designer's library

The Nest - Lauren & Derek

I've been trying to get a hold of this magazine all week! Lauren and Derek (of The Curiosity Shoppe) are featured in it--and they're on the cover! Their home looks so cute, colorful, and ultra DIY--exactly the way I imagined it would be. Until I get a copy, you can see more of the magazine here on their blog.

Nickey Kehoe

So I learned about this design duo Nickey Kehoe (Todd Nickey & Amy Kehoe) from Domino magazine's "Domino 10". I love that they describe their approach to interior design as avoiding "design diva energy"! I can understand that. While I can appreciate that type of diva energy and design style, it's not exactly something I'd want in my house. I'm sure their portfolio doesn't show their current projects, so I hope they add more images of their warm minimalist style.

Finnish Summer Houses

I just got a copy of the Princeton Architectural Press Spring 2008 catalog yesterday. Dude, check out the image on the cover! Look at that wicker railing! The image is from a new book coming out called Finnish Summer Houses by Jari Jetsonen and Sirkkaliisa Jetsonen. Included in the book will be 20 villas, cottages, and cabins by architects such as Eliel Saarinen and Alvar Aalto--so you know it's going to be good. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Industrial Stools

I'm working on a project now that has me searching through all kinds of fun magazines. I like this kind of research! I came across this image from MS Living (Sept. 2006). It's an image of Martha's kitchen. I love the grey tones and that she used inexpensive industrial shop/lab stools. The lab stools were sourced from C&H Distributors ($48.60), but I'm sure there are other places you can find these!

Modern Economy & The Ace Hotel

It's for sure. I'll be bringing the Modern Economy sale to Portland, OR in July 2008 {oops, i put '09 there by accident!!}. I'm still finalizing the date and all, but the venue's all set: the Ace Hotel's event space called "The Cleaners" (which I'm guessing used to be cleaners at some point). I'm super excited about bringing the sale there! It'll be the first ME sale outside of California. If that goes well, there's even the possibility of bringing the sale even further away to Philadelphia in 2009. We'll see...

Anh-Minh stayed in this deluxe room of the Ace Hotel (below). I swear we were total asian tourists snapping a million pictures of that room and of the hotel, too. And, I'm so going to model my bedroom after it. I'm loving the industrial-military feeling of it.

So we had a great time in Portland last weekend. Dude, there is practically no difference between the weather there and here in the Bay Area (at least for the moment). And, we got to visit Canoe--which is my kind of store--simple, well-edited, and full of great design. We went kind of nutty in there buying cast iron rabbits and bamboo card cases.

Genifer Goodman's Home (The Prequel)

Even though I was sick (yes, I still am), it's hard for me to turn down a DWR warehouse sale. So bright and early on Saturday morning, we rolled out of bed to get to the Potrero Warehouse before 10am. We got there around 9:40am and the line was wrapped around the block. While waiting in line, I ran into Jill, Ed, and Anh-Minh, which to the dismay of the people behind me I allowed to line jump so I could have some quality chit chat time with them. And there was plenty of time for talking because the line outside of the building merely led to another semi-secret line within the building--just like a dang amusement park ride. All of that waiting led us to a small warehouse where everything within a reasonable price range had a "sold" sticker on it. Great. If it wasn't for running into Jill and Anh-Minh (and Robie a bit later), the trip to the city would have been a complete waste of time and gas.

Now, what does this have to do with Genifer Goodman's home that was published in Lucky in May 2002? Nothing at all actually. But running into Anh-Minh reminded me that she had so kindly dug through her Lucky archives and scanned the article featuring Genifer's home. She sent these weeks ago and as usual I forgot to post them. So here they are. I believe this was one of the first articles to feature Genifer's home--the prequel to her current style and home. It was fun to take note of the furniture that is still around in her current home and how some of it has been repurposed or repainted.

Also, I wanted to let everyone know that Genifer Goodman and Sara Malone were unfortunately not included in Domino's April issue. They were supposed to be in the "Domino 10: Decorators on the verge"--but somehow they did not make the cut, which is a bummer because I think they could've contributed a very fresh, different aesthetic to that group. Oh well...

Scott Sanders

It started with Jay Jeffers. And now, Scott Sanders. What is it, you ask? Perhaps my fondness for interior designers with classic, sophisticated styling, chromatic confidence, and an ability to place their stamp on any style (whether Palm Beach, Hollywood Regency, 70's Boho, etc) with ease?

No, that's not it.

It's my attraction to interior designers with alliterative names and last names with the suffix "-ers". Of course. I'm guessing if Steve Sanders (not Scott's brother, but the dude from 90210) was a real person who had an interior design firm, I'm guessing I'd be all over his portfolio and his red Corvette.

Ditto for Marshall Mathers.

Anyhoo, here are images from Scott's online portfolio. (Thank you to Terramia for pointing me to his website).

Did you notice that Scott is a genius at blending in inflatable plastic balls/swim rings and boardgames into the overall design scheme? If you can make an Yahtzee box apart of your design, you probably can make anything work.

Better Homes & Garden: Decorating Book (1975)

I inherited my two favorite interior style reference books from my mother: The Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Books from 1956 and 1975 (cover above). Too bad my mom never really chance to test out her interior decor skills since we lived in military housing for many years. But I enjoyed looking through these books as a child--the rooms really stirred my imagination. And then in the 80s as a teen, I remember hating these books because I thought the rooms looked ugly and dated. But what did I know--with my crunchy permed hair and bangs teased into a giant bouffant on my head, I was hardly the authority on style or taste.

Here are some images from the book...

Aside from the creepy mannequin sitting on the bookshelf, this is one of my favorite images from the 1975 book. I like the bold yellow contrast with the black. The red ladder is a nice touch.

Though this isn't a bed I'd buy for myself, I like the graphic quality of it. The ceiling is made of mylar!

This would be such a nice tree mural to have in the house.

These sliding art panels are a really cool idea.

Anyway, I'll post images from the 1956 book shortly!

Sara Malone

It's funny how blogs can connect you with people. In the preceding post on the Goodman-Sohr home, Sara Malone, a friend of and co-stylist with Genifer Goodman posted a comment. Five comments and five emails later, we've become insta-pals. Though I'm in California and she's in Nashville, we immediately realized we had a friend in common. We both know Laura Crookston Deleot, an ex-Chronicle books, Nashville-based graphic designer who recently hired me to illustrate a cookbook. The design and publishing world is so small. I guess it was just a matter of time before our paths crossed.

Sara is a graphic designer by day, stylist by night (sideline gig). I must say that her graphic sensiblities have translated very nicely into her interior style. I love the strong lines, graphic contrasts, and chromatic boldness--it just grabs you. (You know, it's generated some ideas for my own home now.) And a home that she and Genifer co-styled will be featured in the April issue of Domino as well. I can't wait to see that.

Here's more images from her home. Image on the left is her breakfast nook. The right is her living room.

Sara also gave me a picture from Genifer's wedding which will be featured in MS Weddings. I think Lena and Genifer would get along great, certainly for their love of yellow.

And the wedding invitations were designed by Sara, too.

Goodman-Sohr House

I can't remember someone's name five minutes after being introduced, but I can remember random details of homes published in a magazine after two years. Go figure. The brain works in mysterious ways sometimes.

On a recent visit to the library, I saw an old issue of Better Homes & Gardens (May 2006) laying around. I don't normally look through that magazine, but I'm glad I did. After a quick scan, I saw an image of a house I had seen before--like three times before. It was like running into an old friend. You know the one with the didn-'t-try-at-all hairdo and better shoes. It was Genifer Goodman and Benjamin Sohr's house. I first saw their house in the now-defunct Budget Living magazine and their book, Home Cheap Home (2004). And just prior to BH&G, the house was also featured in Domino (Jan/Feb 2006). I don't keep tabs on houses, but this house seems to pop up when I least expect it. It really has gotten alot of press. (And I thought magazines tend to stray away from previously published homes.) In any case, it's been fun to watch the Goodman-Sohr house up the ante, mature, and evolve in every publication...while maintaining a consistent stylistic vocabulary and aesthetic through it all. Let's review:

The living room in BL (top) and then in BH&G (bottom).

The kitchen in BL (top) and then in BH&G (bottom). I miss the vintage vibe of the original kitchen, but I'm sure the new kitchen is far more efficient.

They were dubbed "Mix Masters" by BL. And true to their name, as you look through all three publications you'll see they are masters of rearranging items like this tablecloth. (The image on the left is from BL and the right one is from Domino.)

And just some of the other images I enjoyed, their bedroom and outdoor patio (in BH&G) and workspace from BL.