While Eames Demetrios is probably best known for being the grandson of Charles Eames, for those that know him, there's much more to him than a good bloodline. Not only is Eames one of the nicest guys I've met, he has the same creativity and talent of his grandfather. But this geographer at large focuses this creativity in a very different way. Enter the parallel universe of Kcymaerxthaere.  So what is Kcymaerxthaere? You just need to watch this video to get it. 

Done? 

Good. Now that we are on the same page, let me introduce you to the latest Kcy project. Please DON'T connect the dots. An activity book to compliment the disputedlikeness.com website. Again, just watch the video.

Get it? Good. Now, who can you think of that needs a stocking stuffer? Help support this latest adventure by buying a book (or 4!) on indiegogo. 

Please DON'T connect the dots activity book. $12

I've never heard of a French-Mexican furniture company before, but if this is really a thing, and it's as good as the designs by León León, count me a huge fan. 
 

León León was started in Mexico City in 2011 and draws inspiration from the classic Acapulco chair. The collection includes furniture, lighting and some fantastic bright pillows. The designs are heavily influenced by color and pattern, and each piece is handmade and has a wonderful modern / folk feeling. Alexander Girard would be proud.

León León 

Many of my regular readers may be wondering what the heck I've been up to. It's been a harried past couple of months, full of big life changes. Now that things are starting to slow down I'm ready to give an update.  

First off, I'm now officially an Austinite! There was a pretty short list of places I would leave SLC for, and Austin was one of them. So is it as awesome as everyone says it is? Yep. Pretty much. That is if you are into the whole delicious food, amazing bars, great people, sort of thing. I've been charging through all the hot spots and finding my favorites. It's a long list.

Second, after 10 years in healthcare I'm finally following my dreams and getting into real estate. As of last week, I'm officially a licensed real estate agent in the state of Texas. Yeee haaaaww! I plan on specializing in modern and mid century modern homes in the Austin area, so if you know someone looking to buy or sell send them my way.  

Ohh, and last but not least, I got a cat. His name is Talisker.  

East Side King food truck

Franklin BBQ

A glass of Talisker.

A cat named Talisker. 

It's great to see so many wonderful mid century modern pieces of furniture getting re issued. The latest to be announced is this beautiful Egyptian Stool that was originally designed by Danish architect Ole Wanscher in 1957. Carl Hansen & Son has now acquired rights to the design, and for the first time since 1970 it will be available in the US again. I absolutely love the brass and leather accents agains the dark mahogany. Pricing is likely to be in the $1,400 range. Perfection doesn't come cheap.​

Argh, I'm so over winter already. In fact I think my hatred of cold may have hit a new level today when I actually put a hand warmer in my pocket before leaving for work. While mother nature continues to deliver up cold weather and snow storms, I like to daydream of warm days on the patio. 

Yesterday I came across this gorgeous Clam Chair on The Potted Store. After a little bit of digging around, it sounds like they were originally designed by John B Salterini. The originals can be quite expensive, but these new ones seem very reasonable at $295 each. They are available in orange, a lovely pale green and brown. 

Clam Chair $295 from The Potted Store

Remember that Chelsea Sofa that Fashion for Home sent me a few years ago to review? Well, even back then I was a bit worried about how well the fabric would hold up to the abuse of two kids and my admittedly negligent self. It only took two years, and this sub $1,000 was looking pretty grimy. The lower cushion had acquired some stains that I was unable to get out, so last night on a whim I grabbed an old orange wool blanket I had picked up for $20 and recovered it. I was surprised how well it came out considering #1 I stitched it all by hand, #2 I was fairly occupied catching up on Walking Dead. Who knows how well the orange will hold up. In the meantime, it looks like I may need to rethink my pillow colors.

What do you think?

Like architecture? Like movies? The fine folks over at Arch Daily recently put up a list of the top 30 architecture movies to add to you "must see" list. While many of them have to be purchased, there are a few select ones that you can watch for free online, including the fantastic Eames: The Architect and the Painter. Who's seen it?  What did you think about it? 

ArchDaily : 30 Architecture Docs to watch in 2013

It's no secret that we love Neo Utility here on Grassrootsmodern, so obviously we're excited to see them on fab today. Maybe it's time to get those gorgeous Miller Goodman set's you've had your eye on…

Neo Utility on Fab

Tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM is SL Modern's fall tour. It will be held at Snowbird ski resort, and will include a tour of Utah's only modernist resorts with one of the original architect/planner Ray Kingston. For those of you in Salt Lake this is a once in a lifetime chance to get all the details about what went into this amazing resort. 

Not in Utah? No problem. Check out the docomomo website to find a modern tour near you. 

Buy tickets and get more information about the Snowbird event on SLModern.org

You can also get more great information about Snowbird's modern architecture here.

Photo's via SLModern.org

I know I'm getting lazy posting lately. I'm super busy working on some new things including some updates to the site, and getting licensed to sell (modern) homes in Utah. Hopefully my posting frequency will pick back up soon, in the meantime enjoy this video of Arne Jacobsen.

It's been over a years since I first wrote about the potential demolition of the Prudential Federal Savings and Loan building in Salt Lake City. Since then the issue has mostly been out of the public light, but thankfully in the last few weeks there has been some discussion around the issue. Today the Salt Lake Tribune ran an article discussing the potential loss of the this great piece of Mid Century Modern architecture. It's interesting to see that almost all of the comments are in favor of saving the building. 

If you would like to know more about the building, I'd urge you to read the short article about it on SaltLakeArchitecture.blogspot.com

Want to get involved. It's easy, start by sending Mayor Ralph Becker a message to let him know what you think.

*Top 3 images via saltlakearchitecture.blogspot.com

Photo by Julius Shulman from Art in Architecture - by Louis G. Redstone, FAIA

Artist: Tom Van Sant, "Birds in Flight," 100 birds with wingspread of 4 feet, attached to three bronze-encased stainless-steel rods, each 120 feet high (electrode posited - bronze process developed from the aircraft industry); theme symbolic of seagulls which saved Morman crops by eating locusts, 1964

So yesterday I had a chance to get back up to the Canyons to take some better pictures of the suite. The picture above is probably my favorite of the bunch. It's always great when you get to put two Eames Lounge chairs in a space. The Cush rug from BluDot is pretty great too.

Doing the design in the suite I had two big challenges. First to make it not look like just another Park City rustic hotel room. This was actually pretty hard to do. Above are two pictures that show what the space looked like when we started. The top one is from the exact same view as the first Eames Lounge picture. Which do you like better?

To start we did a lot of taking things out. All of the furniture was removed from the room as were the cushions on the built in benches. Curtains were taken down, doors were removed etc. We even took down some light fixtures. Stripping everything out made the space so much better. There was still a lot of rustic feeling in the form of knotty pine woodwork that I could get rid of, but I had a plan for that. Now I just had to fill the space up with something that looked good. That brings us to the second problem.

Everything I put in the room had to be eco conscious. Everything. Ebay has a little primer for buying green that became my mantra.

#1 Buy Pre Owned - The greenest product is the one that already exists. 

#2 Resource Saving - Do more with less.

#3 Sustainable - Materials Matter

Luckily I had some good guidance in this area from Zem of Ecofabulous. I generally think of myself as an eco aware guy but it's absolutely amazing how much more she knew about everything green. It was very educational for sure.  

So without delay, here is the rest of the suite, and what went into it.

Entering into the suite there was a big ugly closet that greeted everyone. I took care of it by covering it with a large white board and some Urbio containers full of succulents. Not only did Urbio just win best accessory at Dwell on Design, it's also made of recycled plastic (#3). To top it off Beau, one of the designers, is an incredibly nice guy.

Also in the front entryway was a little niche that needed to be filled up. I used a Way Basics shelf here (and in several other places in the suite) because it's super affordable and made of 99% recycled material (#3). I filled it up with items I found at local thrift stores (#1).

Around the corner there is a short hall that looks into the kitchenette which is just off the main room. It's not the best looking kitchen so I gave it a little shield with a GORGEOUS rosewood Eames screen (#1) and a flower arrangement.

The main room is dominated by two vintage Eames Lounge chairs (#1) a small tulip style side table (#1) sitting on a wool Cush rug by BluDot (#3).

The wood benches needed some sort of padding on them because we removed the horrible looking pads there were on them. I covered two of them with 1" thick felt  (#3) held in place with a rug pad. The felt is actually made of wool and recycled synthetic content (like recycled bottles). Pillows are fantastically eco friendly and come from Inhabit (#3). 

The other two benches were covered with wool Flokati rugs (#3) held in place by a rug pad. Lots more pillows from Inhabit (#3) too.

Also in the main room were two Way Basics shelves side by side that I filled up with vintage pieces (#1) and succulents. 

My favorite part of the shelf unit is a fantastic pair of white wooden clogs (#1) lit from above by the  Pablo Clamp Lamp (#2)(#3).

Speaking of lamps, I didn't get a good photo of it, but the Moooi Miyake table lamp (#2)(#3) is pretty fantastic as well although I do wish it put out a bit more light.

Perhaps my favorite piece in the room were the 6 Coventry Stools by Studio Dunn (#3). The are a nice little bit of eye candy for the room and they provide flexible seating or a convenient place to set a drink. Also a huge thank you goes out to the guys from Studio Dunn who built these 6 stools and shipped them to Utah with just a week or two of heads up. 

The last seating area is the dining table built in bench. Unfortunately I couldn't remove those cushions, but I was surprised that they didn't look as horrible as I thought they would. In front of the bench is a vintage Brown Saltman coffee table by John Keal (#1) lit from above by a Claudo pendant by Cerno (#2). The wall behind the bench was covered with raw Wall Tiles by Inabit (#3).

There were two good outdoor patios that I filled up with vintage Bertoia chairs (#1) a vintage teak bar cart (#1) Emeco 111 Navy chairs (#3) and Tom Dixon Offcut stool (#3).

Last but certainly not least was the green fashion room. I designed three literal Pinterest pin boards for attendees to use. The idea is they pick out outfits from the clothes in the room, pin them to the board, and share them on Pinterest. The person with the outfit that gets the most pins wins and iPad. You should be able to see all the outfits by looking for the ebaygreenstyled hashtag on Pinterest. 

Also in the room is the reclaimed clothes rack I designed. A few people have asked for more info on it, and I'll give a better DIY on how to make your own next week. 

A few days ago I was at an open house for a local MCM Furniture store called The Green Ant. They've been around for years, but just recently expanded the store (congrats Ron!) and now have an entire half dedicated to more high end design. Sitting in the middle of the space was this Reale table from Zanotta. I loved the look of it, but I was a little confused as to why it was in the space, as it looked to be a new design and not truly mid century. You can imagine my surprise to find out that it was really designed in 1946 by Carlo Mollino. It's a pleasant feeling to continue to be surprised at just how timeless good design can be.

Reale Table 

Carlo Mollino

The Green Ant

More pics from Zanotta's website

Day two of my resolution to keep the blog up to date with my day to day doings is a very late recap of the Palm Springs trip I took two months ago. It was the last weekend of Coachella and I flew into LA to meet my girlfriend for the weekend, one night of which we 
spent in Palm Springs. The majority of my time in Palm Springs was spent in two places, the Ace Hotel, and a short strip of MCM thrift stores in an obscure section of Cathedral City.

I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about the Ace Hotel. Everything there was wonderfully styled, and cleverly marketed right down to the paper card holder your room key came in.  The Palm Springs Ace Hotel is an old Howard Johnson and was much larger than I imagined it. There are at least 3 different buildings with rooms, and two separate pool areas. 

The food and drinks there were surprisingly affordable for "hotel food" and were super tasty to boot. I think we pretty much ate all of our meals there, and didn't even think twice about it. In fact it's honestly the first time I have gone to some sort of destination resort type place that I didn't feel the need to get outside the compound as soon as possible.  I could happily spend a full weekend poolside and never leave the hotel. 

Speaking of poolside, it was exactly what you would expect at a Palm Springs swimming pool party. We were fortunate to be invited to a Madewell pool party which meant free food and drinks for the day. It was a perfect afternoon of hot sun, cold cocktails and beautiful people all around. 

The next morning after a few cups of coffee and some much needed chilaquiles we set out to do some furniture shopping. We had a tip from a LA local about row of MCM stores in Cathedral City. After driving past random strip malls and building supply stores we found what we were looking for. Just off of Perez road before you get to  Palm Date Drive is a group of 4 or 5 MCM stores full of treasures. 

Hedge was one of my favorites with its combination of classic MCM and Danish alongside less traditional vintage pieces. 

Others that deserve recognition is the amazing collection of Danish furniture at JP Denmark, and the amazing yet occasionally strange Colin Fisher Studio that was like being in a museum or a famous drug lords home. 

I'm far from being an expert on Palm Springs, I'll leave that to Paul Kaplan and others, but I do have one little neighborhood I always like to drive through on my way out of town. I first discovered the Vista Las Palmas area when I was doing a video for the fiesta movement a few years ago. I still enjoy driving through it and looking at all the classic Palm Springs homes that are so similar and so different at the same time. 

So thats my trip! 

Now I want to hear what YOU love about Palm Springs, and your must do things when you are there. 

It was a whirlwind of a week last week, and I'm just now getting a chance to catch my breath. I'm usually pretty horrible about keeping people updated with all the personal projects I've got going on, so consider this an attempt to get better. 

The first update is the Saarinen tulip base I posted about a while ago. Turns out it's really a Burke base, which is fine by me. I tried one time to repaint it and it turned out horribly and I had to start all over again. After the second time sanding it all down I needed up going to an automotive paint supply store and getting some white one stage automotive paint. It was really reasonably priced ($5 a can I think) and sprayed way better than the can of enamel I got at Ace. I ended up sanding the old paint down and moving from 150 grit sandpaper to 200, 400, and finally 600 grit to get it smooth. I then made a "paint booth" in my garage so the wind wouldn't screw things up and slowly started putting coats on. Near the end I did a little wet sanding with 600 grit paper to make sure it stayed nice and smooth. There is a bit of orange peel but it's pretty good looking. 

For the top, we were originally talking about cutting down the old laminate top to the 32" size we wanted. After a lot of going back and forth we decided to spring for a new marble top. We called around to a bunch of local places, and most wanted close to $500 for a top. Luckily we found a remnant at European Marble and Granite for $370 (Thanks Tally!). It's a really beautiful piece and they did a really nice job getting the back bevel just right. I was planning on attaching it with silicone like they do with countertops, but after setting it on top we decided it's not going anywhere. If I wasn't in a rental and planning on moving sooner than latter I probably would have attached it.

All in all I think it turned out really great. I apologize for only having a crappy instagram picture of it, but I figured it was better than nothing. 

I've been designing a bookcase for my new home and in anticipation of it being finished I was looking for a good turntable to compliment it. Yesterday my girlfriend sent me a link to this mint Braun PC3 turntable, and by mint I mean BRAND NEW. The PC 3 SV is part of the famous SK4 or "Snow White's coffin" that Dieter Rams" designed for Braun back in 1956. Despite it's relatively expensive price ($500 for a 50 year old record player) I couldn't resist the temptation, and I'm happy to report I'm the new owner of this beauty. Despite the fact that it's absolutely pristine, I do plan on playing records on it, and hope to give it the life it's been waiting 50 years to live. I'll be sure to update everyone when my bookshelves are finished and this beauty takes center stage.

Braun PC 3 SV (also listed on Etsy)

I woke up this morning in the mood for little Harry Bertoia and I hit the jackpot over at Archive.org with this 1965 documentary. You know when the video starts out with Harry lighting his pipe with a cutting torch that it's going to be good.

 UPDATE: You may need to follow the link below, Archives.org's embed is struggling. 

Harry Bertoia's Sculpture (1965)

I'm not sure what it is about this little table, but I absolutely love it. It's a vintage piece, and there is only one available, but for $20 the price is right. Available from the fantastically curated Forage Modern Workshop which has a great collection of vintage and new modern pieces. 

Turquoise Triangle Table $20

It's been a while since I have checked in on Double Butter, and I'm happy to report that they are still doing great. In fact they are doing better than great. They are continuing to add more and more great designs everyday and it sounds like they have a successful business model that is paying off. Hats off to you gents!

Double Butter 

Asymmetrical Turtle Desk 

Over the weekend Fab had a sale on Ginko Home Furnishing items. I had never heard of them before, but I was sort of blown away at the prices. Of course they were steeply discount because of the Fab sale, but even some of the retail prices on the stuff wasn't bad at all. The designs for the most part are very classic MCM and the construction looks good. Has anybody seen these in real life? Did anybody manage to pick anything up during the Fab sale? It looks like a lot of the good stuff is sold out, but the sale goes for another 5 day's and there are still some good bargains. 

Ginko Home Furnishings on Fab

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