More than Beautiful

According to Kalon Studio's website, "The name Kalon is derived from the ancient Greek concept of ‘to kalon.’ To be kalon is more than being beautiful; it is having a beauty that both is and inspires excellence." And their pieces live up to that name. Their smart, thoughtfully designed pieces are minimal and timeless.
And Kalon Studio's commitment to sustainability is unmatched. Their finishes are people-friendly, non-toxic and food-safe. Their materials are eco-friendly, recyclable, renewable, biodegradable, and sustainably forested. Their production is low waste and energy efficient. Their products are made domestically and by hand. You can feel good about filling your baby's nursery with these thoughtful, environmentally responsible pieces. And the quality is such that these can become heirlooms in your family.

HOLLA if you love Southern Style

Holler Design is a small furniture making company in Tennessee. (if the name is familiar you may have seen them recently featured on fab.com)A collaboration of husband and wife team Matt and Melissa Alexander, two southerners who "have left home and returned with an imperative of what it means to be southern, and a desire to share that view with others."  Inspired by rural forms and textures, their pieces are rustic, minimal, and pleasing in their simplicity and how the honor the wood. On their website they write, "Our objects exhibit a 'love of making,' retain a subsequent intrinsic value, and utilize a production process that is inherently sustainable, but which is grounded more in the tradition of craft than in the ‘green-washing’ of current systems of manufacturing."

Atomic Theory

 

 

If that retro look is your thing, have I got the company for you: Atomic Living Design by Detschermitsch located near Denver in Englewood, CO. Husband and wife team Lisa and Jesse Detschermitsch have always loved the look of mid-century modern architecture and furnishings that recall the homes they grew up in. They were inspired to design and build their own line of "modern furnishings for the mid-century minded." Environmentally conscientious, they use low and very low VOC water-based lacquers and eco-friendly sheet goods wherever possible. Available for purchase online here.

Eye on the Future, Nod to the Past

Five years ago, about 30 miles north of Philadelphia, in Doylestown, PA a small furniture company was founded. Every piece uses mortise and tenon joinery, hand-finishing, no assembly line, just hand-crafted goodness made from sustainably harvested domestic hardwoods. The company is Wren & Cooper, named for its founders, husband and wife team Mariah Wren and Mark Cooper. Wren graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2004, with a BFA in furniture design and her schooling shows in the stunning retro-yet-modern pieces they turn out.

Future Family Heirlooms

In a small rural shop in Minnesota, Eastvold Furniture builds finely crafted furniture from sustainable materials. They are timeless and beautiful, at home in either a loft or a farmhouse. They are built to last in the hopes that they will be past down to future generations. I wish I was inheriting some!

Illuminating Design

Sometimes a simple household item can be so beautifully designed that it borders on becoming art. The Cerno Group has elevated modern lighting and furniture to that level. Started in 2009 in Southern California, Cerno aims to "fuse quality, performance and resource efficiency with modern design," while keeping their manufacturing here. They blend form and function into sustainably-made, usable sculpture for your home.

DWELL Guest Blog: Cisco Brothers' Factory Tour

Cisco Pinedo began making custom pieces for his neighbors when he was in his early twenties out of his garage at his home in South Central Los Angeles. As his business grew, he began buying old abandoned buildings on an industrial strip of Western Ave. in the downtrodden neighborhood where he started out. Cisco Home still makes all their upholstered goods, case goods, and their welded and hand-blown glass lighting in Los Angeles (under the name Cisco Brothers), employing over 100 workers in their factories alone. Every item in the huge range of stylish pieces is made with an eye on sustainability and green practices. 

Cisco is by all accounts an unusual business man. He is the rare kind of boss who is loyal and flexible with his employees. It says a lot that the very first upholsterer Cisco ever hired when he started his business over 20 years ago is still working with him. He also made the all too rare decision to keep the vast majority of his manufacturing stateside. I was fortunate to get a guided tour of Cisco Brothers' factory in South Central Los Angeles this week and I truly was impressed by what I saw. I headed straight from the manufacturing side to the retail side, visiting the showroom in Pasadena. From raw materials to beautiful vignettes, Cisco keeps it locally grown.

All the wood Cisco uses is sustainably harvested or reclaimed. They use FSC certified hardwoods, guaranteeing that all their wood comes from sustainable legal sources

Hand-turned selection of legs!

DWELL Guest Blog: Muu Kids' Furniture, An Interview with Robert Kwak

I had the pleasure of sitting down for a cup of iced coffee with Robert Kwak, the owner, founder, and designer for Muu, a great modern line of furniture for nurseries and kids rooms, manufactured in the US. I was curious about his decision to keep the process stateside, especially considering the extra regulations involved in crib manufacturing which are on top of the more stringent (and some may argue more expensive) worker and environmental regulations that companies must follow to manufacture in the United States.

A lawyer by training, Robert left that field looking for other creatively enriching opportunities. He worked for a while in politics and had a chance to experience more of the country than the two coasts he had lived on.  He learned there was more of a commonality among the people in the 50 states than he had previously been led to believe. A commonality in what people want for their lives, their homes, and their families.

Robert started Muu in 2008, inspired by the birth of his daughter. While they shopped for furniture for their nursery, everything looked the same after a while. He was interested in starting a business, loved design, was a woodworking hobbyist and saw an opening in the crib market. Here is Robert's
daughter, Amelia modeling a crib for their first catalog.

The idea was a high-end customizable line of modern kid's furniture. Robert developed a panel system that allows you to change the look andfeel of your furniture as tastes change and kids grow, without having to replace the whole piece. Made with magnets, the panels are simple to change, no tools or DIY skills required.

The name, Muu, came from a Zen concept: Mu which, according to Muu's website "teaches that there is no difference between us and our environment." But in our conversation, Robert relayed that it is also about interconnectedness. He believes this relates to the connection between the product itself and where it came from (the manufacturer) and where it is going (the customer).

When deciding where to get his fabulous new line of furniture manufactured, for Robert it came down to two key words, quality and safety. He found that when he broke down the process of what it would take to insure both of these qualities in his furniture, manufacturing at home just made good sense. Between quality control, shipping costs (and the damages that come from oversea freight), tariffs, and lead time, the cost difference was much less than he thought. Combine that with the pride he felt in the Made in the USA label and it wasn't that difficult a decision.

He also takes pride in knowing that the people lovingly creating his pieces are getting paid a living wage, have 401K and truly care about the work they do. There are no cultural barriers between the manufacturer and the people they are making the furniture for. No language barriers confusing Robert's interactions with the factory. They can also react faster when there are changes in the marketplace or in regulations.

For decades Robert's grandfather Sam, owned two shoe stores that were distributors for the iconic American kids' shoe brand, Stride Rite. He was also a real stickler for quality. The debut line of Muu furniture is named for him. With a great splayed leg base in two finish options, these pieces are classic and modern with a slightly retro vibe.

Muu's second collection, Ray, was named for two strong women named Ray, Robert's great-grandmother who raised eight kids on the Lower East Side and Ray Eames. As a father of a daughter, he wanted to give recognition to strong female role models for Amelia.

Smart storage

Every home needs more storage. It is an ongoing quest. Look no further, Housefish has made the solution easy. This awesome little furniture start-up has developed "a highly modular storage system that ships flat and assembles easily- the only tool you need is a hammer. The parts are cleverly joined into an exceptionally strong structure by machined aluminum tenon keys. The wood is sustainably harvested, FSC certified maple or walnut plywood, finished with a zero VOC finish. Key is our effort to redefine what sustainable, green, modern furniture can be. Available with optional sliding powdercoated metal doors in a wide variety of colors. Key packaging is 100% paper-based and contains no plastic." WOW! And it is all manufactured in Denver, Colorado, not to mention great looking.
P.S. Shipping is free to the US. You've GOT to love these guys.

Sofas in Seattle

EcoBalanza does not just manufacture their simple and handsome upholstered furniture in Seattle. Their commitment is such that they have even developed some of the raw materials in collaboration with local farmers and wool artisan women, as well as local craftspeople (legs, wooden elements). As their name implies, EcoBalanza also takes their environmental stance seriously, using sustainable practices, green manufacturing processes, and utilizing only non-toxic materials. As they say on their site, "Ecobalanza independently manages all aspects: from design to material sourcing to manufacture, to ensure the quality and integrity of every piece our artisans create." Now that's a sofa you can feel good about putting in your home.

Made with Midwestern Values in Californ-I-A

By its name, one might not guess that OHIO Design's furniture is all made with loving care in the heart of San Francisco. But Founder David Pierce grew up in Mineral Ridge, OH and created a company in California that speaks to how he was raised in the Midwest. According to their website, "OHIO is based on values and intentions representative of David’s upbringing – simple, honest designs and quality materials." Geography aside, the furniture is timeless, innovative, refined and beautiful, all created with sustainability in mind.