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
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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




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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:



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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.



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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.

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Bed Bugs And Dust Mites!

Are you worried about traveling and coming home with bed bugs?  I am!  More and more places are having problems with infestations, even the nice places.  We are even told to put our luggage in the tubs of hotels and resorts, because bed bugs can't move on the slick surfaces.

Then there are dust mites that feast off the dead skin that we humans shed while we sleep.  And ick!, the dust mite feces are a primary allergen for asthma, eczema and atopic allergies.

Would you be interested in a solution?  Today I learned about ActiveGuard^TM mattress liners which were originally developed in an effort to create an easier and more effective alternative to encasements and a more accurate and longer lasting alternative to sprays and powders for control of dust mites and their allergens.  After extensive testing and field trials, ActiveGuard has proven to be an effective tool for bed bugs!

The mattress liners fit over your mattress and under your sheets like a fitted sheet.  They are a woven fabric that is soft and flexible and come in single, full, queen and king sizes.  Prices range from $99.95 for single to $124.95 to king.

Tell us.  Should we carry this product?  Would you be interested in bed bug and dust mite protection at those prices?


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We Love Lorts

Lorts has a blog that features Fresh {off the line} Friday. Each Friday Lorts brings to our attention items that have passed through the factory recently and captured their attention.Here is beautiful example of their Pure Technique, specified in a custom Sherwin Williams paint color and applied to their classic 9620 Chest.



Next, Lorts  has a brilliant example of ther newest leafing option-copper leafing.  When specified on a piece with as much detailing as the 9689 Chest, it really brings out the dimension and texture of the carvings.


 Finally, look at this Mantel cabinet,  The ways it can be fisnished are only limited by your imagination.


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It's Bridget Otto Thursday!

Bridget Otto talks with Noelle Penn today in In the mood for Color.

"I can't imagine how depressed I'd be to come home to beige walls," she says, her trademark laugh punctuating the comment.

We can't either and we were so glad to be invited to the unveiling of Bob Lahatt's work at his client's condo on Westover Sunday. Bob invited us to meet his client and to see how he used the Fabricut, Duralee and Sherrill fabrics. There were mkany people there we knew and the catered food was terrific. We loved lahatt's use of color on the walls and drapes, in the wallpaper and on the upholstered furniture. Here's some video of the rooms:





Bob Lahatt Lahatt Robert Interior Design
Portland, OR 97086 800-883-1859

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A Fresh Look At Stanley

When "less is more," this is where to turn. Clean and architectural, Stanley Furniture's contemporary style combines texture, form and function to create a back drop for the modern lifestyle.

Equally at home in an urban loft or a smart, environmentally-aware home, this is contemporary that truly is for how we live.

» Watch the Contemporary Video

There Are Some New Apps For That!

Did you know there was a guide available which showcases the best property apps for the iPhone and iPad (many of which are design orientated):

From interior design ideas to fantastic DIY essentials, this hand-picked selection of apps will appeal to anyone with a flair for design and home improvement.

There's a Houzz app, an InteriorMag app, a Dream Home HD and many more either free or $.99. Have a look!

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Furniture Restoration – Breathing Life Into Your Home

The following is a guest post by Tom on behalf of Furniture 123.

Overview

In the current rising age of austerity, now probably seems as good a time as ever to be tightening the purse-strings and reducing spending. People are sacrificing past luxuries – cars, holidays and even furniture have risen beyond the spending capacity of many families. There are, however, other ways in which you can satiate your desire for a new-furniture fix – and while it might not prove quite as fulfilling as a brand new sofa or dining table, home restoration can be captivating and almost certainly less expensive.

So Just What Can Be Restored?

Well – in short – just about anything! Wooden, metal and upholstered furniture all make ideal subjects for budding restoration gurus. Dining tables, sofas, chairs, fireplaces, bookcases, display cabinets, coffee tables, footstools (you get the picture) are all suitable. You should never underestimate the impact that a simple amount of work can have on your furniture.

How Can I Restore My Furniture?

Metal Furniture

Generally, metal furniture is widely acknowledged as the easiest to restore. Find yourself some metal furniture spray paint, allocate a few hours of your time and an ideal outdoor area and get down to work! Note that this is best done on a dry day. Leave to dry and after a few hours, sit back and enjoy the results.

Wooden Furniture

To clean your wooden furniture, orange oil and a textured cloth are often used as the preferred tools. For wooden furniture which is chipped and worn, dramatic results can be observed through sanding and oiling. Find yourself some fine sandpaper and get down to some real ‘hands on’ work. When you’re happy with the results, varnish/paint the piece as required, leave to dry and voila! A real labour of love. For those pieces of furniture which have suffered from serious wear and tear, you might want to consider wood putty or a liquid wax mix to fill undesired nicks and holes.

Upholstered Furniture

Follow the given instructions for cleaning your specific fabric, ensuring that it isn’t washed at too high a heat. Use a spot shampoo such as Vanish to remove any obvious stains. For instances in which the upholstery is too badly stained or damaged, consider buying a cover to slip over the furniture, or adding pillows and cushions in strategic positions. An added advantage of this is that it allows you to change the décor of the room at will.

And The Results?

Of course, results deviate dependent on the time and care spent on the restoration, but it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t showcase some of the success stories out there…

Taken from Green Restoration.

Taken from Nere Finishing.
If you have any of your own examples then we’d love to hear from you, please leave a comment or get in touch.

Are You Going To SOFA?

Michael Eden
Grey Bloom, 2010
made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from a
high quality nylon material with unique mineral
soft coating, limited edition 1 of 12
8.5 x 7.5" diameter
Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, London

Coming up on April 14 to the 17th in New York is the International Exposition of Sculpture Objects and Functional Art (SOFA). Judging by some of the sneak peaks, it will be a great show and a peek at new accessories in showrooms.


Kate Malone
Atomic Vase, 2010
glazed stoneware
14.5 x 12.5 x 10"
Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, London


Bodil Manz
No 16 - Angular Vessel, 2011
porcelain
9 x 15"
photo: Erik Brahl
Lacoste Gallery, Concord MA


Marc Ricourt

Marc Ricourt
Scorched Ash, 2009
scorched ash
49 x 24 cm
Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London


Bud Latven - Sarah Myerscough

Bud Latven
Tulipwood Conic
tulipwood and ebony
33 x 48 cm
Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London

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We've suspected that bathtubs aren't used much.  Most of the time when we see movies, TV or ads of someone in the bathroom, they are taking a shower. Rarely are they bathing.

Lake Norman resident Starr Miller considered getting rid of the whirlpool tub in her master bathroom when she realized her housekeeper was in it more than she was.

I suggested to Mike just last week while vacationing in Mazatlan, Mexico, that I would like to remodel the bathroom and create a wonderful  glass shower in place of the tub.  I just don't bathe anymore and Mike doesn't like to sit in his dirty water.   He loves a shower.

Doesn't this shower look luxurious?




What do you think? Are you including tubs in your bathroom remodels? Do you even use a tub in our busy days anymore?

Bev & Mike
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Style and Substance

Explore The Pearl is out and in is a discussion of what constitutes Style and Substance. Quoted in the article is Syslee Shael of French Quarter Linens, Todd Dewey of J.D. Madison Home Furnishings, Deepali Kahlia of Filling Spaces, Bridget Blackburn of Cargo and Bev Landfair of Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery.

Bev says of a trend, "Style is just a trend that hangs out longer."

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The Model Architect: Bart Prince

It fascinates me that an idea in our mind can become solid; real. As soon as the idea was conceived it was real and then the conception became physical. Dwell has this wonderful video of architect Bart Prince from Albuquerque talking about his work with clients and the results. After his interviews he builds a model of the design so his clients can see the idea in solid form.

Portland Japanese Garden Expansion By Kengo Kuma

Jenna McKnight editor of the Architectural Record reports

The renowned architect Kengo Kuma has been tapped to design an expansion for the 5.5-acre Portland Japanese Garden, which opened in 1967. While funding is not yet in place, the plan calls for new garden spaces, an education center, a gift store, and a tea house. Groundbreaking is targeted for 2013.

THA Architecture In Portland Wins Award

Architectural Record is pleased to announce the winners of its 13th Good Design Is Good Business Awards (formerly the Business Week/Architectural Record Awards). The program recognizes projects with innovative architectural strategies that help businesses achieve specific goals. The jury, which consisted of members of the editorial staff, attempted to gauge the success of each project’s “business case”—a series of quantitative and qualitative measurements of building performance. Factors considered included employee productivity, construction costs, reduced overhead, and branding, among other criteria.

Pictured above is Mercy Corps Headquarters by THA Architecture, in Portland, Oregon

Two Heartwarming Stories

Kathy in Mazatlan writes:

Yesterday a friend of a friend came in to town via a yellow and white cab to the Golden Zone. He was excited to visit our lovely city. When he got to his room he realized he left his leather pouch in the cab containing dollars, passport and other important papers. Shortly therefter the hotel received a phone call from cab driver and the pouch with all contents was delivered to him. Thank you for your honesty. Muchas gracias to our tourism.

Vitalia writes about losing her wedding rings.  She remembered before she got out of the car, she had taken her rings off and put them in her lap when she applied hand lotion..

I ran outside only to find out that there is a big sewer vent right under the door where I exited the car.  There was no sign of rings.  Just a big, ugly, scary sewer grid.

Rouget restaurant owner Brian in Newton, PA went into the sewer to search for her rings.

What are you willing to do for your clients, not to gain something, but to be a decent human being?

Bev & Mike
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Hot New Looks for Old Fireplaces

"Hot New Looks for Old Fireplaces." That's the title of a new blog post at Emery & Associates interior Design Blog written by our friend Kathia Emery. Kathia is showing some wonderful before and after photos of fireplaces that have been upgraded.

We encourage you to take a look and perhaps you too, are just tired of looking at the old fireplace and are interested in a redo.

Bev & Mike
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Sofa, Couch Or Something Else?

What do you call that upholstered item you sit in with your spouse and dog before the TV? Designers call it a sofa, however I hear couch from the uninformed and I quickly correct them. “It’s sofa, not couch!” They are so embarrassed. They always say sorry.

When I was growing up we had a red davenport or davano for short. My mom would say, “Would you kids get your feet off the davano?” She had worked for hours sewing a slip cover for the sofa out of muslin. It would fade and every once in a while she’d toss it into the washer with red-Rit dye. It would come out looking brand new, as if the sun had never touched it.

Wikipedia says Davenport is the name of a series of sofas manufactured by the now-defunct A. H. Davenport Company. Due to the popularity of the furniture at the time, the name "Davenport" has become a genericized trademark. It is often used as a synonym for "sofa", especially in the Midwestern United States and in northern New York state.

My parents came from the Midwest. Maybe they brought the word west to Portland.

Sofas need maintenance from time to time. One of those skills which homeowners learn by necessity is plumping cushions. Here are a few tips to help you keep your sofa cushions as bouncy as new.

1 - Keep pets off the sofa. Sure I know I should, but I like his head in my lap. Pets leave marks on your sofa cushions just like you do.
2 - Turn your cushions regularly. – Flip them or exchange the right side with the left side.
3 - Give your cushions an energetic beating. –Take the daily stress out on your cushions by giving them some good whacks. Maybe this is even a good time to have an old-fashioned pillow fight with your significant other.
4 - Invest in a high quality sofa. – The higher the quality of sofa the longer the stuffing in the cushions will be able to hold its shape.
5 - One more thing. Consider having your fabric treated at the time of purchase to protect it from nasty spills that can ruin your investment.

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