luxury on roadside scholar

patricia urquiola crinoline chairs

patricia urquiola can do no wrong! patricia urquiola can do no wrong! (i apologize if you hear this too much around here but i think it’s the truth.) i love the rustically styled weaving and inspired crewel work on the chair with the high backrest on these crinoline chairs.

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distributed, natch, through b + b italia.

maeera mougin ceramics

fabulous looking handbuilt functional porcelain work from maeera mougin. i love how she draws inspiration from her world travels and incorporates multiethnic cultural styles into her collection. and of course i love that cheese platter with molded detailing from actual cheese labels.

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see more and find out where to purchase her work on her website.

grand khan sofa by francesco binfaré

Why is it whenever I cover up my couch with some drapey tarp blanket thing it never looks like this Grand Khan piece by Francesco Binfaré for Edra? Is it because it isn’t a modular cushion style, or because it doesn’t have a luxurious unhemmed leather piece (designed with primitive Mongolian nomadic tents in mind) casually strewn over it? In white?

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Maybe it’s because my couch didn’t cost $20,000. There’s always a tradeoff.

See more of the Grand Khan at Moss.

maramiki textiles

I mentioned Maramiki recently but I so enjoy Mara Snipes’ designs that I must write about them again. She’s just launched her new website for her beautiful textile designs for the home. I especially love the 2009 calendars with teal and purple inks printed on her crisp high quality linen that she’s added to her collection.

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I wish I didn’t have tumbling tumbleweeds of dog hair flying around this place, I would be up to my ears in these gorgeous linens.

See more at the Maramiki website.

urban lamp by david raine

Oh how I love the juxtaposition of materials in this sculptural Urban lamp from UK artist David Raine for his company alkamie.biz. It has a wonderfully non-tippy base of concrete with perspex insert, and is topped with a stunning, shredded (and fire-resistant) silk shade.

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David also offers his beautiful, organically-shaped lampshades separately.

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To me this is like wearing a fancy sweater with a plain skirt — it’s special and very stylish without being too overdone.

Purchase the lamp and shades at the Hidden Art shop and see more from David on his website.

elegant furniture from turkey’s autoban

I love how substantial this beautiful wood furniture collection is from Seyhan Özdemir and Sefer ÇaÄŸlar for Istanbul’s Autoban Design. I especially like their Starfish table. It’s mid-century hip and modern-day organic, taking inspiration from the gentle sea creature that is its namesake.

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It isn’t inexpensive, but if you want furniture that will keep in your home for years and years, it’s worth it.

You can find the table at RAY20, and you can see more design excellence at the Autoban website.

via bltd

luxury accessories, giveaways at ideeli

(ed. note: lots of fun shopping posts today.)

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beloved readers, i speak from experience. shopping is a power sport. and i am a bag bitch. there is nothing like the high i get feeling of victory one gets from finding a majorly hot purse at a majorly low price. now we all have a great opportunity to fulfill our handbag fantasies through a cool new york-based website called ideeli. it’s an invitation-only shopping site that offers the latest handbags and accessories from designers like fendi, prada and dior at prices much lower than retail. they are able to offer these special prices thanks to the generosity of their sponsors.

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in addition to the deep discounts offered on their goods, ideeli also offers unique giveaways of deluxe merchandise and experiences, like a prada tote, or VIP tickets to the metropolitan home/showtime house party in manhattan. personally i think it would be pretty cool to stroll through the gorgeous rooms of fabulous interior/television show designers in a new york townhouse while sipping champagne – maybe not everyday, but once!

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well, i’m sold. how about you? it’s free to join, and it’s easy, so why not?

roadside scholar readers can head over to ideeli and use code rs11 to sign up for this unique shopping community and skip the lament of missing out! get your ducks in a row, though; the special code expires on september 15th, 2008.

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see you on the field!

beeswax vase by studio libertiny

we are going to an opposite extreme from the previous post now with this pretty and intriguing honeycomb beeswax vase from tomáš gabzdil libertiny for his rotterdam-based studio libertiny. this natural beeswax piece was created by adding a red wax dye to the colony of 40,000 bees. it took a week to create, and i think is is so beautiful.

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they’ve only made seven pieces, which are available at moss. the price is available on request (which i am so curious to know but if you have to ask…).

see more design from tomáš on his website.

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