Fashion icon, socialite, and artist and interior designer Gloria Vanderbilt has died at the age of 95. Inspired by her quote on home decor :”Decorating is autobiography,” and quote on art:”Art brings a message into a room. It should make us perceive in a new way—either through color, form or narrative content—something we had not perceived before. And perhaps reveal something to you about yourself.”, today, I would like to share some of my favorite interiors by her and, of course her styles:
Chic and classical
A women living by her own term.
Elegant and Timeless
a well-lived life
a statement on sophitication
Anderson Cooper, Wyatt Cooper, Carter Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt in their Manhattan apartment, June 1972. A pink checkered sofa set a happy and relaxing tone for a happy family.
Gloria Vanderbilt in her dressing room–a vivid chic boho style
Bedroom of Gloria Vanderbilt, 1970–it requires a lot of savvy skills and good eye on art to create such a grand pattern-on-pattern room.
Dining room in the Long Island home of Gloria Vanderbilt and Wyatt Cooper–Modern, yet classic
Gloria Vanderbilt sits in her Manhattan living room–a large floor portrait makes such a statement.
Like every creative person, throughout the years, she was constantly changing, painting, embellishing, and reconfiguring her houses in New York City and Long Island. It was like therapy for her from time to time. Visit her instagram to see her legendary life
Happy Friday! I love spend the time in my backyard garden on Friday afternoon simply enjoying some warm late-afternoon sunshines and catching up the readings from design magazine. Specially, at this season, with our lemon tree producing a lot of fruits and roses in full bloom, it is just one of the most beautiful moments when summer just starts. How about you? Do you also enjoy your backyard on this beautiful Friday afternoon.
Then, of course, we want to bring all of these beautiful flowers and greeneries indoor to create an indoor oasis. If you are like me and obsessed with indoor-outdoor living, here are 5 ways to create an indoor garden:
Yes, hang a flower wreath right in your front door.
2. Pick up blooms and greeneries from your backyard and casually put them everywhere–in the dining room, on the counter, by the bed, yes, everywhere and a lot of them.
Sweet roses by the bed guarantee a sweet nap.Roses in the bath light up the mood.fresh roses with a lot of vintage piev=ves on the fireplace.greeneries in the dining areafresh cream roses in the library
3. Intently create a separate garden space for a group of potted plants by the stairs or under the skylights.
4. Bring outdoor garden in by using floor-to-ceiling windows.
5. Grow herbs in your kitchen.
a WallyGro greens wall with automatic watering and lighting integration. The family uses the greens and herbs in their meals. Click here to learn this kitchen
Have you ever had this situation: you want to hang a chandelier in your living room, but there is a TV. You are concerned that either a chandelier will block the view or there will be glares when you are watching TV. Therefore, your living room looks forever unfinished without proper lighting design. I totally get you since we have several clients are just like that.
First of all, I am always a big believer that a chandelier will definitely add drama and warmth in your living room. So my suggestion is please be open-minded and see what can be done to achieve functionality and great aesthetic at the same time.
So, let’s take a look at some design out there:
Well, now you feel it may be ok to hang a chandelier in the living room with TV. And those chandeliers do make living rooms homy, cozy and elegant. If you like modern home design and not a hard core of minimalism, there are 3 tips to achieve the goal since an extra layer particularly for a modern home design always does the trick.
Always check out the overall height of chandelier and always go for the ones with adjustable heights. You even can choose the ceiling-mount fixtures.
drama yet clean
2. Choose the chandelier that either add personality or nicely blends in the surroundings. It is just like the artwork in the air.
please the eye
3. Install dimmer for your chandelier to avoid glares when you watch TV.
Today we have so many upholstery fabric choices for our furniture. And often, it is a piece of leather furniture that stays timeless, ages beautifully and tell the story of the home. But of course, we are not talking about those bulky grandma’s leather couches. leather upholstery may look its best in a club sofa, or on a very unique occasional chair.
Without question, a piece of good quality leather furniture can instantly enhance your home.
Just in case you are in a process of looking for quality leather upholstery, here are 6 tips you may find helpful for you to make a decision.
Types of leather: Top-grain and full-grain leathers are the highest quality; they’re made from the outermost layer of the hide, which is the strongest part. Top-grain leather is smoothed to remove imperfections, while full-grain is not smoothed and features a natural grain with imperfections.
Split leather. Split leather is the term used for the lower layer of leather left after the top or full grain is removed. (Suede is split leather.) This product is still genuine leather, but it’s not as strong as top-grain or full-grain leather and may tear or stretch.
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Leather upholstery adds a touch of warmth to any space.
2. Finished leathers are practical for active households with children and pets. Finished leathers are more resistant to fading and discoloration when exposed to light, heat, moisture, dust and body oils. These types of leathers also offer the most overall color consistency. Compared to other leather types, finished leathers generally require much lower maintenance, as spills and stains should clean easily unless they penetrate the surface coating of the leather.
classic club couch
3. Aniline-plus leathers are quite simply Aniline leathers plus a slight protective coating. This protective coating may include light pigmentation and/or a clear top coat. Offering similar feels to those of aniline leathers with the added benefit of a protective coating, these leathers are more child and pet friendly than their Aniline counterparts. They may, however, still fade or discolor when exposed to sunlight and temperature extremes.
4. Aniline. Pure-aniline or full-aniline leathers show the natural surface of the leather, imperfections and all. They do not have any additional pigments or protectants on the surface, so you’ll probably see variations in color. Because there’s no protective coating, this type of leather has the softest feel. But it’s also more susceptible to scratching, staining and fading.
5 Semi-aniline. Semi-anline or aniline plus pigments have a protective topcoat. There may also be additional pigments added on the surface of the leather, giving the piece a more uniform look. This type of leather is more durable than pure aniline, but not as soft.
6. Nubuck. Nubuck leather is made by buffing or sanding aniline leather. The result is a leather that has a soft, velvety feel and suede-like appearance. It’s stronger than suede (which, remember, is made from split leather), but it’s susceptible to fading and stains and will develop a patina over time. If you can embrace imperfections, this is the softest leather option.
Time flies so fast. After we finished several projects, shockingily, it’s June. Summer is here. I am truly in the mood for some bold colors since the recent projects we did all have sort of restraint color schemes. So, let’s have some fun moment.
Fresh, bold , passionate yet elegant!The accent piece and the artwork are great was to transfer the bold fashion colors to home.Yellow, Pink, and Stripes in fashionYellow, Pink, and Stripes at homeElegant yet unexpected in fashionElegant yet unexpected at homeResort style in fashionResort style at home
I get you. It is going to be a really big mess if you decide to demolish the original tile flooring. And you might do some research work and find out that it is possible to install tile over tile. Well, based on the guideline of ANSI A108 — the Installation Standard Specification for Ceramic Tile, the general requirements for tile installations, A108.02 4.1.1 states:
“All surfaces shall be structurally sound, clean, dry and free of oily or waxy films and all foreign matter. Concrete surfaces shall be free of form oil, curing compound laitance, and cracks.”
That said, there are still conditions that you are able install tile over tile, but here are 5 questions you need to answer before you take this strategy:
Did the old installation fail?
If so, what was the cause of failure?
Was it an installation or structural problem?
If it was properly installed, is the membrane still well adhered and able to perform its job to support the new installation?
Often, we like to start an interior design project from a rug the client falls in love with. We pick up the textures, colors and patterns in the rug design for the rest of the house. Therefore, choosing a right rug plays such an important role in defining any room style. Here are 3 trends of high-end rugs:
Unique design. More and more people nowadays don’t really want those products served for the mass market–same design, same technique… Rather they prefer something different and has wow factors.
Design inspired by artworks.Design inspired by architecture
One of the trends in the recent years is that people more prefer the modern interiors with soften touches. These can be soften color palettes, silk or velvet fabric choices or floral patterns on textiles, decor objects or surfaces. The floral patterns can work as an magic wand for any interiors. They light up the home with a touch of elegancy. The keys to make them look fresh are 1)just use right amounts of the patterns; 2) have a contrast with surroundings; 3) with a modern twist.
In case you are in the process to bring more spring cheers to home, there are 5 ways to bring florals to home:
Upholster an accent chair with floral-patterned fabric to live up any rather darkened spaces.
An floral patterned chair always make us feel moody and romantic.
2. Yes, a floral tablecloth please.
A floral tablecloth instantly light up this corner. A spring party is ready.
3. A floral daybed drape.
Ladies, this is how we pamper ourselves—a cozy den, a floral drape and fresh flowers. what else can we expect?
Last Saturday was a beautiful day—sunshine, nice breezes and full-blooms everywhere. I was invited to an open house by a Japanese Gifu craft showroom in west LA. Since I need to find some unique kitchenwares for couple of projects. I decided to take a little road trip.
As you can see, I always love to stop and small flowers specially when it is spring season.By entering the showroom, OMG, I was just amazed by how they arranged these beautiful organic kitchenwares with a little touch of ikebana–subtle, calming yet elegant.
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What I hold is a mini donabe condiment bowl. It is just so cute. Donabe is a kind of Japanese traditional earth-ware(clay pot). You can see how we open these little donabe from the following video.
These little bowels for sure put me in a good appetite.
We found this cool middle-size clay smoker with various kinds of charcoal choices.And look, this lid also serves ads a bowel.What a genius idea!Tradition Japanese Hoba miso in Gifu–grill miso over dried magnolia leaf for an unique aroma.
So, if you are in the process to re-organize or re-style your kitchen for spring cleaning here are several tips to make the task fun and easier:
Kitchenwares are one of the major components in the kitchen. So, find something that is Love in the first sight. When you have something you truly like and enjoy, you probably won’t feel it is not really that boring to do any chore in the kitchen.
Have some fresh flowers or greenery in your kitchen no matter how small and how simple your kitchen is. I guarantee those little beauties will brighten up your everyday-life.
Have the habit of collecting inspiring menus that talk to you. That way, you know how you are going to use your kitchen and how you would like to arrange and display your kitchenwares.
It will be a good idea to have couple pieces of earth wares–they are natural, organic and artsy, and always remind you of your mom’s kitchen. So at the end of the day, you may find kitchen is your favorite place to wind down and reconnect with the family.
I love visiting artists’ studios. Often, I am just so amazed how they make the spaces so livable with simple creative ideas and great cares. There are always fresh flowers and plants in their studio making guests feel so inviting and fresh. Of course, we can learn from them too. Here are 3 simple ways to bring spring indoors.
Having fresh flowers and greenery everywhere in your home. You can just pick them from your backyard–it is touch of nature.
Fresh flowers always make me smile!
2. Hosting a spring party in your garden with fresh-cut flowers , home-made organic cocktail and cozy seating , and your party venue become part of spring memory.
