Locally sourced Italian slate covers the ground floor rooms; the coat rack near the entrance is from Zanotta.
Nolan and her buisness partner, Patrick Kennedy, strove for a practical structure that reads as a vacation house. They opted for prototypical materials, like cinder blocks for a privacy screen, to hit that note. “It has an association with old beach houses and public buildings at the shore,” Nolan says. After trying different self-supporting configurations, they chose a zigzag pattern. The wall shields the courtyard from wind and doubles as a step for gutter maintenance. During parties, the family likes to place candles into the recesses. “That wall’s got a little bit of poetry, but it’s also doing a few jobs as well.
The desk can be lit in 15 different colors, plus white.
Rietveld continued to play with the Zig Zag design, as pictured in this 1952 sketch that includes an armchair version.
The high-front panel of the desk allows for ample organization and a large interior work space.
The spatial drama on the interior comes from the staircase and tatami room upstairs. The daffodil pendant overlooking it all is from Ikea. The butterfly stool is by Sori Yanagi and was a birthday present from Konishi to Gaffney.
The Zig-Zag desk with a classic white light for brightening up dim offices.
Zig-zag Chair (1934), designed by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld. From the SFMoMA Collection; gift of Michael and Gabrielle Boyd. On display as part of the SFMoMA's 75 Years of Looking Forward: The Anniversary Show exhibit, on view through January 16, 2011.
An early paper prototype of the Zig Zag chair. Miniscule models were made of paper and cardboard, and measured only five centimeters high.
One of Lagerfeld’s large-scale photos highlights the color choices made by the De Stijl movement. The group favored primary colors, black, white, and natural woods.
The Zig Zag chair and table, both in a handsome black steel finish.
When Sonneman first designed Suspenders in 1989, it was made up of bulky transformers and halogen lights. By updating the technology, he has been able to reimagine the scale of the design while applying energy-efficient LED lights that generate almost no heat.
Karl Lagerfeld was a professional photographer as well as a designer. Here, he's pictured shooting Zig Zag chairs for a photo series on iconic designs. “To visually reinterpret examples of perfect design is completely new for me, and therefore stimulating, exciting even,” he said.
Pacek and Roynon peeled away wallpaper to reveal layers of old paint that serendipitously complemented the color scheme of their new kitchen, and used a circular frame to preserve a section of it. The matte-chrome handles and pulls are by Mockett.
Maira wallpaper from the 70s adorns the guest bathroom. When they knocked down several interior walls, Sawatzky and Flanders were left with tons of lath—the thin, irregular strips of softwood that provided the base for wall plaster. With the help of a demolition contractor, they sorted out the cleanest pieces to reuse. The couple clad the box on the second floor that contains their bathroom and closets with the lath, nail-gunning each piece to the walls.
The once public hallway between the two apartments now boasts a bold wallpaper by Kravitz Design for Flavor Paper.
One of the hardest things to do when looking at potential homes is to overlook existing finishes, colors, and materials.
Simon and Eva Luna play in front of a wall covered in Daks wallpaper from Walnut.
The Lotus wallpaper pattern by Galbraith and Paul is produced in-studio with the help of a digital printer.
On the black-and-white palette, Susanna remarks: "It makes it easy to add accent colors, like petrol blue, and also makes the apartment’s architectural details—like the original doors and deep window ledges—more prominent."
Calico nabbed a 2015 ICFF Editors' Award for its painterly wallcoverings. (Long live gradients!)
LED lighting playfully highlights the zig-zag form created where the timber stairs met the wall.
The exterior of the home is the epitome of minimalism, though adds character with different sizes geometric windows and entryways, as well as the curving zig-zag of the roof.
The headboard in Hansen’s bedroom echoes the 2013 side-board. The wallpaper is from Arte.
The zig-zag ceiling adds a sense of playfulness and maximizes the visual volume of the open-concept kitchen and dining area. Combined with the oversized sliding doors, the space feels incredibly open and airy.
The editors' pick for Best Wallcovering went to Trove. Here's a selection of their new Redux wallpaper, which is PVC-free and made from 31 percent post-consumer recycled material.
Playful wallpaper from Graham & Brown livens up the house’s otherwise staid
powder room, which also contains a
pint-size Ikea sink.
Parisian design company, Élitis, began designing wallpapers because they felt the industry didn’t offer enough colorful and innovative selections. Their latest Kandy line, inspired by the ancient city Kandy in Sri Lanka, is just that.
Painterly yet structured, this paper is strong enough to make a statement and subtle enough to paper a whole room without overwhelming it. Bonus: the thick vinyl coating makes it easy to wash. $700 per panoramic (Each panoramic can be hung like a pattern drop, cutting marks are provided).
So what music do designers listen to when work? “It depends who's in charge of the Sonos device that day,” Nick says. While his preference tends to be towards Chopin or Max Richter, it’s not uncommon for hip-hop or 80s music to fill up the studio.
More patterned wallpaper in the bathroom.
Degrado Amarillo wallpaper by Eijffinger. The Dutch company’s Ibiza collection saturates walls in degrees with a photorealistic paper that adds an of-the-moment gradient effect.
Sherman recommends reflective materials for smaller spaces. "Metallic materials and colors to add light movement and mirror effects, immediately making a space feel more dynamic and larger," he says.
Trove’s founders, Jee Levin and Randall Buck, made over 100 light “paintings” by exposing photographic paper to flashlights and fiber-optic toys. Then, they distilled their favorite elements across all of the paintings and created two patterns: Heze and Nimbus.
Heze connects circles with blurred strokes of color that is supposed to display the “mathematical impossibility of the circle.”
Designers can enjoy a coffee break on the sofa. It certainly beats gathering around the water cooler.
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