did y'all see sketch42's apartment today in rue? wow! congrats, nicole!
ps- m21 wants her kitchen- bad:
in a case of great minds thinking alike, m21 just ordered two of the same fabulous 'hicks' pendants from circa lighting (in polished nickel) to hang over a kitchen island for a project he's currently working on!
when are we invited to brunch, nicole?
now, get on over to rue to see the rest of nicole's fabulouslity! Tweet
the taraxacum chandelier, designed by achille castiglioni, 1988- one of our favoritist chandeliers of all time (and one of the most 'spensive at $4984.00, @ y-lighting)
a knock off taraxacum, undoubtedly made by chinese child labor ( but just $600.00 @ kirch & co. it's currently out of stock, but when it comes back in, we want one, bad. just until we can afford the real thing, mind you...)
when richard was a teeny tiny kitten, i couldn't play with him with a toy. mona would see the toy, think it was hers, and proceed to destroy it, while richard would run and hide under the bed; but kittens want to play 24/7, so i did what pet experts warn never to do- played with him with my hands. that way we could be stealthily playing together in my lap, and mona would blissfully ignore us. hands to her were for petting or feeding- if they weren't doing one of those two things, what use did she have for them?
little did i know then, that richard's daddy was a bobcat or a mountain lion, and he would grow in the biggest cat evah, so now i have a 22 pound cat whose idea of a good time is attacking hands. scares the bejesus out of visitors to the atelier, let me tell you- if he likes you and stops being terrified long enough to come out from under the bed, sooner or later, your hands are gonna get it. no escape.
the amazing thing is that even though richard has the tools to be one of nature's fiercest predators- 22 pounds of muscle, needle sharp teeth and claws, is not something i'd want to mess with in a dark alley- he really is just a big ol' pussycat at heart. he has never pierced my skin or even put a scratch mark on me in his playful attacks. sure you feel it- he's a big boy- but it never really hurts. when i warn guests of his habits and they indulge him, to a one they react the same after an encounter- it looks likes he's gonna hurt you, but when it's all over, and no blood is drawn or limbs severed, they laugh and let him go in for the kill again. kind of like a scary ride at amusement park- after you live through it once, you do again, just for fun!
so do you think you'd be brave enough to stop in for a bite?
maybe it's because we're busy, maybe it's just our time of the month ;-), but today, we got all fed up and in your face about it:
please, PR people, just because you can send a mass email by just pushing the send button, doesn't mean you should. i *love* pitches about design-related products, but have some respect, and make sure you are pitching to the right outlet, and remember, there is a person behind every blog or site, and we all have names...
ps- we deliberately changed the name of the PR person in question for the screen capture of this email. Tweet
this is the materials/color palette for the living room of a classic 1940's english regency home in the heart of old hollywood. driven by the stark 'antelope' carpet, we've selected solid ivory and tan indoor/outdoor velvets for our main upholstered pieces, with colorful, patterned, accent pillows, mainly in blues, to break it up a bit. the vintage and modern furniture will also have touches of ebonized wood, gilt and mirror, and to keep things on the wild side, we plan on bringing in some crazily chic tibetan lamb covered benches. we think it's a sophisticated, yet still exciting palette, and our clients thankfully agree.
mantel elevation of the project, featuring the client's existing sunburst mirror, flanked by a matched pair of chests, with abstract modern paintings hung above. we are striving to hit the balance between the traditional architecture of the home and our clients' more hip and modern sensibilities.
or a bit of pattern- we're using lots of both in a project we've been working on for a while now, and which is finally coming to fruition! (you may recognize some of these elements from past posts...)
the above custom-made big, fat, down pillows, covered in an inexpensive pink & white ikat print, will dress up the below traditional camel-backed skirted sofa (replacing the black and white pillows shown in the stock photo).
we are bringing lots of color, pattern and shine into this apartment transformation- all will help to distract from the deadly dull beige carpet we were stuck with throughout (see, there is a method to our cheerfully colorful madness!)
our client selected a chrome wire warren platner coffee table for in front of the sofa in the living area, to keep things fresh and modern:
a little classic modernism is always a good thing- in the dining area we are using a another mid-century classic, a carrera marble-topped saarinen table)
on the opposite side of the large room, in the pink-walled dining area, we're using these amazing refinished vintage faux-bois chairs, recovered in trina turk indoor/outdoor "zebra" fabric by schumacher, around the mentioned modern classic saarinen table.
we are LOVING using indoor/outdoor fabrics whenever possible these days- not even ted's muddy paws (or your drunken clumsy guest's spilled cocktail) will harm the sofa or chairs, both of which are covered in it.
we added this lantern to the dining area as well (which took 6 months to walk here from china, and still arrived with damage- not so happy with the process, but the end result is pretty):
and this mirror from empiric (which seems to be becoming a m21 staple- it looks so fab that we've used it twice in the past year and just specified it yet again for a new project):
some major pieces haven't arrived yet- like the dining table (back-ordered), and a mirrored media console (again, back-ordered!), but once we've got 'em, and done a 'lil accessorizing, we can't wait to share how all of these wildly disparate elements will come together to create a chic and happy home! Tweet
Phoebe is a Channel Island Allen (S.s. sedentarius) hummingbird in Orange County, California. She has been laying 4 to 5 clutches each year for several years and [her nest has been broadcast] since 2007.
what did you do for fun this weekend? m21 had a lapdance!
if there is a straight guy reading this blog (and chances of that are slim), try not to be too jealous, k? me? i was just hoping they were well paid.
just kidding 'bout the lap dance. the picture was the photo op in the 'dessert and burleseque' room (what a combo, right?) of the "nivea for men mansion", part of the run up to the golden globes madness that is gripping LA this weekend. jill, of material girls, invited us to tag along with her, and her good friend, brooke, for a night of free drinks, free food, free 'nivea for men' products... and a tiger. yes, we said tiger- another of the photo ops was with a playful six month old tiger cub! (before you say it- yes, we know- we were also very conflicted about the tiger being used as a prop, but trust, that (big) little kitten was having a blast. he had a little dog brought along as a playmate too- cuteness overload. if we ever find how to access the picture with him, we'll share it).
this is kind of tiger cub they pimped out- a golden tabby. so ginormously cute.
lapdances and tigers- only in LA, right? (actually, we take that back- it was one blackjack table away from "only in las vegas", but still kinda fun in that vegas-y kind of way).
last, the invitation promised us james franco, but we only saw one girl from "the hills" or "the city" or some other show we are far too old to watch or care about; our single other celebrity sighting was 80's fave, taylor dayne, now a respectably coiffed woman of a certain age (getting to pet the tiger cub more than made up for the loss of james franco, btw).
we'll close this post with taylor's insanely catchy 80's hit (been humming it all morning, much against our will. ok, not so much against our will- we LOVED this song back in the day- if we had known she was going to be there, we would have brought our extended remix cassingle for her to sign!)
be sure to set your alarms tomorrow morning as coleen rider of coleen & company and balustrade & bitters will be offering up selections from her amazing inventory- starts on one kings lane at 8 am pacific/ 11 am eastern. don't be late! (or rather do be late- less competition for the good stuff!)
see? we told you- an amazing selection- not a clunker in the bunch. we've got our eyes on the fabulous brass bottomed pouf benches- what tickles your fancy? Tweet
weird. but cute for kids (i guess- somehow i don't think kidm21 would have wanted a crab TV).
spotted this in the hanspree store window while strolling in beverly hills- comes in a whole variety of other wacky shapes, but this one was the one the made me go huh?
we were scared we'd be reported to the department of seasonal decor for a timely removal violation, because as of january 9th, 2011, our christmas tree is still standing; but we were gratified to learn after a walk with ted tonight, that there are a few more procrastinators in the neighborhood. we're not the last one... yet.
parting is such sweet sorrow.
we admit though, when we do get around to taking her down, we'll be sad. there was just something cheering about being being greeted with this sight every evening as we come up the front walk. alas, all good things must pass, and the 11 months 'til we can put her back up will pass in a blink of an eye.
how about you? did your holiday decor vanish promptly on new years day? or like m21, do you try to hang on a little longer then you probably should? Tweet
stark carpet's 'antelope' is the decorator's version of a kelly bag- a chic classic that never goes out of style...
and preparing for client presentations:
hopefully the millions saved on a DIY franz kline will help to offset the cost of a pair of amazing vintage cast metal brutalist lamps from the always fabulous inventory of lewis trimble, one of our favorite sources for vintage and antiques. our modern take on a classic chesterfield sofa, shown in the above sketch, will be covered in a kid friendly indoor/outdoor velvet from holly hunt.
so how has your first week of 2011 been? it's gonna be a great year, i can tell already!
maison21 is christian may, a los angeles based interior decorator with decided opinions about design. he'd like to share those opinions with you, to make the world a little bit prettier for the good of all mankind...
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