Cozy Contemporary

Contemporary and comfort are coming together in the form of pillows, bedding and now quilts. Whether it is used to keep you toasty in your master bedroom, add color to your great room or create warmth in your office, Fun Quilts provide your home with an instant contemporary heirloom. Made one at a time, Fun Quilts are available in several designs and fabrics -- or have one custom made to incorporate the colors in your family room!

Hang 'Em High

Unwilling to accept the deficit in wallpaper and textiles that blended contemporary design with modern themes, Kyra and Robertson Hartnett, the husband and wife team behind twenty2, gave birth to Wallbands.

The line of pre-pasted, washable and easy-to-remove bands of color and pattern allow consumers to customize their walls -- without suffering through a weekend of steamers and sponges.

Modern Baby Furniture

With stand out form that wont stand in the way, the Nest is a 3 in 1 chair safe for children from 6 months to 6 years old. A pod seat suspended on a sturdy, powder coated tulip base holds the baby securely in a futuristic style that complements almost any contemporary decor. The seat is easy to clean, height adjustable, has a feeding tray for babies and comes with a machine washable 5-point safety strap. Created for Mozzee by Australian designer Sally Dominquez, the Nest chair will debut Friday for the first time in the United States.

The Art of Fashion and Interiors

UK graphic artist Tom Barwick is opening his once exclusive distribution list (think newspapers after original art of MAX MARA's latest couture show, or prints of Armani's Hong Kong store for Wallpaper* magazine) to the world of web-enabled art and fashion connoisseurs with the launch of his website www.thomasbarwick.com/shop.html. A range of prints are available and each is ordered individually up to a limited run of 300, and each is signed and numbered by Barwick.

Pictured, Barwick's 2004 illustration for Wallpaper* of the Armani Hong Kong store.

Cat Scratch Fever Relievers

Elizabeth Paige Smith works in a modern organic style that joins unique minimalist design with eco-consciousness. It's a language that's brought EPS into vogue as a furniture designer, crochet maven and especially as a creator of high-end homes for cats with claws. The EPS kittypod, a maple and corrugated-cardboard dish of a nest for sleeping and scratching, has been joined by several more choice resting spots for animals with impeccable taste. Check out the website at www.kittypod.com to see the styles, but read between the lines: You may want to balk at the prices (the kittypod costs $320) but the website reminds you, many of these seats are OK for cat napping dogs and strong enough for humans, too.

Opening the Modern Door

Looking for a way to dress up your kitchen cabinets and add flare to your drawers?  Megna Hot Glass Studio features this season's new must-have accessory -- the contemporary knob and pull.

For handcrafted bronze and stainless steel knobs and hooks, check out the new Accents Collection from Soko.

                                                       

Chairs Bristling With Pride

Saloni Worldwide, the roadshow
of some of the best from Milan that seeks to turns heads around the globe, didn't disappoint when it opened in NYC last week. While the "showrooms" at the Pier were modest compared to the productions in Milan -- the stars of design still shone. One of our favorites that scored high in unique design -- while being exceedingly comfortable (not necessarily a pre-requisite in the world of haute couture), is the Jenette from Edra. This bristle back is anything but as it molds and supports your body. Clearly it swept us off our feet.

Sporty Looking Chairs

Any similarity to a Porsche is strickly intended, as Harald Belker, designer of said car as well as Hollywood fictionobiles for Spidey and Batman, introduces this sporty new chair that parks conveniently before tvs -- or out by the pool. Made of fiberglass, Maxelle is Belker's debut in the furnishings market, and manufactured by Lyx of Sweden. Lyx unveiled the chair at ICFF in New York.

Beer Dispenser -- in Stainless

I love outdoor entertaining -- but I hate warm beer, wilted salads and sauces that congeal from the sun. Along comes Perlick with its line of outdoor refrigerators. A stand-alone temperature controlled refrigeration unit -- or larger units with cooling drawers or cooling unit complete with tap -- these stainless fridges should be a regular on the guest list.

Patrick Chia and Organic Design

Hailing from Singapore, and educated in Australia, Patrick Chia is quickly becoming a name on the international roster of modern design, making a name for himself in the broadening world of organic design. His curvy creations, with names like Blob and Bobo, remind me of the blobs I used to make when testing meringue for proper "stiffness." Caroline Barry caught up with Patrick at the recent ICFF -- and he sheds light on his latest work.

Chia unabashedly credits the likes of Ray and Charles Eames as having influenced his work. If you are only familiar with the couple's famous lounger you might be surprised to know that the school of Organic Design was really established in the era of Eames and another colleague Eero Saarinen. Some definitions of organic suggest that it is furniture designed to fit the human form. But in actuality, organic refers to continuously flowing lines, ala Saarinen's Womb Chair, Eames' famous lounger and Isamu Noguchi to name just a very few. In 1940, Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen won an organic design competition at the Museum of Modern Art for their High Back Organic Design Chair made of molded plywood. The importance of being able to mold plywood was obvious to the Organic movement -- as obvious as fiberglass is now.

If we were to arrogantly attempt a definition of Organic we would suggest forms that hold shapes that defy gravity that can morph between function and sculpture. But as is anything organic, adaptations are encouraged and sought. What is your definition of Organic Design?