Saturday Shopping.

Be sure and check out our picks for this week's 1stdibs Saturday Shopping. We always love scouring this incredible resource for "The Most Beautiful Things on Earth" and this weekend we've assembled a few of our favorite things from their latest offerings. Enjoy your shopping! You can see the entire collection here.

Knot Messin' Around.

We've known Dana Barnes for some time now and consider her a dear friend. That's what makes it even more exciting that this fellow southerner exhibited her newest body of work "Unspun: tangled and fused" last night at Ralph Pucci's here in New York. The new collection explores the textile and the texural, the knotting and netting of raw fibers to conjure the warm and sticky Southern lilting of a languid summer afternoon. Imagining the front porch vistas of her childhood, Barnes' large-scale pieces suggest thick crop fields, scattered bales of rolled hay, grazed hills and meadows, oak trees entwined with Spanish moss. Perhaps that's why we got so wound up about these familiar themes re-contextualized in a modern urban setting.

Pulling from ancient techniques, such as basket coiling, rug braiding, crocheting, knotting, needlepoint and cross-stitch, the work is imbued with the natural imperfections of raw materials and handmade objects, and the playful simplicity of camp craft projects that belie the complexities of their construction.

The neutral palette and muted hues give the work a rough-hewn organic stillness, while underscoring the richness of material and craft. We can't say enough about Dana's work and strongly encourage you to try and see it in person. To learn more about this incredible talent click here.

The Stereo Lounge.

We recently had the honor of participating in this year's Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse. We always enjoy being a part of these events, because it not only allows you total creative flexibility it usually has a fantastic cause associated with it. In this particular case, the showhouse helps raise money for the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club here in New York City (in fact...this annual event has raised over 17 million dollars since it's inception back in 1973).

For this particular project we were given one half of the penthouse to do with whatever we like. The space had great proportions and fantastic light. Our visceral reaction was that the room had a festive feel to it and we could imagine it as an area people would naturally gravitate towards. This led us to the thought of designing a room that involved some sort of social activity. We've always been passionate about music so we decided to create a tribute to the turntable, and design a "Stereo Lounge" to showcase this melodic icon. We liked the idea of vinyl records being played as the centerpiece of the room, with speakers lining the walls that become almost architectural. In addition we wanted to celebrate the art of craftsmanship and incorporated several elements that were made by hand. We had a lot of fun with the concept as well as the execution and so far the response has been terrific! But we certainly couldn't have pulled this off on our own without the help of a talented group of individuals. We'd like to thank the following people for their time and effort as well as their incredible generosity:

Contractor: Taconic Builders
Painter: Robert Star
Wood for Custom Speaker Wall Panels: LV Wood

Millwork: Minzner
Decorative Painting: See Painting
Sofas: BDDW
Coffee Table: BDDW
Rug: Stark Carpet
Hanging Light Fixture: Akari Lighting
Cowhide Rugs and Leather Pillows: Moore and Giles Leather
Drapery Fabric: Schumacher
Drapery Production: Martin Albert
Decorative Book Shelving: Chris Lehrecke
Pottery: Weinberg Modern
Leather Chair and Ottoman by Max Gottschalk: Weinberg Modern
Electrical: Apollo New York
Metal Work: Morgik Metal
Misc. Upholstery: Prestige Upholstery
Mongolian Lamb covered Stools: Brad Ford ID
Alpaca Throws: D. Bryant Archie Textiles
Audio Visual: Info@eeny.net

The showhouse is full of amazing talent and there's still two weeks left to stop by and check it out and support this wonderful cause. You can learn more about tickets, address, hours of operation, etc. by clicking here and also get a sneak preview of what you'll see by clicking here for a great review from the New York Times. Enjoy. (3rd and 4th photos above by Trevor Tondro, all others by Nick Johnson)

Mr. BIG.

Last week we were in Copenhagen as part of a Design Leadership Summit and had the pleasure of meeting Bjarke Ingels from BIG architects. Bjarke Ingels Group – BIG – is a Copenhagen based group of 85 architects, designers, builders and thinkers operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research and development. We got a sneak preview of an exciting project they're currently working on here in New York that will be located on 57th Street and the Westside Highway. This building is not only innovative and impressive but it's going to drastically change the skyline of New York. The photos above are great, but it's the video that follows that really captures the spirit of what this new building will bring to the city. Ingels is an incredible speaker and very forward in his thinking. We couldn't help being inspired by his words and in awe of this latest Starchitect. We strongly encourage you to try and see him here in New York on July 27th at the Scandinavia House where he will be giving a presentation called Next Urbanism. We can assure you you won't leave disappointed. To find out more and get tickets click here.