One of my favorite craigslist search terms is “Italy” or “Italian,” because I know a sleek sculptural piece that wields an uber designy flavor will sharpen up any room. The right Stilnovo fixture will take any 18th century palazzo straight into the 21st century, just as the perfect pair of Gio Ponti chairs will offset the stuffiness of a roll arm sofa or super traditional fabrics.
And in the interest of international relations, let me add that I’m not anti France, Germany, Denmark, Eastern Europe, or any of those other furniture making countries. It’s just that craigslisters can’t seem to find many labels except those that broadcast the pedigree of anything 90s Scandinavian orange teak veneer, but somehow the Made in Italy label has the aura of cash flow about it, so that usually merits a mention in ads.
Beware of Copenhagen Imports unless you know who Ettore Sottsass is and enjoy an ironic nod to his sensational but perhaps not so versatile aesthetic… I’m pretty much talking about cheap 80s black lacquer and red leather mushroom sofas. Can these things be awesome? Yes, but you better have a plan for all that swag or things will get ugly fast.
You know what’s not ugly? These rooms. You’re welcome.
Wowzer!
The lamp in #2.
The chairs in #3.
My day is made!
wow. there’s something that I absolutely love in each of those rooms, but they give me what my husband and I like to call “existential nausea” – something just slightly creepy and physically off-putting. But I can see why you love them, they are something!
If this is ^existential nausea^, then I want it all over my walls, floors and ceilings. That’s my kind of vertigo—add a non-ironic nod to Sottsass and I’m in decor nirvana. I’ve had my mid-century moment, but I just can’t bear living in a Mad Men tribute concert.
Yes to all. Just yes.