Kyle Bunting Inc., Architects of Extraordinary Hide Rugs

I wanted to share images of an exceptional line of custom hide area rugs from Kyle Bunting Inc.

I have been on their email newsletter list for awhile now and it is one newsletter I enjoy seeing. The latest showed this custom "Jet Stream" image (one of my favorite designs in the line). These are handmade to order and are truly individual works of art.

"Jet Stream" in Custom Colors

"Surrender" in Cream

"Limelight" in Carrot

"Black Dog" in Cream and Coffee

Dean at Kyle Bunting was kind enough to send me some of my favorite images from the site to post for you. I especially love the "Black Dog".... anything Houndstooth gets my attention!

I hope you have fun visiting the site (it's beautiful!)

More Moroccan

Just in time for Memorial Day, these images of a Ken Fulk design for a home in Healdsburg, CA, take me on a visual vacation. My Mother lived in Healdsburg for a time and we used to visit frequently to go to the wineries, canoe down the Russian River, and visit the great shops in the town square. But I digress....

Ken Fulk's use of exotic accents and rich colors make me feel like I am on the Mediterranean. I love the Star Lantern in the Living Room from J.F. Chen Antiques. The color of the Library is fantastic ( I may have to do a "turquoise" post). I think my favorite thing in the house is his use of the "San Felipe", Plaza Concrete tile from Ann Sacks on the Master Bedroom Sitting Area floor. It looks so fresh and cool. The floor lamps are from Martin in St. Helena (GREAT store!)

Ken Fulk is definitely a designer I will be keeping my eye on!

Thank you to California Home + Design for giving us another great editorial! (April 2007, Chloe Harris, photo by Joshua McHugh)

Living Room

Library

Master Sitting Room

Patio (I could sit here for hours!)

These are but a few of the great images of this house. Definitely worth picking up a copy of CHDMAG!

MY BIG FAT REMODEL!

So....we bought this charming 1911 American Foursquare house..... with a really small, ugly kitchen.(Ten ft. square, room for one occupant, last remodeled in the 50's, but definitely not in a charming "Leave it to Beaver" kind of way). We thought to ourselves, "the house has really great bones and alot of potential. We are both in the design field. We can fix this. No problem". So we set about drawing up plans for our "Dream Kitchen and Family Room".

Then there was this basement that had "alot of potential". All we had to do was dig down another 3 feet so my 6'-3" husband could stand up straight, add a little drywall, and voila! We would have a Laundry Room, another bath and......well here we had a few ideas: a studio for moi, a pool room for him, a project space for the kids. Sounds so easy!

We narrowed down contractors, got through a harrowing engineering phase ( the house was being held up on stilts for awhile....and yes, we are living in the house during this whole thing.Call us crazy.....my husband likes to think of it as an "extreme sport").

It is now a year and a half after breaking ground and are in the home stretch. Framing phase is done, rough electrical and plumbing, check, drywall, check. Now, thank GAWD, onto the good stuff!

So here are some pics of what has been happening. I will chronicle progress as we roll along.

Framing stage. Kitchen on the left and adjacent Family Room on the right.

Drywall Stage. Structural beam down the middle of the room, so we are adding a few more to keep it company. The range will be in between the two small windows, sink under the three windows. Island in the middle.




Here is the basement, framed then drywalled.

This whole process, needless to say, has been taking up a big chunk of our free time. I do have to say that it is a satisfying, although very trying experience. It gives me alot of compassion for what my clients go through... and that can only be a good thing.

More pics of progress as things unfold!

Culinaire, French Kitchen Antiques

On Mother's Day, my hubby took me, my Mom, and our girls to the San Francisco Ferry Building to look at all of the wonderful food and gift shops. (I will post some of those images later!) One of our favorite places to visit is Culinaire, a shop all about French antiques that all relate to food and wine. These are just a few of the beautiful finds. I loved the arrangement of green pottery on the demi-lune table. The chandelier had crystal apples, pears and grapes clustered among the traditional crystals. And Culinaire is known for their butcher block kitchen tables. Bon Appetite!

Ist Dibs Pairs with Flair

A classic way to ground a room is by using pairs to add symmetry. Here are some beautiful new pairings from 1st dibs! I could see all of these in a room together with perhaps grey upholstered walls. The vases are Japanese Awaji Pottery circa 1930 from Florian Papp. French Armchairs from Jourdan Antiques. A 1950's pair of Chinese Moderne Lamps from Dragonette Ltd. And my favorite: the George III-style Pagoda Etagere's from Coup D'Etat (coupdetatsf@hotmail.com). Enjoy!

Moorish Modern

The Living Room of designer Mark Christofi's house as seen in the June '07 issue of Metropolitan Home really caught my eye! I love the wall graphics and the combination of objects. I am partial to any room that mixes the Mies Barcelona Table with the unexpected (I have that table myself!) . The use of the funeral drapes to cover the armchair requires a great sense of humor. I love that.

Wabash table from Peter Sandback

I just saw this table in the May issue of Sunset Magazine and thought "how cool it that?!" Peter Sandback combines a concrete style top with a Saarinen style base. It is shown in the editorial in a outdoor patio setting. Check out the website for more great designs combining concrete tops and great table bases!

Hello Yellow!

I found this gorgeous apartment in the latest Traditional Home. It is described as a "temporary" apartment to be used while the permanent residence is being done. We should all be so lucky to have temp digs this good! Laura Day is the designer. Her use of color is fun, fun, fun! I can hardly wait to see the perm res.

PILLOW TALK

I was reading the Testy Tastemaker in the latest House and Garden and he was teasing about designers and pillows. It made me think that really, pillows should not be so put "down"! I have found some really great ones lately and wanted to share.


At top are three designs from Dermond Peterson Design, perfect for summer: "Coral", "Blue Dory", and "Zoom Palm". "Pallas" in dutch blue (dontcha love this color?!) from Plush Living. Then the fun wool applique of lemons is new from Hable Construction. The "Bihar Tree" and "Curly Bird" pillows are also applique from The Sandor Collection. Love that graphic quality! The brown and light blue with green embroidery ( another of my fave color combos) is from Jadora. And then another Plush Living called "Daphne". There is something about tree silhouettes that I find so appealing.

Hope you all have fun fluffing and lounging on your pillows!

It's a new day

It's a start, a beginning. I am revamping my house and my career all in one fell swoop. So, I thought to myself, get out there and see what's going on in the world of blogs related to what I love: design and all related stuff. My house is getting a new kitchen, family room, powder room, laundry room, office, and another bathroom. I will be posting pics soon! My career is always transforming . What with an active family life (hubby and kids) I thought, hey, what's one more thing.....really.

Look for pics of inspirations and information coming soon!