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Friday, June 1, 2012

Meet Mr. Risom

Jens Risom is one of my favorite designers, so when we dropped a Risom sofa off to be reupholstered a couple of weeks ago, I could hardly wait for it to be finished.

We chose a beautiful Maharam fabric in apple green with gray circles in a pattern called Repeat Dot Rings which was designed by Hella Jongerius. I expected it to be a real eye-catcher, but it exceeded my expectations.

This sofa is an early piece from Risom, designed for Knoll in the late 1940s. The arms on this sofa look so streamlined and cool...a design ahead of its time.




Jens Risom sofa

Maraham Repeat Dot Ring fabric
by Hella Jongerius

19 comments:

  1. Hubba Hubba....Now that is a sexy couch!

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    1. No kidding! I can't think of many people who would refuse to snuggle up between those loving...uh, lovely...arms. :)

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  2. Love the color, shape & fabric design!

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    1. I love Hella Jongerius textiles, because they're so colorful and cheery, and I think this one suits the playful shape of the sofa perfectly!

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  3. That fabric is certainly perfect. My favorite color too. And the lines are so clean and truly elegant. Nicely done.

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    1. Thanks! Everything about this sofa makes me smile. :)

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  4. Pleased to meet you Mr Risom!

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    1. I'm sure he'd love for you to sit down and get better acquainted. ;)

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  5. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is all.

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    1. That's exactly my reaction to most Risom pieces!

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  6. Been a big fan of Jens Risom forever! I really like the fabric choice. It looks great and really pops the piece! Thanks again for your input into the kidney sectional I acquired. I decided to go with something a bit bolder than I'd originally planned. Hope to get to my upholstery pros tomorrow for the redo! I too am going to be impatient to see finished...

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    1. We just got a sectional and a couple of platform sofas that we're going to have recovered. Now the fun of choosing fabric begins. I think we're going to go bold on these three pieces too. There's another Jongerius piece that I'd love to use, but it's $100 a yard, so it's going to have to go on an accent chair rather than a sofa.

      Our upholsterer is working on Richard Schultz patio furniture right now. I can't wait to see it!

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  7. I have a Risom table- I rescued it, for nothing. I think if the house was on fire, I'd drag it to safety. Or, it could drag me. It's so long and so strong, a friend once slept on it!

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    1. I have a Risom credenza I feel the same way about. His pieces inspire loyalty, don't they? :)

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  8. The fabric you chose is perfect. It has that cool vintage vibe with a modern flair. It's beautiful.

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    1. Thanks. I wanted the fabric to have a clean, crisp pattern that would echo the clean lines of the sofa. I also wanted a great color that would make those arms really stand out.

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  9. Great couch and fabulous fabric. Really works well. Love it.

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  10. I own a half version of this as a chair. My father for years told me that it was a Florence Knoll chair. He said it was originally upholstered in an orange color. It needs to be re upholstered and I was thinking of an apple green or slightly grayer version of apple green. My dad had the chair since the late 1940's. He had lunch several times with the Knolls, Eames and McCobb and others back then. My dad was a major department store design director and they would take him out to get him to purchase and showcase their designs. My father later went to work for Ford as an advanced stylist designing future cars in Detroit. He studied both industrial design and interior design and held five design director positions in his career. He's now 92 and as sharp as ever. We grew up surrounded by great design. I'm really happy in finding out exactly who designed the chair. I tell my father tomorrow about finding this through your blog.

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    1. I'm so glad you found this information helpful. Your father must have had an exciting career. If you would like to send me biographical information, I'd love to write a post about him. You can email me at dana@mid2mod.com.

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