Perfect / IMPERFECT

Imperfect is beautiful. I love that line. It reminds me of the slightly puffy eyes that my son inherited from my husband, who hates them and every so often overcomes his inherent British male-ness and asks me if I have some eye cream that can minimize them. I love them. I especially love them in my son. When he smiles, they puff up just a little bit more, making him look both wise and impish. They are one of the many unique, delicious, sweet things that make him.....him.

I believe that whilst we may admire perfection, and even yearn for it, we don't love people, or things, because they are perfect. We love them because they are who or what they are. So when we started building the Hapeman Hill website, we wrote it down. One of the first phrases on the home page, central to our design philosophy :

" We believe imperfect is beautiful"

It proved to be unexpectedly polarizing. "Why would I buy into something that bills itself as imperfect?"..."Love it - that's exactly it..." ...."what do you mean by that?"..

We mean pieces with patina and blemished surfaces. Things that are made by Hand, and might have slight irregularities. Texture, vintage textiles. We mean an item that was used in a factory- and has the scars and dents to show it, rather than a mass produced "industrial" look item. Don't get me wrong, we love contemporary design, pour over the latest RH catalogue and love a mid century classic design as much as the next....well, everyone.... but we are not moved by spaces that look like a DWR showroom. We would much rather see a Mies van de Rohe chair next to a weathered, primitive piece - The contrast enhances the qualities of each and creates room for playfulness, dialogue, soul and surprises. Below are are some perfectly imperfect buys. Remember this pieces are unique- once they are sold there is no more.

The french Arm Chair at the top of this post is from Simple Devotee. Cost is $102 + $119 Shipping from France. Such a great find! For link, click on image. The material on the back is torn and there seems be some fading on the seat cover. Perfect or imperfect? Image from Simple Devotee.

This porcelain dishes From Sin D Studio have a gold edge highlighting their irregular edge. $75 for the set plus $25.50 shipping from Israel. click on image for link. Image by Sin D Studio.

From Color Reform, this vintage rug made by nomadic tribes in east Turkey in the 1970's. 6'3" x9'4". The combination of textures, colors, and time makes this piece unique. $607 + $50 shipping. Click on image for link. Image from Color Reform.

This Handmade coffee table by Dylan Grey Design Co. is hand made in Maryland. It has solid white oak top, sourced using responsible harvesting techniques. from $1070. Image by Dylan Grey Design.

So.....you might have noticed we left the perfect/imperfect phrase out of our home page. Because as much as we love imperfection, we also love beautifully crafted and well made pieces. We have even been known to get excited about a Home goods or Target item. It's all in the mix. Did we do the right thing? What do you think? please leave your comments below