Know Your Chairs: The Africa dining chair

For this installation of Know Your Chairs, I am presenting a truly gorgeous seat, a sculptural work of art: the Africa dining chair.

Few pieces of furniture so effortlessly blend a handmade/organic sense with modernist refinement as the Africa Dining Chair by renowned Italian husband and wife designers Afra and Tobia Scarpa which shows the Scarpas' ability to bridge tradition and innovation, resulting in a piece that is as functional as it is poetic.

The Africa Chair was designed in 1976, during a fertile period in the Scarpa duo’s career when they were deeply engaged in redefining Italian modernism. The chair was produced by Maxalto, a division of B&B Italia launched that same year with the goal of creating fine furniture using traditional cabinetmaking techniques. Maxalto means “the highest” in Venetian dialect—a fitting name for a collection that emphasized artisanal quality and sculptural beauty.

With the Africa Chair, the Scarpas set out to create a dining chair that would honor both form and craftsmanship. Constructed from richly stained wood, often walnut or mahogany, and paired with a simple leather or upholstered seat, the chair combines clean lines with subtle curves, exuding a quiet sophistication. The name “Africa” conjures a certain primitivist style, evoking natural forms and a tactile simplicity that contrasts with more industrial mid-century aesthetics.

What sets the Africa Chair apart is its joinery and attention to proportion. Its silhouette is straightforward—minimalist, but its construction is intricate, revealing the Scarpas’ reverence for historical craftsmanship and their deep understanding of materials. It stands as an object of contemplation as much as comfort.

The Africa dining chair in the home of architect Alexander Liberman.
via Architectural Digest

The Africa dining chair at the Parisian home of Lenny Kravitz.
via Architectural Digest

Because the Africa Dining Chair was out of production for many years, it remains a coveted collector’s item and a testament to the enduring legacy of Afra and Tobia Scarpa. Of course originals fetch high prices at auction but the distinguished Italian furniture manufacturer Tacchini has revived the design for sale at select retailers around the world!

Africa chair by Tacchini

Happy designing!

A Country Manor Kitchen by Fiorito Interior Design

My clients approached this kitchen remodel hoping not only for improved functionality but for a space that invited comfort, warmth, and daily enjoyment. Their existing kitchen was limited in both layout and atmosphere where a small island barely larger than a podium offered little utility. An oversized double-width doorway at the rear of the room leading into the adjacent living space disrupted the flow, making furniture placement nearly impossible. They longed for a kitchen where cooking felt easy and intuitive, but also one where they could sit at the table with a book and a cup of tea, or host friends without feeling cramped or awkwardly positioned.

One of the most impactful decisions we made early on was to close off that extra-wide opening to the living room. Doing so allowed us to reclaim the wall, which not only improved circulation but also gave us the freedom to rethink the spacing of the kitchen and eat-in area. With that change, we could introduce a much larger island—truly functional this time—complete with generous workspace and storage. It became a true centerpiece for meal prep, casual dining, and gathering.

From there I turned my attention to layering in comfort, personality, and style. I curated a color palette of soft white, pale blue, light wood tones, and touches of sunshine yellow. This fresh and uplifting combination feels timeless and relaxed. We chose cabinetry with traditional Shaker-style doors, accented by black forged iron hardware for a subtle hint of contrast and authenticity. For the countertops we chose a Gold Calacatta-look quartz, bringing elegance and warmth with its soft veining and classic appeal.

To elevate the kitchen walls I selected a soft matte glass tile in a moody, sky-blue that blankets the backsplash, providing a gentle wash of color that’s calming and cohesive. On the floors I chose a limestone-look porcelain tile in a classic Versailles pattern as an homage to old English manor houses—bringing character and texture underfoot while remaining durable and low-maintenance for modern life.

Lastly I transformed the adjacent eat-in area into a cozy, multifunctional space. We added custom built-in bookshelves and a sideboard for serving and display—perfect for entertaining or simply making daily routines feel more special. A black iron picture light softly illuminates the buffet, lending a warm, ambient glow in the evenings. I carefully planned the seating arrangement to include a space-saving banquette along the wall, paired with a trestle-style dining table and side chairs. At either end I placed tufted host chairs upholstered in an exquisite, tonal Chinoiserie dragon pattern that are comfortable enough to sit on for hours. Whether sharing a leisurely meal, reading in the sunlight, or gazing out at the greenery just beyond the windows, this spot now invites my clients to truly enjoy their home in a new, deeper way.

All photos above by Bernardo Grijalva. Before and after photos below...

If your kitchen needs a new look, give me a call!

Happy designing!

Know Your Chairs: The Cesca

We have looked at the work of Marcel Breuer and his chairs in past posts, but I want to specifically concentrate on one of his iconic creations for this installation of Know Your Chairs: The Cesca Chair.

Breuer was one of the first students--and then later a teacher!--at the Bauhaus art school (previously here) which operated from 1919 to 1933 and ushered in Modernism to the world.  Inspired by the bent steel handlebars of his bicycle, he was very interested in a new technique of extruding steel into tubes to create the frame for the chair he referred to as the model B32. Lightweight yet sturdy, the design proved highly successful. In a later interview, Breuer said, "I already had the concept of spanning the seat with fabric in tension as a substitute for thick upholstery. I also wanted a frame that would be resilient and elastic [as well as] achieve transparency of forms to attain both visual and physical lightness... Mass production and standardization had already made me interested in polished metal, in shiny and impeccable lines in space as new components for our interiors. I considered such polished and curved lines not only symbolic of our modern technology, but actually technology itself."

In the early 1960s, the Italian furniture manufacturer Gavina Group acquired the rights to the design. The company’s founder and owner, Dino Gavina, decided to rename the chair “the Cesca” after Breuer’s daughter, Francesca. And in 1968, Knoll acquired the Gavina Group and is the license holder today. Indeed, it is one of the most copied chairs in modern design... my mom got a set for our dining table when we moved here to California in 1979. Mom had a good eye...

Cesca chairs at a Sarrinen tulip table by Studio Hagen Hall

Cesca chairs with contrasting wood in dining room by Alicia Holgar

You can purchase the Cesca chair through a designer or you can visit Knoll for more information.

Happy designing!

May Marge Carson Sale!

For my local Bay Area clients, I am happy to announce the Fiorito Interior Design May Marge Carson Furniture Sale*!

For the month of May, you can save an extra 15% off of my already low, to-the-trade discounted pricing! Now is the time to save on the best of exquisite furniture including chairs, sofas, sectionals, beds, dining sets, stools, consoles, displays cabinets, desks, and tables of all kinds. Save 47% off retail prices from one of the world's largest and oldest privately-owned fine furniture companies.

This sale is for a limited time only!
Orders must be placed before 5PM, Friday May 31st, 2019.

Go to Marge Carson to make your furniture choices and either email or phone me (visit my website for contact information) to order and take advantage of this exceptional savings!

Happy designing!

*Additional sale discounts do not apply to Carson, Proximity and other already specially priced furniture collections.

September Saloom Sale!

For my local Bay Area clients, I am happy to announce the Fiorito Interior Design September Saloom Dining Furniture Sale exclusively featuring handmade pieces from this artisan company located in Massachusetts!

Now is the time to take advantage of the best of exquisite handcrafted Saloom furniture including tables, chairs and benches (wood and upholstered), stools, buffets, credenzas, and hutches! Save 35% off retail prices from one of the most respected furniture manufacturers in the industry.

This sale is for a limited time only!
Orders must be placed before 5PM, Friday September 28, 2018.

Go to Saloom to make your dining furniture choices and either email or phone me (visit my website for contact information) to order and take advantage of this exceptional 35% savings!

Happy designing!

Couture For Your Chairs

I am currently at work on a whole-house project for a client who lives a literal stone's throw from the gorgeous coastline here in the Monterey Bay Area and the brief was to infuse the sense of the coastline, the ocean, and the beach into the home without resorting to "beach" or "surf" clichés.

And one of the ways we are doing that is with a limited color palette of blue, white, and gold. Of course blue and white could be considered cliché when thinking of a beach house, but my client's taste leans toward modern minimalism. When done with interesting geometric fabrics and a muted color palette, the beach factor is dialed down and the design resides in a decidedly more sophisticated area.

For her dining room, we are having a pair of custom host chairs made that will be covered in two wonderful fabrics. This is one of the advantages of working with an interior designer: we can customize and design unique pieces of furniture that you simply can't get anywhere else. I have had clients tell me that the frustrating part about ordering furniture from the big, standard vendors like Pottery Barn and Crate and Barell is that the chair or sofa they may have chosen only comes in four or six colors and perhaps four patterns. But with me, you can get chairs, ottomans, sofas, sectionals in whatever fabric we find that captivates us.

With an elegant, scoop-armed chair chosen...

...my client and I were captivated by a lovely geometric pattern that, while it doesn't explicitly reference the ocean, recalls waves or even tangles of kelp or seaweed. To further customize this chair and make is something truly unique and beautiful, we are putting this fabric only on the outside back...

...while the inside back and the seat will be upholstered in this rich aquatic colored velvet which has been specially treated to resist stains.

The fabric is on its way to the manufacturer in North Carolina and we should have our custom chairs in another several weeks!

I love creating customized furniture for clients. We can customize case goods like buffets by choosing our color or wood stain and whether there are fabric, leather, raffia, or mirrored panels. And of course we can dress furniture in nearly any fabric we wish, often with welting and nailhead options as well. There is nothing "off-the-rack" about it. It really is like having couture clothing designed for your chairs!

If you'd like to furnish your house with unique pieces of furniture created to your own taste and style, give me a call.

Happy designing!

A Light, Airy Kitchen by Fiorito Interior Design

Acquiring a new house is an exciting occasion but often has many challenges. So when my clients moved here to California from the east coast and purchased a home that was built in 1967, they came to me to help modernize and update the house that clearly had not been touched since the 70s. For the kitchen, we removed the dated orange oak cabinetry, tile counter tops (with pesky large grout lines), and cracked terra cotta flooring. This enabled us to start from scratch so we could create a light, bright kitchen in the soft fog and forest colors of the coastal mountain region of our area here in Northern California.

White cabinetry and light neutrals in the space create an airy, open feeling. European white oak flooring contributes to the organic feeling and grounds the space. New appliances (including a French-door Sub Zero refrigerator and a Wolf oven with coordinating microwave), hand-forged iron light fixtures, and a luxurious Crema Marfil marble counter and mosaic backsplash elevate this kitchen while the custom drapery panels, trestle table, and custom chairs in the dining area allow the kitchen to retain a casual, contemporary-California atmosphere.

All after photos by Bernardo Grijalva

Here is what it looked like before we gave it a new lease of life!

And here is the empty kitchen, just in drywall and ply sub-flooring, waiting to be made beautiful.

Do you have a dated kitchen that needs a lift? Call me!

Happy designing!