Wednesday, June 16, 2010

at home in the HOLLYWOOD hills

I’m super distracted this week with the NBA Finals, so rather than blog about all things purple and gold (go, Lakers!), I am taking the easy route out and posting a few photos an old client just sent me of his house I worked on about 4 years ago.

This was my first residential project I worked on my own and I really lucked out with my client.  He is a single, successful guy with great taste and a killer art collection living in the Hollywood Hills – with a….wait for it…..mid-century home – yay!  My fav!  He loves color and it is very apparent with the before shots – it was ALL over the place.  We put the color into a lot of the finishes we used (Martini Apple Green Caesarstone?!) and toned the walls down some to show off his art collection, a lot which hails from colorful South America.

I took the cramped and dated Kitchen space and opened it completely up to the Living Room – its all about entertaining here:


before - front door to the left, hall down to guest bath and bedrooms



before




before - this window bailed



before - these windows stayed

before - too closed up




before - we got rid of the smaller window



before - blew out the wall to the right and added a window where the blue wall is and a glass rail



after - countertops: caesarstone, backplash: angela adams for annsacks



after - original windows (right) stayed


after - new front door at the entry


after


opened up and added a bar area to access from the Living Room


after - where the glass rail is there was a wall closing in this space


after


The whole upper level completely oversees the Hollywood Hill canyons….it’s a sick view.

The Guest Bathroom was kitschy, which is its own cute style, but we needed to bring it into the modern world.


goodbye 


hello


before - very little light...



...after!


after


after


after

I love blue in bathrooms….so spa like….and working with mosaics is one of my favorite materials.

I don’t have any great shots of the “before” Master Bedroom, but lets just say he went from this:

before

To this:

after

The Master Bathroom was a crusty patio:

before


before


before


Which I turned into a Zen-like bathroom filled with bamboo tones, stacked stones and all the elements….water, stone, metal, plantings and wood:

after



after


after


after - custom cement sink: dewulf concrete


after


after


It was a super fun project that I didn’t do a perfect job on, but he is happy to this day with his space and says he loves coming home….that works for me.

I'll link up materials later, but if you have any specific questions, just leave a comment - thanks!  xo jh

Soundtrack: Let’s Build a Home by the White Stripes:












Friday, June 4, 2010

for the LOVE of LUCITE

Long have I been a huge fan of lucite.  I think my first experience was a clear pair of jelly-like “heels” in the 4th grade that I saved up like two months of allowance for.  Not a wise choice when playing tetherball on the playground.

What draws me to it?  I had to think awhile to come up with a simple answer and there my answer lies. lucite relies solely on form and function to make its point.  There are no fancy patterns, textures or colors…merely a shape that makes up its entire story and draws you in.  I love a piece of lucite furniture in a room that has a lot going on already in terms of finishes and textures.  I love lucite bases on beautiful pieces of mirror or burled wood, or lacquer tops – all the while making that surface that it is supporting float and seem all the more important.  When I worked for Lori Erenberg Design in Los Angeles, CA, she had the most glamorous Paul Evans desk with two waterfall lucite legs, a burled wood slab capped with a wheat and cream-colored travertine top…to die for.

 lori erenberg working on fabulous interiors


vintage lucite = heaven:

'crylicord' desk lamp by peter hamburger for kovacs, 1970s


'metric' dining table by charles hollis jones, 1960s




magazine rack by dorothy thorpe, 1960s



lucite tables attributed to kartell



lucite and brass chandelier, 1960s



lucite and brass vanity, 1960s



can i have this?!?  lucite and glass desk to dream for, 1970s



peacock lacquer and lucite console, 1970s



in honor of loosing another golden girl.....tear.......bamboo and lucite chairs (change the fabric), 1970s



lucite framed lacquer buffet, 1970s - those martinis would just fly off the top at a cocktail party!



lucite framed faux alligator desk, mid-century



lucite and lacquer desk, 1960s



milo baughman with burled wood top desk, 1960s



vladimir kagan slipper chairs with lucite bases, 1970s



samuel marx low table with lucite legs, 1945



waterfall dining table by charles hollis jones, 1960s



new lucite pieces:
brilliant console by alexandra von furstenburg



clearly classic tangier table from whitewebb.com



crisp console from conranusa.com



george II chair by plexi-craft



helena rubenstein chair from the paris apartment



madeline coffee table by todd hase home



mercer bench by jan showers



parisian headboard by kendall wilkinson



square vanity by plexi-craft



swivel vanity stool by plexi-craft



custom stationary box by iomoi



lucite in spaces:








i wish this photo was better...lucite bases on the mirrored tables...






madonna in versace 2005



this is exactly how i seal my bills in my office before sending them out - madonna for versace



Thank you Charles Hollis Jones for catapulting this clear and fantastic material into the interior world.




Soundtrack:



 the theme song to wonder woman in honor of her invisible, lucite airplane, of course.