sf decorator's showcase house 2009

this year is the first since moving to san francisco that i won't be going to the decorator's showcase house. boo! not only is this showcase a fabulous way to see what some local designers can do when put to the test, but it's also one of the only ways to see some incredible old-school san francisco residential architecture. so i have always enjoyed seeing these homes from the inside as much as seeing what the designers do within each of their choosen rooms. this year the house is 2830 pacific avenue ~ built in 1910 by architect nathaniel baisdell, it is a four-story 10,000 square foot mansion in pacific heights with gorgeous views and beautiful georgian-style brick exterior architecture.
alas, instead of forming my own opinions through my own eyes, i've had to dive into the blogs of others to get a sneak peak through some one else's lense. even still, there are some interesting and inspiring interiors worth sharing with you:

first up is the entry foyer by nicole hollis


obviously "collections" is a theme nicole chose, shown on the stairwell above and in the unfortunate taxidermy case below:


orlando diaz-azcuy designed the formal dining room {yes, he's my former employer}. i really like the color palette but wouldn't feel comfortable dining underneath a bladed fixture like that and it could be awkward to speak to the person sitting directly across from you with all those vases blocking your view:


the breakfast nook and family room were designed by matthew leverone. i love his choices for both spaces ~ fresh, chic, surprising and yet simple enough to be very liveable and enjoyable for every day use.




the teenager's bedroom by palmer weiss ~ the perfect blend of hip and traditional with a young-at-heart theme:

the master suite by cecil starin ~ masculine and soothing with a neutral palette:

"her study" was designed by benjamin dhong ~ gorgeous & very creative:

if you'd like to attend, the decorator's showcase house is open until may 25th. please let me know if you visit it and what you think!

if you're unable to attend here's a link to the video tour on the california home + design website. enjoy!

{thanks to anh minh , the sunset blog and california home + design for the photos!}

about that vampire house in twilight

unlike just about everybody these days, i didn't read the twilight books. but i did have a lovely afternoon with my best diva friend watching the movie {dvd}, in pj's and chillaxin'. although i thought it was a mediocre film {gasp! how could i say such a thing & risk the sneers of teen vampire admirers everywhere??}, the main thing that stood-out as fantastic to me was the cullen house ~ the house where the vampire family lived, supposedly in the woods near forks, washington. this house is a beautiful architectural and design marvel of modern styling made to fit elegantly well in the woods; and i'm ready to move in! it's been a nice little quest to figure out where this house is truly located and who designed it. how can i live in it if i don't even know where it is??
low and behold, this beauty is actually located near portland, oregon and was designed by a star-studded pacific northwest team: skylab architecture. originally set as a spec home it was quickly purchased up by one of the owners of nike. darn! i'll keep my eyes out for it to go on the market again. ;o)
in real life it's called the hoke house and the genius behind it is named jeff kovel. this guy pretty much rocks every project he's ever done. . . . maybe he's looking for a design assistant? i am so impressed with his vision and style, and this hoke house is one great example of just what jeff can do. to learn more about jeff and his portfolio, and more about the hoke/cullen house, check out this fabulous interview on design tavern.

and to continue with the house tour, do ya wanna peek inside?? ah, yeah, of course you do:gorgeous, gorgeous, and more gorgeous!
it occurred to me after doing the research for this post that maybe it's already been blogged to death? i have been so out of the blog-loop the last several months. . . .so my apologies if this is so yesterday. i am truly inspired by skylab's incredible work in this house and the photos all make me smile, so i'm blogging it no matter how many others have done so before me. ;o)
{photos found on skylab's website & on design-tavern}

oh, to live in a barn

if you've been a studio wellspring reader for a while you'll know i have this thing for barns turned in to homes. whenever i see one i get weak in the knees. it's a long time dream of mine {we're talking i've been drawing up floor plans on graph paper since 6th grade} to use modern interior design in a vintage barn. so it's always incredibly inspiring to see what others have done with similar dreams ~ to see how ingenius their concept is, or to imagine how i'd do things differently. lately i've stumbled across several great resources for aquiring & moving barns, renovating barns & decorating in barn-house style.

first off, the barn pages ~ it lists more than 200 barns for sale, which are priced according to condition. most of the barns need to be moved from the land they're on ~ which is just fine, since often barns are located in an out-of-the-way place without easy access to utilities & such. so you can buy a barn and have it disassembled and shipped to a more desired location, where it can be put back together again. or you can just use the barn timber to build something new. it's a fantastic recycling concept, isn't it?

for help with the restoration and reassembly of barns, check out the barn people in vermont, berkshire barns in massachusetts, and the new jersey barn company. they've all been dismantling, restoring and reassembling vintage barns for over twenty-five years. even if your favorite barn isn't in the north east, they would still be great resources for any project location.

for lots of lovely barn related decor items & furnishings, the barn house blog is a lovely place to visit.

and to take part in a blogger's project of turning a barn into a modern home, check out bare hill barn ~ it's fascinating.
lastly, some eye candy from the barn pages:

etta designs & sustainable interiors

the term 'sustainable interiors' can be misleading because it describes only part of the picture. claiming that a project or renovation is green, sustainable or eco-friendly, may seem like a wonderful thing to boast but it alone doesn't define a space. an interior space also needs to have functionality, beauty, comfort, and good space planning ~ as all good design requires. the vast majority of projects claiming to be green aren't 100% eco-friendly, especialy since they're often found within existing non-green architecture. but integrating green design techniques and knowing where to go to help boost the eco-friendly factor in interiors projects is the key stone to making a shift from wasteful to wonderful in interior design. that's why i just adore finding people like rachel winokur & her firm eTTa designs.

rachel winokur runs eTTa deisgns, an l.a. based interior design firm with a focus on interior design for residential & commercial applications including stunning eco-friendly solutions. rachel is the founder and lead designer of eTTa designs which handles the entire design process including concept, budget, space planning, selecting and purchasing finishes, furnishings & equipment, project management, and installation.

in this excerpt from apartment therapy rachel has some great tips for staying green during a renovation and shares some of her favorite resources.
in her own home she's stayed green largely due to using vintage pieces instead of buying new. for larger projects here's how she stays green:

renovations ~ one of the first things to do when starting a renovation project is to plan for the proper disposal of whatever will be removed. this means: recycling demolition debris through a service like looney bins or in some cases a better solution is to hire someone like the reuse people to deconstruct your project and take away all materials intact to be sold at their warehouse. your tax deductions for the donation of those materials may offset the cost of deconstruction which takes a little longer than demolition, but shouldn't be a problem with proper planning.
the reuse people's warehouse is a terrific place to buy building materials at a fraction of the cost of new. for commercial projects, check with the city to find out who they require you to use. {for the eco-friendly nail salon we completed recently, we were instructed to use consolidated disposal services.}
planning the design ~ use what's already there. it's important to embrace the existing conditions and make as few structural changes as possible {as long as it makes sense to the project}. this creates less waste and can also decrease the cost and energy usage. for the nail salon, we kept the existing window and door openings and added new metal frames to give it a fresh and clean look, added clerestory windows for cross-ventilation with clerestory windows in the back, and added fluted glass for privacy. we re-used an existing exterior light fixture which was cleaned up and re-installed with a flourescent bulb. to remove existing paint and stains from a fixture you wish to re-use, try soyclean's paint stripper.
we also discovered a wonderful concrete floor hiding underneath the wall-to-wall carpet. to remove remaining carpet adhesive, use something like franmar's bean-e-doo and enhance the concrete finish with a product from eco-procote.
new materials ~ when selecting new materials and finishes, consider not only the manufacturer's 'green' claim, but also the product's life cycle and who manufactures it and where. for example, recyclable glass tile from sandhill industries is not only made of 100% recycled glass, the energy used to make it is less than 1/2 that required to make ceramic tile and 1/4 that of cast glass tile.
choosing the right green product usually requires weighing the pros and cons just like with any product. for example, at $29/SF, the sandhill glass tile may sound expensive, but consider covering a smaller area with this special tile or use it more generously and hold back on something else. also consider the associated savings with benefits of 'green' products, like health, durability, sustainability and curb appeal.

for more delights along the same lines, rachel has a nice blog based on her green design philosophy & savvy, called eTTa bits.

10 cent designer is worth her weight in gold

i've been idolizing lori andrews from afar for a while now. so it's high time i came out with it & shared her with you. if you like interior design, photography, humor, aesthetics, and boldness then you're going to enjoy lori's work as much as i do. she is really living the life ~ you know, that dreamy sort of life one can fantasize about having in their head when their own life seems to lack a little lustre? yes, she is living that life for me. but i'm not jealous {not a jealous girl at all actually}, i'm just utterly inspired. studio wellspring is all about collecting inspiration, so the 10 cent designer definitely needs a place here too.

she's a very busy lady with several fun spots to explore on the internet:
the 10 cent designer blog

the lori andrews photography blog

the 10 cent designer website

the lori andrews interios website
and now you can just go ahead and kick back and spend the rest of today culling through her flickr account ~ it's full of so many delights of her work & life you may not be able to stop yourself. ;o)

design-lush

i'm so excited to discover and share designlush! its innovative collection of contemporary furniture is fully dedicated to the art of good design. their unique hand crafted collection {many designed exclusively for them} are created by designers and artisans who clearly appreciate and understand the philosophy of both design and furniture making. in addition to their retail line, designlush develops and fabricates custom designs for the trade, creating one of a kind pieces for designers and architects for use in residential, hospitality and visual-merchandising projects. and, yes that is a concrete platform bed frame in the photo above ~ hotness! {single slab pine and glass library shelves}

{black walnut & pine coffee table}

{coffee table: open glass box with american black walnut slabs}

{naughty and woody lamps ~ walnut or maple veneer floor lamps}

{neapolitan bamboo & salvaged walnut media console}

{aurora acrylic coffee table}

{quad acrylic book shelf}

{firefly table lamp with acrylic base}