Wright chair joins style with comfort

Frank Lloyd Wright might be America's most famous architect, but he does get some bad raps.

For example, it is said he never designed a comfortable chair.

Tim Copeland of Copeland Furniture in Vermont says his company's new Boynton dining chairs disprove this.

A century ago the Boyntons asked for comfortable dining chairs, so Wright designed a back with a compound curve that would support the sitter's shoulders and lower back.

It wasn't the master's fault the chair was never built. The technology to create the compound curve did not exist.

Copeland got the design from Wright's archives and finally built the chair, which should be available next month. Suggested retail for the side chair is $949, while the arm chair is priced at $1,149.

The Frank Lloyd Wright line is carried by Walter E. Smithe.

Visit www.copelandfurniture.com.

A touch of bamboo updates your look

If you need more storage in your kitchen, Crate & Barrel has an idea.

This bamboo stand features six shelves that can hold cookware, dinner or cookbooks.

The rails are bamboo, the shelves nickel-plated steel.

It could fit in a corner, stand next to your island or perhaps make a closet more efficient.

And you might even let it out of the kitchen into the family room or bath or wherever you want open storage.

The price is $175.

Since when is Paris a country spot?

You say "country" is not your style; you're really a little more sophisticated than that?

Country has changed, and to prove it, ideas that fit most styles pop up in Country Living's February edition.

And they range from do-it-yourself to the just-dreaming categories.

An expert tells how to make your own lampshades, and of course these don't have to fit a country décor at all.

The magazine sponsored the construction of a brand new house, but the issue also has articles about salvage items and refurbishing homes.

Old items were even used in the new home. The dining room chairs were all bought on eBay, then unified with a coat of black matte paint.

Here's one tip: Use classic millwork to give structure to a modern, open floor plan.

The finds page is full of great items, including Arzu Firuz vinyl rugs that look like they are intricately cut wood (www.vivre.com).

But my favorite story is about how two couples bought a tiny apartment in Paris and renovated it in 11 days with $10,000.

Now isn't that just the best fantasy ever?

If the definition of "country" stretches for a small space in Montmartre, surely it can fit us suburbanites.