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Jungle Vase long hair at Moss

Lamp/Lamp at Chocosho

Now just a year old Silverlake (LA) design shop A + R launched a sleek, impressive online shop that displays a selection of the physical shop's quirky design items. There's everything from cooking utensils to lighting to jewelry available for any sum from under $50 to over $1000. We just thought we'd point it out as another useful gift resource. If you're in the LA area, go here for the directions to the shop.

While researching brands for a store we'll be adding to our guide shortly, we came upon the work of Wunderwurks Design. The design studio was founded by industrial designer and glassblower Tony Whurman. Accordingly, most of the earlier designs do some beautiful, modern things with glass. Oh and for those looking for a nice Christmas gift the site does have online shopping!

For future designs however it looks like Mr. Whurman will be moving away from colorful glass and be going in a more conceptual direction, including a series of (seriously creepy, but cool) lighting designs based on human anatomy. These will be available soon.

Minima has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the store's in Philly we've mentioned up to this point. It's not, we're guessing, owned by enterprising creative young people. Because such people don't tend to open stores where more than one item is priced in the sub-compact car range. But we just had to steal a moment to display this glorious chandelier. It's a one of a kind piece created by Lyn Godley and it was inside Minima's window when we walked by. It's even more stunning in person, when you get a feel for just how large it is. So, if you're in Philly and want to get a feel for modern furniture/lighting design at its most audacious, take a walk through Minima.

It's about time to check in with Design Public and see what they've up to. What we like most about them is how they balance out carrying ther relatively well-known design brands like Blu Dot and Dwell with little one-person shops we haven't heard of before.

If your name is Deiter or Helmut, you wear black turtlenecks and thick-rimmed glasses, then you'll appreciate this wine rack.

Deiter would also appreciate this Blu Dot coffee table.

Design Public also seems determined to amass the largest collection of modern pillows online.

Starting tomorrow, we'll start reviewing some Spring arrivals at some of our favorite clothing stores! Stay Tuned!

Here at Jargol we're a little biased towards modern home furnishings, but the lighting of Schoolhouse Electric has too unique to resist. Let's begin with a story.

A few years ago, Schoolhouse owner/founder Brian Faherty discovered a collection of cast-iron molds in an upstate New York warehouse that had been forgotten for half a century. The molds were of schoolhouse-style fixtures that were popular from 1900-1950 but had long since ceased production. These molds served as inspiration for what became Schoolhouse Electric, a manufacturing, catalog and retail operation that sought out old fixture molds and shade patterns that originated in early 20th century America and brought them back to life with careful craftsmanship in a Portland factory. Classic deco, arts and crafts and art nouveau pieces have since been added to the original "schoolhouse" offering.

The result is a eerily beautiful collection of lighting that will complement modern and traditional homes alike.

Every couple weeks or so, we like to check on Tortoise's site to see if they've added anything interesting. We're hardly ever disappointed.