SIMPLICITY (AKA the IKEA RED KITCHEN)

For a lot of us, this is a life goal:  to achieve a balanced, simple, uncluttered existence.  It can be a challenge in today's society!  But you can accomplish this in your surroundings.  Whether your interior is contemporary or traditional, or anywhere in between, you can eliminate clutter, live with what means the most to you, and let go of the rest.

I have been very blessed to work with Doug to help him attain this harmony in his San Francisco apartment.  Stillness is sacred.  You feel that when you enter Doug's space. 

We are not quite finished yet, but I was out in San Francisco at Thanksgiving so I took these photos.  We'll update in a few more months, after our silk TAI PING rug arrives from China, and after we install our solar shades and dimmers.

But for now, here's an abbreviated tour of Doug's renovated apartment, with my comments on Interior Design as Art......

Doug and I share a passion for original art and 20th century furniture classics, and that has made this project one of my all-time favorites.  Doug's friend Susan Tibbles is the artist for this set of mixed media assemblages from her "Swank Box Series."  The shadow boxes were originally from the Swank Jewelry company, where they were used to store various components in the manufacture of their jewelry.  Each of the boxes is filled with a melange of fascinating miniature vintage finds, and each box has an individual title by the artist.  Once you begin exploring them, it's hard to tear yourself away!  (For a closer look, see the enlargement below - and to magnify it even further - increase the zoom level on your monitor.)

Tibbles' work embodies "a sense of wit and political consciousness," and she has "a unique ability for assigning dual meanings to commonplace objects" (quoted from Gallery Ocho, Santa Barbara).

Here's the closeup:

                                                             "SWANK BOX SERIES"   by Susan Tibbles

To learn more about Susan Tibbles and her unique work as an artist, as well as her extensive work as an illustrator for the L.A. Times Opinion Page, visit her website at

http://www.susantibbles.com/

Contemporary art is all about juxtaposition.  Elements of line, form, color and texture are combined by the artist to create a unique work.  Sometimes the artist has a particular objective in his work - a social or political statement.  Sometimes the intention is simply to engage or delight the viewer.

Doug's apartment is a wellspring of juxtaposition.  One might think that this would cause clutter, but when properly edited, it creates just the right amount of tension to keep you thoroughly engaged. 

                  

Take, for example, this classic TRAVE table, with its simple glass candle ornaments on top.  This is Doug's doing - his canvas.  I've loved working with him because he has such a wonderful sensitivity for balance.  Look at the angles in the table base - so beautifully and simply counterpoised by the 3 glass spheres.  And the one blue sphere picks up the blue light in the stainless LED wall switch nearby (see photo below). 

This composition of the dining table is Doug's self-expression.  My "artist role" as editor is to be sure it is in harmony with everything else in the space.  My "techician role" as interior designer is to be sure that everything in the space conforms to health, safety and building standards, and to provide sources for the products needed to accomplish this.

SWANK BOXES by Susan Tibbles,  Stainless/Blue LED Lutron Lighting Control, TECH LIGHTING round stainless transformer for track lights

From the dining area you peek through to the red Ikea kitchen.  The raised bar hides the cooktop on the other side.  The soapstone counters and Black Empress granite mosaic add elegance, while still maintaining our theme of SIMPLICITY:

Doug's apartment is all about detail.  To make sure that we controlled every detail within our power to control, we worked together for months prior to and during the installation.

To revisit the construction portion of this project and to see the BEFORE pictures, click here:
http://swestdesign.blogspot.com/search/label/san%20francisco%20ikea%20kitchen

The beautiful reflection we get off the polished granite mosaic is a perfect backdrop for Doug's antique Thai bamboo container.  Several hundred years old, and given to Doug by an archaeologist friend, this piece is carved out of a single piece of bamboo, hollowed out inside, and fitted with an interior bamboo tray.  (And the special order Lutron receptacle in black is almost invisible....)  The mosaic technique is 1000s of years old, and much of the earth's granite is PreCambrian - this is another miniature "canvas" of juxtaposition in the apartment.

Take a close look at the center of the above photograph.  Doug's skyline view of San Francisco from the 10th floor of his apartment is reflected in the glass fronts of his Ikea kitchen.  It's magical!!

Also in the dining area is Doug's copy of the iconic Mackintosh Hill House Chair, designed by scottish architect Charles Rennie Macintosh in 1902-1903.   The original still resides in the bedroom of the Hill house in Helensburgh, Scotland, 20 minutes from where Doug used to live when he was working out of Scotland.

Above the Hill House chair hangs a Susan Tibbles work:  "Unzipped"  ......another study in contrasts:  the geometry of the chair is perfectly balanced by the soft curves and wispy feathers in the artwork.

                                                                                 "UNZIPPED"   by  Susan Tibbles

There is also a Tibbles piece in the kitchen - a special gift to Doug - a single long-stemmed rose entitled "Valentine Love Monster":

The luxurious finishes in Doug's space provide worthy surroundings for his beautiful art collection.  Once inside the kitchen, the rich red and black furnishes an elegant backdrop for food preparation.  But it is completely practical.  Soapstone requires no maintenance.

The cabinets run all the way to the ceiling to provide generous storage for things out of sight.

The halogen lighting supplies ample task illumination, and Doug's Wusthof knives are hanging within easy reach of any kitchen task.   

Doug actually uses his kitchen!  He keeps his favorite items right on the counter, and the colors enhance the granite backsplash and the soapstone.

On the opposite side, the oven and cooktop are easily accessible, but out of view from the living/dining area.

*****

I believe that everyone is an artist in some way.  And I approach every project as an artist ready to collaborate with other artists, including (and especially!) you.  My job is to direct you in your self-expression through your interior space.

Collaborating with Doug has been one of the most personally rewarding projects in my career, because his appreciation and embodiment of art has guided every step we have taken.  Doug lives and breathes his art collection, and he loves to share it with visitors.  I am delighted with each phase of this project, as Doug continues to refine and add to his collection.  We'll post the rest of the art when we get the final photography later this year.

To read more about the juxtaposition of old and new in interior spaces, see my website page:

http://swestdesign.com/church1.html

To read more about letting your own individuality be the creative canvas on which you build your interior space, and also how to work with commissioned art, see my page on ava living:

http://avaliving.com/room.php?rid=5613  (When you get to this page, it's counter-intuitive:  DON"T press NEXT under the photo....that will take you to the next featured designer and away from my page.  Instead, scroll down to see all the photos and the story behind this design.)

See you next time!

CHICAGO - ART and ARCHITECTURE

Chicago is one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  I was extremely fortunate to attend Northwestern University in Evanston, and many weekends I took the El into the city to enjoy its artsy offerings.  My favorite place was the Art Institute, of course, and I became a member so I could use the library to study.  I also frequented the Merchandise Mart to study the furniture for my Interior Design major.  This past July, my husband and I re-visited the city.  We go every year to Lake Forest to visit family, but we had not stayed in the city for many years.  This year we did.  WHAT A TREAT!!!!

The picture above is at the entrance to the new Millenium Park.  It opened in 2004, after 5+ years of planning and building.  In the center of the photo is the new Crown Fountain, designed by Plensa.  This wonderful 50' double water column is a magnet for children:

This closeup shows the kids playing in the fountain.  This was 10 am Sunday morning.  By 5 pm, it was 90 degrees outside and there were hundreds of happy children (and adults!) splashing in the water.  Also visible in the closeup is an image on the back fountain.  This is a changing picture on the glass brick, using LED technology.

Right across the street from Millenium Park is the Art Institute.  We sat outside in the sculpture garden until the Museum opened.  There is a red Calder piece in the center of the photo, and a Henry Moore in the right foreground.  I was absolutely ELATED to be back at my favorite museum.

From inside the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute (designed by Renzo Piano), you can see, through the solar screens, another part of Millenium Park:  the Pritzker Pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry.  Giacometti's Three Men is in the foregound.

Here's an outside view of the Pritzker Pavilion, embedded in skyscapers.  I was very tempted to go wild with my camera, shooting all sorts of beautiful juxtapositions, but I had made myself a promise:  I will just ENJOY the day, and not get carried away trying to create art.  There is plenty of art to SEE.  I filled my soul with it!!

Also in Millenium Park is this wonderful creation: the Cloud Gate Sculpture.  It's a 3 story reflective steel structure composed of 168 stainless steel plates welded together, and its highly polished exterior has no visible seams.  Cloud Gate was created by Anish Kapoor, and was inspired by liquid mercury.  The sculpture's surface reflects and distorts the city's skyline and the curved, mirror-like surface provides striking reflections of visitors, the city skyline and the sky. Visitors are able to walk around and under Cloud Gate.

Inside the Art Institute, I didn't take many pictures.  We had only one day for all this, and I wanted to visit many more areas than I could possibly fit in!  The above painting is an early Picasso, in which he experimented with adding sand to the canvas. 

This is one of my all time favorites by Picasso.  It has a new location in the Piano Modern Wing, in a small anteroom before you enter the large, high ceilinged galleries.  It is a small intimate space which invites you to view the picture as if it were in your own home.  Nothing I can say can describe the wonder of being within a few feet of this magnificent painting!

This beautiful piece is quite large.  I can't remember the artist's name, but he is a regular in the modern scene.

My last photo inside the Art I. is this lovely Monet.  The Art I. has one of the most complete collections of Monet's works spanning his whole career. They are all wonderful, but this one captivated me:  I felt like I really was looking out a window at this beautiful French landscape.  I could see, hear, smell and feel this place!

In addition to the new Modern Wing, we explored many other sights in my favorite museum that day, including Chagall's America Windows (made famous by Ferris B.'s Day Off!), the Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room, Indian Art of the Americas, the Paperweight collection, American Decorative Arts from 1920-1970 (mid-century modern), European Decorative Arts,  and the miniature Thorne Rooms (which are so important to me that I will post a separate entry just for them!).

Where did we stay in the city?  In the Palmer House, which has been taken over by Hilton and restored to its initial grandeur....A truly magnificent hotel, worth a stop on your tourist agenda.  When I was in college, I used to go downtown and spend an hour or 2 in the Palmer House just for fun.  Sometimes I would study there.  Then when I was in the jewelry business, we rented a room during the Chicago Gift Show to display our work.  In those days, the Palmer House was part of the Gift Show circuit:  vendors with valuable displays showed in the PH, because we could stay with our work.  The above photo was our view from the 19th floor.

And what's this?  It's a long story!  Our room was an enlarged room, which had once been 2 rooms.  So we had one large room with 2 bathrooms.  (That was fun - we each had our own bathroom.)  I was fascinated by the thought that this portion of the hotel was originally built in 1925.  So I was wondering what the fixtures would have been at that time, and how many times things had been updated in the last 85 years.  I discovered in my bathroom that the water pipes to the sink were on the side wall, rather than right below the sink.  You can see that the cold water service actually sticks out further than the new marble facing.  So that means that the sink used to be on that wall.  I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what the original layout had been.  Only a designer or an architect would be so obsessed!!

For more pictures and info on Millenium Park and the Palmer House, see wikipedia.  Stay tuned for my next post on the Thorne Rooms!

RENOVATION IN ANDERSON HEIGHTS

BEGINNING WITH THE DRAPERIES, ART AND RUGS.....



These clients own a wonderful home in Anderson Heights in Raleigh, not far from Five Points. They have lived there for years, and love the neighborhood so much, that they decided to stay where they were and renovate. We are still working on the final touches, but I wanted to get this much up on my blog, so the rest of you could see what fun we have been having with our art collection and custom rugs. The picture below is the BEFORE for the Dining Room, and below that is the empty Music Room, which they added during the renovation.

BEFORE

When I first saw this Music Room, I envisioned it as an art gallery. There aren't many walls, but with proper selection of original art and custom area rugs, we could make this room a peaceful yet dynamic experience.

After we designed the draperies (see below for full details), we began the search for some original art. I had seen the work of Scott Upton at Flanders Art Gallery a year before, and had recommended that my clients take a trip to the gallery to see his work. When they did, they were captivated!! We tried several different pieces for this space, and when this blue one went up, my clients were sold. So we began our color scheme with this work. We have since added some additional pieces on the other walls, and they will show up in a later blog post. Flanders has been great to work with!

The design for the rugs in these rooms had to begin with the Music Room. It was critical to choose a color combination that enhanced the Scott Upton, as well as flowed with the rest of the downstairs. And it needed to be simple enough not to detract from the painting, but still have enough detail to be interesting and balance with the rest of the traditional decor in the home. The colors turned out perfect in the space. These jpegs don't do it justice, so if you would like to see the rooms in person, I am sure my clients would be happy to give you "the tour"!

Once we arrived at the right rug for the music room, the challenge was to come up with a design for the adjoining Dining Room space, which is just a few feet away and completely visible from the Music Room. We explored many possibilities, and eventually chose a design that is actually a continuation of the border scrolls in the Music Room. But in this rug we used a plain double border, and let the scrolls dominate in the middle.

This is a close-up of the Dining Room rug, with the Music Room in the background. Both rugs use only 2 colors each, and they are the same colors. But the Music Room field is tip sheared, which makes it look like a third color (while keeping the price down!)

We did a lot of analyzing of color poms to get the right results in these rooms. The Music Room is very sunny, while the Dining Room light varies. We wanted to be sure that the results would be pleasing at all times, both day and night. We are thrilled with the final product!

CLOSE-UP OF CUSTOM LINEN DRAPERIES: I had a close-up here but I accidentally deleted it after I had completed all the rest of the layout. And since I am a designer, and not a webmaster, I give up! I'll post a close-up later on, but you can read about it here:

We chose to wrap the exterior of the room with these linen panels, to improve the acoustics for the piano. I designed a simple pleated panel with horizontal tucks at the top and the bottom. The sheers are fully operable, to provide protection from the direct sun in the morning.

Below are the renderings of our final selections for our custom rugs. After we chose the styles we were interested in, and the wool colors, we had renderings made of each possiblility. There was no charge for these renderings, and we explored at least 20 possibilities. We narrowed it down to these 2, and ordered custom strike-offs (24 x 24 inch corner samples), to be sure that they were perfect in the rooms. We were very happy with our choices, and then ordered the full size rugs. Davis and Davis Rugs has been wonderful to work with. There are hundreds of designs to choose from, and I can render all the standard designs myself with software on my laptop. There are over 120 wool colors, and I have the samples. When we want something that is not standard, they are so helpful, and they will render whatever you want done.

ALSO: they do WALL-TO-WALL carpeting, and have many beautiful designs that they can customize in your choice of colors.

Stay tuned for a continuation of this Project!

As we wrap up the details, and the photos are taken,

I will be posting it!!

BACHELOR'S BATHROOM REMODEL

SAN FRANCISCO HIGH RISE PROJECT COMPLETED....



Remember my April 25 post, with the pictures of the High Rise view from the 1oth floor? We have completed that bathroom remodel, and we are ecstatic about it! Quite a change from the "before" picture below.....


To see the drawings for this design, refer to the earlier email. Here is the finished product:

This is a tiny bathroom: the footprint is only 5 x 9, and this includes the tub, water closet and vanity. The actual floor space is less than half that figure. The challenge, of course, was to make it appear bigger. I did this by expanding the mirror over the sink to be the full width of the wall, and by using a reflective wall paneling on the opposite wall. Also, replacing the old medecine cabinet with a high quality cabinet the same height as the wall mirror creates a continuous corner of reflectivity, adding to the illusion of space.

This apartment building is about 30 years old, and due to the way the plumbing was configured, it wasn't feasible to change out the water closet. So we chose white grout for the tile, to help minimize the old fixture.

The wall hung vanity also adds to the spacious feel.

The owner of this space is an art collector, with a terrific sense of humor. He chose (with my approval!) this hand painted shower curtain, to continue the "art experience". The artist has a website, and you can order these artsy shower curtains on line, at www.showercurtainart.com

The carved granite sink is a focal point, and is complemented with the hand cut, recycled green glass mosaic tiles.

Halogen lighting adds great clean light to this crisp room....

VIEW INTO THE DINING AREA

We had the BEST contractor on this project: Be sure to check him out if you need work done in San Francisco: Brendan Waters. www.brendanwatersconstruction.com

This project is an excellent example of virtual design. I visited this space 2 years ago and took pictures. That's it. The entire project has been completed long distance, using phone and email. It has been a real pleasure to work on - the client is ABSOLUTELY one of my favorites!

Now we are working on the plans for remodeling the kitchen.

STAY TUNED!

NEW YORK! NEW YORK!!!

WHAT A WONDERFUL TOWN!!!

I attended an ASID CEU last spring by Liesbet Trappenburg, entitled "You Are Not Your Job". An outstanding speaker, she counselled us "artists" to do something that replenishes your "creative well". So when the opportunity came up for me to spend a few days in NYC while my son was there on business, I grabbed it!!

I have always loved NY. I actually lived there from the age of 1-6 months, but of course I don't remember anything. We lived not far from Central Park, when my dad was studying voice. He had a Pavorotti style voice, and his lessons were in Carnegie Hall. Before I was born, he and my mom travelled all over the US doing a road show for the musical "Allegro." But he decided that NYC was no place to raise a family, so we moved to Dallas when I was an infant, and then later we moved back to Louisiana to be near all our wonderful Cajun family. That's where we opened our family store, Pieces of Eight. (see August 09 post)

So back to NY: My first visit was when I was 15 years old, to attend the opening of a Broadway play that my parents had invested in. (My dad had a successful producer friend from his NY musical days.) Being raised in Louisiana (I actually lived on a bayou!), I was in awe when I hit the streets of NYC. Such creativity everywhere you looked! We were staying in the St. Regis Hotel, and I met my first artist in the elevator. A thin man with a moustache and an ocelot on a leash entered the elevator, and the attendant addressed him as "El Capitan." I learned afterward that his name was Salvador Dali, and he lived in the hotel. It wasn't until I went to college and became a member of the Art Institute in Chicago, that I began to fully comprehend the place that Dali holds in modern art.

When I was 18, I visited again for another play opening. This time it was Eugene O'Neill's "More Stately Mansions", and starred Ingrid Bergman in her comeback role in the US. Again I was smitten with the creativity of NYC. I was into my first year of Northwestern University's Interior Architecture and Design curriculum, and my eyes had been opened to the wonders of my field. And NYC is a magnet for creativity.

I didn't get back to NY for many years after that, but in the 1990s we took our children up to see "Annie Get Your Gun," with Bernadette Peters. Then in the late 1990s, I went twice with my mom. We visited her old friends, who took us to dinner at Windows on the World (at the top of the WTC, destroyed in 9/11), and also to Tavern on the Green, a restaurant located in Central Park. We visited the Metropolitan Museum, and the Cloisters Museum; she had a portrait done of me by a street artist in Central Park. That was an artsy visit!

So I jumped at the chance to go back this August, and spend some time museum-hopping and visiting with my son! And it was perfect from start to finish....

Monday I spent the afternoon at MoMA. There is a spectacular exhibit of works of Ron Arad through Oct 19. See it now before it moves to Paris! If you can't get to NY, check it out on line at http://www.moma.org/ And here are my favorites from his work:

This wonderful thing is a model for the Zion Square outdoor sculpture that Ron Arad designed in 2006 in Jerusalem. It is a study in light and shadow, and the exhibit features a light arm travelling across the piece from side to side, showing the different patterns that the sunlight produces as it crosses the sky from morning to night. I am a huge fan of sunlight patterns in interior design. I will do another blog on that later, with some examples from my work, and other places. Use nature whenever you can!!

This is one of Ron's unique lighting designs. There were several in the exhibit, but I especially loved the simplicity and contrast of this one. It hangs about 8' long.

After viewing the Arad exhibit, I showed my son the painting and sculpture galleries of the permanent collection, with all my favorites, including Pollack, Picasso, Mondrian, Klimt, Rauschenberg, Matisse, Monet, Stella, Brancusi, Kline, DeKooning, Rothko - too many to count!! It was overwhelming and wonderful!! You can view much of the permanent collection on line also, if you can't get to NY.

I had recently watched a netflix movie - "The Impressionists", a BBC production about the lives of all those courageous artists that broke from tradition and set the stage for the acceptance of modern art. This really enriched my experience at the museums here in NY. I recommend the movie to anyone looking for a deeper historical view.

We also visited the Architecture and Design floor at MoMA. It was especially meaningful to me to find in the "What Was Good Design?" exhibit, objects that I had purchased in the 70s to sell at Pieces of Eight. Here are a few of them:

PLIA FOLDING CHAIR

AND PLATONE FOLDING

DESK (Castelli-Italy)

WASSILY CHAIR -

Classic mid-century modern

by Marcel Breuer

CLASSIC VIGNELLI DESIGN 1964 - STACKING MELAMINE DINNERWARE by Heller, now available again for purchase in the MoMA gift store.

DEDALO UMBRELLA STAND

And finally, with only a few minutes before closing, we dashed into the Architecture Room, with breathtaking models of contemporary architectural masterpieces, including FLW's "Falling Water." I have always been drawn to models. Perhaps it's from my childhood days as a doll house designer!!

That's Day 1 of my trip to New York!

Check back later for posts on Day 2 and Day 3!