Trade Notes BY PAULA M. BODAH
3 1 1) Kurt Hakansson heads up an eponymous new design firm. 2) A sampling of Weft’s custom fabrics. 3) O&G Studio’s new showroom in Barrington, Rhode Island. 4) Kristen Piper of Piper Interior Design.
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It’s a big year for anniversary celebrations in the New England design world. Marking ten years in business is Boston’s Planeta Design Group; we’re proud to note that we recognized founder Patrick Planeta’s talent early, including him in our first crop of “5 Under 40” winners in 2010. Designer Heather Wells, also of Boston, celebrates twenty years; Wells was a 2012 inductee into the New England Design Hall of Fame. For Boston designer Gary McBournie (a 2013 Hall of Famer), it’s been twenty-five years of creating beautiful interiors for clients in New England and as far afield as Antigua, Montana, and Palm Beach. Meanwhile, in Medford and Chatham, Massachusetts, Douglas Whitla carries on the legacy of fine craftsmanship Whitla Brothers Builders has been known for since he and his late brother Stuart founded the company thirty years ago. Celebrating a century in business is Kravet. The company that began as a tailoring shop now owns Lee Jofa, Groundworks, GP & J Baker, and Brunschwig & Fils and has dozens of showrooms worldwide. I planetadesigngroup.com; heatherwells. com; gmcbinc.com; whitlabrothers.com; kravet.com
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After nearly two decades as a principal in Haddad Hakansson Design Studio, Kurt Hakansson is wielding his considerable experience and design skills in his own new company, Hakansson Design Group. Hakansson is a member of both the International Furnishings and Design Association (IFDA) and the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), and he and his team specialize in full-service interior design, kitchen and bath design, and custom cabinetry for clients throughout New England and beyond. I Boston, khdesigngroup.com
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Jonathan Glatt and Sara Ossana of O&G Studio have earned accolades for the furniture—a modern
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take on the traditional— they craft in their Warren, Rhode Island, studio. Now, fans of their work can check out the duo’s first showroom dedicated to a nicely curated collection of their seating, tables, lighting, and decorative accents. The new showroom is in the nearby town of Barrington, Rhode Island, and is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment. I oandgstudio.com
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Kristen Piper finds design inspiration in everything from the striations in the rocks as she’s hiking near her Vermont home to an old porcelain doll spied in an antique store. Whether influenced by the natural or the manmade, Piper believes every interior should tell the unique story of her clients, and that’s the philosophy behind her new greater Burlington firm, Piper Interior Design. Piper specializes in residential design as well as boutique commercial design and styling. I Winooski, Vt., piperinteriordesign.com
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Designers can easily and quickly transform their ideas into custom woven fabric, thanks to Weft, a revolutionary new company headquartered in Rhode Island. The brainchild of Rhode Island School of Design textiles professor Brooks Hagen and Cornell University computer science professor Steve Marschner, Weft is a user-friendly online application that lets designers upload an image, explore yarns and weaves, and order as little as three yards of custom fabric. All fabrics are manufactured at mills in the United States, and turnaround time is as fast as three weeks. I Providence, R.I., weft.com
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Gregory Lombardi Design is celebrating its
twenty-fifth anniversary, but that’s not all. The Cambridge, Massachusetts, landscape architecture Weft image courtesy Instagram, Piper photo by Arielle Thomas
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