modern

Hanukkah started a few nights ago, it's a bit late to start picking out menorahs now, but since we've already seen so many amazing ones, I couldn't resist adding in one more for good measure. The Shapes Menorah is composed of nine stand-alone pieces that, when aligned in a traditional order or the order of your choice, will come together as a menorah. The bases are made of polished aluminum and each hold a .5-in. candle. Price: $38.

Modern and minimalist, the MN3 Metal Menorah from Bruce R. MacDonald is a step away from some of the more ornate or complex designs that are popular choices for menorahs. This piece consists of nine metal candle holders arranged on a slight curve and held in place with a thin metal rod. It is made of aluminum and polished stainless steel, both materials that will reflect the light from lit candles beautifully. It measures 4"H x 21"L. Price: $160.

[via cribcandy]

These Focus Cocktail Tables are a great way to add something a little more interesting to a subdued, contemporary room. The tables have espresso-colored veneer edges, frosted glass tops and chromed bases, so they have the right look to go with almost any modern furniture set, but they also have off-set, angled legs, which adds an element of fun and surprise to a genre that is typically full of right angles. The tables are all 20" in diameter, come in three heights (14", 17" and 20") and are sold individually. They look great when placed individually or grouped together to form a coffee table. Price: $298 each.

The black and white Marimekko print upholstery on this Milo Chesterfield sofa makes a classic design contemporary. The simple contrast makes a bold statement that would look great in a well-decorated apartment or loft. It would make a striking addition to a room that is already done in black and white and would really pop out in a room with bright, but solid, wall colors that makes minimal use of other patterns. Sale price: $3,398 (list: $3,998).

Cuckoo clocks are not exactly at the top of anyone's must-have list for interior decorating, but they still have a certain presence - or at least a cute factor - that makes them appealing. The Cockoo Forest Clock, pictured here in Rust, is a far cry from anything that your grandmother would have hung in her living room. It is designed so that it looks like something from a Rorschach test, almost symmetrical and with a seemingly endless number of patterns to be found around the edges. It's intriguing to look at and comes in colors ranging from black and white to neon pink and the metallic silver. The non-metallic colors are slightly less expensive, but Rust and the other metallics are $453.

[via Tragically Hip]

This chair is artfully formed from a single piece of aluminum, bent and cut to form a sleek, minimalist chair. The Get Bent Chair has a powder coating on top of the aluminum and is available in not one, but 186 different colors and finishes, both in matte and gloss, and the bottoms of the chairs are padded with small neoprene pads to protect your flooring. The chairs are also stackable, so the can easily be stored away if need be. Setting a rainbow of these chairs around a glass-topped dining room table would have home design magazine banging down your door. But at $2,400 each, you may want to start with just one before buying a set.

[via BLTD]

For a natural touch to your serveware, or to add an earthy feel to a modern art display, consider the Lehti Tray by Maria Jauhiainen. Jauhiainen is a Finish designer whose works are inspired by some of nature's most delicate designs. Lehti is one of her most acclaimed designs. It features an intricate array of metal in the shape of a leaf, which Jauhiainen says she was inspired by one evening while taking out the trash. It is not nearly as delicate as it looks and is actually bendable, so the shape can be altered to accommodate foods or to best highlight a space. The tray is on display in the Victoria & Albert Museum and the New York Museum of Modern Art, as well as in other highly regarded institutes of modern art. Pictured here in red, the tray is made out of either powder-coated brass ($795 in red, green and black), brass with sterling silver plate ($1,200) or sterling silver ($1,995).

A Seattle architect and his wife two bathrooms that needed to be redone in their 3-bedroom and it was no small task - even though the spaces were. Both of the bathrooms measured 5x8-feet and the couple wanted to create showpieces to show to clients, as well as to create an easily accessible shower for washing their four golden retrievers (hopefully not all at the same time) and add a soaking tub that would accommodate the architect's 6'4" frame. In other words, they wanted to update and maximize the space they had available.

Ultimately, the renovation cost $25,000 and the couple did almost all the work, including pouring the foundation for the 28-sq. foot addition, themselves, though they did bring in an outside plumber and electrician. The master bathroom was done in Brazil green slate with limestone tiling and has a glass-block wall and his-and-her sinks. The guest bath (above), was slightly more utilitarian, with a rubber floor, granite countertop and an open shower design.

Click past the jump to see the "before" picture.

[Images Seattle Times]

There is something about puzzle pieces, when they are snapped together, that really pleases the eye - which is a grown-up way of saying that they're fun to look at. Take, for example, these Sculpted Salad Servers. Made of stainless steel, their curves fit together perfectly, making the servers both useful and visually appealing. Whether it's a bit silly or not, I like the idea of anything that makes me feel like a kid - especially if it does so when I'm eating salad. The servers hug the shape of the bowl, but are can be purchased separately, if desired. Price for tongs alone: $55. With bowl $88.

Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern Art Evening sale went off beautifully last night to a better result than they had anticipated. The star piece of the auction, a portrait of Picasso's mistress titled Dora Maar au chat, sold for $95.2 million, almost double the guaranteed price of $50 million set by the auction house. It is one of the most expensive paintings ever to be sold at auction, second only to another Picasso, Garcon a la pipe, which sold at a Sotheby's auction in 2004 for $104 million. Another record setting piece was Matisse's Nu couché vu de dos, which was bought for just under $18.5 million, the highest price paid for a Matisse to date. A total of 27 of the 55 offered lots sold for over $1 million. The sales for the auction totaled $207.6 million.

Deer Path Farms is a community of custom-built homes in Hudson, Massachusetts. Instead of  following the cookie-cutter blue prints of many housing developments, each single-family unit in the complex is designed to have unique and spacious interiors, filled with natural light and a comfortable, luxurious feel. Though there are other homes in the complex, each building gives the feeling of being private, perhaps in the mountains. The homes feature design points that include floating staircases, 3-story high raised ceilings and ultra-thick walls that let in nothing but light. There are currently 50 homes in the community, which includes a pool and provides full maintenance and cleaning of the grounds, as well as the exteriors of the homes, but Deer Path could have up to 103 homes when full. Homes in the community start at start at $600,000 and can go up to $3 million, depending on what features the buyer wants his/her house to have. A 2-3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 3,300-sq. foot unit is on the market right now for $895,000.

Wedding dresss fashions change just like everything else does, though they are far more likely to keep to tradition - something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue - than other types of dress. The waists move up and down and skirts getl alternately fuller and slimmer, but the elegance is something that is never overlooked. Here are the top wedding dress fashions for this year's spring/summer season. All the dresses shown here are from runway shows.

Anything by Caroline Herrera, because not only are the dresses gorgeous, but when women who have worn them actually want to alter them for daily wear, they must be something special. Dress by Caroline Herrera.