Design news
“ four” scores
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Take Cover (Left) Carolyn Ray’s award-winning “Four” design |
“Design is the rush that comes of taking a long, long ride and finally arriving someplace new,” wallcovering and textile designer Carolyn Ray writes on her website (www.carolynray.com). She’s certainly arrived by our count. Ray, president and creative director of Yonkers-based Carolyn Ray Inc., won the Interior Design Resources Council’s 2006 Roscoe Award for Best of Year in Residential Wallcoverings with her newest offering, “Four.” The design, notable for its simplicity of motif—drawn circles rendered by finely layered hand-screen prints in neutral and patina’d colors, is a direct homage to Zen and minimalist influences.
In addition Ray received a Merit Award for “Hollywood Hopscotch,” and was a finalist in the Textiles: Residential Sheers category. Hers is the only award-winning company that’s artist-owned and staffed.
product pick
Xpand your options
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Open Wide (Right) The Xpand System Table |
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If the thought of lugging table leaves from the closet dampens the enthusiasm of hosting a dinner party, consider the Xpand System. Created by two German architects and recently introduced in the U.S., Xpand’s tables (starting at $1,900) feature a center section that expands up to one-and-a-half feet when the ends are gently pulled out (the movement’s so smooth that you can even open a set table). Now you’ll have to come up with a new excuse for delaying the festivities—not enough chairs, perhaps? Available in maple, bamboo, beech, beech heartwood, oak, cherry, walnut, and wenge at Disegno in
seeing stars
In today’s age, when E! channel is buzz and a subscription to People magazine is a rite of passage, celebrities are everywhere. This season, they’re coming to your house.
mixed doubles
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Net Game (Left) The spherically shaped frame of the Kreiss’s AGK Ball Lounge Chair, $1,695, appears to float on air. Implemented in hand-shaped and welded powder-coated steel wire that’s impervious to the elements, the frame is hand-wrapped in polypropel synthetic rattan, in a dark brown color. |
The first piece of furniture tennis great Andre Agassi bought when he won his first major tournament (
The result is Kreiss’s Agassi Graf Collection, which captures the tennis legends’ style and enviable energy, while remaining true to the company’s classic design. The collection features furniture for the dining room, living room, and poolside (complete with a novelty ball chair for indoor-outdoor use) in colors of chocolate brown and ecru. The collection is available at all Kreiss showrooms (www.kreiss.com), including
“I look for comfort and subtle elegance, something that’s luxurious but not opulent,” Agassi says. “Stefanie likes streamlined design, and modular, symmetrical pieces. We love the softness of woven leather and the strength of steel and synthetic rattan.”
haute carpet
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Floor Fashion (Right) Tommy Hilfiger’s “anchor design” carpet is an Aubusson weave, made from 100 percent wool in |
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(Left) Nanette Lepore’s carpet is made in |
Devotees of fashion icons Tommy Hilfiger and Nanette Lepore will be pleased that the designers have ventured into a new medium—carpeting. Sure to have more than one Westchester interior designer knocking at its door, Doris Leslie Blau Gallery in
way to faux
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Painted Love (Right) USG’s Michelangelo |
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Only professionals can transform your room with beautiful faux techniques, true? Not anymore. USG’s Michelangelo Single-Coat Faux Finish is a nifty new paint created to help even novice painters achieve professional results. The walls don’t require multiple coats of paint nor messy glazes—all the paint you need to create these looks is provided in a single can.
Michelangelo faux-finish paint changes hues depending on pressure and movement applied while it’s still wet, which means multiple shades of color can be achieved within a single coat. Working the paint with any basic tool—a sponge, a rag, or a squeegee—brings out darker shades that add depth and texture to the finish. The amount of color variation depends on how much the paint is manipulated, letting the painter control the look of the finish. (The paint must be used on a flat primed wall.)
Michelangelo Single-Coat Faux Finish paint in gallon-size cans (one can, which runs $45 per gallon, covers a 12-by-12-foot room) will be available in 24 colors at Home Depot stores nationwide in late spring or early summer 2007. Check out color options, helpful hints, and other paint at www.Michelangelohome.com.
threshold for pane
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“IN” Style (Left) EntryPoint’s decorative door. |
Got a ho-hum door? EntryPoint can jazz it up, installing decorative glass into your existing door. It’s a no-muss, no-fuss process to install: a local dealer takes down the door, cuts it to fit the glass of choice, and rehangs the door—all within an hour or so. All EntryPoint glass panels are thermally sealed to reduce energy costs and come with a limited lifetime warranty on the glass unit and a lifetime warranty on the frame. Now servicing
