Veranda Nov/Dec 2020

“Luxury today is surrounding ourselves with the people and things that mean the most to us. Those are the true comforts of home.” I RECENTLY CAUGHT UP WITH LEE Industries Vice President of Marketing Bondi Coley while doing research for “Artisans and Crafts,” our guide to shopping top-quality home furnishings made in the United States 1 (pg. 15). The Conover, North Carolina–based furniture company has been manufacturing upholstery in the United States for more than 50 years—no small feat when you consider the price pressure from overseas competitors coupled with the investment required to cultivate and support a local workforce. By resisting those market forces, Lee has been able support the Conover community with jobs (the firm has hired 30 people during the pandemic to meet increased demand) and revitalize its…

NOVEMBER + DECEMBER 2020 MODERN GLASSBLOWING, MARBLED FABRICS, THE RISE OF BESPOKE WALLPAPERS & MORE UPHOLSTERY MAGNIFICENT STITCHES Step into Grant Trick’s wondrous workroom (and wild leap of faith) IT’S CINEMATIC: Having left New York’s fashion industry and moved to San Francisco, Grant Trick was on a walk when he spotted a sign that read “Tricky Studio.” “My name was practically on the sign,” he says. “I had to go in!” What he found was an upholstery business, and he asked for work. “They hired me,” he recounts, “to pull staples and sweep the floors.” But what Trick got with that job (besides $7.50 an hour) was intimate exposure to master upholsterers and the techniques of their undervalued, artistic trade. Trick fell in love with soft goods’ amalgam of tailoring and engineering, absorbing every arcane…

NORMAN DINING CHAIR, BRIAN WOODCOCK; UPHOLSTERY PROCESS IMAGE COURTESY OF GRANT TRICK; SOFA SPRING PROCESS IMAGE COURTESY OF LEE INDUSTRIES.…

VESSEL OR SCULPTURE? Andy Paiko offers no easy answers. Consider his Bell Jar and Reliquary series, where the expressiveness of vessels made by sculpting molten glass with air trump what they might contain. Though pandemic-era restrictions have kept him close to his studio—“making everything from Christmas balls at $40 each to massive chandeliers for international restaurants”—when travel normalizes, he will again turn his attention to the future of his 2,100-year-old craft. Creating sustainable practices on the legendary island of Murano, Italy, is among his priorities, as well as better connecting the glassmaking centers of the world—including his own Pacific Northwest, where he’s considered central to a glass-craft renaissance. And there’s no question about that. The 1960s Called… …and their colored-glass collections are all grown up, showing off highly nuanced shades and sculptural…

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH, BRIAN WOODCOCK, STYLING BY RACHAEL BURROW; PASADENA TILE PORTRAIT, NATHAN BOCKELMAN; KIBAK TILE PORTRAIT, RYDER REDFIELD; CERAMIC TILES, BRIAN WOODCOCK.…

THE BEAUTY OF SCREEN-PRINTING,” says Leah O’Connell, “is that a new story is told with each print run.” That quality drew the West Coast designer to the labor-intensive process for her inaugural textile collection that launches this season. “There’s a human at the helm, and the unpredictability adds to the charm.” O’Connell’s florals arrive in a rich palette and sophisticated prints that, while nodding to the greats (like Parish, Hadley, and Buatta), speak of an even bigger influence: her childhood home. “I grew up with persimmon-lacquered dining room walls, a bright yellow living room, and a bedroom swathed in floral wallpaper,” she says. “Color brings me joy.” PATTERNS OF GREATNESS Four American companies building long legacies of artistic ingenuity FABRIC VIGNETTE AND SWATCHES, BRIAN WOODCOCK, STYLING BY SARA CLARK; LEAH O'CONNELL PORTRAIT, AMY…