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

Where in the DDB?

Think you can guess which DDB showroom we snapped these two photographs in? Leave us a comment with your guess to show us how well you know the DDB. The answer will be in next week's Where in the DDB? post.

Hint: As one of New York's pre-eminent antique houses, this company has built its impeccable reputation by bringing only the finest examples of 18th- and 19th-century English and Continental antiques to the marketplace since 1978.

If you guessed the Lutron showroom for last week's Where in the DDB? post, you're right!

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: Lutron Stuffs Your Stocking Brightly

The holidays are often a chaotic time for people. In the hustle and bustle of the season, it’s easy to let the important details of managing your home go by the wayside. Rather than let another hectic year go by, why not do something about it by treating your family or someone else to Lutron's high-tech lighting and shading systems or energy-saving dimmers and sensors that are designed to make life easier?

Lutron lighting and shade control systems put you in charge of your home by adding beauty, functionality, security and simplicity and also help save energy. Here's our list of top-notch Lutron gifts that would light up anyone's Christmas stocking.

For the people in your life who aren't what you would call particularly handy, the Lutron Credenza® Lamp Dimmer requires no installation or fuss. Simply plug it right into your lamp and wall socket and let it work its magic by saving energy, extending the life of your bulbs and creating the perfect light for any activity.

For the 'gadget guy' in your life who is always looking for the next do-it-yourself project, Lutron's Maestro® Occupancy Sensor is just the gift he's looking for. This dimmer or switch automatically turns your lights on and off, and is perfect for bedrooms, hallways and closets. Installation is required but with only a few simple steps you can start energy saving in the home.

If you know a 'weekend warrior' who loves technology, the Maestro Wireless® is easy to install, and gives you the ability to control up to ten dimmers, switches and sensors all with the touch of one button. This product makes your life just a little more convenient, so you can control your lights while lying in bed or relaxing on the couch during those especially brutal Winter weekends.

The C.L Dimmer will make all of your eco-conscientious friends green with envy. This award-winning dimmer has the ability to dim not only incandescent lightbulbs, but dimmable compact fluorescents and dimmable LEDs, as well, making it the perfect shade of holiday green.

Make your way over to the Lutron showroom located in Suite 138 on the ground floor of the DDB to shop stocking stuffers that will light up (and down) your home!

Product Spotlight: Ivalo Finiré LED Fixtures Eliminates the Guesswork

The Lutron showroom recently had its newest light fixtures installed at its DDB location, so we stopped in to check them out.


What we discovered is that the new Ivalo Finiré LED fixtures give the ultimate dimming freedom.





“What’s exciting about this new addition to the Ivalo Collection is Finiré eliminates the guesswork of ensuring compatibility between fixtures, drivers and controls guaranteeing smooth dimming down to one percent," said Lanell S. Gray, Lutron business manager. "This recessed lighting family is a system matched solution that also provides high efficacy performance with light output and color temperatures comparable to 60-90 watts of incandescent lighting!”





The Ivalo Finiré LED fixture features flicker-free dimming from 1-100 percent with extended LED driver and lamp life rating at 50,000 hours, so it’s built to last. Finiré also works with Hi-lume® LED driver compatible controls and dimmers, as well as regular, local dimmers. You can also tie them into a single-room or whole-room lighting control system with products like the wireless RadioRA2 and HomeWorks® QS, which can be hardwired or wireless. So if you're already living the life with Lutron's lighting controls, Finiré is the perfect addition, but if you aren't, Finiré will fit in seamlessly.


Stop by Lutron's showroom in Suite 138 to check out the newly installed Ivalo Finiré LED fixtures and let showroom manager Katherine Rumbaugh show you what else Lutron has been up to.

Sustainable Spotlight: Pre- and Post-Consumer Waste Reborn as GreenScreen Revive

Lutron is green with energy saving. Their newest environmentally friendly roller shade fabric, GreenScreen Revive, is the result of both pre- and post-consumer waste, making it not only recycled but also recyclable.

Designed for the Sivoia® Automated Roller Shade System, GreenScreen Revive fabric offers sustainable values with solar control to reduce heat and glare while maintaining your outdoor view. It is also GREENGUARD® certified, making it an ideal fabric choice for sustainable buildings and homes.

"GreenScreen Revive fabric is one of the most environmentally-friendly fabrics on the market today, adding to Lutron's overall endeavor to create a more sustainable and comfortable living space for our customers," said Holly Zogheib for Residential Shading Solutions. "It is a sheer fabric that is made of recycled fibers and is 100% recyclable, while still having a soft look and feel that makes this material an ideal choice for any residential application."

Stop by Lutron's showroom on the ground level of the DDB to see GreenScreen Revive and get green with energy.

In the News: Dwell & Lutron Announce Designer Challenge Winner

A winner has finally been picked for the Dwell Magazine and Lutron textile design challenge.

A panel of professional textile designers and scholars selected their top 10 submissions and let the public vote on the Grand Prize winner.

The winning design was Ladybug, created by Beth Loudenberg, a graphic designer from Santa Monica, California. Beth told us she was inspired by the organic creations of her favorite British textile designer Lucienne Day to create Ladybug's design. She started with paper cutouts and then scanned her work into a computer to create her final design.

"With its playful shapes, texture and minimalist color palette, Ladybug was my homage to Lucienne Day!" said Beth.

Beth's design earned over 700 votes and will be used for a custom fabric design for a Kirbé vertical drapery, a shading solution that moves the treatment vertically while maintaining fabric pleats. The winning designer’s pattern will also become part of Lutron's internationally sold collection of fabrics.

Event Recap: A Night of Light at Lutron

Lutron's recent Night of Light event at their DDB showroom was a huge success, hosting over 100 industry professionals including architects, remodelers, and builders.

Gourmet seasonal hors d'oeuvres, spirits, wine and cocktails infused with fresh Asian pears from the Lutron founder's own Subarashii Kudamono orchards had the guests happily enjoying the evening.

"Lutron's Night of Light event was a great success," said company representative, Meredith Koons. "Networking events such as this one offer industry partners, specifiers and the design community a much more personalized, one-on-one interaction with one another while enabling future growth of their businesses together."

The evening marked the second event hosted by Lutron with partner AEC Network, a networking organization for architects, engineers and constructors.

Test Your Fabrics On Lutron's New Fabric Display

The Lutron showroom just keeps getting lighter and brighter—especially with its new fabric display. Designers can view Lutron’s library of fabrics and patterns on a backlit display of lighting, which allows you to preview fabrics with cool and warm lighting environments.

What better way to choose a fabric than by knowing how they look in several kinds of light and times of day? The fabric wall allows you to put fabric patterns and colors to the test and see how, where and when they look best.

"We decided to come up with a new, creative way to display our shading fabrics in the showroom," said Showroom Manager Katherine Rumbaugh. "Since the installation last week, we have gotten a lot of positive feedback on our new display from designers and showroom managers. It showcases our roller, Roman shade and drapery fabrics under different light sources and allows you to interact with your lighting and fabrics to help you choose."

Stop by Lutron's showroom on the ground level of the DDB and spend some time learning how light affects the colors and fabrics.

Event Recap: Lutron Lights up the Night

Last Thursday, Lutron and Poggenpohl invited designers to celebrate the winter holidays with gourmet seasonal hors d'oeuvres, spirits, wine and fresh Asian pears from the Lutron founder's own Subarashii Kudamono orchards.

A new Poggenpohl kitchen and bathroom installation demonstrated the seamless integration and dynamic features of Lutron lighting.

"It's really exciting to celebrate the holidays with Poggenpohl and kick-off our newest ventures with them and product lines," said Graham Davis, Lutron's Manufacturing Representative. "And you really can't get any better than the bar filled with drinks from the Lutron's orchard and hors d'oeuvres made with the asian pears. Have any of us ever seen a better looking fruit?"

According to Lutron Showroom Manager, Katherine Rumbaugh, they host events five to six times a year and are always really thrilled with the outcome.  “Tonight has been so successful and it really succeeded in being what we always strive for it to be," she said. "Having such a great mix of designers, architects and engineers is exactly what Lutron is about!"

When we asked Poggenpohl Designer David Jones what he thought of the event, he said, "What more could we ask for? I came up with the title, ‘Light Up the Night’ and that's just what we're doing!"

The evening included raffling off three gift bags stuffed with Lutron and Poggenpohl goodies, Asian pears the size of footballs, and a fabulous assortment of Subarashii Kudamono pear wine and vodkas.

In addition to the DDB Showroom, you can find Lutron in the Audio Video Interiors Showroom at the PDC and at the Total Window Inc Showroom at the DCOTA. Poggenpohl is available at the DDB in Lutron or in their own showrooms at the DCOTA or PDC.

Lutron Founder Shares Love of Asian Pear

While on a business trip to Japan in 1973, Lutron founder Joel Spira was bestowed a gift of an Asian pear, or Subarashii Kudamono, which means "wonderful fruit" in Japanese. Immediately enchanted with its flavor, Mr. Spira was determined to get more. After returning to Japan, he discovered it was quite difficult to obtain the fruit. Undaunted by the challenge, he endeavored to grow his own, and that's exactly what he did.



Back in Pennsylvania, Joe’s wife Ruth joined him in the effort to create new and unique varieties of Asian pears. They worked with experts from the US and Eastern Asia and soon had begun their own orchard situated in the fertile Lehigh Valley.

Now, the orchard has thousands of trees with many varieties of Asian Pears, though none is known to be better than the Subarashii Kudamono.

Taste it for yourself this Thursday at Lutron’s winter holidays celebration from 5:30 to 8pm and check out the orchard website and order some for the holidays!

Photo credit in text; http://fruitguys.com/