THANKFUL

What a perfect way to start the holiday season!

We are thrilled to share and so THANKFUL that our Woven Rush Side Chair has been chosen to be featured in this months, December issue of Elle Decor - The Top 10 Occasional Chairs. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible. You can also watch the video of the designers discussing their choices here.

Smilow Design’s Dots + Dash Plate Set & Coordinating Glasses will be reintroduced at the soon to reopen Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Store

It’s Tabletop Week in New York City! What a perfect time to announce Smilow Design’s Dots + Dash Plate Set & Glasses will available again soon at the renovated & newly christened Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Shop when the museum reopens after a lengthy renovation on December 12, 2014. Just in time for the holidays!

Dots + Dashes Plate Set was first acquired by David McFadden, the museum’s curator of decorative arts, in 1987. The Sets were also featured in the exhibit and publication “Art that Works” by Lloyd Herman, then the Director of the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Art Museum in Washington, DC.

The sets will be on sale in the Cooper Hewitt Museum Shop. Smilow Glass can also be found in the Collections of the Brooklyn Museum and The Yale University Art Gallery.

Smilow Furniture Featured in Elements of Craft

Smilow Furniture has been invited to participate in 100% Design @ London Design Festival 2014.

The Smilow Furniture 60” Woven Rush Bench RLB 60 will be featured in the exhibition Elements of Craft, Mint Shop - Brompton Design District, 2 North Terrace, London September 13 - 21.
Opening reception Thursday, September 18 from 7 - 10pm.

The talented Lina Kanafani, owner of Mint Shop, curated the exhibition focusing on the influence of craft in design. Mint Shop is an interior design store established in 1998. It is based in central London and is renowned for its contemporary collections and creative merchandising, offering cutting edge design cleverly mused with innovative one off pieces.

100% Design is expected to attract over 30,000 visitors and is touted as the biggest event during the London Design Festival from September 18 - 21, 2014. If you’re in London make sure to come by and check out this terrific shop & exhibit and say hello!

Don’t miss these other great venues/sites during London Design Week:

Brompton Design District

Design Junction

Mint Shop

Design Museum
East London Design District
The New Craftsmen
designjunction

And if you are not in London follow @smilowdesign on Instagram and Facebook to stay in the know during the Festival.

And check out our complete SMILOW Furniture 2014 catalogue.

For more information and U.S. locations contact us at info@smilowdesign.com.

Testimonials from Life Long Customers (2nd in a Series)

Soon after the reissue of Smilow Furniture in the fall of 2013 I began to receive heartfelt letters from families who literally grew up with my father’s furniture.

   "My parents bought furniture from the NYC Smilow-Thielle location to furnish their new home (designed by my Dad) in 1955. I even found their original multi-page receipt for all of those items.

   I found it so interesting that my Dad and Mom had ordered furniture for their entire house from your Dad. They moved it with them many times over the years. 

   A number of the pieces remain in my family. Slat benches, rush chairs, ottomans, bedroom dressers - - - are in my brother and sister's homes still today."

Caroline
Salem, Oregon

These testimonials are remarkable not only for the kind and complimentary words that help brighten our days, but speak volumes about the quality and endurance of the furniture and its design. Confirming once again the basic premise and commitment of our brand - Smilow Furniture, creating enduring modern classics.

Below is a copy of the original receipt attached to Caroline's note. (check out the prices in 1955!)

 

Send us YOUR Smilow Furniture story, we'd love to hear them. 

History of an Ottoman

In 1955 the Woven Rush Smilow- Thielle Ottoman was chosen and included in the Pratt Institute's exhibition featuring well designed objects.Today the newly reintroduced ottoman proves the smilow furniture motto: enduring, modern, classics.

Now almost 60 years later, in the current issue of Elle Decor Nov, 2013/ "Truth in Decorating column, Smilow Furniture's Woven Rush Ottoman (RLO44) was chosen as 1 of the 10 best ottomans by designers Bernie de Le Cuona and Brian J. McCarthy.

To watch a fun video of the designers describing and enjoying the ottomans (especially coveting the Smilow funiture ottoman! click here

Smilow Furniture, RLO 44 Woven Rush Ottoman

ANNOUNCING the Smilow Furniture re-launch!

This spring, look for and visit the re-launch of Smilow Furniture at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair...booth # 2039!

Rush Woven Lounge Chair part of the WR Collection, Made in Solid American Walnut, design c. 1955

So pleased to announce that we have chosen reGeneration to host the re-launch of the Smilow Furniture line in their booth 2039 at ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair) May 18-21 in New York City. In addition, at an event co-hosted by Dering Hall, reGeneration will be featuring an additional selection of Smilow Furniture at their 38 Renwick Street showroom concurrent with the show.

Smilow Design has sourced a 50-year old family-run factory in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where the furniture will be hand crafted and made from the original Mel Smilow drawings.

reGenerations's 20 year reputation selling the finest vintage mid century modern furniture as well as their keen eye for the current market (they have their own line of contemporary pieces, "re") make them a perfect fit to partner with, for the reintroduction of the Smilow Furniture line .

"Mel Smilow's iconic work is familiar to design enthusiasts and collectors, but because most of it was unsigned, we are particularly excited to let people know whose work this is after so many years of misattributions". - Val Guariglia, co-owner reGeneration

The same Rush Lounge chair as it appeared on the cover of the New York Times Home Magazine in 1975

Between the store on Renwick street and the booth at ICFF, there will be a selection of Smilow Furniture on view, both vintage and new, including lounge chairs, tables, sofa, table and pillows with Smilow Textiles. 

Appropriate for residential, hospitality, contract, institutional and retail applications, Smilow Furniture is fully customizable and made to order.  It will be available beginning this spring to consumers and design professionals through ReGenerationFurniture, and Smilow Design.

Register for ICFF and visit us at the booth or email me if you'd like an invitation to the Smilow Furniture launch party at reGeneration on the evening of Monday May 20th. 

 

More of the  furniture that will be on view from the Smilow Furniture RB Collection. design c. 1950
These pieces will all have upholstered cushions with Pollack Fabrics inspired by the mid-century 

Grand by Design

Sunlight streams through the windows in the concourse at Grand Central Terminal in New York City in 1954. (AP)

Grand Central Terminal turned 100 years old last Friday. The doors first opened on February 2, 1913 and there is currently a year-long celebration in the terminal including a show organized by the New York Transit Museum called Grand by Design: A Centennial Celebration of Grand Central Terminal.

A little background: The terminal was designed by the architectural firms of Reed and Stem and Warren and Wetmore. Built by and named for the New York Central Railroad in the heyday of American long-distance passenger rail travel, it is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms.

Reed & Stem were responsible for the overall design of the station, Warren and Wetmore added architectural details in the Beaux Arts Style. The French sculptor Jules-Alexis Coutan created what was, considered the largest sculptural group in the world at the time. Seen below, it is 48 feet (15 m) high, the clock in the center having a circumference of 13 feet (4.0 m). It depicts Mercury flanked by Hercules and Minerva and was carved by the John Donnelly Company.


If you have a moment head over to this terrific building and enjoy the many beautiful architectural and design details. In fact, the counter at the Oyster Bar on the lower level (see picture, bottom left), is a wonderful place for a quick lunch. Enjoy some oysters or a panroast and you won't believe the vaulted ceiling. Still a marvel, 100 years young, Grand Central is definitely a great example of enduring design!