Tag: design

Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao Spain

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by architect Frank Gehry, is widely considered one of the most important and admired works of contemporary architecture.

Imagine walking through the old city of Bilbao, Spain, with ancient cobblestones under your feet, surrounded by buildings adorned with lively colors.  The shape of the alley naturally brings your eye up where, at the end, sits a massive modern structure that seems to undulate in the sun.  This is the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by architect Frank Gehry and widely considered one of the most important and admired works of contemporary architecture.

Image: Damian Corrigan

I find the idea of this modern masterpiece in the heart of an old Spanish city so conceptually cool; I’d love to experience this!  Gehry designed the building to have an organic feel, with seemingly random curves.  Sitting along the Nervion River, the building looks like a ship about to head out to the Atlantic.  At the same time, the titanium panels covering those dramatic curves bring to mind schools of shiny fish cutting through the nearby waters.  It’s incredible how one structure expresses different aspects from varying angles.

Image by Pignatelli Massimo
Image courtesy of 2008 Gehry Partners LLP
Image courtesy of guggenheim.org

 

 

 

La Dolce Vita

The success of La Dolce Vita stems from Paloma’s “passion for the sweet life.”

In 2007, during a summer break from her former career as a high school Spanish teacher, Paloma Contreras of Houston, TX, founded her style blog La Dolce Vita.  Since that time, she has attracted a worldwide readership and been featured in publications such as the New York Times, New York Magazine, Washington Post, Better Homes and Gardens, and many others.

The success of La Dolce Vita stems from Paloma’s “passion for the sweet life.”  Blog posts focus on interior design, fashion, travel, and people, and are beautifully complimented with photographs.  An impressive group of contributors, each with their own talents, interests, and perspectives, also provide material for La Dolce Vita.  Along with guest bloggers and contributions from designers, Paloma and her team have created a blog that appeals to a variety of styles and tastes.

Eclectic Family Room

This family room was such a fun space to create.

This family room was such a fun space to create.  It has an edgier vibe with a punch of color, definitely a modern room.  The palette and design approach allowed for so much creativity and the use of fantastic accents.

One piece that instantly sets the mood for the entire space is the Donghia swivel chair upholstered in F. Schumacher Ikat Velvet.  I just adore Ikat patterns!

The shag carpet from Patterson, Flynn & Martin is another favorite element of this family room.  Shag carpets can be a hard sell to present to a client, with its reminders of the 1970’s, but this carpet is hip and urban, especially with the dark grey hue.

Other important pieces for the room include the Pottery Barn storage cabinet and coffee and side tables from Design Within Reach.  All are solid and anchor the space  without detracting from the room’s modern lines.

Finally, the accessories really make this space speak.  The hint of gold adds contrast to the furniture pieces.  The artwork is abstract and grounds the use of the dominating red hue of the room.  The unusual wood lamp and touch of Buddha spirit add a decorative element as well.  These are the kinds of essential details that make a project into something more than just a decorated room!

 

 

Grand Entry

The entry is always the central core of a residence. It sets the mood for the first impression when a guest enters your home.

The entry is always the central core of a residence.  It sets the mood for the first impression when a guest enters your home.  This entry is vast in height with a grand stairway open to the upper floor.

Finding the perfect entry table here turned into a real scavenger hunt.  Initially, I began sourcing antiques because I needed such a long table for this area.  Bored with the typical consoles and frustrated that the most spectacular pieces had been used by other designers, I thought, “Why not start the search from scratch?”  What I found was a table that originally formed part of an 1800’s bar that originated in the south of France.

I remember the day I presented the piece via email to the client and they said “Yes!”  I must have danced around the office like a silly child, so thrilled to have something authentic and aged in a newly refurbished space.

Another component I really like in this entry is the brass scale on top of the console table.  I have these moments where I speak up and conjure some crazy idea but have no idea where I’m going to locate what I’m presenting.  Somehow I always manage to figure it out, and the scales are a perfect example of that.  I wanted something of substance and not your typical accessory.  What I love about the scale is the way it functions as a vase for filling with flowers or other arrangements.

The console itself is a beautiful piece of art, but the accessories that adorn the top are so unique and strategically balanced.  The stone horse weighs a ton!  It was almost impossible to get it up there.

Being able to add so many custom elements to this entry also made it a memorable project.  The  gorgeous Buton area rug by JD Staron Galleries, light fixture in brass and dark bronze patina by Charles Edwards, and mirror and bench from Dennis & Leen, all complement each other and the grandness of the entry to form an overall atmosphere of impressive sophistication.  Finally, strie wall paper by Farrow & Ball cover the walls to provide subtle background texture and complexity.

Tabletop Inspirations

Don’t underestimate the ability of fine dinnerware to add a special or unique touch to the table.

What do you use your dishes for?  Are they simply utilitarian, something to toss on the table at dinner, then clean up and store out of sight once the meal is over?  On most nights of the week, dinner time is more about reconnecting with family after a busy day or fitting in a quick dinner between soccer and homework than about transforming your table into a masterpiece of a tablescape.

When you have guests, however, don’t underestimate the ability of fine dinnerware to add a special or unique touch to the table.  Dinnerware can add color, interest, and style to the table.  There’s no reason why you can’t use the dinnerware as another interesting element to make your guests feel special.

Here are some examples of dinnerware I love.  They represent a variety of colors and styles, but what they have in common is a heightened level of interest or detail that can easily be carried into other accent pieces for the table.

Decorate your table with this over the top tobacco leaf plate. Keep everything else simple.
This is my mother's china - Tree of Life. I have always loved the tree of life motif - inspiration from my mother!
Match - Pewter Table Top
Jasper Conran Chinoiserie

 

Fortuny & L'Objet - Fabulous!
Haviland
Classic Hermes
L'objet - Mythologie

And of course, who says fabulous dinnerware has to be confined to a tabletop?

Cozy Chic Family Room

Our goal here was to create a comfortable, cozy environment in a livable space with absolutely nothing pretentious.

An open floor plan offers unique challenges and opportunities.  For this client, the family room opened to both the kitchen and dining area so all three spaces needed to tie together.  Our goal here was to create a comfortable, cozy environment in a livable space with absolutely nothing pretentious.  The rooms already had good flow from that open floor plan as well as lots of natural light and simple
architecture.  With these things in mind, we set out to create this cozy chic living room.

The primary color selection for this project was green.  Combined with all that wonderful light, the natural, organic color palette allows the influence of the outdoors to pour into the interior.  The resulting effect is inviting and has a simple influence but layers of warmth.   To achieve this, I chose materials like wicker, iron, walnut, and a hint of bamboo.  Since the space holds three different actions — eating, cooking, and lounging — elements had to not only compliment each other but also almost repeat to tie everything together.  For example, walnut in both the island and coffee table, bamboo on the ottomans and bar stools, and wicker chairs echoed by baskets.

Some of the items and materials used here were really enjoyable to work with.  The tile back splash warms up the white cabinetry of the kitchen while the Lamplight Designs lanterns over the island draw in that soft green color seen throughout the space.  The chenille sofa fabric from Cowtan & Tout, for example, or the John Rosselli & Associates bamboo ottomans upholstered in leather.  One of my favorite accents, however, is the Vaughan standing lamp in iron!

I think the finished room really lives up to all of its potential.  This is a great gathering area where everyone feels connected and part of the open communication of living together in a wonderfully habitable space.

House Beautiful: Bath of the Month

Being one of my favorite design publications, I was thrilled to have a bath I designed chosen as Bath of the Month!

House Beautiful magazine’s March 2012 issue just arrived in my mailbox.  Being one of my favorite design publications, I was thrilled to have a bath I designed chosen as Bath of the Month!  Here is my interview, done by Mimi Read, with photographs by Lucas Allen.  It was a true pleasure working with them and seeing the article in print!

Here is the article in full, but I suggest you pick up an issue to enjoy from cover to cover!

Mimi Read:  You do know how to frame a view.

Amy Aidinis Hirsch:  We wanted an expansive window to fill the room with natural light, and to make the exterior part of the interior.  We didn’t use a window treatment because it would have blocked the view.  Those lush green woods are like a painting for the space.

That’s a brave move, putting a tub right in front of a huge uncovered window.

The house is at the end of a cul-de-sac — my clients have total privacy here.  That’s a dual soaking tub, so it accommodates two people.  They wanted a bathroom for both of them to enjoy together — a perfect symmetry of his-and-hers everything.  He travels a lot, and it was particularly important to him to have a tranquil space to retreat when he comes home.  It’s their Zen haven.

Cladding the walls and floor in all this honey-vanilla limestone creates such a spa-like feeling.

We chose vanilla limestone because we were going for warm and simple, understated.  Marble would have had too much movement —  all that veining — and that would have competed with what we were trying to achieve here.  The driving force for choosing limestone was the previous floor.  It was Jerusalem gold marble, and it was jarring, not welcoming at all.  This is such a soft, calming color, very gentle on the eye, and also to the hand — it’s quite smooth, not pitted in any way.  And using it everywhere unifies everything.

You’ve even used tilted limestone slabs as vanities.  Why no drawers or cabinets under the sinks?

My clients didn’t want conventional vanities — they wanted something clean and minimal.  They were actually inspired by a tiny vignette of a bathroom they’d seen at Paris Ceramics.  They were there looking, and they really fell in love with the mother-of-pearl on the vessel sinks and the backsplash.  The way the light picks up on it is exquisite.  I repeated the mother-of-pearl tiles in the shower and made it thicker, right at eye level.  It’s definitely the bling.

It’s beautiful the way the mirrored door between the vanities reflects the woodsy view.

The details are so beautiful, too.  The panes frame antique mercury mirror, and the rosettes are hand-carved.  You really notice the beauty because of the sleek, angular simplicity of the vanities.  The door slides into the wall, so it never obscures either of the vessel sinks.  Those sinks are works of art.

–MR

A Jewel of a Powder Room

My goal with this project was to create a jewel of a powder room; a whimsical experience in a smaller space.

Bathrooms and powder rooms can be the best places to design.  Since the room isn’t usually directly in sight, you can be more extreme, take risks, and play with more unusual materials.  My goal with this project was to create a jewel of a powder room; a whimsical experience in a smaller space.

To start, the mohair for the wall upholstery sets a luxurious backdrop balanced nicely by the lighter colors of the hand kiln tiles by Country Floors and the Honey Onyx sink vessel by Ann Sacks.  The console table is a custom piece from English Looking Glass.

In addition, some of the wonderful products from this powder room are not visible in the photos.  A hand-antiqued map of Paris, George I Gilt Gesso Pier Mirror,  and a Piccolo Sconce by Gregorius Pineo, round out the bathroom nicely.  Finding just the right details and accents such as these is what makes a project for me!

 

 

An Unusual Wreath

When a client asked me to create a wreath for the New York Junior League’s Winter Wreath Celebration and Auction, I immediately knew I wanted to do something risky to set my design apart from all the others.

When a client asked me to create a wreath for the New York Junior League‘s Winter Wreath Celebration and Auction, I immediately knew I wanted to do something risky to set my design apart from all the others.  I felt totally against creating a typical, round, preserved green wreath.   This was a risky, absolutely unsafe approach, but I wanted something authentic and unusual that would get people talking.  Plus, I had only two weeks to pull of the entire project!  Working under pressure helps me focus pure creativity, so the time crunch actually worked in my favor.

My first and biggest hurdle involved convincing my husband to part with a trophy item from his past!  His European mounted deer skull became the centerpiece of the wreath.  I upholstered the skull in plaid fabric, leaving the antlers bare and natural.

Surrounding the European mount are real white birch branches and a combination of real and silk pheasant feathers.  McArdle’s Florist and Garden Center in Greenwich did an excellent job of providing materials to help me create my design vision.

The finished wreath completely lived up to my goal of building something unexpectedly beautiful.

 I was not at the Junior League auction, but from what I heard this wreath was the talk of the event!  Bidding over the wreath was fierce, which only goes to show that taking risks and not conforming to common expectations can really pay off!

New England Home Design Blog

As a designer living and working in New England, a resource like New England Home Design Blog is an invaluable tool.

As a designer living and working in New England, a resource like New England Home Design Blog is an invaluable tool.  Featuring categories such as Notes from the Field and Sneak Peeks, this is one blog worth following.  New England Home highlights designers, homes, trends, and events specific to New England’s unique lifestyle traditions.  Each post contains links to companies, photographers, designers, architects, and artists so that browsing your way through the articles leads from one inspiration to the next.  Before you know it, you’ve wiled away the entire afternoon exploring all the wonderful things New England Home’s blog has to offer.

Here are some of the things you’ll find when you visit this incredible blog:

Fireplace by stone mason Lew French
A table setting by Eddie Ross
Photo courtesy of Les Indiennes
I loved this cover! Well done!

For even more inspiration or to be notified of new postings, be sure to visit New England Home on Facebook.