Projecting

I've been accused, more than once, of projecting when ordering things I love for the store. I have something to say about that. First of all... yeah. Okay. I do.

I think we've got some pretty fab stuff that more people than just I identify with.

Some of our orders from the NY show have arrived. Guess which items I chose considering the sensibility of how saleable they are and which ones I chose because I love them. I'll share my answers with my next post.

Zuny

Bookend. Door stop. Paperweight. These guys are heavyweights in the cute department. Hand crafted and limited to production of 9,999 each, they come with a 'dog' tag and birth certificate of authenticity.

DEK Kits

Designer Emulation Kits, by Mark McKenna, are a tribute to iconic classics of revered designers. You assemble the printed circuit boards (with circuitry about the thickness of a human hair). Pay homage to a classic by Ingo Maurer, Achille Castiglioni, Phillipe Starck and/or Richard Sapper with a DEK Kit of your choosing (or the entire collection if you are so inclined).

Pull + Push Products

We discovered incredible Japanese designed goods at the NY gift show. You will soon discover our selections at the House - some of which will be available on North American soil for the very first time! The finds which made me positively giddy, though, were the architectural structures created by Nobuhiro Sato. What is so special about little concrete buildings? Each item is personally handmade by the designer himself. Created from mortar, using glass for the windows and brass components, like the exposed portion of the Truss Planter and the chimney on the Cottage Incense Pot. I find them achingly beautiful in their starkness.

Block Lamp...

has been a part of MoMA's permanent collection since 2000. Hand cast with a sandblasted interior, each part undergoes a long cooling process to ensure the glass withstands strong temperature changes. Designed by Harri Koskinen, Block Lamp has become one of Design House Stockholm's most coveted products.

Next up... Objects of Desire.

We Say...

Vinturi

The Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator has become one of our most popular items, and with good reason.

Not so long ago I did not drink red wines.  It was a rarity when I would encounter one I truly enjoyed.  Decanting, I've since learned, is essential for young red wines.  It isn't, as I mistakenly assumed, just for show.  I may be the only person on the planet who suffered from red wine ignorance, but I've been schooled.  Big time.

My guy and I discovered Vinturi quite by happy accident and am I ever glad we did.

Properly decanting wine is primarily a waiting game.  

Expose the greatest amount of surface area of the wine to the air by pouring it in to a decanter...  

Then wait.  

For an hour... 

to

an hour and a half.  

Once decanted, the bouquet of red wine opens up.  The tannins soften which removes what I called the bite of wine (which is what always prevented me from enjoying it).  Decanting softens the wine and exposes flavors one might not otherwise notice.

But who wants to wait an hour and a half?  Not us.  Which is why I never fully appreciated the complexities of a good red before.

And this is where the Vinturi comes in....

This fantastic wine gadget will fully aerate your wine, by the glass or by the bottle, in mere seconds.  There is nothing extraordinary you must do except pour!  We like to say the Vinturi has an audio feature as it makes a unique slurping sound, not unlike that a sommelier might make when sampling a wine.

What we like about it...

It has a simple, clean appearance with the upper bowl resembling a wine glass.

Vinturi comes with a thoughtful stand which will catch the drips and a little drawstring bag so that you can take it out with you (we take ours to restaurants all the time).

It really works and it works really well.  In fact, there is nothing we don't like about it so we say...

Its Hot!

 

In a New York Minute

Wow!  Almost a month since our last entry and it seems like it passed in the blink of an eye.  My bad.

Without stumbling all over myself apologizing for those who expected to see at least something new here let me show you how the time has been passed...

You all know someone, I'm sure, who has a garage they can't use because its filled with stuff...

Well, our basement at the House had become similarly crowded.  We had a lot of stuff.  Stuff left over from our earliest days when we first took over that shabby chic store known as Simplify.  Stuff that was edited out of the store as we grew into what we are today.  And, though it seemed like a never ending job, we spent a great deal of time going through that stuff and packing it up.  Much of it went to good homes.  Some of it went to a charitable thrift shop.  Now, our basement is wide open and tidy and we are in the process of moving our stock to shelves lining the walls down there.  

Soon, you will be able to venture beyond the kitchen into an expanded ChiChi House.  Our trip to New York played no small role in deciding we needed to expand but we had another, more urgent reason...

Shortly before leaving for New York we fell in love.  We met someone special with a keen eye, a background in design and a knack for breathing new life into old furnishings.  She uses only environmentally friendly products.  She utilizes techniques she has worked hard to master.  Her thoughtful, clever finishing details make a piece shine.  

Her name is Debby and when she is finished with a piece it is something anyone would be proud to display in their home.  Clean.  Modern.  Luxe.  Debby's work will be available exclusively at ChiChi and we want to tell you more about both her and her work so we will feature a piece about her pieces soon, replete with pictures.  If you simply can't stand to wait, drop in to have a look... but do it soon.  Debby's pieces have been moving off the floor and into new homes fairly quickly.

Now, if you'll excuse me...

I'm almost 

to the 

bottom of

that stack of catalogs 

I lugged home 

with 

me...