Caio!

Well the time has FINALLY come, I have been waiting in agonizing anticipation to get on a plane and make my way to the left coast. I am so excited to be going home! I get to catch up with amazing friends, spend some time in San Francisco, and just relax for a while. I don't know that I will be posting anything while I am away but I will come back with some great stuff I am sure! Time to go pack, I have to edit my shoe selection, right now there are 13 pairs sitting in a row, desperately hoping I will put them in my suitcase!

Roadkill

This carpet makes me sad, and it's really tacky. I don't understand the point in manufacturing this...

Kitty Surprise

I would like to introduce you to Kitty Surprise. She technically belongs to Brian Patrick Flynn, but we share custody. Have you ever seen anything so tacky and fantastic all wrapped up into one ceramic bundle of joy?!?! Today Kitty Surprise got her picture taken while she was playing in the garden outside my office. I think she's fantastic in the most awful way!

Beet Red?

Who decided that beets were red? Last night I was having dinner and cocktails with 3 fantastic people, Mark of course, Tish Mills who is an amazing designer in Atlanta, and Anita Best who is the General Manager at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC) and we just had a blast. We did dinner at Serpas, which has quickly become a staple of living for Mark and I (so if you are looking for some where different to go to dinner and want it to be yummy, go to Serpas) and we know what we like, what to recommend and it's all pretty fantastic. Anita decided we should order the Beet & Heirloom Tomato Salad which sounded light and refreshing, perfect for 95 degree weather and it was. At some point, after we had devoured the majority of it, I looked down and was struck by the beautiful color that the beets left behind. I started looking at our plates and forks and feel in love with the intense fuchsia from the beets! Immediately I snapped a picture with my phone (my apologies) because I knew I just had to have that color. So this morning when I came into the office I ransacked our library to find what fabrics I could that represented that color and was very excited to find so many! I make fun of Mark because he loves blue and green and always shutters any time I pull out something like lavender or eggplant and now I am going to blow his mind with "Beet"--I think that might actually go over better then fuchsia. What do you think?




Fabrics from the Top Left: Arc Com, Lotus in Flamingo. Knoll Luxe, Galloway in Port. Pollack, Structure in Jam. Knoll Luxe, Bavaria in Holly. Knoll Luxe, Mohair Prima in Peony/Blush. Robert Allen, Elm Manor in Raspberry. Maharam, Design 9297 (textiles of the 20th century) in Magenta.

This is why...

I should not be allowed to have plants. Recognize these poor sunflowers? Tragic.

Water Lilies

I have an affinity for water lilies. My favorite Uncle passed away a few years ago and it really devastated me and our family. It was very sudden and very sad. He and I had a special connection and had so much in common, unfortunately the older I get the more I realize that connection and wish I had more time. We love old art books, peonies, Chinese food, San Francisco, jazz. One of my favorite painters is Monet, not sure if it was his too but I know he loved impressionist art. The last painting he worked on was one of Water Lilies. Not necessarily trying to emulate what Monet had done, but a similar concept regardless. The concept of water and reflection and how light modifies our perception of what we see was really what he was studying in that piece. The original panting is still unfinished and still in California. I will get it over to Atlanta at some point, I don't care that it isn't finished, I want it that way. But I do have a small painting he did as a test run. It lives above the fire place in my bedroom. Monet's Water Lily exhibition opened this past Saturday in Atlanta at the High Museum of Art. I don't think I have ever been so excited to go to a museum in my life. I know that I have seen those pieces before (they are on loan from MoMa in NYC) but I don't care, everytime I see them I am still amazed by them. Before my uncle passed away I went home to see him and he asked me to do one thing, something that I haven't told anyone before, he asked me to live a little bit of my life for him. I think about that often and always try to do that for him. Every time I go to a museum, have great Chineese food, or find a great art book I feel like I am doing that. Yesterday when I was walking through the exhibition with my Father was so special to me and something I wish I could have shared with my Uncle. Anyway, below are some photos of the exhibition at the High, I suggest, even if you have seen these pieces before, just go again, they are just so beautiful.

Monet built a large studio for himself so he could display his pieces they way he wanted. Some of the most impressive water lilie paintings are enormous and are tryptichs. He wanted to build an oval room so that the viewer would feel surrounded and completely enveloped by the water and beauty.

"These Landscapes of water and reflections have become an obsession.
They are beyond the powers of an old man, and I nevertheless want to succed in rendering what I percieve." -Claude Monet

It is just so beautiful and impressive. This silly little photo doesn't do it any justice, truly it is an amazing work of art. The sheer scale and size alone is enough to blow you away, but once you start to study it there is a soothing beauty about it and it is hard to leave it.

This is my favorite. We have agapanthas growing along our driveway in California and this painting reminds me of home.

I am in love...

I am sure I will do a full post about the W in Buckhead later but I just can't hold on to this any longer. I can not explain how excited I have been the past few years waiting for Atlanta's multiple W Hotels to be ready for me. Finally I made my way to the W in Buckhead for cocktails with friends and immediately fell in love. I want to move in. After being a bit let down by the other W Hotels I was skeptical about this one but I am over the moon about it! My favorite thing about the killer lobby/bar/situation are these giant floor lamps (excuse the terrible pictures taken from my sad little phone.) I love love love their scale and color. Typically I use black sparingly in designs just because a little goes a long way, but these totally work. All the grey and white and burnt orange help them not look so out of place but they still make their own statement. I am cookoo for coco puffs about them!

Flipping Out

I just went to Flip Burger Boutique for lunch and about died of happiness. Flip is the brainchild of Chef Richard Blais, he wanted to "modernize the burger," mission accomplished! First of all it's really really pretty. I mean, just look at the pictures, it's beautiful! AI3 produced the design and they just won an ASID award for their work (congratulations!) it really is brilliant. The food is AMAZING! I am not a big burger person, so I was a little nervous, hoping there would be chicken or something and I was so excited when I walked in and looked at the menu! I had the Shrimp Po Boyger and it killed me dead to the ground, it's topped with a fried lemon slice that was just heaven! We finished off by splitting a Nutella and burnt marshmellow milkshake, again, killed me dead to the ground. This gets 2 tasty thumbs up, 1 for the design which is beautiful and amazing and 2 because the food was sooooo good! Yummy Scrumptious all around!

Love the idea of bar height family style seating!

The Booths are Gorgeous!

Can't go wrong with a Brilliant Super Graphic!

Overall, I think it's a great looking space, there is no denying that. The fact that the food is AWESOME just makes it that much better!

BPF's Reading Material

So, I hope you all loved the things Brian Patrick Flynn hearts, and now I have him back for more! I feel like design books are always inspiring and always look good. It doesn't have to be interiors, it can be fashion, jewelry, anything that you find interesting...with pretty pictures. Now as a designer I must say I reference books all the time and I am always on the hunt for good ones. I always find it interesting to see what books my fellow designers are drawing inspiration from and I think it's important to share that source. That being said, here are BPF's favorite design books...

She's amazing.

This is just priceless! Vintage Better Homes & Gardens

No surprise here!

Brilliant!

Design Really is for Everyone!

BPF hearts....

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2. Pittsburgh Paints - especially the color "Fog"


3. George Nelson Bubble Lamps



4. Baseball Stitching on Upholstery



5. Large Scale Photography

Photography

I must confess I am jealous of photographers. I feel like they have such an amazing gift and can take the most simple ordinary thing that we don't even notice and turn it into an amazing photograph. I wish that I knew how to do that. I don't know if it's the camera or knowing how to properly use it, but I just don't seem to have that ability. I know so many amazing photographers, since we have our work photographed so often, and while I am constantly looking at their body of work for interiors, I am most often blown away by the shots they take just because. Because something as simple as an unmade bed in the morning can really be so beautiful and say so much. Meg Perotti, who I have posted about previously (she did my head shots and I love them!) is one such photographer. This photo she took knocks me dead to the ground and what she wrote about it makes it so much more special....

"The light coming through our bedroom windows took my breath away this morning. I stood by the door and let my eyes graze over every bit of our sheets and comforter and took mental notes of how the bedding was strewn from Tim’s side (early morning riser) and my side (late morning riser). I ran for my camera- hoping that when I returned everything would be as it was at that moment. With my camera in my hands, looking through the lens the scene took on a deeper feeling. Someday we will leave this room, we will expand our reach and explore other rooms in another city, another neighborhood. I started taking photos of everything in this apartment- I, suddenly, intensely needed to document every inch. The very reason why I am a photographer seemed to come pouring out of me. Someday we will leave this place, this home, for new adventures. Even if that day is a happy one- it must be!- a part of me will always breathe here. The part of me that figured out who I was and what I am here to do grew and flourished within these walls. The time will come to leave this white sheet memory behind, but I’ll always have these photographic images. That, my friends, is why I do what I do- that is why I am what I am. It only took light coming through our bedroom window, spilling onto our white pillowcases to remind me of it." --Meg Perotti

Preppy Prodigy

I am all about supporting other designers and artists because it can be tough out there for us to try and make a name for ourselves. Of course Mom, Dad, Husband and Wife are always there to build you up and make you feel special but there is something about being recognized by your peers that gives you a different sense of accomplishment. When someone else does something brilliant I am all about giving them credit and even though about 4 people read this blog, I still want the world to know that I think that person has done something wonderful. So today I would like to recognize a 21 year old college student who has turned his dorm room into something amazing. New York Magazine is one of my favorites, recently I saw their online article about Maximilian Sinsteden. He is a senior at Drew University in Madison New Jersey and he has amazing style. He is a French and Art History Major and has an amazing eye for interiors. Look at these photos of his dorm room, I mean hello!!! I imagine him as such a doll and I know we are going to be hearing about him in the future, clearly he has an amazing talent.






Photos by Dean Kaufman