I learned the other day about the Eames Hang-It-All from a friend and co-worker who loves mid-century modern furniture. (Thanks, Chris!) I've been wondering why it stands out to me, and I think it has to do a good deal with the color choices.

The linked page at the Brooklyn Museum shows an older make - with the Internet Archive getting hammered in the last few weeks, I hope that the URL will be more stable than alternatives. But the first one I saw was the "Multi" design, clearly inspired by those original colors, still available from HermanMiller. Those orbs pop and remind me of the playfulness of childhood art projects with polymer clay and tempura paints. The darker colors remind me, too, of childhood propensities to mix colors into darker and darker swirls. And altogether, I'm reminded of tendencies in painting from the same time period, toward abstraction, and particularly of Morris Louis, whose quiet and simplicity, I think, finds an echo in the colors of a coat rack.

One would want a bright hallway! And not too many coats.