Remember the 80's?

I was once trying to convince a client that we needed to infuse some 1960's into their interiors. She answered "Darling, I lived through the 60's and I have no interest in revisiting that era." Wow I thought, how unfortunate because I love much of the design that came out of that decade. However, I can relate now that we have the reemergence of design from the 80's. Mmmmm yeah, maybe I could skip this era and instead focus on great stuff from the 70's?

I'm forcing myself to take a look back with fresh eyes and realize that there was a lot of great stuff that happened. Case in point this chair by Gaetano Pesce from 1987 way ahead of its time since I feel like this is still very fresh, innovative, and current today.

Färg Appears in Tribeca: A Happy Surprise!

As I whizz around my neighborhood in Tribeca in lower Manhattan I always notice new stores, galleries, and restaurants but I don't always have the time to stop in. A while ago Tribeca welcomed a new gallery called RH Gallery. I stopped in right before dinner one night (at one of my favorite Tribeca restaurants, Blau Gans which is right next door). There in the center of the gallery were some chairs that I am truly fascinated by, which I had blogged about many months ago. There they were...

Fredrick Färg is the talent behind these beauties and they are part of his RE:Cover Series. This is a story of recycling vintage chairs and adorning them with the most beautiful industrial felt which he fashions into seat backs. He draws his inspiration from the "style and structure of classically tailored suits." What a treat it was to see them in real life!

The New World Symphony

"Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change." - Thomas Hardy

Miami Beach represents many faces of our culture: different ethnic backgrounds, different cultural interests, different geographic treasures, and many others to be discovered each time I visit.

My stroll through Lincoln Road Mall district is unavoidable activities during my stays in Miami Beach: shops, restaurants, and its routine open markets. The pedestrian friendly Lincoln Road has come a long way since its pioneering days in the 1980's. There are global luxury brands along with familiar world cuisines on the strip. My multiple visits have made me familiar with the venues and developed my routines around the Lincoln Road.

During one of my casual dinner gatherings with friends, we started talk about the new architectural development, the New World Symphony, designed by the Canadian architect Frank Gehry. Whenever Mr. Gehry does something the whole world talks and easily thrown critiques. The famous Mr. Gehry has designed another concert hall, one after the Disney concert hall in Los Angeles, and the connected academy as well.

With much of support from the local community associations and proud local citizens in Miami Beach, the symphony hall is close to its grand opening. Progressive façade of the parking structure appropriately illuminated with bright colored LED lighting system parallel to the mood of Miami Beach. The parking garage isn't as prolific as the one Herzog DeMueron's parking garage, but the symphony hall's garage is above the average. The landscape and its open space in the front of the symphony hall are facing east, appropriate for its sunset venues; such as, outdoor movies, charitable events, etc. At my first glance, the building isn't what we are familiar of Mr. Gehry's style. Although, through a restraint glass box, I can view Mr. Gehry's signature forms looming like gatherings of clouds. These unfolded, some curled, ribbon like elements are floating within interior of the symphony hall: caged in. I favor the approach: presented in a glass box as a work of sculpture.

As I stand from the exterior of the symphony hall, I get closer to the curtain wall and act like a noisy neighbor, wondering what the Jones are doing in their yard. Perhaps, there are promising surprises within its glass box, I'd anticipate exploring once its doors are open. The symphony hall is as much as a treasure to the Miami Beach community and it is a surprise to the visitors of the Miami Beach

The Perfect Place for an Albert Paley Sculpture

I like decorating for collectors because they regularly bring the unexpected into our interiors. I am always delighted and surprised by objects they want to place in their rooms and enjoy the challenge of bridging them into the artistic vision of the space. I often point out that many collectors do not decorate, instead they just stack their collections into places without regard to arrangement, background, and light. However, collectors who entrust their objects to the hands of a decorator are often rewarded with a clear-eyed view of their treasures. The decorator not only brings order and clarity to the things that a collector has acquired for his or her own knowledge and pleasure, but provides a fresh new perspective. Still, some of these works of art or collectibles take time to visually digest, with some things immediately finding homes and others requiring special consideration.



Today, I am thinking about this in Philadelphia where my clients recently installed a pair of gates by Albert Paley. They were commissioned independently of me and their arrival was, as they say, a done deal. It is fantastic what they add to the house. They sit in a 19th century colonial revival hall which we painted pale yellow and centered with a great 18th century Dutch musical clock. I painted the old floor with blue deck paint to bounce light and color off the old narrow plank wood that had originally been carpeted. We furnished the space with a Scandinavian table and mirror, a red lantern from Charles Edwards and an Amazon headdress. Then the gates arrived, taking their place and I must say they work remarkably well. In context, they achieve a sort of balance, forming a pleasing holistic ideal between a sophisticated collector's possessions and the decoration.

ventingIF YOU PROVIDE AN INTERIOR DESIGN SERVICE PLEASE READ THIS.

Let's talk about a pet peeve for a second. Installer comes into your client's home, does their work, and leaves. Designer (moi) and crew or the client are left to sweep, mop, and dust up after them. Yes, this scenario does not make me happy but, believe me, it happens more times than I care to discuss. I should in fact add that when installers clean up after themselves and show some respect it is actually something that I will mark down and thank the company for. I believe who ever made the mess should clean it up! Simple as that. I get so incredibly frustrated with companies who don't have their installers adhere to this simple practice. While I'm venting, could all those vendors out there supply their installers with booties or simply have a policy that all installers pull off their snow-trodden, disgusting snow boots before entering somebody's home. Vendors, you're only as good as your installers or delivery people. The guys delivering your furniture are as important as your salespeople in your showrooms!

I dislike having to ask people to do things like clean up and pull boots off and I dislike the companies who don't teach their installers to do this. I'm sick and tired of having to be the meanie at the door telling people something that should be ridiculously obvious!

Designers, if you have a company you feel does a good job with this go ahead and leave their names so we can give a shout out to their good service.

Tranquility of a Waterfront Residence: The Lojan House in Delaware

Found on Freshbump, Lojan House was designed by Robert Gurney Architect and is located in Ocean View, Delaware, USA. According to the architects, the residence consists of two distinct volumes, connected by a passageway: The east volume is constructed with cement board, the west volume with corrugated siding and the one story connecting space with the ground face concrete block. The exterior material palette is quiet and subdued. Materials are selected for their expected long term durability, ease of installation and initial cost. The impact of the one story horizontal volume facing the street is intended to reflect the scale of neighboring structures while the narrow two story volumes are oriented perpendicular to the street reducing their apparent scale. Amazing views of the waterfront can be spotted from inside this home, due to beautiful wide windows. And speaking of nature, the whole 2400 square feet building features expansive openings towards a picturesque garden. ( Photographs byAnice Hoachlander|HD Photo)

Kitchen Ventilation with no Design Compromises: Range Hoods by Ammunition

Kitchen ventilation is usually easy to achieve. But some of the devices on the market seem to bring a touch of “industrialization” to the room, as they come in large sizes and lack style. Here is an interesting approach that could help solve this issue. The Arc Collection is a line of elegant range hoods created by Ammunition Group, a design studio in San Francisco. Found on BlueAntStudio, the series consists of highly functional products, yet developed with a minimalist design: the Arc Collection delivers compact power and sophistication to the kitchen. Based on simple forms and material layering, the hoods feature large, back-painted glass. If you are looking for a sober kitchen, then black and white are the versions for you. Otherwise, you can chose between the available vivid colors or go for a customized finish.

One More Astounding Architecture Project by A-cero: CONCRETE HOUSE I

We received another imposing project from A-cero: CONCRETE HOUSE I. Here is the architects’ description: “With the combination of design, quality and functionality arises a house of 1.500m2 defined by a set of clean lines and perfect volumes. The gray colour of the concrete that make up the whole building and an architectural wide black pergola, there are the elements that, at first sight, stand out in the house exterior. Furthermore, huge windows have been included in the facade in order to enjoy of the pleasant surrounding views of the house. The construction has two floors that have been built according to the slope of the house´s plot. The first level, where the pedestrian access is, has a area of 653m2. This floor has been distributed in three areas: a familiar area (lounge, dining room, kitchen, office, a living room for the children …); a private part where are four bedrooms, with its proper baths and dressing-rooms, and a free time and relaxation area that is opened to the exterior and the swimming pool throw a wide porch. In the ground floor there are a gymnasium, a wine vault, cleaning rooms and the area for service and house´s facilities.

In the interior spaces, everything is thought until the millimeter. Every wall, detail and corner shows the elegant and studied work that A-cero has made. The exterior is incorporated to the construction interior throw several patios that create luminous and cheerful spaces for living every day. Furthermore, the white walls and clear and comfortable decoration contrasts with the dark wood the house´s ground. In the exterior the overflowing swimming pool of 45m2 stands out. This and porch´s ground are made of granite abujardado, a grey stone. In this exterior area you can find also a summer dining room and a relaxing area covered by a movable pergola. It is a pleasure for satisfying the comfort of the most demanding people. As a result, we find a new residential A-cero´s work without aesthetic shrillness that invites to lived it so much, overall because its elegance, sophistication and functionality.”