers flanking the entry way and many Christmas trees decorated by area designers. This year only two of us participated - Chatfield Design and Margo Moore.

Megan at Margo Moore designed the big tree that shines brightly from the second floor for all to see at night - truly beautiful. My tree, well, two trees to be exact, are much smaller in scale. My favorite of the two trees is the “wishing tree”. Kids and adults get to write down their own wish for the year ahead and post them on the tree. If you are lucky enough to get to the Wyeth Center early, there are clear plastic ornaments you can put your written wish inside to hang on the the tree which is super fun! But, all other written wishes are just as important and hang beautifully by their raffia strings.

I first had this wish tree thought/idea while at the New York Gift Fair in 2009. There was a booth that had a fabulous laser cut, recycled, cardboard shaped Christmas tree where by you wrote down your wish on a colored piece of paper and scrolled it up into the the laser cut hole of the tree.

I loved it! I immediately knew that this would be such a great thing for Share the Wonder event. Little did I know then that this cardboard company also GAVE the White House the same tree as one of the many trees for the public spaces on view. As I googled it, of course the images came up just like I had envisioned for the Farnsworth. What I had not envisioned was the cost of a laser cut cardboard tree. Five thousand dollars. The White House got theirs for free, the Farnsworth - not so lucky.

When thrown lemons you really can make lemonade. We at the museum threw up a fake tree (museum regulations) proceeded to buy clear plastic ornaments that come apart to insert whatever wish you want, along with cutting long strips of colored paper with string ties and we were in business. Not to mention it was pretty much green as far as the recycling goes. The clear plastic ornaments will be reused every year, the colored paper for extra wishes is a recycled paper and the ties are recycled raffia.

I am so excited about this event and how the adults of whom experienced Share the Wonder as a child now bring their own children to view the same experience. It’s all about tradition.

The wishes that were read were awesome and selfless. I would like to make the point that we are all about community here, “make a wish, make a donation, and Share the Wonder. Positive reinforcement by wish and donation by Sharing the Wonder will ensure that this magical event will continue for future generations.

This year’s Share the Wonder celebration is underwritten by a grant from the Wyeth Foundation.
Share the Wonder is sponsored by Camden National Bank.

Epiphany - Less Really is More

11/23/2011 @ 8:12 pm

I don’t know about you, all of my design junkies out there but, I slightly noticed that Restoration Hardware swallowed a few steroids given their new catalogs. Yes, catalogs, as in two - the furniture catalog is the size of four design magazines put together and their baby catalog is, well, on baby sized steroids. It’s almost as if key employees from Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, Frontgate and the company, BoBo Intriguing Objects, all jumped ship to join Restoration Hardware’s effort to corner the market on all things “home”.

For everyone out there who loves the industrial look, look no further as this look is now officially declared dead, thank you Restoration Hardware. RH has employed the very best design talent, farmed it out to India and the results are a no brainer, massive consumer consumption. This may backfire on them as it’s hard to tell the real from the fake other than, you might see the same coffee table in a number of your friend’s homes - that could be a tip.

I used to covet French grain sacks. I lovingly applied them to upholstery whenever I could. I even outfitted my guest apartment with a makeshift sofa entirerly made up of grain sacks with grain sack pillows. My son, Mack, said to me, "mom, you are an interior designer, can you please put a real sofa in the apartment?" My initial reaction was, "you have the coolest sofa ever." As I reflect upon this exchange, I get back to my less is more theory. My son would have been quite happy with less rather than more. Now that Pottery Barn has replicated French grain sacks to the mass consumer, they no longer feel special to me and, yes Mack, I will get you that real sofa now.

As I find myself identifying with the “less is more” train of thought due to my children, which I never, ever, thought would happen, I have begun to notice a trend. While I come from the era of serious nesting and serious acquisitions, I see my kids wanting so much less than I did at their age. Their nesting instincts are in tact but, it’s with so much less that they feel more comfortable with. The only problem with this trend is that, “to whom will I leave all of my treasured antiques to?”

Maybe one of the boys will own a home like this. Years ago I would have thought this to be an isloated nightmare. Now, I can't wait for the job.

It's with this that I leave you with "A Minimalist's Train of Thought"

graypants

10/26/2011 @ 6:17 pm

Graypants is a company that uses our scrap wisely. Architect’s, Seth and Jon, have blended their love of design and architecture to produce beautiful lighting from cardboard. Having first crossed paths at Kent State, a decade of collaboration and spirited adventure landed the pair in Seattle with the desire to make a difference through design. “We want to let the beauty of what we love to be what we do.” Well said my friend.

Any shape conceivable can be created by this design duo. They actually welcome the challenge. The star shape below is very seductive.

Clean lines, refelective raw aluminum, efficient use of material, and an interlocking assembly were ideas that greypants had in mind as they began to design the Step Light.

You have to admit that the ambient light that the Step Light gives off is really cool.

Oh, and they make chairs from recycled plywood. The Slice Chair. The name is great - kinda reminds me of an egg slicer - maybe that was graypants inspiration. Regardless, this chair and ottoman define movement in seating.

The have also designed the Slice Cafe and Dining Chair. The fluidity of this design is timeless. Best new recycled chair I have seen in some time. The site doesn't mention that they are for outdoor use but, I would think that if they were sprayed with marine grade poly then, they could hold up for a summer or two in Maine, on a covered porch so to speak.

This is another example of if you can dream it up we will make it. I think this would make a really great artful floor lamp. Maybe some day graypants can fashion one of these in aluminum for an outdoor architectural element where light is needed.

seth.

jon.

Obviously, they are as creative as their designs. graypants

Teuco

10/05/2011 @ 5:58 pm

It was just a matter of time before someone invented the infinity bathtub. How many of us have redone a bathroom only to discover that it’s already dated before we finish? I think this is a prime example of that. And, of course, when you go to sell your house, wouldn’t having an infinity bathtub be a great feature? Of course it would!

For most of us with existing structures, adding this would be a challenge. The infinity bathtub is not elevated above it all like traditional tubs, but rather countersunk, as it were, directly into the floor, thus creating an uninterrupted expanse of luxurious waters of glacial blue. I expect to see these starting to hit the market within the new high end construction projects. Hello, Hollywood! Or Texas, there seems to be a lot of Texan's who still have money to build big.

I think I might term this as “recreational bathing” at its finest. Do any of us really need an infinity bathtub? No. Is it nice? Yes! Can realtors use as a new marketing tool? Absolutely! Do I want one? No. That’s the Yankee in me saying that I can get by with my one hundred year old, cast iron, six foot soaker with all four ball and claw feet in tact - save a little rust on the exterior.

This shower, however, could definitely sway me. How very cool to have a glass wall, no doors and, floor drains that make it look practically non-existent. Way more appealing than the infinity bathtub. I guess you can tell - we are a shower loving household. This one is called “Endless” with a fixed glass panel.