Last week we attended the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle. Not particularly well known in the Bay Area, the NFGS has long been considered the premier West Coast garden show.

I'd never been, so this year we decided mount an expedition and try to sell some of Artefact's more garden oriented product in the show's marketplace. That goal in mind, Frank and I loaded up a big truck with tons of rock pots, vines and grinding wheels and headed north.

And sell we did. The schedule for exhibitors is grueling - a series of 12 hour days dealing with the public - and by the end of the show we were right on the edge. But I'm happy to report no one was physically harmed or particularly outraged at our increasingly bizarre behavior, and I’ll bet they'll even invite us back next year.

The highlight of the trip, however, was my visit to the loft/converted middle school gymnasium in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle that is the home of Larry Winn and his wife Susan. Some years ago I designed the centerpiece of this space, a massive table, heavy enough to require a specially reinforced floor. What fun it was to finally visit Larry and Susan in their spectacular home, which has since won AIA awards and has been featured in numerous design publications.

Yes, I'm back from my annual winter pilgrimage to Maison et Objet, also known as the Paris Gift Show. For three days I walked the endless halls of the Parc des Expostions with attendees from around the globe. Twice a year thousands of devotees converge here to see the best of new European design. The show caters to all tastes and styles, not just contemporary design, so is an excellent general survey of new ideas. I attend every January, gawking and surreptitiously snapping photos, as impressed by the logistics of the immense temporary showrooms and visual display ideas as I am by any of the new products.

With more than 3000 exhibitors, many housed in remarkable 5000+ square foot temporary showrooms, it is a spectacle on an immense scale that dazzles and always provides me with inspiration for the year ahead. Also inspiring this year was the decidedly upbeat mood, a noticeable improvement over last winter's show, and virtually all the vendors I spoke to were pleased with their sales.

In this gallery (set) are photos from the show, grouped in no particular order. Enjoy!

The Paris Flea Market is actually not a single market, but 17 individual markets with over 2000 stalls and shops that cover many blocks near the Porte de Clingnancourt metro stop. Of all of these my favorite is Marche Paul Bert. Here I always find the most "progressive" antique dealers - if that makes any sense.

Take a look at the photos and maybe you'll understand what I mean. Most of these shots are the appealing displays put together by dealers in their small individual stalls.

What did I buy, you ask? Unfortunately, though I could fill a container with bargains a few years back, shopping here has become a difficult proposition for Americans with our wimpy little dollars.