Manhattan Home Design Reviews | The Barcelona Chair and Loveseat: Why Choose Them?

Manhattan Home Design Reviews . Choosing between two amazing pieces of furniture can become an unexpectedly complicated job, but when you have some of the most iconic collections in the history of furniture design at your fingertips, the task probably becomes much easier. In this post, we want to tell you a little bit about the differences between two pieces from the Barcelona Collection, one of the leading references in iconic design.

The first thing you have to keep in mind, before evaluating the specific profile of each design, is that you should not necessarily choose only one, but also both, especially if you are designing a not-very-large space. In that regard, the Barcelona loveseat and the Barcelona chair are two iconic pieces of furniture designed by Mies van der Rohe for the Germany Pavilion at the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, and they both can easily be part of your interior design project.

Barcelona Collection
The Barcelona Collection

Both the loveseat and the chair are identified by their simple, modernistic design and use of high-end materials. The most distinguishable difference between the two pieces is the size. The Barcelona loveseat is larger and is designed to accommodate two people, while the Barcelona chair is an individual seat.

Differences and Similarities

The modern loveseat is made of two separate interlocking elements – a frame of chrome-plated steel and a seat and backrest covered in leather. The frame is made from a single piece of chrome-plated steel tubing that is bent into a framework with symmetrical horizontal and vertical lines. The seat and backrest are upholstered in two pieces of leather that are hand-sewn together. 

The Barcelona chair is made of two elements – a frame of two chromed steel tubes, and a seat and backrest covered in leather. The frame is made from two pieces of steel tubing that are bent into a framework with symmetrical horizontal and vertical lines. The seat and backrest are upholstered in two pieces of leather that are hand-sewn together.

Barcelona Loveseat
The Barcelona Loveseat – Back

The overall design of the Barcelona loveseat and chair are similar in styling, but the size difference is the major difference between the two. The Barcelona loveseat is larger and is designed to accommodate two people, while the Barcelona chair is an individual seat. The loveseat also has a wider frame and thicker leather upholstery than the chair. 

Overall, the Barcelona loveseat and the Barcelona chair are iconic pieces of furniture that have stood the test of time. Despite the similar design, the major difference between the two is the size, with the loveseat being larger and designed for two people, and the chair for an individual.

Barcelona Chair
The Barcelona Chair

As you can see, both in an aesthetic and functional sense, choosing this combination may represent the great solution you needed to hear. After all, the designs of the Barcelona Collection marked a before and after during the evolution of aesthetic styles in interior design & decor of the last century and began to be followed and praised by all kinds of lovers of modernism, minimalism, practicality, and the beauty of simplicity. They are highly prestigious designs that can be part of your floor plan to take it to the next level. Both the Barcelona chair and the Barcelona loveseat are part of the Manhattan Home Design catalog in different versions.

Manhattan Home Design Reviews | Hark! Christmas Time is Here, and Your LC3 Sofa Wants to Show All Its Magic

Manhattan Home Design Reviews. Surely you are as excited as any child: the best time of the year is here! And yes, along with the emotion, thousands of new ideas begin to inspire us to radically transform the image of our Mid-Century Modern living room and the most notable spaces of our home. Who has an LC3 Sofa, for example, wouldn’t want to make it look in all its splendor with the most beautiful and admirable Christmas theme? In this post from Manhattan Home Design Reviews, we want to give you some fresh ideas to make your modern sofa the star of your holiday decor.

If you want to prepare yourself to get the best Christmas look for your design, the best thing you can do is take into account certain small great tips that will help you achieve the magical atmosphere that you like so much. Santa will be proud. The most characteristic feature of the holiday decoration and its designs are the straight lines and geometric shapes, warm metallic tones, and earthy accents which reflect the joy of the season. However, as a lover of the Mid-Century Modern style, you have the interesting task of correctly combining the wonders of the trend with the iconography, colors, ornaments, and most characteristic arrangements of this era.

modern sofa

Setting The Christmas Up!

Are you excited but don’t know where to start? Below, you will find a list of the most important aspects that you should always keep in mind when starting to define the Christmas design of your spaces and the ways in which you can let your creativity fly:

* .- Red, green, blue, white, orange: the colors of magic. The key to decorating your LC3 Sofa by Le Corbusier with a holiday theme is in the throw pillows you choose. They can be pillows that match the right colors and have patterns or designs directly related to the theme. Traditionally, these are the colors that represent Christmas anywhere in the western world. However, when it comes to Mid-Century Modern Christmas decor, the mission is to find the most successful balance between the most typical Christmas decor and those nuances of the trend. Thus, in addition to those already mentioned, you can add hues of turquoise, brown, and yellow to set the tone. Also, shimmering gold and bright silver hide the secret spells if you use them in those spots where the lighting is especially favorable. Wonderful.

modern decor

* .- Give your living room a protagonist. We all have a Christmas character for which we feel special affection: Santa, the elves, the red-nosed reindeer Rudolph, Mrs. Claus, or some iconic figure of the time, such as polar bears, angels, or the classic snowmen. Designating a star protagonist for your living room to focus your theme is not a negligible idea. Some choose to place Christmas stuffed animal figurines on their sofa and in a few other visible spots. Can you imagine many little glistening snowmen on the surface of your sideboard? Fascinating.

* .- The light: determining factor. No matter how hard you try to highlight the corners that are best achieved in terms of ornaments and accessories. If you don’t use the lights strategically, your decoration will lose much more brightness and charm than you imagine. Moreover, excessive lighting, poor, or used in the least recommended places, can almost completely ruin what you initially thought. One thing you can do is try different ways to fix the set of lights that you will use only until you’ve finished with the placement of the ornaments. Then, you’ll discover what best highlights the most beautiful side of your design.

lc3 sofa
The LC3 Sofa

As you can see, this is just a mouthful of everything you can do to start enhancing your home’s Christmas layout. And there is no Mid-Century Modern Christmas complete without the respective and correct decoration, for your LC3 Sofa and the entire layout. Take care of the details, apply your best Christmas spirit, and give a very special gift to your family and friends: a decoration they will never forget!

Manhattan Home Design Reviews | Flag Halyard Chair: The Ultimate Expression of Authenticity

Manhattan Home Design Reviews. Originality… The jackpot that many interior designers and decoration enthusiasts seem obsessed with, but few actually get. Even some masters of furniture design like Hans Wegner dared to go further with pieces like the Flag Halyard Chair. In this Manhattan Home Design Reviews post, we want to let you know why this is one of the most legendary pieces in history.

That chair meant a break in the pattern of his designs. Until then, had been mostly made of wood, in a catalog that included more than five hundred models. Originality has a price, and that of the famous Dane was daring to try new materials and techniques that were reflected in a product that didn’t seem his creation, but that had successful results in every way.

flag halyard chair
The Flag Halyard Chair

Every person, even if they’re not lovers of interior design or don’t have much experience, is called to find their style, preferences, and be original as far as possible. Knowledge is not all, and although recipes tend to work very well in many cases, the mission will always be to find “your own voice” that guides you to achieve favorable and unique environments.

It’s not enough to just take note of what the greats have done, try to imitate their work, or walk the same path. Breaking molds, finding new techniques, and rethinking outlines are achievements that get visible in every aspect of the job.

The Meaning of Having a Great Chair

The living room is a key area when it comes to originality. It’s practically the most important place in the house, in aesthetic terms. It represents the cover letter of the whole place, and it’s the compartment in which your guests, friends, and family will put their attention first, and they will have that valuable first impression about your decorating skills.

Finding a Hans Wegner Flag Halyard Chair in your house is an excellent first sign for anyone who loves modern designs, especially if it’s a person with knowledge about the most famous pieces within this trend. Although it’s a very recognizable chair, it’s not the type of piece that you’d find in every modern environment.

modern chair
Hans Wegner Flag Halyard Chair

Arguably, the most common trend is to choose sturdy, overstuffed accent chairs with sophisticated upholstery and a style perhaps very close to that of the sofa you’ve picked. A Flag Halyard Chair replica like the one from Manhattan Home Design can work very well both indoors and outdoors.

Depending on each area’s configuration, the colors you’ve chosen, the predominant materials, and the lighting design, among other factors, a chair as striking as this can easily become the focal point. In other words, the most striking spot in the place, which will attract all eyes.

iconic chair
Modern Flag Halyard Chair

The interesting flag line woven that makes up the seat and back of the Flag Halyard Chair reproduction is one of its most remarkable attributes, but maybe the ultimate detail in all its structure and finishes is the sheepskin cover that sets it apart from any similar piece.

In fact, its reclined-beach-chair-look is probably because it was conceived on a sunny summer afternoon by the sea but, its details, like that soft, delicate finish and the leather-upholstered cushion that set it apart from other rest chairs, reaffirmed it as the original piece that the genius Danish set out to create.

Manhattan Home Design Reviews | 5 Reasons That Make The Arco Lamp a Desirable Product

Manhattan Home Design Reviews. When it comes to iconic designs, the Arco lamp has a lot to offer. Not in vain is it one of the best-selling and most prestigious products in the world. In this edition of Manhattan Home Design Reviews, we want to explain that point and simply give you 5 reasons why this design may be exactly the modern floor lamp that you were hoping to find on your way:

arco lamp
The Arco Lamp

1.- It’s a highly functional design. And we mean it. It seems incredible how a floor lamp design can adapt so well to environments as different as the study, the living room, the dining room, and even the bedroom. As you can see, since it’s a fixture created to improve task-based lighting, you can use it for specific activities and make these places even more efficient.

2.- Its Carrara marble base. For some, it may seem like an extravagance, but the truth is that the function of this amazing piece of marble is not only aesthetic: it’s also what gives support, firmness, and balance to the entire structure of the lamp and makes it much easier to move, thanks to the hole that its designers very cleverly added. Also, haven’t you seen how beautiful it looks?

carrara marble
The Carrara Marble Base

3.- Its dimensions. Very functional floor lamps usually have large dimensions, and this is no exception. In fact, it is its 95-inch height (at the highest part of the arch) that allows it to efficiently provide overhead light. This is something that, at the time of its launch, was not seen in any other lamp in its category, especially since the user can move freely around its reflector head, thanks to its wide distance from the base. It is a lamp that will make things easier for you.

4.- Its imposing steel arch. When you see it gleaming in the middle of your living room or any other area you decide to use it in, you’ll understand why this steel arch has so much aesthetic value. Its shimmery finish will add sparkle, pizzazz and a touch of rare elegance to any layout it’s a part of, which is an amazing bonus. The combination of stainless steel with Carrara marble also represents one of the most outstanding successes of this design.

modern floor lamp
The Arco Floor Lamp

5.- Its iconic value. There’s no lover of the Mid-Century Modern style who has not heard of the famous Arco lamp by the Castiglioni brothers or who has seen dozens of models inspired by it. The Arco floor lamp is not only practically the most famous lamp of Italian origin in the world, but it’s also a benchmark within its style, which means added value for collectors, specialists, and admirers of good taste.

If these five reasons are not enough to understand why the Arco lamp should be in your home or office, we invite you to discover them yourself, giving it a vote of confidence and making it your new great acquisition. We assure you that you won’t remain indifferent.

Manhattan Home Design Reviews | LC2 Chair: Much More Than You Can Imagine

Manhattan Home Design Reviews. We wanted to dedicate this installment of Manhattan Home Design Reviews to the LC2 Chair by Le Corbusier for several reasons: it’s an iconic piece, an incredibly elegant modern chair, and such a comfortable and ergonomic seat that its designer studied human anatomy when giving it form. There are some other reasons that you’ll discover throughout this text. We invite you to find out the wonders of this piece and to quickly and easily understand why it’s still much more than an accent chair.

le corbusier chair
The Lc2 Chair

The LC2 chair is a legendary design that’s part of the collection made up of other pieces of a similar nature. It’s filled with high-quality quilted upholstery to ensure great comfort, capable of lasting for generations and being part of any MCM style you want to integrate into. Probably, the decorative chair that most modernism enthusiasts would like to have in their spaces.

Few things are as pleasurable as sitting in a modern chair with thick cushions and upholstered in premium leather. There are many users who declare that they have experienced such pleasant sensations with this design and that, alone, is one of the reasons why it became one of the best-known references within its style. Today, displaying the Le Corbusier collection in your living room or office is a statement of style and taste for modernism. The LC2 Chair is one of the clearest examples of how and why a Mid-Century Modern design can be timeless and highly versatile.

lc2 chair
Le Corbusier 2 Style Chair

The piece was designed in 1928 and stood out a year later, at the Salon d’Autumn in Paris. The collection of which it’s part was the product of the collaboration between Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand, and Pierre Jeanneret. One of the features that have always attracted the attention and the eyes of all kinds of people is its interesting outer frame made of tubular steel. It isn’t something that is found in every model of chair or sofa, and that produces a great visual impact from the first encounter.

iconic modern chair
An Iconic Chair

Many people who don’t have much experience in interior decor or don’t have much knowledge about furniture design may believe that these creations were made recently when the most overwhelming truth is that they are already well on their way to a hundred years since they came out to the market for the first time. This way, when a product becomes so relevant to the point that it has even appeared in comic strips, you know you are dealing with a legendary design. It’s exciting to discover that Le Corbusier’s LC2 chair is still in people’s minds as a key piece of modernism.

Discover everything this chair can do for your layout and your floor plan, especially if you accompany it with the rest of the extraordinary pieces in this collection. The Le Corbusier collection is available in the Manhattan Home Design catalog.

Manhattan Home Design Reviews | Wood: a Resource That Can Transform Your Layout

Manhattan Home Design Reviews. You may have heard it said many times and you’ve likely seen it yourself in almost all the most popular decorating styles and the most claimed design trends: wood is always present. It’s that this material has had a great role and a place of honor within the world of interior design and decor since its inception and throughout the centuries. Any mid-career professional furniture designer or interior decorator will quickly recognize the aesthetic value that only wood can offer. However, very few people know the secrets of this wonderful resource and the properties that earned it its wide reputation. In this Manhattan Home Design Reviews post, we’ll talk a little about the benefits of wood and how you can use it to your advantage for your interior decor project.

Wood is an element that comes directly from nature, specifically from trees, and as such is unique, because it’s a material that only time and the ecosystem as a whole are capable of forging through the years. Some trees take hundreds of years to reach their most optimal and amazing states, allowing them to develop incredibly strong and extremely beautiful trunks. These logs are used for the manufacture of first-class parts and are quoted on the market at high prices. Some woods from trees such as pine, cherry, oak, and mahogany are highly requested for the manufacture of pieces of all kinds. Others like the American Walnut stand out for their undeniable beauty and smooth texture.

modern decor
A Stunning Interior Decor Project With Wood

What Makes Wood So Special?

Many furniture pieces, especially chairs with sophisticated designs, are manufactured using special techniques to give them a specific shape. In the middle of the twentieth century, a wave of architects and designers who began to gain a lot of fame for their creations led the movement of innovative designs that’s currently known as the “Mid-Century Modern” style and, to this day, continues to be one of the most requested and adopted trends worldwide. Pieces that became world-famous have wooden components that are especially appreciated for the whole process they go through before being assembled into the piece.

classic lounge chair
Classic Lounge Chair

Some products from Manhattan Home Design, like the Classic Lounge Chair, use plywood, which is molded in the workshops to give it its appealing curved shape. The plywood or walnut veneer components of this chair are introduced into a conveyor that applies glue to both sides. One veneer made for this chair can have up to seven layers of plywood. These veneers then go through furnaces where the high temperatures allow them to give the shape that they will finally have. Thus, the result will be a high-quality chair, considered by many to be a luxury piece, with incredibly attractive wooden components not only for its sculptural design but also for its bright colors and its lacquered, shiny, and gleaming surface.

modern lounge chair
Classic Mid-Century Chair

The above is just one example of the many wonders that wood allows us to do. The development of industrial techniques and specialized processes to make it look better and make parts more and more functional were mainly the drivers of its development and its use in tables, doors, dressers, stools, beds, shelves, desks, media centers, sideboards, and even complete architectural projects. If you haven’t had the opportunity to know all the advantages that wood can offer you, it’s never too late to experience all the benefits that this material can give to your spaces.

Manhattan Home Design Reviews | The Bellini Collection: An Impressive Resource For Your Indoors

Manhattan Home Design Reviews. It’s easy for an interior design enthusiast to connect with the creative processes that can be generated during interior design & decor work.  Working with forms, space, materials, colors, light, proportions, aesthetic sense and even symbology within design are things that require a lot of preparation and, at the same time, represent the most exciting part of a profession where surprises and novelties never end.

Within this order of ideas, the world of furniture design is defined by products such as the Bellini sofa, and its entire range of accessories that make it an admirable prodigy. In this installment of Manhattan Home Design Reviews, we’ll talk a little about the Bellini Collection and why it’s an option that could represent a very valuable finding for you.

bellini sofa
The Bellini Sofa

Decoding Genius

The first thing you have to be very clear about is that modular sofas are designed under a concept of functionality that’s very different from that of traditional sofas. A modular sofa is so called because it’s supposed to be divided into several components called modules, which almost always represent each of the seats or other complementary pieces, such as armrests, ottoman, or other components. In other words, they are products that can be assembled or disassembled very easily.

The main advantage of that is that you can reconfigure them according to the characteristics of the environment, your particular needs, or other criteria. Even if you are one of those people who quickly get bored with a certain configuration, the modular sofa will allow you to change it as many times as you want, in the ways you prefer. The most sophisticated modular sofas can be transformed in many ways with simple and friendly procedures.

bellini modular sofa
Bellini Sofa Armrest

The Bellini sofa can be easily converted from a linear sofa to a sectional, corner sofa, loveseat, T-shaped sofa or any other way that’s feasible and the user can imagine. The most important thing is that you are very clear about what you want to achieve and the aesthetic and functional application that you want to give to your pieces of furniture. The Bellini Camaleonda Sofa is a creation in which the modules can be easily interconnected thanks to its hook system.

The model created by Mario Bellini is so amazing that it looks spectacular with both fabric and leather upholstery, mostly tan leather. Additionally, from the first time you use it you realize that it’s a highly ergonomic model, in which the details, the proportions, the dimensions and how it was adapted to the human body can provide an optimal user experience. The materials with which this piece is made are first-class and its assembly, as we have explained before, is not so demanding.

mario bellini sofa
The Bellini Camaleonda Sofa

In addition to everything, you can get and add accessories, such as the Bellini Middle Module, Bellini Left Armrest, Bellini Right Armrest, or the Bellini ottoman, which are sold separately and can help you achieve an impressive interior decor. As you can see, the Bellini Camaleonda Collection didn’t become famous for vain reasons, but rather is a marvel of mcm design that can transform the way you use and enjoy your spaces.

Manhattan Home Design Reviews: The Flag Halyard Chair and The Shell Chair

Manhattan Home Design reviews. What exactly defines a masterpiece? Its design? The materials? Or is it just enough that there’s a little luck for critics to praise it? In either case, it’s important to remember that masterpieces are those that pass all tests: that of time, that of fashion, that of quality, and very especially, that of originality. In this Manhattan Home Design reviews entry we will take into account two of the best-known creations of the Danish Hans Wegner: the Flag Halyard Chair and the Shell chair; two pieces that had everything they needed to become masterpieces and, precisely, in that they became.

The Hans Wegner Flag Halyard chair can give you much more than moments of relax. It’s a chair with a very particular and original aesthetic that, indeed, stands out for being a very different design from those that usually arose from the ingenuity of its author. Wegner has a catalog made up of more than five hundred pieces, (almost all modern-style wooden chairs) that became a benchmark of his time and of which this is one of his most outstanding works.

flag halyard chair
The Hans Wegner Flag Halyard Chair

Beyond the user experience, the chair represents an attractive piece, with a dazzling presence that’s impossible to ignore. At first glance, you’ll realize that it’s much more than a rest chair. In addition, due to the nature of its structure, the Flag Halyard chair is a piece that you can use both indoors and outdoors. It can be your perfect companion in your reading corner, in pleasant hours in front of the television, in your moment of relaxation in the bedroom, and your faithful support during those sunny afternoons on the balcony, in the patio, on the terrace, or in the garden, to enjoy the company of your favorite plants.

Another Piece Ahead of Its Time

On the other hand, the Shell Chair, born from the same mind but with totally different materials, is also one of those chairs that transcended space and time to become globally popular and earn a place of honor on the sales charts. After a long period of absence since its launch due to its poor commercial reception, this piece resurfaced in the market thanks to the furniture company Carl Hansen & Son. This relaunch meant a revaluation of the chair, which allowed it to win over an audience that previously didn’t know about it. The chair was destined to become a classic.

hans wegner shell chair
The Hans Wegner Shell Chair

Although one is made of steel and flag halyard and the other of wood, both pieces came from the same source of ingenuity and creativity. They are models that represent an amazing innovation because they didn’t resemble any modern chair archetype nor did they reproduce the typical paradigms of the design world of the time, which was a great advantage and paved the way for the Mid-Century Modern style to continue to be as an avant-garde style that was becoming more and more interesting.

The importance of the Flag Halyard Chair and the Shell chair was so prominent that, even today, they continue to arouse the interest of new generations of users and professional decorators who have recognized in them the value of products with their own identity and an unmistakable modern spirit.

modern setup
Modern Setup

Manhattan Home Design Reviews: The Gateway to a World of Opportunities

Manhattan Home Design Reviews. Have you ever wondered why product reviews are so important? The reasons for this are many and very diverse, but the most important thing you should know is that a good review can mean the decisive element between choosing a product and one store or another. In this article, we’ll take a walk through some Manhattan Home Design reviews, that will help you better understand some of its flagship products.

One of the star products of the store, and one of the most reviewed and commented on, is undoubtedly the Flag Halyard Chair. A good replica of this piece, for example, can transform your place and turn it into a space that bears your seal of distinction and originality, beauty, and good taste that leaves a positive and memorable impression on your family and friends when they visit your home.

Let in natural light to enjoy an even more pleasant moment in your chair. Nothing inspires more peace and optimism than a ray of clear and natural light at the start of the day, which you can enjoy sitting on your Flag Halyard Chair reproduction by Manhattan Home Design while reading the newspaper in the morning. However, not all spaces have the advantage of enjoying natural lighting. If yours is one of these lucky living rooms, try to relax during the day with a reading session or some other peaceful activity that allows you to enjoy this atmosphere.

Hans Wegner Flag Halyard Chair
The Flag Halyard Chair replica

On the other hand, when it comes to modern sofas, there’s probably no model as one-of-a-kind as the LC3 Sofa by Le Corbusier. This sofa, which is now just under a hundred years old, meant a revolution in the typical way in which this type of piece was conceived. One of its most outstanding features is its external metallic structure, which immediately distinguishes it from any other similar design.

In addition, its top grain premium Italian leather upholstery gives it an especially appealing luxurious look, compatible with virtually any modern living room configuration imaginable. It’s a sofa that looks just splendid from any angle and also gives a very pleasant feeling when using it.

Le Corbusier LC3 Sofa
LC3 Sofa

No modern-style environment, no matter how minimalist, will feel complete without the presence of at least one modern accent chair that serves to reinforce the style and ergonomics of the space. The Womb Chair is a special piece in that regard; not in vain is it one of the most remembered, acclaimed, and even sold models within the Mid-Century Modern style.

Few pieces of furniture are as iconic as the Eero Saarinen Womb Chair. Not only because of its materials but also because of the outstanding biomorphic lines that define its design. After all, it’s not a matter of chance that it bears that name. Also, a replica like the one from Manhattan Home Design is an excellent investment, basically because of its features: polished #304 stainless steel rod base & chrome finish, upholstered with premium fabric, removable cushions, hand-stitched through braided lockstitch technology, and fiberglass shell, true to the original.

Womb Chair Replica
The Womb Chair

It’s easy to understand why these types of products have been so successful within the “alternative market” of iconic designs that are part of the extensive modern catalog. The creations of the middle of the last century are also fascinating because they all have a fascinating story behind them that, in one way or another, set an indisputable precedent in history, and it’s amazing to be able to have easier access to them through the replicas of great category.