Adventures in Interior Design

Designer whose work I like: Jonathan Adler

2006-03-24T10:06:00.000-08:00

Designer whose work I like: Alexander Gorlin

2006-03-23T15:21:00.000-08:00

Gorlin has designed the home of Libeskind, who is choosen architect for the new to be built world trade center. He is definitely a modernist.
http://www.gorlinarchitects.com/index_content.htm

Fix up old light fixtures.

2006-03-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

Take old fashioned light fixtures and give it a coat of modern color (black, white, or red), it can look very similiar to high end light fixtures.

Louis whatever is given new looks

2006-02-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

In an earlier post, I used examples to illustrate the difference in styles of chairs from different Louis's.

Seems ever since Phillip Starck reinterpreted the Louis XVI chair with molded plastic, seems a lot of modern furniture designers are taking that cue, and take the shape of the Louis whatever chair styles and start reinterpreting them using modern materials or finishes, and of course selling them at super expensive prices. yes, they are worth it.

You can also achieve a similiar cool post modern look without spending a lot of money, you can use a bit of creativity. If you go to used/thrift stores, you can still often find Louis whatever style chairs usually for cheap. Take it home, give it a wild paint color, reuphulster it in a modern graphic fabrics. If you can't find modern graphic fabric for cheap, then you an even just get plain fabric and use silk screen or stencil to create a dramatic oversized graphic modern image. It is hard to make it all clear plastic, but the result will still look cool and post modern.

Cool vases

2006-02-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

Shower Curtains

2006-02-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

To find the right shower curtiains has been really difficult. Most shower curtains either doesn't look good in a modern environment, or looks too childish. Simple clear vinyl looks cheap. Hotel style curtains can look boring. Besides, I want to have a relatively clear curtain so that it makes the space look bigger.

I finally found a shower curtain which is clear with black pin stripes that goes well with the bathroom that I am doing.

however, I just saw this website for shower curtains that has quite a cool collection.

http://izolashower.com/

Most intriguing lawn chairs I ever saw

2006-01-31T16:16:00.000-08:00

http://www.jienshu.com/pdt_dreamers.htm
I saw these lawn chairs, my heard skipped a beat. What a cool concept!!!

recessed lights can totally transform a room

2006-01-31T10:23:00.000-08:00

We just installed some recessed spot lights from Ikea. The Blix is only 20 bucks for set of 3. We installed two in the new bathroom. We like it so much, we deciided to install 7 more in the living/dining room to light up all the art/sculptures we have. It totally transformed the living room.

Fireplace surround

2006-01-30T11:12:00.000-08:00

We currently has this nasty look old brick fireplace toped with a wooden mantel that really didn't fit in the architectural. This is a fifty's house. We really want to replace it with something cool looking, yet fit the architectural style of a 50s mid-century house. I think we are going just do a simple shadow box, with mosaic tiles like this:

Ralph Lauren's Black Mountain Collection

2006-01-29T09:56:00.000-08:00

Ralph Lauren's clothing is usually not my style. Ralph Lauren's new collection is quite slick and quite a departure from his usual image/style.
The collection looks like something from a super spy movie.

Photography and Decorating

2006-01-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

I am actually an avid photographer as well. See some of my work here:

Although you can decorate with photographes, sometimes the photography equipment itself can be used for home decor. I just purchased studio lights from ebay. I plan to use it as floor lamps to give my living room a more hip/industrial look.
and when needed, I can put up a canvas back drop, viola, an photography studio.
In addition, I have some anitque/vintage cameras that just add that whimsical look that I like.

Finding a vanity table for the sink

2006-01-24T17:25:00.000-08:00

So with tape measurements in hand, we went on a search for 24" to 40" wide, 24" to 30" deep, and 29" to 34" tall. We realized how difficult it is to find something in that size.
It is not difficult to find something that fits the width and height. It is finding the right depth that prove very difficult. Despecially something with storage.

Most cabinets are 18"-20" deep. Anything deeper than that at the same height usually are dinning room tables, which then is too big. After no luck on Craigs list, we searched most chain stores such as Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, etc. Nada. We went to used goods store also, like salvation army, value village etc. Nada.

We decide to hit antique malls. First one we went to is this place called Pacific Galleries, which is an antique mall, with stalls of different dealers.

In the first stall I walked into, I saw this very modest table, it is used as a stand for other junk suck as toys and plates etc. I measured it, it had the right measurements, 36" wide, 24.5" inch deep, and 30" tall. It doesn't look very special. It has very simple desk. It doesn't have a polished finish, so it is on the rustic side. However, it had elegant looking long tapered legs, almost reminescent of Federal furniture. It doesn't have any fancy carvings, mostly straight line; however, the side aprons and a open shelf set between the legs had gentle curved detail. It only had one draw. Although with open shelv between legs I could put some baskets for storage.

Still, it doesn't make an statement quite like the Asian/Deco piece. So we decided put it down as an option and kept looking some more. There is no return policy on at the antique mall, so we are taking a risk of someone else picking it up, but we figure it looked modest enough most people won't pay attention to it.

However, after exhause the stalls as pacific galleries, and going to several more antique malls. We still havne't found anything I liked and the right size. So we decided to go back and get the table.

When we got it home, and set the sink on top of the table, I immediately know we made the right decision. Although it is more modest, the rustic wood complement the slick sink very well. With long tapered legs, it feels more airy than the Asian Deco piece, which is kind of bulky.

I will post the picture soon. (after the bathroom comes together, so I do not ruin the final surprise.)

Martha Stewart and Restoration Hardware

2006-01-23T22:44:00.000-08:00

Martha Stewart and Restoration Hardware have several pieces of furniture that are almost identical:
See these two beds: First one is by Martha, second one is by Restoration Hardware.

Also see the two shelves below. The first one is from Martha and second one is from Restoration Hardware. They are both named Campaign Etageres, with X's on the side.

Interior Designer's works that I like: Kelly Wearstler

2006-01-23T14:19:00.000-08:00

Kelly's interior design style is very dramatic. Her style seems to be more popular with Restaurants and Hotels because I think mostly people would be afraid to go that dramatic in their homes. The color combinations are often unexpected, and very bold. She used a lot of mirrors, high gloss whites, and animal figurines. The futniture style are often mixed of different time periods and cultures.

You can also buy her books below:

Making a bench/ottoman

2006-01-23T13:41:00.000-08:00

I saw this cafe table on craig's list. This remind me of the Campaign Funiture line from Restoration Hardware. See the stool in this picture below? I was thinking get a plywood board, some zebra print fabric, and some padding, a staple gun, then we'll have a similiar looking bench/ottoman with funky zebra fabric.

Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Louis XV, vs. Louis XVI Chairs, take a guess.

2006-01-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

Interior Design Book Review: Discovering Home with Laurie Smith : Find Your Personal Style

2006-01-19T18:45:00.000-08:00

Laurie Smith is from the Trade Spaces. Generally, there are two several reasons I do not like Trading Spaces:
1. Like many of the TV decorating shows, they always use special studio lights to make the place look more attractive,
2. They do not let people know the team of people doing all the work such as Taping/Masking before painting.
3. Themed rooms that doesn't fit in with rest of the house.

Laurie Smith's book is refreshing in that, the whole house is decorated in her style. The best part about the book is it documents her thinking process behind the decorating as she worked room to room. There is only one house featured in this book, her own house. Overall, I think it is a good book even if you do not particularly like her style.

Click on the picture to buy the book.

Lession Learned: Always double or triple check sizes when place custom orders

2006-01-19T12:35:00.000-08:00

When the sink arrived, we noticed it is 24"X24", while the Asian/Art Deco cabinet we top was only 18" deep. I could swear when I read the catelogue for the sink, it said 15"x19". I love the sink though.

So it is time to come up with ideas.
Option 1: was that just put a marbel slab on top of the cabinet and expand it to at least 24", and one side and the back will be against the wall, but hide the side that are exposed using shelves. The concern is it will look rather build in and doesn't have the piece of furniture look I was going for.

Option 2: buy a new vanity cabinet that is designed for the sink. But I am concerned with cost, and I really wanted the contrast of old furniture with modern sink.

Option 3: Go out shop for a new cabinet that is the right size we can use. I decided to try option 3 first. We measured the size of the sink very carefully, and measure the area that the sink/vanity need to go into in the bathroom. This is what we determined: furniture should be: 29" inches to 35" inches tall, 24" to 30" deep, and 24" to 40" wide. With tape measure in hand, we are out shopping.

Federal Furniture

2006-01-19T10:10:00.000-08:00

Federal Furniture is an American style furniture with some influence from Neo-Classicalism and British styles such as Sheraton. The time range is about 1780-1820, i.e. right after the time period when the United States of America become independent. With long tapered legs and lack of ornate decoration, this style of furniture looks very elegant, well proportioned and sophisticated. Although the furniture style lack ornate carvings, it usually does have wood inlaid parterns with different types of veneers. Often the furniture has eagle motifs also (celerate the creation of a nation). While it works well in a traditional environment, with simple lines, it can mix well with modern pieces.

True federal furniture from the 1780-1820s are very very expensive, much more expensive than other styles of furnitures from europe in the same time period. Reproductions or federal influence furniture can be much more affordable.

Interior Designer whose works that I like: Vicente Wolf

2006-01-18T10:02:00.000-08:00

Vicente Wolf is a master of mixing different styles. He seems to effortlessly mix Asian Antiques, African Ladders, and European architectural elements. He tends to use big, bulky and overscale furniture. His color scheme tends to be white and neutral.

Chinese horseshoe chair and the modern intepretations - part 3:

2006-01-17T11:31:00.000-08:00

Of course the wishbone chair is very iconic, expensive, and if there is too much iconic modern furniture in one's house, it can look a bit cliched. There are some other vintage and unknown designs that takes inspiration from the Chinese horse shoe design also. And usually those designs are more one of a kind, and allows one to create a unique look.

For example, this vintage outdoor partio set looks awesome. I found it on ebay, the set of 4 chairs and the table cost less than one Wishbone Chair (about $600 on design within reach, or as I would like to call it, design not quite within reach).

Chinese horseshoe chair and the modern interpretations - Part 2:

2006-01-17T11:10:00.000-08:00

Taking inspiration from old photos of Danish merchants in China, designer Hans Wegner (b. 1914) has married his modernist’s love of pared-down form to Ming Dynasty designs to produce his iconic Wishbone Chair. Distinguished by a gently sloping, rounded barrel back and further set apart by its Y-shaped center support, the Wishbone resolves with sensuous fluidity at every point of its design. Its hind legs are crafted from a continuous piece of turned oak and curve upward to meet the back rail. The semicircular barrel not only holds the torso comfortably but also serves as an armrest substantial enough to rest ones arms and yet sufficiently abbreviated to allow close proximity with a conference or dining table. The seat is crafted of paper cord, a three-ply twisted construction that withstands daily use for up to 30 years without need of re-cording. It has a light paraffin coating for protection but spills should be wiped up immediately.

Chinese Horseshoe Chair and the modern interpretations - Part 1:

2006-01-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

The Chinese Horseshoe Chair is a classical design that reach it height in design and aethetics during the Ming Dynasty (around 16th century). During Ming Dynasty, the high end chairs are usually made of Huang Hua Li wood, which is a rare tropical wood, a type of yellowish rose wood that has a satin sheen finish. The Ming design is usually very simple with few decorations. The Qing dynsty (18th or 19th century) still kept the same shape, but the has a lot more carvings. Most of the Anitique chinese horseshoe Chairs you find on Ebay or Antique stores are late 19th Century or Early 20th century, and can be found for a relative reasonable price. The Ming Dynastic Haung Hau Li woods chairs, the price would be crazy expensive, as there is very few pieces left. The more recent peices are usually make from elm and has bit more decorations.

Picking the faucet for the sink

2006-01-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

Well, since we picked the bathroom sink, we need to pick the faucet to go with it. The sink is in the "Purity" line of products by Kohler. In the same line of products, there is also a faucet, like pictured here. It is often shown in pictures with the sink as well. There is no doubt it looks great. But again, I do not want mix things up a little, because buy everything from the same line of products is quickest way to boredom. Besides, this faucet is expensive at over $350. I decided that more vintage faucets will be create a better contrast with the clean modern lines of the "Purity" wading pool sink.

So I went on the search for a vintage looking faucet. There are several criterias though. The wading pool sink is not very deep at less than 2", so the faucet sprout has to be raised up higher than most standard fausets. I like the 8" spread faucet a little better. I would like those white handles. I want to keep the price around $100. The closest one I found is this from Price Pfister:
Even though I do not want to everything to be matchy matchy, but repetition is still important to create a cohesive scheme. (In fact, repetition is a trick often that help bring mix of furniture together, it may sounds contradictory, but it works.) So For the bathtub faucets and shower head, I decides it needs to echo the same graceful lines, I just picked the same line from the Price Pfister for the shower and bath tub fixture.

Picking a vanity sink for the bathroom remodel

2006-01-16T15:10:00.000-08:00

In an earlier post, I mentioned how I bought a vintage Asian/Deco cabinet off Craig's List for $100. So I was searching for a sink to go on top of it.

I wanted a vessel sink, but since the cabinet is relatively tall at 36", the sink can't be very tall. We went to Home Depot and Lowes (of course, we went to high end show rooms for inspiration such as waterworks and other local bountiqus, but they all are prohibitively expensive.), all the vessel sinks they had was too tall. At 4" to 6", it would make the top of the sink too tall.

I even looked at undermount sinks, but usually doens't work well with wood cabinets. Finally, I started sitting down at a desk and look through the catalogues they have at the Lowes.

So I found this sink, Kohl's Purity Wading Sink, in one of the catelogues. I loved it. It is only 2" tall, so it would work height wise. It is bit and dramatic. It comes in marble at over $600 or white porcelian at $350. We decide to go with white porcelain for durability and practicality.

It is special order, we are told before we order we need to decide the faucet fixtures first, so they know if it is a one hole, 3 hole with 8" spread, or 3 holes with 4" spread. Now we had to pick a faucet.

An unbelievable chandelier

2006-01-16T11:53:00.000-08:00

I saw this room, and the chandelier is made out of a treet root. It looks very dramatic with the sky light as a backdrop.

More from the Williams Sonoma home's Modern Chinoiserie

2006-01-13T16:49:00.000-08:00

The modern chinoiserie series from Willams and Sonoma home collection.
They just look so cool!

Deciding to commit to a remodel

2006-01-11T14:25:00.000-08:00

When you are considering remodeling a room or your entire home, there are a number of things to consider.

Like any project management, there are 3 main pieces: time, resources, budget. With Home Improvement, there are 2 more: impact on resale, desire.

The first 3 are relatively easy to determine.

Time:
* How long can you do without that room?
* How long will the remodel take (add 10% to your guess)?

Resources:
* How much (if any) of the work will be done by you?
* Will you hire a general contractor or each trademan yourself? (pros and cons to each)
A general contractor will make your life easier and will likely have good connections to good sub-contractors. But, having him do all the hiring of sub-contractors will remove you further from the project. Being hands-on can be good, as long as you don't get in the way. Make sure you know what they are doing and what they are planning to do along the way.
* Will you buy the supplies or have the contractor buy them? (pros and cons again)
having the contractor buy the supplies is necessary if you don't know anything about the items being bought. If you try to buy them and don't know what you are buying, it is likely that you will buy the wrong items and can slow down the project. However, when he does buy the supplies, he will add a surcharge to charge you for the time he went shopping.
When we do remodelling, I buy the supplies for areas that I know about. For example, I bought all the drywall, hardiboard, finish materials, etc; but I did NOT buy the in-wall plumbing materials, since I did not know what he would need. It was better for the timeline of the project and simpler to pay him to buy them for us.

Budget:
* How much can you afford to pay?
* What is your estimate about the cost of the project - if you can make an estimate?
* What do the contractors say? (Always get at least 3 estimates)

Impact on resale:
Do some research for your area about the impact of different improvements to the resale value of the house. Also, look at the houses for sale in your neighborhood and see what they sell for - do houses with a new kitchen sell for a lot more than comparable houses with older kitchens?
Check with your Real Estate agent about what pays off in your area.

Desire:
This is the most difficult to quantify. If there is a room that you really don't like it may override some of the other decisions. There is something to be said for making your house into your home and being happy and comfortable there. But, be careful to not let your desire rule absolutely over the other considerations.

Deciding to do a remodel is hard. There are often several areas in one home that you want to re-do. What is the most important? What can wait? When can you afford to do what? If you make the decisions carefully and thoughtfully, I believe you will be ahead and happy with the work you do in the long run.

History of the bathroom project

2006-01-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Since we moved into our home 3 years ago, the master bathroom has always been a bit of a sore point. As was pointed out earlier in another post, the room is small (5'x10'), most of the items (sink, vanity, lighting, window... are VERY old, and the shower is smaller than the shower on my parents' boat.

One of the first things we ran into with the bathroom was the faucet was leaking a bit. Not much, just a little drip, but enough that I (not wantint to waste water) decided to replace the O-rings. Now, I am a reasonably competent person when it comes to repairs and improvements. I have done a good amount of work and so was confident that i could tackle this.

The normal steps are to shut off the water at the under-sink valve, disassemble the faucet handle(s) and get the replacement parts to re-insert. Then reassemble and turn on the water. Voila! a couple of hours after you start, you have a drip-free sink.

However, when I took apart the faucet and went to Home Depot to get the replacement parts, I discovered that the faucet had not been made in about 30 years and that ordering the replacement parts would cost about $35 and take 2 weeks. Not wanting to wait that long, I just bought a new faucet for $30 and went home to install it.

When I crawled under the sink to get to the faucet, I discovered that the metal nuts had rusted in place (nowadays they use plastic to hold the faucets on to prevent this). Well, I thought, I'll just take out the sink and replace the faucet and put the sink back in.

I was able to do it all, but it did require additional runs to Home Depot for silicon sealer for the sink rim, and some other supplies. In the end, the 1-2 hour job took a day and a half to rebuild the sink.

The Lesson learned:
This is the problem with a lot of older houses. Once you start in on something, it will have a cascading effect that might force you to do more than you had planned. In some cases you can plan for possibilities, in some cases you get blind-sided.

It was some time after this that we decided to go ahead with the bathroom remodel.

Mix of styles in furniture itself

2006-01-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

In an earlier post, I mentioned how I like to mix different styles in the same room. Nowadays, more and more furniture designers are mixing different styles in the same furniture itself.

As a new article in New York Times highlights:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/05/garden/05shop.html

Chinoiserie is back. Chinoserie style is actually originally an European interpretation of Chinese style. (The Chinese Tea House in Schloss Sans Souci, Postdam, Germany is a prime example.)
Now people are doing a modern re-interpretation of Chinoiserie style. Often using highly graphic parterns and high contrast colors black and white, brown and white, high gloss moss green, the color or color combintations typically not found in more traditional Chinoiserie items (where the color scheme is domininated by red, black and gold.).

For example: below is a desert plate by Williams-Sonoma home. You can also find more modern chinoiserie items on their website at wshome.com, including faux bamboo chairs, graphic patterned screens and rags.

In case of West Elm, their furniture is already Asian inspired. However, they tend to make it more modern looking with a lot cleaner lines. Their furniture is relatively cheap and accessible. Just be careful not to buy everything from there, or your place will look very cliched.

Chinoiserie and the modern interpretation are a topic that is worth discussing in detail in other posts.

On the other side, traditional or old items are made modern in totally unexpected ways, for example, this faux bear skin rug is made from rubber with a high gloss shine. Looks very dramatic in the way it mixes traditional lines.

Sink Cabinet

2006-01-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

We found a cabinet on Craigs list for about $100. It is about 36" tall, 18" deep, and 38" wide. It had clean lines. The front of the cabinet doors had lattice work (in front of a glass) that is somewhat asian inspired. Yet at the same time, the cabinet has some Art Deco lines. It is a big and sturdy piece of furniture.

However, it is a bit on the tall side at 36". To be comfortable, generally, pepole want the sink to be at 30" - 36" or 38" height. In old days, 30" counter height actually was the standard. However, nowadays it is popular to have the counter height taller because people do not have bend over as far.

Replaceing a window

2006-01-09T10:45:00.000-08:00

It is just conincidence. When we come back from our Christmas trip, our bathroom room window had a hole in it. We are not sure what happened, we even filed a police report.
Anyways, luck as it, we wanted to replace the window anyways.

According to our measurements, the window is 60"X35".
The standard window sizes that they sell at home improvement stores is 60"X36", which is really annoying. A standard window cost about $100-$150, while a custome made window cost at least $250 and up, and we have to wait at least 2 weeks for the window to arrive.

So we decided to expand the window by a inch. Since we are remodeling the bathroom anyways, the dry wall is all down. So we just take off the 2X4 beneath the window, and cut down the studs by one inch, and then place back the 2X4. So now the frame is 60"X36".

We'll post the pictures of the process soon.

Planning - Decide what we wanted in the bathroom

2006-01-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

Since it is the small shower that bothered us most, we decided that we really want a bath tub. Given that the space is so small, a stand alone tub wouldn't make sense. Given its importance and size, bath tub could be the element that brings the wow factor and set directions of the design.

However, since that we have to basically pick a standard sized tub for the small space, none of the "standard tubs" we saw is that attention grabbing, but at least that is one element we could save some money on. So we decided that the defining element has to be a sink and vanity.

Pedalstal Sinks is out because they has no storage nor space for toiltries. The standard Sink and Cabinet combinations sold in typical chain home improvement stores are simply too boring looking, they have no character, typically like this:

When we visit special show rooms, where there are some high end and good looking sink/cabinets. But they are too expensive (thousands of dollars) and some of the modern design are somewhat cliched like this with dark wedge wood and glass.

While I do like the look, the contrast of the dark vs. the white. These are typically too expensive and a bit too matchy-matchy.

So we decided that I want to find an antique/vintage table or cabinet and then put a sink in it. And use that as the element to kick off the design of the rest of the space.

Thus begun our search for the perfect antique/vintage cabinet and sink combination.
At the same time, with rough idea of what we want in place, we started budget planning as well.

Finding Inspiration

2006-01-06T12:28:00.000-08:00

We actually like a lot of different styles. Everything from Mid-Century Modern, to Baroque to French Country. Given that I studied fine art and fine art history, and there is enough similiarity of trends between fine art and architecture/interiror design styles, I am relatively well versed in the different style.

We do not like everything the same style in one room. We think that is boring. We like contrasts, for example: a clean lined modern sofa against an rustic country cocktail table; antique asian chairs surround an elaborate french rococo sofa dinning table. In fact, we think that is truly where design trend is going.

Furthermore, I believe in everyone room, there gotta be at least one strong possibly unexpected element that creates drama. This element could be what take a room from been nice to inspired.

That element can be a piece of furniture, an architectural elements, lighting, color, art, or combination of these. The element or the concept for this element needs to be determined before start designing any room.

Start of a Bathroom Remodel

2006-01-06T11:58:00.000-08:00

We decided to remodel the Masterbath. It is a small space, only 5 feet by 8 feet. The vanity sink has a date on the back that says it is from 1959. The floor is vinyl. It actually has a new shower that was installed by the previous owners, but is barely 30" x 30", and it feels closephobic and very cheap looking.

The shower is really made us to decide to remodel it.

Welcome

2006-01-06T11:47:00.000-08:00

We decided to create this blog to document and share design trends, tips, and our own adventures in our remodeling or interior design projects.