Design Challenge Reminder!

Just a little note to remind everyone that tomorrow, December 31st is the final day to submit your entries for this month's Design Challenge.

We will be featuring the selected entry as a blog post on the 15th of January.

Look for Lauren up next for the January design challenge. Can't wait to see what her challenge will be!

Party at "My House!"

Well, there's a party this New Year's Eve and it's at "My House." Okay, well not really, it's at Dodd Mitchell's house. Okay, not really either. What it really is, is a brand new club in Hollywood designed by LA interior designer Dodd Mitchell and it's designed to look like his house:

“I have always enjoyed the comfort of a house party that just doesn’t exist in your typical nightclub, so with My House I set out to create an environment I would personally relish, and bring that vision to the nightlife space,” said Mitchell.

Here are some highlights from the concept book created for the project:

Always the heart of any house party, a state-of-the-art, contemporary kitchen doubles as the club’s main bar, featuring fully-functional appliances, a wood-covered, & triangular ceiling. The open floor plan from the kitchen to the formal dining room, leads through a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors ending in a fire pit burning on the exterior patio. Once outside, there is an outdoor Jacuzzi!



A sunken living room welcomes with spacious, lounge-like seating, flat-paneled televisions, & chandeliers. The living room’s well-appointed mix of custom-made furniture will be relocated later in the evening, unveiling the club’s main dance floor, where DJs will cue up the city’s hottest soundtracks.

The "master bedroom" is on the second floor and features a leather-crafted bed.


It's always nice to have an accessible bathtub when you are out clubbing.

The space plan featured in the concept book:

Touche!

Well, despite my invite (thank you to Jenn Laskey of Red Light Promotions!)I will not be attending the New Year's Eve (Housewarming) party at "My House." Instead, I will be attending a nice intimate gathering with good friends, good food, & great wine at "Morgan's House." My good friend who knows how to throw a nice party and has a very stylish kitchen herself, thanks to her company Metric Home!

Happy New Year!

My House is located at 7080 Hollywood Blvd and will be open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00PM to 2:00AM. For reservations, please call (323) 960-3300 or visit www.myhousehollywood.com.

Where, Oh Where, Can I find an etagere?

An etagere can be a wonderful piece to add to any bathroom should you have the room for one. A client of mine just recently completed a remodel of her master bathroom (I can't wait to feature pictures on my link once the finishing touches are added!). And so here we are, looking for that one important touch - an etagere for between the two newly installed freestanding his and hers teak vanities. My client has been scouring the internet looking for a perfect modern etagere, preferable of glass and metal to tie in with the sconces and fixtures. I've seen ones at Restoration Hardware, WaterWorks, and William Sonoma Home. Despite these finds, we are still on a mission to find the perfect etagere!

A very nice collection from William Sonoma Home. This etagere is with marble shelves.

This tall etagere from Restoration Hardware is ideal, but still not quite the perfect one.

This shorter stand if from Restoration Hardware too.

Does anyone have some fantastic sources for contemporary etageres for a master bathroom that are reasonably priced, clean lined, and minimal?

Holiday Lights

The streets of Beverly Hills come alive during the holidays with all the beautiful decorations. From the storefronts to the hotel facades to the street lamps. Here is a glimpse of just a few of the many holiday lights throughout the streets of Beverly Hills.

The Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills:

North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills:

A Beverly Hills storefront:

A palm tree and holiday lights - now that's LA!

The Napkin Sketch

Ah, the napkin sketch. I find beauty in it - it's somehow intriguing to me. Perhaps it's evaluating the thought process that went into it. I've been drawing "napkin sketches" since as long as I can remember. It started with creating little floor plans out of play-doh in kindergarten. By the time I was in first grade, I was drawing my own little "dreamy" floor plans. It must have been the influence of growing up with rolls of blueprints around as my mom spent late nights drawing furniture floor plans, lighting plans, etc at her drafting board. Thirty plus years later, I am still drawing floor plans!

Kelly Wearstler's sketch (above) for her boutique at Bergdorf Goodman translated into this:

And as for the work of Philippe Starck, all I can say is brilliant! The man is genius!

I've forever been enamoured by the sketches of Frank Gehry (& there is a movie of the same title!).


To freely hand sketch in furnishings helps to get a sense of placement before starting the hard-line drawing:

And of course, a great rendering is a work of art.

We are still accepting submissions for our current month's design challenge - please submit your living rooms for a free space plan! I'm looking forward to featuring the blog post - and I'll need to start with a napkin sketch!

Lily Lodge

A few years ago, I was hired to help with a redesign of a retail florist space. In the usual process of finding inspiration, I looked and resourced images of florists and retail spaces. In doing so, I came upon Lily Lodge, a beautiful florist on Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood. I was really inspired by the less typical look of the space.
Here is a picture of the beautiful interior:

Flower arrangements for events & weddings:

Press from Angeleno and Domino magazines:


A feature of her home office space in House Beautiful magazine:


Lily Lodge is located at: 644 North Robertson Blvd, Los Angeles. Tel: 310 360 9400

How custom can you go?

I've just discovered Spoonflower and am already dreaming up a line of Material Girl's fabrics! MG girls - are you in? Now I know where to turn to when I just can't find the perfect color, the right pattern, or some odd request for something - that's just not out there!



Spoonflower lets you print fabric from designs you upload to your own account on our web site.

All your designs are private unless you choose to make them public.

There is no minimum fabric order and no set-up fee. You can order a swatch for $5, a fat quarter for $11, or multiple yards at $18 each. Registration is free.

At the moment, fabric choice is limited to 100% Bella™ cotton from Moda™, a maker of very high quality fabrics for quilting.

Spoonflower is based in Mebane, North Carolina, but ship all over the world.

Decorative Ceilings

Decorative ceilings hail back from Roman times, seems as if a masterpiece was always being commissioned! We spend so much time analyzing the floors and walls (what wood finish, what stone to select, what area rug, what paint color) and yet neglect the ceilings. Here are a few ideas:

Love the cherry blossom pattern applied to the ceiling!

Wallpapering the ceiling is amazing - many different prints and texture to choose from. Really creates an atmosphere for a room based on the wallpaper selection.

I won't leave out simply painting the ceiling, because decorative elements such as borders, stenciling, or faux finish can even be added. An alternative paint color from the trim or walls with a different finish adds an element.

And of course, mirrors on the ceiling (Kelly Wearstler).

Inspiring Living Rooms

I am very excited to be taking on this month's design challenge. For those of you who are planning to submit your living room for a free space plan solution, please submit your entries! We are still accepting submissions, and I am enjoying the opportunity to review each and everyone one of yours individually. As the entries come in, I will acknowledge your emails and reply with any questions I may have.

As every designer looks to inspiration to find their solutions, I've scoured a few inspiring living rooms (below) to point out a few ideas that work for each room - as well as perhaps your rooms too! There are so many ways to layout a living room - but here a few of the infinite possibilities.

In this modern Miami living room, modular furniture is used to provide flexibility for entertaining. I often incorporate modular seating into other rooms, such as family rooms, especially for active families.

Small scale furniture with restrained colors are just fitting for this more traditional and elegant living room

High ceilings, a low sectional sofa, and some glam elements such as the chandelier and sheer curtains add some drama to this room. Love how the translucent drapery is concealing one piece of artwork behind with two other pieces of artwork in the forefront.

Some rooms just call out for symmetry, as this living room does. I always explore options in providing my clients with space planning layouts - whether it be symmetry or not (see below). In any case, I love how balanced this room is.

I think in large boxy spaces, it's great to create a juxtaposition of furniture, thus creating different seating groupings with a bit of flexibility.

In this room, I love the simplicity and formality of the room. The niche is beautiful - and how great not to fear putting a piece of furniture in front of a niche!

Happy Holidays!

Designer Furniture for Sale

If you live in the Southern California area and are looking for contemporary furniture, I am currently selling several items on behalf of a client. Please see Jill Seidner Interior Design for the inventory of items. (I will only deal with local people.)