Stracka Interiors

An artist inspired by his home, his family, and his history: an Interview with Robert Kuo

2009-08-28T14:14:00.006-04:00

“I like to see the same particular design translated in different mediums and forms.”

Top-of-the-line furniture designer, Robert Kuo, organically welds traditional Chinese inspiration with a sleek modern interpretation. Born in Beijing, Kuo now calls both West Hollywood and New York City home. Kuo had no formal training in the arts, but grew up working with his father, a watercolor painter. Kuo’s previous passion in cloisonné (an ancient glass and metal-working technique) is put to new use in the intricate metal work found in his designs. His works not only feature ancient Chinese inspiration, but also exhibit Kuo’s love for Art Nouveau and Art Deco, which give his furniture a fun, modern twist.

Kuo’s work has gained a stamp of approval from world-class hotels and museums. His pieces can be found in places from the Smithsonian and National History Museum in Taipei to exclusive hotels like the Singapore Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco's Hotel Palomar, Las Vegas MGM Grand Villas and New York Four Seasons. Kuo’s furniture and accessories add a punch of understated sophistication and elegance. Robert Kuo was kind enough to answer some questions for us.

Nancy Stracka Interiors: I’ve read that you never had any formal art studies. Is this true? Do you think your work would be different if you had learned that way?

Robert Kuo: Yes, I did not formally pursue a fine art degree but my father was an artist and an art professor and so I was naturally surrounded by art and creativity in my environment. In my case, I think the lack of formal training allows for more creativity instead of defining or restricting it.

NSI: It seems that your father’s artwork inspired you from an early age, would you say that you‚re still drawing from that for inspiration today?

RK: Yes, but I draw inspiration from everything around me. My move to the United States especially influenced my work and continues to greatly inspire me.

NSI: I have also read that you draw inspiration from Chinese art and Art Nouveau, do you travel to get this inspiration? If so, where do you go? What is your favorite place to travel to?

RK: I find antiques, interesting exhibitions at museums/galleries and books are great sources for inspiration. I travel frequently to Beijing for work.

NSI: What else are you inspired by these days?

RK: My family, especially my grandsons. I am designing pieces with more rounded soft corners because of that inspiration.

NSI: Do you have different sources of inspiration for your accessories versus your cabinets, stools, and other furniture?

RK: Actually, I like to see the same, particular design translated in different mediums and forms.

NSI: What is the process you go through with a new design? How do you begin?

RK: I really don’t rely on a process. Sometimes, I will be inspired from an antique and begin formulating a design there. The inspiration behind the Repousse Copper bathtub that I designed for Ann Sacks, for instance, came from a Chinese antique ear cup. Also, the Repousse Copper Shang Chandelier was inspired from a Shang Dynasty, Chinese earring. Other times, the design will develop over years, like the Repousse Copper Snail……..did you know that snails in the States look different from ones in China?
Mostly though, I will do a quick sketch and execute the prototype in repousse copper.

NSI: You have a wide range of work that you do: metal, stone, wood, etc. Do you have a favorite material to work with?

RK: I love lacquer. The tactile feeling of lacquer is so luxurious and understated.

NSI: When it comes to the designs on your cabinets, such as the cloud design, how do you keep consistency? Is the carving free-hand or do you have some other method?

RK: I have different studios and each are dedicated to exclusively work on a particular pattern, so we can keep pretty consistent that way.

NSI: How do you work with metal? What tools do you use?

RK: I have a few different kinds of hammers that I use.

(two examples of the many types of repousse hammers from http://www.repoussetools.com/a_hammers/armour_hammer_page.htm)

NSI: Do you use different methods for larger pieces like cabinets versus smaller decorative pieces like your shells?

RK: No, I use the same methods, sometimes different hammers but it’s the same skills.

NSI: I’ve seen some of the tiles you’ve done for Ann Sacks, when you design those, do you visualize a whole floor/wall of them or do you focus on the look of the individual tile?

RK: I try to imagine them in both contexts. I want them to make their own statement by themselves but also look great with many of them together in a larger area.

NSI: When you design for Ann Sacks or other companies like McGuire, do you change your design process at all?

RK: It is generally the same process, I still draw inspiration from the sources I mentioned before, but I do keep in mind the look/identity of the company that I’m designing for.

NSI: How many people work at your company?

RK: I have 30 people working for me in the United States. In Beijing, we have 3 studios that work with repousse, 3 studios for lacquer, 1 studio for cloisonné, 1 studio for Peking glass, 1 studio for the crystal and 1 studio for carved stone.

NSI: Wow, that’s a lot of studios! What responsibilities do your employees take on? Do they do any of the artistic work?

RK: I design all of the collections, but the employees at the studios do much of the hand-work.

NSI: Do you find that you attract a particular kind of client?

RK: My clients are exemplary. They understand and appreciate the craftsmanship.

NSI: Do you have your clients in mind when you’re creating a new piece?

RK: I don’t necessarily have clients in mind when I design. I design because I am inspired and hope that my clients can share the same experience. I’m unable to design based on tastes and demands of the market.

NSI: Can you say something about the piece you have in the Smithsonian? Did you make it for the museum? If not, how did it end up there?

RK: The Goldfish Bowl was purchased by Robert Clague (prominent cloisonné collector and benefactor of the Museum) for the Smithsonian Sackler Freer Gallery.

NSI: Have you designed for any movie stars or other famous people?

RK: Yes…

NSI: What do you have in your own home? Is it all your own work?

RK: Yes but I don’t do upholstery, so I have to get that somewhere else.

NSI: What do you do in your spare time (if you have any)?

RK: Work and eat. I love to eat!

Robert Kuo's Locations:
8686 Melrose Ave
West Hollywood, CA
90069
Tel: 310 855 1555
Fax:310 855 1935

303 Spring Street
New York, NY
10013
Tel: 212 229 2020
Fax: 212 223 2011

Ferns and Furniture: an Interview with Eduardo Lizarraga of Furn & Co

2009-08-25T16:22:00.018-04:00

We were certainly not unfamiliar to Eduardo and Furn & Co. prior to our scheduled interview; so we were excited to sit down to learn more about this boutique showroom and the man behind it. When you walk into Furn & Co., you are drawn to the meticulous arrangements of furniture, with beautiful accessories discerningly spread throughout. Eduardo Lizarraga, the vivacious, yet humble founder, was somewhat surprised by the formality of our interview. Yet he did not hesitate to elaborate on the experiences he had both before and after he started Furn & Co. Eduardo’s answers had great personality and life, which are echoed in his effervescent showroom. In the interview Eduardo talked about his experiences, but was sure to stress the importance of the harmonious collaboration of “the team.”

Nancy Stracka Interiors: So, you started Furn & Co. in '98, what did you do before this?

Eduardo Lizarraga of Furn & Co.: Well I worked for several showrooms in the building. For a period of time, I was just designing showrooms, offering my services as a merchandiser. So I would spend a week in a showroom, turn it around, and it would look different. Basically it was not decorating but more like merchandising, to increase sales.

NSI: So what gave you the idea to start Furn & Co.?

EL: Well, I'm a set designer by trade. I went to school at Parson's, but I never really did much in that field. I worked for a production company years ago in New York doing photo shootings and things like that, but I came to Boston and decided to stay here. But I didn't have a clue what to do! So I came to the Boston Design Center and I got offered a job doing sales and displays and things like that. After that, I started my services as a merchandiser, freelancing for people here. Then in the 90s I got offered a job at Webster which was opening for the first time. So they hired me and I worked there for a while. Then I was hired by the Martin Group, and I worked there for about seven years. Then I decided to leave that company and open my own showroom.

NSI: How did you come up with the name Furn & Co?

EL: Now that's very interesting. When I left the Martin Group, it was because there used to be another showroom here in the building, and the woman that owned it offered me a partnership. So at that time I was like "well, maybe it's time for me to do my own thing" and after I had worked for so many people I said "well, I can do that!" So I quit my job at the Martin Group and went to this new job for a short period of time, and it didn't work out. Partnerships are like marriages; they either work very well, or they just don't work (laughs). So after I left there, this space was available in the building. So I said "let's do it, this is it!" And I signed a lease. Right after that, I went back to the factory that I was representing with that other company and they said "Eduardo, we can't go with you. We made a deal with the company, not you personally." So I freaked out like "Oh my God, I've already signed a lease, and I have nothing to sell and a lot to lose!" Anyhow, I descided to put on my best tie and go to California. I went from business to business and knocked on doors and came back with four or five different companies and that's how I started it. The

name, that was the question, where did I come up with the name? Well, Ferns, F-E-R-Ns, are the oldest plants on earth. It is the only plant on earth that came back after an atomic bomb in Japan. So it is a very resiliant plant, and I am inspired by that. I also happen to love ferns. I'm not into flowers but I love ferns, they're very exciting. And so I said "well, why don't we just name the company 'fern'?" And my friends said "hmm, it's going to sound like you're selling plants." I didn't want that, so I started playing with the word because I didn't want my name associated with the company because when you have a name it becomes like a trade mark or something. So I decided it had to be a word no more than four or five letters, a quick thing. So I thought what if i change the E for the U and it sounds like the abbreviation for furniture?

NSI: How clever!

EL: Yes because you still say "fern" but the F-U-R-N looks like furniture! That's how we came up with the name. The fact that I went through sort of hard times in getting here, I thought it was appropriate. And Julie liked it too. Julie worked with me at the Maritn Group so she knows the whole history of the company because I dragged her with me. She's been my right hand since the very beginning and here we are ten years later, still in business and very proud of ourselves because we're just very humble people, smart and harworking. I think another thing that is one of our strengths is that I learned from my experiences that the more help you provide to the designers, the better things work. Interior designers have a lot on their minds especially if they have two or three projects at the same time, so from a business perspective it can get confusing. So when a designer comes in and we notice that they need help, we love to do that. Because we are a small company, what they call a "boutique showroom", we are familiar in everything we do and everything we have, so it is easy for us to help the designers. we do it with taste. That's pretty much the way we operate. Customer service is very important, I have learned this from my own shopping experiece. When I go to shops and boutiques to buy things for our showroom, and there is someone there who is very helpful, I will buy from them, those are the places I will go back to.

NSI: Are you constantly buying new products?

EL: Yes, we are a very active showroom, we never repeat our accessories. Every season we are up to date on trends and styles. Our business is like a fashion business, we have to know what's going on. We have to be a year or year and a half ahead of the trends. Also what is very important is in our showroom, we try to create an exciting environment, like and exciting world so that when an interior designer walks in here, they feel inspired by little corners and textures and all of our displays. We try to be a place of inspiration.

NSI: Do you have to travel to get your own inspiration?

EL: Well, I don't have to, but I do (laughs).

NSI: Why not right?

EL: Yes yes, we do attend trunk shows in Las Vegas for example. Also in my travels I keep my eyes open because it's the only way we can find interesting and different accessories. All of the sources for new products in our industry are the same sources. Everyone goes to the same trade shows. Why? Because at these shows the whole world comes to expose their own things and new things so, that's where you go to find somehting. So yeah, I travel and purchase things and that gives our accessories their own sort of niche. You look around in our showroom and you see differnt things that when they go together they look good. We merchandise to make it easier for interior designers to make the right judgements when they purchase our products for their clients.

NSI: What is your favorite place to travel?

EL: I enjoy Europe very much.

NSI: How often to you get over there?

EL: About twice a year. At the end of this summer I'm going to France, so I'll be doing some shopping there.

NSI: Who is your favorite artist?

EL: Well, I have enormous admiration for this man who it very much an artist. He is a furniture designer named Vladimir Kagan. He was a huge name back in the 60s because he's the one who invented the concept of the kitten-shape sofa, you know those rounded things. He was the head of the trend at the time. I've always been inspired by that man, what he did was set the trademark style of the 60s. So I have a lot of favorite artists, but he is just fantastic.

NSI: So does your own home look anything like the showroom?

EL: Absolutely not! My own home is just a real comfortable and casual place. I've always been horrified at the idea of anyone photographing my home. I am a very private person. I have a dog, and my house is designed for dogs. You know, they have accidents everywhere so I have throws all over my furniture to protect it and my carpet is covered in stains. I live very casually.

NSI: So what do you do in your spare time?

EL: Well let's see, I love music, I love opera, I paint and do my drawings, things like that. When I go home, I need to separate myself from this world of my showroom.

NSI: Do you ever sell your artwork?

EL: No no, it's all private.

NSI: Where do you go to see music and opera?

EL: Well I go to New York sometimes, but I try to stay here because everything here is about half the price, you know. The local opera company is great. I love concerts too.

NSI: What is the most recent concert you've been to?

EL: Hmm, I went to a phenominal concert, it wasn't very recent but it was very memorable, one day I was reading the paper and I saw that they were going to have the first male soprano singing. So picture this guy with a high pitched voice, it was very impressive. Apparently he had an accident when he was a little kid and when they repaired his vocal chords, he could sing in soprano. He's a famous guy because he can take the roles in opera of children or boys which usually they leave for others who have more husky voices, more like a teenager boy. So that was great.

NSI: Back to the showroom, do you have any best-sellers?

EL: Well that's a mystery because sometimes I will find something and think it will sell right away and it wont, or I'll buy something that I'm not too sure about and it will sell as soon as we bring it in. So I've learned that I can't just rely on my personal taste, I have to ask what Julie thinks and what others think too. We function as a team because we have better ideas that way.

NSI: What is your favorite part of owning your own showroom?

EL: Well my favorite part is when things sell! (laughs) But I think one of the most rewarding parts is when the things that I've purchased arrive here and I get to unpack, it's very exciting and rewarding to see and hear good feedback. It's like "we're doing something right". So my favorite part is when I realize that whatever we're doing here is well-liked. And Nancy Stracka will go for the full range of things, she has very sophisticated taste as well so what I notice about her is that she always knows what she's looking for, she doesn't dilly-dally, which is very important for an interior designer.

(the team)

NSI: Do you have a favorite item that's in the showroom right now?

EL: Well, I do. I have a pair of obelisks by the door. I love them very much because I have never seen them that size before. Do you know the movie "Room with a View"? These people go on vacation to Italy, to Florence, and when they go to a museum, people used to bring back miniature things as souvenirs so there are a lot of mini-obelisks. That's what you see at antique shops mostly. So one day I saw those big ones and I was thinking "where did they come from?" Well most likely someone in the 60s designed them for a hotel or a restaurant, they're one of my favorite things. I found them very pretty.

NSI: So how many different companies do you represent here?

EL: About fifteen companies. When it comes to accessories, we don't represent them, we just buy them and sell them. But for companies for which I am the agent, I would say there are about fifteen.

As we wandered around the showroom, we saw what Eduardo meant about trying to be a place of inspiration. Each corner had its own character. You could almost see the people that will one day be sitting on the chairs and at the tables. The photography below gives a taste of the overall feel of the showroom, but cannot capture the ambiance of being surrounded by it.

Furn&Co
Boston Design Center
One Design Center Place
Suite 332
Boston, MA 02210

email: furnco@concentric.net
Office: 617 342 1500
Fax: 617 439 9898

Chinoiserie, Embroidery, and British Charisma: An Interview with Benjamin Disney of Fromental

2009-08-25T09:28:00.053-04:00

When we walked into the Boston Design Center today, we were not sure  what to expect from this impromptu interview. We were joined by Nancy  Stracka herself as we sat around a table in the Webster showroom. When  we were introduced to Benjamin, we could sense his gregarious  personality right away. Though he denies having any salesman skills, he won us over with his Aussie accent that had overtones of British charm.  This comes as no shock considering he is in charge of “new business development” for Fromental, and he is basically "the face" of the company.

Fromental is a small London based company that makes hand-painted  wallpaper. It was started in 2004 by a married couple, Tim Butcher and  Lizzie Deshayes. Quickly the team added David Jones, and Benjamin and  Rachel Disney. Benjamin perfectly describes the company as a “family.” With him he brought a book of samples from all the company's  collections, as well as some panels of the newest designs added to the  collections, which can be described as nothing less than art. These  exquisite wall coverings have no repeating patterns, and are all custom  painted by masters trained in chinoiserie in China. As Benjamin tells  us, they pretty much sell themselves. Here is what he had to say to us…

Benjamin Disney of Fromental: So, to begin with, we are four and a half years old. We are a very young company. It was started by a husband and wife team called Tim Butcher and Lizzie Deshayes. They respectively were the creative and artistic directors at de Gournay for about seven years. So they have a seven year grounding in wallpaper and constantly traveling to china to work with the artists to develop it. They started this company because they wanted to basically express a lot more contemporary designs rather than just the traditional chinoiserie aspect of things. And they started with the first collection, the 20th century collection, then they moved back into the chinoiserie realm because they had a lot of old clients asking for it from them. But again, they took a contemporary approach into the colors, into the actual designs themselves. Although, chinoiserie is still quite a traditional art form and the artists that come and work for us are actually now studying a lot of different disciplines as well as doing these non-repeating murals that they’ve been doing for centuries. So, we’ll go through these quickly. (He opens the book and we all lean in to examine the amazing detail painted on the silk) As I said these panels are all hand-painted and all non-repeating, so if you need seventeen panels we will do seventeen unique panels for you. Everything is made to fit each individual space, so we need elevations and such to allow us to give you a quote as well as create a black and white image like that which shows the layout and composition. It doesn’t necessarily reflect the actual design itself in-situ because it’s black and white and because of that, it’s hard for a client to get his head around how it’s going to look on the walls. So it’s more of a design tool than anything else. So again, we’ve got most of our work on silk, but we can do this European paper as well with a matte sort of painted background. The paper definitely simplifies the installation process versus the silk.

Nancy Stracka Interiors: What type of paint do you use?

BD: Well it’s an emulsion-based paint. This actually has quite a lot of elastic properties because it needs to be rolled up and not crack. So the paint is quite elastic and when it’s applied on the walls, it actually does stretch slightly when it goes up. You can’t just get any “Joe Decorator” to slap it up on the wall. The silk is quite unforgiving. Any sort of mistake and the silk will either fall apart or crack and do what it does. (He flips through some more pages with us in silent awe) These dye lots have changed over the years. Silk is a natural product and you will get color variation between dye lots and sometimes even within the same dye lot. It comes down to the chemical composition of the dyes used at the time. Nine times out of ten, you can’t tell because of the design that the eye is drawn to, but occasionally it is noticeable. (We look through more pages in silence except for the occasional gasp or whisper like “that’s so beautiful”. Nancy, as a former fabric designer has an understanding and appreciation for all of this that is deeper than ours or just about anyone else. The level of her amazement at these samples should be enough to convince anybody of their quality.) All of these designs originated from London, basically from Lizzie. She has compiled all of these, done them all herself, all the color work is all hers or Tim’s. Tim may not have the draftsmanship skills to put these designs out, but his eye is in color and composition. He can look at things and actually direct the way the design is going to go. Lizzie can execute them incredibly well taking his direction. They are an incredibly talented team.

NSI: How many of you are there at Fromental?

BD: Well there are seven of us in London that do everything. Tim and Lizzie, brains of the company, then you have David who is the financial controller and they are the three main partners of the business. Myself and my wife do the outside sales, generally running around and being pretty much the face of the company. My wife Rach, she oversees every project. The five of us have been there since day one. I’ve seen this company pretty much grow from my living room floor. They’re old friends of ours and they are our family. We have our occasional spats as all families do, having two married couples in a small office in London. Actually in China it’s also a married couple that runs the operation over there. So we are teetering constantly on the edge (laughs). But it’s always good because this stuff, you know, I’m not a salesperson at all, and it does the job for me, it’s brilliant. This one is one of my favorites actually, I’ve seen it installed a few times. On a tall wall it’s quite impressive. (He shows us another page in the book of a large grass design done in interesting color combinations.)

NSI: It’s so fun!

BD: Yeah, I think it’s really cool. And this (He turns to a new page) is chinoiserie. (There’s another flurry of newfound amazement at the incredible delicateness of the details in this form of painting.)

NSI: This is just amazing. This is a different kind of paint that you use right?

BD: Yes, the paint is a wash; a lot of water goes into it. As well as a lot of time. We are not cheap, but there’s a good reason for that. Something like this you’re looking at about 80 hours of work per panel.

NSI: And then there are multiple panels too. Converted to dollar amounts, you’re looking at how much?

BD: Well depending on the level of design, there are five levels, you’re looking around about anywhere between say 200 to 450 dollars per square yard. Yeah, a lot of people actually do powder rooms because they can’t afford to put it anywhere else. But then it’s sad because it’s locked away in a little tiny room and the clients will say “you know we should have put it in a more visible place”.

NSI: What about the moisture in a powder room?

BD: Well this stuff can take a bit of water. You can actually wipe it with a damp cloth. You’ve got to remember that when this is manufactured and when it goes up as well, it’s completely saturated. Obviously you’re not going to go through a lot of water against it, but it will dry. Also, we’ve got a finish here that’s very waterproof. Then we have the embroidery. (This section tops them all as far as impressiveness.) And this is all hand-done.

NSI: So this must require even more hours of work than the chinoiserie right?

BD: Yes, and that’s also reflected in the price. Our silks lend themselves to tight embroidery, so you’ll have little tiny bits and pieces and a fully embroidered panel will be about 1100 dollars per square yard.

NSI: (We lean in to examine one of the little flowers that would be a tiny fraction of one panel. Just the one flower seems to have five different colors in it that blend seamlessly together.) Is this color variation painted onto the embroidered thread or is each color a different color thread?

BD: They’re different color threads. There are 950 different colors of threads to choose from and, well actually I can show you… (He pulls out a sort of notebook with each page covered in samples of shiny thread organized in gradients of each color.) So these are our thread families. So you can actually say ‘take family 57 numbers 2, 3 and 4’ and then you’ll know that they’ll blend together quite nicely. You can also specify stitching light to dark or dark to light. This makes communication to the Chinese artists a little easier,
obviously things can get lost in translation quite easily. Yes, ‘Chinglish’ is a wonderful language (laughs as he turns the page again). And then we have the stripes.

NSI: What do you think about these designs?

BD: Well, I think they are incredibly versatile. You really can use them in all areas. You can hang things on the walls over them as well, there’s no design there to overpower and overcomplicate things. Some people do kind of go crazy, and that’s obviously making a big statement when you walk into a room, but it can work sometimes. We can custom color and design these things so if you want it a certain way, we’ll give you three or four samples back with different layouts, different shadings and everything for you to choose from. We now what we’re doing with these, we’ve done a lot of them. Again, with the stripes, these are all hand stitched with ten or twelve threads of silk twisted together. (Benjamin poses in front of some of Fromental's stripes at the top of this page.)

For the next 30 minutes or so we are oohing and aahing to no end as he unrolls panel after panel of increasingly gorgeous designs in front of us, broken occasionally by Nancy speculating about how she can incorporate them into her designs for her clients’ dining rooms, foyers, and other options. The photography below gives some idea but certainly does not do the vibrant colors and luminous silks enough justice.

These colors are incredibly vibrant in person, and the texture that the thousands and thousands of threads add to the fabric is not really visible in this photo.

This design uses metallic thread that adds both shine and texture to the silk. Overall it is a combination of embroidery and painting.

You can see from this how each light burst is unique and nothing in the design is repeated in the same panel.

This design is very interesting. It looks like it could be some kind of rare wood or stone, but it still has the refined artistic feeling that the other designs do. This particular panel had a bit of metallic shine to it.

his picture does not do justice to the statement that this panel makes. It is actually made of a high quality black glitter and it sparkles as much as you would imagine glitter would!

Fromental

Unit 103, The Old Gramophone Works
The Saga Centre, 326 Kensal Rd
London W10 5BZ

Tel: +44(0)20 8960 8899
Fax: +44(0)20 7681 2343
Email: info@fromental.co.uk

Yarns, patterns, and Italian inspiration: an Interview with Danita Harwood

2009-08-12T11:28:00.021-04:00

“It’s hard to explain; you almost have to see the fabric and put your hands on it to understand how stunning it is.”

What better way to fuel artistic inspiration than through nature and travel? Danita Harwood, Fabric Designer for Calvin Fabrics, and husband, Eric Harwood, President, have worked together to further expand this 55-year-old company. Calvin Fabrics is the small, but an efficient company based out of Oregon. They create some of the highest quality fabrics around, providing a full balanced line of linens, textiles, chenilles, casements, silks, tapestries and damasks. Danita has an experienced background in interior design, which gives her a keen instinct for what current interior designers are looking for in a product. She took some time out of her busy day to speak with us on the phone about Calvin Fabrics, her role at the company, and what inspires her...

NSI: I guess our first question should be about your background, so, how did you get into fabric design?

DH: Well I was an interior designer for eighteen years in Los Angeles and San Francisco, with heavy influence on fabrics which, you know, I have always adored. My husband is president of Calvin Fabrics, and we decided to move our headquarters to Medford Oregon about fifteen years ago. When we decided to do that, he was asking me to move again when we had already moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and I said “well, I can’t do interior design in Medford, Oregon, that’s all there is to it.” So I began to train with the man who had done the product development for Calvin for many years. I traveled with him to Europe and visited all the mills, and basically I got on-the-job training, that’s how I learned, and that was it, and I’ve been doing it ever since!

NSI: Wow, sounds great. So, was it your husband that started Calvin Fabrics?

DH: Oh no, Calvin is almost sixty years old. I think this is its fifty-seventh year, and my husband has been president of Calvin for just over 20 years. And so we are now part-owners of the Corporation, there are share-holders too, but it’s a very tightly-held corporation. There aren’t very many of us.

NSI: Right, I was just going to ask about that. In spite of the company being sixty years old it has stayed very small.

DH: Right, yes, the ownership has stayed very tight, there’s only about four of us now.

NSI: Would you say that that’s an important part of the company to keep it small?

DH: Oh sure, yeah. It allows us to stay kind of “lean and mean” especially in times like this. We don’t have a lot of bureaucracy to go through, we can make decisions really quickly, we don’t have to have the same mark-ups as everybody, which is why out prices are so fair. You know, when you have a bigger company, you have so many more costs. We do a beautiful volume of business, but we’re just real lean. And that really translates into savings for our designers.

NSI: That makes sense. So, about your own designs, what’s the whole process? Do you start with sketches? Colors?

DH: Well, when I do pattern, most all of my patterns are inspired by nature. You can tell if you look through our collection, everything I do is very organic, coming from nature. Also, from my travels, for instance, we have something in our line called Gothic Grill. I was traveling in Europe, and I started taking photographs of all the grill-work, and I developed a pattern from a combination of a lot of my different photographs, things like that. Also, you know, where I live is so beautiful, I take a lot of my inspiration from just my surroundings, you know, the trees, rock formations, rivers, that kind of thing. So first I get inspired, and then I do drawings basically. I hand-draw everything. Then I send it off to a mill. I draw in scale what I want, and I know from my training which repeats work on which looms and that kind of thing, so I can draw something that they can pretty much just weave by putting my drawing into the computer system, and go from there.

(Gothic Grill)

"We're known in the industry for having exemplary customer service, that's the thing that's most important to us."

NSI: What about the texture of that fabric and different materials and fibers? Does that factor into your design?

DH: Usually for textures, the way that process works is that I become intrigued by some kind of a yarn, a new yarn, or twisted yarn. I work very closely with boutique mills here in the U.S., and so I have a close friendship with a lot of these people. I go in and I go through their yarn banks and start putting yarns together that I think would look beautiful, so I create textures from the availability of the different yarns. And then I have an idea sometimes in my head, I’d like something real gutsy or something really refined, so most of the time I have a direction that I’m thinking of when I start a new texture. Then I find the yarns and start building the construction. I pretty much to that almost by hand on a little hand loom. As far as linens, you know, we have a lot of linen in our line, the mills show us new constructions of linen almost every year. Then we choose a construction we like, and choose how we’re going to have it dyed, and then build color palettes. Or we’ll say ok, you know, I like this construction but I’d like to put a heavier gage yarn in that, or I’d like to add a little chenille. You know, you can just build off of a basic texture. So textures are relatively easy compared to pattern.

NSI: So would you have a particular client in mind when you were designing something?

DH: Well, I will say that I keep in touch with a lot of designers, especially in the San Francisco area because that’s where I’m from, also the older designers who have been buying Calvin for fifty years, and I really listen to what they’re asking for. If I’m our showing a new collection, and a designer says something like “remember back in 1962, you had this beautiful blah blah blah” whatever it is, texture, pattern, whatever. I might say “you know, I may not remember that because I wasn’t at Calvin then, but I have an archive that goes back clear to the very first item we ever made, so I can go research it and find it and send a little clip to the designer and if they say “yes this is it”, if I really love it and think that it may be the right time to bring something back that’s reminiscent of that, I will redevelop it new yarns that are maybe softer because a lot of the stuff from the past, the yarns were really coarse. People aren’t of that these days, they like everything soft. So sure, I listen to the designers and I try to develop things that I think they are looking for.

NSI: I’m sure they appreciate that. So going back to your travels in Europe that inspire you, is there a particular place? Country? City? That inspired you the most?

DH: (Laughs light-heartedly) Well I love Italy basically. I like France too, but Italy is my favorite. It seems like whenever I’m there, I truly am inspired by the people, the surroundings, even the food! (Laughs) You get different textural ideas just from a plate of food sometimes! Yeah, Italy is one of my favorites as far as gaining inspiration. There’s a big beautiful show that’s for our industry and it’s on Lake Como. And it has to be one of the most beautiful places, with the best energy. Every time I go there I have, I don’t know, a burst of creative energy. I love that spot.

(a view of Lake Como from http://commons.wikimedia.org/)

NSI: How often do you get to go there?

DH: About once a year.

NSI: Wow that’s great! Do you take a sketchbook with you or do you mostly work from photographs that you take while you’re there?

DH: Both. I sketch, I pick up leaves, I gather rocks, I take my camera, I always come back with a heavier bag than when I left , most of it’s just rocks or something (laughs).

NSI: How many new designs would you say that you come up with every year?

DH: Well, before this huge downturn, I would say we did about thirty to forty each year. We don’t do a lot of new things each year compared to maybe the biggest companies, because we stock everything and most companies don’t do that. We stock every single thing in our line right here in Medford, Oregon. Our warehouse is a certain size, and we keep our line at a certain number of skews to keep a healthy business model basically. So we know how many skews we can actually warehouse with the amount of business that we do, it’s very scientific how we worked all that out. But a year like this, when everyone’s being a little careful, we would probably be launching about 25 new patterns. But on average it’s between thirty and forty new ones.

NSI: So I guess you’ve felt the effects of the economy like everyone else.

DH: Oh sure, everyone has. But we’re a solid company, we’re real basic, so we usually do pretty well in a down market. But we’re being very cautious like everyone else.

NSI: You do have more reasonable prices than some other companies do.

DH: Yes we do. And it’s not because our quality is any less; we have the highest end products that you can buy on the planet, but like I said, it all has to do with our business model and how we run a tight ship and we don’t mark up as much as other companies.

(Lucent Linens)

“We’re very dedicated to giving a designer what they want, using the very highest quality for the best price that we possibly can.”

NSI: Right. So, do you have a favorite pattern?

DH: Hmm… let’s see. I have to say, one of the new things that we’re launching in about two weeks is a new linen called Lucent Linen, and I have to say it’s one of my favorites ever, just drop dead gorgeous. It’s so elegantly stunning but still with a casual feel to it, it’s hard to explain, you almost have to see it and put your hands on it to understand. That’s my newest favorite, but I have a new favorite almost every season (laughs).

(Shimmering Aspen)

NSI: I would imagine!

DH: Right now, I’m a purist, I really like the beautiful linens, those are my favorite things, that’s what I have in my own home. I also love the couture collection. Each one was like birthing a child (laughs) they were all so complicated and very technical, high-end weaves, so a lot of those are on my top list. But I have to say that one of my all-time favorites is our Shimmering Aspen. It’s been one of the biggest sellers ever in the history of our company, and definitely one of my absolute favorites.

NSI: Sounds beautiful. So as a fabric designer it sounds like you constantly need to keep you creative juices flowing and you’re always being inspired by new things, how does that affect your own home? Do you feel the urge to redecorate constantly?

DH: (laughs) Well, you know, everyone would like to, but that’s not really practical. But I just redid one of our homes from top to bottom; we’re almost finished with it. But yeah, you get something new and you’d love to put it on a piece of furniture, and sometimes you do if it goes with the main scheme of what you’re doing. But lots of times we just do cushions or pillows over and keep the basics. Our sofa, for instance is beautiful and it’s so versatile that all I do is change the pillows and maybe redo smaller pieces. I have a piece now in our Hypnotic which is very bold and modern so I’ll like that for probably about a year and then I’ll change it.

NSI: Right, so keep the basics neutral and change the accents.

DH: Yes.

NSI: So going back to Calvin, in such a small company, do you take on a larger role than just the fabric designer?

DH: Yes. I have a national sales manager, but I oversee the outside sales also. I go on the road with new collections, especially in the San Francisco area because we have a lot of dedicated customers there. So I’ll go down and spend a week at a time and see several of our favorite people. So yes, I’m very involved in sales and operations and I do the product as well.

NSI: Sounds like a lot of great work. One final question: what’s the thing that you most want people to know about Calvin Fabrics?

DH: Well, I would just say that we’re very dedicated to keeping stock, giving a designer what they want, using the very highest quality for the best price that we possibly can. And that we’re known in the industry for having exemplary customer service. Those are the things that are most important to us.

(Hypnotic)

“It seems like whenever I’m there, I truly am inspired by the people, the surroundings, even the food!”

Calvin Fabrics
2046 Lars Way
Medford, OR 97501
Phone: 541-732-1996
Fax: 541-732-1997

Rural Indiana Charm meets cutting edge sophistication: an Interview with Keith Fritz

2009-07-30T14:17:00.038-04:00

“That’s the whole trick in life: find what you love doing and find a way to make a living doing it.”

Keith Fritz is a young, soft-spoken, overwhelmingly polite guy with an incredible talent. He designs and creates some of the most beautiful, rare and customized furniture around. For a designer just ten years out of college, he has a wealth of knowledge about the history of furniture design. When we met him for this interview, he shook our hands with a smile, and in the other arm he held an old photo album, his portfolio, and his current catalog. He was prepared to give us the full tour of his life in design, from pre-high school to present. And he seemed as eager to show us his designs as we were to see them. So we begin at the beginning…

NSI: So, in the beginning, what got you started with all this?

KF: Growing up, I loved antiques, and I loved furniture, and I just wanted to make it. I wanted to copy antiques and the early furniture that we had in our family. My family was very self-sufficient. My dad built houses, my mom sewed clothes and did all the cooking, we cut our own trees, grew our own vegetables, hunted our own meat, we live in this self-sufficient community, so the idea was that if you want furniture, you build it. I actually have no training in furniture making and I have no training in design either.

NSI: Really? What did you study?

KF: I have a degree in Philosophy, yeah, I had a full scholarship in seminary. I actually grew up in rural southern Indiana and I would read books on design. And so when I was a kid I always wanted to go to the schools you’re going to and study what you’re studying but, you know, I just never could. So I envy what you’re doing because I had to teach myself by reading books and studying on my own.

NSI: Was there one book in particular that you were inspired by?

KF: All of them! I have a big collection of design books. When I was in high school in Indiana, in the library there the only things I could get my hands on were American, you know, Federal or Chippendale design. I didn’t know anything about Art Deco or twentieth century design. Then, when I went to Washington DC I became friends with some of the designers there and they would loan me books from their libraries. That’s when I first started to learn about French Moderne and Art Deco which I’m in love with now.

NSI: So these books that you learned from, were they about construction techniques?

KF: Oh, just everything. I probably have several hundred design books. Originally I was looking at construction books. When I was in high school I read Fine Woodworking, I just got any book that I could on it. But then when I was in college it was just any design book. I also have a complete set of Architectural Digest going back to ’72 except for a few in the 2000s that were out of order. Just having that is, I think, important. Just like, if you write music you have to hear music, if you write books you have to read books, so I think to become a good designer you have to see a lot of design. The more you see the better you get. I have a friend who owns an antique shop in France, and he spends his free time going to open houses every week. And I asked him, you know, “why do you go to these open houses all the time?” and he said that he just loves to see how people live, you know? The more you see, the more ideas you have. That’s why people hire an interior designer because your average client hasn’t really seen anything compared to the experience that a designer has. That’s why they’re so valuable to clients. They know what they’re doing.

NSI: Definitely. So when you started making furniture in high school, was it like trial and error at first?

KF: Well, my dad builds houses and he has a construction company, so that kind of got me started. But this here is the first piece of furniture I ever made, and that was the summer before my freshman year in high school. (He shows us a photograph of himself as a fair-haired kid of 13 next to a fully-finished professional-looking cabinet. Though it may be relatively simple in comparison to his later endeavors, the herringbone pattern of the light-colored wood and the delicate inlay of darker wood on the sides of the cabinet are indicative of hours of meticulous labor and the careful hands of an experienced artist that don’t seem to match the child kneeling next to it.)

NSI: Wow, that’s amazing!

“I feel strongly about what fine furniture should look like.”

KF: Well, it looks kind of like a kitchen cabinet. (He turns the page of the old photo album.) Now this is my grandpa and my dad. They’re pulling a log out of the woods. Between my whole family we have about seven hundred acres, so when there was a big storm or something that would knock down a lot of trees I would have these big pieces of wood to work with. So we’d cut it and saw it up. So then I started reading books on American Chippendale (he turns the page again to a new set of pictures and we both can’t help but gasp.) And this was my sophomore year of high school that I made a Boston Bombay Chippendale secretary because I was reading all of these books, and I tried to design up what I thought would be the most amazing piece of American Chippendale. (The cause of the collective gasp is an incredibly intricate and complex piece of furniture with what looks like thirty or forty little drawers and compartments all over it that towers over the same kid that appeared in the last picture. This piece shows an entirely new talent that wasn’t demonstrated in the first: the top of the secretary is carved in a smooth, symmetrical swirling design.) It’s a combination of different American inspirations; I was just a kid dreamin’ you know? I took what I liked the most from different styles and just combined it. Living in Indiana, I had never seen a real one so this was all from pictures in books.

NSI: What kind of contests were you entering with this kind of thing? (Once we could tear our eyes away from the secretary we noticed the big silver trophy in his hands.)

KF: It’s a woodworking competition for high school students and it won state in Indiana, yeah, it had lots of detail to it and now when I look at it it’s kind of crude because I’ve seen the original and my version is not historically right, I mean, now it’s kind of embarrassing. (We can’t help but laugh at that.)

NSI: How many hours did you spend on this do you think?

KF: I actually recorded it, it was 1200 hours. Oh this is funny (he points to another picture of the wheel of a tractor balanced on two pieces of wood) we didn’t have any clamps so we drove our tractor up on there and used it as a clamp. So anyway, when I was in DC I showed this to some designers and they said, you know “if you can do that then you can do anything!” So they’d give me pictures of things and I’d just start making them for them. I graduated from college in ’99, so that’s 10 years ago I guess, and right out of college these designers were having me make things for them. I found myself working for Robert Brown and Todd Davis. Then the Clintons hired them. So I got to do the stuff for the Clintons just one year out of college. I did their dining table among other things. (He shows us another binder full of pictures of more recent work.)

“I mean, if you’re building something that’s going to last forever, and you’re not wasting any of it, I think that’s a good thing.”

NSI: So you must have to choose the wood that you work with pretty carefully then, right?

KF: Well, I love really rare and unusual woods with really special grain patterns. There’s a lot to consider when choosing wood. A lot of our tables have these curved legs that you can’t build out of solid wood because it’ll crack. (He shows us an example of a round dining table.) So that’s a core of Baltic birch plywood that’s hand-veneered. And then that’s a pie-matched top. Wood shrinks and swells in its width and not in its length, so if you made that out of solid it would split and crack. So that’s veneer over plywood. The plywood is an FSC-certified, plantation-grown, sustainably-harvested plywood core that’s veneered so its dimensionally solid and stable. I love working with rosewoods and other exotic wood, but it’s just a veneer because when you saw wood you make a lot of waste, then you sand it and make more waste, but for veneers they slice it. The knife slices it so there’s no waste, which means it’s a very good thing for the environment. So I like to use scarce, exotic woods, but I don’t waste anything from them. I mean, if you’re building something that’s going to last forever, and you’re not waiting any of it, I think that’s a good thing. What good is a “green” product that’s going to end up in a land fill? Now the base of this table is walnut, and that’s actually from our family farm. I knew where it grew and when we cut it down, and we replant all the time.

NSI: So even though you use these rare woods, you have sustainability in mind.

KF: Yes. I love these woods. We like to artistically arrange the grain to try to show it off. I think people buy our furniture because of the wood, you know?

NSI: What about the finishes you use on the wood, can you tell us about those?

KF: Yeah, well everything that we do is all hand-rubbed. Some woods are natural, some are stained, we do custom finishes so we can match anything. I use a lacquer which is real traditional finish it’s not high-tech. Your newer, high-tech, factory finished furniture is finished through a chemical reaction between two parts like an apoxy, whereas my finished dry through a solvent that evaporates out leaving the solids behind on the wood. That’s the more traditional way, and the nice thing is that you can repair it. You can re-liquefy that finish by putting a solvent back on it. Most of the factory-made furniture, the way it’s finished, if it gets damaged you can’t repair it. So you have to just throw a piece away if it gets damaged. So the ones we used are designed to be easy to repair. I try to keep my finishes from looking thick and plasticky, when we get the finish done we’ll sand it with very fine abrasives and rotten-stone it which is like a pumice. It gives it a nice luster, not too shiny, not too dull, it looks like a good French polish, like an antique polish. That’s what we go for. I feel strongly about what fine furniture should look like.

NSI: So, as you said, you go for that classic look and get inspiration from classic pieces, but obviously there are modern elements to your work, so where does the inspiration for that come from?

KF: I love classicism, and there’s different styles historically. I love looking at these different styles and saying “what makes this beautiful?” you know? Just like music, different genres have different takes on harmony, and different furniture styles have different takes on what is beauty. So I try to take those classical notions of beauty and strip them to their essence and do a new design that hasn’t been done before, that is original, but is rooted in those classical notions of beauty. So a lot of what we do is modernized classicism. You look at it, it’s very modern, but it is very traditional at the same time. It doesn’t look out of place in a traditional setting. The designs should be having a dialogue with tradition. It’s very hard to do something that hasn’t been done before. That’s why I like to have a huge library. Sometimes you think you have an original idea, and you see the same thing somewhere else. You have to understand everything that’s been done, in order to do something new. I want our company to stand out and not look like everybody else, and to do that you have to know what everyone else is doing. That way you can try to do something that’s a step ahead. I’ve studied the history of furniture, and in the 20th century there’s all these people like Carl Springer, Tommy Parsinger, and Frankel, and these are people that are known and studied because they did something new, they added something to the design conversation, and I want to be part of that after I’m gone. I want to have contributed something to design. But often times a copy is what a designer wants, and we build what people order, but I really think that some of our pieces are really original.

NSI: So when you’re coming up with a new design, how do you start? Do you do sketches or do you just have a vision in your head and go with that?

KF: Well, I see it in my head. Then, I’m not the best drawer, so I’ll do a rough sketch or get some pictures of a few antiques and I have a draftman who I’ll show you know “do you see line of this leg?” or “see what this is like in a 60” round” and he’ll draw it up and I’ll make changes to it. So I see something in my head, and we have to try to get the AutoCad drawings to match that. That’s where it’s all done and worked out is in AutoCad. But it starts with an idea or picture of an antique.

NSI: So when you say “we”, that’s your company, but how many people are you talking about?

KF: Well, let’s see… We have a core group of about six or seven employees and then there’s people who work with us when we need them, so it all depends. There are certain pieces in our line that are built by certain people. This is how we get our efficiency because everything is built one at a time and one-of. I spend most of my time in the finishing room with one other person. But at a small company, everybody’s got to be able to do everything in case a machine breaks or something. The reason the furniture is expensive is because of the cost of the materials, and that we’re making one. We might have a couple months’ labor in one table. It’s the same if you have a custom-made automobile versus one off the lot; you get what you pay for. But because of that, we can change anything to fit the client’s needs.

NSI: So do you have a favorite finish?

KF: It depends on the client and the project. Personally, I like the antique finishes. They have a casual elegance, they’re not as formal or fussy, they’re livable. But it really depends on the projects.

NSI: Is all of the furniture in your house made by you?

KF: Oh, I end up with the stuff I made in high school or pieces that have been in showrooms for a long time and I’ll bring them back and keep them. I’ve got the coffee table that was on HGTV and the mirror that was in the Washington Post, so sometimes I’ll keep things, but I can’t afford to keep it all you know?

NSI: I guess you don’t have time to make your own furniture anymore right?

KF: Yeah, I just end up with that stuff. Sometimes the cobbler doesn’t make his own shoes right? But I do like to find old antiques that are damaged and fix them up too.

NSI: So what’s going on now?

KF: Well in February I bought an old factory, and so they’re hanging the drywall now. I’ll have a little apartment there. I like to live at work you know? If it’s late and I can’t sleep I can just go work. I can keep an eye on things too. I love what I do and the people that I work with, so I like living at work. I have a little farmhouse that I go to when I need to get away that’s been in my family since 1880 when it was built. But I just love living at work. I’m just in heaven with my new factory. I started a little antique mall in the front, we build our furniture in the back, there’s a lady that’s going to start a coffee shop there too, and then I’ve got my apartment upstairs and I’m just as tickled as can be, it’s a lot of fun. That’s the whole trick in life: find what you love doing and find a way to make a living doing it.

“I try to take those classical notions of beauty and strip them to their essence and do a new design that hasn’t been done before.”

Keith Fritz
Phone: 812-367-1331
Fax: 812-367-1333
Email: info@keithfritz.com

Establishing Eco Aesthetic In Boston: an Interview with David Sanborn

2009-07-22T09:45:00.047-04:00

"There's a little bit of a feel-good factor there, knowing that you're doing your part."

With the green lifestyle ever-growing, entrepreneur David Sanborn brings environmentally friendly to high-end design. David first received his BA in Art History from Tufts University before studying art restoration at the Uffizi in Florence. Upon his return to the States, he explored careers in auction houses before finding his way to the Boston Design Center. As the manager of a showroom, he saw the increasing demand for an exclusively eco-friendly vendor. In 2007 he launched his own Ecomodern showroom.

EcoModern carries many undiscovered products, and is the first place on the East Coast to sell many of these items. His products come from all-natural materials, recycled materials, and even some normally considered waste, such as coconut. Although he carries lines from places such as California and Europe, EcoModern tries to support many local artists and vendors. This way, clients feel better about supporting the local economy, while also receiving LEED certification “bonus points”.

David not only represents upwards of 60 vendors, but also is the head designer for his exclusive furniture line. Between his clientele expanding to the outreaches of India, and TV appearances on Boston’s Chronicle, David still finds time to host various seminars and lectures to help educate people on a green lifestyle. David talks to us about his showroom, his plans for EcoModern, and gives us a sneak peak to another big event coming up in September.

"Ultimately that's our goal, we're here to help our customers get what they want, and do so at a price point that is going to be better than you might find elsewhere."

NSI: So you were doing all this painting stuff, then how did you get into the whole green scene?

D: So let’s see, I was working buying and selling paintings and doing antique shows, basically living like a carnie (laughs). After a while I got a little burned out and wanted a regular job, so someone here in the Design Center offered me a position. So I though oh, ok, that will be good for a while to just hang out and figure out what I want to do next, so that’s what I did: I ran his showroom, and soon realized that I could open my own business here, which was right before the economy collapsed, not ideal timing right? But we’re still here 2 years later and we’re doing ok. Actually we’re expanding; we’re hiring a new architect to be the head of our architectural department. That’s really exciting. Also, we’ve gone from simply supplying products to offering their installation as well, this makes it easier for our clients.

NSI: Would you say that you get a lot of clients who are drawn in by the green aspect?

D: Well, some of our clients, they’re looking for the aesthetic, while some are driven by the moral imperative to use environmentally friendly products given the state of the world. Others are going for the exact same look as another vendor might offer, but getting the environmentally friendly version of that. The wood we use actually has a paper trail you can follow from the day the tree was cut to the day is arrives at your door to show that you’re acting in a responsible, socially and environmentally conscious manner. There’s a little bit of a feel good factor there, knowing that you’re doing your part. Another thing that clients look for when they come to us, such as with the bamboo flooring we have, is not just aesthetics but also price point. Cork and bamboo are relatively inexpensive. Price consciousness is a really big factor these days, people are looking for bargains. Also, the installation service that we’re providing is something that will allow our clients to save money. Ultimately that’s our goal, we’re here to help our customers get what they want, and do so at a price point that is going to be better than you might find elsewhere.

NSI: Doesn’t some of the effort to stay eco-friendly add cost?

D: It does; some of these things are expensive, but that’s something that the consumer might be willing to deal with knowing that they’re not just pillaging forests illegally but they’re acting in a responsible, environmentally friendly way. But that’s always a choice for people. In the long run, you get what you pay for. When you’re offered next-day installation at bargain prices, you’re pretty much guaranteed a nightmare. Dong the job right doesn’t happen instantaneously, there’s a lot of work involved. Not all products are equal, you know, some bamboo is better than others. With our product, you know that it’s good quality, it was harvested in the right way, and that it’s environmentally friendly. Some bamboo isn’t formaldehyde free, even though it might say that it is. With stuff like that you’re asking for trouble.

David tells interior designers: "If it's environmentally friendly and we don't have it, we could probably get it for you."

NSI: You rep a lot of different companies here right?

D: Yeah, I’ve almost lost count at this point. I think we have around 50 or 60 companies now; four different fabric lines, 2 fire place lines, furniture lines, recycled teak furniture, wall covering from contract grade to bizarre and unusual materials, really fancy stuff, a big range. We also make our own product lines; this month’s New England Homemagazine featured our new EcoLux flooring, which is a metallic finished wood. So we do gold, silver and copper leaf finishes on top of bamboo or FSC hardwood or engineered maple wood flooring. We also make our own furniture line. Yeah, if it’s environmentally friendly and we don’t have it, we could probably get it for you. (laughs) Really, The reason for our existence is to make life easier for the customer. A lot of the products that we sell people have never even heard of, most people don’t know that they exist, so we’re really trying to introduce something new to the Boston area, we’re trying to bring a new aesthetic, and a new ideology. Fortunately we have a lot of backing for that from mayor Menino with his “green task force”, and all kinds of new legislation that required all sorts of green attributes in new buildings. We’re seeing what was thought of as a trend, become the norm, something you have to do. Also, your average home-owner is more environmentally conscious today than they were even five years ago, and people are trying to incorporate that into their homes. That’s why we’re here, to help make that possible.

NSI: Do you have any bestsellers?

D: The things that people purchase the most are flooring, countertopsand fireplaces. The things that wow people the most are things like the coconut shell tiles or the sea shell, things that are very beautiful and unique and that catch your eye because you’ve never seen them before. Trying to introduce these things into the Boston market has been difficult. People are drawn to traditional things. What we’re trying to show people is that no matter what your aesthetic is, traditional, transitional, or modern, there are environmentally friendly products out there that will help you achieve the look you want. We have floors that could go into an old 18^th century house in the suburbs, or into an ultra modern penthouse here in the city. The same product can translate from one place to another, it just depend on how you use it.

NSI: I would imagine that it’s difficult for people to separate modern design from eco-friendly design in their minds.

D: Yeah, it is difficult. We get some designers who will think that they shouldn’t use these products when their working on a traditional style home, and we have to say “stop, just look at the product, visualize it in the space and you’ll see that it looks like it belongs there”. At the same time, we also have plenty of stuff for those clients who do want to go completely ultra modern.

NSI: How do you get the word out about your stuff?

D: Well we advertise heavily, we’re active in the community, we do a lot of events and marketing. We’ve found that we’re very fortunate, being involved with environmentally friendly products, and since we’ve become known a little bit, the editors for all the major magazines are always looking to us for updates on what’s new, what’s hot, or what’s the newest eco-friendly product because they know they can call me every week and they’ll always be something new going on. We’re constantly looking for something new. We also work with the designers and ask them what they’ve seen out there, what they’re interested in, and if something out there they think we should look at. We’ve found more than a few leads that way.

NSI: Going back to EcoModern’s own furniture line, is it you that designs it?

D: Yeah, we do furniture design, we customize products that we already sell… for our own line we have a free-edge slab design that we work with, which was recently on an episode of Chronicle. What they are are free-edged slabs of wood that were originally cut for the renovations of the USS Constitution. The leftover wood went to a lumber yard in Cape Cod. We went down to take a look and these amazing, huge slabs of wood were just sitting there. No one was doing anything with them, they were just aging and waiting for someone to do something. That very day we were like oh my god, we have to do something with this stuff. So now at this point we have a variety of tables that we offer made from this wood. We can even do a forty-foot conference table made from one slab of wood, which is pretty amazing.

NSI: So what do you mean by free-edge exactly?

D: It means the natural edge to the wood is an inherent part of the design.

NSI: That sounds beautiful. So, would you say that all of your clients from the Boston area?

D: Well we get clients from all over New England actually, also New York, some from Florida, I actually recently got a call from a guy in India asking about our fireplaces!

NSI: Wow, that’s amazing! So tell me, what does your house look like?

D: Oh boy (laughs), well we have two places, one here in Quincy which is very modern, we have stainless steel countertops and industrial type lighting, definitely towards the modern end of things. Our house on the Cape is much more in the Cape Cod traditional style, a lot of white, cream, silver, we have a 1930s garden carpet. The house is actually from the 30s back when movie stars would come for the summer to perform in the theaters there.

NSI: So what’s next on your agenda?

D: Hmm, taking over the world! (laughs) well, let’s see, what’s next for us… we’re very excited about getting our architect to come work with us. He has 20 years of experience and we can’t wait to have him come and be a part of what we’re doing. Another big thing coming up for us is this fall, we’re doing an event with Lexus, who will be here debuting their new hybrid vehicle, we’ll have a lecture here at the design center, and Lexus will have all of their hybrid cars parked out front, including the new one, and then we’ll have the Boston globe, design new England, and boston.com there as well, And we’re working to get a couple more people involved too. We’re kind of calling it the “Hybrid Living” event because we’ll be talking about being environmentally friendly as a lifestyle, not about particular products, but how it can really become a lifestyle. That will be on September 30^th.

"We're trying to bring a new aesthetic, and a new ideology to interior designers in the Boston area."

EcoModern Design
1 Design Center Place
Suites 543 & 551
Boston, MA
T.617.261.0300
F.617.261.0330