Despite the presence of natural materials at this year's ICFF (International Contemporary Furniture Fair), there was an obvious lack of warmth. Maybe that had to do with the overwhelming number of faucets and hardware on the floor. And yet somehow it was all alleviated by the very nature of the villain: the bold unvarying primary pallets of reds and yellows. These mainly came from the forerunners that received the most focus. Those names include British designer Tom Dixon, who launched the introduction of "Industry" at ABC Carpet Home, Richard Schultz, who designed for Knoll in the 50's, and is now introducing his new line of bright outdoor furniture made from powder-coated sheet aluminum called "Fresh Air," and Design Within Reach's launch of their collaboration with Coco-Cola and Emeco to coincide with their 111 Navy Chair Project. If it's not enough to get a curated taste of what's going on in the eyes of ABC Carpet & Home, then head to the westside for the fair's public day on Tuesday, May 18th at the Javits Center.
It's so nice discovering things when you least expect it. We'd mentioned earlier that we stopped into the Steven Alan Bazaar in East Hampton over the weekend. However, we failed to wax on that in reality walked out, not with another reverse seam button-down or one of those fringe scarves that continue to haunt our thoughts, but with a very strong desire to own an easychair by Carlos Motta or at least a place with room enough for even one of his cute cuica chairs. You may be tempted to automatically add Motta to the other endless list of designers who have taken on the chivalric task of reclaiming nature's discarded wood parts to transform them into everyday furniture, fixtures and works of arts. But before you jump to such conclusions, we'd like to point out that Motta has been working with recycled wood since the early 70's when he was living off the coast of São Paulo where he spent the other part of his time surfing and studying to be an architect. Upon establishing his atelier in the late 70's he has expanded his development into furniture, decorative accents and sculpture while continuing in the realm of architecture. He continues to utilize wood that has been swept up onto the shores and banks or leftover from demolition sites. For more info, check out Espasso in TriBeCa, where Motta appears this week. 
Today was our 1st Saturday in the Hamptons since October. The clouds cleared just in time as we stood on the crystal clear Montauk shore, rubbing our bellies full of lobster rolls, slaw and bisque. We made our requisite visit to the Steven Alan outpost, admired the Carlos Motta chaise lounge and tried on the vivid summer prints by Rachel Comey while contemplating the oversized fringe scarfs that double as sarongs. We stopped into the Candy Kitchen on our way out towards the 454 for butterscotch sundaes, homemade maple walnut ice-cream, black & white ice-cream sodas and malteds. Shy away from the tempting rhubarb-strawberry pie. There should never be such a thing as frozen pie, especially when the rhubarb stalks are sprouting up as we write.
