Month: March 2015

Just In: Foscarini Binic Lamp In New Colors For Spring

In Fall 2011 I traveled to Venice on a press trip sponsored by Italian lighting company Foscarini, as a representative for contemporary design site Design Milk, for which I used to work as an editor. Foscarini hosted a handful of international bloggers and lighting designers at their offices for the day and brought us on a guided tour of the Venice Biennale (you can see my Venice Biennale 2011 photos here).

Not only did I meet incredibly talented designers, including Ionna Vautrin, designer of the adorable Foscarini Binic lamp, Luca Nichetto who designed the Stewie, and  Jozeph Forakis who designed the Tivu and Havana lamps, I also bonded with bloggers I wouldn’t have otherwise met, like Micle Mihai-Cristian of contemporary design site Freshome. The Foscarini folks recorded little videos of all us speaking about design concepts, which I posted here.

Vautrin dubbed her little table lamp by Foscarini “Binic” after a tiny lighthouse off the rocky coast of Brittany. Foscarini will be debuting the Binic lamp in fresh, new colors for spring, at Salone Del Mobile in Milan next month, and they will be available in the States in early June. In the meantime, the Foscarini Binic lamp is currently available in six colors.

I’m crazy about the mint color, it’s the perfect hue for this whimsical silhouette. The yellow Binic would make the perfect pop of color in a grey, white, or blue room. As for the pale pink and grey, well these Binics are the perfect shades to complement the model apartment I’m decorating in Boston. Perhaps I need to incorporate one.

Binic Blue & Pink

Binic Yellow,Pink,Grey

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Shop modern lighting and decor at Horne >

ARTmonday: Architecture in Art

Last night I pulled together 20 examples of architecture in art for today’s post. As I scrolled through Pinterest pinning hundreds of images that appeal, I realized that one of the categories that make my heart flutter most is architecture. (You can look at my Architecture I and Architecture II Pinterest boards and see if you feel similarly.)

Artwork sucks me in, street style compels me to lose weight and dress with more verve, and food photos makes me wish I had more time and energy to really cook, but the architectural images draw me in more profoundly. Sure, it’s the design aspects in part—the corrugated metal, black stained siding, expanses of glass, pointy rooftops, and placement in the surrounding landscape transport me to another place, another time, another life I could have. Or maybe, just a house I might someday build.

So just for that reason, the realization that looking at sublime examples of contemporary dwellings elicits a response deeper than browsing well-designed living rooms and adorable, furry animals, here are occurrences of architecture in art, including photographs, paintings, illustration, sculpture, and collage.

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Classic Bowling Architecture  •  Vorona Photography
Prints starting at $16 at Society6

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Banco  •  Luciana Levinton
Prints starting at $124  •  Original $10,000  •  Saatchi Art

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Universal Space  •  Cécile Van Hanja
Prints starting at $60 at Saatchi Art

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Farewell   •  Rosalind Davis
$170 at Rise Art

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Architecture  •  Sannngat
Prints starting at $17.67 at Society6

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Yellow Surfer’s House  •  Ieva Baklane
Prints starting at $104  •  Original $1,278  •  Saatchi Art

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False Memory  • Ricky Allman
Starting at $60 at 20×200

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Look Down  •  Gail Schechter
Starting at $20 at Minted

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Dreamed Bungalow  •  Carola Schapals
$8,000 at Saatchi Art

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Icons *2 (Trevi Fountain, Rome)  •  Nicolas Vionnet
$985 at Saatchi Art

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Woodshed  •  Andrew McClintock
Starting at $22 at Minted

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At the Sea II  •  Igor Vitomirov
Prints starting at $67  •  Original $1,200  •  Saatchi Art

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Painting Edifico Chrysler y Empire State  •  Claudia Hernández
Saatchi Art

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Modern Architecture  •  Lemonee on the Hills
Prints starting at $17 at Society6

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Untitled00373  •  Peter Matyasi
Prints starting at $125 / Original $1500  •  Saatchi Art

Sunday Bouquet: Use Colorful Carnations In Your Aalvar Aalto Vase

White Alvar Aalto Vase With Pink & Orange Carnations

I love these pink & coral carnations in this white Alvar Aalto vase by Iittala.
I usually filly my Alvar Aalto vases with hydrangeas because they
fill up the wide space nicely, but this arrangement is really cute.

(I don’t know the source of this photo, but if you do please let me know.)

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Fine Print: London Designer Anouska Hempel

London-based designer Anouska Hempel (also known as Lady Weinberg) has had a very large career. Hempel, who I’m guessing has a flamboyant personality, was born Anne Geisler. She started out as a New Zealand actress before becoming a hotelier, interior designer, and London society fixture.

She has established four hotels and designed numerous restaurants and retail spaces, including six Van Cleef & Arpels stores and the Louis Vuitton flagship in Paris. She’s also designed two yachts, English gardens, and haute couture for Princess Diana.

The book, written by Marcus Binney, is beautiful, with over 400 photographs of Anouska Hempel’s interiors, architecture, and gardens.

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Rizzoli sent me a copy of Anouska Hempel, which is appropriately placed on my Heywood Wakefield coffee table next to a beach stone tower and my Cathy Moynihan bird sculpture.

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Photo by Marina Faust

A house at Salzburg in the half-light of dawn.

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Photo by Adrian Houston

The basement bar of Anouska Hempel’s first hotel, Blakes London. Note the massive Louis Vuitton trunk and nautical-style cushion in Hermes orange.

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Photo by Simon Mack

A pair of free-standing lattice screens divides the kitchen from the dining table at Anouska Hempel’s London hotel La Suite West. The interior has a minimalist Japanese feel.

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Photo courtesy of The Hempel

The Lion’s Cage suite at The Hempel Hotel. Each of the 40 rooms and 10 apartments had a minimalistic Zen design, done all in pale woods and whites. The hotel was a favorite of Victoria Beckham and Michael Jackson. It was sold a couple of years ago and is now closed.

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Photo courtesy of The Hempel

A kimono on a wall at The Hempel.

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The attic bedroom at Anouska Hempel’s country house, Cole Park, an historic manor with a moat west of London.

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Anouska Hempel, Rizzoli (December 2014)

Get the Look: 16 Round Jute Rugs

Fresh off a wicker roundup in the Boston Globe (I can’t believe they didn’t go with my “Wickah Smaht” headline), I’ve pulled together a collection of round jute rugs (or hemp, or other natural fibers), most of them lacey from StyleCarrot partners and other cute shops.

These round jute rugs and round hemp rugs are intricate but rough, with a ton of tactile appeal. They’re great for entry halls and beach houses or other high traffic situations, or just to add a layer of texture in a neutral room. You can also hang a swirly jute rug on the wall, above a sofa, a bookshelf, or a bed as large, easy, and affordable adornment.

I’m kind of in love with the simplicity of number 2. Number 8 and 9 are fun, though probably these are a bit too much of a bohemian jute rug style for me. Number 7 from Serena & Lily is neat and tidy, and Number 16 (a pink jute rug!) is feminine without being too sweet. I’d love to see the black jute rug from Anthropologie in a modern Australian home.

Temps have been above 40 in Boston, so I figure it’s time to start thinking about summer decor. I think straw, sisal, wicker, rattan, jute, and hemp rugs and accessories work well to add texture, but use sparingly. Let’s check out these round jute rugs and round hemp rugs.

Round Jute Rugs Round Hemp Rugs Round Natural Fiber Rugs Round Jute Rugs Round Hemp Rugs Round Natural Fiber Rugs Round Jute Rugs Round Hemp Rugs Round Natural Fiber Rugs

 

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