Tuesday, May 31, 2011

eScape From Sky Factory

Every year for two weeks, we spend time at Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay Resort in Mazatlan, Mexico. We have the door open all the time we are in the room and we hear the ocean sounds; the waves breaking, the birds singing, the warm wind in the palms. We'd love to spend six months each year by the sea in Mexico, but it's not in our budget yet.

TODL today offered a solution to vacation-deprived owners of homes here in the fall and winter: Sky Factory eScape



An eScape window from Sky Factory runs about $9,000. The choice you have is of  the ocean with rising and setting suns in Hawaii, rippling brooks and wind through Aspens in the Steens and much more. Mighty nice solution until the next vacation!

Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design gallery
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Friday, May 27, 2011

A Room of Your Own

We are pleased to present this guest post from Carlo Ruggiero in the UK: 




Innovative Bedrooms -- A Room of Your Own

Your bedroom is your personal space for relaxation and essential rest. If you are a part of a couple, that applies two-fold. Your bedroom should be the one area of your house or flat where you feel grounded, serene and secure. While current trends in home decor largely dictate the palette of colours available in bed linens and carpeting, it is up to you to supplement out-of-the-box home fashion with bedroom furniture, accessories and personal items that speak to your sense of self. This will help to create a truly personal and totally comfortable (yet contemporary) space.

The Basics

When you set out to transform an empty chamber into a bedroom, you may be faced with the aesthetic of the previous tenant or homeowner in terms of wall and carpeting colours. If these are neutral shades, such as white or ecru, consider yourself in luck. Contemporary decorating wisdom holds that neutral hues provide a crisp, clean backdrop for bedroom furniture, and you will save time and expense if the existing colours suffice. However, if you find white walls too stark, consider painting or wallpapering a single wall with an accent colour. Place coordinating accent rugs over the existing flooring to add warmer hues.

Contemporary Style Trends

To achieve an integrated, restful space, the best strategy is to select a particular trend or theme that you like and then apply your personal creative touch. Contemporary designers recognize several current trends in home décor, including:

• Minimalist – simple lines, basic shapes, neutral colour scheme, no frills
• Eco-friendly – furniture with natural, non-toxic finishes, unbleached linens, nature’s colour palette
• Organic – eclectic furnishings, natural accents such as fresh and dried bouquets, handcrafts such as pieced quilts
• Ethnic – furnishings made of exotic wood, vibrant colour accents, décor pieces from faraway locations
• Bauhaus – upscale and sophisticated with classic furnishings, old-world solidity and culture
• Country ranch – relaxed, carefree decorating look with rustic wood furnishings and down-to-earth accents such as bricks and stoneware

Furniture Selection

Your selection of bedroom furniture is critical to your chamber's utility and decor. Your bed is the focal point of the room, and as such it must be both aesthetically pleasing and comfortable. This is that all-important stage in organising your bedroom when you must make stylistic decisions.

If you are going for a chic minimalist bedroom, you might select a simple bed with a plain headboard, or you might choose a platform upon which you set your mattress. For an organic decor scheme, you should select a bed frame made of wood or another natural material such as bamboo. A Bauhaus look requires bedroom furniture with a classic, high-gloss profile that makes a statement of opulence. A country ranch style bedroom calls for such materials as distressed leather or chunky wood furnishings.

Despite what you may read in the home magazines, modern bedroom furniture need not be stark or uninteresting, unless you choose it for the express purpose of creating that particular style. Warm wood, padded headboards, even log furnishings have their place in an appropriate decor scheme.
 
Carlo Ruggiero




Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design gallery
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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Spring Look At Precedent

Did you miss High Point?  Sherrill has been nice enough to film their showroom and show what's new this spring.  First up is a look at Precedent:



Bev & Mike
Landfair Furniture + Design gallery
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Monday, May 16, 2011

Enjoy Nica-Art



Every once in a while TODL shows a manufacturer that catches my eye.  They show something unique or different from anything I've seen before.  That's the case today as TODL singled out Nica-Art:



Nica-Art's Chris Welke represents 44 artists from the unassuming town of San Juan de Oriente, in Nicaragua. After a very lengthy process of hand crafting pottery, burnishing and painting using the traditional “engove” method, then baking in kilns constructed of local materials, these artisans create uniquely beautiful pieces reflecting their collective spirit.





The Nica-Art website has a whole page devoted to how this pottery is made at Making the Pottery. It takes days and days, using primitive methods, to turn out such beautiful vases.



Bev & Mike
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Thursday, May 05, 2011

BOORA



Bev has a particular affinity for BOORA Architects, since she worked at the firm for several years.  The firm caught her attention when on April 29th, the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) dedicated the  opening of eight new academic buildings on the 12.5-acre site that forms the new Knight Management Center campus.

Congratulations to Boora principal Stan Boles and all at BOORA for the most recent of four major Stanford capital development projects in which Boora has played a lead, or key supporting, role.

Bev & Mike
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