A while back, we admired (and posted on) the work of Interior designer Karin Draaijer in Belgium Week: Karin Draaijer. Recently, Draaijer sent us a batch of photos of her own house in Belgium, which illustrates her talent for color and composition: "I like to use antiques but to arrange them in a modern way," she says. Go to Karin Draaijer to see more of her work.
SPONSORED POST
Located on a sweeping lawn on the South Fork of Long Island, this gracious weekend house by Bay Area architect Jerome Buttrick of Buttrick Wong Architects echoes the Shingle Style aesthetic of the last century (described by Vincent Scully as "the architecture of the American summer").The classically proportioned house features a single long gable, shingled in cedar, and white clapboard siding; Marvin double-hung windows and swinging French doors add a traditional note.
For anyone embarking on a remodeling or construction project, Marvin offers the myMarvin Remodeling Planner, a free, easy-to-use tool that allows you to create room layouts for your entire house using your own dimensions. Start with a floor plan, add furniture, windows and doorways. View from above or in elevation view (there's also a budget calculator and scrapbook for storing your own images).
Above: The double-height living room opens to the outdoors via Marvin French doors; additional light floods the room via a row of clerestory windows.
For more information about high-efficiency windows, or to locate a Marvin's dealer in your area, visit Marvin Windows and Doors.
Architectural photographers Jean-Luc and Anne Laloux have a sideline as innkeepers: the couple has renovated two properties an hour outside of Brussels and turned them into completely original guest lodgings. Les Duves is a former sawmill in the town of Bioul, and La Classe is a former schoolhouse in Denee. The traditional exteriors of the buildings are intact, but the Lalouxes have applied a contemporary aesthetic to the meticulously renovated interiors. For those fortunate enough to visit, the globe-trotting proprietors are a wealth of information on local artisans from cheese makers, small beer producers, and potters. For rental information, go to Les Duves or La Classe.
Below: La Classe is situated in the heart of the village of Denee, in the Anhee region; in a former life, the building housed both the municipal offices and the town school. We especially like the uniformly painted gray facade.
Located in fashionable St. Germain, Hotel de L'Abbaye offers four duplex apartments for rent (each opens onto a private terrace). Designed by Michel Boyer, the interiors feature a dizzying (and charming) mix of prints and patterns. Go to Hotel de L'Abbaye for more information.
When my stylish friend Susanna got married a while ago, I found myself looking at registry gifts; it was no surprise she chose the most perfect china: the earthy and elegant Astier de Villatte. Handmade in Paris of black terra cotta with a milky white glaze, the delicate pieces are extremely durable, despite their fragile appearance. The Parisian headquarters are located at 173 rue Saint-Honore; well worth a visit if you are lucky enough to be in Paris.
Photos by John Merkl.
Above: Perles Dinner Plate; $104 at Tabula Tua in Chicago.
Above: Bac Dinner Plate; $84 at Tabula Tua.
Above: Simple Dinner Plate; $76 at Tabula Tua.
Ilse Crawford's design for the restaurant Mathias Dahlgren is worth a revisit; for its low-key grandeur, spectacular location in Stockholm's Grand Hotel, lighting designs by Michael Anastassiades, and the use of restored furniture from the hotel's early years combined with carefully designed new pieces. Go to the Grand Hotel for more information.
A roundup of high-style champagne flutes, perfect for New Year's toasting.
Above: Hand-blown Champagne Glasses designed by Ilse Crawford and Michael Anastassiades; £85 a pair at Sigmar in London.
Above: Revolution Collection Champagne Glasses by Felicia Ferrone; hand-blown of borosilicate glass; $79 for a pair at Kneen and Co.
Above: A boxed set of four Deborah Ehrlich Simple Champagne Flutes is $195 at Moss.
Above: Designed in the 1950s by decorative artist and glass designer Goran Hongell, the Iittala Aarne Champagne Glasses are $43.75 for a set of two from Amazon.
Above: Hand-blown soda glass Simplicity Flute; $2.95 each at CB2.
This one-bedroom apartment in New York, by Ashe + Leandro (founded by Reinaldo Leandro, a Skidmore Owings & Merrill alum who's worked in Bahrain, and Ariel Ashe, an interior designer who has done spaces for entertainment clients like Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers), has a distinct LA vibe, cheerful in the dead of winter. Photos by Miha Matei.
Above: The galley kitchen features striped tiles from Popham Design.
Fashion stylist Michelle James' focus turned to interior design after she bought and renovated an 1866 brownstone in Brooklyn. While renovating the house, James started collecting vintage glass light fixtures and refashioning them into new pieces with a cleaner, more modern look. The one-of-a-kind chandeliers are currently on display at Eva Gentry in Brooklyn (389 Atlantic Avenue). For more information, contact Eva Gentry or Michelle James directly.
New from San Miguel Allende-based Casamidy: gilded iron fireplace logs, available in blackened silver or gold and perfect for the nonfunctional hearth (they're designed to hold five pillar candles). The logs are 22 inches wide,16 inches deep, and 10 inches high and cost $675; email Casamidy for ordering information.
Christopher Howe, the proprietor of Howe, trained as a sculptor and has been collecting rare furniture and objects for decades (his clients have included Lucien Freud, who favors his "esoterically shabby chairs to use in his portraits"). Howe sells his antiques—pieces range from 18th-century English country house furniture to Arts and Crafts items of the late 19th century to industrial pieces from the 20th century—as well as his own line of custom furniture and lighting from his shop on Pimlico Road in London. We especially like his upholstered pieces, which are traditionally upholstered with hand-stitched horsehair and down filling; go to Howe to see the range.
Above: The Beagle Chair, shown in blackberry-stain vintage linen.
Above: A hand-stitching detail on the Den Sofa, upholstered with individual springs, hand-stitched horsehair, and down filling.
Above: Greyhound Stool with custom mattress ticking cushion.
Above: A detail of the hand-stitched upholstery on the Greyhound Stool.
Above: Deep-buttoned, individually tied-in sprung seat Flag Chair.
Above: The Flag Chair is available in a deconstructed version, which reveals the finely crafted construction.
A welcome change from the usual clear glass water carafe: the handblown Black Glass Carafe from French company Tse & Tse; 12 inches tall; $85 at Horne.
Here's an idea for an instant (and glamorous) headboard: a vintage Moroccan wedding blanket, also known as Handira, handwoven and decorated with sequins.
Above: Photo by Polly Wreford.
Above: Vintage Moroccan Wedding Blanket; handwoven in Morocco of 100 percent wool (53.5 by 102 inches); $510 at Dia Living.
Australian-born Sarah Watson founded Balineum, an online source of natural, classic bathroom linens and accessories, when she couldn't find a stylish shower curtain after moving to England. "I had been living in New York, so I was astounded that I couldn’t find one that I liked in London," she says. With the help of textile designer Gail Bryson, Watson launched a line of shower curtains and liners; soon after, they turned their attention to towels and bath accessories, including baskets and storage bins, bath accessories, and bath mats. Got to Balineum to see the full range.
Above: The off-white Elinor Shower Curtain is made of 100 percent European linen in a gauzy open weave; £83 to £92, depending on size.
Above: Woven from organic cotton, the Syrie Woven Towels are hand-spun, hand-loomed, and hand-dyed in France; £87 for a bath sheet.
Above: Whitewashed rattan Sablon Rattan Storage Baskets; £96 to £115.
Above: Anatolia Luxury Towels are woven to a weight of 820 grams of cotton per square meter (Watson says they're the heaviest on sale in Europe); £7 to £54.
Above: The Dorset Laundry Bin made of abaca fibers comes with a removable inner cotton bag; £120.
Designed in 1919 by Johan Petter Johanesson, the Triplex lamp is an industrial classic favored by collectors in Sweden. One of those aficionadoes, Robert Kullenberg, an engineer, has formed a design company called Mackapar, dedicated to bringing the Triplex back into production. Kullenberg expects his first batch of 100 Triplex lights to be available in spring 2011; follow the progress at Mackapar.
Is everyone in your house fighting a cold? Here are a few ideas for disguising the unsightly tissue box.
Above: Linen Tissue Cover; $16.65 at Rakuten.
Above: Natural Linen Tissue Box Covers; $20 each from Pi'lo in Toronto, via Etsy.
Above: An easily replicated (if you're handy with a sewing machine) solution from Japanese store Hiromatsu.
Above: Linen Tissue Box Cover; £24 at Balineum.
Above: Linen Tissue Box Cover; $15 at Pottery Barn.
Walls painted black: everywhere, but still a good idea (especially for an instant bedboard effect).
Above: A bedroom at Maison Couturier in San Rafael, Veracruz.
Above: A crochet-edged bedspread contrasts with a modern Achille Castiglioni–designed Parentesi lamp (available from Y Lighting).
Above: A guest bedroom at The Brick House.
Add a glimmer to your interiors with a glass globe fixture—some priced in the stratosphere, others more down to earth.
Above: Brooklyn-based Lindsey Adelman's custom handblown glass pendants are more fine art than light fixture. A true investment piece, the Lindsay Adelman 6-Globe Bubble Chandelier (other configurations available) is $9,600 at Matter.
Above:The Cluster Pendant features four glass globes at staggered heights; $199 at West Elm.
Above: Jean Pelle's DIY bubble chandelier project for ReadyMade made a big hit on the blogosphere when it first appeared; the Jean Pelle's Bubble Chandelier is available premade for purchase for $395 plus shipping via her Etsy shop. The chandelier is made from 12 hand-blown glass balls and three clear globe bulbs held together by cables wrapped in cotton twine.
Above: Ice Chandelier includes six mouthblown globes and is $1,880 at ABC Carpet and Home (it's also available with nine globes, as shown above, for $2200).
Above: The Ether 90 S, designed by Patrick Jouin for the Murano Due Collection, features clear, handblown bubbles suspended from a polished steel canopy; $5,985 at Y Lighting.
Above: The Bocci 14 Series Five Pendant Chandelier is a modern classic; $1,600 at Lumens. Please note that the Bocci 14 Series is available in several configurations, from a single pendant to 36 pendants.
Above: Firefly Pendant Lamp by designer Mark Daniel suspends five glass globes from black iron canopy. Pendants stagger in length on black cords 15 to 29 inches; hanging hardware included; $199 at CB2.
Above: Brooklyn-based Jason Miller's glamorous, three-sided, ten-globe Modo Chandelier is $4,000 at Design Within Reach.
Above: Designer Jeffrey Goodman's Ripple Chandelier is custom made in the jGoodDesign studio in New York City; contact jGoodDesign for pricing and availability.
Above: The recently released Bocci 28 Series 7 Pendant Canopy is made with a unique handblowing technique to create organic shapes; $3,430 at OLighting.
Above: The Jupiter Chandelier is made of crystal clear acrylic orbs supported by a polished nickel frame; $399 at ZGallerie.
Famed Mexican architect Luis Barragan's own house in Mexico City, built in 1947, is a beacon for design enthusiasts everywhere; after visiting the house, English architect John Pawson called it "a place of theater, quiet theater, but no less dramatic for that." Among the subtle theatrical touches: a gold painting by Mathias Goeritz (see an example at Christie's), positioned at the top of an otherwise monastic stairwell.
Photo via Casa Luis Barragan.
Above: Goeritz used gold leaf on wood for his painting; you could also use prestretched artist's canvases; Blick Art Materials carries a wide range; prices start at $9.69 for an 11-by-14-inch Stretched Canvas.
Above: Old World Art Gold Leaf Kit; $14.99 at Blick Art Materials.
Sometimes lighting is an afterthought during a remodel, but it profoundly affects mood, functionality, and sense of space. Light in Architecture, by celebrated Belgian architecture and interiors author Wim Pauwels, offers a elucidating look at a range of lighting solutions for both inside and outside the home; $81.17 at Amazon.
