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Friday, May 17, 2024 • B3
THE GARDEN ISLAND
Home designs that evoke the flow of water Yelena Moroz Alpert THE NEW YORK TIMES Water is a popular motif with product designers because it symbolizes tranquility and clarity. But this force of nature also “adds movement, freedom and flow in a space,” said Golnar Roshan, who with her partner, Ruben de la Rive Box, recently introduced a rug collection called Fluid that evokes the moody skies reflected in the canals of Amsterdam, where they live. “I like to mix worlds that seem far apart, create unexpected connections and imaginative short circuits between things,” Paola Navone, a designer in Milan, said of her collection of new pendant lights with diffusers of milky white or limpid blue glass that visually create an oceanic sway. (The lamps are called Oblp, which is Italian for “porthole.”) These and other fresh, splashy products are presented here. The interlocking handblown vases by Los Angeles artist and designer Mansi Shah — part of her first housewares line, Manu Nanu — fit together like molecules. “The glass itself possesses a water-like quality,” she said, adding that she likes to keep the vases on a windowsill, where sunlight passes through and casts shadows that “dance and shift like
HANDOUT VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES
Windy collection porcelain tiles by Oki Sato, with subtly incised patterns like the marks made by a breeze on the surface of water. to metal sculpture to encapsulate the object’s qi, or vital energy. “The pool form is a portal into another dimension,” she said. HANDOUT VIA THE NEW YORK TIMES Available in bronze or white brass for $650. oblist. The Wave series produced by Kast, an English concom crete basin company. Symbolizing tranquillity and “To construct or deconclarity, water is the inspiration behind many brands’ struct, water is your tool,” creations. said Joseph Algieri, a New ripples.” Available in amchitect, the handblown ca- York City designer. In his Construction vases, a flood ber, cobalt blue and teal for rafe is $260. $80. manunanu.com beaconcustomlighting.com of pigmented foam breaks After producing a ceiling Chinese American artist through the ceramic barrilamp with a bulbous glass Tina Scepanovic discovers, defeating any expectafilament that rises from the ered what she described as tion that water should be center to evoke a water the “hidden power” of wacontained in a vessel. Availdrop splashing in a pool, ter while swimming comable for $850. josephalgieri. Beacon Custom Lighting petitively as a teenager. For com followed with its Pond de“I am a Pisces and water her Narcissus catchall, she applied the loose gestures is my natural element,” canter. Designed by Dean said Paola Navone about of Chinese brush painting Maltz, a New York City ar-
How to buy a home in a high interest rate environment BRANDPOINT Following years of all-time low mortgage interest rates, 2023 saw rates fluctuate between 6 percent and 8 percent, complicating the plans of some homebuyers. What many renters who are looking to become homeowners may not realize is that mortgage rates are only one aspect of affordability, which should be viewed as a three-legged stool: home price, mortgage interest rate, and down payment. Even in a challenging interest rate or home price environment, private mortgage insurance (MI) can be used to help low down payment borrowers with the dream of homeownership. So, if the home price is within range, how much cash do you need for a down payment? You may think it is 20 percent, but the truth is, you can qualify for a mortgage with as little as 3 percent down. According to U.S. Mortgage Insurers, private MI has helped nearly 39 million borrowers access homeownership with low down payments. Further, private MI helped nearly 800,000 homeowners purchase a home or refinance a mortgage in 2023, with nearly 35 percent having incomes below $75,000 and more than 64 percent of those loans going to first-time buyers. In addition, the most common form of private MI, paid monthly by the borrower, helps homeowners begin building equity sooner and is also only a temporary cost that can be cancelled after 20 percent equity is established. Importantly, once private MI is cancelled, the monthly mortgage payment goes down, unlike loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Each homebuyer’s finances are different, therefore it is important to do the math before buying a home. If you’re interested in learning more about private MI, visit lowdownpaymentfacts.com to learn more about your homeownership options.
Oblò, her nautical-inspired lighting for the Italian company Lodes. The pendant lamps are suspended like buoys with “no sense of earth or gravity,” she said. Available in three bulbous shapes and five finishes; price upon request. lodes. com/en/ The Windy collection by Oki Sato, founder of the Tokyo design studio Nendo, consists of grès porcelain tiles with subtly incised patterns like the marks made by a breeze on the surface of water, rice paddies and grasslands. The tiles, which are produced by Decoratori Bassanesi, come in four patterns and four colors: Rice, Almond,
Dolomite and Pepper, at $18 per square foot. decoratoribassanesi.it Describing the origins of her Fluid rug collection for the Dutch company Moooi, Golnar Roshan of Amsterdam design firm Rive Roshan recalled that the floor of her canal-side studio “was almost level with the water, a few feet from the front door.” She added, “The way it rippled and reflected the light and the sky had this intriguing influence.” Available in rectangular and circular versions, from $3,250. moooi.com/us The Wave series produced by Kast, an English concrete basin company, complements the bathroom’s default theme of water. The curvy fixtures, called Tilde, Dune and Prim, are available in 28 colors — including Storm (blue) and Brick (terra cotta). The Dune basin shown is $3,225. kastconcretebasins.com The rim of the Tanba basket by Enkay follows the sinuous lines of a river. “Water motifs have an enduring place in interior design because of the softness they bring to spaces, especially as accents,” said the company’s founder, Asha Chaudhary. The baskets are handwoven with ilala palm leaves sourced from Zimbabwe. The small version is 18 inches in diameter and $408. enkay.com