Does Robert Burke Owe Someone a Commission?

I was checking out Fashion Week Daily as I do everyday and came across the most interesting story below.

BURKE'S NEW PERCH: While juggling trips to Milan, Florence, Dubai, Qatar, South Korea, and Paris, where he is attending a few couture shows this week in between business meetings, Robert Burke managed to squeeze in selling his Murray Hill apartment. Not that it was ever on the market to begin with. "This realtor called me a few months ago saying her client saw the pictures of my apartment from Elle Décor posted on a design blog," Burke said. "She said, 'my client really, really wants to buy your apartment.'" Figuring he would never hear from her or the client again, the shrewd luxury consultant surreptitiously made an offer that was well beyond what would've been the appraised value.

Lo and behold, the realtor called back and said his client had agreed to the amount. Both parties signed the deal on Thursday. So now, upon his return from Paris, Burke, and his Steven Klein photographs, will be temporarily living out of a hotel until his new apartment--a full floor-through loft on Park Avenue South just north of Gramercy Park that's double the size of his old pad and comes with a rooftop terrace--is finished being renovated. "I'm going to have to get all new furniture now," he laughed. "This new place is more modern compared to my old place, which was classic--but not wound-up classic."

Now, I'm not exactly sure on which design blog they saw Robert Burke's apartment but I did profile it in it's entirety this past September in my post entitled Man About Town so it could have been mine. And in which case, I think I am entitled to a little commission on this deal. Don't you?! What do you say Mr. Burke? How about a little something for me?

Perfume by Kilian

It's hard not to think someone would be successful when their family's last name makes up the H in LVMH but Kilian Hennessy has worked hard and paid his dues and now has a wonderful new fragrance collection to show for it called By Kilian. He became interested in fragrance while studying at the Sorbonne and took classes at the Cinquieme Sens, a fragrance school in Paris, and later interned at Firmenich, a fragrance house where he trained with the best noses. Later, he went on to create and market scents for major fashion houses. It was only last year that he decided he wanted to create his own scent using the highest standards of the craft and "to put perfume back on a pedestal."

His collection of six scents is darkly romantic and has been deeply influenced by his love of literature. The packaging is beautiful as well. Each bottle is nestled in it's own handsome wooden box that actually locks with a key. Of course, this is not without expense. The perfume retails for $250 but later you can just pick up a refill for $95. Bergdorf's carries the Kilian line and so of course I had to peruse the collection and they all smell heavenly. According to Hennessy, "perfume should either be a shield, to create an environment of ease, or else a weapon of seduction." Sounds like my favorite, Liaisons Dangereuses might be of the latter persuasion. Check them out for yourself at Bergdorf Goodman or Aedes de Venustas.

a twin horby pendant lamp

scott bought the horby pendant lamp (right) but it wasn't adequate for the space he intended it for. what to do then? buy two and fuse them together.

here's how scott did it:
1. disassemble both lights of all their parts.
2. drill 16 identical, evenly spaced holes in the flat metal base to hold the new arms. (4x4 square pattern)
3. place second transformer in the ceiling base. (because the voltage on these bulbs are only 12V you must use both transformers that come with each light)
4. use sprinkler cable for the main wire (it has 5 wires-you will need a minimum of 4), you'll need two pairs of live/neutral wires per each transformer/8 lights.
5. wire 8 arms together....pairing each black wire together with one of the live wires from the main.
6. repeat until both live (black) and neutral (white) wires are attached to on of the main wires.
7. use wire ties within both ceiling base and cone base to secure all connections so they don't separate when installed.
8. join the two live wires from the ceiling base together with the main in the ceiling. repeat with the neutral wires.

and here's what he got:

use lack shelves to add storage and interest to a room

cathy makes good use of the lack shelving units as storage and room partitions.

"we wanted to use lack shelves in the kitchen so that they could act as a food pantry, but had limited wall space. by using red polycarbonate sheeting as door fronts, we were able to position the shelves partially in front of a window, so that they admit interesting afternoon sunlight through the doors. the polycarboate was a manufacturer's offcut, sourced at a local recycling outlet reverse garbage, west end.

the red doors are attached with standard cupboard concealed / self-closing hinges, which are recessed into the lack board (drilling a hole using a big drill bit) and fixed on the door side to the timber door stile (screwed to the polycarbonate in pre-drilled holes). actually, how to attach standard door hinges is the ongoing problems of working with the lack board material - the laminate on the honeycomb cardboard core - because the hinges are really designed for solid material. also, the polycarb is brittle and can snap, especially when knocked against something in the cupboard!

we have ideas about how to easily make the door handles, but at the moment, there are no handles and we simply open the door by pulling the plastic, which is not ideal. but i still like the polycarb effect regardless of these challenges! also seen are ikea plywood storage boxes (no longer available?) fixed to the wall.

another lack deviation relating to limited floor space can be seen in our bathroom partition wall made of four ikea lack bookshelves. we had difficultly finding enough wall space to accommodate these shelves, but desperately needed the storage space for toys and books. when replacing the original termite-eaten, non-structural bathroom wall, we were able to use the shelves to act as the wall instead of creating a timber stud frame. we also painted the shelves white because we had accumulated shelves in non-matching colors and finishes. the cut half-lacks can still fit ikea branas baskets!

The Women Then and Now

The movie The Women from 1939 is a bit of a cult classic in New York. Based on the 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce, it follows the lives of a group of backstabbing, gossipy, spoiled New York socialites. Many fashion designers have admitted to watching it for inspiration so when I heard they were planning a modern remake, I was curious as to how they were going to do it considering that most of the movie centers on the characters traveling to Reno for divorces, which is no longer necessary in this day and age. But then I just read in Vanity Fair that the women in the new movie would be traveling to a "ashram-style retreat." Perfect! I can't believe it didn't think of that. Below is a photo of the new A-list cast.


The funny thing about the original movie was how modern the women seemed. You see them exercising and taking care of themselves just like today's New York socialites. Pretty funny then that they are remaking a movie that was already ahead of it's time. My suggestion is that you rent the original before you see the remake this fall.

a server farm right in your living room

the axeman needed a rack to place his cisco switch and huge home server. with the faktum, he got all that he wanted.

here's how he did it:
1. take a faktum FA703 (now akurum) tall module (eventually add more modules, to get almost to the ceiling... you'll need some space to let warm air out, or you can use a fan)

2. the faktum width is almost equal to the width of a real rack, so the hack is very easy: cut 4 pieces of metal shelf beams that fit in the space between the two faktum ledges. there should be the right space needed to hold rack mount modules, as in picture, and all the cables are hidden behind the structure.

3. add your server, UPS, and laser printer, and structured cabling (every one has structured cabling in his flat, right? :-) )

4. hang the LCD monitor on the faktum module side. with a wireless keyboard with trackball, you can use the computer from the couch.

5. DONE! a little piece of server farm in your living room. and with the right screensaver, the monitor act as a nice digital frame.

David Jimenez Does It Again!

Kansas City non-professional interior designing wizard, David Jimenez, has been at it again. This time it's at his vacation home in Palm Springs where he has gone wild with color and pattern. He also has an amazing new website where you can check out more photos of his interiors and event designs. It's a good thing he's still working at Hallmark and hasn't decided to go professional because if he had, he'd surely give a lot of interior designers a run for their money! Enjoy!