Tailored closet living: a place for your accessories

Are you an accessory lover.....jewelry, scarves, sunglasses, belts, shoes, ties...etc? Do you feel like your accessories are taking over your closet and you cannot find anything anymore? Are you ready to re-design your closet? Forget about those food storage containers, and shoe bags ... organize your closet right and make it special! With custom storage companies like California Closets, you can really enhance your experience and create a personal boutique closet to maximize your space and showcase your accessory collections! See the images below on how to attain smart organization, functional storage and stylish design for 'her' and 'him.'

Design and Charity: Design on a Dime 2013

Rio Hamilton for Niedermaier

In one word, Epic!....describes the ninth annual Design on a Dime charity fundraiser supporting Housing Work's programs for the homeless living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.  Last night was the opening reception and I was able to peruse each designer's vignette at the press preview before the big reception.  I have to say they were all amazing...one designer vignette after another showcased bold, classic and daring designs. Around 64 designers participated creating rooms with donated furniture and accessories that sold 50-70% off retail. Amazing right? There are definite steals! This show runs thru the weekend so get your shoes on and dart down to the Metropolitan Pavilion on West 18th street! Sale open to the public: for info click here. This years proceeds goes toward their newest housing development, The Hull Street Residence in Brooklyn, N.Y.. 

Check out some of my FAVES.....and my Design On a Dime Pinterest board where you can see more amazing rooms!!

Zen-MOD Trend for Outdoor Living

Hi Modsters! Spring time is finally here and its time to spend more time outside!! Turn your backyard or patio into an outdoor living room with a bit of MOD and a touch of Zen. Yesterday, I was featured over at Decor Girl blog with some ideas to achieve a Zen-MOD outdoor space using four essential elements: natural materials, fire, lighting and greenery. Click here for some inspiration.

GOLD LEAFED WALLS AT VERSACE MADISON SHOWROOM

Versace Madison Avenue Showroom - application of Gold leaf

Andrei Kievsky, master of faux and the art of plastering is the owner and art director of i-FAUX finishes. His company has become the leader in commercial and residential applications of venetian plaster, faux finishing, stenciliing, wood graining, gold-leafing, murals and frescoes. I recently met Andrei at the Architectural Digest show and his passion for his work was evident. He shared with me his latest project recently completed over at Versace's showroom on Madison Avenue in Manhattan.  

Versace Madison showroom - application of Gold leaf

wowser, right? The process of application is very time consuming and intense, only a master can accomplish this quality of work. 

Burnishing Gold leaf

Layers and Layers......Andrei shared how it was done:

-3 coats of black Venetian stucco troweled

-Coat of Rolco slow set size

-Immitation gold-leaf (Dutch metal) applied as Shabin

-Coat of oil-based varnish

Phew, exhausting but so worth the wait!

Showroom view from the outside

Showroom view from the inside

Showroom focal wall

Uh-mazing, go check it out! To connect with i-FAUX, 

go to their WEBSITE, PINTEREST, HOUZZ

SAVE THE AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM

AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM
DAN NGUYEN/FLICKR

 

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has betrayed New Yorkers.  A couple of years after buying The American Folk Art Museum designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, MoMA chose to trash this sculptural icon on West 53rd Street. This is not acceptable.  This building has presence and cannot be so easily disposable.  Passersby always take notice of its alluring façade and is beloved for its skin's hand-made feel, just like the art inside.  Now it will be replaced with another typical glass box to be designed by French architect Jean Novel.  Their goal is to get another 40,000 square feet of exhibition space in an adjacent 82 story tower.  MoMA officials said, "the building's design did not fit their plans because the opaque façade is not in keeping with the glass aesthetic of the rest of the museum.  The former folk museum is also set back farther than MoMA's other properties and the floors would not line up."  This statement is outrageous!...

today's ANGLE: NASHVILLE'S MOST MODERN - CUMBERLAND PARK

....an attitude, a point of view, a design perspective from Interior designer Kim Salter, creative author of her fantastic blog Design Thoughts, one designer's thoughts on balancing Mama, Money and her love for All things Design!
You can follow her on TWITTER and FACEBOOK. 

Today's city slant:

NASHVILLE'S MOST MODERN: CUMBERLAND PARK

Hello again to all of you loyal MODsters!! I am so excited to bring you another dose of THE ANGLE: Nashville!! Where I bring you along on my journey of discovering new and cool things related to Art, Design Architecture and the deep history this town has to offer!! Today I want to BLOW.YOUR.MIND with the most modern playground I have ever seen! Yes, I know I am a bit dramatic, but I'm telling Y'all ( I can say that now cause I live here) The first time I saw Cumberland Park, I could not believe my eyes!!

Cumberland park is referred to as an "Adventure Park" a place for kids to explore differently than they are use to, and I dig it!!!  It is part of Nashville greater project called "New Riverfront Revitalization plan". TO bring more people to the riverfront of the Cumberland river.

The design of this play area is amazing!! its a series of rolling AstroTurf hills, that kids love to run up and slide down. Nestled between the hills are modern edgy children's play things like a balance ball, and a metal see-saw!! The sand box area is also cutting edge with a "Floating" stair to get into it, and an elevated sand table for taller kids. There is a spray park, and Climbing wall and climbing ropes, along with secret nature paths that lead around the entire 6.5 acre plot!! Take a look at the amazing design!

As written by ARCHdaily, the park is broken up into 5 seperate areas..

• The Hollow – a one-of-a-kind adventure and nature play experience for kids of all ages and abilities, including an undulating washboard, accessible sand play with buried fossils, bouncing pad, green maze made of live plants, rainbow-casting prisms and lights in constellation patterns, a “cloud” bridge culminating in curtains of rain, and an interactive splash pad with jets and wading pool.

 • The Gorge – a stone climbing wall featuring local Tennessee Crab Orchard sandstone, ropes and nets course, a 4-person wide embankment slide made with materials that stay cooler in the sun, and embedded fossils.

• The Scoops – a cooling-off lawn area and grove of trees featuring stepping stone paths dipping through drifts of mist that are activated by motion and step sensors.

• The Explorer Trail – meandering paths weaving through groves and butterfly meadows,

• The Terrace – outdoor tables and chairs under trees and adjacent to play areas, concessions, and restrooms for easy parent supervision.

What I know for sure, is I cant wait until we can experience the spray park!! I love the cutting edge design and "out of the box thinking" that the architects Hargreaves Associates created!! its AWESOME!! don't you all want to just come and play!!!! I'll bring the lemonade!!

JDR INDUSTRY BLOGGER AWARDS 2013

        

ARCHITECTURE CATEGORY

(images generated on Letter playground)

THANK YOU TO ALL OF MY FANS WHO HAVE VOTED FOR MDG FOR BEST BLOGGER IN ARCHITECTURE 2013!

VOTING ENDS TODAY AT 4PM. WINNERS RECEIVE $500 CASH AND A 2013 JDR INDUSTRY BLOGGER AWARDS WINNER BADGE FOR DISPLAY.

WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR VOTE!
HERE'S HOW:

(1)

Click LINK

 (2)
 click radial button next to Mod Design Guru 
under the architecture category

 (3)
click "Vote" 

THANK YOU!!



A MODERN TREEHOUSE MADE OUT OF GLASS

The Tower House, designed by Manhattan based architect Thomas Gluck is MY FAVE architecture pick of the week. The modern solution to a tree-house is the architects' vacation home in Ulster County, New York about 100 miles outside of NYC.  Imagine living within a lush landscape and totally immersed in the woods.  You would be loving views and feeling your blood-pressure go down, down, down. I love that the glass-clad design is inverted- bedrooms are below and the living spaces are upstairs.What is so impressive is the dining room is cantilevered 30 feet from the ground! 

.MGX by Materialise:Fashion Innovations in 3D Printing

Recently I visited the Eyebeam Art +Technology Center for a fascinating lecture called Fashion Innovations in 3D Printing. The lecture featured collaborations between designers and producers using cutting edge 3D printing techniques to push the boundaries of fashion. Innovators who spoke, Joris Debo, Creative Director of .MGX by Materialise,  Duann Scott of Shapeways and Architect Bradley Rothenberg spoke about the development of complex architectural woven 3D printed materials that are highly flexible, and have durable elasticity.  See the video below:

I walked away from this lecture realizing that the 3D file is just as much a work of art as the object or fabric itself. These woven structures are all based from 'sacred geometry,' said architect Bradley Rothenberg. He mentioned how the triangle is the basis of all structure,  as we see in Buckminster Fuller's geodesic domes. This logic of sacred geometry is applied to the work they are doing in 3d printing. They intersect and grow geometrical systems in multiple directions and in so doing, create a fabric that expands in multiple directions. 

The future possibilities for fashion design are endless!! 

Take a look at how Materialise, a leader in 3D printing and prototyping, hit the fashion runways with hats using 3D technologies at their Materialise World Conference Fashion show....

The 'H' hat by Brussel's Elvis Pompilio.

GO ZEN-MOD

Project Decor challenged their Designer Exchange members to replicate a room that we have previously designed. I thought this was a perfect challenge to complete my own family room as I still needed a cocktail table for my zen modern space, as I call it! You can see the void in the pic below....Easily enough, I came across the Xela tables that are beautifully crafted with American walnut and gray tinted tempered glass. It has that sleek but serene feel and some cool storage compartments which is perfect for hiding all those pesky remote controls! 

Now that I solved my own cocktail table dilemma, back to the 'replicating' task at hand. ....If you want the zen-mod look, here are some picks from my Project Decor shop...