Designer's confessional: I don't like Anthropologie

I spend time shopping with clients from time to time, it's one of the services I provide. Buying decent furniture can be daunting for someone who knows what he's doing, but to someone who's never done it before it can be overwhelming. I can usually tell ahead of time what will and won't work in a given space, and I tend to know exactly where to go to find what's needed. I don't like indecision and I'll never walk into a furniture showroom with a client cold. With me, it never a matter of "Hey, let's go shopping for a sofa!"

On the contrary, I'll say something like "I know the exact sofa this room needs. Let's go look at it at Doma." When we arrive at my friend David's store (the aforementioned Doma) he's ready for us because I call him ahead of time. "Hey David," I tell him, "a client and I are coming over to look at Younger Sofas, particularly the 40530 and 40535." I don't like to waste time. I'm not a tyrant though. If my client doesn't like my preselections, I can usually tell from his or her reaction which way to go from there.

One of the rules of having me work with you on furniture is that I get to pick where we shop and what we look at. Every once in while though someone tries to pull a fast one and tries to lead the process. I say all the time that the jobs I work on aren't mine. The rooms and homes I'm working on belong to my clients, my ego doesn't figure into the process at all. Well that is a damn lie. My name and my reputation are written all over these projects and I personalize a lot of this, much more so than I probably should.

Anyhow, the client in question wanted to use an upholstered chair from that glorified flea market Anthropologie in one of my living rooms. I was mortified. Mortified. It was a chair like this one:

Appalling, it's just appalling. It stuck out like a sore thumb and coordinated with no other color or stick of furniture anywhere in her house. I talked her out of it and we went to see David and found something tailored and orderly.

 Anthropologie looks like a thrift store. But unlike a real thrift store, it has the Skinner Box feel of a corporate experiment in how to get people to spend too much money on stuff that just looks bad. Their selections seem to be geared to people too young to remember how horrible the '70s were, but their price points are beyond the means of any 20-something I've ever met. The only people who can plunk down $4000 for an ugly Anthropologie sofa are the same people who should be old enough to know better.

Yet without fail and seemingly without thinking, the design press swoons over everything in their stores. I just don't get it.

In what universe is this an attractive or tasteful light fixture? What fool would actually pay five thousand dollars for it? Why doesn't any one seem to question this stuff?

Call me old-fashioned, but if I'm going to cough up $1700 for a media cabinet,

or $1500 for an armchair,

or $3500 for a sofa, can they look new at least?

Beauty's where you find it

What does this hair style,

Image from InStyle

have to do with this kitchen faucet?

Hint: it's all in the handle.

This is the Venuto by Brizo and it's another home run hit by the team from Indianapolis. The Venuto is a series kitchen faucets and accessories from the great minds at Brizo. The Venuto accomplishes the difficult task of being thoroughly modern without being cold. It's smart too, two of Brizo's newest advances are tucked inside neatly. The Venuto uses Brizo's SmartTouch^TM and MagneDock^® technologies so that it works as well as it looks. SmartTouch^TM allows a user to turn the faucet on and off with just a touch placed anywhere on the faucet or the handle. MagneDock^® holds and locks the sprayer firmly in place when it's not in use.

As a collection, the Venuto is available in both kitchen- and bar-sized faucets and a large number of coordinated acessories. There's even a bud vase.

The Venuto is available in Brizo's Chrome,

Brilliance Stainless,

and Black finishes.

 As with all of Brizo's finishes, the Venuto's carry a lifetime warranty.

The Venuto series for the kitchen, and the Virage series for the bath I profiled yesterday are further proof that Brizo's a brand to watch out for. I can't wait to see what's next.

Meet the Virage by Brizo

When Brizo faucets had me in New York last September, I was granted a rare glimpse into the world of the fixtures they have in development. I took a vow of silence of course and I've been dying to start talking about some of the stuff they are working on. One collection in particular left me giddy in anticipation. I know, I know, it's a faucet; but I'm serious about the giddiness.

The Virage is now in production and will start shipping in January, 2010. You saw it here first gang.

Rarely does a fixture series come along that's truly different, but the Virage is one such collection. They are stunning, elegantly simple but impossible to overlook. What I love about Virage too is that it's not tied to any one particular style. A Virage faucet would be as at home in a contemporary design as it would a traditional one. That is a rare attribute, and components that can pull off that balancing act tend to last and resist looking dated.

The Virage is a series, like everything Brizo offers. What that means is that there are lavatory faucets, shower fixtures, tub fillers, flush handles, accessories and more that all share the same overriding design. I'll get more photographs of the Virage as they become available, but in the meantime, what do you think? Is this a style you'd ever consider? Talk to me.

Have you met Thos. Moser?

All this talk of tables and chairs this week has left me more or less obsessed with wooden furniture again. That's certainly not a bad thing. As proof, just take a look at this dining room.

Wow. That's the Pasadena dining table and the Pasadena series of chairs from Thos. Moser. Those chairs are downright lyrical, don't you think?

Here they are again, notice how well coordinated they are. They share essential themes but they are each distinctly beautiful.

Those chairs were named Best of Year by Interior Design Magazine last year, and they certainly deserved it.

The Pasadena series has a companion rocker too and it was just named a finalist for Best of Year for 2009. The magazine will name the overall winners in a ceremony at the Guggenheim in early December.

It's all beautiful and it's further proof that real craftsmanship still exists.

Thos. Moser was founded by Tom Moser in 1972. Moser was a tenured professor with a deep love of woodworking who decided to follow his passion full time. I swear, you can see Moser's love of his craft in his furniture. Look around Moser's website. The Pasadena's my favorite, bar none. What's yours?

Hey, what is that?!

What do the historic Palladium Theater in St. Petersburg, FL,

The country of Portugal,

And this kitchen table have in common?

Here's a hint that's little more than a shameless plug. The Palladium Theater is home to the St. Petersburg Opera Company and the practice facility of the Florida Orchestra. It's also a starving arts organization that needs every scrap of support it can muster, as do all community arts organizations. Please help to keep the Palladium and whatever community arts groups are local to you alive during these troubled times.

OK, with that out of the way, the Palladium has its original, 70-year-old cork floors. After 70 years in a public facility, those cork floors still look fantastic.

Cork flooring comes from Portugal.

The design I mentioned the other day in post about kitchen tables is getting a cork floor.

This cork floor to be exact.

Cork flooring is not new, though it's currently experiencing a resurgence in popularity. It's resilient, kind of spongy, tough as nails and completely sustainable. It's also stunning. Look at some of this stuff.

Gorgeous yes and believe it or not, it doesn't have any special requirements for care or cleaning either. Here are a few more beauty shots.

All of these cork floors are available as planks or tiles from US Floors in Dalton, GA. If you need any more information, just ask me.