23 March 2010

Cream Colored Ponies and Crisp Apple Streudel


Some favorites this week:

Have you tried this tasty libation? It's our new favorite wine. Well, one of them. If you like reds like Pinot Noirs, Malbecs, you'll enjoy it. Here's one that we like:
Manyana wine rating


The Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls

tgc

You will read this book and either be grateful for your uneventful and normal childhood or envious of falling out of a moving car or cooking hot dogs as a 3 year old wearing a tutu that catches on fire. Because those are the things that happen in this memoir. Oh, and her parents turn out to be homeless in New York City, by choice. Read it, you'll love it.




This is one of my new favorite shows on Bravo. It's Devil Wears Prada-ish and makes me feel like I should work more and sleep less.


Jonathan Adler's new stationary collection


This is the inspiration for the color palette at our new office. At least this week it is.
What are you loving this week?

Flipping Out

We did it! We finally did it! Inhabit Design has gotten their own, honest-to-goodness office space.

This is something we have looked forward to ever since Inhabit Design was just a baby. And now it's a reality.

So it's not that pretty, but the owner is wonderful and we pretty much have complete creative control. We will be painting and designing our little hearts out. Let's hope we can rein our design tastes in and decide on one scheme. Or two.

The greatest thing is that we are in the Arts District.


This is exactly where we wanted to be and it's a great community filled with talented artists, galleries, unique restaurants and Inhabit Design!

20 March 2010

If THESE walls could talk...


Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse 2009; installation designed by Amy Lau using multiple Maya Romanoff wallcoverings


As I was trying to catch up on my ginormous stack of magazines this weekend (Interior Design Oct. 09! Sheesh!), I came across an article about Maya Romanoff Wallcovering. It made me want to share. If you've followed us for a while, you know about our love of wallcovering, and this company's offerings are, to us, some of the best of the best.


We just purchased 2 vastly different selections of Maya for 2 of our clients.
For Client #1, it was Gunmetal Marquetry for a small niche just off of the foyer of her residence. This is what it looks like in more of a Maple-toned finish.


We installed Gunmetal - more of a silver/grey color. Here it is close up:




It's a very thin wood veneer in 18" x 18" blocks. There is such a variation in the way the light hits it, it's breathtaking. It has a little sparkle to it, but it looks like sand, not gaudy, Las Vegas style sparkle. Beautiful sparkle.



For Client #2 we used Bedazzled - which is more like Las Vegas style sparkle. It's tiny little beads. We had it hung in a powder room and it is DELICIOUS!


This is what it looks like from far away, but up close - check it out:


It's made of miniature beads that look like glass. Gorgeous, fabulous and super fun.


Now kick back and peruse this yummy eye candy.



Crystallized:


This is a wood veneer with a Swarovski crystal in the center.




Mother of Pearl Chevron
Yes, it really is REAL Mother of Pearl. Stunning.




This is Beadazzled Bijoux - the small glass beads arranged in a pattern. Aahhhh
The Beadazzled collection has about 10 other variations in pattern and tons of juicy colors.



This is Stitched:


The name speaks for itself.



Blanket


So soft and fuzzy



And last but not least, Anniversary Snowflake




D.I.E. Love it.

17 February 2010

Let's Start at the Beginning...




For those of you who follow us on Twitter, you may have read our tweets about traveling to our project in Laughlin. We did just that last week and were SO excited about the progress that has been made. We wanted to share our before and during pictures, and you'll just have to stand by for the after pictures.

Here's what we started with:



Our adorable clients wanted to add on to their home. They wanted to add an office for him, an office for her, a media room, a fancy little powder room and a guest bedroom and bathroom. The husband is an avid hobbyist, so he also wanted to create a "spray" room for painting and a hobby room where he can work on his various projects.

The clients had very few requirements - they wanted the addition to look as if it had been built at the same time as the original home. They also wanted contemporary furnishings and are in love with unique light fixtures. It's exciting for Heather and I because we share very similar tastes with these clients. So let's get on with the photos, right?!

Here's the front - the old garage next to the new entrance:


The front door - still waiting for stain and light fixture



This is her office ceiling - it's going to have a fabulous fixture from Foscarini hanging from the center of it:


That looks like this:


This delicious wallcovering will hang on one wall of her office. Just wait for it!


This is the media room ceiling that we designed:


There is lighting inside and each of these will be wrapped with a gorgeous metallic wallcovering that looks like this:


Here is one close up:



These are the cabinets in the media room - they will have a microwave, an icemaker and a refrigerator. They have a beautiful grey finish on top of them - this picture does not do them justice.


Here is the powder room. It is going to have THE most fabulous wallcovering on the other three walls and the ceiling. Wait until you see the lighting and the plumbing fixtures. I DIE!

The mirror

The light fixtures




The back wall is made of glass mosaic tiles. The floor is a beautiful blue/gray marble with some of the glass mosaic tiles dropped in between. Again, much better in person.



We also designed a cut out in the wall that will sit behind the vanity piece to hold extra toilet paper. Since the look is ultra-contemporary, we didn't want to add any extra pieces to hold toilet paper.




The base is also the glass mosaic tile.

Here are images of the spray room:


It has a ton of storage and its own ventilation system so that he can paint (spray) and not worry about poisoning everyone else in the house. The cabinets are a great lacquered white with super cool and modern door hardware.

The hobby room has more of the same cabinetry - and for anyone who loves organization, as Heather and I do, you will drool over the amount of drawers, doors and cabinets available to this guy.





The floor will be a gloss gray epoxy and the countertop underneath the window is made of a material called Alkemi - it is made from fine flake aluminum scraps. When you look closely, you can see small metal shavings within the material.


And now - the guest bedroom. There is not much to see at this point, but we have designed a GORGEOUS headboard with citrine pieces incorporated into the tufting. Here is what it looks like right now:



The bathroom is in the very back of the photo and here are the sconces that will flank the mirror in the bathroom:



Can you see them? They are crushed glass inside a metal cage, from Ridgely Studio Works. We were giddy when we opened this package, and can you blame us?

Here's the shower:






There's so much more - furniture, fabric, window treatments, more wallcovering, flooring - and we can't wait! Seeing it all come together is the most fun for us. What do you guys think?

31 January 2010

It's Alive

Succulent frames

I have a wall in my backyard that I have been wanting to address for years. And I've finally found the answer.
Heather and I went to a luncheon last week and listened to a presentation regarding living walls. Later on that evening, I opened up my new Sunset magazine and there it was - instructions on how to make your own living wall! "It's a sign!!!" I exclaimed, to Gigi and really, noone in particular. The picture above is my inspiration and I can't wait to show you the end result. Read the article - you may be inspired as well.

modern cottage

A living wall is pretty much just a vertical garden. It's amazing how powerful something can be when you change its viewing plane, isn't it? A large garden of succulents would definitely be interesting, but hang it on a wall and POW-POW, it's completely unique and striking.

I really love the outdoor succulent garden living walls - the indoor fern ones - not so much.

Roots Store Promenade Mall

See what I mean? The indoor ones just seem a little 1970's - I'm expecting some macrame to pop out somewhere. But the outdoor ones - oh, be still my beating heart.



The Living Wall


image



Green Wall One

I have just added this to my ginormous to do list. Stay tuned for the final results.

Apture