Clear Glass Bathtubs by Glass Idromassaggio – Allos Bathtub

For modern minimalist to the extreme, this clear glass bathtub from Italian bath brand Glass Idromassaggio is it!! The Allos bathtub features a clear-glass enclosure with barely-there appeal. And the piece de resistance is the ultra-modern white hardware. Functionally, the bathtub shines, complete with its quick-fill feature, a soft head cushion, and an integrated light. Lean back, click on the built-in television, and let your mind drift away. But when not in use, Allos blends in with its surroundings. Not that this “invisible” tub will be overlooked in your space. “Allos is a refined and experiential design concept, where our sense of sight is unfailingly attracted toward the glass bathtub,” says designer Ross Lovegrove.

New Concept of Pet Lamps – MiCha Cat Lamps

MiCha lamp is a cat shaped table lamp.

Actually, there are several designs of the lamp with cat positions that are so sweet that you just want them all. And that could be a stretch since one MiCha Lamp costs 1.400 euros. Created by prolifc designers Olivier Kuntzel  and Florence Deygas, the ' House of Micha' has created these aluminum and steel beauties with halogen lighting in four versions: each cat lamp has another stance – from sitting to walking.

Return on Investment and the Value of Design

All that separates you from making a great investment or incurring an annoying expense is your own vision.

Two clients with the same bill for the same interior design project can feel completely different about what they got for their money.   Was the money spent an excellent investment with great future returns or just an annoying expense?The idea that interior design has an ROI (return on investment) has gotten a lot of interest lately. Check out this article on the subject from the design savy FastCompany.  For those in design, the ROI on design is obvious. We know there is an ROI in terms of lifestyle, value and home re-sale for home owners and increased productivity, worker satisfaction and better branding for commercial clients.

Commercial Space

The true value of good office design is the effectiveness of an office environment, measured in the dollars and cents of an increased profits.  The innovative interior design giant, GENSLER, did a study in 2008 – the Workplace Survey - that found that companies with the most effective workplace environments showed higher profits (28% vs 14% profit growth), better employee engagement and stronger brand position. They found that designs promoting efficiency, creativity, and positive attitudes among workers, resulted in better customer service and higher sales. 

Good commerical interior design also affects a company's clients.  Color psychology, strategic merchandising, layout and branding are all communication tools with important roles in the way a company ‘talks’ to its clients.  Check out a recent Biz Journal article on this topic.

Residential Builders

Model Homes are an important part of a builder’s branding strategy and one of their greatest sales tool, with a huge influence on buying decisions. If a client doesn’t like the model design- whether it's the bad room layout, boring backgrounds, or cheap furnishings – that client is gone and not looking back.

The first investment a client makes with a builder isn’t their money, it’s their time, and they expect a positive emotional ROI on that time. Without ROI, there will be no further transaction. Good Interior Design sells houses. No question. Not one. Bad interior design will cheapen the product or worse, send future homeowners back to their cars and off to the competition faster than you can say ‘deposit check’.

Despite this information, builders often regard interior design and its costs as necessary but annoying expenses, and unfortunately frequently look for the cheapest solution. Big Mistake! ‘You get what you pay for’ in design. Good design is an investment in the future,  leading to increased sales and increased profits. Again, No question. Not one.

Home Owners

Custom interior design takes time and during that time, design fees and furniture costs will add up.  Good, up-front communications between the designer and the client about what things really cost, is key to a successful project. If the client values good design they will feel comfortable with their choices and the money they spend. If they don’t value it, then any price higher than China Cheap will be too high and no design fees will be worth it.  It will be the difference between seeing the money spent as a good investment or an annoying expense.ROI on a custom home can be measured in a varieties of ways.  The first is Time and it begins before the house has even started construction.  Custom interiors involve literally thousands of decisions and hundreds of hours to make them. Unless a homeowner has a lot of free time and resources on hand, they will quickly become frustrated and overwhelmed.  The best way to see the ROI of Time is to peruse the designer's time sheets and see first hand the hours it takes to get a custom project underway.

The next return is Expertise. Homeowners are paying  for an expert with years of knowledge and impeccible skill. The expert works expressly for the homeowner and their family, creating a home with the family’s best interest at heart. There are many analogies some more appropriate than others,  but they all work . Who will provide the most valued expertise,  a surgeon with decades of experience and insight into your problem or an intern? A software developer with experience in your industry or your techy brother-in-law? A tile installer who works in million-dollar homes or your neighbor who just installed his deck?... and on and on.  Another aspect of ROI for homeowners is that good design is a Lifestyle enhancer.

The term “Lifestyle’ is overused but it is applicable here. Your home is designed for you, everything is where you want it for the enjoyment and efficiency of your own family.   If you don't value this, you wont value the investment in good design.The traditional financial ROI for a homeowner comes when the house is sold. Homes created thoughtfully and artfully have better aesthetics, a higher level of finishes, and better layouts than those with bad or no interior design. Which would you pay more for? The interior designed home has more intrinsic value and a higher sales price.Return on Investment in design is not always about money, but is about your vision. And that is all that separates you from a great investment.

HGTV Blog Interview with Troy Beasley

We are always excited to hear from HGTV so when they called for an interview, our Principal Designer Troy Beasley jumped on it!  We have been on HGTV twice and on the Canadian version as well a few years ago. You can still see Troy smiling out at you from your TV set on the HGTV channel!

Here is the HGTV blog interview from July 6,  2010 by Jenna Ontrop in Design Inspirations. The direct link is http://blog.hgtv.com/design/2010/07/06/designers-troy-beasley/#more-11521 Troy Beasley is the principal designer for Beasley & Henley Interior Design. The company works with architects, builders and private clients from every corner of the country to create beautifully personalized interiors. Troy’s travels through Greece, Italy and Asia have influenced his tastes in architectural detail, artistic crafts and textile art. 1. Which designers influenced you?  I can’t site a specific designer or even a group of designers. I look at so many different people! I am influenced by anyone who is creative and artistic. It’s not just designers, but also artists, writers, fabric designers, architects…there’s a long list of captivating creative thinkers. I soak it all up. 2. What’s your favorite design style?  Hmmmmm…. Eclectic Classical. I like to blend periods and styles. For example, modern artwork used with traditional case goods, and then mixed in with transitional upholstery. Or traditional oil paintings over a modern sofa set beside a funky lamp. It’s a challenge to get the mix right. I love it.3. What’s the essential home accessory (or piece of furniture) you use in your designs? I always look for an odd accessory or an unusual piece of furniture. Something unexpected, like a stool as a side table. I loved it when the petrified wood side tables first came out because they fit perfectly into my search for quirky pieces. I also love to use art books and travel books because they can take you to different places. People love to flip through them. 4. Show us a picture of the room you most enjoyed designing and tell us why you love it. 

I have two. The first is the living room in my own house. I enjoyed designing that (really our entire house) because of the personal connection to my family and what my wife and I wanted for us and our children.  

 Then the club at Luxautica. It’s an exotic car club, a public space and a great entertainment venue, so I knew a lot of people would be enjoying it.

5. What’s your favorite vacation spot?  LOL! That is like asking me about my favorite designer! A favorite vacation spot is really any place with great buildings and ambiance. Italy jumps to mind. I love the history and the architecture. Jenna is a contributor to Design Happens.

Exclusive and Gorgeous - the HYDE Collection!

I am always on the lookout for great designs and when they are paired with great marketing, forget it! I melt. That is precisely what happened with Mansour Modern’s push for their exclusive HYDE collection. I saw it and couldn’t resist!

The incredible creations of Mansour Modern are a delight to the senses. This high-end rug manufacturer offers not just quality, but trendsetting rugs that are textural and visceral, sophisticated and chic.Taking their most popular designs Mansour translates them onto natural cow hide, hence the HYDE collection.

The rugs are custom sized and created by sewing individual hide-squares to develop the beautiful designs.  One of my favorites is the gorgeous Greek Key rug. 

It could be the reminiscences of my youthful escapades in sunny Greece, but more likely I am transfixed by the easy flow of this interpretive design.  The cow hide texture is supple and natural with full-on brilliant Aegean blue sparkling throughout this beautiful pattern.

I loved the design so much I called the creative mind behind it all, Ben Soleimani.  

If you have read this blog before, you know I can’t get enough of talking with imaginative people and Ben is definitely one of them!  Gracious and soft spoken, he is also passionate and driven, which makes him such a force in competitive world of rugs and carpeting.“I like to be a trendsetter but it takes hard work”, laughs 38- year-old Soleimani.

In fact, he says he finds Color and Design relatively easy.  It is creating new textures and finding new materials that pose the most challenges. And I suppose, requires the most creativity, an area inwhich he obviously excels.Says Soleimani “I can see 400 years of techniques, colors and materials in the rugs I look at today. There is lots of history.”And he should know.  Ben Soleimani has been in the rug business is entire life - he is part of the family that owns the generations old Mansour Rugs.

In his Hyde collection, Soleimani sees the future.  The materials are full of life and movement.

The  dyes, which come from all over the world, are rich and varied, and the skillful application of all them to his artful designs make this collection a success.

He believes simply that, “Good things… you have to work for them.  When you do, you make a difference.”With Mansour Modern, he certainly has!

HOT MOSAICS, COOL DESIGNS!

 

Sara Baldwin, innovative founder of the incredible New Ravenna Mosaics recently spoke with me about designs, trends, and her love of mosaics.  Sara has a lot to say, and when she gets started it is hard to stop – but why would you want her to!?  Here is some of our recent conversation.

Hi Sarah! You just got back from this year’s Coverings show – how was it?

It was great and really busy for us. We launched a few new lines…our new Waterjet designs, our new stone line, and we showed our glass palette with all our fantastic 50 new glass colors.  We had a great response.  I am so excited about our new designs. 

Well, New Ravenna has had a ‘great response’ since you founded it 18 yrs ago. With the whole home furnishings industry being so crazy this past year, what has been going on at your shop?

Good things, thankfully!  Our focus is still on strong mosaic designs, but we have just added our Waterjet designs.  Waterjet gives a lot cleaner look than mosaics, which are a lot more textural, of course.  We often still add mosaics into the finished Waterjet design by hand if we want the pattern to have some texture.

 

Also, we are using a lot more of our new glass in the mosaics. We have doubled the number of jewel glass colors available lately.  I don’t really see any one else doing this like we are.

That’s cool.  What else are you seeing in mosaics these days?

I see an overall trend toward cleaner looks and to more organic flow and motion in mosaics.  Personally, that is what I am focused on.  On the other hand, there is still a need for complex designs.  For example, while the mid-century influence remains strong in furnishings, it is boring unless you juxtapose it with something else, something contrasting to give the project an edge.  Then, even with all this “modern”, I am also seeing a trend toward Moorish and Near Eastern influences, even crossed with sort of Gothic influences. All very curvy and flowing.

Hmmm…Moorish and Gothic are two of my favs, so I am glad to hear that!  What is your favorite mosaic pattern lately? 

I love our ‘Jacqueline’ CBO914. It was based on a wedding dress I saw in a magazine; the dress had the most intricate lace details.  Jacqueline is cut with the Waterjet, and then the material is all tumbled. For installation, we recommend sanded grout, to accentuate the beautiful texture of the stone. It is a very versatile pattern. I love it.

We took a tour of your workshop last year and it was incredible, a real eye-opener for us.  What do you think are some misconceptions people still have about mosaics?

Mainly, that they are only an Italian inspired tile design. Mosaics are like paint on a canvas – you can have a painting that is modern, Baroque, impressionist, lots of styles – the same is true with mosaics. I mean, the Italians had many masters in painting, but people don’t shrug and say, ‘ Oh paint, it’s so Italian!”  With mosaics, you determine the function and color, and you can make a mosaic be anything you need it to be. It is often that final design touch that sets a space apart from any other, the touch that makes the space intensely personal.  Also, people think mosaics are very expensive, but there is a lot of range in price as well.

What are some unusual things people have done with your mosaics?  

I heard that someone did a radiator cover with one of our designs at the Kip’s Bay Showhouse this year, but I have not seen it yet… anyone have pictures?

What are you seeing as new uses for mosaics?

There are so many. Really we have just scratched the surface of using mosaics in modern times. They can be for any environment. A floor, a ceiling, a wall, a fountain, a fun detail. I like seeing them on the outside as well as the inside - in landscape design, outdoor kitchens, outdoor fireplaces, pools, they can be an outdoor ‘rug’. So many things!

 

Sara, you are endlessly creative! What inspires you?

What inspires me? That’s hard. What inspires you? (LOL! this is your interview!)  Things in nature, my house, the beach, the woods, fabrics, anything textural. Last year I was into rivets, in fact I almost wrecked my car one day looking at rivets on a bridge. So yeah, nature, but really everything inspires me, I just have to let it in!

Sara, thanks for talking with me and thanks again for the tour. It was amazing to see those mosaics come to life centimeter by centimeter and all by hand. I have a huge appreciation for your talented team and the painstaking and beautiful work they do!  Thanks Sara! 

Interview Edwards Fields-Cashmire, Rugs and the Future of the Great Peace/Piece

Edwards Fields, and its parent company Tai Ping, are established names in the realm of rugs and carpets. Both companies have a tradition of innovations and great designs. I recently spoke to Jim Hanna with Edwards Fields about rugs, the future and the ‘great peace’. Edwards Fields and Tai Ping are such fashion-forward companies, but both have been around for a long time, how they keep things fresh?Edwards Fields, the company, has been around since1935. Edwards Fields, the man, was an icon – he was on the world’s best-dressed lists and he was the person who coined the phrase ‘area rug’. That set the tone and we have been on the forefront ever since. Tai Ping has always been innovative. Its name means ‘great peace’ – which everyone wants - a great piece, I mean ‘peace’, … how can you go wrong with that?Are we still talking about Rugs?Um, sorry I drifted for a moment… yeah, sure.We really applaud your use of great designers for your rugs. Tell us about the designers.In North America our Design Director is Yasmina Kossman and she is so talented. We also have an in-house Design Studio in Paris with fresh designers who are constantly creating. We are pretty much all in house. We have had Kenso do a collection and we had an interesting line by French artists. In addition to the new design, we also have our older collections. Nothing is every discontinued and it is all hand done.To what do you attribute the shift in rugs and carpet design?Its the green movement that has lead to the interesting changes in rugs and carpets. LEEDS, eco-friendly design, go natural – it is on everyone’s minds and we have a very sophisticated clientele is asking for it. We have rugs made from bamboo, soy, five kinds of silk, cotton, wool, jute, and more. Mixing them creates wonderful rugs. They are sensuous and touchable. One of the newest combinations we have is wool and cashmere. (Yummy!) See what I mean– great piece!What movements do you see in the future?Cleaner, simpler, this is the way we are living now and that is reflected in our furnishings. People are doing more cacooning and investing in their homes. So it is not so much about fancy jewelry, and expensive cars but a home that is a comfort and a haven.Who is your favorite wallpaper designer?Yasmina! She travels the world and comes back with wonderful fresh ideas and textiles.We can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!