Sumner Design Studio

Alright, one more post about the Met Home Modern by Design showhouse.  I just had to mention Jiun Ho’s dining room.  I was familiar with Jiun Ho’s amazing line of furniture, but hadn’t seen any of his interiors before.

Every piece in this room was fantastic.  I especially love the chairs – the backs feature a hair-on-hide pattern that really makes them unique.  I also love the light fixtures and how he placed them  – you would expect to see one large fixture centered over the table, but he’s used four smaller fixtures and placed them around the table.  I really like the effect it gives.

Another space that I really enjoyed in the Metropolitan Home Modern by Design showhouse was Erin Martin’s basement media room.  Martin panelled the media room in reclaimed scaffolding, and used linen, leather, wood and metal to create a tactile, slightly dark space (dark in a good way, of course):

I liked the roughness of the wood with the simple linen upholstery on the sectional and daybed.  There was also a crazy swing by the fireplace:

I overheard someone say it reminded them of Silence of the Lambs.  I didn’t get that, but I do agree that it’s a darker aesthetic she’s tapped into.  You can sort of make out the top of the coffee table – it was leather with an elaborately tooled octopus design on it.  Sounds kind of weird, but it was amazing.

Over the weekend I toured Metropolitan Home’s Modern by Design showhouse in San Francisco.  It was interesting to compare it to the recent San Francisco Decorator’s Showcase.  This being sponsored by Met Home, the spaces were certainly a bit more contemporary.   I thought I’d highlight a couple of my favorite rooms over the next few posts.

I really enjoyed the 3rd floor family room by Jay Jeffers.

Way in the back there you can see this amazing console that he used:

Photo courtesy of Casa Sugar

And check out these light fixtures, and the patterns they make on the ceiling:

There was lounge-like loft space as well:

If you’re looking for ideas for your bedroom, have I got a blog for you.  Raina at The Daily Bed scours magazines and the internet to find all kinds of beautiful bedrooms.  Here are a few of my favorites from her recent posts:

Marie Claire Maison

Architectural Digest

The late, great Domino

This is a dining room I’ve been working on:

I know it’s kind of hard to see, but click it for the full size image.  I like the contrast between the classic midcentury table and the slightly Goth Louis XV chairs.  The glass chandelier adds some needed sparkle, as do the nailheads on that somewhat medieval-looking buffet.  The pattern on the rug is strong enough to carry the whole room, so we kept the curtains a solid red silk for a much-needed jolt of color.

My younger brother used to live in Phoenix, and when we went to visit him we’d go to Taliesin.  Taliesin West was the winter home of Frank Lloyd Wright, and also the location for his school of architecture.  The buildings were constructed between 1937 and Wright’s death in 1959.  They are all made from local materials, and were built by the students at the architecture school.

One thing I love about Taliesin is that Wright built ornaments he’d collected into the buildings (like these Chinese pottery scenes, which if I recall came from a theater in China that had been destroyed):

They’re scattered throughout the site, and finding them was almost like a treasure hunt.  The interiors do reflect the fifties, like this large communal space, which definitely has a loungey feeling to it:

Here’s a closeup of the dining area you can sort of see at the back of the room:

So if you’re ever in Phoenix (Scottsdale, actually) it’s definitely worth checking out.

I posted a few weeks ago about the San Francisco Decorators’ Showhouse, and in particular about my favorite space (the entry, hallway and upstairs hall by designer Nicole Hollis).  At the time, I was bummed that I couldn’t find a photo of the art at the top of the stairway, which I thought was so cool.  Along comes Inside SF Real Estate to the rescue:

The photo on the right is what greeted you as you turned the corner on the landing.  It’s hard to tell, but it’s a huge photograph, and was quite a welcome to the second floor!  The rest of the hallway had similar large-scale photos of big cats (like the lion on the left) and was littered with natural curiosities.  How could I not love it?

So I’m a fairly recent convert to Belgian style interiors.  It used to be they did very little for me, always looking spare and kind of boring.  Now, however, I can’t seem to get enough.  I recently ordered Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors and I’m finding it really inspirational.  Rooms that I used to see as barren and shabby I’m now seeing as pared-down and serene.  Linen (which I used to fear for its propensity for wrinkling) seems to look lived-in but luxurious.

Country House by Axel Vervoordt

Interior by Axel Vervoordt

Maybe it’s because it’s summer and these rooms look so light and airy.  Maybe it’s because I’ve been fantasizing about a lakehouse of my own, and what style would better suit a lakeside getaway?  Whatever it is, I seem to be hooked.

Interior by Axel Vervoordt

I’m back with a little more Gossip Girl set design – this time it’s Serena van der Woodsen’s posh bedroom.  This 18 year old’s room is a lot more grown up than mine!

I like the mix of traditional and contemporary – the very traditional settee with the acrylic table lamps & that sleek (is it metal?) bench at the foot of the bed.  I also love the oversized upholstered headboard – I think that’s a Romo fabric, and I like how they pieced together a bunch of rectangles rather than just doing it as an unbroken expanse of fabric.  She’s got Romo wallpaper on an accent wall as well:

I’ve always liked this wallpaper.  It looks like they’ve framed it with molding rather than covering the whole wall with it, which I think is a really cool idea, especially with a paper as bold as this is.

No, Upper East Siders, I’m not talking about the scheming, or about the glory that is Blair Waldorf, I’m talking about the set design.  There’s been a lot of discussion online about the show’s sets, and with good reason.  Designer Christina K. Tonkin really hit this one out of the park.

My personal favorite is the Waldorf duplex.  It’s traditional, but with some contemporary touches thrown in.  Like here – the stately living room is very traditional, but then there are two leather upholstered egg chairs thrown in, and they look fantastic:

I don’t know if you can make out those sconces in the background, but they’re seriously good.  Here’s a (somewhat) better image:

Sadly, they were custom designed for the show and aren’t comercially available.  Then there’s the Waldorf dining room, featuring the ubiquitous Louis Ghost Chair.  These have been dressed up with cushions (which I’ve never seen on a ghost chair before), and it really changes the look:

I love that single button tuft that you can see through the back of the clear acrylic chair.  Until next time, XOXO.