Latest Knoll Posts from Smart Furniture

We're very excited about the advent of warmer weather (it's already hit the high 80s in TN)! So in the spirit of long weekends, lake days, and frosty beverages, we've taken a close look at some of our favorite designs for our outdoor areas.

The world-renowned Myers-Briggs questionnaire claims to categorize an individual's personality into one of 16 major groupings. Jung debated that there were 32. Nevertheless, the results often reveal your attitude, lifestyle preferences, and social tendencies. All in all, rather enlightening. But Myers-Briggs can't help you find the perfect Outdoor Lounge Chair. That's what we are here for. So we've rounded up our Top 8 Outdoor Lounge Chairs to help you identify the perfect summer seating for you.

After months of dressing in dark colors, pulling thick drapes over windows, and hiding under mountains of throw blankets, nothing feels more refreshing than breaking out our favorite light and airy pieces for Spring!

The color green has been universally recognized as representative of new life and growth. Emerald, Pantone's 2013 Color of the Year , has been said to enhance "our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight, as well as promoting balance and harmony."

Nothing makes a statement quite like the color orange. To counter the chill that approaches us during the fall season, the warm hues of tangerine, pumpkin, and persimmon proliferate through every medium – from nature to fashion and food – stimulating our senses with sounds, smells and texture.

This year has flown by and before you know it leaves will be falling off trees, temperatures will have dropped, and you'll be setting your tables for the holidays. But if you're anything like my family, you have - for the third year in a row - forgotten to get the extra chair used only at Thanksgiving dinner fixed. Every year someone is stuck doing the wobble - and I don't mean the line dance.

This is a sad designer profile, one for which we wish the circumstances were different. We're accustomed to profiling either living designers or those who have passed away long ago. But the recent passing of Charles Pollock makes us stop and think for a while; life is fragile and beautiful, and when it's cut short too soon we all experience loss in some way.

Pantone is at it again. That's right, we're back to talk about our favorite global color authority and their Fall Color Trends. For over 20 years, Pantone has surveyed the designers of New York Fashion Week and Fashion Week around the world to bring you each upcoming season's most important color trends.

Oftentimes, one's dream home doesn't follow any single aesthetic or style. Thankfully, it seems that many people are pulling away from the purchase of room sets with matching dining tables, dining chairs, console tables and chests.

Designer Niels Diffrient, the "Grand-daddy of Ergonomics," passed away yesterday. Not only did Diffrient design many of Humanscale's top selling chairs of today, but he also influenced industrial design over the last several decades - touching everything from the sewing machine to airline livery. We've recounted his rich history in the design world here.

Eclectic ... daring ... taboo. My design sensibility doesn't fall very close to the tree. I grew up in a house with a dining table paired with matching chairs; the wallpaper pattern was repeated in the accent pillows. Perhaps that is from where my love for patterns stemmed.

What do the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, the Tulip Chair, and the Washington Dulles Airport have in common? Here's a hint: it's not a taste for sushi, though you'd think so at first glance. No, the common thread between those accomplishments (and many others) is their designer: Eero Saarinen.

Knoll is well known for their work with some of the most iconic mid-century designers. From Eero Saarinen to Mies van der Rohe and Warren Platner, Knoll carries pieces from many of the greatest furniture designers of all time. But more than just mid-century icons, Knoll also manufactures premium office chairs that rival many of the top selling products on the market. We've gone through a brief overview of three of our favorites below.

It seems that Charles Eames met, worked with, or directly influenced the majority of mid-century modern's luminaries. Perhaps it's because that community was so tight-knit, or maybe it was because they admired each others' work so thoroughly. In any case, Harry Bertoia was no different.

I'm sure you're immediately thinking (after reading the title of this post) a number of things like, "Months have 'design trends'?" "What type of design?? Am I on trend?!" or maybe even, "Oh geez ... not more Valentine's Day themed stuff!"

In honor of German-born architect and designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's 126th birthday we would like to say, Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, Mies!