10.  It’s sculpture first, furniture second

9.  It’s REALLY comfortable
8.  It has a high skinny back to rest your head on

7.  It has really neat humungous shock mounts that gently rock while you sit in it
6.  It makes a great cat bed

My adorable cat Chloe in our Bird chair

5.  It was WAY ahead of its time and still is today
4.  It looks as though it might squat at any moment to incubate an egg

This egg would be about the right size

3.  It is truly beautiful from all angles

2.  I can sit cross legged inside it
1.  It looks great naked

1. Hideaway – use unique storage to get organized
2. Cubic versus square – don’t focus on floor space, even the smaller spaces offer plenty of wall space
3. Smaller scale furniture – try chairs instead of a sectional and round tables instead of square
4. Mirror and glass – mirrors trick the eye into seeing into another room, whereas glass allows the eye to see through
5. Nesting and multipurpose pieces – nesting tables offer flexibility and a small footprint
6. Functional zones - split your space with different paint colours so if the dining room and living room have no wall separation, use different tones of paints in order to show functional difference between spaces
7. Accessorize – small spaces develop their style through the accessories

Modern Nesting Tables by Vitra

I went to a local retailer (hardware type of store) the other day to pick up a few hand tools for our warehouse. As I approached the store, I saw a couple of Chinese knock-offs of the Series 7 chair by Arne Jacobsen. These were horrible representations of this chair, but the likeness was there and I knew without looking that they were probably selling them for about the cost of freight. As I entered further into the store, I also noticed an upholstered arm chair and a contemporary swivel chair as well. So, as I grabbed the tools that I needed and was heading out the door, I noticed the price on the “series 7 chairs”, $39.95, I wasn’t too surprised, but I was thinking that this was a new low. But then I noticed that the price tag said “Per Box” and then “2 Per Box”

So, under $20 per chair. Now that is a new low.

When I got back to the showroom, we had a discussion regarding the boom going on in China and we touched on a point that I thought might be worth mentioning. It seems to me that most of the product coming out of China is of lesser quality. The metals and materials seem inferior, the fittings and the finish as well. From what I understand, labour is cheap in China. So why are they not spending just a little more time, using better quality materials and manufacturing a better quality product?

It seems to me that if they doubled the quality of that chair, then they wouldn’t have a terribly bad chair for the price. (I’m only talking quality, not design) So, that chair might now be $40 and be twice as good in the quality department. Personally, double isn’t quite enough, but you get the idea.

So, when are they going to start to realize that more and more people are demanding quality these days and that this is becoming a larger part of the market everyday. The car industry in Asia has already caught on, so I am going to bet that it is only a matter of time before their furniture industry does as well and if that ever happens, then lookout. Luckily, China is still very lacking in the “original design” category and I think that this is where the big hitters have got an advantage. China seems to want to take the easy road to furniture manufacturing and to date, that hasn’t included much time coming up with their own original designs. But then maybe someone out there can prove me wrong.

Of course, there is another problem that we are going to have to deal with soon, billions of dollars in disposable furniture, that will all be coming to a landfill near you in the very near future.

Well, as promised, here are my thoughts on investing in furniture.

Don’t do it !!

That is, if you want a financial investment. If that is the case, then go see a financial adviser. Yes, there are people that can buy and sell furniture and make a quick buck, but, the odds are that you aren’t one of them.

Now, don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that I don’t truly believe that furniture is a good investment, it’s just that for me, it’s an investment that will only pay off financially for those that I leave behind and that is only if I can’t instill some kind of a sense of style into them before my time is up. Hopefully if that’s the case, then they’ll be fighting over these objects the way family members are supposed to when loved ones pass on. Not because they want to sell the items, but because something about each piece appeals to them on some level or another.

Furniture is an investment in life and in lifestyle and depending on how much value you put on furniture as a part of lifestyle, you may or may not decide to invest in items for your home that others deem to be senseless extravagances for the wealthy.

I continually find myself telling clients to slow down and think about the end result that they would like to achieve with their home. When Mel and I moved to our current home, we had one rule, “Nothing comes into the house that isn’t part of our long term plan” Now this of course was pretty much impossible to achieve, because at that time we had a very limited amount of furniture that fit the plan, but we stayed as true to that as possible and it motivated us to come up with a plan and do our best to save up and buy the items that we really want. It isn’t often that I sell anything anymore, but I have to let you know that I just sold six Marcel Breuer Cesca chairs for about half of what I paid for them three years ago.

Let that be a lesson to me.

When my colleagues and I decided that a Blog on design was something that we were interested in doing as a means of telling our story and giving Canadians (and anyone else that would listen) a place to read about and offer comments about the industry that we are involved in, I was hesitant about the idea of adding another “chore” to the list of things that I just don’t seem to be able to get done in my day. Having said that, (you’ll notice in the coming months that I will say those words a lot) I am also intrigued with the idea of putting my thoughts into print, as I truly think that this is an opportunity to really think my way through the decisions that I make on a daily basis.

So, having said that J, a question came across my desk today that I thought was worthy of my first post.

The question was, “I noticed on EBay that replica Noguchi coffee tables are selling for less than ½ the price of the real thing. The replica tables say they have ¾ inch glass and that except for the signature they are the same. Can you tell me the difference between the real thing and the replica please.

Thanks, Cathy”

 My response was:

“Hi Cathy,

 Sorry for the delay in getting back to you regarding your enquiry about the purchase of an authentic Noguchi table versus a “Knock-off”

It is hard for me to explain the value to someone that doesn’t already see the value in supporting the original designers and authentic manufacturers, rather than purchasing from someone that would steal the designs of someone else in order to make a profit, but I will do my best. I would compare it to buying a Rolex watch made in China. You purchase it as a novelty, knowing that it isn’t the real thing. You pay $20 for the watch and it immediately has no value. You never really enjoy the watch because you know and everyone else knows, that it is just a cheap imitation. The company that actually went to the trouble of designing the item has been ripped off and potentially harmed by the fact that cheap imitations can sometimes take away from the value of the real item as well. The item will never bring you true pleasure, because you know it is a cheap imitation, so if you ever decide to buy the real thing, then the money you paid for the knock-off is lost, because now it is not only a knock-off, but it is a used knock-off. No one wins, except for the manufacturer that stole the design and sold it at a small profit. The other scenario is that you purchase an authentic design, manufactured by the authentic manufacturer. It is a piece that has value, holds value and that you enjoy and cherish the whole time that you own it. The difference that you pay for this seems negligible compared to the enjoyment that the item brings to you. 30 years from now, a knock-off Noguchi table is a used knock-off Noguchi table, but, 30 years from now, an authentic Noguchi table is a vintage Noguchi table. Good luck with your decision.”

So, in hind sight, I probably didn’t actually answer her question as to the physical differences between a knock-off Noguchi table and the “real McCoy”, but then, my feeling is that it doesn’t matter what the physical difference’s are. Even if someone were to come up with a better way to make a Noguchi table, what they haven’t done is design the object of desire. This was done many years ago by a fellow named Isamu Noguchi. He chose Herman Miller as his manufacturer of choice and the decision to buy anything but a real Noguchi table goes completely against the real reason for buying this object in the first place.

I could probably go on and on, trying to explain this in print, but I know that if anyone actually reads this blog, they are either nodding their head in agreement and understanding, or they are thinking, come on now, do you really expect me to believe this load of crap. So, for those of you who get it, welcome and for those of you who don’t, put your feet up on your Noguchi knock-off and read “Isamu Noguchi – Sculptural Design”. Maybe you’ll be inspired.

Until next time