October 2014 – Raised by Design

Month: October 2014

Jo and Joe’s Tribeca High Rise

/ concept, design, projects, round it up! / 2 Comments

Today I’m excited to give you a peek at an e-design consult I’m currently working on.

Joanna and Joe are moving into a fabulous high rise apartment in TriBeCa next month and they’re in the process of defining their style as a couple as they merge the contents of their respective bachelor and bachelorette pads. Always a fun exercise.

Joe is a music/tech entrepreneur and Joanna is in finance and active in the NYC theater community. They’re both live music junkies and fell in love shredding fresh powder and building bon fires at a ski house they share with friends in Vermont.

In their Manhattan pad we’re pulling together a palette that will feel cozy in the winter and breezy in the summer. Grays, blues and whites anchor the living room, paired with warming wood surfaces and leaving room to introduce city-chic feminine details and layered masculine textures.

Here’s the mood board I put together:

Our first step was to establish some basics in the space – they needed help putting together their living area starting with a new couch, area rug and end tables. Most of the furniture they’re bringing into the space, including their coffee table, is darkest brown wood so we wanted to lighten things up a bit.

I sent them to shop for couches at Room & Board‘s SoHo showroom, my favorite source for big ‘All Growns Up’ furniture purchases. Everything at R&B is American Made with high quality craftsmanship. Their pieces are gorgeous and it’s a great place to make that first investment purchase for your home. The Jo(e)s ended up going with the super versatile Metro Sofa in a custom L-shape with cement-gray upholstery.

Next we chose an area rug from West Elm – the Andes Wool Rug in Dusty Blue. Rugs are tricky and Joanna was leaning towards a playful chevron pattern but we agreed that chevron is a well-worn trend and she’d be sick of it in a matter of weeks. We settled on this more sophisticated, subtle iteration of a chevron in a wool blend that will stand up to high traffic but still feel soft under bare feet.

With these anchor pieces locked in our next thing to tackle was end tables. Here’s where things got fun. I try to avoid anything too matchy-matchy or strictly symmetric in my designs – although the eye likes symmetry it can sometimes feel too rigid or bossy.

I think living spaces should make people feel inspired, calmed and comforted. The best way to achieve a relaxed vibe is to establish a balance while maintaining an ‘undone’ or organic feeling.

So to start down that path, I recommended that we go with two different end tables that will bring asymmetry into the space but play well with each other.

Joe and Joanna describe their style is ‘classic’ and didn’t want anything too ‘crazy, art deco or modern’. I turned down the funk and stayed away from anything too artistic, abstract, vintage or bohemian and tried to choose pieces that were simple and clean lined without being boring.

Here are some of the options we’re considering:

Distressed Metal End Table from Target – $83
Safavieh Wynton Table from Target – $136
Allard End Table from Room & Board – 429
Wicker Drum from Pottery Barn – $149
Eden Table from World Market – $70
Driftwood Side Table from Crate & Barrel – $399
Martini Side Table from West Elm – $119
Oslo End Table from Target – $129
Safavieh Josef Table from Target – $229

The Jo(e)s are leaning towards the Driftwood Table from Crate & Barrel so I’m encouraging them to bring a new material into the mix. I’m loving the balance that a steel or bronze piece would bring into the picture. What do you think?

Loveyoubye! Maggie

Before + After – Painted Blanket Chest

/ before + after, lil' spot, projects / 6 Comments

In the bedroom of today’s woman, it’s absolutely, 100%, no bull crap essential to have a place where you can slump your clothes, sit and zip up your moto boots or rest a stack of clean laundry for a week before you finally get around to putting it away. Double bonus points if said place can also store extra blankets or bulky sweaters that don’t fit in your closet.

Ever since we moved into the smaller bedroom I’ve been searching for the right piece to go at the end of our bed. This toy chest from my childhood bedroom fit perfectly, but it needed a little love to go from 80’s nursery life to grown-ass lady bedroom.

Sometimes, all you need to pull off a good Before + After is a couple coats of paint, for real. All designers will tell you that paint is their best pal – the quickest (and cheapest) route to big time change.

For this project I used two coats of Benjamin Moore’s Midnight – a deep navy with slate gray undertones. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

In natural light, it looks more blue but by lamplight it looks almost black. It’s moody and lovely, just like me.

I’m especially happy with the way it makes the colorful art we hung above it pop.

The top work is a 1980 Mary Engelbreit original of three girls that reads “Koki, Muffie, and Bitsy shop for circle pins.” I love this drawing dearly because “Muffie” is my Mom, “Koki” is Mary – my faerie/art godmother – and “Bitsy” is Nicki Dwyer – my actual Godmother. I love these ladies and I love the cherry red frame Mary chose all those years back. This illustration hung right where I had my timeouts growing up. I wonder if Mom did that on purpose so we had to sit and reflect on how cute she was while we were being punished.

The bottom piece is an original masterpiece by my little sister, Mo, from when she was probably four or five years old – elevated to legit abstract art in an IKEA matte and frame. I adore the colors she chose – she had an eye for style even back then.

Here’s a view from the door of our bedroom:

And here’s a closeup of the dreamy breakfast in bed that I’ve never enjoyed in real life but totally makes the picture feel cozy:

And that, my friends, is all there is to it. Paint saves the day. Now you’ll have to excuse me while I eat that piece of apple cake in two bites.

Loveyoubye! Maggie

RBD Notepad: Mainstream vs. Upstream

/ Mainstream // Upstream, RBD notepad / 6 Comments

This edition of Mainstream vs. Upstream hits on a couple of trends that I love and use in my own home.

You can’t go wrong with barn lighting; a classic industrial-chic look that I’ve used in my home for years and probably will for years to come. The pendant over my childhood dinner table was a white barn pendant like the one pictured below. They go with every style of decor and are fairly inexpensive. This trend isn’t going anywhere.

If you’re looking for the next-level iteration of metallic pendants try the copper pendant. I prefer Tom Dixon’s rendition with its super sleek shape and high shine finish.

Kilim rugs are flat weave Persian rugs that were traditionally used for prayer but made their way into American households as furnishings in the 1960’s. Today they’re a super popular option in modern eclectic homes and do a great job of softening super modern lines with an edgy, rugged look.

But another traditional rug style is making its way back on the scene: the hooked rug. Originating in colonial New England, rug hooking had its moment in the 1980’s folk art craze (my mom was is a master hooker…don’t tell her I said so). Today’s spin on this country craft uses geometric designs and brings in bright cheerful colors. I’m totally into it.

How does your garden grow? Terrariums are another trusty trend that is definitely staying put. There are tons of options in stores these days so if you’re hankering for a miniature ecosystem for your succulents and baby ferns, you shouldn’t have to hunt too hard.

I’m seeing a lot of macrame planters creeping back into haute homes. The difference between these and your mom’s macrame are the brightly colored fibers being woven in. Gimme some a ‘dat!

Image credits: barn pendants /// copper pendant /// kilim rug /// kaleidoscope hooked rug /// glass terrarium /// macrame planters

Loveyoubye! Mags

RBD Concept: The Blue Madonna Part II

/ italian-american culture, RBD concept, RBD notepad, restaurant, Uncategorized / 0 comment

A couple weeks back I posted about a design concept for a modern Italian Restaurant. ‘Member? Here’s the post if you missed it. I’m calling this hip downtown Italian eatery The Blue Madonna and the concept is inspired by Italian-American suburbia and Roman-Catholic iconography.

Below is the mood board I put together to visualize the overall concept:

But I couldn’t stop there…so I sketched out a (very) rough floor plan. This gets me thinking about the space in reality and how the different zones – dining, bar, bathrooms, courtyard, reception – would play out. Check the layout I’m envisioning below:

Once I got my bearings in the space, I could start to think about the materials in each of the zones, starting with the flooring. Here’s a look at the finish floor plan showing the chosen materials:

In the main reception and dining room areas painted white, unpolished concrete brings rich ‘lived in’ texture without crowding the eye. In the bar area: same material, but painted an icy stone blue, reminiscent of stucco on suburban buildings.

A faux-grass walkway brings the suburban landscape indoors and leads the patron from the front entrance back to the bathrooms and into the courtyard.

Let’s take a walk through the space, looking at some of the furnishings and finishes.

RECEPTION AREA:

Nonna’s living room, turnt up. Vintage faux marble wallpaper, a pair of peach velour sofas joined by an inflatable terrarium stool, reproduced and enlarged to function as a cocktail table. Can we talk about these gorgeous babies for a second and how I need to have one in my living room as soon as possible? They are just incredible. Cute little mcm legs supporting an inflatable plastic poof, filled with carefully arranged plastic flowers. So much kitschy awesomeness I can’t even stand it.

The space is punctuated by a statement chandelier – a vintage Italian glass find on 1stDibs.

The reception area leads into the bar and lounge area to your right. While guests are waiting for their table, they can sip on their Negroni in one of the mid-century side chairs with champagne basket weave upholstery.

You’ll notice in the top floor plan that there are two art features planned for the space – one in the main reception area and one in the bar and lounge area. Opposite those champagne lounge chairs is the Bathtub Madonna art feature:

I put this together quickly in Photoshop so it’s a pretty rough interpretation of the installation, but you get the idea. Four large ‘Bathtub Madonnas’ suspended by heavy chain and anchor against a large scale custom graphic of traditional vintage oilcloth normally used as tablecloth.

Bathtub Madonnas are a real thing. Nowadays you can order a factory-made grotto online for your Blessed Virgin Mary garden shrine, but back in the day people used an upended bathtub, which I find much more interesting. These garden shrines are not exclusive to Italian neighborhoods, of course. Some of the most impressive displays are in the German-American neighborhoods in the Midwest. Our neighborhood is mostly made up of Croatian and Portuguese families and there are lots of modern versions of Bathtub Madonnas around.

I’m having so much fun with this concept and love how everything is coming together but there is more to explore. Thinking about the bathrooms – what do suburban kitsch bathrooms look like to you? Stay tuned for one last installment on this design in the coming weeks!

Loveyoubye!

Mags