CHEERFUL INTERIORS

I'm still looking at pictures of home interiors and I thought I'd share a few that I like. How do you like this open plan kitchen and dining room?

I like arched ceilings but there are few of those where I'll be moving.

Craftsman furniture would be nice...it's pricey, though.

I like how a lot of designers have merged Craftsman with Modern. And, do you like those black foreground chairs? The ones I've seen are expensive.

Here's (above) a California Ranch-Style back porch, the kind my favorite L.A. architect Cliff May would have approved of.

Big canvas awnings look great, though this example seems a bit flimsy. What happens when the wind blows?

Haw! A blackboard wall! You'd breathe a lot of chalk in a room like that, but it might be worth it.  You could draw life size caricatures of your family and friends seated at the table, eating and squabbling with each other.

And jasmine curtains...a nice way to cheer up a gloomy room.

THE NEW IKEA SUPER STORE

Ikea just opened up it's largest American store, IKEA Burbank, and it's a doosey! The exterior is ugly in the extreme...a real eyesore... but if you can resist the temptation to flee you'll be richly rewarded.

The interior space is so large that some common items are doubled up just to fill the void, and the result is sometimes startling and innovative...like that long table above, for instance.

It's actually two tables joined together. Sure, it would be great for a large dinner party but this is 2017 when food is considered medicine and you can't find two people who share the same diet. I like the table because it invites thinking about large work surfaces. I like to spread out when I work, don't you?

 Wow! Size really does matter! The large space surrounding the bed prompts a re-thinking of what a bedroom really is. This is a room for a creative and productive person who loves his work. It's one where the sleeper wakes up in the middle of the night and works for a couple of hours before going back to sleep.

In recent decades a lot's been written about the creative nature of sleep. We acknowledge that when we reach a creative impasse and decide to "sleep on it." How often have we all woken up and spent half an hour on our backs immobilized by our half sleeping brain still sifting through ideas?

Above, that's the identical bed in a different diorama surrounded by a different layout. Holy Cow! The store is so big that it can afford to show two ways of setting off the same furniture!

Here's an interesting concept: the room within a room...a sort of thinking area near the dining room table in the foreground. I get some of my best ideas during meal time. How convenient it would be to have a nearby room where I could work on those ideas immediately after having them.

 Here's (above) the thinking room interior. Notice the low, fake ceiling.

Notice also that the room is mostly white and the pictures on the wall are generic. The idea is to minimize distractions.

BTW, I'm aware that suddenly leaving the table to work is rude to the friends who remain. Obviously an idea like this requires modification to work in the real world. It's just fun to think about.

THE LATEST FASHION

The tiny house movement appears to be here to stay. Even people with money to spend want houses that are thin and cramped.

Thin exteriors could bring about a civil war in the home design industry. Minimalism still dominates interior design and that requires big, empty spaces. The only way to reconcile these two opposing philosophies is to have a house with only one big room that combines all functions. In a room like the one above you would eat off the sofa and take a shower in the planter. 

It looks like the interior faction is going to be on the losing side. That's too bad because there's been some minimalist innovations that even a maximalist like me can get behind. I kinda like interiors like the one above, though they might be better suited for offices than homes.  

The hot furniture designer now is Tom Dixon. That's his work above. He likes the digital look. I dunno. It's not my taste.

The table above might work if it could be made sturdy.

But really...flat surface table design is so...yesterday. Maybe the tables to come won't be tables at all. They'll be contrivances that make it appear that the plates and cups are floating.

Minimal dining utensils, naturally.

I notice that blob-shaped day-glow sneakers are all the rage now.

Since car design follows shoe design that means near future cars will be day-glow blobs also.

I used to think mens t-shirt fashions were here to stay, but a new formalism seems to be right around the corner.

Tight suit jackets with long sleeves will make what's in your closet obsolete.

Way above the ankle pants have been here for a while.

And women's fashions...that's a subject for another post.

A TERRIFIC SMALL LIVING ROOM

I'm still looking for ideas I can use when I find a new house. I'm on a budget so I'll have to make a Devil's Choice: a small house with complex and interesting shapes, or a larger house with boring rooms but decent square-footage. I'd gladly take the small place if I could find something like this (above), but what are the chances of that? 

Is this living room practical? I'm not sure. The open staircase means that sound from the living room goes unimpeded up to the rooms above, and that could cause arguments. On the other hand, it's soooo cozy and artsy. I like the level changes on the floors between rooms, too.

  

I wouldn't have picked some of this furniture (above) myself but I like the color contrast. 

If I were to have a large, simplified color graphic on the wall I might choose something like this (above).

Here's (above) another room in the same house.  Once again the color and dark textures read great against white. 

Maybe I'll get lucky and find something big and cheap (above)...but I doubt it.

That's all I have to say for now. I'll end with this infinitely cool coffee table that dominates the room. I wonder where you'd find something like that? I'd probably have to make it myself.

MODERN FURNITURE

I'll be moving in a few months and I won't be able to take half my heavy furniture. That means I'll have to buy a few new things when I get where I'm going and that's exciting. 

I plan to go for an eclectic blend of Charles Eames knock-offs (that's his work, above), Wright, Indiana Jones, Cliff May, Craftsman, Wally Wood, Mad Scientist, Calder and Carl Larsson. At one time or another I've blogged about all these influences on Uncle Eddie's Theory Corner, and now I get to try out some of these ideas in my own house.   

Lately I've taken a close look at modern furniture. Some ideas stand up to scrutiny and some don't. Like Mies van der Rohe's famous "Barcelona Chair" (above): I have to admit, it looks great, but...wait a minute... there are no arms! I like to rest my forearm on something when I sit, don't you?

I might give in and get just one Barcelona chair as an accent, but then I'll be sorely tempted to get an armless sofa to go with it. I'll need to steel myself to avoid that lest my living room look like a reception area.

Besides, I like to lie down and read on the sofa or even take a short nap there once in a while, and you need an arm for that. Why would anyone design a sofa without arms?

Then there's the Noguchi CoffeeTable. It's a beautiful work of art, no doubt, but is it functional?

 In the picture above, the table top is triangular and only the tip containing the green ashtray faces the sofa. That can't be right. What if someone on the far end of the sofa (off screen) wants to use the table? They can't.

If you turn the table around then the people sitting opposite get the awkward tip. Yikes! And look at the awkward dead space that surrounds the table!

Compare the triangular Noguchi Table just discussed to the rectangular, red marble coffee table above. I like this thing. The broad surface is available to everyone on the sofa, and there's plenty of room to stack the books I always have going. Marble adds psychological weight to counter the fear that the modern supports are too thin and flimsy.

 By the way, what do you think of the Windsor chairs surrounding the dining table in this picture? My current table uses chairs like that, and they've given me years of pleasure. It's a centuries-old design that still works. My only criticism is that the ones shown here all have arms which would be hard to slide under the table without pinching fingers.

Maybe I'll get lucky and find a new home with built-in bookshelves. If I can't then I'll rely mostly on a combination of George Nelson-type shelves (above), Ikea's "Billy" shelves, and some custom shelves that I'll tinker together myself. Eames made some good shelves which Nelson tweaked and improved.

George Nelson was a prolific artist. You might already own something he designed without knowing it...like his sunburst clock or this asterisk clock (above).

Nelson's designs have a light and airy modern feel and they blend well with other styles, like the fabric pattern above.

Well, there's more I could say but I'll have to save it for another post.

WORKING FOR THE RECLINER INDUSTRY

In a few months I'll be moving to a small town in the farm belt. I'll have to see what kind of work I can rustle up there. Small towns don't have much need for art. I hate to think about it, but there's half a chance that I'll end up as a salesman in a La-Z-Boy store. 

Yeah...La-Z-Boy. You probably didn't know it but La-Z-Boy's a big employer in rural America. If you don't live in a small town you probably don't realize how widespread it is. It's not just a few pushpins on an empty map....

....it's a whole doggone map full of pushpins!!!!! In case you haven't heard...La-Z-Boy is an empire! It's huge! That company owns this country!

Sure, if you live in a big city you don't need La-Z-Boy. You can buy designer furniture, and it'll be sophisticated and artistic and perfectly satisfying.

 But that's because you live in a big city. 

You can't get that stuff in the rest of America.

Yesssir....step just one inch beyond the city limit sign and you're in La-Z-boy Land!!!!!  The whole swathe of real estate between the megacities is united in the opinion that furniture design peaked in the 1960s. Fuzzy recliners still rule and any attempt to improve on them is regarded as an attack on Western Civilization.

If I get the job this (above) is what I'll be selling. These are the Coca Cola of chairs, the Mount Everests, the Plus Ultras, the Sultans of Seats. They come mainly in three fuzzy colors: Murky Rose, Ash and Dirty Powder Blue. I'm not sure but the company might also make the rounded Thrift Store-type end tables and coffee tables that always accompany the recliners.

I know what you're thinking...that Lazy Boys are prol furniture and upscale people wouldn't be caught dead with them. I don't blame you for thinking that, but you're wrong. The rural rich like La-Z-Boys every bit as much as the poor. They're just better at hiding them.

Trust me, tucked away behind the glitzy curb appeal of the country mansion is a living room packed to the gills with the workhorses of the La-Z-Boy fleet, including the magisterial train-length La-Z-Boy Sofas.

La-Z-Boys are the sentimental glue that binds Americans together and makes us an essentially classless country. All rural Americans, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, love the stuff.

Okay, I'm not being fair to the recliner people. Actually, the different recliner companies have research labs and are constantly investigating ways to update. Here's (above) a gaming recliner.

And here's (above)...what is that thing?....I'm guessing a physical fitness recliner, so you can doze off while exercising.

I'm not sure what this (above) is, either. Maybe it's a drum set for cutting edge garage bands who want to rebel and sock it to The Man while playing in sybaritic comfort. I'd better find out since I might be selling this stuff soon.

Drop by the store and identify yourself as an Uncle Eddies Theory Corner reader. Maybe I can get you a discount.