Design – Traditions Furniture

Gustav Stickley, The Art of Living

No one could sing about furniture like Dionne Warwick and make it sound oh, so beautiful.

“A chair is still a chair, even when there is no one sitting there, …”
A House is not a Home, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, 1964

Even if we accept Dionne Warwick’s lovely statement, we know that a chair is more than a plain utilitarian thing. A seat, a log, a stone, on which we park our hindquarters. A formless idea, Plato would say, whose essence lies only in its purpose.

A chair should be a thing of beauty, and a joy forever.

Gustav Stickley burst onto the American scene at the turn of the 20th century, creating what he called “New Furniture.” In time it took a new name, Mission. With his new designs, he challenged conventional wisdom. For Stickley, it was the age of the artisan, the workers who made the objects, the materials they worked with, and the functional, as well as the artistic value of the products.

“When a home is born out of a man’s heart and developed through his labor and perfected by his sense of beauty, it is the very cornerstone of life.”
Gustav Stickley on the Art of Living

From Gustav Stickley to Marissa Brown, the new product design developer of Stickley, the Stickley chair has been a thing of beauty and joy forever.

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Stickley, the Morris chair that began the journey

A Home With Focus

Right now Save $200 on every sofa seat when you buy a Stressless sofa or sectional at Traditions Furniture in Downtown Overland Park and in Wichita.*

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How to Start: When designing your interior living space start with the living room and focus on the place you sit.

First, it is a matter of choosing a sofa or loveseat, or a sectional if you want to be daring. Feng shui it. That is, arrange your seating in order to create balance with the natural world. Be at peace with your environment. This begins the process of relaxing.

Next, it is all about color. For colors and emotions are closely linked. Warm colors evoke different emotions than cool colors and brighter colors different feelings than more muted ones.

Choose from the many Stressless colors in Paloma, Pioneer, Batick, and Noblesse leathers. There is a veritable rainbow of choices in top grain leathers, a feel that is soothing to the touch.

Finally, after that it is relax and enjoy!

The Secret: Although you don’t see it, underneath the beauty of a Stressless sofa is the patented technology of the Plus and Glide systems that make Stressless Comfort effortless.

Stressless sofas and sectionals, inspired by the fjords of Norway.

Our Hours: Tuesday thru Saturday, 10:30 to 5pm.

Back to the Future

Robin and Art the intrepidly curious owners of Traditions Furniture are traveling back to High Point, North Carolina for the semi-annual gathering of manufacturers and venders whose products make our homes beautiful. B

But first a stop in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia where Gat Creek Furniture makes its home. Here in the Appalachian Mountains, a holler away from the Cacapon River in the midst of the beautiful cherry, ash, and oak trees from which they build American made tables, chairs, beds, and living room furniture.

It is a back to the future moment. Gat Creek Has been part of the Traditions family for more than 40 years. Many styles are enduring classics like the Maitland pedestal table but new styles make their way on to the stage. It is the look of the future with an eye on the past, solid wood, contemporary designs, American made.

Afterwords it is a slow drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains, a disappointing search for red and gold leaves (frustrated by a lack of cold weather), but beautiful still.

Finally ending up in Harrisonburg, Virginia for a good night’s sleep. First, a visit downtown, a drive through James Madison University, and a stop at the Courthouse Square for dinner at Magnolia’s, a 3 story restaurant, 16 feet wide, 60 feet tall, for the best tacos I have ever had and the tastiest Margaritas I have ever drunk.

A picture doesn’t do it justice.

On the way to the hotel, what should we see. But the Courthouse, a scene that reminds us of the movie Back to the Future.

How is that for a great day?

Louis XVI Furniture

We don’t often get requests for furniture in the style of King Louis XVI, but when we do we can. Let us recreate your home in the look of the Versailles Palace. If all you want is a vacation home, a quiet getaway near Paris, we can do that too.

Please mind the crumbs from the coffee cake and keep your feet off the cocktail table.

Designer Dos

Yesterday was a designer don’t, i.e. buy everything on sale at the same place.

Today is a designer do – incorporate the outdoors into your living and dining rooms. Windows bring the great outdoors in. Open walls that lead from one room into the next creates a natural flow. Decorate with plants. Add flowers for a touch of color, place some green apples in a bowl to freshen the room. Reserve color for a dynamic rug in a geometric shape that complements the house.

Open limited hours, 12 to 5 pm, Mon. thru Sat., and by appointment.

Traditions Home, Wichita and Overland Park

Thinking in Pictures

Walking the Dog

At the park I met a fellow dog walker and we struck up a conversation, naturally, about dogs. Mine is a mutt, but Blue Healer if one has to choose because of the one blue eye, the gray coat and the herding instinct she displays when she runs. My fellow dog walker mentioned Temple Grandin, animal activist, behaviorist, empathist, writer, thinker, autism spokesperson. She from Colorado State University, the subject of the movie Thinking in Pictures.

None of which I was familiar with then, but now, thankfully, I am.

And if you don’t know what an “empathist” is then “you should care” to find out.

Thinking in Pictures

You are wondering, I suppose, what has this to do with Traditions Home. I could describe Gat Creek Furniture as made in Berkley Springs, West Virginia, made of native American wood, locally sourced, solid ash, cherry, maple, and walnut in a variety of hand-rubbed finishes. Made by American craftsmen and women, using time-honored techniques.

Or, I could just show you in pictures as I did above.

Stickley Walnut Grove Collection

“If you want a Golden Rule that fits everything, this is it: Have nothing in your house that you know not to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”

William Morris, founder of the British Arts & Crafts Movement

An American Ideal

In America, the Arts & Crafts Movement was pioneered by Gustav Stickley and Elbert Hubbard. Stickley created his revolutionary Mission style in Manlius, New York. Elbert Hubbard established the Roycroft Community in East Aurora, New York.

“When a man’s home is born out of his heart and developed through his labor and perfected through his sense of beauty, it is the very cornerstone of life.”

Gustav Stickley

“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.”

Elbert Hubbard

The New Walnut Grove Collection

The American Arts & Crafts Movement in the 21st Century

Marissa Brown, Stickley’s Director of Design, presents the new Walnut Grove Collection, a fresh interpretation of the American Arts & Crafts style with a nod to Scandinavian design. Made with solid American Black Walnut, a unique collection that includes almost two dozen pieces for the living room, dining room and bedroom.

Marissa’s philosophy continues the spirit of the Arts & Crafts Movement:

“I’m creating things I want to live with, that my friends would want to live with.”

Enjoy!

White – Tabla Rasa

White represents both purity and innocence. It is the color of new fallen snow, the color a bride chooses to start a new life. It is the color of the artist’s canvas before he or she begins to paint. White is the blank sheet of paper the writer stares at, before typing the great American novel.

White creates a minimalist aesthetic. It can be very simple, clean and modern, the most neutral color of all. A color where anything goes.

If one wants to get philosophical about white, then think of it as a tabla rasa (Latin: a “clean slate”). In the theory of knowledge and psychology, a condition that empiricists attribute to the human mind before society gets its impressionable hands on us.

Sherrill Furniture has dozens of frame styles and 1,069 fabrics, and more than one hundred whites to choose from.

Learn more about Sherrill Furniture at Traditions Home

Walnut Grove

New Walnut Grove

Marissa Brown, Director of Design at Stickley Furniture introduces her new Walnut Grove collection. Arts & Crafts design with a modern Scandinavian flair, solid walnut, a collection that combines the art of furniture making and nature itself.

This contemporary and modern look spans all areas of the home from living room to dining room and bedroom, and even office. A look that is both light and airy, perfect for any style of home from Craftsman to the Modern Loft. This collection may be the first major innovation in modern design since the Bauhaus movement and Scandinavian Design.

See it now at Traditions Home in Wichita and at Traditions Furniture in Overland Park.

Walnut Grove Round Great Room

Mockado, NOT Mikado

Not to be confused with the comic opera Mikado, by Gilbert and Sulivan, the carpet and fabric named Mockado was a 16th century invention of woolen pile yarn and ends made in imitation of silk velvet. Mockadoes were introduced into England from Flanders by Dutch and Walloon weavers fleeing Spanish rule.

Mockado Rug

Karastan’s Mockado Area Rug is the perfect solution for those seeking a solid color rug. Karastan’s offering comes in six colors and 39 sizes, combining luxurious New Zealand Wool and Karastan’s exclusive SmartStrand Silk. The Mockado Collection comes in both standard and custom sizes, creating endless possibilities for every home and every space.

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Why New Zealand Wool and SmartStrand Silk

New Zealand wool is considered superior to other wools because it is a blend of of Merino and Downs breeds selected for comfort, strength and performance. Karastan SmartStrand Silk rug fibers are strengthened for durability and softness to provide easy care and lasting beauty for years of use.

Tatami Mat

The Mockado rug may appear visually similar to the traditional Japanese Tatami mat, but that is deceiving. The Tatami is made of rush and cloth.