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Art.Style.Innovation Palm Springs Store – Re-invented Vintage

While soaking up the sun poolside in Palm Springs this past spring, I planned an afternoon of furniture and home accessory shopping on North Palm Canyon Drive. Many vintage, retro and mid-century shops are located on North Palm Canyon Drive’s uptown design district located between Alejo and Tachevah Streets.

 {Via Odi et Amo; Designer: David Jimenez; Photo: Stephanie Diani for The New York Times}

Not far from Trina Turk’s home store, is a delightful and unique furniture store called  Art Style Innovation or ASI.  Just as it’s name suggests, it’s filled with re-invented vintage pieces updated using materials such as  acrylic, bold fabrics and high gloss lacquer paint. Many of the whimsical pieces are one-of-a-kind.

{image via Oprah.com}
ASI was created by Larry Abel and Raymond McCallister. The talented duo also owns larry abel / de-signs, vb., LLC a successful event production company with offices in Los Angeles and New York City. Their A-list clients include People Magazine, Elle and Bravo TV. Larry and Raymond have been swarming busy this year after designing Oprah’s first edible set, made from pure Godiva Chocolate.  Yum. The details are simply spectacular, take a look here.

In addition to planning lavish productions, Larry & Raymond are  busy designing and putting an ASI twist on statement home furnishings and accessories. In the vignette above, ASI took a traditional shape of a bombay chest and added some fun and whimsy to it by making the shelves out of neon green acrylic. Atop the chest are clear candelabras inspired by the large candelabras Raymond’s Grandmother displayed in her entry hallway. The pair of vintage chairs are a re-invention by ASI and were painted a high-gloss orange, reupholstered the seats with fun fabric and  removed the wooden back  replacing it with a hand carved back to mimic the original. The giant clock was originally a numbers panel , but  with the ASI touch it now makes a great piece of art that is also functional. 

ASI designs are inspired by just about anything. The legs of the long acrylic coffee table above were inspired by an urn found at an estate sale. The red sofa in the image above, was also re-invented by ASI. The arms of the sofa were streamlined, the legs were lacquered and it was reupholstered in a cherry red crocodile vinyl. The vintage chairs were also updated with an ASI point of view. The frames were painted in a modern high-gloss white, the seats were reupholstered with black patent leather, while frosted acrylic was an added detail to the back. The art above the sofa is by a local artist and also available at ASI.
 
ASI designed a series of playful and functional silhouette bookends that include roosters, sexy legs, and a pair of stilettos. The shadow images really pop on the bookshelf that was given an updated ASI look with white lacquer paint.
If you are looking for a touch of whimsy in your space, be sure to drop by ASI ‘s online  store or visit them in sunny Palm Springs.
xo,

 
*all photos used with permission from ASI or otherwise mentioned.
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Read full story By on July 14, 2010 in furniture, home accessories

Friday Find: Williams Sonoma Home Sale

Look what’s on sale now at Williams Sonoma Home! Here is just a small sampling of lovely home furnishings and decor now discounted and perfect for dressing a beach cottage or coastal home. 

The semi-annual sale is good through July 27, 2010 and be sure to drop by one of the Williams Sonoma Home stores for additional items for sale.
Happy Friday, Happy Shopping!
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Read full story By on June 25, 2010 in friday find, furniture, home accessories

Bone Inlaid Furniture and Decor

Bone inlaid furnishings. They are exotic, elegant and can be pricey {very labor intensive}. According to Wikipedia
“Inlay is a decorative technique of inserting pieces of contrasting, often coloured materials into depressions in a base object to form patterns or pictures that normally are flush with the matrix. Inlay in wood furniture differs from marquetry, a similar technique that largely replaced it in high-style European furniture during the 17th century, in that marquetry is an assembly of veneers applied over the entire surface of an object, whereas inlay consists of small pieces inserted on the bed of cut spaces in the base material, of which most remains visible.”
Popular for centuries, intricate bone inlaid furniture and decor accents can been found in the world’s finest homes and museums. Today bone inlay items are being incorporated in a variety of interior settings. They look marvelous just about anywhere , but especially  when mixed with period styles, contemporary or urban chic design elements.

Designer Windsor Smith, featured this dramatic, bone inlay buffet by Habité in the master bedroom in The Great House at the Greystone Estate {Veranda Magazine}. The opulent design seamlessly integrates Eastern, Indian and African elements.

Nathan Thomas, designer and Bravo TV’s Top Design Season 2 winner, placed striking black and bone inlay ram’s head chairs in both contemporary and traditional settings {images via ElleDecor}. Graham and Green carries a very similar chair.

Los Angeles-based interior designer, Ryan Brown of Brown Design uses a dramatic black and bone inlaid mirror in this eclectic foyer.
This traditional style stool is one of my favorites and would be perfect in a bath, living room or a pair at the foot of a bed. Handmade in India, this black and bone inlaid  Regency Stool by Graham and Green features a sweet floral motif. The intricate bone pattern was achieved by individually carving pieces of reliably sourced camel bone and affixing them into a resin.

This elegant inlaid bone tray from Wisteria would be a beautiful accent on a console, ottoman or dining room table. 
This magnificent handmade bone inlay two drawer chest by Niki Jones would make a design statement in any space. All the bone used in Niki Jones’ furniture is camel bone, procured from reliable sources and given a wildlife certificate from the Indian government prior to shipping.
This gorgeous Moorish bone inlaid and stained Savonarola Chair from the late 19th – early 20th century is available at Christie’s for $4,576. The decorative bone inlay on the back, seat and X-frame is exquisite.
Now I am kicking myself for passing up a vintage Egyptian bone inlaid game table that was for sale at a nearby consignment shop for $650!
What do you think? Would you incorporate bone inlaid furniture into your home’s interior design?
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Read full story By on June 16, 2010 in chairs, furniture, interior design

Hooray, Hooray! It’s Nate Berkus Day!

Today in addition to honoring our nation’s flag, design bloggers are celebrating cutie-pie interior designer, Nate Berkus. Known for being one of the nicest decorators in the business, Nate’s career sky-rocketed in 2002 when he first appeared on the Oprah Show {love this show, will miss it dearly}. 

Nate’s charm was contagious. We all wanted him to come over for a cup of tea and help us pick out fabrics at the kitchen table {and yes, Nate you are welcome any time!}. Over the past eight years, we religiously tuned in to see 127 stunning makeovers that made us smile, laugh and even cry. I secretly wanted him to knock on my door one day… and I still continue to fluff pillows, fold towels and tidy up the house just in case.

Nate has also provided wonderful decorating advice on Oprah.com. His Ten Easy Tweaks to Update Your Home is terrific and this one is my favorite:

5. Edit, edit, edit. I jam-pack my rooms with all kinds of found objects and accessories—but then I step back and put a few items away. Paring down is what makes a good room great.

On March 25, 2010, Oprah aired “Nate’s Grand Finale” and thanked Nate for inspiring viewers for eight years. “We brought him here because of his incredible eye for style, and we grew to love him for his big ole heart,” Oprah says. “He taught millions of us to love the way we live.”

But wipe those tears people! Oprah also announced that Nate’s headed to New York City to launch his own talk show, The Nate Berkus Show. Nate’s show will debut September 13, 2010 {can’t wait!}. Will you tune in? 

{my favorites from the Nate Berkus Collection at HSN}
Need more Nate love? The hilarious blogging duo at Moggit, Joy & Janet  and ultra-talented Julieann at CreateGirl helped plan this “Nate Day” blog party… jump here to read more!

Congrats Nate and Much Success in the Big Apple!!!

 
*images courtesy of Oprah.com, Habitually Chic and HSN
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Read full story By on June 14, 2010 in blog, furniture, interior design