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INDO DIY Ornaments + Garlands

This year we had the pleasure of working with INDO, founded by Crystal Grover and Linsey Burritt, as guest stylists for our holiday photo shoot. INDO had created a gorgeous wood paneled wall for a Thimblepress trade show booth and I wanted to recreate that effect to showcase our line of housewares and gift items in our catalog. Crystal hopped to it and gathered all of the wood from the Chicago Rebuilding Exchange and built the wall to accommodate our products. The final piece worked out great and it’s now used as our checkout backdrop at our holiday pop-up on Division.

Wall aside, we also brainstormed on creating a limited edition set of ornaments and garlands made from paper that they had acquired from an old supplier going out of business. Both Crystal and Linsey set about designing the pieces and now they are available for all! Check out the video below to see how easy it is to DIY with the INDO Ornaments and Garlands! Shot by Leo Rosen and edited by Studio In The Sun.

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Behind the Scenes: 2013 Holiday

Here’s a fun behind the scene video we shot during our holiday photo shoot back a few months, when cold weather seemed far away. Now in the midst of holiday season, a little Louis Armstrong seems just right as the backdrop. Thanks again to our friends at Room 406 for allowing us to take over during those days and use their beautiful custom furniture. Also thanks to Jane and Francois our photo team, Wendy our awesome stylist, to INDO, our featured stylists, and to Leo Rosen our videographer. Last but not least our friends at Studio In The Sun for bringing our clips to life!

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Holiday Pop-Up!

We are so excited to announce the opening of our holiday pop up shop! Open now through December 29th at 1911 W. Division St in Chicago. It took us about a week from start to finish. We had plenty of curious shoppers stopping by, along with our good friend, designer and collaborator extraordinaire, Alex Fuller. Now our doors are open so check out our winter collection! We love our new spot and can’t wait to meet everyone. From now until January 1st, take 15% all pillows, plus stay tuned for future promotions as well!  And don’t forget to rsvp to our holiday party with Design Bureau Magazine on December 5th from 6:00-9:00pm to rsvp@alarmpress.

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Design Bureau / Unison Holiday Party

Unison’s Holiday Pop-Up Shop opens Friday!

Open for shopping THIS FRIDAY, November 15th! Featuring modern home decor, personal accessories, and modern holiday gifts, carefully crafted and designed by local and international designers. Surprise your loved ones with unique, quality gifts this season.

1911 W Division St, Chicago, IL (next door to Penelope’s)

Store Hours: Monday, Wednesday-Saturday 11-7pm / Sunday 12-6pm / Closed Tuesdays

JOIN US! For a super fun holiday party co-hosted by Design Bureau Magazine, on Thursday, December 5th. Enjoy 15% off our entire pillow collection, plus raffle prizes, delicious food and drink. RSVP to rsvp@alarmpress.com by December 3rd.

Design Bureau / Unison Holiday Party

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Troscan Design and Room 406

One of the beautiful things about living and working in the design world in Chicago is that it is sincerely a group effort. Call it part of the second city syndrome or heartland effect or whatever you want, but there is not the hard edge competitive feel you get elsewhere. When we started our company in 2006 we moved into a business incubator (we are still there in fact) and our neighbors upstairs were making a beautiful line of hardwood furniture (they still are but in a new space, Room 406). Troscan Design had started many years before us and have laid the ground for manufacturing modern furniture in Chicago back in 1999, back when Robert and I were just starting out and moved to Finland to work for Marimekko. Their founders, also a husband and wife team, Deirdre Jordan and Bob Robinson have a very interesting story of their own.

We recently shot our holiday collection at their new location, Room 406, a sturdy old building here in West Town, which Bob and Deirdre bought and rehabbed into a gorgeous showroom and next door factory called the Makers Guild. All of the furniture is designed by Bob with Deirdre at the creative helm of the whole company. Deirdre has also curated the showroom with a line of luxury home accessories from cashmere blankets to ceramic vases and paintings by local artists. They are open for interior designers and the public to view and shop Monday – Thursday 9-PM and by appointment on Fridays.

Here are some shots taken by Lyra Jakabhazy of the craftsmen and craftswomen of the Makers Guild.

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Holiday Photoshoot 2013

This year’s holiday shoot was a blast and definitely kept us on our toes. We had many collaborators this time including the talented Crystal Grover and Linsey Burritt of INDO. We worked with Crystal and Linsey to design a custom wooden wall made from pieces they selected at the Chicago Rebuilding Exchange. As always we had our good friends Francois and Jane Robert do the photography, and our new shoot sidekick Lyra Jakabhazy on board to document the scene with her gorgeous old Leica. Last but not least Leo Rosen helped with the videos, coming soon! We put a lot of heart into this collection, and I think these shots by Lyra show it well.

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