Desk Lust: Vintage French Desk

Over the weekend, I came across this gorgeous

VINTAGE FRENCH DESK.

Chrome? Brass? Glass? French? Vintage???

Why yes, please. I'll take two, thank you.

{image via 1stDibs}

Design Legend: Milo Baughman

While trying to research the history of my last post's vintage chrome chair I stumbled across the work of Milo Baughman.  Who is Milo Baughman you ask? As it turns out, he was one of the fathers of modern design during the second half of the twentieth century.  He designed furniture for companies including Mode Furniture, Calif-Asia, Design Institute America, Henredon and Drexel, and most famously for Thayer Coggin, Inc.  His style was 'distincly American' and became a staple for the 'California modern' movement.

Baughman's furniture used simple materials typical of the movement namely, walnut, iron, and formica. The 'X' base was a staple in his desks and stools while the 'Z' shape was introduced to chairs for a style that is purely Baughman.  His styles have been reinvented and recreated and continue to be reproduced to this day.

Mr. Baughman practiced design in California throughout the 50's and 60's. Get this-  in 1969 he was invited by Brigham Young University to start the Department of Environmental Design and taught there on and off until his death in 2003.  Who said Mormons where all traditional and had no style!!!  He could quite possibly be the coolest thing to come out of BYU (well, him and the fact my parents met there and spawned your truly, but he still might take the cake).

Have you seen this GORGEOUS desk before?  I can't remember if I've used it in a post before but it has been in my design file under 'lust list' for a few years now.  You know anything with an 'X' base gets me going, but pair it with orange lacquer and chrome??? Be still my heart!

"Good Modern has already proven to be the most enduring, timeless and classic of all design movements." 

Amen Brother Baughman. Amen.

{all items are vintage via 1st Dibs}

Love Me Some Lucite

Want to know a designer trick to make any room instantly more chic?  Lucite. A little accent of Lucite will turn a ho-hum room into the room of a posh fashionista.  Here are some of my favorite pieces:

Philippe Starck's Ghost Chair

{images via All Modern, CB2, 1st Dibs, & The Paris Apartment}

House Crush: Jennifer Lopez

I hope all you had a most wonderful Christmas!  Mine was quite good.  I'm currently compiling a post about my favorite gift, white custom frames my hubbie made to go over our nightstands!  Sigh... now back to normal life...

My jaw dropped when I came across these images from the Jan./Feb. issue of Veranda Magazine.  They are of Jeniffer Lopez's Southern California home and I seriously think her designer, Michelle Workman, is my design twin separated at birth!  Does anything in these photos look familiar?

How about this table:

from this post,

and this chandelier:

from this post.  The chairs are very similar, too.  Great minds think a like, I guess!

Check out how fabulous the rest of JLo's home turned out:

The palette of soft taupe, gray and blue was based off vintage black and white movies from the 1940's.  Again, SO my personal style.  True love...

Lucite legged bench from Suzanne Kasler's collection.  Love me some lucite!

{images via Curbed}

Design Legend: Alexa Hampton

Alexa Hampton

I don't think I have ever been more excited about a book release than I was for Alexa Hampton's recent "The Language of Interior Design" (well, except maybe for a Dan Brown book or two...).  Alexa Hampton is the daughter of the iconic Mark Hampton (if you are a design history buff you MUST learn everything you can about this man.  Amazing.) and inherited his firm in NYC when Mr. Hampton passed away in 1997.  Alexa had some big shoes to fill and she more than does those shoes justice.

Alexa was inspired by her childhood.  In her book she states, "In my case, my training started quite young, as my father, Mark Hampton, a well-educated, accomplished, and highly esteemed decorator, insisted on spending our family vacations touring houses and palaces, museums and churches, both abroad and in the United States.  While other families were skiing, sunning, playing tennis, or visiting amusement parks,  my sister and I could be found being dragged by our parents to see architectural high points, museums, and galleries around the world.  By the time I was twelve, I had seen the Pantheon, the Parthenon, and Buckingham Palace."  Lucky duck.

Alexa later went on to achieve a degree in Art History and started working under her father at his firm.  The hallmarks of Alexa's work include British architectural elements, Roman antiquities, and soft colors (though both her and her father claim to not have a signature 'style').

NYC Apartment.  My personal favorite of Alexa's work.
I ADORE the mix of traditional klimos chairs and a vintage 50's chandelier.

New Orleans Entryway.  I think whoever lives in this house wears ballgowns daily.

Is that a campaign end table I see??

Bright.  Sunny.  Perfect to wake up to on a winter's morning.

If my home was traditional, THIS is how I would design my home office.

Alexa's watercolor for her 1999 Kips Bay Showhouse.  She inherited her father's talent for renderings.

Alexa also has a GORGEOUS line of furniture for Hickory Chair.  Here are some of my favorites:

I must own this barrel chair one day.  So chic.

Looks like Alexa loves campaign furniture as much as I do! 
I would break up the set, though, so it's not so matchy-matchy.



A perfect example of using a desk instead of a traditional nightstand.
The swing-arm floor lamps is a great option for bedside and work surface lighting.



The Mark Desk

I have ALWAYS wanted to use a sofa as seating at a table, but clients usually look at me funny when I suggest this.  Look how functional and elegant it is, though!



Quatrefoil Light Fixture in Natural Brass.
A trillion times better than the ubiquitous 'boob' light.  Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.

“Suitability and appropriateness are hallmarks of great design, and I strive to have both in my work,”

Read more: http://www.architecturaldigest.com/architects/100/alexa_hampton/alexa_hampton_profile#ixzz15ZRH8OHu

http://www.markhampton.com/



Can This Be Made Into A Room? Michael Kors Mens Fall 2010

This one is for the boys.  The first time I saw this look from Michael Kors, I thought to myself, "Rarrrr... now THAT'S a man!"  I like a man with a little ruggedness to him.  Maybe it's because I come from a family of hunters, fishers, and campers and I myself was once a white water guide on the Salmon River (I like to granola it up with the best of them, but always with a little glam).

 Michael Kors Fall 2010 RTW

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The color palette of this room is all about earth tones.  If the color could be in a camo print, it fits in this room.  And don't forget the leather.  Lots and lots of leather (is there anything more manly, really?).  The sofa (Restoration Hardware) is upholstered in a waxed top-grain leather which will only get more crackled and worn-looking with age (this is called 'patina' and believe me, it's GORGEOUS). The leather trunk, to be used as a cocktail table alternative, is vintage Louis Vuitton, circa 1920 (1st Dibs, I don't even want to know how much this costs). Behind the leather sofa, instead of a standard console table, I would place a desk, like this French campaign desk (William-Sonoma Home), fill it full of leather bound books and cool industrial accessories, and add a carmel-colored leather desk chair (all  Restoration Hardware). 

Flanking the sofa, I would place a pair of moss-green wingbacks (William-Sonoma Home) and dress any windows with chocolate velvet panels (Restoration Hardware) to add a little bit of a stodgy men's club feel.  For a bit of whimsy, I would add some moose antlers and a mariner's floor lamp (Restoration Hardware).  A large 9x13 (Surya) grounds the grouping and ties all the earth tones together. 

So what do you think?  Would you let the guy in your life have this as their 'man cave'?

Can This Be Made Into A Room? Louis Vuitton Fall '10 RTW

Can Marc Jacobs do anything wrong?  No. No he cannot.  His Fall 2010 Ready-To-Wear collection for Louis Vuitton was absolutely exquisite.  With shin-length A-line skirts, fitted blazers, and prim pointed-toe shoes, Marc took us on a trip back to the 50's but with modern-day twists.  The show stopper of the collection?  This little number in greys, citron, and trimmed in black. 



(Look at all the giddy people in the background. I'm sure my face would look quite similar if I were there.)

  



The color palette was so out of the box, I had to turn it into a room!  The first place I started was to find a fabric similar to the skirt.  This was no easy task.  After looking high and low for hours upon hours, I fell upon a beautiful faux silk from Larry Laslo's Destination collection for Robert Allen.  Bingo!  Not an exact match, but with the metallic background with the citron leaf/branch pattern, I think it's pretty darn close!  (Added bonus: it's 122" wide so there would be NO SEAMS if made into a coverlet!  That rarely happens.)  I would make 2-3 euro shams (the big square ones) and a coverlet out of the citron pattern, then make a duvet cover and standard shams (the rectangular ones) out of the grey wool pinstripe (Fashion fabrics), and accent the bed with a black mohair pillow (Eastern Accents).  All of these would be piled on a dashing upholstered bed in black velvet (Bassett, yes Bassett. I can't always ignore my Alma Mater!)

If you look at the structure and silhouette of the LV outfit, you'll see it's a page straight out of the 50's.  For this reason I used mostly vintage accent pieces from the 50's (LOVE me some vintage).  For nightstands I would use the classic Dorothy Draper chest with gold accents (vintage from 1st Dibs) and a black lacquered campaign writing desk (also vintage from 1st Dibs).  No matchy-matchy nightstands here!  I like to either match nightstands then use mismatch lamps, or mismatch nightstands and use matching lamps.  These citron lamps top off the 'nightstands' beautifully! (and you guessed it, they're vintage from 1st Dibs).  

I have been on the look-out for elbow-length leather gloves for awhile now.  I may have to settle on a pair of X-stools from William-Somona Home, that could be placed under the writing desk, at the foot of the bed, or anywhere in between.  And what sophisticated bedroom would complete without drapery?  I took the sumptuous feel of the skirt and interpreted it as billowing taffeta panels in grey with goblet pleats.  They're the ball gown of home decor! 

Do you like the color palette but worried you'd tire of it after awhile?  No problem. Just replace the citron bedding and lamps with your color du jour because the rest of the room is neutral.  Gotta love that!