Rustic Schoolhouse and Bathroom

One of the buildings on the Napa Farmhouse project is a stone schoolhouse where my clients will homeschool their kids. Someday it will transition to a beautiful guest apartment. Here was my exterior inspiration photo for the building:

She even looks like a school girl.

The look I'm going for is a rustic, post-industrial, Thomas Edison-esque greenhouse. I plan to fill it with scientific artifacts like old anatomy and botanical prints, natural curiosities, and tons of greenery. Greenery = Science. Greenery is also a must in all my projects. Check out the mood boards:

I've had fun sourcing cool elements to fit my theme, like the antique "serres," which are mini French greenhouses once used to germinate hothouse plants. I got them from Frederick P Victoria and Sons. We had them wired to make the perfect classroom light fixtures. 

Here are the Inspiration Boards for the full bath with walk-in shower:

The whole space will have the feel of a watershed, with crisp, clean accents of bright white enamel and polished nickel.

Faux wood ceramic planks from Ann Sacks will cover the floor and walls. The ceiling will be white plaster with hand hewn beams and the cabinetry is a warm gray (Farrow and Ball Charleston Gray), which brings out the gray tones in the faux wood tile. All of these elements are pulled together with the pebble shower floor.

My rough sketch

Ready for their close-ups..

Ralph Lauren Fulton Sconce

Here is how it will look against that Ann Sacks Rustico tile.

Rohl Faucet. So schoolhouse-chic.

Ann Sacks Bali tile on the shower floor pulls warm grays and browns together.

Ann Sacks Rustico

Burnished steel medicine cabinet with a polished nickel handle.

How amazing is that sink, in the photo with the boys! Because we couldn't do that sort of trough sink, I'm taking a slight risk and having the fabricator bring our white stone countertop up the wall, like a giant backsplash. Sort of a modern take on the trough sink. The faucet will be wall-mounted on the stone. (Fingers crossed.) 

I'll be sure to share when we get a little further past this... 

Have a great weekend!

Malibu, Montecito, Westlake Village...or Spain

I just read the brilliant House of Turquoise this morning. I was so thrilled to see my beautiful hometown! There was no question; this house was nestled in the hills of Malibu/Westlake, or maybe nearby Santa Barbara. "Thanks God, I live here," I thought, "There is nowhere else I'd rather live." Or is there...


Turns out, I was wrong. (There's always a first.) This house is actually in Spain!

This is the vacation home of an English couple, Linda and Martin Bradbury.


I love the architectural details, the decor and especially that view!
















To see more photos, check out El Mueble and click on Galleria.

Design Trends: Sitting Pretty and a Little Brassy

I was just reading through House Beautiful's top 10 trends for 2013 and was elated to see a few 'trends' I've always loved, all of which have been brewing in my current project: A Kitchen and adjacent four season Sitting Porch:

• Brass
• Pretty
• Antiques

Okay, so the husband is still resisting all the brass...but I'm not one to lay down my design sword so easily. These are two spaces in that new construction New England style farmhouse. My clients are a very young family with very traditional taste and a huge appreciation for art and antiques. So, as you can imagine, I've basically been in Heaven. Oh, and they "love color and pattern." Heaven. (And design trend #5!)

The kitchen will look something like this. 

I love that large scale blue floral. It's Brunschwig and Fils's Kasmiri, a rich, weighty linen printed with various shades of blue. I'd specified those Charles Edwards light fixtures before the lot was even graded. I think I actually dreamt of them in the womb.

Brunschwig and Fils, Kashmiri

Dark walnut floors and woven shades will ground the all white cabinetry and countertops. And of course there's that Perrin and Rowe bridge faucet in English Bronze. I'd pushed for the Inca Brass, but at least the English Bronze is a living finish that will patina to a dark brass over the years. (FYI, if your clients don't want this to happen, Rohl makes a product that helps retain their new finishes. But a living finish is still a living finish, so some 'wear' will occur). 

My sketch of the tile and sink.

The question became, How would we segue from a totally blue and white kitchen to the adjacent green and white sitting porch my clients wanted? We all wanted a fresh, green porch, with the feel of treillage, but architecturally the spaces were so connected I couldn't turn my back on the kitchen's blue antique delft chandelier and Country Floors tiles. 

So I decided to do a blue and green porch. I still had to find a fabric that incorporated cobalt and grass green. This proved to be nearly impossible. Until my brilliant Kravet rep, Cheryl, sent me this Brunschwig Bellary print! Then she threw me this awesome Bamboo Trellis. Champagne for your efforts, love!

Below is an inspiration board for the sitting porch. Blue and Green with lots of neutral beiges, sisals and woven grass blinds. I envision them spilling into this room after Saturday pancakes. Here mom and dad can finish the papers, possibly a third cup of coffee. (Those of us with young kids know how elusive that sort of leisurely morning actually is).

Some of the fabrics have changed. We've moved that Collen and Company light fixture to another part of the house, and I'd never bore you with the actual tear sheets -- but you get the gist here. (Shameless plug: All of these fabrics and fixtures are available through our website contact.)

These gorgeous George III bergères, c. 1790, came from G. Sergeant Antiques. Can't wait to see them on the porch. And so grateful my clients had the good taste to retain their very aged green leather!

Even though they'll be far away from each other, I was so happy with how beautifully the tile went with the porch fabric. Here's that Brunschwig Bellary Cotton (Don't tell my Anglophile clients it's French):

That wool knotted rug became a Celerie Kemble sisal.


This Charles Edwards fixture will look almost exactly like this, but I've customized it to be scaled down and the pewter becomes an antique, unlacquered brass that will patina with time.

These are the Country Floors tiles, which I've been wanting for myself, house after house, for about 17 years now... Died when I spotted them floor to ceiling in this month's Veranda. It was Carolyn Roehm's old house. Gorgeous!

Veranda

In 2000, we redid a house in Encino. I got so far as an antique brass faucet, a blue enamel Morice stove (the poor man's La Cornue), and my walnut countertops. As  I said, I never did get to finish the space with my Country Floors tile. But this is why I love my job. I get to live vicariously through my clients.

Hope you like it. Hope they love it. I'll share pics when it's all done, though we're looking at an occupancy date sometime in 2014. But I'll be sharing more rooms when I have time.

Happy Weekend!

One-of-a-Kind Kitchens - 2013 Design Trend #3

I know, not too long ago I was dreaming of a white kitchen. But, since I've started concepting on the farmhouse kitchen, I've been feeling a pull toward warm and cozy kitchen spaces; kitchens filled with original details and character. Maybe it's the constant requests for carrera marble and polished nickel, but much like the folks at House Beautiful, who predict a trend toward warmer, more "homey" kitchens, I am sick of slick!

"We're moving toward a more organic modernism with warm, modern materials that look vintage: slate, irregular floors, weathered concrete, natural crackle-glazed tiles that look handmade. Less slick kitchens!" — Peter Dunham 

This morning I stumbled upon Elle Decor's One-of-a-Kind Kitchens and just had to share. I'd be thrilled to be the owner or designer of any of these spaces – each so cool and inviting in its own way. This is going to be a cut-and-paste post, as I have some unique lighting to source and some custom tiles to sketch! 

A TILED KITCHEN WITH BERBER-STYLE CEILING

The counter and floor tiles in the kitchen of Liza Bruce and Nicholas Alvis Vega's Moroccan home were locally crafted, the cabinets are fitted with Musharabi screens, and the Berber-style ceiling is made of reeds and wood beams. 

A HAMMERED SILVER KITCHEN

The cabinetry in Jean-Louis Deniot's kitchen is clad in hammered silver, and the countertops and floor are marble; the brass-and-opaline light fixture is by Stilnovo, and the sink is by Franke.

A LACQUER AND TERRA-COTTA KITCHEN

In Prince Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia's kitchen, the cabinetry is lacquered, and glazed terra-cotta from Provence is used for the backsplash and floor.

AN ART-PACKED KITCHEN

In Goshen, New York, accessories designers Richard Lambertson and John Truex showcase a charmingly haphazard display of framed oil studies in a kitchen with soaring 25-foot ceilings.

A BLUE KITCHEN WITH A DRAMATIC LIGHT FIXTURE

Form Architecture + Interiors designed a modernist kitchen for the Brooklyn loft of clients Andrew Arrick and Michael Hofemann; the counter is cast concrete, the sky-blue refrigerator is by Müller Möbelfabrikation, and the barstools are from Design Within Reach

A KITCHEN WITH AN ED RUSCHA PAINTING

A glass-top tree-trunk table from Georgica Creek Antiques in the kitchen of David and Danielle Ganek’s Southampton, New York, house designed by Joe Nahem and Tom Fox; the 1993 painting Cold Beer Beautiful Girls is by Ed Ruscha.

A TERRA COTTA-FILLED KITCHEN

Designer and owner Antonello Radi filled his Italian kitchen with terra-cotta tiles and a mantel he designed after a 17th-century example; antique terra-cotta vessels are displayed above a stone sink, the lanterns and Tuscan table are 18th century, and the ceiling is original.

A KITCHEN WITH A DRAMATIC CEILING

An Isamu Noguchi paper lantern in the kitchen of the SoHo loft of photographers Laura Resen and Cloud Devine; designer Thomas O’Brien collaborated on the interior; the 1930s library table and chairs are by Alvar Aalto.

A BLUE-AND-WHITE TILED KITCHEN

Blue-and-white tiles are used to striking effect in a 17th-century kitchen in Mexico.

A TURQUOISE KITCHEN

The kitchen of Keni Valenti's Florida apartment features a Saarinen dining suite and a 1965 Supremes concert poster.

Hope you're enjoying the long weekend!

Images and subtext via ElleDecor