bklyn designs

brooklyn designs has come and gone and i hope you all got to take a peek in person if you're in the area. i was thrilled to grab some time to attend on friday and here is the full wrap up. summary review? it was overwhelmingly wonderful to meet so many people i've written about, gushed over and told myself i wouldn't be too dorky in front of when i met them. for the most part everyone was friendly, happy to be exhibiting and exceedingly helpful and willing to let me take (bad) pictures and ask them a bazillion questions. the only slight downer was that, because i'm obsessive about brooklyn design, i'd already covered most of the stuff i saw, but it was still wonderful to see it all in person. and thankfully, i discovered a few people i'd never heard about before. all in all, it was a wonderful wonderful show and i'm thrilled to start the coverage NOW.

let me start by saying, i'm not a regular in the dumbo area so i got totally lost trying to get there. i was stunned to see where halcyon relocated to- i think their smith st. joint was soo much better. oh well. st. ann's warehouse was a site for sore eyes after trying to find it amid the rain and stupid, stupid wind storm going on. after getting over how loud it is down there (good god it's loud) under the bridge, i was happy to get inside and see what the show had to offer.

i hit zia-priven first, and was really excited to meet the owners and designers in person. marcia zia and paul priven were as lovely as i had imagined and proved to be a wonderful way to start the show off. i got to run my fingers through their fabulous beaded pendant lamps and see how impressive they are in person. if i had a huge space to hang these suckers, i would. i have visions of my cats hanging from those beads though- eesh. the zia-priven team had some great new pieces to share along with an existing collection that was even more impressive in person.

after the zia-priven booth i practically sprinted to meet the girls from decoradar in person. and yes, they are even cooler in real life. elishiva and jen are just as fabulous as their murals and i urge you to check out their way cool new website- decoradar.com. it's been updated with all sorts of fun pics, info and products. they were gracious enough to send me home with their new painting kits that comes with all the materials to paint a mini orange grove mural and attach sweet little wooden oranges that would be PERFECT for a child's room or a fun afternoon project. this women are phenomenally talented and overwhelmingly creative and i highly suggest you give em a click. thanks so much jen and elishiva, it was wonderful to meet you and see your amazing work in person.

after decoradar i was THRILLED to meet someone i hadn't heard of already- bill gray of here there designs. based out of an apt building that i used to be pretty familiar with on mckibbin street in brooklyn (shout out, jesse jarnow!), herethere designs makes GORGEOUS lamps out of 100% abaca fiber. the best part is, the lamps are 100% non-toxic, recyclable and sustainable (this one's for you, treehugger gang!). the line is simple, colorful and would make a wonderful addition to anyone's home. i was so happy to see these guys- there work was beautiful and even more impressive in person. and to top it off, bill was really nice. so please check out here there on the web right here.

after herethere i ran into these crazy aryclic lamps by martel design fabrication. they were fun, colorful and definitely eye-catching.

after the acrylic lights came glide's booth- the debuted a great new light called 'twist together' that allows to you "click and add" additional components. i was madly in love with the "chocolate" color variety. more info on glide here.

after the lamps i ran into the show's mc- dania ahmad- my park slope pr buddy and the woman in charge of making sure everything was running smoothly at brooklyn designs. dania took me around and we chatted about all things brooklyn designs. then we ran into paul makovsky of metropolis magazine fame (yes, i am a shameless makovsky fan. he writes the most wonderful, insightful articles). i shamelessly forced them all to pose for silly pictures in the hivemind booth (so sorry i missed you, sather!) with ms. hivemind herself, ruby metzner. ruby showed me around all the new goodies hive mind has to offer and let me tell you, hivemind is going to take over brooklyn design. i'm always pleased by what they have to offer and this show was no different. their woodworking is beautiful and their furniture simply stunning. the shelves ruby posed behind were my favorite. you can find more info on hivemind here.

after ruby and co came bart and co. at bettencourt wood. their work is always stunning and represents so well in person. their beautiful "striped" wood pieces are on my list of things to save up for.

after bettencourt i felt myself starting to get tired so i spent my last few minutes with jeremy from niche- a fantastic lighting company that is seriously about to blow up. their elegant and modern pendant lights combine beautiful organic forms with these wonderfully "excited" bulbs that have filaments that appear to wiggle in their casing. it's hard to describe, but you can see more on their website. they'll be at icff so i'll have better pictures then. the lighting at their booth was kinda cruddy because of the poor weather outside.

after niche i decided i had to go home- i was exhausted and had run out of camera space. and it wasn't until i got home that i realized i'd forgotten to run over to the brooklyn designs lounge where a few more designers were showing. so, sadly i missed a few great people, but i trust they'll be covered well by other blogs. in addition, i'm contacting them for photos so i'll be sure to do individual posts on them asap.

all in all brooklyn designs didn't dissapoint and i hope that all of you can make it out some day. my favorite borough represented unbelieveably well and proved to everyone that not only is brooklyn designs worth the trip over the bridge, but it's worth just as much coverage and celebration as the shows in that other borough. congrats to everyone there, it was wonderful to meet you all and i hope to see more of your new work soon!