alexandra angle interior design

Fire Island house

I'm not sure where I first saw this designer's work. I love her simplicity, her eye for color, her taste in art. She's great at making little vignettes of objects that aren't precious or fussy. She uses iconic midcentury pieces in a warmer way—her rooms don't look just like a page out of the DWR catalogue (not that there's anything wrong with that; it's just a look that's easy to duplicate).

Fire Island house

Los Feliz house

Los Feliz house

Wilshire house

Soho house
(Check out the Jill Greenberg bear photos; I'll be writing about her soon)

Cape Breton Island house

three potato four san francisco print

San Francisco print

Three Potato Four, a groovy online (and actual) shop out of Philadelphia run by a husband-and-wife team, just announced the "pre-sale" of this print, from designer Jim Datz's city series. I love the the typography and the cluttered-but-meaningful graphics, and the San Francisco names remind me of last summer's trip:

If you've left your heart elsewhere, there's also Manhattan, Brooklyn, and London.

the anthropologist

Photos by the husband-and-wife design team Urnatur

Big thumbs up to Anthropologie for its new site, The Anthropologist. It seems to be nothing more than a showcase for new projects by interesting and admirable artists, working in a variety of media: photos, installations, essays, short films. I love the emphasis on Andy Goldsworthy-style outdoor art, like Urnatur and Jim Denevan:

Jim Denevan's photo director's sketch

These ephemeral circles were carved in the snow and ice on Lake Baikal
for the world's largest artwork

It looked like this, for a little while

And Andrew Zuckerman, whose beautiful, hyperdetailed animal photographs I've admired and enjoyed, did a nice series of short films on people he "relies on every day: his tailor, his grocer, his butcher, his peers." Anyway, get lost in the site for a little while. It's definitely thought-provoking—and a great example of a retail company doing something good while tastefully and subtly promoting its own name.

task new york

Metal tray

Bird candles
(this guy comes in a set of four)

Coffee spoons

Owl salt-and-pepper shakers

Last week the New York Times home section proclaimed that "authenticity" in home design is getting old. Authenticity, that is, in things like handmade pillow covers, distressed photo frames, unique-looking art prints, and all things owl. In other words, the Etsy look is over.

I'll give it to the Times on the owl front. Those birds are everywhere. (I'm still a fan, though; shunning them at this point would be like dropping your favorite band once they got too popular.) But I think it's unfair to dismiss the impulse toward hominess and uniqueness. I'd rather define "authenticity" as buying goods directly from artists and craftspeople (on Etsy and other sites), and appreciating beautiful objects while recognizing their place? The images above are from Task New York, a home and design store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I love what the store's founder, Ann Seally, writes on the site about the importance of well-loved objects: "They reflect and shape our identity. They influence our moods and inform our interactions with the world around us. Objects are the tools that bring meaning to our daily rituals, and living with objects we love can make us happy." 

Sparkly pillows

animal heads

Dwell zebra papier-mache head

I'm not sure how I feel about these papier-mache animal busts. I mean, they glorify the killing of beautiful wild creatures, right? Then again, they're completely and obviously fake—the fakeness is the point. (Zebra stripes are not turquoise; elephants aren't newsprint.) So maybe they're the opposite of glorifying. Dwell, Anthropologie and West Elm are all featuring them right now. (All are made in Haiti by a nonprofit organization—which is a nice, self-congratulatory way for us consumers to feel better about our consuming.) Either way, they're cute and pretty. I'll leave the symbolism alone and just enjoy the animal imagery.

Dwell giraffe head

Anthropologie elephant head

West Elm antlers

West Elm wildebeest

hot lava clothing on etsy

Tunic dress with a cute sash
(she's on tiptoe but it looks like high heels!)

Tunic dress

Peasant dress

A-line dress
(nice spirograph-meets-Hawaii print)

Etsy Kids, a new section of everyone's favorite online handmade superstore, features a curated bunch of children's items. That's where I found Hot Lava Clothing, which makes sweet girls' dresses in some really appealing prints. (Note to Hot Lava: I could see that black-and-white one in my size. Just a thought.)

magical beans

For sale on fatbraintoys.com

These are half toy, half art object: organic ovals, eggs, and globes, in Easter-egg colors and glossy grained wood. And though the company that makes them seems to be based on Long Island, the charmingly awkward branding copy seems translated to another language and back to English: "Make your exquisite decoration with these high gloss wooden artwork." "Challenge the ultimate or enjoy your own display." I'd like to challenge the ultimate, please. (Found on minordetails—a great blog about high style for small people.)

All images from beyond123