Monday, February 8, 2010

"It's In the Mix . . . "


Greetings all,

I was delighted to attend an insightful lecture from Eric Cohler at the Lee Jofa showroom during "Design San Francisco" last week. It was an hour packed with inspiration - but one particular quote of his seemed to resonate with me - "We all need a past in order to find the here and now." It was an expression of that 'duality' in design that many of the week's speakers all seemed to touch on. Mixing periods. Mixing styles. Mixing colours. Mixing patterns. And creating energy from that tension. Finding great style in that contrast.

Here are some perfect examples from Cohler's own portfolio. Such a great talent. No wonder he's referred to as "The Mix Master."

Classic oil paintings, but hung on grasscloth wallpaper.
European bombe chest paired with contemporary upholstery and lighting.

Love, love, love.

Classic space. Classic furnishings. But, paired with horizontally
striped wallpaper for some contrast and energy.

This might be one of my favourite images from Cohler's portfolio.
I love this collection of vintage photography and prints, but displayed with
just a clean modern eye. And pairing them with the geometric floor covering
is just genius.

Simply lovely. But the use of the photography over the mantle
gives it much more edge. and interest.

And this is just storage porn from Cohler's own home.
(oh, if I could only convert a bedroom into a closet!)
And a bit of shirting envy as well.
(with a great use of wallpaper on the ceiling!)

Keep mixing,
tartanscot

here's a bit more information on Cohler's collection for Lee Jofa Textiles.