the cityhammer blog

Photo from FLOR

We nearly squealed with delight when we saw a post on the Florum Blog about a new line of area rugs based on the design work of Alexander Girard. The Florum is the blog by FLOR, one of the world's leading floor covering companies, especially for modular carpet tiles, which we covered here recently.

In a partnership with maXimo, a design and licensing firm out of New Mexico that works closely with the Girard estate on licensing opportunities, FLOR will be resurrecting some of Girard's mid-century work for an area rug collection that could add a great deal of brightness and color to any room.

If the name Alexander Girard doesn't ring any bells, a brief glance at his work will forever set him apart in your mind as someone who is truly iconic in the design world. Born in 1907, Girard joined the Royal Institute of British Architects followed by a move to New York in the 1930's. He spent some time in Detroit and then headed out to the southwest where his textile designs truly took flight.

Girard will forever be known as the man who zagged when the modern world zigged. As furniture and interior trends were headed in the modern direction of incorporating metals and hard plastics, Girard looked to the unindustrialized world for textile patterns and designs that would complement this new era's trappings.

He looked for inspiration in countries like India and Mexico, where folk art and handicrafts were still in vogue, unfettered by the industrial processing of modern times. His use of aggressively bright colors like magenta and tangerine in his textiles were the perfect complement for the modern and stark furniture designs that were becoming ubiquitous by the 1950's.

Girard is best known for his work at Herman Miller, many of his fabric and textile patterns for that company are considered modern classics and even works of art. An interesting historical note is that he was brought to Herman Miller by Charles Eames, an American legend in architecture, furniture design and many other disciplines.

For examples of Girard's work, visit maXimo

To see the rugs, check out The Florum

Labels: Alexander Girard, Area Rugs New York, Charles Eames, Furniture Designers in New York

No Pandas Were Harmed in the Making of This Furniture

The Wall Street Journal's Kelli B Grant rounds up a list of retailers offering enormous clearance sales on furniture over the next few weeks. The reasons why, according to WSJ, are primarily due to the weak housing market.

"Furniture is a purchase that can easily be postponed," explains Stefan Wille, president of Aktrin Furniture Information Center, an Ontario-based market researcher. "If you have a fridge that breaks, you have to replace it. But if your table has a scratch on it, you can live with it for a while and replace it when times are better."

Some of the advice is to go for middle-of-the-road product, as custom furniture and high end merchandise has actually held up. They also recommend hitting the overstock stores like Tuesday Morning, looking for liquidation (bankruptcy) sales at Linens n' Things, negotiating with sales people and buying direct.

Some of the most promising sales include:

Manufacturer Thomasville holds its Memorial Day sale May 15 through June 2, offering up to 70% off. Through May 18, Macy's is slashing prices on select items, with discounts of up to 75%. And Pier 1 Imports is offering clearance discounts of up to 75% through June 22.

But don't get too excited as this glut of cheap furniture will probably come to an end very soon, thanks to new policies in China.

China is the largest supplier of wood and leather furniture to the world's markets and their ability to keep pumping the stuff out has been severely hampered by incredibly high crude oil prices. Cushion foam is made with petroleum, and then there are the shipping costs to consider.

Other factors affecting their exporting of furniture are a lower amount of tax incentives on "low tech" products like furniture, as the government finally moves to revalue it's currency against the US dollar. They are also shutting down many factories in order to improve the air quality for the Beijing Olympics this year. China has 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities and it may be too little too late, but its all about image this summer so a lot of manufacturing will grind to a halt.

So go out and grab that piece of furniture you've been putting off while their giving it away.

Click here for custom furniture designers in New York

Read the full article here: Furniture Retailers Slash Prices

Labels: Furniture Designers in New York, Furniture NY, Wall Street Journal