By Nancy August 2nd, 2010
Lately I’ve been reading another book by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, a Spanish author who sets his wonderfully gothic-toned stories in early twentieth-century Barcelona. Of course, as would happen to any good student of design history, my mind wanders through the streets of Barcelona to the works of Antoni Plàcid Guillem Gaudí i Cornet – more […]
By Nancy July 26th, 2010
Have you ever had the experience of running across something new, like a new product or a new idea, etc., and then you see it everywhere? I’ve been having that experience lately and wanted to share it with you. Last week I wrote about that crazy Italian glass bathtub, and what have I been running […]
By Lisa July 22nd, 2010
It’s a lucky side effect of being in the design business that leads me to seek out interesting neighborhoods when on vacation. And boy did I find a great one in Petoskey, Michigan while at my cousin’s wedding. Petoskey is a charming resort town on Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan. There is an area […]
By Nancy July 17th, 2010
In my opinion, function is the name of the game and always comes first regarding kitchen and bath design. Certain things just are what they are and because of their function, the basic shape of it really doesn’t change… but the look, feel, and mood it sets can be very different. A good example is […]
By Lisa June 20th, 2010
We all know that one of the first things we want to do when we move into a new home is make it our own. Dolley Madison was no exception. When she and her husband, James Madison, moved into the White House in 1809 the house was 9 years old and had rooms with no […]
By Nancy June 7th, 2010
If you haven’t yet noticed, you might not be getting out enough… wallpaper is everywhere! From the ASID showcase condo on Lake Calhoun to Sex and the City on the big screen, wallpaper has made a comeback in a BIG way. Before you run screaming from your computer, read on. The biggest innovation in wallpaper […]
By Nancy June 1st, 2010
This morning while I was reading, I stumbled upon something that is apparently a well known, well documented subject that I had never, ever, thought about. The sentence I was reading started out as such: “With the invention of mauve in 1854…” What? Mauve was invented? What does that mean? I immediately went to Google. […]
By Nancy May 28th, 2010
In my last entry, I wrote a quick line that included the Japanese term “wabi-sabi”. Today I’m going to explain what it means! It has nothing to do with wasabi (another of my favorite things), nor does it have anything to do with Kemo Sabe, or any other wabi or sabi words that may come […]
By Nancy May 10th, 2010
We typically caution our clients to not get too caught up in the “latest trend”. No matter what the budget or project is, we just don’t think that basing decisions on what the magazines say is a smart way to remodel ones home. Of course, if that “trend” fits the predetermined goals of the project […]