Sunday, May 31, 2009

A Mid Century Time Capsule


This weekend we attended a cocktail party at the home of a friends friend in the Hollywood Hills. The house is a gem, complete with its original furnishings, and a breathtaking view.


Living Room with updated media center and the never outdated built in bar..



The powder rooms infinity mirror


A bowl of photos


Separate from the main bar was the Absinthe bar


and Michael, taking it all in.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Featured Items of the Week


Despite the chaos we have some great new items in our inventory. Of note, a vintage Bertoia "Bird Chair" and Ottoman priced over 35% less than a comparable one currently on 1stdibs!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Renovation Update


We will continue to open while under construction and are making lots of progress......


We are also making a mess!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Our New Mascot: Milo!


We've added a new employee to the payroll! Milo is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and he's already eager to get to work. Chewing things........

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Do You Love Pattern?

Modern, contemporary and austere. All these adjectives have significant and important differences. I think this pattern from super cool site COLOURlovers is modern and contemporary but not austere.

Monday, May 18, 2009

7920


Behold! The new space we have leased adjacent to our main showroom on Beverly Blvd. Stay tuned for its makeover as well as updates about our grand opening this summer. The store will now offer more custom Empiric furnishings and prints as well as our much sought after vintage and industrial pieces.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Eisler & Hauner

I am still discovering old designers that inspire me that I have never heard of before like these guys Eisler and Hauner who worked together to make the chairs shown in the pic below for Forma. To me it shows a beautiful balance between efficient use of material and the beauty of form. And I love the contrast of warm rich organic wood and cold rigid steel.


Picture from MetHome.

New Items This Week


We also have added some great accessories over the past two weeks......





more smalls here.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Comparative Shopping - Maple Arm Chair


Maple Arm Chair by Paul McCobb for Planner Group


Apsara Price: $1100
Empiric Price: $475

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

The Science of Product Design

Rarely applied to items for which sales are driven by fashion and fickle trends, there are many rigorous methods that have been developed to make products better. Better is usually wisely defined by customer satisfaction over the entire life of the product.

In my early years as a design engineer, the American manufacturers were just learning, or re-learning about Statistical Process Control, "six Sigmas", Concurrent Engineering and Value Engineering. We were desperately trying to catch up with the quality of our Japanese and German counterparts. Harley Davidson began applying modern principals like Just-In-Time manufacturing and the quality and reliability of the American classic began to rise from dismal levels.

Later while working for a division of Sony Electronics, I learned about a product design method called Quality Function Deployment. It includes a rigorous vetting and evaluation of all of a products characteristics from the point of view of the customer as well as the organization making the product. One tool in the process is something called the House of Quality.
It requires more patience than most people have but it is really effective and one of the reasons you don't see a lot of Toyota's on the side of the road. I mean really.....sometimes I think I could design the whole product before I finished building the House of Quality.

At Empiric when we say,

[that we] "...apply analytical and rational values to the often elusive, vague and ambiguous world of furniture. Determining the merit of a particular piece of furniture would focus on observable qualities like materials, construction quality, functionality, condition and value. Fashion and feng shui would take a back seat."

this formal application of design methodology is an example of what we are talking about.

Friday, May 01, 2009

New Custom Colors

For a new era....


Empiric Magazine Rack in Trailing Vine DE5541



Vintage Stool with Aged Eucalyptus Base

More products from this color palette to come.