gold

1st olympic gold, then oscar gold, now... ikea gold? spotted these golden lovelies in sea of silver/chrome at ikea (and we hope this is a growing trend for mass marketers):

yum- baby got bling! (yeah, we know- they're probably made of spit and discarded gold candy wrappers, but did you see the prices? who cares!)

olympic gold, oscar gold, ikea gold, and finally, (i bet some of you knew this was coming)... spandau ballet gold:

and the oscar goes to...

well, we know who the oscar is NOT going to, at least in two categories...

while going through our picks for the oscar pool at an academy awards party m21 is attending today, we were shocked to see the that prettiest picture of the year was NOT nominated for best art direction or costume design- what up with that? it may not have been the best movie of the year, but god dammit, "a single man" was the most gorgeous thing we've seen in theaters in a long, long, time (which also made it one of the best pictures of the year in our eyes too- pretty über alles *is* one of our mottoes, after all). the homes, the car, the college girl channeling bridget bardot, julianne moore's hair, colin firth's glasses- hell, ALL of colin firth, for that matter; scene by scene, "a single man" was meticulously visualized perfection, and deserves some sort of recognition for it. so even though it means we have no chance of winning our oscar pool by doing so, we are writing in "a single man" as our pick to win the oscar for art direction and costume design. in a more perfect (prettier) world, it would win for both, we're sure...

on a lighter note, the oscar party we are attending is a potluck, with guests asked to bring a dish inspired by a nominee. m21, inspired by both his lack of cooking skills, and the movie precious, will be bringing a bucket of greasy and delicious goldenbird fried chicken- and we're going to run out without paying for it too! ;-)
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more catalog chair goodness

it must be spring catalog season, as our mailbox has been stuffed to bursting every day this week. we last posted of one of our favorite chair styles being introduced at a mass-market level, the klismos outdoor dining chair by restoration hardware (at a rock-bottom price of $325.00), and we were pleased to see another favorite style, the classic thonet-influenced bentwood cafe chair being sold by crate and barrel for a similar bargain price of $119.00 (m21 wouldn't call it a knock off, as the original vienna chair was introduced over 150 years ago, and is by now in the public domain).

the crate and barrel vienna chair.

m21 has longed loved the classic style of thonet chairs as they are simple and timeless and pair well with any decor. because of it. we find them to be a nice counterpoint to modern styles (you know how m21 likes to mix it up), taking a bit of the edge off, and in particular, maison21 loves to pair them with a saarinen tulip table; it always looks casual and chic.

fanciful thonet chairs paired with a saarinen tulip table in a kitchen by the super-talented tom scheerer. m21 is a cocky mo fo and thinks himself to be as good as any designer working, but that tom scheerer may be the exception to the rule- he makes sophisticated yet casual look so effortless and easy, it's almost supernatural. in fact, you have m21's permission: if you can afford mr. scheerer, by all means hire him; if you can't, call me- we'll talk... ;-)

in fact, a couple of years ago maison21 actually purchased a set of 4 thonet chairs to go around a client's large saarinen table, but by the time we added in 4 more,(8 were needed) and lacquered them, the resulting set became too expensive for our budget, so we scrapped the concept and went another direction (reselling the chairs we bought at cost to a lucky friend, btw). we sure wish these c & b versions had been around back then as they already come lacquered black or white, and at $119.00 per, would have fit our budget quite nicely. heck, they fit into anyone's budget at that price- add in a docksta saarinen knock-off from ikea for $149.00, and you have a chic dining set for less then seven hundred bucks!

vintage thonet chairs around a saarinen table, featured in the late great domino magazine- designer unknown.

apples & oranges

a 'lil slice of the big apple is coming to los angeles.

can't wait.

bring 'em on in...

m21 is SO going to use these outdoor klismos chairs from restoration hardware on the inside for a future project! at $325.00 each, there isn't anything on the market at a similar price point for a true klismos side chair (that we know of, anyway). m21 also loves that they are aluminum, so will be a snap to customize by having your local outdoor furniture restorer, powder coat them to your desired shade. how pretty would they be in black or white? or even coral? personally, we'd like them in a bronze, with big puffy down-filled raffia cushions- yum! now if only our teeny-tiny pass-thru dining room could accommodate those sexy splayed saber legs without tripping moi every time we try to walk through to the kitchen! ('cuz you know, like m21 needs more ways to trip and break a leg, with mona and richard always racing him to the kitchen and all...)