It’s true that most of us have stone countertops that can withstand heat, but I think (preferably) modern trivets still have a place in the kitchen.
Not long ago I put a Pyrex baking dish straight from the oven onto our granite countertop. It was wet. The entire dish, salmon included, exploded. Seriously. Exploded.
Many kitchens, including mine, mix countertops, using a different material for the island than for the rest of the workspaces. The ship-like cherry wood countertops on either side of our stove are scorched from the tea kettle. (Not my doing.) I leave a cork trivet nearby now.
And unless you have have a marble-topped Saarinen tulip table you don’t want to be putting hot dishes on your dining table.
I seem always to be researching lighting for one situation or another. (Currently I’m choosing lights to brighten up and modernize our Florida condo.) Luckily sites like Lumens make choosing modern lighting easy, from basic fixtures to on-trend statement lighting. This StyleCarrot affiliate has asked me to create a post on its modern lighting sale, going on now. (This post is sponsored, but I am a devoted Lumens customer.)
The Lumens lighting sale offers 40+ modern lighting brands at up to 40% off. I’ve combed every lighting category in the sale for my favorite picks for modern chandeliers, modern pendant lights, modern sconces, flush mount fixtures, table lamps, floor lamps, and more, from brands and designers including Artemide, Tom Dixon, Muuto, Sonneman, Flos, and others.
Some of them I have been coveting for years, others I am lucky enough to own. I helped a friend choose #1 for the playroom in her Manhattan apartment and it looks fantastic —clean, curvy lines with some shine. I really wanted to install #3 in our house on the Cape, but had to go with something less expensive; I still love it though. I’m a sucker for anything resembling gray flannel or concrete so #4 is a fun fave (plus I got to visit the Muuto offices on a press trip to Copenhagen).
Speaking of Danish Design, the matte black sconce (#13) by Arne Jacobsen for Louis Poulsen is a longtime classic. And I’d definitely label #7, Tom Dixon’s copper pendant, a newfound classic lighting option. And one more… I included #8—spare brass sconces with a white glass globe— by contemporary lighting design master Michael Anastassiades in a design mockup for my family room makeover (see “related posts” at the bottom). This could be the perfect opportunity to purchase a pair.
Here are my 15 favorite modern lighting styles from the Lumens lighting sale.
I’ve been saying that I want to set up a home bar for my husband forever. Last month, I updated my post 50 Bar Carts, Serving Carts & Trolleys for inspiration. (Of course, we can’t actually have a cart on wheels in our house or our son would be taking it for a ride all around the condo.)
Unsurprisingly, I haven’t had a chance to move forward on this. (So many gift guides to write, so little time.) But then I got a message from folks at Absolut, offering to send me the newLimited Edition Andy Warhol Absolut Vodka bottle, a lacquer tray, and an Amex gift card so I could style a festive holiday bar. As you can imagine, I told them to send it all right over! Motivation? Done.
The bottle, which is fun, colorful, and sure to be celebrated hostess gift to bring to holiday parties (though I’ll be keeping mine on my newly styled bar tray), is a new creation based on Andy Warhol’s depiction of Absolut’s iconic bottle that he painted back in 1986. This year, Absolut transformed that artwork into a three-dimensional bottle, using the tagline “Make the Holidays Pop” as the inspiration behind the collaborative campaign.
Since I don’t have an unused corner for a full-on bar, a bar tray is the perfect small space home bar solution. While I’m not sure the new tray is styled to perfection yet, I did pull together some must-have bar accoutrements—copper shaker, stainless steel strainer, wine glasses, martini glasses—plus the Absolut Warhol bottle, gin, and Twenty Boat Spiced Rum from Truro Vineyards on the Cape. To prettify, I added a stalk of bamboo, green button mums, mandarin oranges in a Jonathan Adler dish, and a silver dreidel, set beneath my new swimming pool photograph from Gallery. (Scroll down for all the shopping links.)
Create a bar in a cleared out section of a bookshelf, on a lacquered tray atop a console table, a tray table, an armoire, etc. If I did, you can too. Of course, I admit, sipping that Absolut Warhol helped get me in the mood.
Bar tray styled & photographed by StyleCarrot
S T Y L I N G M YB A R T R A Y
S H O P P I N G
1 Splash by Joy Mckinney Framed Print, $370 at UGallery.
Sunday is the last day to see Boston Magazine’sDesign Home. This year, Design Home is a net-zero energy house, built, owned, and soon to be lived in, by real people. Homeowners Natalie and Tom Treat, along with Ridgeview Construction and National Grid, collaborated with Design Home to promote awareness of energy efficient design and raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital. (Tickets are $25, all of which goes to Boston Children’s Hospital.)
The 2,400-square foot, single-family home in Salisbury, Massachusetts is a brand new modular construction designed by BrightBuilt Home. It features energy efficient building techniques and systems, as well as eco-friendly finishes and furnishings, all from local sources, overseen by architectural and interior designer Lisa Sivan Wasserman.
It’s the last weekend to take the tour and see the whole thing in person. Here’s a preview of some of the spaces, along with decor details you won’t find anywhere else. (I wrote all the copy for the Design House again this year, so I’ve got plenty of extra scoop. If you’re more interested in the energy efficiency aspect, let me know, as I’ve got a lot of information on that as well, and can direct you to the experts.)
In the entry, gray slate tile bridges the exterior and interior and requires minimum maintenance. Sunlight streams through the cut in the family room wall. The elephant mahogany console table on curvilinear steel base, is by Ray Bachand of 60nobscot, and the vintage rug is from Landry & Arcari, which provided the rugs in every room. The Walsingham Gallery in Newburyport provided the artwork throughout the house, often done by local artists depicting local subjects. This seascape in oil is by Robert Bolster.
To the right, the reclaimed antique wood bench with sleek acrylic legs is also from 60nobscot. Low VOC paint from Benjamin Moore was used throughout.
Lynn Dayton of Dayton Home, a home furnishings shop in Wellesley, decorated the family room. Dayton was inspired by natural woods, minerals, grasses and stone. She used natural linen on the windows to reflect the commitment to organic. Plus, they allow for privacy but also light and heat. (Dayton supplied the fabrics for the window treatments, which were sewn by Adorna, a local to the trade custom workroom.) Sofa is by Wesley Hall and glass table lamp Arteriors Home.
The sunroom was an add-on that will make the Treats feel like they’re in the New Hampshire woods, right in their backyard. Low maintenance indoor/outdoor furniture from Yankee Fireplace. I love the unfinished beadboard cathedral ceiling.
The upstairs palette is much lighter, and the vibe more relaxed. A vegetable-dyed, hand-spun wool rug in seafoam green with a terracotta lotus tree pattern from Landry & Arcari provides soft color on the floor. The reclaimed wood flooring throughout was supplied by Jewett Farms + Co. Upstairs they used wide planks of live sawn old growth white oak. The landscape paintings, Darlou Gams‘ diptych “Morning” and “Breezing Marsh,” reinforce the dreamy feel, and a pair of vintage rattan stools found on eBay add texture.
The child’s bedroom, designed by Emily Lacouture of NOW Interiors, a design studio and retail shop in Acton, is playful and sophisticated. The patchwork quilt with animal spine pattern is handmade by a RISD-trained artist Meg Callahan. The stump side table is locally made chainsaw art by Vermont craftsman Barre Pinske and the wooly llama foot stool is by Eli Parker. The life size baby giraffe sculpture by Ocean Sole is made out of flip flops retrieved and recycled from the beaches of Kenya.
On the other side of the room, an abstract cityscape by Boston artist Beatrice Dauge-Kaufman and an on-trend polished copper spotlight sits on a glossy black console.
LaCouture also decorated the guest room, in which she used a hand-painted 1960s vintage folding screen from France as a headboard. The reclaimed wood bench at the foot of the bed is an nice juxtaposition to the smooth pale wood Fan chair by Tom Dixon, which is a contemporary take on the classic Windsor chair. That chunky, handknit throw is delicious.
The master bedroom palette is soft and soothing. Kerry Vaughan of Red Bird Trading Company in Newburyport decorated the room, using a statement making, Phillip Jeffries Driftwood grasscloth-covered four-poster bed by Lee Industries as its centerpiece. A diamond quilted linen coverlet and white linens keeps the palette perfectly pared down, while a locally made linen throw with velvet backing, mohair and velvet throw pillows, and lamp shades custom made in Maine from marbleized paper add a touch of texture and color. The nailhead trim bench, covered in cotton velvet is also Lee Industries. The room is grounded by a wool and silk rib rug in a lustrous gray from Landry & Arcari.
A narrow grasscloth covered console table doubles as a vanity, accessorized with a swirly distressed wood mirror.
The children’s room and guest room share the spa-like blue and white bathroom that opens off the upstairs hall. The space saving vanity is from Peabody Supply Company; its bottom drawer and storage shelf supplement the narrow linen closet next to the shower. Accessories fromNOW Interiors, such as the rattan mirror and aqua striped Turkish towel reinforce the bath’s coastal vibe. Both this and the master bath feature radiant flooring, an energy saving alternative to baseboard heaters.
Kerry Vaughan of Red Bird Trading conjured an artist’s atelier as inspiration. The décor, like that elsewhere in the home, draws from natural elements and sticks to the spirit of using locally made and reworked pieces. An extra long sectional by Lee Industries is upholstered in heavily textured, oyster white Belgian linen, and sits on an overdyed Turkish rug. Above is an industrial style raw brass light fixture.
Under the eaves is a recycled cot from Maine, covered in cowhide.
Another area features a drafting table.
Coastal Windows & Exteriors provided the home’s triple pane argon windows, which reduce solar gain from the sun in summer and prevent heat from escaping in winter. The 27 Sunbug Solar panels on the roof will generate at least as much power as the home uses each year. The Treats expect to have saved enough on energy bills to compensate for the cost of their panels within four to five years. An electric circuit monitor by PowerWise will gather data about how much electric the home’s lighting, appliances, etc. consumes, so they can analyze where to cut back and where waste might be occurring.
It’s already been a month since I curated 24 Rooms with Copper Pendant Lights. It’s about time I’ve followed up so you too can get the look. Here are 15 modern copper pendant lights.
Yes, there are other styles of copper pendants beside Tom Dixon’s copper shade pendant. I love #15, but then again, I’m a fan of pretty much anything designed by Iacoli & McAllister. Remember the turquoiseFrame Cluster chandelier I posted two years ago? It’s now available in copper. (I still love the blue though.) #8 is interesting too; yes, I also adore Seattle-based Ladies & Gentlemen Studio.
Here are 15 modern copper pendant lights (some from StyleCarrot partners), all fantastic.
S H O P P I N G
1. Lotus Light by Simon James for Resident Studio, $995 at A+R.
2. Copper Cinque by Iacoli & McAllister, $795 at Burkelman.
3. Light Love Copper Pendant by Tahrir Filisk, $529.60 at YLighting.
4. La Couronne Lamp by Artecnica, $49 at YLighting.
5. Copper Void Pendant Light by Tom Dixon, $615 at Horne.
6. Tall Step Light Pendant by Tom Dixon, $465 at Horne.
7. Pantop Pendant by Verner Panton, $475 at Switch Modern.
8. Aura Pendant Light by Ladies & Gentlemen, $345 at Horne.
9. Copper Etch Shade by Tom Dixon, $525 at Lumens.
