A clever idea -- stairway landing storage -- maximizes underutilized attic space. In two- or three-story homes there often are awkward spaces under the eaves or on a landing. In this upstairs hallway, the wall on the left would normally have been covered in sheet rock, painted and left bare. The passage is too narrow for artwork since there's no way to step back. So a clever … [Read more...]
Mirrored Lattice Walls
Interior lattice walls create a garden like ambience in any room. Admirers of French-style decorating probably know about trellis walls – the decorative wall treatment fashioned from crossed wood strips that applied as panels. Traditionally, lattice or trellis was used to formalize walled gardens or in interior rooms with garden themes. While diamonds and squares are the … [Read more...]
Hamptons Game Room
From NYC designer Bradley Stephens, a sophisticated show house game room I met designer Bradley Stephens last year, when I toured a NYC show house where he created a sensational bedroom inspired by Annie Lennox. I was making a video of his room when my camera battery died (every blogger’s nightmare). Bradley graciously let me return to and complete my post and I’ve been … [Read more...]
Inspired Design Showhouse
Tour the Inspired Designs showhouse in NYC with rooms dedicated to extraordinary women. Move over Kip’s Bay. A group of 15 premier New York interior designers combined talents in a unique showhouse event to launch a new condominium building on West End Avenue, a street that hasn’t changed so much in 30 years or perhaps longer. As it happens it’s in my neighborhood, … [Read more...]
Bookcase Hallway Rugs
Hallway rugs needn’t be a boring connectors between rooms. Shelving and bookcases — whether built-in or added — make a hall both functional and inviting. Embellishing these spaces with properly scaled hallway rugs may only seem like a decorating trick. In truth, hallway rugs help to balance the weight of the cabinetry in narrow spaces. The long hallway in this beach house … [Read more...]
Library Style Bathroom
A library style bathroom has custom cabinetry with interesting, formal details in an unusual spot. Creating a library style bathroom based on highly detailed, built-in wood cabinets – elements usually be found in a library — is interesting and luxurious. Conceptually it moves beyond using an antique piece as a sink cabinet because it establishes an architectural style for a … [Read more...]
Grande Chateau Bathroom
Details in a French château bathroom seem larger than life, due to the grand scale of the rooms. Modernizing Madame’s French château bathroom? That starts with wood-paneled walls (boiserie), that have concealed storage behind barely visible panels – see the telltale crystal knobs. The French have long been fond of judiciously cutting into antique wood paneling to create … [Read more...]
