Furnishings are made from the darndest things.
Ample proof is contained in Interior Design's latest issue. The trade magazine's "Top Twenty in 2000," a reader ranking of the interior products displayed in the magazine's "Market" section, features a chair made of resin, a chaise longue upholstered in blue sneaker gel and the Jb Pendant lamp (right) in woven metal.
"People are taking materials from other industries or materials you wouldn't think of to use in commercial or residential design and incorporating them in their design scheme," says Elana Frankel, Market's editor.
But the selections probably say something about readers, too. The annual list is compiled from an accounting of those back-of-the-magazine postcards readers circle and mail to get more information about products appearing in the magazine. So it's not an endorsement of the item so much as an expression of curiosity about cutting-edge fashion.
Take the Cappelini-Modern Age Rainbow chair made of resin (upper right) and designed by Patrick Norguet. It's a striking chair that looks a bit like it's made of striped Lucite, but it's not exactly a mass-market item. The chair retails for $9,040 at the company's Manhattan store.
Frankel says she had expected the handsome Rainbow chair to make the list, but a few selections caught her off guard. Take the hot pink O-shaped chair (lower right) by Clarissa Richardson and Heidar Sadeki of the firm UT for a New York project. Please.
"That came as a surprise," she says.
Sheer delights in tantalizing color
Some of the best-dressed homes today are leaving little to the imagination.
Illusion fabrics have a long tradition on windows or as airy panels on four-poster beds. But sheers now have come into their own.
Wispy organza hints at another layer of color beneath in a pillow perking up a neutral chair. An embroidered gossamer throw drapes over a sofa arm like a luxurious evening shawl. Pinafore-like covers dress chairs, calling attention to their form. Filmy place mats and napkins reveal what's beneath. A shimmering iridescent topper adds hue and sparkle to a plain white tablecloth. Even the bed is transformed with a breath of color and subtle pattern in a thin sheet.
Universal Press Syndicate
Banish the clutter
If you're tired of the clutter and resolved that you will do something about it in the new year, here are tips to help you get started:
* When clearing a drawer or a closet, take everything out so you have to make a conscious decision about what to keep and what to put back.
* Sort items into boxes representing three categories: keep, give away, throw away.
* Got items waiting to be fixed, shirts missing a button? Fix them or lose them. Haven't worn something in more than three years? Get rid of it.
* After you've decluttered, change your habits. Devote 10 to 15 minutes each morning to clutter prevention, going through the house putting things where they belong, tossing unnecessary papers, moving laundry to the laundry room.
Houston Chronicle
Home Front welcomes interesting home and garden news. Please send suggestions to Karol Menzie, Home Front, The Sun, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278, or fax to 410-783-2519. Information must be received at least four weeks in advance to be considered.