Browse Month: April 2021

3 Areas Where An Arco Lamp Can Be Your Perfect Tool

The Arco lamp is an extraordinary design for several reasons. The Castiglioni brothers strove to provide the world with a design that was aesthetically and functionally astonishing, that users could successfully integrate into all types of spaces. Here are three areas of your home where this floor lamp can save your day:

  1. In your workshop. If you work in a workshop, especially if you do some kind of manual activity for which you need a focused, powerful, and stable light source that you can redirect to your liking and convenience, the Arco lamp can be a source of solutions for you, not only because it’s capable of doing all that but also because it’s one of the most beautiful artifacts you’ll ever meet.
  2. In your kitchen. The kitchen is another very special type of workshop that requires great lighting to be able to work comfortably, to achieve the most amazing results with your dishes and desserts. The Arco lamp can be your perfect assistant so that you can visualize everything correctly and nothing fails.
  3. In your reading nook. Reading is one of the most interesting and productive pleasures that anyone can have, but it’s very important to be able to do it in an area with the appropriate technical characteristics so as not to affect your eyesight and that includes optimal lighting, which can only be provided by a model like the Arco lamp.

Remember that currently some stores specialized in modern pieces such as Manhattan Home Design offer the Arco lamp replica as a faithful, affordable, and convenient alternative for all types of environments, especially modern décors in which this iconic design can shine in all its splendor.

The Barcelona Sofa tells you: Common mistakes when you buy a Sofa.

It’s your main focal point in the living room. It’s a considerable investment. It’s the place where you will seat and sleep for longs periods of time, but still, common mistakes are made when you buy a sofa. Don’t make these mistakes.

First mistake: Don’t  Measure. 

Is your priority. You should take care not only of having enough space for the couch inside your loving, but to make sure that people is will walk around comfortably around the furniture. And remember to measure, not only your room but your entrance and stairs/ access doors. That will save you a lot of bad moments.

Second mistake: Don’t choose a style. 

Are you buying just a couch and leaving all your living the same? or will you start a progressive or total renovation?. In the first case, you should buy a couch that aligns with your current style. For example, if you have green microfiber chairs, buying a black leather sofa is not a good idea. But if you are going to a reno, read some magazines, explore on the web and find the style that catches your eye the most. Your style is your decision and comes from the hearth. Look if you need specialized people to make it real.  

Third mistake: Don’t forget who’s living with you.

Do you have children or pets?. Fabric couches like microfiber or cotton can be very damaged by spills or scratches, so, the endurance of your furniture is an important factor when you have children and pets. Leather is a very good option when it comes to cleaning and endurance, and the Barcelona Sofa  is a very good witness of that.  

With the information of measures, type of coach and style, make a balance of what do you have in your balance, and buy the sofa you need. 

For inspo, info and great offers in furniture, don’t miss the opportunity in Barcelona Design, the alternative for Mid Century Modern style furniture, with masterpieces like the Barcelona Sofa or the Hans Wegner Shell Chair. 

Design notes from the Barcelona Chair: The Paisley Pattern

It was the summer of 1967 when in the neighborhood of Haight Ashbury near to 100 thousand people gather around if what they call it summer of love. A social phenomenon where young people, wearing hippie clothes converged in some kind of a fairy tale summit. Music, drugs, and psychedelia were all over the place, and the phenomena were replicated in many parts of the world. Most of them wore hippie clothes and most of the hippie clothes had Paisley patterns.

Paisley is an ornamental textile design using the buta, a teardrop-shaped motif with a curved upper end. It became popular in the west several times in history, especially during the XIX Century in Europe. In the XX Century became extremely popular in the end of the 1960s and in the 1980s, when they started to call it bacteria pattern.

The Grateful Dead and the Paisley Pattern, in 1967

Paisley has managed to survive it. It is very rich and complex, so it can be overused. Don’t use it on walls or floors, because it is too dense.   Keep it with soft tones, and restricted to small furniture and upholstery. Pair it with solid color furniture and other elements of design and you will enjoy a beautiful and vigorous pattern. Paisley is an all-time favorite of shirts and men’s ties. A Barcelona Chair with a couple of cushions upholstered in Paisley may be a bold try.

Now you know how to use patterns with your Barcelona Chair. Don’t lose the opportunity and go to Barcelona Design, the best place for Mid Century Modern furniture. 

For inspo, info and great offers in furniture, don’t miss the opportunity in Barcelona Design, the alternative for Mid Century Modern style furniture, with masterpieces like the Barcelona Chair or the Hans Wegner Shell Chair. 

Main Modern Elements Your WFH Office Needs

During these pandemic restrictions, remote work has become the reality for many of us. Now the meetings are via zoom and the working hours can be made in pajamas. This has brought many benefits but also new needs such as home offices. 

Setting up a home office can be an easy task when you consider the items that are really necessary. So if you are a lover of the modern style and want to decorate in the most optimal and stylish way possible, scroll down and check out some very useful tips, from a comfortable LC2 chair to an elegant desk.

Choose a comfy chair

Select a chair that offers you comfort and ergonomics. Although there are classic office wheelchairs, if you want to maintain a more sophisticated style you can opt for a Le Corbusier chair or LC2 chair. These chairs contain double thick cushion filled with high density foam and are also upholstered with aniline leather. Excellent option for modern offices.

Select a spacious desk with organic lines

This should have the necessary space for all your utensils. Either from laptop to markers and paper in case you use.

And last but not least, choose a neutral and calm color palette.

Comment below what do you think that a WFH office should have

Design notes from the Barcelona Chair: Argyle Pattern

Let’s get serious: Who has never used a sweater with an Argyle Pattern? The Argyle Pattern is a favorite champion of all time. It consists of a series of diagonal squares or checkers, generally connected to each other with white bands.

But beyond our beloved 1980’s sweater, the Argyle Pattern is still beautiful and it is useful when it has a discreet role whether in a rug or a wallpaper.

An Argyle pattern is in the end a geometric pattern. It must be treated with the same rules: Is better on the floor (rug) or a low section of any wall.  The smaller the space, the colorful that it can be, and vice versa. Monochromatic, soft tone versions, are great for walls or rugs. As any geometric pattern, its abuse and excessive size may make you feel visually tired, so discretion is always convenient.

For inspo, info and great offers in furniture, don’t miss the opportunity in Barcelona Design, the alternative for Mid Century Modern style furniture, with masterpieces like the Barcelona Sofa  or the Hans Wegner Shell Chair.

Architecture and Mid Century Modern

We’ve seen many times how the revolutionary changes impulsed by the great names of the Mid Century Modern movement, bring deep changes to the world of interior design and leave us a great number of design masterpieces that are part of our daily life. Many of these figures were both Architects, and Designers: Eero Saarinen, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, or Le Corbusier.

So, it’s good to review, on the other hand, what were the contributions of these great figures of Mid Century Modern style made to the world of architecture, and to see how connected are the macro and the micro spaces.

Openness and transparency.

Open spaces and transparent facades are a classical characteristic of Mid Century Modern architecture. Both in giant skyscrapers or residential houses (like the creator of the Barcelona Chair, van der Rohe, did), the openness and clear views are a basic requirement of this architecture. Integration with nature and a game between void and fill spaces is the main purpose of this concept.

Flat roof

The lack of ornamentation so typical of Mid Century Modern interiors is visible in architecture too, with the absence of ornamented roofs. The vision of a house just like void-shifted horizontal boxes explains why the roof is considered like a flat plane that closes an interior volume.

Natural colors and materials

Bring nature indoors is a constant in Mid Century Modern interior design, particularly with the influence of Scandinavian design. When it comes to Architecture, it is visible in the use of natural colors and leaving nature and surroundings as your main visible landscape.

For inspo, info and great offers in furniture, don’t miss the opportunity in Barcelona Design, the alternative for Mid Century Modern style furniture, with masterpieces like the Barcelona Chair or the Hans Wegner Shell Chair. 

Design notes from the Barcelona Chair: Tips to use Geometric Patterns

Triangles, squares, pentagons, circles…Geometric forms are in the basics of décor. As patterns, they always being here, and they will always be, though, with time, we’ve learned some tips to get the most of them.

Patterns have the charm of being manipulated and get special results. Clean cut, neat geometric shapes bring us a sense of abstract order and modernism, while distorted figures made with clay, earthy tones, take us to ancient times and tribal craftsmanship.

A slight gradient, shaded, or abstract overlapping geometric will always be on-trend. Whether in your house, or your office, hardly they will fail you. As with any pattern, keep in mind that abusing one geometric pattern may result in a tedious or overwhelming space. 

Tips  to use geometric Patterns

Geometric patterns are a strong vision. That’s why are so suitable in rugs, or on the floor. Use the strongest patterns in the base of your wall or your floor, using the rest of the elements of the room to counterbalance it.

Don’t use geometric patterns in your wall unless they’re really subtle, your risking to be overwhelming.

Use your patterns preferably in clear spaces

Don’t use geometric patterns in small places, because they tend to reduce the perception of size in your room

Use a single geometric pattern. For example, just your rug, or your floor. Don’t use in both elements at the same time

 Now you know how to use patterns with your Barcelona Chair. Don’t lose the opportunity and go to Barcelona Design, the best place for Mid Century Modern furniture. 

Famous Movies Where The Womb Chair Has Appeared

The Womb chair is world-renowned for being an iconic mid-century style. This chair was created by Finnish / American designer Eero Saarinen. It was designed with a special order from none other than Florence Knoll. She requested a comfortable chair that was “like a big basket of pillows, that I can snuggle into.” So Eero came up with this timeless creation.

Like other of his iconic pieces of furniture, Saarinen’s wraparound chair has become a constant fixture in multiple interior designs. In addition, due to its beautiful and comfortable structure it has become so recognizable that it has made appearances on the big screen.

‘Legally Blonde’ 2001

We all know this movie from the great and extremely delicate lawyer Elle Woods. Elle Woods surely had a lot of trendy pink outfits, but the one that stands out the most about her over her bedroom of hers or hers, the replica of the hot pink chair and ottoman that appears in her apartment.

‘Down with Love’ 2003

Barbara Novak has a pair of beautiful blush pink uterus chairs in her posh 1960s Manhattan apartment. In fact, each and every “Down with Love” set is packed with interesting details that come from inspiration and admas are very elegant.

Design Notes from the Barcelona Chair: Patterns, Patterns, Patterns

Patterns are one of the most useful resources for decorators and designers. We use it all the time and we are surrounded by them. Many are so known to us that we are capable of drawing them, just by memory, even although we don’t really know how are they called and where are used.

A pattern is a single visual element that repeats in different elements of your decor to create a desired effect.

Where to use patterns?

There are many elements where patterns are successfully applied…Wallpaper, rugs, cushions, floor, tiles…

Lets name a few:

Argyle:

The classic diagonal checks seen on sweaters. No one know its called Argyle until they see it.

Animal Print:

Tiger stripes, leopard stains. They can be great, but use them carefully, because they are a bold option.

Chequer:

The classic squared black and white pattern of the immortal table game.

Chevron:

A classic “V” pattern that fits perfect in walls and floors. Did you know it was called this way?

Damask:

Beautiful herald shape, is great in soft tones or refined or feminine spaces. Don’t over use it.

Fleur de lis:

A very classic pattern, today more associated with vintage style. It remember us of table cards games.

Floral:

The shape or pattern of flowers. Use it carefully, it can be excessive or boring very quickly.

Geometric/ Abstract:

Squares, Circles, Triangles and so on. They are very trendy right now.

Gingham:

Another classic pattern of little squares used exhaustively in blankets and napkins.

Herringbone:

Little inclined squares, used in walls and floors. Its nowadays very popular.

Morrocan:

An oriental motif, with a vintage or modern view, depending of the finish or presentation of the panel.

Paisley:

Known as bacteria too, this pattern was hugely used and abused in the 1980s. Used with moderation.

Polka Dot:

A fun, dynamic sequence of black points very popular

It’s a matter of taste, of course and balance. Patterns can’t be repeated in excess, because that can be easily overwhelming.

There are a lot of patterns to use in our homes. Is just a matter of judgment and balance.

For inspo, info and great offers in furniture, don’t miss the opportunity in Barcelona Design, the alternative for Mid Century Modern style furniture, with masterpieces like the Barcelona Sofa  or the Hans Wegner Shell Chair.

The Shell Chair in…Venezuela

Did Hans Wegner ever think that its famed chairs would be worldwide icons? Maybe today he would show some surprise on how global certain models of its collection turned to be.

That is the case of the Shell Chair, now selling in so improbable places like Venezuela. On the web of the only nationwide department store, you can see Hans Wegner’s Shell Chair (replica) at the sofas and chairs section. And you can see that most of the furniture catalog of the department store is Mid Century Modern stylish.

This is a sample of how standardized and popular Mid Century Modern furniture is right now, and how design pieces like the Shell Chair can penetrate any market. Nothing bad for a chair designed almost 60 years ago. Either in original or replicas, the always growing trend of Mid Century Modern keeps gaining fans, through its staple design classics like the Shell Chair or the Barcelona Chair.

For inspo, info, and great offers in furniture, don’t miss the opportunity in Barcelona Design, the alternative for Mid Century Modern style furniture, with masterpieces like the Barcelona Sofa or the Hans Wegner Shell Chair.