Color comes to the cubicleUntil recently, high-quality...

Color comes to the cubicle

Until recently, high-quality office chairs came in two basic colors -- rich brown leather for old-line executives and black, epitomized by the Aeron, a chair that became the cubical favorite during the dot-com bubble.

If you wanted more color choices, you pretty much had to go with the burnt orange or royal blue common to relatively cheap, upholstered models that probably ended up in the office-chair graveyard in a year or so.

But earlier this year, the Herman Miller workplace furnishings company, which introduced the Aeron in 1994, ventured into color with its newest office chair, the Mirra.

It was not a shy venture. The Mirra -- which features a curvy, flexible plastic shell that manages to both hug the back and provide solid support -- comes in eight colors, any of which would be a major focal point in most offices.

Citron (the colors all have evocative names) is a lime green about as subtle as Key lime pie. Terra Cotta is quite orangy; Blue Fog is an aptly named slate tone. And Cappuccino is so on the mark that you wonder if they thought up the name first and then developed the color to match.

The chairs are so distinctive, you’d almost have to be careful about what you wear to work so as not to clash. Of course, you could go with the white, called Alpine, but even it’s hardly ordinary. As the name suggests, it’s a bright snowstorm of a white.

The Mirra does not, however, seem to be all play and no work. Like its more somber uncle, the Aeron, the Mirra has numerous adjustments that can customize it to match body size and type. And it more easily allows for the kind of occasional leaning back many of us do while working.

Maybe it’s mostly because of the color, but the Mirra seems a lot friendlier and more playful than either the Daddy Warbucks leather or Bill Gates-style Aeron chairs.

It’s far too early to know if Mirra will pass the test of time, but it has an undeniably colorful present.

Fully loaded with all adjustment options, the Mirra retails for about $700, which is approximately $100 less than the Aeron.

David Colker

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Checkered future

When it’s time to curl up and count sheep, to pull the wool over your eyes and onto your lap, nothing beats the basics: a throw blanket and a hot-water bottle.

Once strictly functional, these items are becoming desirably decorative as they follow a familiar pattern: the traditional buffalo check. Woolrich, which created the pattern for men’s shirts in 1850, now features the simple and bold collision of red and black bars in its new line of throws, pillows and dog beds at Target (from $9.99).

In addition, luxury goods manufacturers are cashing in on the check.

Garnet Hill offers a multicolored, wool-covered hot-water bottle ($98), and Hermes sells a saffron mohair throw ($1,000). Should those prices send a chill through you, there’s a tartan-covered Burberry journal ($70, www.vivre.com) to keep track of your expenses.

-- David A. Keeps

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Guild works

Want to have all the fun of an arts-and-crafts fair without leaving your desk? Surf over to www.guild.com, an online gallery representing 800 studios that produce furnishings and decorative objects.

Of Guild’s 8,000 offerings, its glass menagerie is exceptionally well-designed, featuring sculptural and functional pieces in an array of techniques, from blown-glass animals in the Murano style (Lisa Schwartz and Kurt Swanson’s “Don’t Squawk Back,” $8,000) to boldly geometric, brightly colored fused dishes and trays (Renato Foti, from $33) that are clearly an homage to the mid-century masterpieces made by Higgins.

Some reach even further back in time, striking a positively Middle-earth tone. Among these, Kenny Pieper’s handblown goblets, in glistening gold and vivid red ($195), are perfect companions to Janusz Pozniak’s pitcher ($400), available in five color combinations.

-- David A. Keeps

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When wire just won’t do

Housebreaking a new puppy can be messy business, but there’s no longer any reason why training crates have to make your home unattractive. Reacting to the preponderance of ugly wire kennels, Toronto-based architectural designer Katrina Herrndorf formed Bowhaus Inc. to create a sleek and chic indoor dog shelter called Haus (two sizes, $370 and $595, available at Maxwell Dog, Studio City, [818] 505-8411).

Constructed from powder-coated steel perforated in a 1950s atomic sunburst pattern, Haus helps integrate a young pet into the family living areas (rather than being banished to a kitchen or porch). Its solid top surface also serves as a side table that works well with most contemporary decor schemes. Though Haus comes equipped with a waterproof pad in four stylish colors including chartreuse, more pampered pooches might want to settle in on the custom cashmere pouf shown on top (from $400, at Fifi & Romeo, L.A., [323] 857-7215).

-- David A. Keeps