i think i was in high school the first time i saw a stray dog lamp. actually, make that the Summer between high school and college. my friend got one for her dorm (or hopefully it was at least the duplex she got to move into her second year...). how stinking cool was she?! at the time, i had no idea what it was, except for the coolest lamp i had ever seen. ha! this is the lamp. how much do i love that they still make it?! makes college seem not so long ago ;)
flash forward a couple of years to find me working in (hint: i still have it... er, more accurately, i have it again) an interior design studio with a store front carrying some very cool, vaguely familiar ... stuff. at the time i didn't make the connection. but it didn't take long. this cool stuff was by stray dog designs!
since realizing all of this as well as the greatness that is stray dog designs i have regarded them as not only one of the most creative entities in the design industry but just cool people. they creating some of the most fun items available in the line of home accessories and they are doing so by hand using recycled materials and providing fair wages for laborers in Mexico (i think. i could be mistaken on the where), where the whole idea was birthed (i do know that's at least where it started). check out the whole story (and why the name) here.
oh yeh, and they're a.DORable! total family crush - those kids!
last year - or was it the year before? - i had the opportunity to step foot into (one of?) their showroom(s). i literally had to sit down (on the cutest black settee outfitted in white cording, i might add. *sigh*). my heart was racing. i could hardly speak (it should be noted this seldom happens), much less make sense. i could not catch my breath. (it felt like) the room was spinning - my state of mind was only a mere contributor. my trippy surroundings were also to blame. i was inundated by sheer genius, literally mesmerized. can you imagine?! technicolor papier mache antelope mounted on the walls, wildly framed mirrors and adorably hip lamps all around. i wanted to live there! i pity the people who were working their room - they probably thought they had a real head case on their hands. fortunately - for them - i was not alone and was dragged out of their in a close-enough-to-appropriate amount of time (not before placing a (hefty) order though. for the shop, of course).
america's mart was no place to stay, but at least i can sprinkle bits of their happiness into my life along the way... wherever i am.
seeing these lamps only in the catalog made a believer out of me. they were styled perfectly. and i'm a total sucker for that sort of thing. luckily they're awesome in real life too.
full disclosure - this (ONE, only one personal purchase) actually was the result of that fateful day at market.
i know it seems as though one of these ridiculously adorable birds would have sufficed. but it looked so lonely. so i got three more.
selecting the lamp to adorn this wonderfully special chest was a process. i think this was the perfect choice.AND they have a blog. in case i didn't already like them enough.
post by arre
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