Home Furnishings

Benjamin Moore has been ranked highest in interior paint customer satisfaction by J.D. Power & Associates for the third consecutive year.

According to the 2013 Interior Paint Satisfaction Study, Benjamin Moore maintained its leading position over 11 other paint brands by receiving 800 on a 1,000-point scale, a 10 point increase over the brand's 2012 score of 790. In particular, it performed well in the key areas of application, durability, product offerings and design guides.

The J.D. Power consumer study is based on responses from more than 6,800 respondents who purchased and applied interior paint within the past 12 months. In particular, it measures six key factors: application, product offerings, durability, price, design guides, and warranty/guarantee.

Hunter Douglas' The Art of Window Dressing iPad App has taken home the 2013 Best Mobile Application in the design industry in the 2013 Internet Advertising Competition. The mobile App allows users to see how different styles will look on their windows anywhere, anytime.

The winning App was developed by Hunter Douglas in conjunction with Enlighten of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Visual IT Ltd. in the U.K. Notable features include Fashion Show, a virtual showroom of the company's extensive line of custom window fashions that add great design to any home; Dress A Window, that allows users to preview how each product looks in sample room scenes or in their own homes; Swatch Sorter, that lets consumers sort through thousands of choices; and a Workbook, for saving room renderings complete with product specifications. Room scenes from the Workbook can then be shared via email, Facebook and when visiting dealers. The App also includes a Dealer Locator to enable sourcing from nearby retailers.

Check it out for yourself! The Art of Window Dressing App is available at the iTunes App Store or through a link on the Hunter Douglas website.

Sometimes, what seems simple is not so simple at all. Case in point: the Gold Medal occasional tables, newly released by Think Fabricate and this week's pick for Fab Furn.

The tables fill a need that's rather basic; who doesn't need a table? But the design is really rather interesting. Made of hardwood, the Gold Medal tables feature contemporary surfaces carved into basic geometric forms that are then dressed, in varying manners, in a gold lacquer finish. The classically-shaped legs are given the gold treatment as well making these a glamorous, yet highly useful addition to a home.

The Brooklyn-based design studio has always been of interest for its ability to make the ordinary a bit more interesting. For more from this creative team:

• Historic Brooklyn Lives on in Tabletop Line

Every generation thinks it has it all figured out. Problems are "solved" with ideas, products and policies that oftentimes go on to become the problems of a later generation. Miami's Wolfsonian Museum takes a look at the home products that were considered revolutionary in the early decades of the 20th century with Cleaner, Healthier, Easier: Improving the Modern Home, 1900 - 1945.

The objects, design drawings and advertisements on view here were gathered as compelling examples of how designers and advertisers in Europe and America responded to new ideas and attitudes about health, hygiene and efficiency in the home a century ago. The museum notes how designers of the era were called upon to create interiors, furniture and appliances that would save time and money and that could be easily cleaned and how advertisers went on to promote said items with campaigns that promised to change a consumer's life by making chores easier and a home healthier.

Sound familiar?

If you're in the design field you simply must know the name: Le Corbusier. It brings with it images and ideas; paintings, photos and blueprints; and a unique viewpoint and thumbprint on the world of design.

Beginning on June 15, MoMA brings us its first major exhibition on the work of the master -- Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes -- an exhibit that covers his work as an architect, interior designer, artist, city planner, writer, and photographer. The idea behind the exhibition is to reveal the ways in which Le Corbusier observed and imagined landscapes throughout his career. It will touch on early watercolors of Italy, Greece and Turkey; sketches of India; photographs from his journeys; and models of his large-scale projects.

The exhibition has been organized by guest curator Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, with Barry Bergdoll, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA.

Special member previews begin June 8.

Interior Designer Libby Langdon expands her reach with a new line of removable and reusable wallcoverings with Casart Coverings. The line, this week's pick for the Fab Furn spot, caught my attention first because I truly love the palette and patterning. When I read further and learned it was peel-and-stick -- not too permanent and nowhere near the labor involved in standard wallpaper -- I was hooked.

The line is set to debut this month at Holiday House Hamptons, a luxury designer showhouse sponsored by Hamptons Cottages & Gardens magazine. Proceeds from the showhouse benefit The Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Langdon is one of just 22 designers invited to participate.

Shown here are two of the patterns starting the line. Personally, I'm a major fan of the Chic Chevron in the bright orange shade and happen to have a favorite scarf that could be its sister.

Langdon moved a bit more into the public eye with her work on real life, one-day makeovers on NBC's Open House. Next up is her own television show, Daykeover with Libby Langdon! The show will feature an interior design makeover that happens in less than 12 hours. Expect to see some of her eponymous product on the new show.

It may still be a few months away but now is the time to act if you would like your business or your creations to be a part of the next DesignPhiladelphia Festival. The 2013 Festival, slated for October of this year, takes on a theme for the first time and that interactive theme is EXPERIENCEdesign!

The idea is for participants to show the many ways in which design can be experiential, spark emotions, evoke strong memories and create lasting connections. The organizers have noted events for the Festival should allow Fesitval-goers to engage their senses and suggest creating opportunities to see, touch, smell, hear, or feel the design that surrounds us all.

Registration is now open! The 2013 DesignPhiladelphia Festival will kick off with a cocktail party and benefit the evening of October 9. Additional events can be scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 10 through Friday, Oct. 18.

The deadline to participate is midnight on July 19 so be sure to check out the participation requirements and event registration guidelines on the DesignPhiladelphia website.

Sometimes the only artistic touch needed to create something truly unique and wonderful is that of Mother Nature. Middle Kingdom has unveiled a series of beautiful wooden bases and sculptures that all highlight the handiwork of our planet's primary artist.

The company notes each piece stirs one's emotions and it couldn't be more true. The wooden "sculptures" seem almost to have been poured as liquid and frozen at the visually perfect moment. These are pieces with which to sit quietly and reflect.

Middle Kingdom more typically focuses on beautiful porcelain pieces and the idea here is that the wooden bases from this new collection can serve as art on their own or be paired with objects from the company's porcelain collections.

Learn more about the company's aesthetic on the Middle Kingdom website.

Since it's finally getting warmer on the East coast and I'm also in the market for a new area rug, I found myself looking twice when the new Panache collection from Karastan crossed my desk. In fact, I looked long enough that the collection became this week's pick for Fab Furn.

The Archipelago pattern, shown here, speaks quite well of summertime to me -- a little bit Ikat, a little bit of those rich blues of summer skies and surf -- without taking on the more kitchy summer motifs that would surely need to go come autumn.

The Panache collection itself consists of 14 styles with chevrons, florals and geometrics among them. Check out more on the Karastan website.

Seattle Design Center and ShelterKraft are offering a creative and great way to do something very nice for a very deserving group. The challenge is to morph one shipping container into an ArtBox that the group Childhaven will use as a location to provide art therapy for children ages 2 - 5 years.

The space itself needs to accommodate a class size of 10 students and 2 teachers at a time and provide a fun and nurturing atmosphere. The basic idea is to create a fantastic creative space. More details of what is required of your designs is available on the Seattle Design Center website.

To select the winning design, judges will consider use of space, lighting, energy usage, materials, ease of maintenance, appropriateness and functionality of the design solution as well as its ultimate buildability.

Get creative and give these kids and the teachers who help them along a great place to be creative themselves!