A peak inside the bloggers' goodie bags

As a BIG thank you to the participants of last week's DDB Spring Market, the 20 bloggers went home with some very nice treats, most of which were one-off, specially created batches. Many showrooms showed their thanks for the bloggers' attention, coverage and participation with goodies ranging from tote bags to pens to jewelry. Thanks to everyone who donated, and once again to the bloggers for all of their great reporting. (We'll continue to share all that the bloggers have to say in their post-market recaps, so keep checking back.)

ANICHINI: Merino Wool Scarves, made in Italy from 100% Merino wool, and renowned for their soft, silky feel. Designs are exclusive to Anichini
CREATION BAUMANN: Umbrellas
CRESTRON: Zipdrives, that are both techy and adorable
DONGHIA: Leather Notebooks, made with a soft cover and lined pages to document your every design need
GRACIE: iPhone Case, with Gracie’s scenic hand-painted wallpaper, combining the finest level of hand painted detail typical of the 18th century Chinese designs with a modern bold orange accent
HOLLAND & SHERRY: Fountain Pens, covered in their signature wool
HOULES: Beaded Key Chain and Post it Compact. This beautiful beaded keychain offers a glimpse into Houles newest trim line, the Palais Royale
KNOLL LUXE: Nail Polish in Knoll Textiles custom color, “Tryst”
LUTRON: Maestro Wireless Dimmer, Single Pico® Wireless control has the power to control up to 10 Maestro Wireless dimmers and switches, up to 100 feet
MAYA ROMANOFF: Slink Notebooks
NEKTAR DE STAGNI: Bracelets, Nektar De Stagni  "Smiley Face" Freshwater Pearl earrings, with black Crystal pave

PIPINO 57: VIP Member Cards
POTTERTON BOOKS: Book Du Jour
QUADRILLE: Tote Bag
QUINTESSENTIALLY: A two-week pass to Quintessentially Unlocked
ROBERT ALLEN: Ikat Pouches
ROSE TARLOW: Leather Coaster. It's 5 o’ clock somewhere! Coasters in RTMH leather with our signature house emblem – the perfect desk accessory
SCUBE DESIGN: Hand-crafted pencil pouches, with silver-foiled glass beads and Swarovski crystal stones
VAUGHAN: Tape Measures

April Events at the DDB

Tuesday, April 17, from 9:30 - 10:30 AM in Astra Cafe, Floor 14. Cost: $50.
CEU329  Design Fairs 101:  How to Tackle and Shop the Fairs like a Pro.
Instructor: Brook S. Mason, US Correspondent, The Art Newspaper.
Design Miami, Design Basel and the key fairs at the Park Avenue Armory can be glamorous, but intimidating for the novice and experience designer alike.  Students will learn how to tackle and shop the art, antiques and design fairs like a pro.  With art fairs now emblematic of millennium culture and literally popping up in profusion internationally, find out which fairs are mandatory for the design trade. Discover what not to miss, who the key dealers are, and which areas of art, antiques and design are a great buy now. Reception to follow.
To register, call 212.472.1500 ext 209 or visit www.nysid.edu
Tuesday, April 24 at 11:00 AM, at Creation Baumann, Suite 1522.

DDB Design File |  Sustainably Chic : Rethinking Green Design
Instructor: Arlene Angard, Sustainable Expert and Interior Designer

Join Sustainable Expert and Interior Designer Arlene Angard, pictured above, at Creation Baumann for an engaging discussion that navigates the way through sustainable design. Disregard the misconception that green is grunge and granola, but sophisticated, bold, and beautiful.  Learn of the variety of resources, the certifications from factory and production practices to final product, and how to filter through the green noise that exists in the marketplace today.

Arlene will highlight some of her favorite eco-chic projects, products, and resources, as well as share important knowledge to keep in mind when sourcing and designing for sustainable spaces. Arlene will also present the holistically sustainable philosophy and progressive approach of Creation Baumann, a leader in the world of socially and ecologically aware luxury design.

Lunch Reception to Immediately Follow. Sponsored by New York Spaces. RSVP@ddbuilding.com or 212.759.2969.
About Arlene Angard
Arlene Angard, a native of Venezuela, is one New York’s top Interior Designers. Her Latin roots influence her design concepts, and her vibrant personality and take-charge attitude are inspiring. She is motivated by travel and encouraged by beauty in design. She shows her creative thought process and sensibility to Mother Earth by the widest possible use of sustainable products in her design.

Arlene is a modernist at heart. She is stylish and elegant as are her interiors.“My transitional spaces include plenty of classic silhouettes. They are a great way to bring comfort and provide instant upgrades to any room. Complemented by carefully selected textures and patterns, I like to mix something old with something new. Never be afraid to add some flair with colors, details and accessories. I bring my Venezuelan roots to my Interiors, which is where I believe my magical love for colors comes from. I love to make bold statements even in small areas. Many clients and friends can initially be reluctant to such bold statements, but eventually, they simply fall in love with the idea and the spaces I design for them.”

Tending Trends: Plethoras of Perforation Pock the DDB (Part 2)

Less is more for our newly spotted design trend at the DDB. With perforated products popping up in showrooms all over the building, we love seeing what creative ways designers are spinning perforations and cutouts throughout collections.

The new Donghia showroom boasts perforated patterns in fabrics such as Mirror, Mirror, which creates a sparkling statement by combining hand-woven silk with small pieces of mica embroidered into laser-cut spaces in the fabric, or Stella, part of the Sahco collection that features a dense white ground weave from which small pieces are cut out by laser. At the same time, the heat of the laser seals the edges of the polyester weave. The effect is lace-like, and the intricate floral design seems like a silhouette.

"Perforated fabrics and products add a new facet to design," said a designer who was shopping at Donghia. "By adding the texture with laser-cut designs, instead of with the more traditional uses of texture, the possibilities within a space widen even further and the whole design process really gets fun and creative. I personally love the way perforated curtains can look, because they affect a room so, so much in every single kind of light the day is giving you outside!"

If you're looking for more perforated perfection in the DDB, you can visit Création Baumann, Donghia, Romo, Jerry Pair, and more. Let us know what you find!

Tending Trends: Plethoras of Perforation Pock the DDB (Part 1 of 2)

It's a brand new year, and as we see new collections pop up all over the DDB, we're noticing a few trends.

Our first trend isn't so much about what is there, but rather what isn't there and all of the creative ways of designing fabrics and products by using perforation, cutouts, and “holes”!

Less is more when it comes to fabrics whose design is based on cutout pieces and intentionally designed absences in their making. The voids that we've been seeing create dramatic effects and, when used in fabric, use window light as an even larger part of a room's design. Création Baumann is a perfect example of perforated fabric that is both dramatic and fresh.

"Création Baumann offers an enormous library of laser-cut fabrics that have been wildly successful over the past several years," said a sales associate. "Cutting our fabrics by laser allows for exact dimensions wanted by the client and lets our designers use patterns ranging from strong, geometric designs to soft, flighty, and whimsical designs. They allow for such a wide spectrum of atmospheres and tastes."

Création Baumann's Curl pattern, part of the Création Baumann Line collection, is one of our favorite examples of geometric design. The Curl curtain fabric in established burn-out quality features transparent shapes emerging from dense, wave-like bases to generate an intriguing and puzzling interplay of shapes and shadows.

Sahco's Gala collection by Brentano balances sophistication and playfulness in the fabric Nightlife. Nightlife features geometric twisting and turning patterns inspired by stained glass windows and brought to life using an innovative laser cutting method.

Check back with GoDesignGo tomorrow for more on showrooms full of perforated product throughout the DDB.

Event Recap: Erik Bruce Talks Windows with Students at Design Day

Student Design Day at the DDB has passed, but the success is still buzzing from the full day of showroom tours, events, and lectures. The morning started off strong with a presentation at Création Baumann by Erik Bruce on The Window.

Erik knows that window treatments are an all-too-often-overlooked opportunity for design in modern interiors, so he presented a glimpse into his personal process, complete with a fresh approach to treating windows and dividing spaces in harmony with the architecture.

"Mary Bright inspired me to move from theater to interior design, and after working on various projects around Manhattan, I fell in love," said Erik. "My background in set design encouraged my love for lighting and, eventually, windows, and the way attention is paid to them became really important to me."

"Window treatments are important, but aside from being just another important piece to the puzzle of the room, the technique behind window treatment design can often be overlooked or poorly done. It's fun to be innovative and to challenge yourself, so once you have gotten to really understand the technique behind window treatments and installations, let yourself start trying things out with really difficult fabric. A room is a stage, and the windows are your most essential type of lighting!"

Erik served as the principal designer at Mary Bright Inc. for the past eight years and is now the creative director of his own studio.

In the News: Lutron & Création Baumann Team Up and Blend Right

Lutron's Roman shades caught our eye on our last trip, and what’s more, the showroom’s installation is shown off in style with fabrics from Création Baumann. Lutron's Roman shades with CERUS® Safety Technology have all the style they needs on their own, but we love the look of collaboration when paired with Création Baumann.

The fabric was given to Lutron by the Création Baumann showroom on the DDB’s 15th floor, and this isn't the only collaboration between the two showrooms—Création Baumann also makes several different roller shade fabrics in Lutron's Gallery collection.

"We at Lutron are proud of our partnership with Création Baumann," said showroom manager Katherine Rumbaugh. "We love the way our products have paired with Création Baumann's and have gotten a great response from clients and designers."

By allowing designers to work with their own materials, Lutron makes it easy to combine a designer’s aesthetic with a fully innovative and quality motorized shading product.

Revolutionizing the design of Roman shades by introducing the CERUS (Cord-Eliminating Roman Uptake System) safety technology, the innovation replaces the cords of traditional Roman shades with sheer uptake bands. This design creates a safer shade by eliminating exposed inner cords that may pose a strangulation hazard to young children. The uptake bands also improve reliability, by removing the possibility of cords tangling, and performance, by providing a quieter system with smoother, more even travel of the shade.

"Lutron is constantly evaluating current trends to provide customers with a well-rounded collection of fabrics for our shading systems," Rumbaugh said. "Many of Lutron's shading solutions are designed to accommodate customers’ own materials as well. We understand every designer and homeowner has their certain vision of how a shade should look, and we want to make that vision a reality through the use of their own materials on our motorized shading systems."

Stop by Lutron's showroom in Suite 138 to check out Lutron's Roman shades complete with Création Baumann fabric.

GDG Gift Guide: Création Baumann ‘Throws’ Us a Gift Idea

At Création Baumann, it's all about how warm your throw keeps you during the holiday season and these beauties will protect you against the coldest weather. The Eluis throw blanket makes a lovely holiday gift, satisfying fashion and home passions at once.

The soft wool is formed into an origami design and rolls up elegantly into its included 'handles' for easy transport and storage, making it convenient to take with you from home to holiday destination.

You can find Eluis at the Création Baumann showroom at the DDB in Suite 1522, at the Jeffrey Michaels showroom in the DCOTA, at I.D. Collection at the DCH and at Thomas Lavin at the PDC.

In the News: Création Baumann's Press Preview Unveils Fall Collection (Part 2)

Création Baumann's Managing Director gave us the story behind the upcoming Fall 2011 collection at the showroom's recent Press Preview at the DDB. Ranae Ahrens has been traveling all over the world to preview the Fall collections, so we wasted no time asking about Natura V collection, one of the many new collections debuting this Fall.

"Natura V collection defines our getting back to the basics that I had mentioned earlier," said Ranae. "This is often the case for us in the Fall when we bring back our roots with the linens and cooler, more earthy colors. Our basics are really popular with architects and we love when Fall Market hits and we can hear all of the 'wow's' from our clients."

"Two of the best received thus far on my press preview tour have been Syros II and Rafia. Syros II is a transparent curtain fabric made of linen with an interplay of dense and loosely woven weave textures resulting in evenly spaced stripes. It's comfy and it begs to be lounged in while still looking sophisticated. Rafia is another transparent line curtain fabric made of color raffia threads which lie loosely between the slightly transparent linen weave. It produces a really striking striped look.

Ranae explained that Natura V is also 100% environmentally friendly and certified sustainable, which we wouldn't assume anything less of from Création Baumann.

"One of my personal favorites of Natura V is Zenos," said Rane. "It's a semi-striped contemporary linen curtain fabric with a really captivating, rustic grid texture. It's simply gorgeous."

Check back with GoDesignGo as the Summer continues to hear more about Création Baumann's Fall 2011 collection--we'll let you know when you can see it for yourself.

In the News: Création Baumann's Press Preview Unveils Fall Collection (Part 1 of 2)

Création Baumann's showroom at the DDB was the only place we wanted to be when we stepped in to view their Fall collection at a recent press preview.

Ranae Ahrens, Managing Director, is presenting the collection across the country and internationally, so we stole a few moments of her time to ask her all about the collection.

"In the Fall, Création Baumann is really getting back to the basics in a lot of ways," Ranae said. "But that doesn't mean we won't also be introducing some new, fun designs that have never been used before."

Particularly, we couldn't keep our eyes off of the wood-laiden curtain fabrics, so we asked Ranae to tell us more about the three lines: Elwood, Elwin and Eperla.

"These curtain fabrics have been an international hit thus far," said Ranae. "Elwood is an extravagant curtain fabric with an intriguing interplay of materials and 3D effect, and the laminated platelets in wood are cut and applied by hand. Elwin's small, laminated wooden rods are spread in a geometric pattern across the semi-transparent Solare as if they were floating above it ... this is one of my very favorites! And lastly, Eprla shows rough laser cuts on coated linen cupro. It captivates with its sumptuous material weight and harmony of its striking, yet timeless pearl design in the shape of a decorative border."

We took a look for ourselves and stumbled upon the audience’s favorite, Slice curtain fabric. It’s semi-transparent, subtle geometric patterning had several designers in the showroom talking long after they left. Blocks in a downward diagonal cross stripe achieve a partial overlapping that results in a moiré effect. The burn-out looks like a paper cut-out, which is further accentuated by the underlying base of light cotton.

Stay tuned to GoDesignGo for more from Création Baumann's Fall preview including the Natura V collection.

5-Hour Energy

We weren’t expecting to get such a jolt from Creation Baumann's new Energy collection. It’s a fabric whose textures and striking uniqueness is simultaneously fun and elegant. 

Energy is a new laser cut product that assumes a three-dimensional quality through the ingenious placing of silts, which, when suspended, result in vibrating shapes. The papery material lends the voluminous fabric a light and sculpturesque appearance.

Their subtle designs gave off a detail that ranged from geometric and structured to whimsical and floating. 

To see more check out their website. You can also stop their showroom in the DDB, or find them in PDC in the Thomas Lavin Showroom or in the DCOTA in the Jeffrey Michaels Showroom.

Event Recap: Green Design Tour

Last week, Lori Dennis, author of Green Interior Design, gave a designer tour of DCOTA’s green showrooms and lines including Donghia, Creation Baumann, Gaggenau, Caesarstone and Cisco Brothers.

”It was a fabulous surprise that so many hip, Southern Florida designers showed up to see the latest in glamorous green products at the DCOTA. One of the most shocking attendees was Susan Cozzi who is one of the designers in my “Favorite Green Designers” chapter.”



The tour entailed spending half an hour in the showroom learning about the green products it offers. Every company had a different outlook on sustainability including care for the environment, human health and fair treatment of employees.

“Each showroom was selected because I featured information about their products in my book. I believe in the things that they sell for their beauty, durability and responsible corporate behavior,” said Dennis. “It's always nice to be in a cooperative environment where information is exchanged freely - and Floridians are just really nice!”

Photo credit of Lori Dennis from http://www.loridennis.com/

“Sinfonia CS” from Création Baumann

Luxurious to the touch and semi-sheer “SINFONIA CS” is a new addition to the “SINFONIA” collection. A perfect fabric for draping, layering and creating lovely curtains, the forty two new colors range from soft whites and neutrals to the brightest primary shades. Custom colors are available.

Expanda Your Mind

Création Baumann introduces Expanda, the extravagant curtain fabric featured above. Transfer printed and slit via laser cutting, this sophisticated new fabric opens up into a net which varies in length dependant on weights inserted at the bottom, generating an accidental camouflage pattern. The subtle transition of grey to white lends the fabric a striking look.

“Energy” from Création Baumann

Extravagant curtain fabric; The striking laser cuts give the fabric a three dimensional quality through the ingenious placing of slits, which when suspended result in vibrating shapes. The paper like material lends the voluminous fabric a light and sculpture like appearance.  Available in September.

“Bloom” from Création Baumann

An abstract hand drawn flower repeat adorns the highly sheer backdrop. The burnout fabric makes for a fresh and animated window treatment, injecting life into an interior. Bloom is available in seven colors ranging from elegant neutrals to soft pink. Available in September.

The Essence of Things...

For Spring Création Baumann announces the “Essenza” collection.

Essenza is the essence of things, which in this collection are understated elegance and sophistication. The fabrics range from curtain sheers to luxurious décor and upholstery fabrics. Colors and textures such as filigree embroideries fashioned as metallic lace, a palette of floral blooms in light and airy colors and luxurious mohair velour with are just some of the beautiful fabrics in this collection from Création Baumann.