"Every Movement has a Lunatic Fringe..."

...Declares Gary Friedman at the beginning of Restoration Hardware's Fall 2011 Source book. Friedman, the Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Restoration Hardware, quotes Teddy Roosevelt famous line: "The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who at his worst, if he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory or defeat."

 Has Friedman and the RH design team strove valiantly? Yes. 

Have they succeeded? I think so.

The Fall 2011 Source Book is full of surprises: small articles about the artisans who produce their products, references to almost every design period after the mid-1750's and a masterfully captured still lives of chairs, light bulbs and bedding. The photography is splendid.