Friday Favorites 5/11/2012

Paula M. Bodah, Senior Editor
Bright colors–turquoise, orange and purple in shades from lilac to eggplant–figure big in interior design palettes for 2012, but classic black-and-white will never go out of style. In fact, against a backdrop of vibrant color, one of the pieces below would make a dramatic focal point.

A classic floral-print makes a chic statement in a chair by Linda Lane for Jessica Charles.

Photo courtesy of Jessica Charles

The St. James tufted high-back chair from Hancock & Moore, an updated interpretation of a King James–era piece, is bold and dramatic with its zebra-stripe hide leather back and sides and plush cream leather seat.

Photo courtesy of Hancock & Moore

Cheryl Katz, Contributing Editor
Meandering through New York’s Lower East Side is one of my favorite pastimes. Maybe it’s because I imagine my grandparents wandering down the very same streets, stopping to look in the very same shop windows or the very same storefronts as I do. But while they ogled the bakeries and appetizing arrays of delicacies reminiscent of their homeland, I am ogling clothing shops and home stores in search of something I’ve never seen before.

Top Hat, an inevitable stop whenever I have the time, is just that. It’s a charming, tiny shop on Broome Street, nestled between Ludlow and Orchard streets, that showcases highly edited and well-curated items. On a recent visit, I couldn’t resist these postcards, which come with a gold-tipped needle and red thread so you can chart your own course–whether familiar or far–while keeping the folks back home apprised of your travels.

Photo courtesy of Sweet Bella

Kyle Hoepner, Editor-in-Chief
This past Sunday was the SoWa Art Walk here in Boston, and I actually managed to grab a few leisure hours to saunter around the neighborhood (incidentally enjoying the stellar weather) and check out what some of New England Home‘s creative neighbors have been up to. Here are a few things our design-savvy readers might want to know about…

Lovely, bright white openwork porcelain by ceramic artist Isabelle Abramson. Some pieces, such as this “woven rope†bowl, are so delicate that it’s hard to imagine how they survived their trip through the kiln.

Woven Rope Bowl. Photo courtesy of Isabelle Abramson

Photographer Yorgos Efthymiadis distills striking two-dimensional images from striking three-dimensional spaces–often stairwells–by prominent architects.

Wilson Hall, Chicago. Photo courtesy of Yorgos Efthymiadis

Textile designer Seema Krish, newly returned from a visit to her printing and embroidery workroom in India, gave me an unofficial introduction to her new fabric line (available soon at a design center near you). It combines a beautifully textured, handworked quality with a dash of cosmopolitan shine.

New fabric designs by Seema Krish

And I was especially pleased to see new work–such as this cross-stitched mirror–from Debra Folz, one of our 5 Under 40 award winners in 2011, as she prepares for her upcoming debut at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York.

“Sight,†mirrored stainless steel, painted plywood backing, and nylon embroidery thread. Photo courtesy of Debra Folz