Keep It Classic Sit back; this chair’s got history. The late Eero Saarinen designed the Knoll Womb chair and ottoman in 1948 for architect and furniture designer Florence Knoll, who asked for a cozy seat to “curl up in.” More than 70 years later, the classic chair still lounges large. Available for $5,736 at Soft Square in Naples.
Open Up Open shelving is on the summer style forecast, and the Raven Narrow Tall shelf in old gray can showcase all your favorite objects. The shelf also contains two graphic storage drawers, accented with a black chevron pattern, for items best kept hidden. Listed for $780 at Zuo Modern at Miromar Design Center.
Love Bugs We know bugs don’t normally belong in the house, and the names “stink bug” and “dung beetle” don’t welcome warm feelings, either. Still, it’s hard to resist these cute little creatures and their multicolored and metallic hues. These pieces would make a funky addition to your home décor, for sure. Found at Judith Liegeois Designs in Naples. Inquire within for pricing.
Orange You Glad We Met? Don’t be afraid to stray from conventional blues and whites in your coastal compound. Lexington Home Brand’s Artistica SeaScape dining table is bold and bright, featuring a hand-cast and braised aluminum with a fiber case-reinforced base in an orange lacquer finish. Available at Robby & Stucky and Baer’s Furniture.
Grey Matters
If you still associate gray with gloom, perhaps you just haven’t realized its potential. The gray spectrum is hitting big in bathrooms and kitchens these days, says Lindsay Cieloha, Naples-based business developer at Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery.
“The new colors are drawing people in like they hadn’t before because they are not so trendy that they are going to go out of style in a year,” Cieloha says.
These tones can easily be mixed and matched with metals—from chrome to gold—for appliances all around the house. Picture a pearl-gray sink with polished brass knobs, a matte black refrigerator with a copper handle. Or take this Bertazzoni Master Series gas range (pictured), its matte black balanced by stainless steel.
“Not everything has to match anymore,” Cieloha says. “The ability to mix metals across all these categories is a huge bonus for any consumer who is investing a lot of money into a particular room. They can open the possibility of changing or updating that room at any time and not be stuck to one particular finish.”
Manufacturers have played with this concept in the past, but mainly for high-end offerings. “It wasn’t relatively open to everybody,” Cieloha says. Now it’s trickling down to mid-range segments, and gray is the star backdrop for easy mixing and matching.
“It just opens up the opportunity to change things out easily and not be tied to one finish that keeps you stuck in the moment necessarily,” Cieloha says.
