February 2009

Jacques Grange - Part Deux

In case you haven't already seen it, Todd Selby has a beautiful look inside the Paris home of Jacques Grange at The Selby. I love the photo of him with the book in front of the Lalanne piece. And those who have already purchased the book are raving about it so start brushing up on your French! Bon Weekend!

I've been going to a deep, dark place...

It's down here...

It's got floors like this -- EWWW!:

There's usually a lot of this going on:

Hide your eyes...

it's scary...

this is the worst part:

AHHHHHH!!!!! I know!!!

God Bless blogging...but it has created a bloggy butt on this Chick. Seriously...I say I've gained ten pounds in the past year...

But really. It's only been since, maybe October, when I really got into the blogging stuff. That's what, FIVE MONTHS?

Sick, I tell you. So this is how I spend 20 30 35 (!!!) minutes most nights now.

It's time to get my butt back.

~~Baby~~ Toddler monitor?

Check.

Remote?

Check.

Phone?

Check.

Ipod playing NKOTB?

Check.

Next week, I start on this monster again:

I'm sceeeeered!!!

P.S. Your comments on my last post made ME all weepy. So sweet!!

P.P.S. I met one of my bloggy friends today! I can't wait to tell you about it. I also picked up an Easter/springy craft I will show you this weekend.

A Dreamy Artist's Loft

I take a painting class every Friday. I love to paint seascapes. The teacher puts on some wonderfully soft music and brews us Cinnamon Tea. I sit on my stool and try to imagine the real sea. While I paint my mind wanders and I dream of where I would paint if I was "real" artist. Here is a picture of an artist's loft in NYC. It comes pretty close to my dream.

All photos Ochs Design

The 2700 sq ft abandoned warehouse space was converted and renovated into an artist's loft by Ochs Design. The painting studio retains the original industrial asphalt floor. The light is incredible!

The studio work table was fabricated from stone and wood left behind by former commercial occupants decades earlier. Only the steel frame is new. I love the wonderful mix of textures every where you look.

Platforms replace walls to define the living space. To the right is the painting studio to the left the living area. Raw industrial surfaces provide the backdrop for art and sculpture. A large skylight lets in daylight to paint by.

The client's desire to leave the space as open as possible led to this luminous fabric sleeping enclosure. Isn't this so romantic?

I love the spare furnishings - what a wonderfully unique side table.

The client likes to cook and entertain. The spacious open kitchen features a 1925 bistro table that seats 16 people. I could have some great parties here!

Just wanted to give you a peek of where I dream about painting when I finally get discovered!

Jacques Grange

Normally I wouldn't post two books in a row but since Jean-Philippe Delhomme created the advertising for The Mark Hotel that Jacques Grange just redesigned, they seemed to work together. I was at Rizzoli yesterday and happened to see the new Jacques Grange book by Editions du Regard and was blown away! I was also blown away by the high price of over $130 so I didn't buy it but that didn't stop two others from snatching it up while I was there! Did I mention that it's completely in French?!

These photos that I found online don't even do it justice. The interior shots are stunning and I can't wait until an English version, Jacques Grange: Interiors is published by Flammarion in September 2009. Of course, my willpower isn't that good so there is a distinct possibility that I will pick the French version but that means I will finally have to sign up for a refresher French class if I expect to actually be able to read it. But then again, a picture is worth a thousand words, especially those I can't understand!

Ikea hacked studio space

Katie recently hacked a work space and shares it with us.

She says, "We used Faktum base units for the desks, a yellow kitchen work-top (sorry can't remember the name, it was a bargain corner find!) and the Vika Amon desk top with Vika Curry legs (this has a Faktum unit too, it was cheaper!)

The curtains are made from two Ikea duvet covers, the same pattern but different colors. And the large storage is a wardrobe (another bargain corner find!) I've used the Glis children's storage boxes for my haberdashery supplies as well as for pens and pastels! The large shelving unit is Ivar which we painted with emulsion. I love the adaptability of Ikea products and always find it best to tackle the store with an open mind, which will quite often save you some time and cash too!"

The Cultivated Life

For months I had schemed to get a shelter magazine to profile my apartment, but the morning they finally came was, unfortunately, the day after a rather successful dinner party.

I have loved the work of the French artist Jean-Philippe Delhomme since I first saw his advertisements for Barneys and now I am in love with his new book The Cultivated Life! It is witty compilation of "satiric musings" on artistic, literary and decorating dramas and the first published in English! C'est magnifique!

We love entertaining in our dressing room. It's a real conversation piece...even our art world friends are delighted!

Just think of this as the Eames chair of the eighteenth century!

In my apartment a definite aesthetic discipline reigns; the unwritten rules of which don't prevent, unfortunately, a certain common type from loitering here.

Of course it's gorgeous! But I know there's a compulsive minimalist inside of me that could burst out any minute.

The more I progress in the field of design, the more I realize how little I actually know - it's a continual lesson in humility!

Your version?

I had lots of fun revisiting some of the old hacks in this earlier post. So here is more. Scroll down the original post to view the new versions.

Bill's Ordning ceiling lamp