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Interview with San Francisco Interior Designer Martha Angus

July 6, 2011 · Comments { 6 }

In addition to her distinguished career in interior design, Martha Angus studied at the Ecole Des Beaux Arts in France, Carnegie Mellon University and Sotheby’s Restoration in New York. Martha began designing interiors in New York City for Naomi Leff & Associates where she worked on projects for well known clients including Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and the Lauder family.

Today the seasoned designer, leads the full-scale San Francisco firm, Martha Angus, Inc. Her fresh, classic and refined approach to interior design attracts clients from around the world.

Simplified Bee: Your designs are inviting, sensible and timeless. When did you know you wanted to be an interior designer?

Martha Angus: After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in painting I panicked because I had no way to make a living. My AHA moment came from my mom’s suggestion; she asked me why not go into design?

SB: How would you describe your personal style?

MA: Classic mixed with fun, strong art. This also describes my wardrobe – classics mixed with fun strong jewelry!

SB: What type of architecture are you personally drawn to?

MA: Neoclassical or clean Modern.

SB: Who would you most like to collaborate with on a project?

MA: Jeff Koons!

designer favorite farrow and ball paint colors

SB: Do you have “go to” paint colors? If so, which ones?

MA: Absolutely. I always go straight to my Farrow and Ball paint deck.

Skimming Stone #241 – Hallways and/or trim

Charleston Gray #243 – Kitchen and/or dining room

Light gray #17 – bedroom (I used this for my bedroom in my old apartment and it created an instant serene feeling)

Middleton Pink #245 – feminine office or a girl’s room

Charlotte’s lock #268 – this makes the most fabulous accent wall

Tunsgate Green #250 – children’s room – it’s perfect for boy’s or girl’s

Arsenic #214 – powder room

Blue ground #210 – bathroom and/or powder room

SB: Where do you recommend clients splurge versus save?

MA: Splurge on great art! Save on the items like end tables and desks.

SB: You are embracing social media and are on Facebook, Twitter and recently started blogging. Do you prefer one over the other? What is your advice to other interior designers who are timid about trying social media marketing outlets?

MA: I prefer blogging and reading other blogs. My Silicon Valley clients kept telling me that I needed to do this! Throughout the years I’ve always saved cool ideas by tearing images from magazines and taken tons and tons of pictures. Post + Grant is the perfect place to use all of these fabulous ideas.

SB: Fill in the blank. No room is complete without…

MA: Something that makes you smile.

red orange bathroom designer martha angus

SB: What’s next for Martha Angus Inc.?

MA: A lot and it’s a bit of a secret…I’ll keep you posted.

*all photos used with permission from Martha Angus, Inc.

Read full story By Cristin on July 6, 2011 in interior design, interview

Design Blogger Series #7: What Would You Do?

June 29, 2011 · Comments { 18 }

For the seventh Design Blogger Series: What Would You Do?, I invited four very talented interior design bloggers. As you will see, they have very different personal styles which I think makes this series so fun.

Andrika King from Nursery Notations, Rashon Carraway of Mr. Goodwill Hunting, Danika Herrick from Gorgeous Shiny Things and Will Taylor of Bright.Bazaar were asked to design a space around Beeline Home’s Hourglass Table by Bunny Williams.

bunny williams hourglass table beeline home

The stunning, timeless table features a marble octagonal top on a pedestal base of hand applied reeded wood in silver leaf. It’s a statement piece in any space.

nursery notations inspiration board design girl

{Andrika King from Nursery Notations}

“I’m a proponent of purchasing items for your children’s rooms which are quality items and will grow with you and the child through time. Although the Bunny Williams hourglass table is not practical for a toddler room it makes a wonderful side table with plenty of table space beside a nursing chair in a nursery. I paired the table next to a quality timeless chair design by George Smith in a bold graphic pattern. Since the chair and the opaque rug by Custom Cool have bold patterns and color I chose white furniture with clean straight lines. The dresser from Bunglow 5 is the perfect height for a changing table and offers plenty of storage and can transfer to any room of the house. The decorative insert panels of the classic Savannah crib by the New Traditionalists would be painted fuchsia to play off the fuchsia in the chair. Since there is such a collection of pattern and design in the furniture, lighting and accessories in the room, for bedding I would suggest simple white 100 cotton or linen sheets. No decorative skirt or bumper needed. As for the walls, paint them a soft white, and if you need some color, the ceiling in a barely there turquoise would be gorgeous. Thank you for having me!” – Andrika

* Simplified Bee’s favorite thing about Andrika’s design: Thrilled she designed a nursery around the hourglass table and love the mix or bold pattern, oh and the Savannah crib with custom panels in fuchsia too!

{Rashon Carraway of Mr. Goodwill Hunting}

“Bunny Williams’s hourglass table is the perfect spot for a casual yet refined afternoon of chatting. I paired the table with cool blues {chairs, painting} and a hit of red {chevron pillows} to prevent the area from being one note. There is no need to sit at a table and not have yummy treats, so a nice soft batch of orange vanilla spice cookies from Sweet Ambs seals the deal. Care to join me?” – Rashon

* Simplified Bee’s favorite thing about Rashon’s design: The fun pop of color and pattern in the pillows and those gorgeous cookies! First designer to include food into their design… Rashon is always thinking out of the box – love it!

gorgeous shiny things blog design reading nook

{Danika Herrick from Gorgeous Shiny Things}

“Thanks so much for inviting me to participate! I had so many ideas for this table. To narrow it down I pretended it was going into my own house. I decided to create a reading nook… a place to unwind, catch up on my ever growing stack of shelter magazines and maybe a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. I choose the table in the gold base to add a bit more warmth and added Restoration’s Copenhagen Chair in Natural Linen. I would use the blue vintage wallpaper framed in large panels as artwork. I added a Boucherouite rug, orange lamp, and a patchwork pillow to amp up the color. And finally, I loved the round Kansai bookshelf from Anthropologie. It could store all my reads, neatly organized using chunky quarts bookends to add that extra glam factor, AND it acts as a room divider/ partition to create my nook.” – Danika

* Simplified Bee’s favorite thing about Danika’s design: Her use of bold color, pattern and texture – love the unexpected round bookshelf!

I saved prop stylist, Will Taylor of Bright.Bazaar, for last because he has amazing graphic design skills and put together a very stylish board. Typically, designers send me their product links and I create the boards so that they have a similar look and feel. In this case, I loved what Will put together and didn’t want to touch it…

bright bazaar design beeline home hourglass table

{Will Taylor’s product links: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight}

Will has created a colorful and vibrant scheme to go with Bunny William’s Hourglass Table. Jonathan Adler’s Ravello mirror has been chosen to add interest to the wall, whilst a lamp from the same range links to tabletop to the wall space above it. Joining the lamp upon the table is this trio of vases from Habitat, which were chosen as they call upon the textures and colorways within the rug. Finally, the Claude Walnut Gossip bench sits alongside the table as it serves both style and function: keep the tabletop clear by filling the doors, and admire the accessories upon it from the color-matched turquoise seat!

* Simplified Bee’s favorite thing about Will’s design: I love turquoise and so my eye was drawn to the mirror and lamp immediately, but I love how the striped rug pulls the color scheme.

Don’t you just love what these designers have created? One common thread in these designs is the use of the hue of blue; They all selected a shade of blue as part of the color palette. They also all selected fabulous seating options. What similarities or differences do see?

Also, a big thank you to Andrika, Rashon, Danika and Will for participating in this series!

xo,

Read full story By Cristin on June 29, 2011 in design blogger series, furniture, interior design

Sneak Peek at West Elm Fall 2011

June 26, 2011 · Comments { 7 }

Okay, I know summer is just starting, but thought you’d like to see what is in store for us at West Elm this fall. Loving the global inspiration, indigo tones and focus on natural materials.

“This season, we’re expanding two ideas that bring the most exceptional and distinctive aspects of our globe-trotting aesthetic to our customers. Our unique Discovered pieces are one-of-a-kind objects of desire found in our global travels while our small-batch Limited Edition items are rare and unusual pieces from around the world that have been crafted exclusively for us.”

– West Elm

Some items have already hit the store’s floor. The entire collection however, will be available July 19, 2011.

What do you think?

Read full story By Cristin on June 26, 2011 in furniture, home accessories, interior design

Laila Ali’s Designer Nursery Room for Baby Girl

June 20, 2011 · Comments { 10 }

As seen on Project Nursery, Little Crown Interiors recently completed a beautiful nursery designed for celebrity Mommy, Laila Ali. The sweet “Hope” crib by Newport Cottages takes center stage in this pink and aqua nursery.

Above the crib, hangs a large stretched canvas photo of Muhammad Ali holding his infant daughter Laila. Flanking the artwork are petite mirrors by Pottery Barn Kids.

The sweet crib bedding was custom made using exquisite Love Bird Damask print in shades of soft pinks and mist blue by Carousel Designs .

A custom, stylish and down right functional nursery rocker and cube ottoman are tucked into the room’s corner. In bubblegum pink, a changing table by Newport Cottages is centered between dreamy floor length puddle drapes in white.

A studded monogram by Little Crown Interiors also hangs in the nursery and adds another personal touch to the space.

If the nursery wasn’t sweet enough, the gals at Little Crown Interiors finished off the room with a gorgeous chandelier.

For more nursery room inspiration, please visit baby boy nursery rooms, gender neutral nursery rooms, or baby girl nursery rooms.

Read full story By Cristin on June 20, 2011 in baby nursery room, interior design, textiles

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Archive | interior design RSS feed for this section

Interview with San Francisco Interior Designer Martha Angus

Design Blogger Series #7: What Would You Do?

Sneak Peek at West Elm Fall 2011

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