Yesterday I blogged about how grain sack upholstery can make an antique chair more casual. But if you want to be really casual, go for patched-up old truck tarps on your cushions, like the ones on this steel and teak Cargo chair by CS Basics which I saw while I was at ABC Carpet & Home last week in New York. At $1,200 a chair, this is the interior design equivalent of really expensive torn denim. Yet there’s something appealing about it. Perhaps it’s that there’s no reason to worry about ruining it—it’s already ruined.

—GINA BAZER

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Yesterday I blogged about how grain sack upholstery can make an antique chair more casual. But if you want to be really casual, go for patched-up old truck tarps on your cushions, like the ones on this steel and teak Cargo chair by CS Basics which I saw while I was at ABC Carpet & Home last week in New York. At $1,200 a chair, this is the interior design equivalent of really expensive torn denim. Yet there’s something appealing about it. Perhaps it’s that there’s no reason to worry about ruining it—it’s already ruined.

—GINA BAZER

" />  

Yesterday I blogged about how grain sack upholstery can make an antique chair more casual. But if you want to be really casual, go for patched-up old truck tarps on your cushions, like the ones on this steel and teak Cargo chair by CS Basics which I saw while I was at ABC Carpet & Home last week in New York. At $1,200 a chair, this is the interior design equivalent of really expensive torn denim. Yet there’s something appealing about it. Perhaps it’s that there’s no reason to worry about ruining it—it’s already ruined.

—GINA BAZER

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Going Grunge

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Yesterday I blogged about how grain sack upholstery can make an antique chair more casual. But if you want to be really casual, go for patched-up old truck tarps on your cushions, like the ones on this steel and teak Cargo chair by CS Basics which I saw while I was at ABC Carpet & Home last week in New York. At $1,200 a chair, this is the interior design equivalent of really expensive torn denim. Yet there’s something appealing about it. Perhaps it’s that there’s no reason to worry about ruining it—it’s already ruined.

—GINA BAZER

Got Grain Sacks?

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The curvy European antique chair reupholstered in vintage grain sacks is becoming the new “It” chair, following a fun run with the same-style chair reinterpreted in shiny patent leather. See Jayson Home and Garden’s take at left and Maison Suzanne’s at right (shown with another funky fabric option—a blue antique Japanese “boro,” or mended rag). I like how these casual, utilitarian fabrics makes these formal chairs feel so much more down-to-earth.

—GINA BAZER

Adventures in Baliwood

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Prefer your wood exotic? At San Juan Ventures you will find unusual grains in multiple forms.  What started off as an Indonesian vacation six years ago is now a full-on business venture for Kandis Wrigley, founder and chief executive of San Juan Ventures, an exporter and manufacturer of Indonesian wood products. San Juan recently opened … Read more

Rainbow Coalition

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Just add ice (and, of course, a drink): LSA International’s four-inch Hula glass tumblers, $38 for a set of four in different colors, at the Museum Shop of the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave., 312-443-3600, artinstituteshop.org   Photograph: Leonard Gertz Styling: Barri Leiner

Color Us Impressed

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It takes courage to use bold hues—going neutral is so much safer. So when people use the riskier values on the spectrum, we get excited. Here are some head-turners.

Transformer

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I’m a sucker for furniture that does tricks. The Swiss Army Knife Kitchen Island at Sawbridge Studios works as a chopping block, marble pastry slab, breakfast bar, and computer work station/desk. There’s also extra storage space from two drawers, and bottom shelf perfect for cookware. Closed, it’s a mere 30”wide x 30 long" x 36” high. Designed and built of cherry, maple, and marble by husband-and-wife woodworkers Mike and Emily Kincaid of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, the island is $3,995. For more furniture perfect for tight spaces, see our story here.

—JAN PARR

Scavenger Hunt

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Elaine Matsushita, a former Tribune editor, celebrates the launch of her The Snoopster, a home- and design-centric Web site, with a party and scavenger hunt in Andersonville tonight starting at 7 p.m. Get your instructions at Urbanest, 5228 N. Clark St., and then head to one of many participating Andersonville home shops to gather clues and win cool prizes.

—JAN PARR

Road Trip: Iowa

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We spent the long weekend in Iowa City visiting friends, and then heading north to a Usonian-style Frank Lloyd Wright house, Cedar Rock, on a bluff overlooking the Wapsipinicon River. The Walters, a wealthy couple, had the house built for them in 1950 with the intention of leaving it to the state as a tourist attraction. The result is a time capsule from the 1950s: everything has been left as is. It is considered one of FLW’s most complete designs—he designed and dictated everything in the house, from the furniture to the dishes and flatware and accessories.

My friend Bob, a city planner, also took me to a great new design store in Iowa City run by architects, Akar, a cross between the Museum of Contemporary Art store and I.D. I bought  some Marimekko potholders. Chilewich, Eva Solo, Blomus, Built NY, Iitala, and other iconic brands are represented here. Also in Iowa City is Design Ranch, a source for Artemide, Knoll, and other design greats.

Iowa City is four hours west of Chicago; the FLW house is another hour and a half north.

-JAN PARR