I avoided stick for being the only boy at school in a houndstooth suit, and have loved it ever since. Here are a few items on our watch list:

/1 Haute Surface by Jaime Salm for Mio
Recycled cork gets a new lease of life in a tessellating jigsaw for your tablewear/mouse.
Buy: $20, Matter

/2 Houndstooth Rug by Jonathan Adler
We own this, and love it. Order in any color and any size, just go easy for the sake of your eyes.
Buy: $600, Jonathan Adler

/2 Houndstooth 10" & 8" Paper Plates
Picnic in style. And yes, there are matching napkins.
Buy: $4.95 & $5.95, www.platesandnapkins.com (where else?!)

/2 Houndstooth Towels by Williams-Sonoma
These are next on the list. But can a married man still have a black towel? Available in white, black, and ivory, and in washcloth, hand towel, bath sizes.
Buy: From $18, Williams-Sonoma

continue reading "Houndstooth of Love" »

I've added two t-shirts to the Multiples Store, entitled Jermyns. Truth be told, they were inspired by a very colorful shirt I was given free on Jermyn Street in London which I've never once worn.

Jermyns Wouldn't (left)
- Mens
- Womens

Jermyns Might (right)
- Mens
- Womens

@ The Multiples Store

continue reading "New Multiples: Jermyns" »

It's no secret that I love umbrellas. More specifically, I'm a little unhealthily addicted to "broken" ones. After spending all of yesterday engrossed in old movies, and thus not being in the rain, I ventured out this morning to a changed city.

What actually surprised me—more so than the ankle deep puddles NY1 warned us against—were the amount of people carrying utterly useless umbrellas. I saw more people struggling than actually getting somewhere under cover. Unfortunately I was one of the aforementioned strugglers, using a stained auction house umbrella with an unusual discoloration. Surprisingly, I have never actually owned an umbrella—I typically live off loaners from the Mercer Hotel—but I think now might be the time to make the jump. Which raises the question:

What is the perfect umbrella?

From today's evidence, only the girl in the Shibuya-style clear dome umbrella was in any state of harmony, but I don't know where you buy them (or if I would pull one off) anyway. I saw golf umbrellas, square umbrellas, dome umbrellas, crappy street umbrellas, flimsy freebie umbrellas, and wooden-frame traditional ones. So which one just works? I could call Brella Bar, or I could pop around to the Hotel, but I actually want function over form this time.

Perhaps it's because I grew up in England and Scotland that rain doesn't really bother me, but I do like to stay dry, so today seems like a very good day to finally get an answer. Or to stay indoors with the cat.

continue reading "Just what is the perfect umbrella?" »

Judge books by their covers.

The excellent design blog, Ace Jet 170, blog has posted his collection of Pelican paperbacks, featuring some very inventive cover designs.

While I got a pang of fear spotting W. J. Reichmann's Use and Abuse of Statistics (my grandfather gave me a copy once, I think expecting me to memorize it), there are some stunning minimal design covers well worth leaving at the top of your coffee table pile.

Check out Part One and Part Two of his All My Pelicans series

@ acejet170.typepad.com/foundthings

continue reading "Ace Jet 170's Pelican Books" »

I've just added a couple of new products to the Multiples Store. On the left is the "At the Delta Brilliant" poster print; and the right is a women's t-shirt inspired by the poster design. Both draw from imagery from Tennessee Williams' one-act This Property Is Condemned.

continue reading "New Multiples: Delta Brilliant" »

Design*Sponge wrote a piece about Secondhand Rose earlier today, the downtown NYC wallpaper emporium. Growing up in a house wallpapered floor-to-ceiling in Liberty prints, I've always managed to both love wallpaper and yet never use any in my homes. The geometric RT-558, shown above, really makes me want to re-work my office though. I might need to work in sunglasses though.

@ www.secondhandrose.com

As an extra, if you've run out of wallspace, check out CITY Magazine's 2006 Design Issue online for other ways to use your wallpaper.

continue reading "Secondhand Rose Wallpaper" »

It's rare you'll find a company which offers such consistently beautiful products as 20Ltd, a new U.K.-based "idea," offering exclusive design items and collaborative products. And this one hasn't even fully launched yet!

20Ltd launches April 2, 2007, with 20 products, some limited to only three editions.

I was immediately drawn to the "Good versus Evil" Opus football table, by The Eleven Forty Company. The Glasgow, Scotland, based company has created a hand-crafted, 400-hours in the making, laqeured maple wood game table, featuring painted likenesses of God, Mary Poppins, Bobby Moore to name a few on the "Good" side, and Hitler, Caligula, and Lady Macbeth representing the "Evil" eleven. Priced at £14,500 ($28,500), you'll have to act fast—naturally, they're only making 20.

Other works include a stunning "Spoon Bowl" by Toni Grilo for Christophe, and a "Silver tea and coffee tower set" by Zaha Hadid for Alessi. Continue reading to see three more of my favorite items from the collection, and mark your calendars (and clear your credit cards) in time for April 2.

@ www.20ltd.com

continue reading "20Ltd Limited Edition Products" »