The prospect of retirement doesn’t just signal the end of a career; it offers the chance to recalibrate and re-prioritize in life.
The Modern Baby: Part Four
October 9, 2012
Infant brand Oeuf has been celebrated by celebrities and design magazines alike for its sophisticated yet whimsical products for children. They have gained a solid reputation for their high-quality products and simple, elegant designs. Sophie Demenge and Michael Ryan, a French-American couple and founders of Oeuf, invited Dwell to see how they've infused their Brooklyn residence with the same ethos that makes their company such a success.
"This trapeze was made by my teacher at circus school," says Sophie Demenge. "I was living in San Francisco in a big Victorian house with roommates. The ceilings were so high I could hang the trapeze and practice at home. Now my kids are taking over—it's the first thing they do when they get up and the last before going to bed."
The rug is an old kilim from Turkey; the Eames Lounge chair is from Demenge's childhood living room Paris—"A testament to the great quality of this 30-something-year-old chair," she says. The couch is from Room & Board.
"Every year I try to find a quirky, interesting, and poetic family portrait," says Dememge. "I don't remember how I discovered this artist, but she is incredibly talented. Her name is Sarah McGowan."
"This is Mae's room; she is ten. The bedding is all linen, some of which we made, and the the rest is old family linen from France," says Demenge. "We painted the cardboard fox and cat portraits for a trade show and Mae really liked them. She always scoops things up when she visits the office."
"We got these Bertoia chairs for practically nothing from an auction held at a barn in the Catskills," says Demenge. "We were the only ones bidding on them. We use them all the time; there is no furniture that we don't use. That's the rule."
"This is in my eight-year-old son Marius's room. It is what it is," says Demenge. "We ask him to put things away, but why hide them?"
"This is the Mini-Library in Baltic birch, it's really practical and the scale is good for kids," says Demenge.
"I designed this desk when I was at Pratt and Michael helped me make it," says Demenge. "He and I went to Pennsylvania to get the slab of walnut."
The frames on the wall hold a mix of family photos. "I love to have pictures of family members throughout their lives," says Demenge. "For instance, I have a wonderful picture of my grandmother in her teens in New York, one of her with her three kids—including my mother—and one of my aunt when she was in the tub reading a book in her 90s. All the pictures remind me of a happy, deep, or funny, moment."
"This trapeze was made by my teacher at circus school," says Sophie Demenge. "I was living in San Francisco in a big Victorian house with roommates. The ceilings were so high I could hang the trapeze and practice at home. Now my kids are taking over—it's the first thing they do when they get up and the last before going to bed."
The rug is an old kilim from Turkey; the Eames Lounge chair is from Demenge's childhood living room Paris—"A testament to the great quality of this 30-something-year-old chair," she says. The couch is from Room & Board.
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