As of August 15, 2010, Herman Miller’s Select program is presenting a new classy looking Eames Hang-It-All from the multicoloured version to a striking design which now includes a black steel frame and solid walnut hooks.
The Hang-It-All was inspired by the Eameses’ love for playful furniture and children’s toys. Introduced in 1953, it was designed to hold an assortment of children’s belongings—mittens, scarves, jackets, dolls, slingshots, skates, and knapsacks, according to Eames Design.
It was available from Tigrett Enterprises’ Playhouse Division until the company went out of business in 1961. Herman Miller reintroduced it in 1994.
Herman Miller’s Gregg Vander Kooi chose to feature the Hang-It-All as this year’s Select item because of its whimsical appeal.
Designed by Verner Panton in 1969, the Living Tower embodied the spirit of the 60’s interactive ‘living’ landscapes. Verner designed many great pieces, breaking away from the more traditional techniques and materials being used by his fellow designers.Â
Hans J. Wegner Wishbone Chair
He took the living landscapes theme to a whole new level with the “Fantasy” Landscapes he created for Bayer in 1968 and 1970.Â
"Visiona II". One of Verners Fantasy Landscapes
The Living Tower is still available through Vitra today, although not an inexpensive piece. The Tower serves as Art, interactive furniture and a fantastic, eye-catching way to divide a room.
Verner with family
The Living Tower is available in red, matt blue and chocolate. It is constructed of a Birch Plywood Frame, uses polyurethane foam, classic upholstery and the outer dimensions are 78 3/4″ square. There are 4 levels at which you can lounge on the Living Tower.
4 Levels of the Living Tower
A fun, funky piece of furniture sure to be a conversation piece for years to come.
A neighbour in my apartment building has two fake stuffed crows in his window that curiously peer out at me while I fill up my watering can. At first glance, they were a bit scary … but after meeting their gaze a few times, I’ve grown to like them … a lot. Crows get a bit of a bad wrap in our culture – like when you refer to a group of several crows, it’s called MURDER.Â
That’s harsh.Â
MURDER
Also, they eat garbage and that’s no good for their rep. The other day outside of Zellers I noticed a MURDER of crows trying to bust into an entire bag of bagels with a series of teeny tiny punctures inflicted by their pointy beaks. It seemed as though they had been working tirelessly at this for hours, so naturally I sympathized. I bravely approached the MURDER to rip open the bag and free the yummy circles of doughy goodness and all traces of bagel disappeared within seconds.Â
It was amazing.
Â
Anyhoo… Apparently Charles and Ray Eames also had an affinity for the black bird (maybe not crow specific). On one of their many travels they picked up an American folk art object … a black wooden bird and brought it home to live in the centre of their living room.Â
Vitra has re-produced the Eames’ beloved pet as a beautiful smooth black bird with the very same skinny stick legs and round eye balls. It’s elegant and endearing and makes a nice alternative to a feathered friend of the live variety. Against a back-drop it becomes a graphic image and on the carpet in the middle of room it’s just sweet and loveable.
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.
It seems like more and more manufacturers are giving clients the option of buying collectable limited editions of their furniture.
Last year Herman Miller offered the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman for a limited time only with a 50th Anniversary emblem and also included a free book called:
"The Eames Lounge Chair"
"An Icon of Modern Design"
A great read which can also be purchased seperately.
Anyway, I’ve seen the likes of many more limited editions this year as well. Some worth mentioning:
The Grand Prix Chair by Fritz Hansen (mentioned in a previous edition),
The Componibili storage units by Kartell in Red,
and
The Panton chair by Vitra, available while supplies last in Orange.
You just know that one day, all of these iconic pieces will be worth more than the asking price, as good old supply and demand comes into play and creates a market for these limited pieces.
After losing out at the auction on an amazing set of six vintage Fritz Hansen Grand Prix chairs with wood legs earlier this year, I couldn’t believe it when a few weeks ago I was driving up Fort St. here in Victoria and there in the window of the local auction house was another original Grand Prix chair with wood legs. OK, it wasn’t a set of six, but to be honest, I’m not sure I ever saw this chair as being my dining chairs or kitchen chairs anyway. I don’t know what it is about this chair, but every time I look at it, this chair brings a smile to my face. Maybe because it isn’t as common as the Series 7 or the Ant chair, or maybe because I live on the West Coast and the back looks like the tail of a whale. No, it probably isn’t for that reason. Anyway, it is slightly awkward, slightly beautiful. The patina that it has picked up over the years is amazing. Every scratch, every mark has a story. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t have a house full of vintage furniture, but having a few select pieces can sure add a sense of being to your home.
I guess it’s kind of like my latest passion for 65 Ford Falcons. I bought my first Falcon when I was fifteen, before I could even legally drive a car and for some reason, in my 43rd year, I just had to get another one, which has now turned into two. There is nothing like jumping behind the wheel of a brand new car, with great acceleration and stick to the road handling and braking and all the modern conveniences that come with it , but, when you get behind the wheel of an old car, with an AM radio, a noisy heater fan, wipers that smear the water around so you can get a sense of which direction you’re heading, well that is something that just can’t be described. All of a sudden you’re driving at half the speed, you aren’t in a hurry to get where you’re going, because once you get there, you won’t be driving anymore. You even take the long route, just to prolong the experience. Well, I’m either babbling, or this is some sort of an analogy about the appeal of vintage furniture.
The good news is that during the period of losing out on the set of six chairs and “winning” the single chair, Fritz Hansen has re-released The Grand Prix Chair. It is available as the metal leg version and it is available in several finishes. The other good news is that after more than two years of harassing Fritz Hansen to allow Gabriel Ross to become an authorized dealer of Fritz Hansen furniture, they have finally conceded and we are in the throws of placing our first showroom order.
So, if you have enough vintage pieces in your home and you love this design as much as I do, then you might just want to get yourself one or six, so you can start marking and scratching them. That way, one day, someone else might inherit them, or buy them and then they too will have some vintage pieces for their home.
We became a Vitra dealer many months ago and having just purchased an original 1959 Howard Miller – George Nelson Sunflower clock from a client of mine that no longer had the space for it, I was really excited. When I purchased the clock, it was an out of production piece that I am guessing not too many people were even aware of. Known as Nelson’s most intricate and complicated clock, it had very low production numbers and very big appeal. It wasn’t cheap, even back in the 1950’s. Beverly thinks that she paid about $150 to $200 for it back then. That would have been a small fortune at the time.
So, Beverly’s downsizing was my good fortune, as it was more important to her that it go to a good home and to someone that would cherish the clock in the same way that she had for almost 50 years, than to someone that would flip it for a a few quick bucks. I’m not going to say what I paid for the clock, because she knows and I know that I stole it away from her, but I will say that she got 50 years of enjoyment out of it and didn’t lose a dime
So, now Vitra has done a re-issue of this beautiful clock, which is great because with the re-issue, more people will become aware of and more people will get to hang one of these wonderful pieces in their homes.
If all goes well, maybe I’ll live another 50 years before I pass the clock on to someone. I wonder if iIl be as generous as Beverly ??
A neighbour in my apartment building has two fake stuffed crows in his window that curiously peer out at me while I fill up my watering can. At first glance, they were a bit scary … but after meeting their gaze a few times, I’ve grown to like them … a lot. Crows get a bit of a bad wrap in our culture – like when you refer to a group of several crows, it’s called MURDER. 
![eames2[1]](http://blog.gabrielross.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/eames21.jpg)
