Café America in Chicago Home + Gardens!

We're super excited to have our Café America chair featured with Mike Perry's Eames chair and Damian Barton's Petal chair in the July/August issue of Chicago Home + Garden. Thanks Deborah!

Café America in Chicago!

Café America is now available through Buckingham Interiors + Design in Chicago. The following photos are from their June 18th opening party. More pics from the opening can be found here.

Café America in Interior Design magazine!!

Our friends at Iacoli & McAllister spotted our Café America chair in the November issue of Interior Design. Above is the page layout that we found online here. We can't wait to see the issue when it comes to newsstands...

Thanks for the heads up I&M!

Grain on the Seattle Homes & Lifestyle Blog!

Thanks to Market Editor, Stacy Kendall, over at Seattle Homes & Lifestyles for the great blog post on Ty and Café America this morning! It always feels great to get the word out locally. Read the full post here.

Big in Bulgaria!

A few weeks ago the editor of the Bulgarian online magazine DeZona contacted us to write a post about Café America. Here it is in all its glory. Thanks Evgeniy!

Café America on Archinect!

Read the full Café America post on Archinect here.

Café America sightings...

Café America is popping up all over the blogosphere. Latest sightings... igreenspot, Furnishh!, and Crib Candy.

Opening night of Ctrl+Alt+Design...

If you missed the Ctrl+Alt+Design opening last Friday in Seattle, here are a few (not so great) pics. I promise to go back a take some better ones before it closes on July 12th. Tricia Martin has some better shots over on her blog here and here.

Above is a handmade paper lamp shade by LiT. Below is a Tyvek bag by Meet Me Here. The following is a lighting installation by Brite Collective, Jason Neufeld's ceramics (on the pedestal), two clock designs by Stanley Ruiz, a standing lamp and chalkboard paint animals by Ladies & Gentlemen, and our Café America chair and Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain poking out from behind the crowd.

There was so much great work to see that we are definitely going back to spend a calm afternoon taking it all in. Big thanks to JOIN: Design Seattle for all hard work that went into making this show happen!

UPDATED 06/17/09: Here's a link to some great photos from opening night taken by Erik Johnson of Hankbuilt.

Ctrl+Alt+Design on Cool Hunting!!

A nice long post... with a good shot of Café America included! Read it here. If you missed the opening Friday, Ctrl+Alt+Design is up through July 12th in Seattle.

UPDATED 06/16/09: Also see a nice post about the show in the Seattle Metropolitan magazine blog, Who What When, written by Laura Cassidy here.

Café America on Contemporist...

Super excited to see the big crisp photos of Café America on Contemporist today! See the full spread here. Thank you for the support Dave!

Ty on the Mother Nature Network!

Here's what Matt Hickman, eco-living expert/blogger for the Mother Nature Network, wrote about Ty in a piece titled "Against the grain" from June 2nd:

"Here’s a new PVC-alternative shower curtain that’s recently crossed my path and should appeal to those, dudes or not, looking to green-up their bathrooms: The Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain ($30) from Bainbridge Island, Washington-based, Rhode Island School of Design-founded sustainable design firm Grain. It’s made from HDPE, the petro-based but highly recyclable plastic found in shampoo bottles and the like. The Ty is, of course, PVC-free and doesn’t off-gas. It does breathe, slowing down the mold and mildew growing process and giving it a longer life. It's also ethically made in the U.S. and packaged minimally in recycled paper. In terms of design, there's not much to look at (only available in white) but I still (think it is) super cool.

Also available from Grain are two slightly more pricey but no less intriguing green items for the home: Café America ($600), an indoor/outdoor chair made from recycled chain link fencing and a bench ($500) made completely from scrap wood and clamps.

I’m looking forward to new developments from the folks at this brainy, grainy green design collective from the Pacific Northwest."

See the full post here. Purchase Ty through the Grain website here.

Grain at JOIN: Design Seattle's Ctrl+Alt+Design exhibition!

We have been selected to present Café America and Ty at the First Annual Design Review established by JOIN: Design Seattle at Ouch My Eye. The blind jury included Jon Junker and Seth Grizzle of Graypants, Inc, Jamie Iacoli and Brian McAllister of Iacoli & McAllister, Dylan Davis and Jean Lee of Ladies & Gentlemen Studio and John Gascon and Mike Christensen of Ouch My Eye.

The show will include the work of 26 designers and an installation piece by (knee shy) and will be up for an entire month!

Here are the details:

Ctrl+Alt+Delete

Ouch My Eye

1022 First Avenue South

Seattle, WA

June 12th - July 12th

Opening: July 12th, 6:00pm-7:00pm (all ages)

7:00pm-Midnight (21+)

Hope to see you all there! Facebook invitation here.

Post Model Citizens...

Thanks to everyone who came out to support Model Citizens in New York last weekend! Our favorite part of the show was getting to know all of the designers exhibiting. It was such a great community. See links to all of the participating designers here. Big thanks to Erika Carmichael for the invitation.

Above and below are some pics from the show. The ceramics in the second to last shot are by Zena Verda Pesta. The cardboard partition wall and mirror cut-outs in the last shot are by Ben Blanc.

We were thrilled to sellout of the Ty Recyclable Shower Curtains that we brought (should have packed more) and happy to have convinced many a sitter of the comfort level of our Cafe America chair.

Read more about Model Citizens exhibition (including a mention of our Cafe America chair) in the Metropolis Magazine blog post here or on Core77 here or here.

UPDATED 5/28/09: See all our photos from Model Citizens here.

Flat-Pack: Cafe America

Our new chair, Cafe America, which we are showing at Model Citizens in New York May 16-18, was designed to compress for flat-pack shipping. This improves shipping efficiency and saves on packing materials and costs. We can actually ship two in one box so I suggest buying a pair! Above is James demonstrating the assembly process. All that is needed is a few minutes and an allen wrench. 

Getting ready for Model Citizens...

We're in New York getting ready for Model Citizens (which opens Saturday May 16th) and loving all the press going around. Check some of it out here:

Design Glut interviews Erika Carmichael and Mark Goetz about the inspiration behind Model Citizens and shows our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain.

Cool Hunting gives a preview of the exhibition and shows our Cafe America chair (pictured above).

Core77 gives its preview of the exhibition, including a list of all the designers, and also shows our Cafe America chair.

Hope to see you all at the show May 16-18th, 475 10th Avenue at 36th Street!

Grain in New York for Design Week

Reminder: If you are in New York for Design Week, come check out our newest work at Model Citizens!

Model Citizens  

Exit Underground 

475 10th Avenue (@ 36th Street) 

New York, NY 10018

May 16 - 18, 2009 11:00am to 6:00pm 
Cocktail Reception May 16 5:00pm to 7:00pm 

We will be showing our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain and our Café America chair (pictured above) along with a few other surprises. Model Citizens is a newly formed organization committed to connecting an international community of independent designers. We are excited to be showing with old friends Nathan Thomas, Niels Cosman and Audra Wolowiec of AND Department of Mineral Science, and

e. carmichael, as well as with new Seattle friends iacoli & mcallister.

Hope to see you in New York!

Cafe America on Core77!!

We were happily surprised to find our new chair, Cafe America, on Core77 this morning!! The chair, which is being finished as I type, will be shown at Design Within Reach Seattle tommorow as part of the M+D+F exhibition. We are also taking it with us to New York next week along with our Ty Recyclable Shower Curtain and our Appropriated Series Bench for Model Citizens NYC 2009. We just figured out pricing, so I hope to get Cafe America up for sale in our Grain shop soon!

In the meantime, here is a little more info on Cafe America:

Café America is a surprisingly comfortable indoor/outdoor chair. Taking inspiration from ubiquitous chain-link fencing, it recontextualizes the unsung material. A unique cushioning effect is created by the lightly tensioned chain-link seat and back. Café America is made of recycled chain-link whenever possible and flat-packs for efficient shipping and storage. 

Materials: 

Recycled galvanized steel chain-link, with stainless steel rod and fasteners. Color powder coating available.

Environmental / Social: 

Recycled Content, Environmentally Preferable Finish, Handmade in the U.S., Flat-Packs for Shipment, High Durability, Recyclable

Origin: 

Hand made in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.

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Reminder: DWR Seattle M+D+F Exhibition Thursday May 7th

Come see Grain's latest chair, Cafe America, at Design Within Reach Seattle's M+D+F Exhibition along with the work of 7 other local designers this Thursday May 7th, 6:00-8:00 pm at Design Within Reach Seattle 1918 First Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. One night only!

M+D+F 2009 is a juried exhibition of innovative furniture by emerging designers in the Seattle area. Organized by the DWR Seattle Studio and juried by Seth Grizzle and Jonathan Junker, of graypants, and Craig Brooks, Principal of KONTENT PARTNERS, M+D+F provides an opportunity for peer, public and professional recognition for up-and-coming designers and firms. 

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Grain at Design Within Reach's M+D+F Exhibition!

We just found out that our new chair, Cafe America (designed by James) was selected to be shown at the DWR Presents: M+D+F 2009 exhibition in Seattle on May 7th! The above image is of an early prototype of the chair which uses chain-link fence as its main structure. We are so lucky to be working with the amazing 12th Avenune Iron custom forging and fabrication shop on the final piece. We are hoping to engineer it for flat-pack shipping as well as re-use old chain-link. Very exciting!

Read about our work in the DWR Presents: M+D+F 2008 exhibition here and here where we won the Green Award. 

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