Bottega Louie

I thought I would share a project from a designer that I used to work for.  The wonderful Michael, of View Design Studio, a commercial design firm based in Los Angeles specializing in corporate office design and planning. I have actually known Michael for quite some time and freelanced with him (up until just a few years ago) before going on my own.  He recently completed a restaurant design project in Downtown LA called Bottega Louie.  The project was a collaboration between Michael and his client, who had a lot of ideas in regard to concept and design.  Michael worked with the client to achieve his vision and provided input where needed.  The result? An absolutely amazing and beautifully designed restaurant (which also includes a gourmet market, patisserie, and bar).

{the Dining Room}

{the Bar}

{the Kitchen}

{the corridor leading to the restrooms}

{the Restrooms}

{the Gourmet Market}

Photography Credits: Vam with Y.K. Cheung Photography.  Images courtesy of  View Design Studio.

Interior Design by Michael Rominske of View Design Studio

Bottega Louie

LA Event

This Thursday, January 28th join Angeleno magazine in sponsoring the Art Los Angeles Contemporary opening night reception at the Pacific Design Center.  For more info and to purchase tickets, go to:  www.artlosangelesfair.com

Freshly Cut

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and what more could a love one give you but the Bouquet Swivel Armchair.  Designed by Tokujin Yoshioka for Moroso of Italy, the designer says he got the idea for the bouquet from an installation he did last year at the Moroso Showroom in NYC.  The bouquet chair "blooms" on a slim, chrome-metal stem that "blossoms" with hand-folded fabric squares sewn one by one.  The price tag? $9,888 - and no, that's not for a dozen "long stems."  It's for one very lovely special Bouquet.

Artful Arranging

The placement of artwork is something I often work with a client on towards the end of a project. It usually involves us spending time together figuring the best placement for each piece. Often I find a client may have a personal attachment to a piece of artwork that they will want to place in a special or specific location. I tend to place artwork based on scale of the wall and arrangement of furniture. But truly, there are many ways and means of how and in what way to hang artwork. I've also worked on projects where the client needed to acquire art and have worked with that client to help them select pieces. Although, I always start by telling the client art is a very personal choice and feel they should buy what appeals to them. Some clients have collections, others are looking to acquire, and still others are on budgets and are looking to simply decorate. I had a client who wanted to invest in fine art and we worked collaboratively with a fine arts dealer, another client who's husband had a comic book collection that we framed for the home office, and another client where we shopped at home good stores to find inexpensive artwork to fill the walls.

Domino magazine always featured great little how to tidbits and creative adivce like this spread on different ways to hang artwork.

This breakfast nook featured in a spread from Elle Decor displays family photos and children's artwork with a mix of pictures leaning on a shelf and collaged walls below. A very personable display of art.

Framing like items is always such a great way to feature a collection, similar frames and matting define the grouping and look ideal in a hallway or corridor if there are many to display.

Clustering a set of pictures appears as one large back drop of artwork.

An interesting vignette of different scaled artwork.

Art en masse in the same size and framing creates a gallery of artwork.

Balance dominates in this living room display of art although the pieces of artwork are different in size and frames, but the arrangement is of equal balance.

Another past Domino magazine feature, a collection of plates (left) and a series of art (right) offer another way of arranging.

{There are so many creative ways to display artwork and arrange wall collections. Analyzing interiors can give you a lot of ideas on how to arrange artwork and figure which works best for your space.}

Kelly on the Cover!

If you haven't already seen the January issue of Town & Country magazine with Kelly Wearstler on the cover, here's a little excerpt that includes some cute photos with her and her children along with an interview on some of her favorite and inspiring things - who knew giraffes are her favorite animal and she loves her iPhone!

Be sure to read her "Words To Live By"

Color Inspiration

I was just looking at the website Devine Color for inspiration on a color palette for a client project and came across their "collections." A wonderful assortment of colors grouped into collections that are aptly named. This is such a great site for finding inspiration and color resources. I have actually featured it before and continue to come back to the site as a great resource. Here are the collections in groupings, take a look at the site for the names of each color per grouping. Hopefully, you will find an inspiring color palette!

Bordello Chic

I came across this article in the Los Angeles Times about Bordello Chic and was instantly intrigued. It did occurred to me that I have seen more of this look out and about recently. The trend is described as something that "lies between 19th century English gentlemen's clubs and Parasian brothels."

As quoted in the article by style scout David A. Keeps, "The look incorporates the glamorous vintage furniture popularized by Hollywood Regency decorating and modern interpretations of ornate rococo furniture, then takes it all to a darker, more dangerous place. It's steeped in old-world classicism, but it plays into the sexually provocative culture at the heart of night life and fashion."

In interiors, the look has been seen in such night clubs as Voyeur in West Hollywood, Bordello Bar, and The Edison in Downtown LA.

In furniture, designer Ted Nemeth features this chair at Voyeur.

London based designer Christopher Guy also features the look of bordello chic in many of his furniture designs:

{An elegant banquette}

{a chaise}

{a high back seat}

{a circular banquette}

{a headboard}

For more bordello chic, see the article by David A. Keeps here.