Friday Favorites 11/11/2011

Karin Lidbeck Brent, Contributing Editor
Last month, on a road trip to Maine, I discovered the magical town of Camden, a quaint seaside village loaded with fabulous shops and restaurants set around a charming harbor.

Exploring the bustling streets was exciting enough, but my enthusiasm was heightened further when I entered Jo Ellen Designs. The shop–a large, airy space filled with a creative selection of home goods and accessories–also displayed walls covered with striking rugs, one design more fantastic than the next. I had discovered Jo Ellen, a textile designer who specializes in hand-hooked 100% wool rugs. Jo Ellen’s store is a worthy destination, as is Camden itself. But if coastal Maine is not on your radar this month, her Web site, with online shopping, is easy to get to.

Paula M. Bodah, Senior Editor
I missed my true calling by being born too late. If there were any justice in the universe, I’d have been one of those glamorous stars of Hollywood in the pre–World War II years. No matter that I can’t sing, dance or act–I’m sure I’d be Oscar-worthy at lounging about in an ermine-trimmed satin robe and feathered mules. Maybe I can make up for fate’s mistake by surrounding myself with Arhaus‘s glamorous new Isla collection of mirrored furniture. When Arhaus introduced its three-drawer chest a few years ago, mirrored furniture was re-emerging as a bit of a trend. Now, it seems, the trend has grown into a full-fledged rage, and the company has brought out a group of new pieces as companions to the chest. Any one of these would add just the touch of glitz I need to satisfy my inner celebrity.

The original Isla chest; photos courtesy of Arhaus

A graceful two-over-four-drawer dresser

The lingerie chest would make a perfect home for those lacy little things in every star’s wardrobe

The nightstand–a worthy spot for my box of bonbons

Nesting tables (27.75 and 22 inches in diameter) are a little bit of bling

Kyle Hoepner, Editor-in-Chief
My post yesterday was about a wonderful multiplicity of ikat patterns. Here are two more fabrics that, it seems to me, take the ikat idea and run with it.

From the Lelièvre collection at Stark:

Orchis in celadon; photo courtesy of Stark

A damask pattern executed in ikat-like outlines, from Victoria Hagan:

Marianne in charcoal; photo courtesy of Victoria Hagan Home Collection