LIVING WITH STRANGE FURNITURE

My How-To: finding the best of Strange, and tricks for successful experimentation

Wearstlerworld,

The Ron Arad Rover chair—it’s one of the sickest chairs ever.

In 1981, Ron salvaged a discarded car seat from a Rover 2000, mounted it on a tubular steel frame, and turned scrap into this sculptural design that really has kept the air and energy of a car seat. It launched his career, really, and they’re a constant source of inspiration for me: the inventiveness, and being able to see something artful in what was discarded.

I have two, which I bought at auction about seven or eight years ago. But, they are in—I haven’t quite figured out where to place them.

Still, I know they’ll have their moment soon, either at my house, or in some (lucky) project. With good “strange furniture,” you often fall in love with the emotion of it, rather than some obvious place for it. And that can lead you to wonderful places—and, honestly, some of my best buys made zero sense in the moment.

(I often fall in love with things because they are new—because I’ve never seen them before. Which is r…