of bats & spooks & witches beware

happy halloween my ghoulish friends. i'll be back tomorrow with a whole new look. oooo la la!

tv pop

tv's are a regular fixture in most american homes, but sometimes the less electronically focused, more artfully sensitive person may not want to always see the monstrosity when it's not in use. as tv's are becoming larger in scale they pose a new challenge to designers to incorporate them into room design without always making them the dominant feature. one idea is to hide the tv inside a cabinet that is designed with a pop-up lift system {hydraulic or electric}. there are several new units being sold by well-known manufacturers:

{more traditional style ~ pop-up hdtv & black wood cabinet by edison}


{more contemporary style ~ pop-up lcd tv & red laminate cabinet by sharp}

and then you can also get one custom designed for your space and needs if you don't see the right thing being offered in stores:

{i realize this is pretty huge and not the norm, since we designed a 60" tv that lifts out of the same unit that houses a 103" tv, but it still can give you an idea for possibilities that are out there. plus that is some serious design eye-candy}

{just for a sense of scale of this thing ~ i saw this from design drawing stage to built reality & i'm still amazed by it}

the great pumpkin

i'm a huge peanuts fan & the halloween spirit is definitely taking me over ~ so please allow me a little diversion to let ya'll know this is on at 8pm tonight on abc. the kid in you will be grateful i'm sure of it.

pssst....pif

i have two open spots in the winner's circle for the pay it forward handmade giveaway. just post a comment here if you wanna join in giving and receiving of the craftigoodness.

p.s. handmade could mean music cd'ing, drawing, collaging, beading, writing, knitting....anything you make yourself. i know there are a ton of you who do such out there. so please don't let the pay-it-forward chain break here.

{the picture is from the learning to love you more project: make an encouraging banner}

to report back

the western interiors design+home show was smaller than we expected, but packed full of fabulousness. it was so nice to meet some of the incredible artists and designers in person, and to see & feel their work for real. i took a ton of pictures so i'm just posting a few of my faves for now. if you want to see them all, feel free to jump on over to my flickr set for the show.

bontempi, fantastico

guess who just came out with a new line that is drop-dead-gorgeous??

it's called materia. enjoy.
and have yourself a fabulous weekend!

western interiors design+home show

tomorrow calie {of nohea lookbook} and i are going to meet up and adventure through the western interiors design+home show . i cannot wait! here are a few vendors to entice you to join us:aaron smith

heath ceramics

phillip nimmo ironworks

studio roeper


vicki simon

el nivel siguiente

my first tango series is over and now it's on to the level two series. plus i begin follower's workshop style classes on mondays. obsession much? yes, unabashedly, yes.
my first tango guru, the always insightful tangobaby, posted about this couple recently. while she was in venice. really. this tango couple {michelle & murat erdemsel} are so romantically musically amazing she took the time to blog about them while on her vacay in venice. and i am so grateful. a whole new inspiration to behold. and to share with you ~ happy thursday!

stumpified

the kate cunningham company is a true gem if you're looking for adding a natural element to your interior decor. we've used kate's stumps in the eh beach house, to great effect {the stump side table in the teen's playroom below is one of kate's}. their tree stump tables are one of a kind. each piece is hand-sculpted in the usa from a wide variety of already felled, reclaimed american trees. true re-use design that looks gorgeous!

{three different finish options and stump styles shown on their website ~ but of course you can customize at will}

{eh beach house living room showing our use of kate cunningham stumps}

another wonderful resource for a rustic yet refined look in furntiure is tucker robbins. as a monk, turned world traveler, turned designer, tucker robbins gracefully combines great design with authentic tradition for extraordinary results. based in new york, each of their products is unique, and hand crafted with woods from all over the world. and they do incredible custom work as well.

{3 examples of work from their website ~ waterfall side tables, stump stools, and sugar press dining table}

{this custom dining table was designed by orlando diaz-azcuy and built by tucker robbins ~ gloss finish pink wood with grey cerused finish on the tamarind ball & cube base}

pay it forward handmade gift give away!

darlings ~ a new exchange is zipping through the blogiverse and i am jumping on it!
i got it from the diva at design for mankind, and now it's my turn to pay it forward.
i will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this pay it forward exchange. the only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.
i'm not sure what i'll make yet, but i've collected a sampling of some of my craftivity to give you an idea of what could come your way.....
if you're interested in joining please post any comment and the first 3 will get a snail mail bliss surprise before the holiday season commences ~ i promise. pay it forward and prosper!

teen & toddler playroom

this is the playroom in the east hampton's house ~ there are so many things i love about it that i had to highlight it on its own. the architecture got a little funky in here due to the roof lines, but the storage, electronics and furnishings all turned out great. the entry door and the tv are both recessed into their own niches so they're flush with the wall. the electronics, games, dvd's, etc are stored in the built-in millwork on the east side of the room. the carpet is a custom wall-to-wall that runs throughout the second floor. the walls are painted a simple ice-block white {from sherwin williams}. unfortunately i don't have any information on that fabulous wooden map above the sofa. it is a family heirloom of the client's and they don't have any information on where it originally came from. so if you happen to recognize it from somewhere, please do tell!


{the white fiberglass coffee table is the anima by minima, the sofa is from the ac collection at b&b italia, the upholstery is osborne & little's broadway ripple, the white and chrome floor lamp is the joe 60 by y lighting, the throw pillows are custom done in kravet's boho beat fabric line, and the white resin & kelp hide armchair is from espasso}

sharp mw drawer

something i had hoped for in kitchen design has come true: a microwave drawer!

this fits nicely with the much needed trend of more ergonomic and versatile kitchen design {dishwasher drawers, refrigerator drawers, hydraulic cabinetry}. the limitations appliances often pose for kitchen designers are slowly but surely being alleviated.

this new microwave drawer is produced by sharp. lauded as the world's first 24-inch microwave drawer, it is built-in ready for easy installation without the need of an additional kit. it eliminates awkward installations and cluttered countertops, and provides superb access, placing the microwave at a very convenient height.

red bamboo reception

thought i'd share a few photos from the printz dance project reception i did last saturday ~ even though the quality of the photography isn't so great, it at least gives you an idea of how my initial inspiration board came into reality.
i'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped me make this happen: trader joe's for donating the food, the pdp board of directors for donating the vino, and jenni, maggie & sofie for dontating their time.

the natural color system

one highlight of my past week was getting to learn all about the natural color system (ncs). representatives from their headquarters in sweden are in san francisco this week for the icsid/idsa congress convention, so they kindly stopped by our office to give us some education on the ncs concepts, research and functionality. we were all thoroughly impressed, to say the least. gone are the days of painstakingly trying to match paint color swatches to a piece of art and then praying the custom rug colors that appeared to match on the materials board will actually match when the rug is made and installed. or trying to match the color of quince flowers exactly because a client adores them, and never being able to get it quite right across different materials. ncs has an exact science for understanding, defining and creating color. the human eye can see more than 10 million different colors, and ncs is dedicated to giving us the tools to identify and share them.

{ncs is not offering design assistance, instead they have created one of the best design tools of the modern era. they've made an accessible science out of color and created a way to catalogue 1000's of colors in a language that can be shared in all countries, organizations and disciplines. so you can determine the exact color you want for branding purposes or design projects of all types and communicate that to any vendors anywhere to get the exact match you need every time}




{a plethora of wonderful tools to help you color match and identify the perfect hue and pigment are available ~ and tons of fun to play with. but you can also request to have custom color samples made, and they'll get you a custom color swatch within a week}

{using pure colors developed by ncs to match materials for anything from paint to rug fibers to wallpaper}

some spring in your fall

yay ~ my crazy busy week is over and now i can resume my "regular" life! these fresh cheerful white & chartreuse tulips look so gorgeous in our entry lobby right now, so i just had to share them with you. it's fun to receive the refreshing feeling of spring when you feel like you've been in a cave for a few days. but now i'll turn my decorating attention to the pumpkins, ghosts, witches, and graveyards that are begging to be let out of the creativity closet. i definitely feel the excitement building for autumn and all its splendor ~ i think i'll go take a walk in the woods and visit the pumpkin patch this weekend. i hope you have a fall-fabulous weekend too!

reflect and rejuve

dear ones, i'm taking a wee blogging break. time to rest my eyes & thoughts for a day or two. but i'll be back at it before you know it.

{photo by lorenzo}

hariri and hariri

based in nyc, this sister team is inspiring not only for their incredible arhcitecture and design acumen, but also for how they've broken the mold of their ethnic and gender roots. iranian born and raised, both hariri's graduated from cornell with degrees in architecture, and they have since become two of the most accomplished women in american design. hariri and hariri's work has been internationally published and awarded ~ it's characterized by a careful combination of linear geometry and gentle curves and arcs with an emphasis on natural materials. the hariri's have a well-honed ability to combine modernist rigor with what new yorker architecture critic paul goldberger described as an "understanding of the patterns of everyday life." i think it's only a matter of time before hariri and hariri becomes a household name.

and there's also a gorgeous book about homes they have designed, with a foreward by richard meier: