Residents Understood

Leigh contacted us after one of my neighbors had referred her to us thinking our styles would work well together after walking through my home  - boy was she right! Leigh and her husband own a beautiful bungalow in Palisades. The house was a wonderful mix of traditional and modern pieces. Unfortunately (or fortunately for us) their dining room just wasn’t living up to its full potential. The space was basically a complete rewrite for us so we started from scratch and worked to create a beautifully mixed and matched room. Besides the new furnishings and fixtures Leigh was looking to possibly paint the wood floors – as designers who drool over painted wood floors our eyes lit up with possibilities. In the end we decided to go with painting the floors white (my personal dream floor) to visually connect with the original white wood paneled ceilings in the living room, one of their favorite features in the home.

{1. Restoration Hardware dining table, 2. Circa Lighting sconce, 3. Zinc Decor placemats, 4. Industry West stools, 5. Overstock dining chairs, 6. Zinc Decor napkins, 7. Schoolhouse Electric floor lamp} Want to see more products from the project? Check out her Pinterest Board!

As many of you know we’ve been busy over the last few weeks raising money for the volunteer project we’ve been working on for Doorsways Safehouse. We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of our clients, friends, and family with your help we’ve been able to raise over $3,000 for the redesign project! So today we thought we’d share a little sneak peek of our design plans for the room. We’ll continue to keep you updated as the installation progresses and will certainly share some of the after photos!

{1. Overstock dresser, 2. Urban Outfitters hardware, 3. World Market butterfly chair, 4. Anthropologie hook, 5. West Elm sheets, 6. PB Teen pillow, 7. Dash & Albert area rug} Want to see more products from the project? Check out the Pinterest Board!

And just so you can see how needed this renovation was here’s a glimpse into what the room looked like before  . . .

We’re uber excited  to announce we’re working on a little rebranding project so we’ll be taking a short break from blogging for the next few weeks as we roll over to a whole new site! Thank you for your patience – we hope it will be worth the wait!

Image via Pinterest

Inspiration comes in all forms – and for me lately it’s been through this season’s fabulous nail polish colors. I don’t know about anyone else but I’ve been swooning over the line of FACE Stockholm polish that J.Crew is now carrying. I love the combination of colors so much I’ve been tempted to paint each nail one of the colors below but stopped short thinking it might be a little too much (I hear James telling me now there’s no such thing as too much). Well, instead of walking around with rainbow hands and feet I decided I’d make a living room design board inspired by the gorgeous shades.

{Left to right, top to bottom; FACE Stockholm in Sandy Shores, DIY Pendant Light, Anthropologie Rug, FACE Stockholm in Plum Forgot, FACE Stockholm in Hot Pepper, Sigmar Polke Artwork, Luxe Sofa, FACE Stockholm in Never Nude, Face Stockholm in Crush Worthy, Throw Pillow}

Today marks the official start of the college football season! Now at first glance we might not strike you as die-hard football fans but these girls bleed orange and blue. Not only does the kickoff of football season mean cookouts, cold beer, and cool weather it also signals the gradual shift into our favorite season for all things design related, Fall. So today we hope you enjoy a post inspired by our alma mater – go gators CHOMP CHOMP!

{Left to right, top to bottom: Anthropologie Orange Wingback Chair, Madeline Weinrib Blue Ikat Bedspread, Orla Kiely Evoke Mio Radio, Anthropologie Celestial Coasters, D. Bryant Archie Throw Pillow, Dwell Studio Draper Stripe Rug, Heal’s Indigo Floor Lamp}

The other night we had a debate about whether or not there was such a thing as a “manly throw pillow”. While the two things aren’t often associated with one another – we’ve been on a hunt over the past couple days to find the perfect pillow that any man would be happy to put in the same room with his flat screen.

{Left to right, top to bottom: Amenity Home Alpaca Pillow, Calypso St Barth Leather Pillow, Design Public Designers Eye Pillow, CB2 Felt Stripe Pillow, Provide Pony Rider Pillow, Jonathan Adler Cross Pillow}

I know it seems silly for us to write a blog post for the sake of complaining. It might also seem silly that we would dedicate this post to a single complaint. Well folks, it had to be done. It’s almost like entering the confession booth – doesn’t it feel good to just let it out and be able to complain about something in the open?? As designers, we have learned the fine art of voicing our opinions when appropriate while also keeping them to ourselves so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings. It’s really a lot like tightrope walking sometimes!

Just a candid of James during an ordinary day as a designer.

So, we decided it was necessary to let the world know about our worst enemy and probably the one and only thing that the 3 of us can agree upon hating. Despite its ability to pop up in places we least expect, it is a design (though I hesitate to use the word ‘design’ in association with this object) element that we feel should be illegal to use – anywhere, anytime, anyplace…

THE CRIMINAL: Any person/designer that thinks this (see below) is a good idea.

THE WEAPON: Glass blocks.

THE CHARGE: Ugliness at its worst.

THE EVIDENCE: See images below.

I purposefully selected one or two of those images because they were spaces that COULD be somewhat normal/good-looking had they not been destroyed by the presence of glass blocks. I know that some people might suggest that glass blocks can be “done right” – they were done right when used for their original purpose of allowing light into industrial factories in the early 1900s (or at least that’s what Wikipedia told me). Beyond that era and that purpose, there is no way to do it right.

I also know that many people think that glass blocks are oh-so-great for privacy purposes, but we’re not buying that excuse either. Yes, they allow light in while affording for privacy, hence their omnipresence in bathrooms worldwide. We won’t deny you that. But come on. It’s 2011. There is a world of materials and design options out there that can achieve the same desired results while ALSO looking good, below are some excellent space dividing/privacy alternatives for your choosing.

….and with that, we rest our case!

Soooo as many of you know I have a mild obsession with wallpaper (ok it’s full-blown at this point) – for me nothing adds more drama, beauty, or personality to a room! Luckily there are more amazing wallpaper sources to feed my addiction today than ever before. With all these awesome designs come a multitude of choices – and to be honest sometimes the choices are just too much for our pretty little heads to take. When all your dreams start to revolve around wallpaper it’s time for a break don’t ya think?

We’re deciding between several products for our kitchen remodel (you can see the product boards here). The wallpaper is going to be installed in the back of a built-in bookcase adjacent to the kitchen. We think any of these would add a great graphic pop and compliment the new modern Mediterranean vide of the kitchen. But the question is which would you choose?

Festival Feast in Blue from Walnut Wallpaper

Kikki Trellis W6176-04 from Osborne & Little

Crop Circles in Blue from Aimee Wilder

Minaret W5551-04 from Osborne & Little

This will come as a shock to you readers, but I love crazy, weird, unique, and often tacky things. I find beauty in the horrid; delight in the forsaken. If you were to perform inception on my mind, it would look something like this:

My love of glamour and all that is outré mandates that I share some drool-worthy chairs with you. I hope you enjoy my twisted elegance!

Smoke Chair

Designed by Maarten Baas, the Smoke Chair is literally burned and then covered with an epoxy coating to preserve it! Amazing…

Ghost Chair

The Ghost Chair seems to magically float. Yes, Valentina Gonzalez Wohlers has designed a truly magical chair.

Stiletto Chair

From Century Furniture, the Stiletto Chair has it all. Chome-check. Leather-check. Classically inspired lines-check. Yup. All-around fabulous!!!

Three Skin Chair

I selected the Three Skin Chair for a project in school, and I still lust over it. There is something so lovely about the silhouette. I tend to be drawn to pieces with more details, but this Ron Arad designed piece embraces its contemporary minimalism.

Peacock Chair

Cappellini’s Peacock Chair is all sorts of funk. Can you believe it’s made of three sheets of felt and a metal frame? Crazy! It was also featured in Rihanna’s S & M video:

I’ve shown you mine; now you show me yours! What are your favorite chairs? Post your comments below

Last June we wrote about design words we don’t like. What about words we do like? For instance: WHIMSICAL. I love that word. I was a little disillusioned the other day when I googled “whimsical light fixture” and got such sweet gems as:

Sisal Lighting - Original Monkey Chandelier

Bellacor - Chelsea Five-Light Chandelier

Beauty of Lighting - Astronaut Light

What’s that? You don’t believe that you can find those items by googling “whimsical light fixture”? Try it yourself!  I’ll let you click around the results while I go make a sandwich.

Ok, I’m back. See?!?! Isn’t it unbelievable?

I don’t really think of those examples as whimsical. I think of them as tacky. Let’s break down what my good friend Merriam-Webster says about these words:

Whimsical:

1: full of, actuated by, or exhibiting whims (see whim)

2a: resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice; especially: lightly fanciful b: subject to erratic behavior or unpredictable change

Tacky:

1 a: characterized by lack of good breeding b: shabby, seedy

2 : not having or exhibiting good taste: as a: marked by lack of style: dowdy b: marked by cheap showiness: gaudy

It appears that whimsical means “unexpected” while tacky means “lacking style”. Hmm…it appears those light fixtures I found are indeed  whimsical as it is certainly unexpected to see monkeys holding candle sticks; however, they are also tacky because they are clearly lacking style. I suppose I will have to revise my search next time…

I shouldn’t really be this bitter. After all, I have been known to wear plenty of tacking things in my day.

Yes, that's a silver shirt. You know you're jealous!

With all this venting, I must leave on a positive note. When I think of whimsical, I think of things like these:

Anthologie Quartett - Coffee Light

Jake Phipps - Jeeves & Wooster

Si Studio - Origami's Hunter

If you’ve you stumbled upon anything whimsical–or tacky–feel free to share below!