The Stars Were Out Last Night

Margaret Russell, the star of Elle Decor, and as well as author of the newest addition to my library, Style and Substance, was shining at Gumps in San Francisco last night. Always beautiful, always gracious, Margaret was there for a book signing party.

Style and Substance has been one of my "go to" resource books since it came out. Each chapter is organized by room, and since it is a compilation of the best from Elle Decor, it is simply the book I pull from the shelf first when looking for inspiration for my design projects. And now it has been signed. Sigh...I am one of those who loves to have my favorite books signed whenever possible.

It was wonderful to have a chance to chat with Margaret. There are brilliantly big plans in the works for Elle Decor, particularly exciting for all f us design groupies! So keep an eye out and an ear open in the months to come. I promise to keep you posted!

And the party was packed with other stars from the City by the Bay. Designers Jay Jeffers, Ken Fulk, Scot Meacham Wood (also of Tartanscot!), Claudia Juestel, Gary Hutton, George Brazil, and Furniture designer Paul Benson were there, just to name a few.

The setting was perfect. It is always so much fun to wander through Gumps. Everywhere you turn, there are perfect little scenes that give you ideas, and wonderful gifts for the special ones in your life. (Stay tuned for my blog post in the next couple of days...lots of Valentine's Day Goodies!!)

Delicious bits of things to eat (the miniature Beef Wellington's were fabulous!), good wine and great converstion all made for a a stellar evening.

My good freind Jori, made the jaunt to San Francisco with me. She is one of those people that has fun wherever she goes, and seems to know everyone within minutes.

Here she is with designer George Brazil and furniture designer Paul Benson. George and Jori go way back, and you may remember the genius of Paul Benson from this blog post where his beautiful bar cart is shown off.

I had a chance to chat with Jay Jeffers who is deep in the middle of multiple projects right now. Charming and handsome, he is one of the designers I love to watch.

My good blogging buddy Scot Meacham Wood (Tartanscot) was there. He is always so much fun! Scot just had an amazing trip to NYC where he met up with lots of favorite bloggers like Eddie Ross, Habitually Chic's Heather Clawson. Claudia Juestel of Adeeni Design Group was also on hand. Claudia is a wonderful designer who is a master with the exotic.

I wish I had had more time to show you more of the beauty at Gumps, but I did take a few shots.

There is a sculptor by the name of Gary Stevens that I was quite taken with.

This is an alabaster sculpture he did that I thought was so beautiful in this vignette. The stone was so thin and fine! I understand that Gary is a mathematician as well, which explains his precision and fine detail.

These wood sculptures are also by Gary Stevens. Some look like continous ribbons. Brilliant!

Also showing were these perfect wooden vessels by Philip Moulthrop. Each one a small masterpeice. To read more about Philip and his family history of woodturning craftsmanship, click HERE.

I also had the pleasure to speak with Marta Benson of Gumps, who was excited about the new direction Gumps is taking with tableware. Gumps is well known for it's tradition of offering the best in fine china, crystal and placesettings. Alway beautiful, always the best. But Gumps has been changing over the last few years. There is a powerful trend towards beautiful but more casual entertaining and Gumps is the place where you will be finding young, fresh, and casual table settings that will be fun and usable everyday. I am looking forward to it all!

Such a fun night! Thanks to everyone at Gumps, Margaret Russell and Elle Decor for a great evening!

Modern by Design Showhouse III: Level Two

There always seems to be great design in the Bedrooms of a Showhouse, and the Modern by Design Showhouse was no different. From the top of the stairs, I caught some bold stripes in one of the rooms. Naturally a curious person, I had to check it out first thing. It turned out to be the “Boy’s Room” designed byMartha Angus. Fun and very cool. The huge photograph of the Rollerblader in the desert by Richard Misrach created almost another “window” on the world. Great textures, color pops and just alot of very cool stuff, like the Brillo accent table from Warhol Denied and vintage orange floor lamp from Coup D’Etat. The rug is from Pottery Barn….so put that on your list of “do-able” interior design!

I love this French industrial iron cabinet from Epoca. The way everything works together here: the dark green wall paper stripe (Kneedler Faucher), the texture of the rug, The orange light fixtures, the graphic wall art, and one-of-a-kind finds like this cabinet takes an artistic eye, and a bold confidence. Martha Angus has these attributes in spades.

The bathroom design is by Philip Parton who worked with Martha to create a space that works perfectly with the bedroom. Note the inexpensive black chicken wire floor tile is grouted with red grout. Nice and inexpensive way to jazz it up! I love how he painted the whole space red, ceiling included, and how the mirror works so well with the bedroom art.

Martha Angus studied at the Ecole Des Beaux Arts and Carnegie Mellon, going on to do projects for Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani and the Lauder family. She brings a fine arts approach to her work mixing modern and antique with finesse and style.

The Library was designed by Nicole Hollis. (You may remember Nicole from the last San Francisco Showhouse I posted. She had done the First and Second Floor Hallways.) How she found the time to do two spectacular Showhouse designs back to back I cannot imagine! She has boundless energy and imagination to spare.

The Library is modern and chic, just like Nicole, and is full of “groovy” accents like the yellow 8-track tape player, and Jonathan Adler’s Luciana vase.

Nicole sourced the “Como” goatskin area rug from The Rug Company and customized the ceiling fixture from Jason Miller Studio. The custom white shutters are a brilliant answer to treat these windows above the fireplace mantle.

This room has a sort of “James Bond” allure and a “Groovy Baby” chic factor that had me smiling . It was quite the hang out at the Showhouse Gala. People didn’t want to leave…so the party just kept getting bigger in here until it was wall to wall people.

Nice work Nicole. Very nice!

Nicole Hollis

The Guest Room was designed by Dowling Kimm Studios. Julie Dowling and Lorissa Kimm joined forces in 2001 after both having had stints at Princeton earning degrees in Architecture and both having worked in the offices of Michael Graves.

They have put together a soothing retreat here focusing on comfort and the arts. A serene palette and organically modern furniture set the tone for rest and relaxation.

Nice combination here: Leather chair, root table, Rosemary Hallgarten fur pillow, Merida Meridian wool and sisal area rug.

Love.

Art: “ The Raiders” by Conrad Marca-Relli and Sculpture": Untitled by Wilfred Zogbaum through Addison Fine Arts. Bench by Chista. Pillows by Rosemary Hallgarten.

We made it to the Master Bedroom after much “oohhing and aahhing”, and met up with designer Gary Hutton for even more. Gary was amazing. He had such interesting stories behind each and every design choice that we were glued to the room. We were literally asked to move along to the next room so the next press group could come through. I won’t be able to recount all of the stories, but here are a few of them.

We entered the space along a narrow hallway that most people would just hang art on and call it a day. But Gary has a mind that reaches beyond us mere mortals. See all the “dots” on the wall? (Well, actually Swarovski “pearls”) Kind of an interesting random placement. Very artistic and all. But then Gary told us they represent all of the seismic activity throughout North America. You can see Mexico there by his right hand.

Gary Hutton, Designer

Gary was such a great host in his space. He created much of the furniture and sounded like he was having the best time doing everything. This chair is one of his designs. I like the contrast between the slick metal and the textured flower petal fabric.. The fabric used for the drapery panels is made from 100% recycled soda bottles and was VERY affordable! It looks just like felted wool.

The Master Bedroom was sleek and modern, but very comfortable as well. The “wow” factor came in with the Artemide light fixture that slowly changed colors. I caught it on it’s pink cycle. When turned off, it looks like silver mylar.

Notice the nightstands: See the very well-known Frank Geary cardboard nesting tables on the right? Originally Gary had intended to use matching night tables. But another set could not be found in time.

Here is where chutzpah in a a designer really pays off. Gary decided to make his own cardboard table. And the story doesn’t stop there. He told us that he came in the room when the workmen were still touching up paint, and one of them was standing on his creation paint brush in hand(the glass top had not been added yet). The workman had understandably thought it was a pile of trash. (We were laughing so hard at Gary’s telling of the story, I think we scared off a couple of people.)

Gary designed the desk in the study, and you can just make out the size twelve Lucite stiletto's under it. Another story there.

The art photograph is called “High Fashion Crime Scene”, one of a series by Melanie Pullen. If only she hadn’t been wearing those Prada pumps, she might have made it to the phone in time.

Mr. Hutton also designed the Master Bath using Walker Zanger floor tile (gorgeous, no?), Kohler glass vessel sinks and WoodMode Cabinets. Sleek and sophisticated.

Gary created a custom screen to divide the bath from the toilet area. Quite handsome I think. Go on….look a little closer….

HAHAhaha! SOoo CLEAN and modern ….and it smells good too! Now do you understand why we had a hard time leaving?

Gary Hutton and Ivory Soap

Next up: Top Level with the Jay Jeffers and his “Sophisticated Fun”, a Min Day Bathroom, and gardens by Surfacedesign and styled by Throwing Rock Studio.