Los Angeles Design Blog | Material Girls | LA Interior Design

If you haven’t visited The Decorating Diva site – it’s well worth checking out! Full of great inspiration, features on fabulous designers, and a series called “Style Maker Look Book” which are contributions by designers and bloggers alike of themed room creations.  They are so fun to see and very inspiring!  Today, a modern nursery project that I did was included in the popular series.  Be sure to have a look and check out all the many other “Look Books” featured!

Modern Nursery Look Book

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for me.  I had been away from home for two weeks.  First, I spent ten days house sitting on Balboa Island in Newport Beach and then straight from there I flew to NYC last Monday, where I spent the past week.  Haven’t quite been able to keep up with blogging as much lately.  Prior to leaving I was busy preparing to leave – prioritizing work that needed to be done, organizing for the time spent away, never mind packing for the beach and the wintry east coast all in one.  Now, just happy to be home but much to catch up on!  I am sure many of you know what it’s like!

Unfortunately, I do not have much to report on design wise from my trip to NYC.  I did share a few highlights last year, but this year I really decided to take a break from design and just enjoy the trip which included mostly walking around and really seeing the city.  Of course, everywhere you look is a monument of some type of architecture – whether a museum, a skyscraper, a bridge, or an installation in the park.

So with my iPhone in hand, I took picture after picture…

Just arriving in the city on Monday evening, took this picture from the taxi.

Monday night dinner at Ed’s Chowder House

Central Park

Brunch at Jean-Georges at 1 Central Park West

Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

The Loeb Boathouse in Central Park

Alice in Wonderland

Belvedere Castle

View from Belvedere Castle

Central Park

Museum of Natural History

Museum of Natural History

Upper West Side

Lincoln Center

Radio City Music Hall

Times Square

View from dinner at Porter House New York, in the Time Warner Center

{all photos by me…and the iPhone}

The placement of artwork is something I often work with a client on towards the end of a project.  It usually involves us spending time together figuring the best placement for each piece.  Often I find a client may have a personal attachment to a piece of artwork that they will want to place in a special or specific location.  I tend to place artwork based on scale of the wall and arrangement of furniture. But truly, there are many ways and means of how and in what way to hang artwork.  I’ve also worked on projects where the client needed to acquire art and have worked with that client to help them select pieces.  Although, I always start by telling the client art is a very personal choice and feel they should buy what appeals to them.  Some clients have collections, others are looking to acquire, and still others are on budgets and are looking to simply decorate.  I had a client who wanted to invest in fine art and we worked collaboratively with a fine arts dealer, another client who’s husband had a comic book collection that we framed for the home office, and another client where we shopped at home good stores to find inexpensive artwork to fill the walls.

Domino magazine always featured great little how to tidbits and creative adivce like this spread on different ways to hang artwork.

This breakfast nook featured in a spread from Elle Decor displays family photos and children’s artwork with a mix of pictures leaning on a shelf and  collaged walls below.  A very personable display of art.

Framing like items is always such a great way to feature a collection, similar frames and matting define the grouping and look ideal in a hallway or corridor if there are many to display.

Clustering a set of pictures appears as one large back drop of artwork.

An interesting vignette of different scaled artwork.

Art en masse in the same size and framing creates a gallery of artwork.

Balance dominates in this living room display of art although the pieces of artwork are different in size and frames, but the arrangement is of equal balance.

Another past Domino magazine feature, a collection of plates (left) and a series of art (right) offer another way of arranging.

{There are so many creative ways to display artwork and arrange wall collections. Analyzing interiors can give you a lot of ideas on how to arrange artwork and figure which works best for your space.}

This past week I took another trip over to Catalina Island.  I had featured a blog post back in August about my boating trip over to the island.  Well, despite squeezing in another mini vacay, this trip was a bit of a “business trip” if you will – as I am excited to announce I will be working on a project on the island!  I have been hired to help with the interior design of a vacation rental.  The clients use the home as a vacation get away for their family and also rent out both the upper and lower unit as a weekly or weekend rental.  Having the opportunity to work on a project on Catalina Island means a lot to me.  I have spent my entire life going to the island and grew up spending summers living and working on the island. Generations of my family have been going to the island, beginning with my great-grandparents.  Obviously, having a design project on the island makes for a good excuse for more visits!

Last time I blogged about the island, I did so in more of a perspective of boating.  I thought this time I would feature a little bit more on the town of Avalon (since I actually got off our boat on this trip).  Avalon is the main city on the island, it is a charming town of small shops and restaurants.  Population of Avalon is only about 3,100 but fluctuates due to summer residents.  Avalon has a wealth of history and many  well known architectural monuments, such as the Wrigley Mansion, the Holly Hill House, & the Casino (pictured above ).  The Casino that dominates Avalon Bay was built in 1929 and the interiors are a “standstill in time” Art Deco .  The Casino itself is not an actual Casino, it’s name is derived from the Italian meaning of casino: social gathering place.  The Casino actually houses a movie theater, a museum, and a grand ballroom at the top which is used for concerts, parties, weddings, and other events.

Antonio’s Pizza has been on the island forever and is so good!  This is the original location next door to the Glenmore Plaza Hotel.

View of the Busy Bee restaurant – another great eating spot right on the water!

Front Street in town, featuring Catalina Tile (hard to see, took these pics with my phone) on the fountain.

View from Front Street, down Catalina Avenue.

The Green Pier

We just happen to be in Avalon during the annual Marlin Tournament.  I was on the pier when they brought in the winning catch of the day!

Hillside houses, view from the harbor.

And lastly, my new project on the island!  Looking forward to seeing this already charming island home become even more charming!

If you are interested in renting a vacation home on the island, check out this site:  www.CatalinaVacations.com for a list of available properties.

In both fashion and interior trends, there is often a crossover from one to the other.  Often times, colors & prints seen on the runway show up in accessories and textiles for the home. As an “ode” to the days of Domino magazine, which used to feature an editorial titled, “Can this outfit be turned into a room?” I present outfit to room:

Taken from the inspiration of the outfit above, colors and textures which may be interpreted as furnishings for the above room:

{Furniture via 1st Dibs, Rug from west elm.}

Other crossovers from fashion to home:

Earthy, Modern, & Eclectic.

Glam, Golden, & Luxe.

Jewel Tones.

East Coast Summer Chic.

Glam Couture.

{And if you want to see more in the way of fashion to home, check out the site “Little Designer Book.” Many thanks to Andrea for featuring me in an editorial titled, “Shopping In Your Own Home.}

Thank you to Melisa of Project Nursery for featuring a playroom project I did in her blog post today titled, “Real Rooms: Family at Play.” The Project Nursery blog and website is a great source of inspiration for all things kid related!