VACATION!

Design, Charity and Food at DIFFA's Picnic by Design 2013 event

(image: Becky Yee Photography)

An explosion of creativity adorned the roof top of the Scholastic building in N.Y.C. for DIFFA's second annual Picnic by Design event. Forty-five designers came together to create picnic settings that awed, inspired and delighted. It was an extraordinary landscape of people, food, color, pattern and three-dimension sponsored by Robert Allen Fabric, Lenovo, Maya Romonoff Starbucks, Dwell and New York Design Center. Besides great design and the beautiful sunset, fun was had by all at the event.....make your own berry mojitos with Patron, inscribe your own Patron muddler and great raffle giveaways! 

See some design...lets start with mine (MoD Design Guru's):

Life's essentials: fire, water, earth and air

Harmony between the elements is the inspiration for my picnic setting. The layers of the box pivot open to reveal the treasures inside, while providing a table for you and your guest. Many thanks to Robert Allen Fabric who donated the gorgeous Palmwood in Jet & Mod Reeves in Steel fabric, Vita lighting for the sculptural EOS light fixture and FiveStarMillwork who fabricated the picnic box. 

Wanna see more great design? Take a tour of some of my faves....

MoD Design Guru's LIVE interview on Blog Talk Radio with Gail Zahtz

I laughed, I cried and I talked about my life, my work, my philanthropy and my passion for design and architecture on Blog Talk Radio yesterday with Gail Zahtz. There was even a surprise guest who chimed in! Thank you Gail for a wonderful experience....

Gail Zahtz is the Founder & CEO of Life Guide Institute and is an amazing host! She has been on the Today show and 20/20...a real pro! When interviewed,  I felt very comfortable being me and she crafts the interview into a fun conversation.

Check out the live interview. You can download from the link: BLOG TALK RADIO

or click to listen here:

Listen To Design Internet Radio Stations with Health and Design Today on BlogTalkRadio

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Blog Talk Radio with Gail Zahtz

Michele Alfano- Creator of MoD Design Guru

Hi Modsters!! Pinch me... today at 1-3pm, I am going to be interviewed on LIVE Blogtalk radio with Gail Zahtz! Click HERE! Gail will be taking me on a tour of my life: personal, architecture and design work, MoD Design Guru and my designs for DIFFA's Picnic by Design event!

MoD Must Have: Villiers Brothers Brooklyn tables

MOD Must Haves

bold, modern, unique

for furniture lovers

I'm really diggin' the geometric scale and proportion of the Brooklyn Console Table by the Villiers Brothers. Its robust form is constructed out of hollow rectangular steel and its sleek finish comes in old penny bronze (shown above), gold leaf or mirrored stainless steel with glass, polished granite or limestone on top. Delish! I asked Harry Villiers what inspired its form.... He adds, "the Brooklyn Coffee Table was inspired by the simple geometric Greek Key which symbolises love, devotion and unity and is also associated with eternal life, all perfect ingredients for a piece of furniture that is often at the centre of a room." 

The Brooklyn Console table came along after the successful launch of the coffee table and is also based on the same simple lines as the Greek Key design.

Snazzy polished punch to any room,  mod glamour!

You can connect with the Villiers Brothers on their WEBSITE, FACEBOOK & TWITTER.

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SEE eyewear: like wearing ART

Where did I find my eyewear mojo...? Well, It all started at Super Saturday in the Hamptons...I came across SEE eyewear....HIP frames that make a statement. If you are wearing SEE eyewear, then you know it is special. Cool lines, unique shapes and stunning colors...all at affordable prices. They had great deals at Super Saturday...so I snapped up my frames and proceeded to have the prescription filled at their Soho location! 

DIFFA's Picnic By Design 2013 + Robert Allen Fabric

I am beaming and thrilled to participate in DIFFA's Picnic By Design 2013 summer event next week and to be among an amazing group of design industry leaders! What is also really exciting is Robert Allen's participation as a corporate sponsor and key participant... they graciously donated its immense fabric range of bold colors and on-trend designs to the designers who are participating. Fabrics are showcased and utilized in five of the designers picnic settings from top design firms like Tyler Wisler Home, Cheryl Umbles Interior Design, Clark Gaynor Interiors, and Domoore Designs. MoD Design Guru included! I fell in love with their Palmwood Jet fabric which is an indoor/outddor collection with bold geometrics and a soft natural motif. Perfect for my picnic setting. See it...

DwellStudio and Robert Allen fabrics, Palmwood in Jet and Mod Reeves in Steel 

MoD Must Have: Ice Lighting by Lianne Gold

 Lianne Gold - ICE lighting

Sculptor Lianne Gold has always been passionate about glass. Inspired by the intricate details of 20th Century Italian glass masters, Gold's creative pulse charged her to create her own gorgeous glass collection... Her designs demonstrate strong, elegant and pure geometric forms with wonderful attention to material and detail, a  homage to the Italian masters that have been her inspiration. Gold joined Ralph Pucci International and you can see her creations at their New York showroom. 

I love her sculptural sconce beauties called Ice...handcrafted luxury that combines oil rubbed bronze, and translucent sculpted glass that actually looks like frozen ice....brava! and the geometric metal corner details that hold the glass in place are really impeccable.

A knockout!


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Living Growing Art in Manhattan by Plantwall design

Vertical Gardens are growing in Manhattan by Plantwall design! I met Marie- Christing Steffanetti of plantwall design at Wanted Design NYC and my eyes googled at the spectacular vertical green display.  I had to learn more and see some of her other green creations...She later shared with me her gorgeous two-story garden creation in a West Village apartment building. Two-thousand plants with approximately 25 different plant species create a kaleidoscope of color! 

 

A vertical garden is easy to build and request low maintenance according to Marie. Their patented invention consists of a hydroponic system that nurtures live plants specially positioned on a vertical wall.

Different variety of plants are able to be nourished and watered with an integrated customized automatic irrigation system. Amazing how the plants stay in place....they are securely hooked onto a designed fabric filled with pockets of soil. 

Each positioned plant is like a brush-stroke to a painter. Its living, growing art! 

 

You can connect with plantwalldesign on their WEBSITE and FACEBOOK 

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The Magic happens at the Delta/Brizo Jackson Plant

I love this image ..... pure energy surrounding a Brizo faucet in the making at the Delta-Brizo Plant in Jackson, Tennessee.

PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition)- creates anti-tarnish and abrasion finish called BRILLIANCE, patented by Delta.

The forces of heat emanating in this image is reminiscent of the high energy vibe felt while touring the Delta-Brizo plant....I mean it, every employee at the Brizo/Delta plant loves what they do and are devoted to making top quality products. You really feel the satisfaction of the people working there. Every detail is attended to with a smile....



As a part of Brizo's Blogger 19 Memphis experience, we were able to interface with the employees and see where the magic happens. They were excited we were there to see what they do and personally showed us how the faucets are constructed. I was shocked to learn that all the faucets are assembled and finished by hand with stringent quality assurance checks built into the technologies leaving minimal room for error. Impressive!

Test after test also happens along the production lines.... like a water and air pressure test to ensure that the faucet is working correctly. To top it all off, a final inspector inspects all the boxes before they are shipped out of the factory to ensure a 100% perfectly constructed faucet. The inspector will not acknowledge anyone speaking to them while they are at task. Shhh!

The Delta/Brizo plant is extraordinary as well as all the engineers, designers, product and marketing teams. A special group of people I have had the privilege to meet!

The Delta/Brizo plant brand strives to improve their products performance and the homeowner's experience. They truly research and study how people use their kitchen and their showers with video coverage. Yes, people actually volunteer to show Brizo how they shower. Would you do it? Their Smarttouch technology grew out of this research. The touch ON and OFF technology changes your interaction with water, designed with pure aesthetics, food safety and water conservation in mind. See the VINE:



We were also drooling over the new H20 Kinetic shower system...prepare yourself for the feeling of more water....Their innovative technology creates an unique wave pattern which gives you the feeling of more water without using more water. Basically a plastic chip is built inside each of its four nozzles and deflects the water just like your thumb would when placed over the end of garden hose.  The image below shows how the wave is coming out of the holes. 

The water is sculpted into larger droplets and gives a more concentrated experience. One of the Delta/Brizo engineers told us that they studied rain droplets around various regions of the world and wanted to attain plump shower droplets which means more water-body contact...ultimately attaining a luxurious feeling shower.

See the Video to see the wave in motion:

 

But ofcourse, the all around experience can be achieved with up to six H2OKinetic body sprays in addition to the H20Kinetic showerhead.

  

We can't forget the tub experience.... Their new tub fillers for stand alone tubs are also beauties...very sculptural!

 Brizo invited me to attend an all-expenses paid reunion in Memphis. 

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The Power of Design: Healing Spaces for Cancer patients at St.Jude Children's Research Hospital

Brizo Blogger 19 Alumni at St. Jude Children's Hospital

Brizo is a fashion forward faucet brand who believes in the power of dreams and realizes their dreams with beautiful and distinctive fashion for the home. Their biggest dream is their partnership with St. Jude  Children's Research Hospital in their combined fight to cure childhood cancer.  With St. Jude, local contractors and leading manufacturers, Brizo has helped supply bath and kitchen faucets and accessories for several homes and in turn has given thousands a chance to win a new home in the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway. The money raised has helped research and treatment efforts for St. Jude and helped countless children live out their dreams. 

Brizo invited their #Blogger19 Alumni down to Memphis to reconnect, make new friends, learn about new Brizo products and tour St. Jude to see first hand the wonderful work and research St. Jude is doing. The experience is forever imprinted in my mind.  I went with a very heavy heart to the St. Jude Children's Hospital but left feeling very uplifted.....the power of design combined with pioneering treatments and research is saving children's lives!

Scott Hamilton's Art room in the Target House

The best doctors, the best staff and the best researchers are at St Jude Children's Hospital. Their unique mission ..."is to find cures for children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases through research and treatment. And no family ever pays St. Jude for anything." I will say it again, No family pays....St Jude's hospital is truly unique and an inspiring hospital!!! Lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common form of childhood cancer, once a deadly disease, now has a 94 percent survival rate thanks to the research, treatment protocols and healing spaces developed at St. Jude....