design-phan

I was supposed to be in Northwest Florida over the weekend, but severe storms (and tornadoes—gulp!) kept me at home. Happily the weather here was beautiful, and it was the first weekend of POST (Philadelphia Open Studio Tours), so I made the rounds on Saturday. Here were some of my favorite things:

1. Letau Designs's ingenious drawstring scarves that I like to think of as Elizabethan ruffs, designed by Maren Reese, above in the red Guatemalan number. She also makes cozy "hoodie scarves" that are basically scarves with hoods attached. When you're not wearing the hood, it blends into the scarf. I couldn't decide between a drawstring or a hoodie or even on a fabric within either category. Maren finds some great textiles that give her collection a wide range of styles, from juniors-department chic to trés elegante. Luckily, there's a trunk show at Letau's studio on the 27th where I'll probably end up buying one of each. Each personality needs a scarf, right? (More info on that show to come later this week—it's going to be a good one, with Letau Designs plus many more designers of jewelry, accessories and clothing.)

 2. Barbara Zuckerman's very cool hand-made books (sorry, no picture). My favorite was the Küloring Book, a tall, skinny, casebound volume filled with pieces of IKEA assembly instructions. Zuckerman put the book out at an exhibition (not this one) and invited people to color in the line drawings. It's fun to see all the usual characters  in this context. There's the nondescript IKEA customer, who I've always thought looked like the adult version of Harold of Harold and the Purple Crayon—and the hammers, screwdrivers, and little IKEA stores (pictured when Harold grows flummoxed and ends up calling the help line). Zuckerman is part of an upcoming group show at City Hall called "Toying with Art" that runs from 10/29/07 through 1/25/08.

3. At Adam Rung's workshop and showroom at 3211 Cedar Street in Port Richmond I was drooling over a pencil-post bed in progress and also over some gorgeous Windsor chairs. Since I don't need a bed or chairs, I fixated a bit on these Shaker-style keepsake boxes. Each is one-of-a-kind, and most have a handle that's a repurposed industrial scrap. Inside there's a covered shelf and a secret compartment. At $250 a pop, I think they'd make great gifts. Ahem. Hint, hint. You can order one directly from Adam.

Next weekend, POST continues west of Broad Street.

[images from Letau Designs and Adam Rung]