Mrs. B at AD – All Wright

January 3, 2013UncategorizedOn AssignmentMrs. Blandings

Last month I attended the Italian Masterworks and Important Design auctions at Wright in Chicago. As I anticipated it was something of an adventure, at least for someone like me who loves picking the brains of creative people about process. Richard Wright and I talked uncharted career paths, modern design, living with young sons and the impossibility of the Death Star Lego set.

As these things sometimes do, being there made me want dip into their world a little bit. As I watched Mr. Wright’s associates take bids over the phone, I wanted to feel the receiver pressed to my ear, hear the excitement, or frustration, of the collector yearning to capture his heart’s desire.

You can read the piece at ArchitecturalDigest.com here.

Photo courtesy of Wright.

Diamond Jubilee

December 28, 2012UncategorizedProductMrs. Blandings

We saw Anna Karenina last night and while I did not want her to throw herself under a train in general, I knew that she would and I found myself wishing she might do it a little sooner. Keira Knightly’s jewelry by Chanel, did keep me interested throughout and I was clicking around trying to find those remarkable diamond and pearl earrings today. No luck. But, as sometimes happens, I stumbled across something equally delicious. Chanel’s site features a video of the design and fabrication of the most remarkable necklace. Four and half minutes – well worth every second. Here.

The Last Place You Look

December 19, 2012UncategorizedVintage DesignMrs. Blandings

Well, of course it’s the last place you look, the old saw goes, as why would you keep looking once you’ve found it? One could assume, perhaps, that what the saying should be is that it’s the last place you’d think to look. And then you did. And there it was.

Such was the case as I was pouring over the the Wright catalogue for Italian Masterworks. Having a weakness for dark hair, dark eyes and carbs, all things Italian tend to appeal and the contents of this catalogue were no exceptions. It was a pleasant surprise to find this image of Mr. Ponti’s Distex lounge chair in such inspiring surroundings.

I’ve picked up some graphic, rather geometric, art lately. I thought it might be just the thing for the family room, but it just hasn’t felt quite right. Finding these pictures all framed in white on a neutral wall made everything clear. More (when isn’t this the case with me?), all framed white. Right? Wright. Grazie mille, Signore.

Dim Some

December 16, 2012UncategorizedProductMrs. Blandings

I have done my fair share of Restoration Hardware bashing, but I have always mentioned that I do, really, like their lighting and hardware. I do. And, so, in the interest of fair coverage, I mention how much I’m enjoying the Library Swing-Arm Sconce. She was easy to install, solid and swivels nicely. She does everything I thought she’d do. I was doubly delighted to find that handsome knob, which makes a subtle “click” at “on” and “off,” is also a dimmer switch. This is the sort of detail that makes my heart explode in a burst of love at first light, like finding Winnie-the-Pooh on someone’s grown-up bookshelf.

Library Swing-Arm Sconce at Restoration Hardware here.

Obviously, RH did not compensate me in any way. And, no, I did not iron my bedding as I have two deadlines and three children in three different sports and it’s a week before Christmas. Get over it.

The Wright Stuff

December 12, 2012UncategorizedResourcesMrs. Blandings

My father was a photographer for CBS and I can remember when I was little his coming home and telling me about the story he had worked on that day. Civil Rights marches and nuclear protests and sometimes really good things like an antique dealer in New Orleans who told him that he never wore socks or underwear. “He wasn’t wearing any socks,” my father smiled as he wove the tale of the gentleman’s second career. (I do not remember the dealer’s original occupation, but at the time the idea of not wearing underwear must have seemed significant.)

It was the stories of these people’s lives that made me want to go into journalism. The idea that one’s job could entail learning something new every single day seemed wonderful. He told me loads of the most unwonderful things about the business, but they did not seem to outweigh the excitement.

I am off to Chicago today to preview and attend the Wright Important Design Auction in Chicago. I am off on an adventure.

You can view the lots here. Image, via Wright20.com, is a detail of a Jean Royere Jet d’Eau floor lamp. She is elegant and unexpected; a most terrific combination. Photography, Ross Floyd.