Research for Malto's Place - Day 1

I had a great start designing for Sean's loft this week, and unfortunately tomorrow is my last day here.  But I will recap what I have managed to accomplish in the short time I spent working here - that is when I wasn't playing and hanging out with all the fun people here.

First Sean and his wonderful mom, Lynn, and I went to a nice lunch then to the Nebraska Furniture Mart.  It reminded me of a large Home Goods - affordable, but not the best in durability or variety.  The have a higher end area in the back of the mart, but they carry lines with which I already have direct accounts, but great to know they are there.  And even though Sean loves having his friends over to party, play pool, and watch some games, (which doesn't lend itself to being easy on a house) I think he is looking for a bit of style which comes from a higher end product.  He told me that if he was to have nicer items in his place, he and his friends would respect it and care for it more!  Sounds like a great plan to me.

Then we headed over to the Country Club Plaza, which has its own beautiful architecture and is a very charming collection of retail stores - love!  Sean requested to check out Restoration Hardware, which I was pretty impressed that he even knew what that store was!  As we walked around I got a sense of some of the things he liked:

Vintage Barstool

Flatiron Dining Table

(even though we need a round version of this)

Brickmaker's Coffee Table

It was great to spend the day with Sean even though we didn't find anything that we had to have for his place, it was great to get a feel of what he thinks is cool, what's too modern, what's too feminine, what's to retro, etc.  It was a great start, and fun for me to see the city.

Today I realized that I am the perfect person to help him with his place since I can completely relate to what his intentions are when asking for help with the design.  I went through the same process a few years ago when Mike first bought his house and was ready to kick out the trashed party furniture and upgrade a bit.  Mike bought his house the same exact week we had started dating, and once I got an inkling from Mike that he was ready for some nicer stuff, I went straight to West Elm and went to town.  Now that we are married and I live at the house, I am starting to modify and add nicer pieces to our home.  It is a progression that I can see Sean taking, especially since he is the same age Mike was when we started dating.  I also have a place of reference to know exactly how Sean's space will be maintained, what will get a beating, and what his adorable dog, London, will want to chew.  It gave me the confidence I needed to really run with my ideas.

More on Day 2 tomorrow!  

Malto's Loft

My husband's friend and groomsmen in our wedding, Sean, is a pro skater that bought a loft in downtown Kansas City in February of this year.  Mike decided to go on a skate trip with Sean here in his hometown, so I thought - I will come along and help Sean with his new place.  I get a fun trip out of it, since I love to see new places, and an opportunity to help him with his awesome loft!

What I very naively did not know was that the midwest is BEAUTIFUL and full of amazing architecture, adorable neighborhoods, and is quite an awesome place.  I have been to a good number of places overseas, but have not done a whole lot of American sightseeing!  I have been pleasantly surprised - the leaves actually change colors here!  Being from California, there is one street that has trees that change color - they probably soak up a lot of water since I know they are not native to our drought lands.

Their photographer, Sam, took us through the area for some sightseeing yesterday, and we stopped at the WWI Liberty Memorial Museum.  So fun!

Tomorrow I will be drawing up the space plan for his loft, so I will give you more info on the actual design project!  

Glamour Dogs - Penny & Ruby

Well, it's been almost a year later, but I'm back!  I do have a good enough excuse though... I got married and planned my whole wedding in less than 7 months by myself!!  That will be a series of posts on its own...

Well, no worries, the photos of the doggies are here!  My new father-in-law, Ken Taylor, spent a few hours with Penny, my chihuahua, and Ruby, my frenchie, in his adorable studio in Woodland Hills.  We took my newly fabricated chair, designed by ME, and posed the pooches to get some truly glamorous photos.

I think they are pretty cute, and we had a lot of fun with the dogs getting plenty of treats!!  But take a look and let me know how you think we did.

Glamour Dogs - Beautiful Breeds shot in Gorgeous Interiors

Photos via WowOWow

As part of Anthropologie's  mini focus on pets this season, they are selling my new favorite book, Glamour Dogs by Catherine Ledner.  As soon as it arrived at our store, I couldn't stop looking through it while I was supposed to be working in the fitting room!  As Anthropologie says on their website, "These photogenic pooches are truly ready for their close-ups. Fabulously photographed by Catherine Ledner, these fetching pups seem to strike poses as naturally as any veteran of the dog, er, catwalk." This book is perfect for my coffee table as it combines adorable pooches and gorgeous interior combinations of wallpapers and sofas or chairs!!! What an ingenious way to glam up our favorite doggies with some great looking wallpapers!  

Check out what other great pet inspired items Anthropologie is carrying right now.

I love the Pet Projects book as well; it features a number of knitting and crafting ideas to make toys and accessories for your pet.  What a fun gift to give this Christmas!

Ruby Taylor

Penny Lane

I am also excited that the book has inspired me to do a photo shoot with my own two dogs on my FIDM Chairing Styles Chair once it is fabricated!  My 3-year-old chihuahua, Penny, and my 12-week-old french bulldog, Ruby, are already used to me snapping glamour shots of them, and would be the perfect models for my own shoot.  I will be sure to post the photos as soon as the chair is completed in January!

Working in the Glamour

Let me introduce you to my latest project, I will call it Casi's Office to be respectful to the client.  This is for a company moving from one area in downtown Los Angeles to a beautiful building downtown that is right across from the Staples Center.  It is a company that has a few lines of beauty products, and they are an online company that is transitioning into doing infomercials.  Casi is my primary contact with the company, and she initially told me she wants something glamorous and that her favorite color is red.  So I created this inspiration board to include with my proposal just to give them a taste of what I could envision for their space.  The client responded quite positively to this presentation, and I signed a contract with them soon after.  Let me know what you think and if you might actually enjoy going "to the office" in this space!

Modular Structures - Cabanne by Paola Lenti

I want to have a party here.  I just thought I would share how fantastic this is!

Modular System and furniture by Paola Lenti.  More to come from this fabulous Italian designer later.

Miaim's Deco Dollhouse

The other night, I sat in Barnes & Nobel looking through one of my favorite shelter mags, Living Etc., and found a little write up on this adorable modern dollhouse! If only Barbie had a house this cool when I was growing up, then I might have been more interested in her fantasy world. I should have known I was fascinated with interiors when my only memory of playing Barbies (a very vague memory at that) was rearranging the glassware in the kitchen I had. Same scenario for the Sims game, I went on vacation with a friend that had Sims 1 and I played for hours during that trip! Did I meet neighbors and take out the garbage? No. I figured out some short cut to earn more money without playing the game, so I would stay in the build-your-house mode for hours choosing flooring, artwork, paint colors, furniture, landscaping, etc. Do they have a game like that that I am unaware of? Build your virtual dream house? I'm sure it would be a huge hit for people that may or may not have realized their love for the architectural world. I guess that is what CAD is for, but it's not as fun or colorful! Oh well, maybe I will be able to provide this adorable dollhouse for my children when the time comes. I am not sure who would get more excitement out of it, me or them?

Image via Miaim