thanksgiving | give + receive

shop for a unique gift for your thanksgiving host

or get an early jump on your holiday gift list.

receive free standard, domestic shipping for all purchases made

on or before 27 November 2008.

Enter coupon code TURKEY at checkout

designLAB will donate 10% of all purchases made before Thanksgiving to our local Bellingham Food Bank.

happy thanksgiving!

huge! massive! gigantic!

for those of you local folk, be sure to stop by friday night [11.14]
for our happy hour sale!

vote!

fab fiberglass

When I come across anything made from fiberglass in my vintage treasure hunts I get very excited. Fiberglass as a material for everyday, household items is just not common today. Current uses for fiberglass include more industrial products not found in the home [except for that fluffy pink stuff we put in our walls to keep the house nice and toasty].

But, think back to the era when Charles and Ray Eames were molding their fiberglass chairs and it is a different story. The strong, yet moldable and shapable material gave us the beautiful flowing lines of the classic Eames shell chairs and found its way into many mid-century homes in the form of everything from lampshades to tabletops and trays.

I love the texture and luminosity of fiberglass. It can vary from completely opaque to somwehat translucent. In some pieces, like this beautiful butterfly embellished bowl [just added to the shop], the strands of fiberglass are very apparrent and are interwoven with metallic gold fibers.

For more fiberglass fabulousness be sure to check out Hip Haven's Retro Bullet Planters, available in a dizzying array of colors. [p.s. they also have some really cool light fixtures too!]

check this out....jim ward morris

Be sure to check out this vintage industrial letter holder in the office section of the site. If you look closely you will notice some very cool artwork used as a prop. The work is by Jim Ward Morris, a local Bellingham artist who combines midcentury imagery with brilliant colors to create his pieces.

I am lucky enough to have some of Jim's work hanging in my shop. In person, the work has an incredibly sleek and modern appearance, thanks to the innovative way Jim has devised to hang the pieces on the wall. The clean white border takes the place of a traditional frame and the entire piece appears to float on the wall.

Check out some more of Jim's work [and order prints up to 4ft x 8ft!] on his website.

this just in.....

check out the new items just added to the shop!

repurposing | vintage trays

Last week I was interviewed by Lifestyles reporter Zoe Fraley from our local paper for a story she was doing on living in small spaces, specifically dorm rooms and college apartments.

When asked what my tricks were for designing or living in small spaces [both of which I have experience in!], I quickly answered, "Make sure everything has its place and eliminate clutter!". As I stood in my shop looking around while talking to Zoe on the phone my eyes came to rest on the fiberglass trays I have for sale sitting atop a green vintage desk. On one of the trays I had set up a little vignette of vintage office supplies and some fun desktop accessories by suzy*jack. I realized how much I use trays around the house [and around the shop] for organizing, or as Zoe puts it in the article, "coralling" various items. Somehow a bunch of mismatched objects that would otherwise appear out of place or messy if just set out on a credenza or coffee table become instantly unified and organized when they are sitting on a tray.

The fiberglass trays [or any tray for that matter] are a great way to section off or delineate part of a surface for a specific function. If your living space doesn’t have room for a separate office area and your kitchen table needs to do double duty as a place to eat and a place to work, use a tray to keep all of your office items neat and tidy and confined to one area. The tray makes everything super portable, so when you have friends over for dinner and need more space at the table, just pick up the tray and stash it somewhere else for the night. Check out the aqua fiberglass trays for sale in the shop.

designLAB SHOP is now ONLINE!

check out the new online shop

featuring loads of vintage and retro items for your home.

enter coupon code DLBLOG at checkout to save 15% off your first order.

go now!