Get Felt Up

Remember how felt was always the material of choice for grandma's special sequined fruit thingies? Well, leave the dentures in the Polident because felt is back, but not in a grandma kind of way. Check out a tiny sampling of always crafty Etsy's amazing selection of hip felted objects:

Etsy finds, clockwise from top left: Mix-tape Pouch by BraveMoonman, Red Felt Necklace by vaivanat, Custom Felted Likeness of Your Dog by AmeliaMakesArt, and Felted Goatee by bornlippy.

Need a place to play your felted mix-tape? How about this crazy felted boombox by flickr user blueblythemonster... it actually houses speakers that play music through your ipod!

(And check out her insane felted typewriter at notcot.org)

It so happens that the world of crafts and the world of home product designs often collide -- sans blood, one hopes. Branch is featuring a number of felted goods, most of which are modish and streamlined, but I am particularly liking their felted egg crate:

Mostly what I appreciate is its commitment to material, in that it looks just like what it is -- shaped felt. It also makes me think that the common egg crate is a marvel of industrial design, such an economical use of material and such a functional form. So very Bauhaus (no, not the band). Hmmm. Maybe I'll just cut up a regular eggcrate and put it on my table. Ok, that feels just a little too Vacation Bible School. Keep those dried-bean-and-paper-plate tamborines in the closet, please.

Speaking of the angelic, who knew felt could float? Check out this dreamy gigantic felt chandelier designed by Christopher LaBrooy at Innermost.

That thing is a whopper. I mean, seriously, it looks like a jellyfish preparing to swallow your head. I want it.

Of course I am saving the best for last. The very French Florence Doleac's felt covered chair is a beautifully elegiac piece, sentimental and simultaneously stark:

It reminds me of Joseph Beuys' nutty performance art that used fat and felt (and live coyotes. Yes, coyotes.) In Doleac's statement she says the chair recalls a tradition in which a new bride is gifted a felt rug by her mother, and you really can see the dress, the rug, a bride's flowing hair, in the lines. And of course I love this piece because I have a thing for chairs; they have so much presence. I mean, what takes up more space than an absent ass?

Flock Watch

I heart sheep -- and especially their silky soft skins. I know, Peta is probably coming to splash my front door with faux blood, but I really can't help myself. I have, like, 500 (ok, two) of the Ikea sheepskin rugs covering suboptimal chairs, and I loooooove my Costco sheepskin rug. I used to have a flokati rug, but I couldn't vacuum it properly without fumes of burning rubber issuing forth from my workhorse machine, and shaking the stupid thing out usually induced a seismic allergy attack, magnitude 8.0. Yuck. Happily, my sheepskin rugs are a dream to clean, and they are so, so cuddly on my feet. Yes, I love my pretty little pelts, but lately I've noticed sheepskin recalling its original form. Witness these stools from Sam Brown at Leigh Harmer:

These cute poofs would make a comfy landing spot for a guest when seating is limited, or perhaps as accessories in the little tot's playroom. I like the headless hybrid form and the juxtaposition of wood and fur.

Hanns-Peter Krafft's vintage design in current production at Moss moves closer to the zoological end of the animal/furniture spectrum:

His stool evokes the designs of amazingly brilliant husband/wife team Claude and Francois-Xavier Lalanne, who have spent much of their lives creating animal-themed furnishings and objets d'art. In particular, Francois' sixties-designed Moutons are enjoying a contemporary revival:

I am loving the life-sized sheep on abstracted "grass" carpet, and it helps that the chrome coffee table reminds me of a totally stylin' water trough! (Image courtesy of Topsy Turvy).

While Les Moutons are sheepishly cute and fuzzy in a stuffed animal kind of a way, a couple of newer designs may belong in the cabinet of curiosities. Check out this three-headed monster courtesy of freshome:

I don't know. I love me some taxidermy, but I'm not sure I want to sit on it. On the other hand, it's kind of awesome. I'm torn.

I feel less ambiguously repulsed by this meat chair, a gruesome creation of Italian artist Simone Racheli featured at Paola Maria Deanisi Gallery.

That's really the point, though, right? I definitely think of this one as art, designed to provoke a strong reaction, and on that level I find it to be extremely successful. And gross. And kind of mesmerizing.

I think I'd most like to have this fabulous lucite and sheepskin chair at Waazwiz, a Japanese design site:

Cozy yet cool, I need this one. No meat required.