Wednesday, October 08, 2014

More From Boston Design Market 2014

This is my last post on Boston Design Market 2014.

What did I come away with? Blue is still strong. Yellow is emerging. Re-emerging.

"Channels", a Kelly Wearstler print for groundWORKS from Lee Jofa

"Channels," Kelly Wearstler's bold print on the chairs, reminds me of Christopher Kane's dress that was so hot last year.

From Amid Privilege's Pinterest Board. You should read Lisa's blog.


The blue sofa in another groundWORKS fabric, Sunbleached Indigo, with yellow velvet and jewel toned satin pillows.



More blue. Oliver Blumgart's graphic fabrics and wallpapers. 

"Drill" in Nantucket Blue from Oliver Blumgart

All of Mr. Blumgart's hand crafted designs are taken from his watercolor paintings and completely customizable. Designs can be scaled up or down, in any color, and then hand screened on fabrics or digitally printed on wallpaper.

On close inspection, "Drill" the design above, has a vintage 60's optic feel. MC Escher-esque.

However, it takes on a totally traditional look upholstered on this slipper chair.

Cotton "Drill" in Nantucket Blue on chair. Behind the chair, "Drill" printed on pink silk.

Stephanie Odegard's statement rug, Charlotte Batik in Denim.

Dramatic. 
Think of the fun you'll have as your guests sip a cocktail and you give them a Rorschach test.

A closer look at one of Stephanie's globe lanterns.

A sunflower gathers the sinuous lattice of this silver finish globe. I love this finish.


On a serious note, Stephanie Odegard is a founding board member of GoodWeave, a carpet industry foundation. GoodWeave's certification is the only independent program that inspects all links in the supply chain to insure that carpets are made child labor free. There are over 250,000 children, as young as 5 (no, I did not miss a digit, that's 5 years old as in 'should be in kindergarten') in South Asian carpet factories weaving rugs for American consumers. Intended for us.

Next time you shop for a hand made carpet or rug, online or in-real-life, check for the GoodWeave Certification label.

The soul of a rug lies in the freedom of the weaver. 
No one should walk on a carpet made by a child slave.
Read more about GoodWeave.


The last day of Market held a pleasant surprise in the lobby of the Design Center. New England Home announced the 2014 Hall of Fame Inductees with a festive do. The New England Design Hall of Fame recognizes and "honors individuals who have had especially significant careers in residential design in New England"* The inductees are interior designers, architects and landscape architects whose work and community involvement place them at the "pinnacle of their profession."

Congratulations to this exemplary group!
*from New England Home magazine
l-r, Christina Oliver, Susan Stacy, Dinyar Wadia, Rosemary Porto, Tref LaFleche and Douglas Dick


Optimistic yellow showed up for this fete in florals, the nibbles, the bubbly, all a pleasant juxtaposition to the new and controversial black and white floor.



In truth, I arrived a few minutes ahead of time, purely by accident. Ten minutes later and it would have been too crowded to take these pictures and you'd be reading a much shorter post.

Pretty sure these are yellow Gloriosa Lilies.

A+ for innovation on these graceful wire vase holders. 

A close up of the colorful bread sticks.

I sampled a yellow.


The servers were polite and very pleasant! I asked if I could take their picture. As soon as my lens cap was back on the gentleman on the left handed me a glass. With a smile. How can you not love Boston?

Blue and White have been a couple for eternity, long before we hauled ourselves out of the ocean and started hunting. Truth, integrity, loyalty, that's blue. White is innocence, goodness, trust. The combination is a touchstone in our culture for all that is clean, pure, beautiful. Godly, if you will.

Blue and Yellow? This duo is more recent. Been together since we started farming, a short 12,000 years, give or take a century.

Yellow and blue is the junction and sustaining result of earth and sky. Where sunflowers bask in hot sun and brilliant blue. The rolling hills of golden wheat fields ebb and flow in the wind under North Dakota's endless sky. (I've been there, that is exactly what it looks like).

Enough of that. Blue and yellow is simply, a happy combo. Happiness.

It was the late 90's when I personally hung this yellow and blue Thibaut toile in my dining room. Looks like a Smithsonian vignette on life in the last century. Way past the time for a change.

The wallpaper is so old it is discontinued but Thibaut makes tons of other options.
I'm sure the old fabrics are discontinued too.
Peonies, still in production, from my garden.

I still like yellow with blue but I'm ready for a new look. The carpet stays. It's a vintage Kashan, made long before GoodWeave. Any thoughts? Just blue and white?

This table and chairs was my first big furniture project back in the day.
We found them at a garage sale and refinished the set.

What do you think? Does blue and yellow conjure Provence? A happy day at the beach? Is it too homey for you?

In the end, the perfect color pairing is the one you love.

Thanks for reading,
Linda Pakravan

here's a post on Cobalt

This post was not sponsored.

9 comments:

  1. Also, I do not think of the wallpaper as so old in the dining room! 1990s is not SO OLD.

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  2. That is a lovely rug! So glad it will be staying :) Funny, I'm painting our Maine front doors yellow. And inside, I have lots of blue, white and yellow. Cheers!

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  3. Thank you for visiting! Maine is a little bit of heaven on earth, yes? Yes.

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  4. I love blue and yellow ... and anything happy!! I LOVE you are keeping the rug, it is stunning. And how did I miss you at the BDC? Was fun to see all they have done, quite inspiring. I happen to LOVE the black and white floors!! xokim

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    1. So sorry our paths didn't cross. The new black and white floor is stunning! The controversy, maybe that was not the best choice, will be in how well will they be able to keep it clean. By Thursday at 5 pm the white was already marred and showing dirt -- the floor had only been in less than a week. We wonder how well they will keep up when winter weather arrives and it gets tromped on with snow, mud and boots. They are going to need one hell of a walk off mat!

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  5. Anonymous9.10.14

    Hi Linda! Another gorgeous post. Blue and white, I have. But now that you bring it up, I note that I have no yellow anywhere! It is such a happy combo, as you say, I wonder how I could be so remiss?

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    1. Thank you! I think yellow is one of those acquired tastes. For some it's a color you'd date, but not marry. Start with something small, a vase maybe?

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  6. Thank you! I'm really enjoying your blog too! You're funny and have good taste - kind of one of the top 10 combos of the world;).

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Please do. I love to know what you think!