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Lamps to go with your Barcelona Chair
The Barcelona Chair is a constant source of inspiration to Interior Designers and decorators the world over. So it is really no surprise that one of the most common questions we are asked, with regard to modern lighting is - 'What light fittings would go with my Barcelona chair?'
The answer is that the Barcelona Chair is one of those rare pieces of design that truly crosses over eras and aesthetics. It is such a shining star in the furniture firmament that nothing is quite like it stylistically - not another chair, and certainly not a lamp.
That said, i have endeavored to compile a list of lamps and light fittings that might 'go with' this icon of style... at least in my opinion.
There is really only one characteristic that I am looking for: Classic Simplicity in line, material and decoration.
I don't believe that historical consistency is a valid criteria at all because I've seen this chair displayed to such a great variety of settings.
I've seem in it baroque ball rooms, 60's shag carpet sunken living rooms, shabby chic drawing rooms and even hippie dippie bohemian homes.
Nothing is ruled out, everything is a possibility - all it takes is an authentic eye.
Pendant Lamps to go over your long dining table
It is surprisingly difficult to find just the right ceiling pendant light fitting to hang over a long dining table. The most common issue is that light fittings are not long enough. If they are too short then the outlying diners at the extremities of the table are left in the kind of darkness that makes them wonder what they did wrong - and whether its safe to eat the food.
The light fitting should be just the right height above the table to bathe the diners plates and faces in a soft light, creating a circle of darkness behind them, adds to the intimacy of the setting.
Ideally the light fitting should be part of the table decoration. I love these light fittings to be sculpturally engaging, it makes them into a great talking piece, an ice breaker if you will.
Remember if the table is round get a round or square lamp, and if the table is long try to get an oval or rectangular light fitting.
I would suggest the following relative dimensions.
If your table is 60" - 72" long your ceiling lamp should be about 20'- 30"
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| Bora Modern Pendant Lamp |
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| Verona Pendant Lamp | Samoa Pendant Lamp |
If your table is 74" - 90" long your ceiling lamp should be about 30 - 40"
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| Milano Bar Pendant Lamp: 3-Light |
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If its over 92" your ceiling lamp should be 45" - 60" OR you might consider using two or more light fittings.
or for more about Mid Century Modern Classic Lamps, visit our article on lamps that go with a Barcelona Chair
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Contemporary Commercial Furniture.
There was a time when commercial furniture almost inevitably compromised style and comfort, in favor of durability and structural integrity. Ungainly, visually and physically heavy commercial furniture was the antithesis of sophisticated elegance. The bug bear of every good commercial interior designer and the nemesis of those seeking to imbue a public space with atmosphere and savoir fair. Today, thankfully, things are different! Of course if you are so inclined you can find manufacturers who still produce cold ware era, trol like furniture capable of making any interior space look like a scene from a nightmare set in a 1950's goverment institution.
But you have options now. Modern materials and manufacturing techniques have produced Barcelona Chairs that can support a 300lb person without a murmur, micro fibres that will still look great after their twentieth wash; sweet little cast aluminum barstools that last a decade in the roudiest Hardrock Cafe Bar; and expensive looking modern dining chairs whos elegance belies the heart of a stackable workhorse.
Commerical grade fabrics no longer have to look like a reincarnation of your grannies spare apron. Fabulous new textiles permit plush, rich textures and colors that can be trusted to support thousands of backs and buts without loosing their lustre.
Real designers are turning their attention to modern commercial furniture design, producing forms that are both contemporary, full of character and are truly reliable.
And modern classic designs from the Bauhaus era are being re-engineered to accomodate the needs of modern, high volume commercial venues.
The Furniture Collection is a professional sourcing agency for interior designers. Our expert customer service representatives have more than six thousand products at their disposal, and are more than happy to assist you with sourcing modern and contemporary commercial furniture
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| Petite Comfort Armchair | Tulip style Jacob side table |
An Interview with Isamu Noguchi in 1973
Introduction: In 1927 at age 23 Japanese American Sculptor Isamu Noguchi won a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship to study in Paris. In this excerpt of an interview conducted by Paul cummings in 1973 Noguchi recalls his time in Paris and working as an apprentice in the studio of Constantin Brancusi.
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Noguchi: ....I did not go there with the intention of meeting Brancusi, it just happened by a kind of fluke. The second day I was there, I met a man who knew Brancusi that I had seen this exhibition and that I had admired it, he said "would you like to meet him?" And I said "sure" and we walked over there. That's how I met Brancusi. and that's how I asked him if I could come and hang around and help him a bit, and he said "yes". so I started that way. I spent half a day with him and the rest of the time I spent drawing at the Academie Colorosie you know - (Acad�mie de la) Grande Chaumi�re (in Montparnasse).
I don't know how long I was with Brancusi, maybe six months, I don't really recollect exactly but, quite a while.
Paul Cummings: You know that was such a shift from the academic world?
Noguchi: Yes I am quite capable of doing that.
Well first of all I was not pleased with the academic thing anyway, in
fact that is how I applied for the Guggenheim you see, and if you read
my ? its not oriented towards the academic I mean its something else. I
was trying to find a way to get away from the academic. I wouldn't have
been able to put it in quite those terms in those days. I really wanted
to find another way you see.
So coming into Paris and being among all these artists who were all,
not of our frame you see?
Its surprising how backwards America was, people don't realize how
backwards America was vis a vis the arts. They were very, sort of,
suspicious of art, excepting for a very small coterie you see.
And with my background in Indiana you can imagine I didn't have the
best kind of training. That is to say I felt it I instinctively knew
there was something wrong. Although no doubt there must have been
conversations with (Alfred) Stieglitz and Donarman, which disposed me that way, but not otherwise.
Paul Cummings: What was the activities in Brancusi's studio, did you cut things for him?
Noguchi: Yes he showed me how to help him cut bases for instance out of limestone, how to do this and that, I mean, I was helping, I was his sort of right hand you know, he would give me things to do that he thought I could do, you know he was very kind to me. After all I did not ask him for anything you know, he didn't have to pay me, I had a Guggenheim fellowship. I was useful and ahh he wasn't a man who was given to helping people you know, he was kind of dour you might say, I don't think that he had many assistants ever. I mean so this was exceptional that he even allowed me to come there.
Paul Cummings: Did you learn things about cutting stone and surfaces and finishing, polishing?
Noguchi: He was entirely oriented towards the craft you know, everything he did had to go through his hands in a kind of rigorous way.
Paul Cummings: Its curious, because you were 20 years old and had a certain activity with academic sculpture in New York and the all of a sudden here you were in Paris going to the Colorosie and the Chaumier and working these hours with Brancusi. and I suppose some times moving around and meeting other people. What was Paris like for you? I mean this was a new country, and a new language, and a new atmosphere.
Noguchi: Well it was fantastic experience for a young man like that. Of course I was not the only one, there were other Americans there, Sandy (aka Alexander) Calder for instance, whom I soon met and made friends with. He went there under somewhat different circumstances you know, but his father was a strictly academic sculptor, who I knew downstairs from 'Rotelos'. Sandy was a cartoonist in wire you might say. He was making those very charming figures that float in the air. I always said that Sandy was one of my early influences there, in that his things were anti gravity you know they were very light.
I made a lot of friends there, surprisingly, where as previously I had very few friends. In France I suddenly came upon either, people who were like me, or who I could accept, and who would accept me. This business of separation, discrimination you know; it didn't exist there. I don't say that it existed in NY either for that matter.. I did not recognize anything like that. As I said, when you enter the art world you are not in a world which is discriminatory that's the last thing they think about. That's why I say, its only in the art world where you can be free.
Modern Furniture and the use of Tubular Metal
The history of tubular metal furniture begins in earnest in 1909 when an Italian manufacturing company called Dalmine began manufacturing seamless steel tubes commercially. Thus making tubular metal truly accessible and inexpensive. The Bauhaus era Modernist designers were fervent adherents to the cause of 'Design for the masses' - making this and other durable, light weight and inexpensive materials like molded plywood - their favored media.
Manufacturing of this new material spread worldwide through the first half of the 20th Century. In 1914 a Japanese company called Nippon Kokan Kabushiki-gaisha (NKK) began manufacturing seamless steel tubes, and in 1954 two manufacturing companies opened in Latin America - Tamsa in Mexico and Siderca in Argentina.
But it was back in Europe that the potential of this material for interior furnishings was first explored and exploited. In the 1920's Charlotte Perriand decided that she wanted to incorporate new modern materials in furniture design. Shunning the Beaux-art style with its classical ornamentation; swags, garlands and columns she chose a radical and courageous new approach. She turned her garret style Parisian apartment into a workshop and proceeded to design and build metal tubular furniture, out of chrome and aluminum for a "machine age interior". In 1927, having designed and built enough work for an exhibition, she held a show at the Salon D'Automne. Her rooftop bar design and its furnishings created quite a stir, and ultimately prompted Le Corbusier to hire her as a furniture designer for his Atelier.
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| Le Corbusier Chaise Lounge - Relaxing Machine | Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer - Modern Classic Chair | Grand Comfort Big Comfy Armchair by Le Corbusier |
Le Corbusier asked that she design furniture that was an extension of the human body.. "object-members" were intended to serve specific human needs. And so it was that she designed a chair for conversation - the B301 fauteuil dossier or 'slingback chair', a chair for relaxation - LC2 Grand Confort, was the square-shaped leather upholstered chunky armchair LC2 Grand Confort and a chair for sleeping - B306 chaise lounge. All three employed tubular metal for the supporting frame, with leather seats and backs.
In 1926 Mart Stam design a prototype of his classic tubular metal Cantilever Chair, and took it to a conference in Berlin. This immediately inspired other furniture designers including Mies Van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, Marcel Breuer, and Eileen Gray to design their own cantilever, and / or tubular metal furniture.
Mies and Reich designed the
Brno Canteliver Armchair,
Breuer designed the
Wassily Armchair and
nesting side tables and Eileen Gray designed her classic
tubular metal side table,
chaise lounge and
Bibendum armchair- all employing tubular metal.
The 1933 Chicago World's Fair exhibited a large number of pieces of tubular steel furniture. The use of steel was advertised at the fair as,
"natural, therefore that the modern spirit should express itself in striking, radically different kinds of furniture and that furniture should be of steel, for this is the age of steel, and steel sounds the keynote of practicability, energy, and strength which dominates our modern life."
Companies, such as the Chicago and Grand Rapids Co. of Michigan, immediately began producing large quantities of tubular steel furniture. American industrial designer Donald Deskey designed a line of metal furniture, (better known perhaps for designing the Crest Toothpaste packaging, Tide BullsEye logo and Radio City Music Hall interior. His furniture was mass-produced around 1930 by the Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Co. A 1930 ad for the company pointed out that Ypsilanti Reed had pioneered steel furniture in America,
"and in less than two years has assumed outstanding leadership in style and quality in this singular furniture."
By 1933 the Howell Co. of Geneva, Illinois, began mass-producing tubular steel furniture, including the best-selling "Beta," a chrome-plated, tubular steel and upholstered chair, as well as other innovative chair forms, such as the "S" chairs, with their bent metal frames, that were produced and sold in high volume throughout the 1930s.
Famous industrial designer Gilbert Rohde was among the first American innovators who worked with bent metal to create innovative furniture designs. His earliest tubular steel design was manufactured by the Troy Sunshade Co. of Troy, Ohio, in 1931. Because the company had additional offices in Amsterdam and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Rohde's designs were sold in Europe as well. The Kroehler Manufacturing Co. of Chicago, Illinois, also employed Rohde, who designed furniture not only from tubular steel, but from stainless steel, aluminum, and chrome. Rohde's pieces were advertised by the company as being
"functional and modern" with "a hygienic quality (no nooks and crannies to conceal dirt) that reduced dusting to a minimum while retaining their luster without the drudgery of polishing."
By 1930 Rohde moved on to take over design leadership for the Herman Miller Furniture Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan. With Rohde at its helm, the company began an extensive program to produce modern furnishings, most of which incorporated the use of bent metal elements in many of their designs. In fact, throughout the decade leading up to World War II, the Herman Miller Co. continued to increasingly produce bent metal furnishings designed by Rohde.
Although metal furniture was seen as innovative by the American public, American designers, such as Rohde, owed a great debt to their European counterparts during the decades between the two world wars. Some of the most copied modern tubular steel furniture designs belonged to Marcel Breuer, the avant-garde designer, and were originally created while he was at the Bauhaus, the German experimental design school, as early as 1925.
With the dissemination of European tubular steel designs to a wider world market and manufacturers producing their own interpretations of bent metal furniture, the originality and inventiveness of design had largely ended by the early years of the 1940s.
After World War II, profound changes in design and manufacturing moved the center of progressive development of metal furniture from Europe to the United States. Charles and Ray Eames, a husband and wife team of industrial designers, helped to develop new, and even more innovative, metal furniture designs for the Herman Miller Co. in the 1940s and 1950s. But with the increasing use of plastics for home furnishings the popularity of tubular metal declined - retaining its market only in the budget and office furnishing niche.
The first years of the 21st century have seen a re emergence of tubular steel and indeed cantilever chairs, such as the Sue and Daniela.
Leather Upholstery - A Terms Glossary
Aniline dyes - Aniline dyes are used on only the highest quality leathers. They are transparent and penetrate all the way through the thickness of the leather. The transparency allows the actual surface grain and markings of the natural leather to show.
Aniline leathers - Aniline leathers are those colored solely by aniline dyes. These transparent dyes leave the actual surface grain and such natural markings as wrinkles, bites and scars visible. Aniline leathers are the most natural and 'naked' and are therefore favored by leather lovers and purists the world over. No two aniline leathers are identical; each hide has its own characteristics. Aniline leathers are highly prized both for their luxurious softness and rich color. Because Aniline dyes do not coat the surface of the leather, they do leave it somewhat less protected than other dyes and treatments, As a result Aniline leathers are fairly vulnerable to spills and stains.
Semi-Aniline leathers - Semi-Aniline leathers are also colored by aniline dyes. As such the are also noted for their natural grain and softness. However semi-aniline leathers are treated with a clear sealant topcoat which has a slight sheen. This protective layer is thin enough that it does not obscure the grain, but serves to afford additional protection and color consistency. Semi-anilines are sometimes considered to be the best choice as they offer some degree of protection while still retaining the softness and natural character and beauty of the leather.
For Example: The Aniline Leather Barcelona Chair From Alphaville
Corrected leather or Embossed leather - Corrected leather or Embossed leather has been stamped to apply an even texture, simulating the grain of leather, but without the naturally uneven markings of uncorrected leathers (removes wrinkles, bites and scars). This allows leathers with too many markings to be corrected, making them more saleable, and also addresses a growing market for uniformity and consistency. Corrected leathers are often but not always lower in price than uncorrected leathers.
For Example: The Lily Leather Dining Chairs
Full grain leather - Full grain leather has not been corrected. The actual grain of the leather is intact. Only higher quality leathers with few imperfections can be used for this.
For Example: The Full Grain Italian Leather Barcelona Chair From Alphaville
Leather/Vinyl Combination - Leather/Vinyl Combination is a frame that combines a protected leather on the seat, back cushion and arms, with a matched vinyl on the back and sides for a sometimes significant price reduction. This allows for a genuine leather feel where you tend to come in contact with the chair or sofa. The matching of the vinyl has been greatly refined over the years, so that today they are extremely accurate - to the extent that differences are difficult to dicern at all. Furthermore the strengh of vinyl makes furniture more durable than ever.
Top-grain leather - Top-grain leather is the top layer of the hide. Top grains are the highest quality, most expensive and the strongest.
Waxed Anilines - Waxed Anilines are when waxes and oils are applied over aniline dyed leather for a rugged look. Waxed anilines patina beautifully and the wax adds a higher degree of protection than found in a pure aniline leather. Waxed leathers and Oil pull-up leathers often accumulate surface scuff marks that can be taken out, but are not recommended for people who are bothered by these marks.
Protected leathers or Pigmented leathers - Protected leathers or Pigmented leathers are aniline dyed hides that have a pigmented topcoat. The topcoat increases the leather's durability and color consistency, but also increases the stiffness a bit. People who like their leather furniture uniform and perfect as well as people who want more protection will enjoy this type of leather.
Specialty leathers - Specialty leathers are embossed (stamped) and /or pigmented to create a dramatic effect. For example, leather can be embossed and colored to simulate alligator or ostrich skin.
For Example: The Faux Ostrich skin leather bar stool from www.BarBazar.com
Nubuck or Buffed leathers - Nubuck or Buffed leathers are pure aniline hides which are buff brushed (sanded) for a slight nap effect. Not to be confused with suedes, Nubucks are top grain leathers and are much more serviceable and durable than suedes. Nubuck leathers are known for their sensuous appearance and soft feel, similar to velvet. The buffing removes the epidermis or hair cell layer making the leather soft but also vulnerable to spills and stains. This leather is recommended for accent pieces or living rooms where care is taken to preserve the leather.
For Example: The Nano 3 Seat and Sectional sofas in outrageously beautiful Grade 6 buffed leather.
Hand - Hand is the degree of softness and natural feel that the leather has.
Patina - Patina is the desirable and natural aging effect or breaking-in of the leather that deepens its color and softness. It also highlights the natural grain of the leather. Patina happens most noticeably in aniline and waxed aniline leathers.
A transcript from the BBC archives interviews with Marcel Breuer
Early Work Experience:
I find that I am too intellectual. I was always a good student and so on, too intellectual, too soft and so on and I should have a demanding, normal metier where I make my living like any other man makes his living. This is what I miss. The other thing I like, I do and this is what I cannot do and then she told me she has, that the family has an old friend, an architect Bollack, a young architect who probably could take me as a volunteer, and he has also a cabinet making shop and I could probably try to work there and get some practical knowledge of life. And that is what I did. This Bollack was a nice man, a very nice man. He took me on. He was very impressed with my drawings. and then I asked him to let me work on the shop in the cabinet making shop and that was run by his brother. ...His brother was a perfectly nice guy, a little bit short, a little bit rough, a little bit tough. He didn't like to explain things, so the first day i went there he put a a piece of wood into the bench, you know you span it into the bench. He gave me a plane, a hand plane and said "Plane this", and went off and I tried to plane it, I had seen how the others did it, and I tried to do the same thing.
How he heard about the Bauhaus School:
MB: And at that time, another boy much older than I am, about eight years older, who lived in Germany before and was an architect and started to work with Gropius in (his) private office.
Interviewer: How did he happen to know Gropius?
MB: I don't know - Griopius was known in Germany
Interviewer: In Vienna too?
MB: No I don't think in Vienna, but in Germany. And the Bauhaus was just founded the year before. and this first prospectus of the Bauhaus (1919) - which was a sheet folded to four pages which has this (Lyonel) Feininger (wood) cut on the front and he sent me, this boy, learned from my parents that I am in Vienna and I am not very happy there and sent me this catalog which didn't say much. But it was enough for me, this woodcut, and then the slogan - 'Tzurig Zum Handwerk' 'Back to the Craft' which is just what I did.
Moving to Vienna:
Well before I left home I sold everything, and my father gave me some money, not very much. So I had altogether a think about 3000 I sold my violin and my stamp collection. I gave my violin to the Romanian girl. I had about 2000 crowns. and that was in my pocket. and that was at that time the first galloping inflation, so in Vienna in four weeks this money was practically worthless. but it was still enough to get me a fourth class ticket to Germany. and I remember on that train, which was a little better than the trains which took me to Vienna. I had a little table under the window, a folding table. and (I remember that) I slept there in the night and my hair froze to the window.
Admission to the Bauhaus School:
As a student. This was my only approach to academia. I was 18 and I didn't know anything and I went up to this class and asked for written, I had to wait for a man and then he came out and I didn't tell him anything, it was obvious what I want and he took this folder and also this book which I still have, you know these little drawings, and he went through them this way, (murmurs as if assessing something - to imitate the Bauhaus teacher) he was a very arrogant man, in the first moment I had antipathy for him, for who a kind of importance tactic, and he looked over just like, it wasn't that I was no good, and (the tactic didn't work) ..., but just the same that was the reaction, and he said "Alright", and that was that, I was a Bauhausler.
Life at the Bauhaus School:
The third one, when I left this room, I see on the door a piece of paper with three names on it, My name was on it, and I didn't know what that means, who can I aks now? how can I find out? So I ask the next guy, who was next to me, "what does that mean?", (and I said) somthing stuttered, but he understood what I meant. He said something like... there's a name for it, (you are the monitor) "you are the man who on that week has to keep order in the classroom". I said I don't understand, and he has seen that I don't understand much, so he said, "take a brush and sweep the floor". and I said, "What is a broom?"I din't know... He said "here, that's a broom". there was a broom there. That was (Alfred) Arndt.
Passport Troubles:
I made immediate preparation to leave in the afternoon. It was the morning, and I was to leave in the afternoon for Weimar. Then it took me one week to get to Weimar because I had serbish identification paper with which I came to Vienna. and that was Serbish, I didn't understand Serbish. and it said, that paper said - 'This paper is just an identifiacation, just good for Vienna, and for nowhere else, and is valid I think four weeks or something - maybe for three months. and I went with this paper to the Austrian authorities.. to get me a paper to get to Germany. and he said well your paper is only good for Austria, go to the Serbs, maybe they will give you a paper. The Serbs said alright we have to send that paper to Belgrade. I know enough about after war conditions, that if I send something to Belgrade then, you either never see it again or you see it in a year, so I was stuck there. Then I went to the Hungarian authorities and I said I am a hungarian ocupied by the Serbs I would like to go to Germany, help me. they said we can not help you because you are occupied by the Serbs. Either the Serbs or the Austrians can do something about it. Then I went to the Austrian authorities, "I am here in Vienna, I would like to go to Weimar. how do I do that?". and I showed them this catalog, (artist portfolio) and the austrians are so Gemutlich (kind), and they said "Ah look at this, what is this, it is a futuristic painting here", and they joked with me, and I said and so I went from one office to another office, back and forth, and again, back and forth to another office, standing in line for one week, it was a full time job. I went also to the hotel Hapsburg, because they told me that at the Hotel Hapsburg you can buy a password which is good for Germany, and I went to Hotel Hapsburg, and asked a head waiter, not hotel, cafe Hapsburg, and he said Mr so and so, I don't know what his name was, then then this man came, and he said he could do it, now he needs my Serb papers and so and so much money.
Then one day I got news from the Hungarian authories that they gave me a passport and from the Austrian authorities that they gave me a passport, on the same day. So Before I had nothing, suddenly I had two passports. so I was thinking which one shall I use, for Germany I thought probably the Austrian is more understandable in Germany.
Rugs - Care and Cleaning
Vacuuming
We can't stress it enough - vacuum, vacuum, vacuum! Area rugs receive a lot of abuse from dirt, sand, dust, oily cooking residue, various spills and foot traffic. Vacuuming an area rug with a good machine will go a long way towards prolonging the appearance and life of your carpet. Vacuuming is the primary defense against dry soils that can quickly build on area rugs.
Cut pile area rugs:
The cut pile area rugs are well constructed and durable. A vacuum with a rotating beater bar to agitate the area rug pile and strong suction to remove loose particles is well tolerated by our area rugs. If your vacuum does not have a beater bar, it may remove surface dirt well but may leave imbedded soil that can damage area rugs through abrasion.
Area rugs with looped textures:
To avoid damaging the loops, vacuum regularly with suction and avoid using the beater bar.
Area Rug Stain Removal
Accidents happen. If an area rug becomes spotted or stained, work quickly. When possible, scoop up solids and blot liquids immediately after a spill occurs. Absorb as much liquid as possible with a white cloth or paper towel without scrubbing the area to prevent matting or fuzzing. Methods of Cleaning Various Area Rug Fibers.The type of fiber in your area rug should be the primary consideration in selecting a cleaning method. The majority of area rugs manufactured with synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon and acrylic and may be cleaned with most cleaning methods, but we have listed three accepted methods for cleaning synthetic fiber area rugs.
Natural fibers may require additional consideration before cleaning.
Do not use oxygen cleaners on wool or silk.
Wool - Excessive agitation and heat should be avoided, but generally wool fibers may be cleaned with most cleaning methods. Wool should be cleaned with neutral detergents and dried quickly. Use special care around household cleaning products, as bleaches and other alkaline products such as bathroom cleaners easily damage wool.
Cotton/Rayon - Cotton and rayon are cellulose fibers and may be cleaned using all cleaning methods. To avoid shrinking and possible browning, avoid excessive drying and agitation. As with wool, take care with alkaline products.
Silk - Silk should be cleaned using a dry cleaning process. These fibers may be damaged by natural and synthetic acids (e.g. lemon juice), and sunlight. Consult a rug cleaning specialist for additional information about cleaning silk.
Sisal and Other Plant Fibers - Plant fibers such as sisal, jute, coconut (coir), ramie, and hemp have characteristics similar to cotton. It is generally safe to clean these fibers with all cleaning methods. As with any fiber, dry the area rug as quickly as possible.
Area Rug Cleaning Chart
Instructions: Start with the first cleaning method in the far left column. If the first method doesn't work, proceed to Step 2, etc. Be sure to reference the Methods of Cleaning Various Area Rug Fibers to avoid a product that may damage your area rug, and to improve your chances of stain removal. Solid Food, Other Organic Stains
Solid Food, Other Organic Stains.
| Step | Butter | Chewing Gum | Chocolate | Egg | Ketchup | Mustard | Blood | Urine (fresh) | Urine (old) | Vomit |
| 1 | D | E | B | B | G | B | A | A | B | B |
| 2 | B | D | C | - | B | - | B | B | C | - |
| 3 | - | - | F | - | - | - | - | - | F | - |
Liquid Food Stains
>
| Step | Alcoholic Beverages | Coffee | Colas and soft drinks | Cooking Oils | Fruit Juice | Milk | Tea | Wine |
| 1 | A | A | G | D | A | G | A | K |
| 2 | B | B | B | B | B | D | B | A |
| 3 | - | D | - | - | - | B | D | B |
Household Cleaners, Waxy, Oily Substances
| Step | Bleach | Candle Wax | Floor wax | Furniture polish | Lipstick | Oil and Grease | Shoe Polish | Soot | Tar |
| 1 | A | E | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| 2 | C | D | - | B | B | B | B | B | - |
| 3 | - | - | - | C | - | - | - | C | - |
Inks, Paints, Rust Stains
| Step | Ink (fountain pen) | Ink (ball point) | Felt tip pen | Nail Polish | Latex Paint | Oil Paint | Rust |
| 1 | A | D | G | H | B | I | D |
| 2 | B | I | B | D | C | D | B |
| 3 | - | B | H | - | D | B | A |
Modern and Contemporary - What's the difference?
The first glimmerings of a modern European design, appeared in the decades leading up to the second world war. Germany's Bauhaus school of design saw the birth of this form of Modern. Inspired by a brave new world of social reform, and by a huge range of new technologies and materials - their designs were courageously simple in a world of Baroque ornament. But most of all they emphasized utilitarian function, and affordable style.
In the strictest sense of the term 'Modern Classics' relate specifically to the works of this era, and perhaps even the students and professors of this school. Seeking a broader definition though it is quickly apparent that the spirit of Bauhaus lived on long after the school was closed and many of its members sought to escape from Germany during the war era.
The professors and the students moved on to practice and teach elsewhere, many traveled to the US seeking refuge and fortune, and in so doing their unique perspectives were spread far and wide. Their designs became the inspiration of a generation (or perhaps several generations) of designers the world over. Mies Van der Rohe and Le Corbusier are two of the best known leaders of the Modern Classics movement to move to the US, brining with them fabulous and inspirational new ideas.
The most iconic of the Modern Classic Furniture:
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| Wassily Chair | Eames Lounge Chair |
However this is not the end of the story of Modern Furniture Design, but rather it is the beginning. The journey between Modern and Contemporary is long and quite literally growing by the day. The intervening years have seen just as much innovation in both stylistic development and of course in technology and available materials.
Modern Classics Continued
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| Baha Modern Rocking Chair | Coco Modern Classic Chair | Egg Chair |
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| Arturo Lounge Chair | Orbit Ball Lounge Chair |
The Bauhaus designers were most certainly inspired by primitive cultures and their simple and beautiful designs, but perhaps their greatest legacy in this regard is that they opened a door to exploration and use of stylistic forms from far away cultures and countries: ( most notably Africa Japan and India). In the years that have followed this door remains. Indeed our technological revolution has given almost the whole human race access to the world of 'the other', the foreign and the new.
Mid century Modern designers such as Japanese form with modern function and materials, for an American audience. In recent years though we have seen a truly artful blending of styles from multiple cultures. A single design might draw from Japanese purity, Scandinavian simplicity, French Art Nouveau and Italian sophistication. If done well, (and this is by no means an easy task), the results can be quite electrifying. We see other examples such as the synthesis of African contrast and pattern, with modern materials, and almost oriental elegance is surely a sight to behold.
Just as valid and beautiful we also find the influence of traditional and well loved western European and early American furniture, emerging within this flow of creativity. Most notably we see the influence of the Shakers and Amish in vividly modern forms. For example the influence of an old farmhouse table, seen in the design of a sleek ultra modern almost Scandinavian design, is unmistakable, and the fact that it might be manufactured in Portugal, of Indonesian wood, and finds its primary market in the United States seems only to reinforce the impression that our world is getting smaller, and yet more exciting and diverse by the day.
Contemporary Furniture Design:
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| Manapola Lounge Chair | Ekstem Lounge Chair | Folded Lazy Acrylic Chair |
Modern Furniture
Lets begin by defining what we mean by - Modern Furniture
One way to define it is by saying what it is not: Modern furniture was a tremendous departure from all furniture design that had gone before it.
The use of new materials, such as steel in its many forms; moulded plywood, such as that used by Charles and Ray Eames; and of course plastics, were pioneering, even shocking in contrast to everything else that was then known.
Dark carved wood and richely patterned fabrics gave way to the glittering simplicity and geometry of polished metal.
Before these new designs emerged, furniture had a sense of visual weight. Modern furniture produced one of visual lightness.
Before there was an emphasis on furniture as ornament, now the emphasis shifted to function and accessibility.
Before furniture was intended to convey an idea of permanence, a connection with tradition and history, the modern furniture movement rang the changes in more ways than one, these stunningly different forms spoke of newness, of technological innovation, of the present and the future.
Before there was an aesthetic preference for the baroque and the complex. The length of time a piece took to create was a measure of its value and desirability. Later an appreciation for simplicity and accessibility developed, greatly expanding the scope of what might be considered valuable and desirable.
So modern furniture is defined by its visual lightness and simplicity, by its materials, by its newness and its innovative nature. Examples are too numerous to list, but include the Bertoia wire chairs, the Le Corbusier chaise lounge, the Isamu Noguchi coffee table and the Eileen Gray side table to name just a very few.
Chronologically the design movement that produced modern furnture design, began earlier than one might imagine. Many of its most recognizable personalities were born at the end of the 19th or the very beginning of the 20th centuries. These, now famous designers were teaching and studying in Germany and elsewhere in the 1920s and 30s. The furniture that was produced during this era is today known as Modern Classic Furniture.
For example the Barcelona Chair was designed in 1929, the Eileen Gray Side table in 1927, and the Le Corbusier / Perriand LC2 Grand Comfort and B306 chaise were designed in 1928.
Obviously not all furniture produced since this time is modern, for there is still a tremendous amount of traditional design being reproduced for today's market and then of course there is also an entire breed of design which sits between the two, and is refered to as transitional design. Neither entirely modern or traditional, transitional design seeks to blend elements of both, some leaning more towards the contemporary and others more towards older styles.
Today contemporary furniture designers and manufacturers continue to evolve design. Still seeking new materials, with which to produce unique forms, still employing simplicity and lightness of form, in preference to heavy ornament. And most of all they are still endeavoring to step beyond what has gone before to create entirely new visual experiences for us.
The designs that prompted this paradign shift, were produced in the middle of the 20th century, most of them well before 1960. And yet they are still regarded internationally as symbols of the modern age, the present, and perhaps even the future. Modern Classic Furniture became an icon of elegance and sophistication.
Blog Posts for Tuesday 07 April, 2009
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