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The Power of Studio Powers

Courtesy of Studio Powers
Courtesy of Studio Powers

We love seeing what creatives do with our bedding and pillows. Studio Powers is a perfect example. Just before the holidays, Interior Designer, Michael Powers, ordered this excellent combination of Sailor + Regatta Grey bedding with pops of red and yellow for a residential project. What a success! His background is in architectural interior design. For seven years he served as Director of Architecture and Design at Polo Ralph Lauren. He also oversaw large projects with Bloomingdales, Izod, Mikasa and Starbucks. Since receiving his NCIDQ certification and becoming a licensed Interior Designer in the State of Florida, Michael now works closely with clients through his own company, Studio Powers, to provide extensive resources for interior and architectural design. We are happy to work with him. Check out his portfolio here!

 

Shop the Look: Sailor + Regatta Grey Bedding, Regatta Grey Pillowcases, Harbor Poppy Blanket, Shapes Poppy Pillow, Maritime Lemon Small Rectangle Pillow

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Ateenan Aamu

Ateenan Aamu (pronounced ah-teen-ahn a-mu) means Morning in Athens in Finnish.  Designed by legendary designer Kaj Franck for Finnish glass company Iittala in 1954, Ateenan Aamu was inspired by a trip to Greece and the beautiful church bells Franck heard while there.  At that time, Kaj Franck was artistic director of Finnish design company Arabia, which later became a division of Iittala.

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Franck was a was one of the leading figures of Finnish design, the teacher of several generations of professional designers in Finland, and an influential figure in design and applied arts between 1940-1980.   The Design Forum Finland awards the yearly Kaj Franck Design Prize to a designer or team of designers working in the spirit of the late Kaj Franck.

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Enjoy the sculptural beauty and sound of Ateenan Aamu in your own home today.

Sold at $45 each piece or a set of three for $125.

 

 

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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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The Art&Craft of Hillery Sproatt

Here at Unison we have the great fortune of having an incredible craft talent on board, Hillery Sproatt. She has been using her hands to create some of the most intricate and finely made dolls and mobiles you have ever laid eyes upon. Our collaboration with Hillery started last summer with the idea of using scrap fabrics from our locally made pillow cases and napkins to inspire a mini line of cheerful dolls and animal mobiles. Each doll’s face, hair and details are all hand embroidered, as are the horse’s saddles on each mobile.

Even though Hillery is super busy as our domestic production coordinator, she still has time to work on her many projects. Right now she is starting work in weaving, miniatures that she can take with her on her commute – genius! Here’s a glimpse of a current piece, and more on her site.

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Susan Dwyer of Up In The Air Somewhere

Susan Dwyer of Up In The Air Somewhere, is one of our favorites. A local designer who creates elegant ceramics inspired by the positive and negative spaces around her. After graduating from the Art Institute of Chicago where she studied sculpture, Dwyer focused primarily on ceramics and papier-mâché vessels inspired by the clean, minimal lines found in industrial architecture. These took off without a hitch and got attention from the likes of The New York Times, Design Sponge, Food+Wine, Real Simple and Chicago Social, just to name a few.

Last year, our production assistant, Sarah, stumbled upon Dwyer’s newest work at a pop-up design market called Big Big City: Chicago.  She loved them so much and thought Unison’s owner and designer, Robert, would love them too. Good thing it was his birthday the following week. We got him a Cutaway vase and the rest is history! Not to take all the credit, Robert had seen her work before and already owned a vase. Now we are thrilled to carry Up In The Air ceramics in the Studio+Store and unisonhome.com!

Susan in her Chicago Studio
Up In The Air Somewhere Studio
Chevron Hurricane Candle Holder $65
Cutaway Vases in Black and White $45-85

 

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Bivouac

Robert and I finally had the chance to see the Bouroullec show, Bivouac, at the MCA this past week. The show closes tomorrow so… last chance! We were in love at first sight years ago while living in Finland when we came to know their furniture designs for Italian manufacturer Cappellini. Their work has been a huge inspiration for us over the years. The exhibition, their first in the United States, shows off both brothers’ abilities in creating beautiful furniture, lighting, and architectural textiles and did not disappoint.

Design Showcase on Apartment Therapy

Robert and I had the recent honor of being judges, alongside some pretty influential names in the world of design, Bradford Shellhammer (founder of Fab) and Jaime Derringer (founder of Design Milk), for this year’s Design Showcase on Apartment Therapy. Every year the blog hosts a competition for best new product in the world of modern design. This year there were 30 submissions from around the world and only three won the $10,000 in advertising on AT. We chose the Lug Trugs by local husband and wife design duo Ted and Sharon Burdett of Strand Design. Not only do we love their design sensibility in general (they also make a swanky table) we love these bins because they encapsulate modern and function so well, plus they are hand stitched (!) by Sharon herself. Very cool products, and pretty nice folks too.

We also gave honorable mention to a beautiful line of hand printed textiles by German designer Susanne Thurn.

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Candle Columns by 2nd Shift + Objeti

The store is filling up with some exciting new accessories! This week, Candle Columns designed by 2nd Shift, a design studio in Cleveland, Ohio. They collaborated with Objeti to craft hexagonal candle holders out of steel and concrete. You’ll be impressed wih their weight and solid feeling as you move them around to fit into a variety of combinations. We love how interactive they are; sold in sets of three, their hexagonal shape allows for many configurations.

Very architectural, like a city skyline.
At the Studio+Store, $99 for a set of 3.
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Garden Variety

Thank you to our visiting vendors for celebrating Earth Day with us! A beautiful collection of locally grown, made, and designed products from Christy Webber Landscapes, Mess Hall & Co, Up In The Air Somewhere, and Bareknuckle Farm. Garden Variety turned out to be a gorgeous event!

Ready to grow plants from Christy Webber Landscapes
Mess Hall & Co tea, bar cherries and spicy mustard
Ceramics by Up In The Air Somewhere
Bareknuckle Farm Eco Totes + T-shirts
New pillows + garden belts from Unison
More plants from Christy Webber
Punkt. phone in white

Jasper Morrison’s Punkt.

No, not Punk’d, but Punkt. as in Dot (auf Deutsch). A new venture by one of my all-time favorite designers, Jasper Morrison. It’s a Swiss-based consumer goods company, started by a “group of eclectic and international professionals with a passion for design and simplicity” with the amazing Mr. Morrison as art director.

I love their vision: “To make life simpler” by making products that are “built to do a job, and do that job well”. It’s not a lot to ask, but when you think about, yes, some of our consumer goods today make our lives more complex with so many functions that what once seemed simple suddenly got complicated (ahem, iPhone). Their first product, the Punkt. phone vows to change all that – with a design pedestal to stand on as well. Punkt. also produces a beautiful clock in the same white, red and black as the phone that I’m also very keen on. Especially the version that benefits Japan (shown below). It does not surprise me considering Mr. Morrison is indeed very close to Japan and it’s culture, evident in his own work and collaboration with Naoto Fukusawa for Super Normal.Judging by their phone and clock, I cannot wait to see what’s next from Punkt.