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Katrina Wittkamp: Photographer, Mother, et al

This year’s summer catalog was a blast, for many reasons, and one of them is because we got to work with an amazing Chicago-based photographer, Katrina Wittkamp. Katrina is an excellent example of organic connections that is fueling our company. When we opened our store “experiment”, the Studio+Store at our warehouse location, she noticed the sign on the sidewalk featuring Modern Bedding. She stopped in and promptly fell in love with all we had, bought our Larch bedding and a collection of throw pillows. At checkout she could not contain the fact that she lives nearby, is a pro photographer working often with CS Interiors and adores our brand. The day arrived months later that we needed another photographer and we knew Katrina was the perfect fit. Not only was she a Unison fan already and is super talented – she has the most adorable kids who could also be our models – perfecto! All we can say is the shoot went great, the results were beyond our expectations and we too fell in love!

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We asked Katrina to share a bit about her (amazing story!) and how we found each other (also pretty fascinating!):

 You have such an inspiring, modern home. Have you always lived in such cool digs?

I am originally from North Carolina….I grew up outside of Asheville, North Carolina in the Smoky Mountains.  Last summer,  I took my kids to visit my childhood home, which is on top of a mountain in Sylva, North Carolina and it looked so small I was almost embarrassed.   The kids said,  “is this it???”  I have such fond memories of that house, which we heated with wood stoves and we grew all our own food in a huge garden next to the house.  We even had an orchard, and when we needed a snack we would often climb down the mountain in search of wild blackberry bushes.  My mom lived an “organic” and “sustainable” lifestyle before people even used these terms.   This upbringing has influenced my choices as an adult, and my husband and I chose stay in the city even after having kids because we like being about to bike or walk anywhere.   We also decided to buy a solar-powered “green” home in the city.  Since we have moved in six months ago our largest electric bill has been $13.

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Katrina’s childhood home
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Katrina’s family home today

What drew you to photography?

I started taking pictures in college after taking a photojournalism course at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.  I quickly realized I would be taking pictures the rest of my life.   I obsessed over, dreamed about and absolutely fell in love with photography.   After graduating from UNC, I started an internship at the Chicago Tribune and my second love to photography became the city of Chicago.  I will never forget my first drive up Lake Shore Drive and the city unfolded in front of me.  I had never seen anything so beautiful.

You’ve shot product for Unison and it’s been a match made in heaven. Want to share the story?

When we were building our Chicago home a year ago, I happened upon the Unison warehouse store which is a few blocks from our house.   I couldn’t believe my good luck when I walked in the store and saw all the beautiful linens and pillows.  I almost blurted out “where have you been all my life.”  I bought the Larch Ash duvet cover for our master bedroom and paired it with Dover Ocean sheets….it looks exquisite.  I mentioned to the woman who was helped me at Unison that we were building a new home down the street from Unison if they ever needed a location for shooting some of their products.  This is how I became fortunate enough to shoot some of the photos for the new Unison catalog.

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Family time is important to you, too. What do you like to do with your kids?

I have two kids, August who is 6 and Ella who is 9.  They are city kids through and through.  They always ask “is there valet?” when we drive to a restaurant,  and they do a  happy dance when I find free parking.   We love going for bike rides around the city on the weekends,  and lately we’ve been having “epic” Uno card games in the evening after dinner.   And every Wednesday we all snuggle up on the couch and watch Modern Family which is our hands-down favorite show.

What room in your home is your family naturally drawn to?

My favorite place in my house is my bed.   I love my dark grey walls of my bedroom, and my beautiful Unison linens of course.   My daughter and I go upstairs every evening around 8pm and snuggle in my bed and read our books for an hour or so.   Ella is a voracious reader and I love to read as well, so this is my favorite time of day.   I tell my daughter this on a nightly basis and she rolls her eyes and says, “I KNOW mom, you say that every night.”

Here are more shots by Katrina from our summer catalog!

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Oh! Happy Mundane: Event Recap

We sure loved having Jonathan Lo around, founder and editor of Happy Mundane (aka J.Lo in our office). What an inspiring person, full of talent but also full of humility. Surrounded by lovely ladies and a few dudes, Jonathan gave us the low-down on what it takes to run a creative production company, manage an insanely followed blog and Instagram account, and how to follow your design dreams without getting discouraged. After a few spiked lemonades, some friendly laughs, and Jonathan’s talk, we got stuck in a torrential downpour. Good thing Jonathan was totally into it. I guess he doesn’t see much rain in the desert of Southern California.

Please come back anytime, J.Lo!

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Happy Mundane Event

Get stoked for our upcoming summer event with the coolest blogger around, Jonathan Lo of Happy Mundane! Come to the store at 1911 W Division this Saturday from 3:00-6:00pm to chat and learn about his current mundane musings.  Hear his take on his top three picks from our summer collection – which will be on sale during the event at 20% off. Plus we’ll be raffling off an Aerial lime pillow to one lucky fan.

Happy Mundane is a blog that “celebrates the ordinary and the extraordinary, good design of any kind, and takes a moment to appreciate some things that get overlooked in the everyday”…with over one million followers and is listed as one of the Top 10 Most Followed Men on Pinterest. We can’t wait to meet you Jonathan!

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Alphablocks Launch Party

It’s a letter! It’s a shape! It’s COOL. Come get your dose of geometric pow this Saturday from 3-6pm at our store at 1911 W Division. Alex Fuller, graphics extraordinaire, creative director, publisher and man about town will be there with words of wisdom to share. Plus all kids and baby bedding, pillows and artwork will be 20% off until June 22nd. Yes, Alphablocks bedding, pillows and art included. Now that spells NICE. Alphablocks_980alphablocks_dots_mint_babyalphablocks_blue_kidsool_pink_framealphablocks_shapes_kids_apronsalphablocks_blue_baby15317_art_alphablocks_blue_blue_frm_98015307_art_alphablocks_mint_wht_frame_98015868_book116761_big_alphablocks_yellow_pouf_98015337_art_abc_white_frame_98016456_alphablocks_blue_pillow_sm_rect_98016488_alphablocks_peach_pillow_square_sm_98016430_big_alphablocks_mint_pillow_square_lg_980

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Photography by Robert

Jane and Francois Robert (pronounced Row-bare) are a husband and wife team (like us, but much cooler) who have been the team behind photographing Unison products since 2006. We have become good friends and over time have found them both to be great inspirations. They are super talented in the world of commercial and fine-art photography and graphic design to boot. Doesn’t hurt that they are also super happy, funny, healthy, good-looking, cat-loving, modernists too.

Jane and Francois love to travel the globe and always take the viewer by surprise with their imagery. We are so happy they share their visual passion with us. Below is a series of images they took while on trips to Paris (the source of the Koi photograph) and Coyote Buttes, a protected area in Utah. We are so excited to offer their work at Unison. Each photograph is professionally framed in from sustainable woods sourced in Italy, then cut and joined right here in Chicago.

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Float Launch Party

We are thrilled! We are honored! We are overjoyed to celebrate the launch of our new Float collection, designed by one of our favorite local (an internationally renowned) artists, Cody Hudson! Bring the whole family, pets as well! This event takes place at our store on Division during Do Division Street Fest, the official kick-off to all Chicago summer events. Here comes the fun!

Saturday May 31st 3:00-6:00pm

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A Mother’s Day Wish: Carole Segal speaks out

My incredibly brave mother-in-law speaks out against deportation. The numbers are astonishing! We honor her and her incredible efforts to help others this Mother’s Day.

“As we celebrate Mother’s Day, we do not want to hear that another parent has been taken away. We are a moral and just society in America; it is an issue of high urgency to keep families together. Are we not a nation of immigrants? Can we not join together and change this terrible dynamic to one of liberty and justice and mercy for all?” – Carole Segal

Amen, I say.

Read the full article in the Chicago Tribune.

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Summer Catalog Photoshoot – Part I

Every photo shoot is always a blast (how can it not be when you do what you love?) but this summer one was a really fun. We really pushed the collection into colorful territory (with new collaborations!) and brought in a whole slew of new housewares that we think everyone will love for summer entertaining, both indoor and outdoor. We also got really lucky and shot in two homes (both insanely modern) within blocks of our offices so running back to the warehouse for last minute samples was super easy.

The first shoot took place at the home of Teresa Surratt, creator of modern day Camp Wandawega, and David Hernandez, both advertising executives at Ogilvy & Mather (the birthplace of big ideas). Their home, a renovation of old horse stables, was done by Studio Gang Architects and is known as the Brick Weave House. Check out the behind the scenes taken by Francois Robert, the photographer for this set, and stay tuned for more, ie. Part II.

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Kastehelmi by Oiva Toikka Celebrates 50 Years

This year I really wanted to bring out Kastehelmi as one of our featured items in tableware at Unison. Not only because it is one of my personal favorites having grown up with it, but also because we love the designer, Oiva Toikka and wanted to honor his famous design, Kastehelmi (dew pearls in Finnish) as it celebrates it’s 50th year in production. I selected blue because it is a new color and it brings about that feeling of water and it complimented so well the Aerial cobalt table linens we developed with Chicago artist Stephen Eichhorn. We hope that those who purchase these seemingly simple blue glass plates and bowls will enjoy them for serving a special dessert or as a beautiful gift set for a marrying couple. They will last for ages and endure trends for generations to come.

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Oiva is truly an icon in glass design, someone we should all be aware of. His work spans from glass, ceramic, art pieces, costume design for operas and so much more. We had the extreme pleasure, Alicia and I, of getting to know him a little bit while we lived in Finland and worked at Marimekko from 1999-2004. You can watch and listen to Oiva in this video piece by Iittala, which I think is quite special because it reveals Oiva’s personality so well, a true artist and a wonderful person indeed.