Category: Featured In

For a modern aesthetic, form + function are key. We all want to minimize clutter and have “a place for everything and everything in its place,” and adding a bench to your decorating plan can make all the difference. We’re highlighting three ways to use an indoor bench for your home, making it the new and versatile go-to furniture necessity:

1. Entryway

A bench for your entryway or foyer is the perfect catch for incoming clutter. Use it for seating as you unpack from the day, store your bags, or even add a tray for keys and sundries and use it as a dual bench/entryway table.

2. Bedroom

Clothing can pile up in the bedroom, especially if you’re in a rush in the morning. Incorporate a bench into your aesthetic and use it as part of your decluttering system if you’re too busy to put everything away at once. Having a bed without clothes or things you last-minute took out of your purse will make you feel that much better when you come home, and from there it’s an easy step to taking things off the bench and putting them away in their proper place.

3. Extra Seating

We all have that occasion where we could use some extra seating in a pinch, and a bench is the perfect solution. Relieve it from its main function in the hall, bedroom, or guest room, and make use of its versatility by providing extra seating for two or three more people.

See more seating and storage solutions at unisonhome.com.

The side table: from the raised stone platforms of the ancient world to the minimalist designs of today, it has existed in a multitude of variations. As we know it today, it can be used in practically any room in the home and thanks to the centuries of design history behind it, comes in practically any style.

At Unison, the side table knows its function, but is not intrusive. It is a breath of fresh, open-sided air that pairs beautiful design with an everyday need. With the knowledge that fans of modern + minimalist design might share a love of simplified forms and clean lines, but their individual styles still vary widely, we carry an array of side tables so you can find the one that perfectly fits with your unique design plan.

The Tier Side Table

Available in Gray or Marine, the Tier is perfect as a bedside or end table. It provides reachable storage for that book, laptop, or notepad, but still keeps things looking neat and tidy. Its stacked levels are spacious enough to hold your favorite basket or box (we recommend the Tower Stackable Basket or the Tosca White Basket) and its design is inspired by the modern high rises of the 1960s.

The Tower Side Table

For the minimalist who loves the play of form and angles: meet the Tower Side Table. Steel framing with an ash top, we can’t look away from the new designs we keep seeing as it’s viewed from angle to angle. Simple yet complex, it fits anywhere. Available in White or Black.

The Tri Side Table

We know that the stool’s design is one of the earliest in the history of furniture, and the Tri Side Table draws on that legacy and gives it a modern twist. Composed of a steel top with ash legs, it is stunning in its simplicity and puts the focus on whatever you choose to place on it. Available in White or Black.

(Featured: Grid Black Small Rectangle Tray, Gather Frosted Medium Vase, Braun Black Classic Alarm Clock, Hibi Clear Tumbler, Canal White Table Lamp)

The Lexy Side Table

For anyone needing just a touch of whimsy, the Lexy is a subtle but fun addition to any space. A hexagonal wooden top contrasts with rounded wooden legs that depart from tradition by being incorporated into the surface design. Available in Black or White.

The Block Cart

The side table just got mobile with the jack-of-all-trades Block Cart. Use it as a kitchen cart, end table, bar cart, or for bathroom storage. Its steel trays are easy to clean, and it looks beautiful anywhere. Available in White or Black.

The origins and heart of Unison are in its textiles, and we could not be prouder to introduce Spencer Chambray and Savile Stripe linen bedding to our collection.

Spencer Chambray is named for that most quintessential of Englishmen, Winston Spencer-Churchill, and echoes the cool neutral gray of a classic English suit. A chambray weave is characterized by a white weft and colored warp, which combined produce a mottled appearance. For Spencer Chambray, this appears as a variegated and textured, yarn-dyed gray.

Savile Stripe features a subtle pinstripe and evokes the bespoke tailoring of London’s famed Savile Row. It is also another small nod to Mr Churchill, as his pinstripe suits became practically synonymous with the man himself. Savile Stripe and Spencer Chambray are both woven from 100% European flax linen and stone washed for a final result that is soft, breathable, and visually stunning.

What Does Yarn-Dyed Mean?

Yarn-dyed is fabric dyed in its yarn form, as opposed to piece-dyed, which is when the finished piece is dyed as a whole. Yarn-dyeing holds color much better than piece-dying, as the dye penetrates deeply into the fabric, making it more resistant to fading.

Our yarn-dyeing is done in Portugal, whose history with textiles, especially linen, goes back more than 300 years. Portugal’s commitment to responsibly-made, beautiful textiles drew us to them, and all Unison towels and bedding are made in Portuguese factories and Oeko-Tex certified.

What Are the Advantages of Linen?

Linen, like cotton, is made from natural plant fibers. The world’s strongest natural fiber, it is famed for being long-lasting, breathable, and like full-grain leather, becoming even softer and more beautiful the more you use it. Because of linen’s innate characteristics, it becomes more supple the more you handle or wash it. Our Spencer Chambray and Savile Stripe bedding is stone washed, which much like stone washed denim jeans, give a softness and flexibility to the fabric.

The hollow linen fibers can absorb 20% of their weight in water before they begins to feel damp to the touch. This internal structure also moves air easily, keeping you warm in winter and cool in summer.

What Does Stone Washed Mean?

Stone washing is a process used to soften typically stiff or rigid fabric. Invented in the 20th century, this process uses an industrial clothes washer filled with large stones to pound the fabric and give it a beautiful, worn-in look and feel.

We already knew we loved Philadelphia studio Edgewood Made after carrying their stunning Black Wood Board, Cheese Cutter and Cheese Knife, but then we saw their mirrors.

The Edgewood Made Wall Mirrors, available in solid maple, walnut, and a deep black, carry the same design features that drew us to their other products, including the hexagonal cross section that gives each piece a uniquely angled edge, and which you can read more about in The Natural Artistry of Edgewood Made. But there is another part of the mirrors’ story that got us interested: they were designed using the golden ratio.

This ratio is also known as the golden mean, golden number, and divine proportion, among other names. Essentially, two numbers are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities. The result of this is classically known for being the most aesthetically pleasing.

Architects, artists, and designers, including Dali and Le Corbusier, have used the golden ratio to proportion their work, particularly in its use in “the golden rectangle.” Here is where the Edgewood Made Mirror comes in.

Edgewood co-founder David Short describes it as “the ratio is simply used to proportion the length to the width of the mirror. We use these proportions in virtually everything we do.

“In some respects this almost removes us as designers from the piece, instead allowing our designs to be dictated by the rules that we have put in place, such as the edge details  and the golden ratio. This makes all of our designs inherently work together, while simultaneously following patterns found in nature that are naturally aesthetically pleasing.”

No matter what your style, the natural design of the Edgewood Made Mirror is a perfect fit. Available in Maple, Walnut, and Black finishes.

This iconic dinnerware design was originally released in 1964 by designer Massimo Vignelli in Italy and won that year’s Compasso d’Oro award for good design. It swiftly became a touchstone of modern design and has been called an “icon of sixties utilitarian chic.” It was introduced to the United States in 1971 and has never been out of production, with the manufacturer still using its original molds.

Italian designer Vignelli is perhaps most famous for his New York City Subway signage, and the 1970s-’80s map of the system. He also created the American Airlines logo, as well as branding for IBM and Bloomingdale’s, furniture, interiors, and, of course, housewares.

“You can reach timelessness if you look for the essence of things and not the appearance. The appearance is transitory — the appearance is fashion, the appearance is trendiness — but the essence is timeless.”
-Massimo Vignelli

According to Vignelli, the inspiration for Hellerware came from seeing a client using plastic molds to make Mickey Mouse ashtrays. The idea for compact, stackable dinnerware came into his mind, he went home, and designed Heller in two hours.

Heller is distinguished by its straight sides and under-sided lip, both of which lend themselves to easy stackability. Hellerware’s durability combines with a classically modern look for a long-lasting but strikingly modern dinnerware set.

Unison began carrying Heller in 2014. Co-founder Robert Segal says “The design represents all the attributes we strive for in our own textile design: quality, versatility, originality, color, accessibility, simplicity, and reduction of form. All of which have made it timeless.”

We hope you will enjoy the Heller Collection as much as we do.

We’ve been doing a lot of pillow talk lately. Can’t resist – we’ve been really excited about the down duvet inserts and pillows made by our Michigan partner, Down Inc. These softies, made with down sourced from their parent company Maple Leaf Farms, sit at the corner of comfort, modern design and sustainability. And that’s a winning combo for us. We’ve been partnering with Down Inc. since 2006 and couldn’t be more thrilled to join up with such a responsible, resourceful company.

What do the pillows feel like?
Have you ever sunk into a fluffy cloud? You will during a night with these. Seriously plush, never stiff, they softly mold to fit your head and neck just so. The quality cotton casing protects the real treasure inside, down: the fine, soft undercoating found under the feathers of local Indiana ducks.

Where do the down feathers come from?
Most goose and duck feathers are a byproduct of the meat industry. That’s also the case with Down, Inc., which is part of parent company Maple Leaf Farms. The Indiana family only grows animals for food and has been creating down products for 50 years. Important to note is that there’s a great traceability factor with this particular down, because it travels only 116 miles between the farms and the pillow manufacturing facility, located in Michigan. Once the down is removed from the meat source, it’s washed once on the Indiana farm and then again in Michigan, where it’s then processed using a 50-year-old patented washing method that turns it into FDA-approved, hypo-allergenic down.

What about those that are allergic to down?
Allergies aren’t typically provoked from the feathers but the skin or dander [unless you have a true feather allergy]. The washing method that Down Inc. uses removes the skin and dander from the feathers, leaving the pillows hypoallergenic.

How do you take care of down?
Wash down pillows every six months (they usually have a life span of two years). It is recommended to take the pillow to a professional dry cleaner and have it laundered. If you are machine-washing it at home, do it in a large capacity machine with no center agitator. Also, cut your detergent in half, set your machine to a medium water temperature, and add an extra rinse cycle. Drying down is more of a process; a down insert usually takes at least 4-6 cycles to dry, and you’ll want to re-fluff between cycles. They key to telling if your down is dry is checking for odor – if there is a smell, our down isn’t dry.

What about down duvets – don’t they tend to feel heavy?
Contrary to popular belief, no! Down duvets can actually help regulate your temperature while you sleep, keeping you dry and warm without overheating. Unison carries the medium density down duvets, which are encased in a 200-plus thread count cotton cover, with double-stitch edges to ensure durability.

Here’s to countless great nights of sleep!

To shop our selection of Down Inc. pillows and duvets, click here.

Thoughtfully crafted and beautifully designed home products are what we’ve come to expect from Philadelphia studio Edgewood Made. Its founders, George Dubinsky and David Short, wanted to address contemporary needs “through low impact heirloom quality goods,” and began producing a range of products for the modern home whose design is at the crossroads of nature and manufacturing. Edgewood takes products from conception to production

With design backgrounds from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Dubinsky and Short strongly believe in the importance of well-made, uniquely designed goods that not only make sense from an everyday use standpoint, but keep whoever is using them in touch with the products’ origins.

Pulling wood from our inventory.

A post shared by Phila. PA (@edgewoodmade) on Jun 26, 2014 at 7:00am PDT

The Edgewood Made Black Wood Board and the Cheese Cutter and Cheese Knife all feature zero 90 degree angles. This is accomplished through a hexagonal cross-section handle that takes nature for its inspiration:

“In nature there are no right angles,” their site states. “Anything that is an acute angle in nature eventually is worn down to an obtuse angle. Most things that come from woodworking machines have ninety degree angles to them, as that is the easiest way to process material. In an effort to get a way from the machined look, while simultaneously referencing nature and creating something that feel comfortable in ones hand we created the edge detail that appears on the cutting board. This detail appears on much of our furniture and other wood products.”

“Natural reactions and forms that come from nature especially come from wood, are at the core of what inspires us.”

Cutting board on its jig right after being machined on the #CNC

A post shared by Phila. PA (@edgewoodmade) on Mar 3, 2017 at 3:13pm PST

The rich, dark color of the Edgewood Board and cheese tools is achieved through natural oxidation. This natural process is aided through a solution Edgewood creates themselves using steel wool and vinegar. It is food safe and a product of the natural reactions of the wood. All their wood products are then finished with an all-natural, food safe oil. The finish provides a durable protective coating to the surface and penetrates deep into the wood, ensuring a longer lasting product.

“We utilize nature as our inspiration and manufacturing as our medium.”

One of the best features of the Edgewood Board is that if used as a cutting board, the cuts will slowly gray, creating a brilliant sunburst effect. If the preference is to maintain the bold dark walnut throughout, one side can be used for cutting, and one for display.

Co-founder David Short explained the Edgewood Made process to us:

“Virtually every aspect of our work we do ourselves in our shop. The wood comes in as raw lumber from a company in western Pennsylvania. We surface the boards into rectangular blanks. From there they are put on our CNC Router. We had a custom bit created to cut the edge profile, and with this bit the shape and edge detail is created. From there we hand sand and finish the whole board and at the end laser engrave our logo in.

“We have vintage machines that we have brought back to life from old factories and pair these machines with some of the latest technology as well as our hand skills. With out an understanding of wood and traditional woodworking nothing we do would be possible.”

Look for new Edgewood Made products in the Unison Spring Collection.

We at Unison love to work with small businesses that are creating beautiful things. This week, we want to turn the spotlight on Moglea.

Moglea (MOH-glee) is an independent design and letterpress studio in Audubon, Iowa that creates handcrafted paper goods. Its owners, Chad and Meg Gleason, believe in the importance of production performed by hand. Their printing is done on a century-old Heidelberg Windmill Letterpress (the “Windmill” is an American nickname originating in its rotating gripper that grips and releases the paper stock).

“I complete dozens of paintings to test out compositions, color combinations and textures,” co-founder Meg Gleason says. “This is a crucial part of our creative process, and these paintings help inform the look and feel for each new collection. We feel that that Moglea customer is anything but traditional, so we like to make unexpected but welcome color palettes.”

Unison carries an array of Moglea products, from hand-painted compositions to holiday ornaments. We are proud to highlight our exclusive print, “So Many Things”, a 36″x48″ digitally printed masterpiece of color and shape, about which Gleason says “This piece is inspired by those feelings of risk, regret and hope that juxtapose and give us wisdom as we make the hard decisions in our lives.”

The two painted pieces are No. 14 The Explanation, and No. 12 Crescendo. Each is hand-painted by the Moglea studio on a birchwood panel in beautifully evocative textured layers.

The Unison Creative Director describes Moglea as “an absolute breath of fresh air — modern, bright, beautiful, artistic — a true stand out,” qualities we hope you will see shine through in every Moglea piece in our collection.

Unison carries three varieties of Moglea holiday ornaments: Holiday Dot, Whitewash, and Snowfall.

We’re delighted to have brought these dip dyed and hand painted ornaments into our holiday collection and look forward to the beautiful creations Moglea produces in the future.

Unison neighbor Metric Coffee has been brewing unique, well balanced, and clean coffees since 2014. We’ve recently teamed up with them for a fall giveaway, and wanted to learn a little more about the coffee shop we visit every day, so we chatted with Matthew Steinbrecher — Manager of Metric West Fulton & Workshops Educator.

Q: How did Metric get started?

A: Since we were already occupying our current space on West Fulton, it made sense to put our first cafe location within our headquarters. Doing so not only provides visitors a direct view of the entire operation, but allows the cafe to become a ‘test lab’ of sorts – what is happening up front is a direct reflection of the work being done in back, with new offerings constantly coming in.

Down the line we’re looking to bring back our weekly coffee cuppings, Home Brewing workshops taught in Spanish, latte art classes, and more roasting tours and demos.

Hosting has been a part of humanity’s global culture for millennia. Everyone wants their home to have a comfortable space for a guest, so we’ve selected our favorite items to make a house guest feel at home and taken care of.

First things first:

A bench provides both function and comfort. Your guest can drop their bags on the modern and stylish Mesh Gray Bench. With its striking but subdued pattern that goes well with any decor, this solid pine bench will withstand the test of time. We suggest the Natural Nido Basket as an attractive and easy way to store extra blankets or pillows underneath. Speaking of which…

Minnesota-woven wool from one of the last vertical woolen mills in America, which means these blankets are made entirely in the mill, from raw cotton to finished product. They’re machine washable, fade resistant, and the best part? Wool is an active material which reacts to changes in body temperature, so it will keep your guest warm when they’re cold and release heat when they’re hot.

The pillows are the Unison Chambray Stone and Flannel Indigo, both made of 100% Portuguese cotton and guaranteed to make anyone staying overnight want to cozy up to them.

But what about a quilt?

What better way to welcome your guest than with unique and cozy bedding. Made of 100% cotton and reversible from navy blue to light gray, this quilt is warm enough for winter and cool enough for summer. If you’re in Chicago, then this has an extra benefit, as it is an exclusive Unison collaboration with the city’s iconic Inn at Longman & Eagle.

And finally:

The essential nightstand. Imagine dropping your bags after a weary day of travel, sitting on the bed and seeing cheery flower cuttings and a glass of water (or whatever you prefer), already waiting for you. Bring the look together with an appropriately sized tray and add the final touch with a classically elegant table lamp for easy nighttime reading.

Bring sophistication to the table with the Canal White Table Lamp. The Canal has an elongated dome, adjustable shade, and metallic finish to provide just the right touch of style. We love the Gather vase collection for its simple lines and thin but durable design. They’re the perfect size for a side table or nightstand accent. The Grid Tray pairs a classic Unison pattern with form and function, as maintaining a tidy table with it is a breeze. The table itself? Modern design, minimal footprint. Save space and look chic with the Tri Side Table (available in white or black).

There it is! Pick your favorites and check “cozy guest room” off your list.