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for those of the weak at heart i’d take leave of this blog post…  as Jessica’s return from Florence where she toured the factories of Baga and Terzani was accompanied with very candid conversations exposing the other shoe that may drop for the American consumer who desires some design options in outfitting their homes.

The simplistic explaination is that as European manufacturers try and hold their US prices agianst the decreasing value of the American dollar vs. the growing value of the Euro and the costs associated with the unionization of the trades their ability to actually make a profit is disappearing and with that their interest in speaking to the American consumer. It’s like a dam that is about to burst something’s gotta give!

We, myself included, are all about the deal right now, but i’d make your decisions fairly quickly before prices go up, my intuition says we’ll either be paying more for design or we’ll have much less to choose from…. i welcome your feedback.

Despite the dismal state of affairs in the shrinking design community we forge forward. Our recent Line additions include: Fambuena, Arturo Alvarez, Il finale, Aldo Bernardi, Seascape, Vesoi, Karmen, to name a few. and so while most aspects of the world that i live in are slightly better than bleak we are really stacking up on the vendor side.

Of all these Lighting vendors the one i’m most excited about is from Vesoi. It hangs in our shop, multicolored and strong and style with a european bulb. After a hard day it’s hard not to smile over something so darn cute… can lights be cute?

This past Saturday i heard of another longstanding design related business closing their doors in SF and couldn’t help but think about the “state of the union” that is our “design world” right now.  It seems like the shrinking economy is also shrinking the number of choices the consumer has when it comes to purchasing items for their homes; and While there will always be the internet (at least we hope) there may not always be the ability to walk into a storefront where one can see, touch and ultimately feel the flavor of what they are contemplating buying.  Choice is ultimately part of the American bill of rights, and so as i stand on my soapbox to all you consumers out there… support your local economy…. that is if you have any desire to have a local economy in the future.

after friday i feel like my real job is a light hanger/electrican and i play with interior design on the side. We just recieved a whopping 30 new light fixtures from 5 different lighting lines on display in both locations. i love the new lines and great looks. stay tuned for images once everything is really up and electrified…

Aldo Bernardi an Italian company whose home is located just northwest of Venice, Italy has just placed a number of fixtures on display in St. Helena. For us this seemed a logical homage to the people in Napa who want to stick with what’s traditional and not follow us on our wonderful contemporary journeys. please come by the store for a look-see.  here is one of my faviorates.

yes i said it… light up your life with a great light… okay, honestly not really a sales pitch it’s just that transforming a space only takes a few things, a new paint color a few throw pillows and yes, you heard me a new light! take a gander at what’s out there everytime i look there’s something new!

Take a look at this article in today’s Marin IJ

Light takes

Meanwhile, Alia Meyer was on a buying trip to Euroluce, the major European lighting event that takes place every two years in Milan. She was trendspotting and checking out products that are, but often aren’t, available in the States.

For the most part, “the market most being hit by the economy is us,” she says. “The show was packed especially in the main halls where, literally, a city of people were coming in every day. In fact, one Italian manufacturer said he “had the best day of sales at the show ever.”

But, when the economy hits America, there’s a ripple effect on European vendors. Some pared back their displays and all seemed “hungrier” for U.S. business…..  

click here to read the rest

About 9 years ago Jessica found ourselves lost in Venice wandering down small street after small street and in our travels happened upon  a showroom in production. What caught our attention was a door that had been removed from the façade and was making its way down the street for repair. As is our fashion after a few questions we were invited on a tour of the remodel and left fascinated with the beauty we had seen and energized by the craftsmanship and the novelties most specifically how they were laying down the Terazzo floor. This historic antique villa was to be the new home of Bergamo Textiles. This trip Bergamo & Rubelli have again made an appearance. Bergamo has joined forces with the new face of Leucos as the FDV has recently acquired leucos and are working in cooperation with Rubelli in the presentation of one of their newest lamps the Damasco, but our connection to this new allegiance are even more intertwined as Euroface previously was the means for our access to these products and the fabric itself, Faust is one I personally just used on a project for use as pillow fabric. This is the first of many associated lamps Rubelli hopes to do in collaboration with FDV.  Life is funny!

Alia Meyer Signing off

anyone who knows me knows i’m a huge fan of words and using script in design. Llooking around the show yeasterday and today it was hard to miss the many fixtures who used words to add a game or prove a point to their fixtures… here is a sampling of what i found.