ourhaus: January 2011

ourhaus is thrilled to welcome our new arrival: The Nelson Platform Bench. Another member of the lust list has made it into our home—to round out a library area occupying a long wall that faces into an open area of our living space.

View from the kitchen toward the living room.

View of library from living room. Shelves: 2 5x5 Expedit bookshelves from IKEA. Runner: Angela Adams "Munjoy" hand-tufted wool.

Living with books is a pleasure, but the "where and how" seems to be a consistently perplexing home storage issue, especially in square-foot deprived spaces. But who wants to relegate their favorite books to storage? We took advantage of this big, exposed wall to function as a browsing library. (Any books that we can't part with, but are not in rotation, do go into storage/attic). We are happy to see that our guests enjoy perusing it, too. It becomes a living wall that invites interaction and discussion, and I love that.


Various views of our book shelf: Brownie Hawkeye camera body found at a Cape Cod flea market; C & J aluminum letters were our wedding cake topper; various Kikkerland wind up toys are gifts from my father-in-law; wooden drawing figure from IKEA; seltzer bottle bought from a street vendor in NYC.

So, if you do make the decision to invest in a piece of furniture that will be with you and your family for decades, I strongly recommend investing in authenticity. We have been down the road of copies and handmade versions of mid-century pieces. Let's just say the inherent issues in their cheap production and the need to replace them so frequently quickly added up in cost and frustration.

Beautiful, solid craftsmanship. Small wooden dowels also reinforce joints.

Designer's mark.

It lasts and retains its value.

The customer service at our Cambridge, MA Design Within Reach store is always friendly, thorough and professional. And there's nothing better than a handwritten note from your retailer

Jonathan Adler's pieces are inspired by the best eras in design, particularly regarding ceramics. His quirky, cheery adaptations are addictive to be around. I certainly hope to collect more pieces. Which is why we're very happy to be accepted into the "Show us Your JA style" community!

For the holidays, I used the JA Medium Bird Bowl in an arrangement on our dining room credenza. The bird is just so elegant and graceful and added a nice "Peace on Earth" vibe. The Bird Bowl is from Jonathan Adler's "Menagerie" collection.

It's a really great idea for designers and product sites to put the spotlight on their customers to see how everyone, everywhere is incorporating their work into their lives—a great way to build stronger relationships with customers. I feel I'm a bit more a part of the brand and creativity of the work, now.

I have visited the store in San Francisco and now that there is one here in Boston, I'll have to check it out! Have fun browsing the whole site, too. There are some really terrific ceramic pieces as well as beautiful furniture and textiles. I guarantee your "to collect" list will be long.