Happy Birthday Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

In lieu of Mies van der Rohe’s Birthday (March 27, 1886 – August 17, 1969), I thought I'd pay homage to him. One of my favorite designers, so much that I named my dog after him, resided in his Lafayette Tower Building in Detroit, and think the most gorgeous chair in the world is the Barcelona.

I was fortunate enough to visit his Farnsworth House a few years ago and fell in love!!! Such a beautiful house even if mid-century modern isn’t your thing you have to appreciate the details that make the house so special. It’s in the details you don’t see…Structure is smooth & unbroken; uncluttered by bolts, rivets, or plates, using more expensive welded joints (preferably concealed and invisible). 1/4” clear pane glass walls that give no reflection from the inside looking out. The one-story house and terrace appear to float above the ground.

 

“In Summer the great room floats above a green meadow, its visual boundaries extending to the leafy screen of deciduous trees encircling the house, and the sun bouncing off the travertine surface of the covered terrace to wash the ceiling with a glowing luminosity…in autumn the green turns a golden glow, to be followed by the enchantment of winter when the prairie becomes white blanketed for weeks on end…by night the glittering snow reflects bright moonlight into the house, mysteriously diminishing the boundary between the man-made and the natural world outside.” - Peter Carter

  

“…we should attempt to bring nature, houses, and human beings together into a higher unity. If you view nature through the glass walls of the Farnsworth House, it gains a more profound significance than if viewed from outside…it becomes a part of a larger whole." - Mies van der Rohe

Enjoy the pics!!

Making It Legal: Follow-up from Week 6

…“IT HAS BEEN OUR PLEASURE TO APPROVE AND PLACE ON RECORD THE ARTICLES OF ORGANIZATION THAT CREATED YOUR LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY. WE EXTEND OUR BEST WISHES FOR SUCCESS IN YOUR NEW VENTURE.”…

JESSE WHITE

SECRETARY OF STATE

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS SERVICES

LIMITED LIABILITY DIVISION

      March 6^th 2012 dates the official release of Lisa Fay Design LLC. That was only 4 business days for the state to process it, good thing I didn’t pay extra for the expedited service…totally unnecessary. The next step was to file for my EIN. This identifies you, your business accounts, tax returns, and documents, even if you have no employees. I was able to do this instantly through the IRS website. Once I had my Federal EIN, I filed electronically for the state (Seller' Permit - Sales and Use Tax Registration). You must register with the Illinois Department of Revenue if you conduct business in Illinois, or with Illinois customers.

  

      The next step in paperwork/filing, and hopefully the last for a while, is the Residential Business Occupancy/general business license. The city I live in requires a permit for home-based businesses as well as a fee based upon however many square feet you use for that business. Once this is finished, then it’s on to preparing for prototypes/website.

A Visit to Design Stores

I spent this past Saturday with an itinerary in hand of lighting design retailers to visit in Chicago. What I intended to accomplish was seeing the designs up close, getting to touch it, see it lit-up, material/color selection, canopy design, available sizes, in all…the details that aren’t always available on a website.

I had already deviated from the itinerary as I went into the first store: Mobili Mobel

They featured a few pendants from Luce Plan. The sales associate went into detail about changing the lamp color by the use of filters and the easy accessibility by the slide of the arms in the Agave pendant.

Back to the list, Lightology, the Mecca of lighting stores. If there was any modern/contemporary light you wanted to see in person, this is your go to store (except for Tom Dixon and newer designers like Roll & Hill…what?!!?) Regardless, the showroom was filled with beautiful lights!!

Oh Luminare!!! The best experience out of the entire day. Three showroom levels in a beautiful loft building. Their intention is not to display every single product in a mass array but rather expose only a portion of the collection that’s available. The showroom manager was polite and knowledgeable about the products. It was more than just seeing an item but learning in depth about the designer and how they arrived at the product.  She sent me packing with a bag full of booklets that took me back to the days of being at trade shows.

 Bocci 14 Series Pendant by Omer Arbel

 Revolution Glassware by Felicia Ferrone

 XXL Dome by Ingo Maurer

Another store off the itinerary was Orange Skin. A showroom of only European designers. I had to go in…just to see the beautiful Tom Dixon pieces up close.

Ok, onto DWR (Ohio St showroom)…an absolute favorite of mine. Not only was there every classic piece of mid-century modern home décor & furniture but also newbie’s in the industry.

I ended the trip with Room & Board. All items are made in the U.S. from natural materials. The only thing was by the time I got there I had already seen everything they carried from the previous stores.  

All-in-all a successful trip and an enjoyable way to spend the gorgeous day in Chicago!!

Making It Legal

Who knew how grueling & confusing filing for a business could be. I thought about taking the easy way out and going through an online service to do it all for me (or shall I say include all the necessary documents to fill out & file). Would it be worth almost double the cost? Obviously I didn’t think so, but as the weeks unfold we’ll see how it all pans out.

To save more money, I wasn’t going to pay a $300 fee to reserve a business name. I did a quick search on the Sec of State website and found nothing close to the name I was registering. I felt secure enough that no one would take my name in the next 2 weeks so then I filled out the Illinois LLC-5.5 form…an entire two sheets that also requires a hefty price tag…not a big surprise that the state of Illinois is one of the most expensive states to incorporate in. I decided to save the $100 for the expedited online service and went with mailing it in.  It generally take 7-10 business days to hear back.

So, I wait…