Cheers!

It seems that there has been a re-emurgence of "the cocktail hour".  Bar carts have been popping-up all over vintage sites - 1stdibs have 3 pages worth - and bar sets are available from most home retailers by the plenty. As the holiday season approaches, and we are all entertaining more, perhaps it's time to join in on the party!

Vintage Jacques Adnet leather and glass bar cart

Bar cabinet

Bar set

Retro bar tools

Smoked glassware

Agate coasters 

And for those of you with a little more space and a larger budget there is always the addition of a wine cellar or bar. I love this modern cellar by Danish designers Norm Arkitekter or this stylish bar by New York design group Moises Esquenazi and Associates.

Rustic Sophistication

Along the edge of the Bardenas Reales National Park (a Biosphere Reserve) in Spain is a design hotel that will take your breath away.  The Hotel Aire de Bardenas is twenty two room boutique hotel that sits in the middle of an incredible landscape - wheat fields and pebbled hills.  Architects Emiliano Lopez and Monica Rivera have created simple, clean and modern boxes with views available from every angle.  The hotel is uncomplicated with an attention paid to design details both in the architecture and its relationship to the landscape.  This is on my top ten list and really is a diamond in the rough.

All photos courtesy of Jose Hevias Phototraphy

Inspired By

Cyber Monday! Well this whole Black Friday and Cyber Monday thing is new to me having never lived in the US before. With that being said I am no stranger to shopping and thought that I would include some of the items on my dream list for this Cyber Monday.

Cassina Limited Edition LC3 Armchair in leather and linen

One of these metal sculpture by Jaume Plensa - and the space to put it!

A Fortuny lamp

A full set of the Phaidon Wallpaper City Guides - and the plane tickets to visit all cities!

Chanel J12 Watch 

My very own shower on a dock overlooking a spectacular view!

Image source unknown

Quintessentially New York

The change in season is upon us with the days getting shorter and the weather here is getting colder. Now that I am back in Manhattan I can see that the city is starting to prepare for winter - the leaves in Central Park are almost all off the trees and people are bundling up everywhere they go.  I adore the colours of fall and managed to take some photos with the trees in bright yellow, red and orange before they fell to the ground.  I think that the city feels like it has been 'decorated' with the bright colour complimenting the neutral tones of the surrounding buildings - Beautiful!

Happy Thanksgiving

Well as it's American Thanksgiving I thought that it would be time for a little tabletop inspiration from the world of Kelly Wearstler.

Enjoy the colours, textures, patterns and holidays!

Sferra

Picard

Film Review : Eames

Every few years the silver screen gives a nod to the world of architecture - Sketches of Frank Ghery (2005) or My Architect (2003). We now have the next addition to our movie library with 'Eames: The architect and the painter' a movie now playing about the lives and work of Charles and Ray Eames.

Charles and Ray Eames' work is synonymous with defining the American postwar aesthetic and they were a power couple in the world of industrial design.  Their furniture is relatable, comfortable and beautiful.  This movie is an amalgamation of archival short films they created as well as featuring interviews by former colleagues, friends and industry experts.  It looks like it is going to be great, and now that it is open in NYC and LA I cannot wait to see it!  Anyone having already seen it please let me know what you thought in the comment section.

photos from Luxury Culture

Seeing Green

Well the holiday season is rapidly approaching and I am trying to get ahead of it all in the present departent.  I stumbled upon Woollypocket's website and just had to share as it is one of the most interesting design proposals I have seen in a while.  Woollypocket are a US based eco-minded company that specialise at integrating plant-life into ones life - no matter how much space you have and whether that space is inside or out.

Their Woolly Pockets - made from recycled bottles - includes vertical gardens, traditional horizontal planters and even table-top planters. They are felt-based and therefore retain moisture and allow oxygen to pass through - a process they call 'breathability'.  These are super funky, creative and conscientious and would make a great present this year.

Wally One

Wally One

Lil' Meadow

Wally Three

Brian

Tina

Inspired By

Old buildings! There is this amazing building at the end of the market place in the old city. The facade is painted different shades of a golden yellow (very South of France), but with the wear of the weather and the salty wind off the Mediterranean it has started to show serious signs of age. The paint has started to peel off and give this beautiful building a patina. I find the addition of grey (the colour of the natural render under the layers of paint) to the warm yellow just beautiful and a great addition to the palette of the facade.

Image source unknown

The amazing chinoiserie panels in designer Lazaro Rosa-Violan's Barcelona studio

Beautiful chair attributed to Maxine Old from Alan Moss New York (LOVE IT!!)

Kelly Wearstler interior at The Tides South Beach

Image of a beautiful old staircase by photographer Anna Williams

Pollack Associates fabrics

This Parisian apartment by Studio KO