The Tastemaker Diaries » chair

Pull up a work chair

Julieann — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:06:54 +0000

It’s the start of a new year, which means its time to get working and organize our office! I have compiled a few good-looking desk chairs, after all, we want to be stylish even while working, right?

To begin we have the ever popular Herman Miller Aeron Chair, sold at Design Within Reach. Sleek and super comfy, it is now available in the Titanium Weave. I just love the cool gray look!

West Elm highlights the Tubular Desk Chair in a soft gray felt. Its understated, clean lines have a bit of a retro feel that I appreciate. I could see this contrasting with a cottage-y, curved, wooden desk. It would be unexpected, but that makes it fun!

The Milan Chair from Ballard Designs looks incredibly comfy, it even has a tension tilt mechanism which allows you to rock in the chair! Sounds like a winner to me!

Ikea offers the Patrik Chair which I love in the Fagrabo Red! How fun would it be to pair this vibrant red chair with a black metal sawhorse desk? Fabulous!

Simple, clean lined and classic the Ada Swivel Chair is available at Chiasso. It’s ideal for many desk sizes and at $128 it is a bargain!

Another Herman Miller favorite (could you tell I use to work for a HM Dealer?!) is a “fun” chair, the Caper! This is a small, light weight, easy to move chair which can be used in many different applications. It is ergonomically correct (so there will be no back aches…) and is available in 14 colors.

What type of chair do you sit in? Do you chose style over comfort?

Dressing up the folding chair

Julieann — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 14:30:45 +0000

The holidays are fast approaching and company is coming for dinner! As a city girl who rents and has a small eat-in kitchen, there is not always enough room for all those gorgeous upholstered dining chairs I would like to have, so I must make do with the folding chair option. Ever the girl who needs to be different, I have been scouring the internet to find ways to glam up these ho-hum chairs and look at what I have come up with: The ever popular (for good reason) removable decal! By using them on the back of a chair and not the wall you can create a chair uniquely your own.

My favorite find is from Blik: the “Chair Back” decal! I love all the different styles and they are available in a range of colors! At a price point of $30 for six decals, it’s certainly an easy way to update those once boring chairs!

Next, we have numbers and letters from the Etsy store TastySuite! A fun idea to label each person’s chair with either their initial or a number. You could get really creative with the numbers and subtly let someone know they are #1 in your life. Who knows, by Christmas they could have moved down the list and you could subtly give them a new number. Cheesy, I know, but fun!

I am also loving the Damask Accent pack from Wall Slicks. They are shipped in one big sheet, but depending on the size of your chair, you could use a small 5″ Damask or take a larger one and cut it in half! They give off a more sophisticated feel and could be great to use after on the wall in a hallway or bathroom. That’s the great thing about removable art…you can use it someplace else after the guests leave and the chairs go back in the closet (or under the bed).

Now if a dishwasher could magically appear I would be a real happy city girl!!

Celebrating Modern Classics

Viil — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:14:32 +0000

The term Modern Furniture can mean different things to different people. I belong to those who consider it a style of furniture influenced by modernism, designed and produced since the late 19th century. Most of you will recognize some of the modern classics below representing this style. It is hard to believe that some of these pieces have been around since before your parents, your grandparents, and in some cases even your great-grandparents, were born!

Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen (1958), LC4 Chaise Longue by Le Corbusier (1928)

Noguchi Coffee Table by Isamu Noguchi (1944), Monte Carlo Bench – Eileen Gray (1925)

If you are lucky enough to find an original, and have the money to buy it, I truly envy you. But for those of us who are not so lucky, there are companies offering replicas of these modern classics for a cheaper price, so we can still enjoy owning one.

If you have a favorite modern classic, please let me know about it in the comments