Happy New Year

Interpretations on this curious image from 1927 are wide open. One scenario: Father Time is totally flummoxed by the longevity of the Monitor Top refrigerator, so-named because of its resemblance to the US Civil War ironclad gunship. Another take: He's confounded by the futuristic design of this kitchen contraption, the appliance equivalent of Baby New Year. One thing that's unambiguous is the supremacy of General Electric, whose glowing logo has somehow been grafted onto the sun.

For FT's sake, I hope there's a bottle or two of celebratory Champagne in the fridge. I don't see any decent wine shops on the lunar horizon.

Cheers and best wishes for 2011 to you all!

Points of Light

The Unikorn, an inventive light fixture-and-towel-hook hybrid, would perk up the blandest of baths. While I'm partial to the opal white color depicted above, the polycarbonate design also comes in a vivid orange. Each module measures about 11 x 11 inches. altlucialternative.com

Seeking Unity

Solid and void, circle and square, concave and convex all meet in this bold little lav. At the risk of sounding a bit soft, I find its integration of these opposites both provocative and hopeful. totousa.com

Presents from the Past

Attention mid-century mods and retro fans: A trove of still-crated Crane fixtures has surfaced in southern New Jersey. These shapely, colorful goodies span the 50s, 60s and 70s; a full catalogue of them is found on the dealer's website, which is linked at the end of this post. A venerable vitreous manufacturer for well over a century, Crane retained designer Henry Dreyfus to develop innovative products for the kitchen and bath. recyclingthepast.com

Back and Forward

As we get ready to take our leave of 2010 and take on 2011, I'm appreciating how this kitchen by architect Joseph Dirand straddles old and new. Weathered limestone slabs meet laser-sharp lines, classic panel detailing converges with chiseled contemporary planes—it's all good. josephdirand.com

Gifted

The promise of freedom from the drudgery of laundry is as sweet today as it was in 1910 [a hundred years ago!]. While there's no question that modern appliances out perform their ancestors, I have to say that their styling—super-charged colors in metallic flake, odd-shaped porthole windows—seems so garish when compared to that of the Blue Bird washer. Its bombe-like contours and snow-white-enameled housing are elegant, albeit in a slightly clunky sort of way.

Happy and peaceful holidays to you all, dear readers.

Straighten Up

Designer Aurélie Fradin calls this storage ensemble Récapitualtion[s]; in the sense that its hooks, bins and shelves physically summarize all manner of items, it lives up to its name. Intended for a hallway or entry vestibule, I think it would be equally useful in the bathroom. Because it's modular, the pieces can be hung separately or ordered as you like. ecole-boulle.org