Michigan memories fuel new collection

Designer Sarah Sherman Samuel drew inspiration from her childhood in Michigan, creating furniture pieces that reference kites, forts, and the midwest landscape for her SSS Atelier fall collection.

“Flying kites in open fields, building forts in the woods, walking home from elementary school through the dunes”

Pieces reference childhood activities

The Kite Chair features a triangular back cushion, the Fort Cabinet has a slatted facade evoking stacked wood, and the Au Sable dining table takes its rambling shape from a Michigan river.

The Dune Chair required extensive refinement

The most challenging design in the collection, the Dune Chair took significant trial and error to achieve its soft, sculptural quality while maintaining an effortless appearance.

“getting those curves just right took a lot of trial and error in the prototyping stage”

Fall design radar: oxblood and ceramic

Sherman Samuel is drawn to wild, abstracted botanical patterns, deep oxblood tones that pair beautifully with wood, and ceramic materials that bring hand-worked quality into refined interiors.

“Oxblood. I love those deep wine and brown-red tones right now.”

Pier Side Table feels most personal

The Pier Side Table combines Sherman Samuel's signature elements: a strong simple silhouette, natural material, and hand-made ceramic eye inlays that add an unexpected artistic gesture.

Elementary school shaped design thinking

Lake Hills Elementary, built in the early 1970s with low sprawling mid-century architecture integrated into wooded dune land, taught Sherman Samuel how architecture connects with landscape and defines space through volume and connection.

Fort Cabinet hides living realities

The massive Fort Cabinet can store everything from televisions and electronics to linens, games, and art supplies, embodying Sherman Samuel's philosophy of beautiful closed storage that hides the realities of daily living.

Organizing by natural reach, not rules

Sherman Samuel's organizing philosophy prioritizes giving things a home where they are actually used, rather than following conventional storage rules, and favors beautiful closed storage to hide clutter.

“giving things a home where you actually use them”

Mid-century home renovation in progress

Sherman Samuel recently purchased a James R. Bronkema mid-century modern home and is peeling back 1990s renovations to restore it to its mid-century roots while making it relevant for contemporary living.