Retro Renovation» accessories

7 super-size sunburst mirrors — big statement pieces for your living room

pam kueber — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:30:15 +0000

When I showed photos of my living room recently in my story about adding more light, lots of folks complimented my starburst mirror. I bought it six or seven years ago, from Ballard Designs, for about $300, as I recall. I went poking around to see if it was still for sale. Yup.

The best price I found, looking at about a half-dozen places, was Rejuvenation. This sunburst mirror is $329 at Rejuvenation, plus $33 shipping. (Photo: from Horchow’s.) The mirror is very sturdy, the design is lovely, it comes in two finishes (Rejuv seems to be the only retailer with both, and it’s a whopping 39″ wide burst-to-burst. Big wall space? Incorporate some big pieces, and you will be pleased.

Other big statement sunburst mirrors? I like the selection at Horchow’s — the design above and all that follow are from this lovely company. Note, there may be additional handling on some of these bulky items (put them in the shopping cart to see…)… Above, this beauty is also 39.5 inches wide, $495 on sale, from Horchow’s.

Above: 43″, an even bigger statement mirror — and modern gone baroque, too! $495 from Horchow’s.

Above: Cyrus, 34″ wide, on sale as I write this, for $249, from Horchow’s.

Yikes, the guy above is ginormous — 54.5 inches wide — and has a $775 base price tag to go with. From Horchow’s.

Okay, not a sunburst, a flower, Golden Petals is 36″ wide, $275, Horchow’s.

All-mirrors sunburst mirror, 36″, $245, Horchow’s. Reminds me of a George Nelson clock.

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Eva Zeisel floating picture frame set — designed when she was 104

pam kueber — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:30:24 +0000

Do you want to live to be 105? Never stop working and creating, and good genes probably help, too. Yes: The legendary Eva Zeisel — who died in December at 105 — designed this set of clear picture or photo frames, sold today by Wexel Art, when she was 104. Like much of Zeisel’s work, the frame set plays with curves. One of my favorite Zeisel-isms was when she said a lot of critics criticized her work for being kind of ‘chubby’ but that, heck, she was kind of chubby, too.

These curves actually remind me of the jigsawed scalloped edging on the cornices commonly places above window in midcentury homes to hide the drapery mechanicals.

This is a three-frame set. These are clear acrylic “floating” wall frames. You attach your artwork with magnets. The innovation is that this makes your art very easy to change out. I read the Wexel website, the original idea seems to have originated as a classier way to display children’s artwork, since they bring home so much of it. The frames are not cheap — $119 total for the three piece set — but golly, they are authentic Eva. I think I might have to get a set to celebrate when my office-craft room is done. I can use them to display — and continuously change out — my Artist Trading Cards. Well done, Wexel Art!

Would you like to learn more about Eva Zeisel and other products of hers, still available for sale today? Read my: Eva Zeisel Biography and Comprehensive Online Guide.

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Rya rugs — 15 designs from 1964, plus a great video on the history of rya rugs and how to make them

pam kueber — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 08:30:06 +0000

I saw my friend Denise yesterday — she is fairy godmother of my Astro — and she had some goodies for me that she had picked up at tag sales and her local thrift shop. My favorite, for sure: A booklet containing 15 designs for rya rugs, dated December 1964, from the A.s. Sellgren @ Co. of Trondheim, Norway. Thank you, Denise! When I arrived back home, I jumped online to see what I could find out about rya rugs — since there is always a history to fascinate.

Sure enough, I quickly made the the happy discovery of a terrific video (above) featuring Melinda Byrd. According to this newspaper article, Ms. Byrd’s “grandparents Bill and Angelina Lundgren created Lundgren Rya in the U.S. in the mid-1950s. The Lundgrens made the hand-knotted rugs by importing rya yarn and woven rug backings from a Swedish distributor.” Byrd was involved in the 1970s, and today is calling attention to rya rug making again. In the video, she explains the history of rya rugs — and shows how they are made. It was well worth the 10 minutes to watch this video — it really gives me a new appreciation for this beautiful — and functional — art form.
What I find most interesting about rya rugs — or at least, Wikipedia says so — is that they originally were designed as clothing, as a substitute for animal skins. Animal skins got stiff, the ryas did not. Ryas certainly look cozy. I also love Melinda’s instructions on how to clean a natural wool rya: by stomping it in the snow!

I think it is a safe guess that rya rugs became popular as decorative items — and as carpets — in mid-20th century America in conjunction with rise of Danish Modern and in general, all things Scandinavian. Apparently, their hegemony was derailed when women began making latch hook rugs. (Honestly, I need to research the differences…)

Melinda still has yarns that were created for her grandparents’ company. She sells them at her etsy shop here.

Tips to using the slide show above: Click on the first thumbnail… it will enlarge… move forward or back using the arrows below the image… you can stop, or start, at any image.

Back to my collection…Each of the 15 designs was printed then mounted to a hefty green stock paper (as shown above) printed with the name of the design. Total size of each piece is 7″x10″ and they are so graphically appealing that I am going to look for 15 matching frames and display them all together in a grid. For those of you looking for cheap, cheerful and unique artwork, this is always a fun idea to try. That is: Look for prints from a book or a display catalog like mine and group and frame them. There is something very pleasing about the repetition of prints illustrating one subject area, all in the same size, all in the same frame. Of course, “cheap” is only possible if you can find the frames in the quantity you require. Pier One might be one of the first-places I’d look first for, gasp, 15 frames! Michael’s, Wal-Mart, Target, and Dick Blick’s are other places I would look.

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