Surreal Dining

This is perhaps my favorite dining room of all time.  I tore this picture out of an Architectural Digest many years ago.  It's from the home of Helena Rubenstein in which she commissioned Salvador Dali to paint a mural for her.  This photo shows one of three panels he painted.  This interior is just dreamy with the cerulean blue glass, creamy walls, and glamourous lucite chairs (and of course that painting).

Here's what Architectural Digest had to say about it...

After digging around on the internet, I've found another panel of the mural.  But, there's still one missing.  Does anyone know where I can find it?

And, for a small fortune ($3200/each) you can buy lucite chairs very similar to the ones that Helena Rubenstein had at The Paris Apartment (the main difference I see is that these do not have the etching that Helena's had).  This is a very fun site to explore with lots of glamorous French furnishings.  And, they have a book that looks stunning. 

Words for the Wall

If you keep up with design blogs, then you probably know about the popularity of wall decals by now. Blik makes a lot of great ones: chandeliers, flowers, faux bookshelves, birds, bamboo, fantasy scenes. However, I did not know that you can have the words of your choice, be it a poem, book excerpt, or lyrics, created into a custom wall graphic to the exact size, and color, that you need. I really like this idea and this would be much easier than stenciling. Apparently it is where Blik got their start. Check it out on the Prose section of Blik's site.

These pictures are from their site...
(love the Jack Kerouac quote!)

And, this is something I tore out of a magazine a long time ago (not sure which one, maybe the UK version of Elle Decor)....

Hudson Furniture

Hudson Furniture Inc. makes the most beautiful wood furniture that accentuates the natural forms of trees and the natural grain of wood. Their wood is domestically sourced from either salvaged trees or wind/storm damaged trees. None of the woods they use are harvested from old growth forest.

While everything that they make is gorgeous, my favorites are the...

KNIGHT BASE TABLE

ENGLISH WINDSOR

WHITE COFFEE TABLE

BIRCH COFFEE TABLE

PLEXI CONSOLE

and, the CLARO WALNUT BED #1

Per their website, "They're also New York's only repository for legally harvested petrified wood. Petrified wood, having the visual characteristics of wood but the feel of stone, represents a contemporary fusion of the two original materials into a new compelling organic interior accessory. " These stools/tables they make from petrified wood are quite amazing and have a fantasy forest feel...

They also make some interesting chandeliers, like this super sexy one called the LOLA

and this free form one adorned with swarovski crystals

Unfortunately, as my grandmother once told me, I have champagne tastes and a beer budget, so I won't be swinging for one of these anytime soon. However, I am trying to find out what it would take to make something similar to the dining tables using my local resources. From the people I've asked about it thus far, in theory, I would need to find a sawmill, see if they have any large trees that are the right types, and then have them cut it for me. I'd then need to have a furniture maker sand, finish, assemble, etc., and hope for the best. If I give it a go, I'll let you know. Or, if you have any experience with this type of thing, please share. Thanks!

And, it’s good for Mother Earth

It's pretty amazing what can be done with an old piece of furniture. Many of the pieces I rehabbed last year were in bad shape. Their upholstery was torn and dirty or their finishes rusty and flaking. Their future was uncertain. But, with a little TLC they found new life. And, what was their downfall before, that they were old, is now suddenly their best feature. Nothing adds character like a little age and experience.

Eames style chair and ottoman before with worn pleather...

Eames style chair and ottoman after in fresh jet black faux suede (fabric credit goes to Kevin who selected it)

Big lucite barrel chair before when it had huge tears...

And after in a beautiful soft mushroom terry velvet...

Knoll tables before with weathered legs...

Knoll tables after with freshly powdercoated bronze color legs...

Milo Baughman chairs in an offensive fabric...

Milo Baughman chairs after in a sleek black wool herringbone...

Danish child's desk and chair with institutional gray base and stickers...

After with a clean glossy white powdercoated base (and no stickers)...

And, this is the job I'm most proud of. These brown lucite tulip chairs made an amazing comeback.
I hesitated to purchase them, they were so covered in dirt...

They were given a bath or 5, the bases were powdercoated silver, and the cushions were covered in a gorgeous silver print linen...

A couple of interesting bedrooms…

Just came across this picture and I really dig this bedroom (though I'm not sure about the insulation showing through on the walls). The mixture of island style with this edgy modern religious art seemed to tie in with my earlier post so I thought I'd share. I found this on my current favorite blog, desire to inspire . They recently did a great post with their most memorable bedrooms posted in 2007 . This room is the work of Julian Wass.

And, while I'm blogging, I can't help but to post a picture of this frou frou beauty which made the list too! It's the work of Lucinda Symons....

Happy New Year to all!

For my first post of 2008, I'd like to share some pictures of ecclesiastical pieces and interiors. I love how they evoke feelings of spirituality, connection, and purpose.

This photo of Gothic lanterns was taken over the weekend by my husband Dan.

This amazing snowflake lantern set against ethereal blue tiles is from the Chapel of Our Lady within the Basilica of St. Lawrence catholic church in Asheville, NC. This photo was taken by either Dan or I on my sister's wedding day.

This ancient church in Eastern Bohemia was ingeniously redesigned by Maxim Velcovsky and Jakub Berdych of Qubus Studio. What a masterpiece they've created from contrasting raw walls with glitzy crystal chandeliers and modern punched cross Panton chairs with classic persian carpets.

And, there's a ton of photos of churches, chapels, temples, mosques, monstaries, convents, angels, deities, and more on FLICKR. Here are a few that I really like....

This first image of an abandoned convent is from bsizdez who has an awe inspiring FLICKR gallery chock full of old, creepy, forgotten, industrial, and rural architecture that he has explored.

Messiaen captured some great colors in this one:

This one from /ivan's gallery has beautiful softness:

And, this is from ggnyc's gallery...