apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Patrick, Maxwell -

It's not so much (in my case anyway) about being product centric in itself, but rather *what* products make the cut.

I've talked with other people who are getting bored because it seems as if the only products that will be featured here are the same old Eames stuff that's everywhere (blasphemy, I know ;->). That if it's not crazy cutting edge or Mid Century Modern, it won't be featured.

Many of us suffered through the 60/70/80's enduring uncomfortable plastic chairs that people call "classics" and practically worship now.

So those of us who don't like the direction aren't so much as anti-product, we'd just like to see nice tasteful stuff that appeals to most people (on real budgets, not the DWR crowd) as opposed to a few "design elite" that don't like anything but cutting edge, retro, MCM and control all the postings.

That's my two cents. It's meant to be constructive...I'd be happy to help you find more mainstream stuff if you're interested...I'm sure other people would volunteer too.

boomer--

Two cents always welcome. But the audience here is broad, with a broad range of tastes, and budgets to accompany them.

I've always (even before I could afford them) loved looking at "apirational inspiration." And I purposefully picked product sto highlight that are ripe for DIY picking, or provide an elegant solution to a small-space issue. I don't think anything here to be too DWR or Eames, but that's of course a matter of perception.

Like the slection or not, I think the *real* story here is that the MoMA people thought enough of AT (And its audience) to give us a sneak peak even before the stuff is available, online or in the catalog.

And I'm sure Maxwell or any of the AT editors would weclome product tips, from you or anyone. I'm just not sure "more mainstream" is what people come here for.

And "nice tasteful stuff" is HIGHLY subjective...

This does seem to be a bunch of cr@p, pardon my french.

Lordy, I love all that Chilewich stuff, especially the messenger bag.

I also love the Eames elephant, didn't AT do something about it a few months back? I remember seeing it somewhere but noting that it wasn't for sale anywhere, which made me sad. So glad to see it available now, even if it is a little pricey for a wooden elephant ;)

I ALSO love the neoprene laptop bag, and the pencil holder made from fake pencils.

Thanks for featuring this stuff, especially the elephant!

I'm not saying I don't like this stuff - I do.

And it was *very* nice of MOMA to give At a sneak peak. Absolutely.

All I was suggesting was that a broader, non cutting-edge, non MCM focus would be helpful in my opinion.

change "non" to "less"

Great preview. I might not personally want or need any of these items, but I love getting sneak peeks!

Where is the MCM focus here, exactly?

Patrick - in this post there isn't one. I was being generic. Maybe I shouldn't have.

Let's not continue this here - I don't think it's productive.

You can email me if you want at boomerang_56 at hotmail dot com

hello ... the half a portion mirror? brilliant, quirky and super fun.

and, patrick (too), i agree. everyone i know who loves AT (and there are a lot of them) definitely are not looking for mainstream. we want to see things that push the boundaries and give us inspiration even if we can't afford everything, we get ideas ... and reasons to save our pennies.

keep it up!

homo_wner -

I think I'm being totally misunderstood here. I like cutting edge too. I like MCM.

But I also like mainstream.

All I was asking for was "balance".

But if that's too much to ask... ;->

I just think asking for non-cutting edge on the Museum of Modern art store preview is not the best place to ask for it.

Hahaha, especially considering MOMA doesn't really specialize in cutting edge, but mostly modernist classics.

But come on, why isn't there coverage about Serbian style foot stool design, or Indo-Norwegian fabrics here on AT!? Get with the balance already! Just my three cents.

aquiet--

I think that true of the museum, but not so much of the store. Most of these pieces were designed within the last five years, many much more recent.

patrick: noted, and technically you're correct. But what I should have clearly stated is the catalog tends to be filled with current designs that are expected to become "classics", alongside historical classics. Most of the truly "cutting edge" designs, like couture fashion, won't see the light of day even in a modernist catalog like MOMA's. Of course, some people might find a catalog like DWR cutting edge when compared to Pottery Barn, so it might be an issue of perspective.

Hmmmm...MOMA seems to be run by fans of that one scene in The Graduate where some fogey tells our hero that the future is all about plastic.

I agree with Boomer, probably because I'm even older.

Interesting, well designed spaces should reflect the personality of the owner - which probably means some mix of styles and periods - rather than increasingly "safe" mid-Century objects.

Heck, Moss is carrying Nymphenburg porcelain (although the fact that he said something to the effect that he didn't realize that there were beautiful objects that weren't modernist until he went to Nymphenburg seems relevant to this thread...)

And yes, aquiet, the modernist Wenge end table I had shipped from Lithuania months before Baltic design was "discovered" looks great with my Loatian ebony burl bowl. Why not show the wonderful diversity of the world's design?

AT readers should aspire to style, not fashion - and to becoming secure enough to develop their own style - which has nothing to do with the budget they're on.

Perhaps there is also a need to open the definition of diversity of world design. Check the countries of origin of the products and product designers above. World design need not always look like World Market.

And could somebody PLEASE point out to me (with the exception of the repro Eames elephant) what on this list (a small sampling of MoMA's newest offerings) is mid-century?

I believe that Boomer was raising a larger issue, and that is what I was responding to.

As for "world design" vs. "world market" - who cares? Those sound like categories from a trade show at the Javits Center.

Before I say anything, let me say that this is a great discussion-- certainly the type of posts I would like to see more of.

I, personally, have no problem with the type of products that tend to appear in AT. Still, many of them are quite expensive, however they're just inspiration in my book (you can usually find similar pieces for cheaper prices).

While I agree that objects reminiscent of mid-Century designs are "increasingly 'safe'," I don't think it's that bad sort of typical suburban-soccer-mom's-taste type of "safe." Rather, there seems to be a growing market for designs that are practical and rely heavily on the integrity of the object itself sans ornamentation/clutter. Maybe in this case, "safe" just means that some people have begun to recognize the value in the general philosophy behind Modern designs.

Either way, maybe it's not AT's goal to have mainstream stuff. Do they claim to be objective in choosing designs to feature? Think of it as FOX News without the pretense of being objective (or the neo-con slant, of course)-- perhaps it's kind of meant to please a certain design niche. The title "Apartment Therapy" slightly implies a focus on (at least what is perceived to be) trends in urban design.

Frankly, if I saw anything like Pottery Barn here, I would forward my mother a link to the site and then avoid AT at all costs in the future. I've had enough organic wrought iron forms and floral prints...

P.S.
I'm not a fan of the wooden elephants either ;)

I guess I just don't get any design enthusiast who automatically shuts out *any* potential design source, be it MCM, Pottery Barn, MoMA or otherwise.

eam2242--

I did try to hand pick some items, but the entire PDF pages got posted, so the "curated" aspected of this post got a little lost in the shuffle.

Taureag--
World Market is a store that carries "ethnic" products I believe... the point I was trying to make was that the "world market" also produces pieces that do not necessarily have an Asian or African or Lithuanian outright appearance... like the many pieces shown by MoMA, of various global points of origin.

Could there also be a tilt in favor of mid-century modern furnishings on this site because the size and scale of many such furnishings are perfectly suited for smaller apartment style living? This was a site that was initially focused on smaller NY apartments.

As one who was born and raised in Southern Californian, I love mid-century architecture and furnishings standing by themselves. However, I live in a small, post-war townhouse in Northern VA that was formerly military housing. A regular size sofa (approx. 36 inches deep, 86 inches wide) from Crate and Barrel wouldn't even fit through my door. A Nelson daybed, purchased via Modernica, did and was appropriately scaled for my small living room.

As for the products shown on this site - I think the mix has been pretty good. I've been introduced to things I never would have known about, but for this site. As an example, I was clicking through the "Show" (a store in LA) website, which was linked in another apartment therapy post - great stuff, some of it affordable and some of it not.

-David

patrick--

Okay, okay... so I exaggerated slightly. I was just taking a jab at Pottery Barn. I wouldn't automatically ignore AT if I saw a Pottery Barn feature...

Still, there's nothing wrong with criticizing their designs and thus drawing logical generalizations from the criticisms I constantly find myself making. Enthusiasts are allowed to be judgemental, or else our enthusiasm doesn't count for anything :)

i dont know about you guys, but as a moma member ive received about a catalog a month from them, and i think the only thing i havent seen in the past years catalogs is the ravioli chair. so i dont know how much of a preview this is...