Monthly Archives: June 2011

June 24, 2011 · 12:56 am

Eames LCW

 
 The first Chair 101 class is starting, quiet please everyone.   Now pay attention because there will be a pop quiz at the end of the series!
 

LCW in Ash

LCW in Palisander

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Today we will be learning about the LCW – Low Chair Wood by Charles and Ray Eames.  In my opinion this is the most iconic chair and a great place to start this series.  Besides it being  first in my personal collection, its my favorite and there are rules to even sit in it at my house: no eating, drinking or writing (seriously, its my baby)!   The LCW chair works just about anywhere—from homes and offices to schools and public areas.  It continues to be an icon of Modern Design and is valued for its comfort as well as a status symbol. The Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair (1946) has been referred to as the “most famous chair of the century” and was hailed “Design of the Century” in 1999 by Time Magazine.
 
 

Ray and Charles Eames

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During the postwar Good Design movement husband and wife team, often just refered to as The Eames, sought to create inexpensive, comfortable, and modern furniture that could be mass-produced and  consistently used plywood in their work.  They have been a huge name in the design world since then, 70+ years later.  Many of my future lessons will feature Eames designed chairs.  The LCW was not a one hit wonder for them but it was the chair that started them all.

Eames Plywood Leg Splint

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In 1937, Charles had become head of the department of experimental design at Cranbrook Academy in Michigan and worked with friend and architect Eero Saarinen (you’ll hear more about him in future lessons!)  investigating plastics and furniture. The original concept for the molded plywood chairs was conceived in 1940 when Charles and Eero entered a line of furniture into an “Organic Furniture Competition” held by the Museum of Modern Art.  They won the competition but production of the initially designed chairs was canceled due to America entering WWII.   Charles continued on with plywood experiments and was awarded a contact with the US Air Force for Plywood molded leg splints.  It was this same technology that he used to create the LCW in 1946.  The chairs were manufactured by the Evans Products Company (Eames’ wartime employer) company in California and distrubuted by the Herman Miller Furniture Company in Michigan (another BIG name in the the mid centure furniture movement)  In 1949 Herman Miller took over production completely and is still the only licenced manufacture of the chair in the US.  Vitra (remember them for later) presently manufactures for Europe.
 

Production line in California

  

Furniture Brochure

Sales Catalog

 

Vintage Ad for LCW

 
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The LCW is composed of  plywood made by molding thin sheets of lightweight maple vaneers into gently curved shapes, giving the material a soft and inviting appearance.  Its uninterupted smooth form is contributed to the rubber shocks that are glued, not screwed into the backrest and seat.  These shock mounts give flexibility to the chair, making it more responsive to the human body.  This made the LCW one of the first chair to have a responsive backrest.  The molded plywood family has many other chairs and tables that are also still sought after today.  The chair has a sister LCM – Low Chair Metal, with metal legs and cousins DCM and DCW, “D” standing for Dining.  The dining chair has a narrower seat, longer legs and doesnt slope back as much as the LCW.  Have you ever sat in a LCW?  It is amazing that a chair without any padding or upholstery can be that darn comfortable.  The seat is higher at the knees and reminds me of sitting in an Adirondack chair.  There is no lumbar suport but its not needed with the ergonomic placement of the backrest.  Its not a really a lounge chair (just wait they did that too) but its definately a chair that you can sit in for a long time. 
 
So what makes bent ply or molded plywood a good material choice? The cross grain lamination technique create sheets of wood that are extradordinarily strong and can perform in ways that natural solid woods cannot. In the forward of Bent Plywood  by Dung Ngo & Eric Pfeiffer, (a book I gave my husband that actually has a plywood cover) Rob Forbes, founder of Design Within Reach, speaks of plywood furniture (and an Eames leg splint and LCW is pictured), “The very heart of modernism is embodied by the processes that evolved from this combination of human art and industrial woodforming technology, and we have made it the heart of our business”.
 

Starbucks art

BR ad September 2006 in Dwell mag

 

Martha Stewart Living featuring LCW

Being an icon nearly since its introduction you can only imagine how many are around.  Chances are that you have run across this little chair a few times and didn’t even know it.  A few years ago it was on wall murals and art work of every Starbucks.  It is constantly used by stylists in magazine articles and in store displays.  The LCM is in all fitting rooms in the Gaps in Manhattan and I often see it in window displays at Banana Republic (sorry Old Navy its out of your price range)  In doing my research I remembered this BR ad that I had from a Dwell magazine in 2006, it’s so important they made the model get out of her seat for the picture, ha!   

MoMa exhibit archives

 

Macy seeing "mommy's chair" at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC

It’s on the permenant collection of the MoMA and I don’t doubt in countless other museums (I know it was in the Mint Museum in Charlotte,NC)  My daughter takes great pride when we run across it and always says “Mommy its your chair!”  

Eames Chair coasters from MoMA

Inhabit pillow

There are also many products that pay homage to is famous form. I have the Eames chair coaster from the MoMA store  which feature 4 of their famous chairs, the LCM being one of them. If you see a book or poster graphically featuring famous chairs it is never left out and Inhabit makes awesome pillows featuring mid-century chair silhouettes.

Molded Plywood Order Form

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According to this order sheet, the original price of the LCW was $20.95!! I did a little searching and the vintage ad pictured above from 1952 the prices went up to $25.  DWR currently sales the LCW in one of its 4 basic colors for $780, in 2008 it was $650 and 2007, $630.  When I bought mine in 2006 it was $600!  Wow that’s a price increase of 30% in just 5 years!  My history of furniture teacher in design school gave us some wise advice:  “Don’t buy fancy cars, invest in furniture”, now I really know what he means! Of course if you really want to have this chair but don’t have the space or quite enough cash for it you can buy it in a scaled down miniature at 4.5 inches tall and $200  from Vitra. But for that price, I think that you might as well save up a little more money for the real thing.
 

My living room

 
 

Hudson enjoys relaxing in the LCW!

Lastly, my beloved little chair may live by a lot of rules in my house but that doesn’t mean its off limits.  I believe that you should teach children to respect furniture no matter its cost or design status.  Hudson has found the LCW to be a perfect chair to lounge in while he’s watching Yo Gabba Gabba!

Thanks for joining me!  Tune in again next week to learn about: the Barcelona chair

 

Thanks to Avital Gertner for contributing her flickr photo of the starbucks art.

Informational links:

http://www.eamesoffice.com/

http://www.hermanmiller.com/

http://www.industrialdesignhistory.com/

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June 18, 2011 · 7:10 am

Embroidery fit for a Little Queen

 

Little Queen Sunburst 2010

Emma wears her shirt from Aunt Nikki!

I have a dear little niece named Emma that is like one of my own mice.  She is only three but has already been the recipient of many of the creative works that will be featured on NikkiikkiN.  Last year this little cutie won her first beauty pageant at the age of 2!  She was the Little Queen Sunsburst of Michigan!  To commemorate her title I made her an embellished shirt that would announce it to all.  This shirt was made with a few different crafting techniques: iron-ons, embroidery and appliques.

Commemorative shirt for my pageant queen niece

The back of Little Queen Sunburst's shirt

The state of Michigan is one of the most recognizable states in America with its mitten hand shape.  As preschoolers we were all taught how to point out on our own hand where in Michigan we lived, ask any Michigander what part they’re from and they’ll probably still do it, lol! 

I wanted to incorporate that mitten shape with a crown and came up with an applique design of the mitten being crowned.  I didnt need to purchase many supplies for this project. Being a crafter and interior designer you can only imagine all the fabric I have access to, fabric samples and embroidery thread are both staples in my crafting boxes.  I used Wonder Under fusible web on all the appliques to give them staying power and then did a blanket stitch around the upper and lower portions of the state.  The crown was made from a wool felt that wasnt going to unravel so I only did a straight stitch around it.  For the front of the shirt I wanted the word “queen” to stand out and used glitter iron-on letters from Michael’s craft store.  The rest of the words were hand embroidered in a rope stitch, which didn take that long after I lightly drew the words in pencil. 

I used a great online site Stitch School  to refer to for instructions and tips.  I also have the The Embroidery Stitch Bible by Betty Barnden to look at while I work.  An embroidery hoop is a must for embroidery work and luckily they are still an inexpensive craft tool.  I have a small one from childhood and a larger one that I bought to work on Hudson’s Owl quilt.  (I recently have seen the wooden embroidery hoops being used to display fabric as art on walls, what an innovative and economic gallery wall that makes, maybe ill try it one day!)

Of course Emma loved her shirt, my sister was excited about it too and she proudly saved it as a keepsake with all of Emmas trophies and crowns from her big day.

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June 17, 2011 · 10:26 am

Chairs 101

Entanglement of Chairs by James Nizam

 

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I am working on my new design series called Chairs 101.  I am crazy about chairs, my obsession started in design school and was awarded at my graduation when my husband gave me my first designer chair, the Eames LCW.  Since then I have added a few others and will be excited to show off my collection as well as other important chairs during this series!

Why do I love designer chairs?  There are several reasons, one is that out of all the many ways that a person can collect important pieces in design, whether it be a work of art or a whole house, one little chair is by far one of the most affordable and obtainable.   A splurge on a single chair doesn’t require much space or special installation to make a whole room feel styled and complete. 

The other reasons for my love are deeper in design theory thoughts.   The evolution of chair design has always paralleled the development of architectural styles and eras. During the last century chair designs have had a lasting impact on furniture design because of their innovative materials and the advance in construction technologies.  A multitude of chairs have been designed simply because of the fact that there is no idea form for a chair and that there can be many solutions to perform its function.  When I study a chair I see so much: a sculpture, a voice, a time period.  The mood it can create and its purpose in social society are all part of the package, wrapped up on four little legs and using only 2 square feet of floor space!  It’s a compact design that makes a serious impact in the design world.

Modern Chair Eye Exam from Blue Art Studio

 

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A chair can be a beautiful work of art that is well designed, studied, and written about.  It can become a celebrated icon. Some of the most iconic chairs have emotional persuasion that speak as loudly as well noted architecture and are often designed by architectural masterminds.   I run across designer chairs in department store displays, hotels, restaurants, advertisements and magazine spreads.   When I find one in person I take my picture in it ( I told you I was obsessed)!  There are many products that feature designer chairs like pillows, posters, coasters and miniatures, they are an easy way to bring a piece of a icon into your home or office. I dont collect the miniatures myself, I’d rather save up for the full size chair and I also have no problem obtaining just one of each, who says that you have to have a matching set?

The Bible of Designer Chairs

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One of my required books in design school was the bible of chairs: 1000 Chairs by Charlotte and Peter Feill.  I will be referring to it myself while writing my posts to get my facts straight.  (Dont worry, Im not going to talk about all 1000!)  I will be writing about not just the history and importance of the chairs but showing you some of the places designer chairs are used and some of the products that celebrate their form.  In my series I intend to share the worlds most influential and celebrated chairs with you.  If you aren’t a design-ish person, you will be surprised at how many chairs you can recognize but have never known the story behind. 

In the tradition of a blog series I will be making these posts on Fridays so check them out as you wind down for the weekend.

Cheers! Nikki

Tune into class next week to learn about: Eames LCW and LCM chair

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June 8, 2011 · 11:32 pm

Newspaper Tree Canvas

 

Recently my Oliver the Owl Nursery picture was used on a Pinterest.com pin board.  (How exciting!)  The author of the pin board commented “love these easy to make trees!”    Yes, thank you, they were easy to create and you can see the rest of the room right here!

I love graphic trees!  Symbolic representations of almost anything make me swoon.  Hudson’s nursery had a Owl theme, sorta, I wanted to throw in trees too.  Over his bed I created a triptych (thats a work of art which is divided into three sections) and in it I incorporated newspaper to play off of his gray bed.  My tree shapes were inspired from different sources that I sketched out and changed to suit me.  I used a custom acrylic paint as the back ground and created the decoupage newspaper shapes before adhering them to the canvas.  This gave them a look different than if I had placed the newspaper directly on the canvas to decoupage.  After the tree tops were in place (and this took a while because I always take a lot longer than most people to do what looks simple.  But thats okay, size, shape and balance are very important to my eye) I penciled in the trunks and then painted it a dark graphite.  That was it.  A spray sealant or thick layer of Mod Podge could have been added afterwards but I didnt think it needed it.

If you havent heard of  Pinterest.com, check it out.  “Pinterest is a place to catalog the things you love”.   So save some file space on your hard drive and gather those inspiring internet pictures over there.  The best part: the website is set up for users to give credit and link back to where they discovered the photo.  I really appreciate that, not only because I myself, am guilty of not knowing where I borrowed some pics from, but because it gives other users the opportunity to check out the owner of the pic too.  The down side to this site: you must have an invite to play!  So even though I have a photo showcased on a  pin board, I am on the waiting list to have an account!

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June 8, 2011 · 7:38 pm

Hawaiian Birthday Party

Aloha Macy!

Its HOT!  Its summer here in the city and as we begin planning Macy’s 9th birthday party I thought it would be a great time to post her 8th birthday party, Aloha! A Luau Pool Party.  I bet there is alot of people planing a luau party this time of year, its the perfect summer theme and I hope you find ours inspiring!  We had her party at our community pool and it was a such beautiful venue that it didnt take much to decorate.

Macy's 8th Birthday Celebration

Hawaiian Party Table

There are a few consistent elements in Macy’s birthday parties, I always make the cake and the invitations are handmade.  This year was no exception,  hand cut hibiscus flowers were the front of the invites and the party info was on a medallion on the back. In her earlier years, our parties included a lot of  friends and family & I had to make about 5o invites.  But now that she’s older and we dont live near friends and family anymore her party guests are school friends and total less than 20 guests.  This years cake was a Hula Girl Barbie and she was so easy to make!  (I’ll talk more on her in a future SugarCoated post)

Luau Party Invataion

Hula Girl Barbie Cake

When it comes to buying party supplies, there are a lot of Luau and Hawaiian themes to choose from.  I tried to keep ours simple and I was very careful to not go overboard or cheesy. Lots of color is a given when you are do a luau, but since this was a girl’s party it was easy to add in more pink and orange to give it a focus. A few plain white tablecloths were a great investment I made a few years back and this was another party that I was glad we were able to use them.  The grass table skirt was safety pined to it and because it was cloth I didnt have to worry about the weight of it tearing a plastic tablecloth.  The party and favors included a lei and hibiscus hair clip and a flower printed tote to stuff with candy & treats from the pull string (the only kind I do) pink flamingo pinata. Cool treats like fresh fruit served in a half pineapple and Hawaiian Punch in a coconut shell cup was all that was needed to entertain these girls.  I could hardly keep them at the table long enough to even sing happy birthday, because they were very anxious to get in the pool and just have fun.

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