Emerald City

I've been on an emerald green kick lately. Anyone out there in the midst of a color obsession?
PS: I don't know about you, but I would definitely wear this cloche. Check out the millinery shop here!


Images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Dwell on Design: 1

I've been meaning to post my pictures from this year's Dwell on Design convention for a few weeks (yikes!). Here's a post from my adventure at last year's convention. It's always more fun to go with folks you know (last year I flew solo). This time around I met up with my friend Beth. She worked some magic on one of the exhibits and then we ran into Abby who had also been working behind the scenes. We had some champagne at the Miele booth, checked out some very modern chicken coops, toured a luxury Airstream trailer, and I got my heartbeat made into an air brush painting. Yep. One of my favorite parts of the convention was Sasaki's Heartbeat Drawing Project. He began the project in 1995 and now travels the world listening to and painting heartbeats. At the convention, the proceeds were going to Architecture for Humanity's rebuilding efforts in Japan. It was too cool for me not to participate. You sit in chair in front of the giant canvas and Sasaki places an electronic pulse monitor on your finger. The sound is then amplified and he paints based on the speed and rhythm of your pulse. It was kind of surreal to know that everyone in the convention hall was hearing your heartbeat in real time as you watched someone methodically paint to its sound. Stay tuned for a bit more from Dwell! I'll share my own painting project and some very cool, new, eco-friendly paint.


All images by Maureen Price

Simple

My interior design principles usually consist of two quotes. "Simplicity is the key to successful living." and "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." The second is from William Morris...wise words. In the past three years of my life, I have done some major downsizing. I went from a storage-abundant apartment with a closet the size of a Manhattan bedroom to a 1920s apartment with 29" of closet rod space and NO other storage besides kitchen cabinets. Yeah, I had to get inventive and I had to make some epic trips to Goodwill. I donated boxes of books, 70% of my shoes, and bags and bags of clothing and various other bits and pieces. Yes, it helped that I was on a major minimalist kick (and still am just not to the same extent). I've been very happy with the reductions and I don't miss anything that I've given away. I'd like to take it even further when the time is right. So, yes, I guess I'm a rational, soft core minimalist at heart? I like it that way. I also like (ok, love) clean, simple, living spaces with clear surfaces, and concealed storage. Ahh, calm. I tend to get very uncomfortable and depressed in cluttered areas so these spaces are a true breath of fresh air. Many people may think these interiors are too cold or stark or bland but I would move in faster than you could bat an eye. Enjoy the breathing room.



1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, Unknown, 7, 8 and 9

Thanks for the advice...

This is my new favorite thank you card from Greenwich Letterpress. If you're in the NYC area, they have a shop in the West Village full of cards and gifts (they also do wedding invitations). You can find a selection of their greeting cards at Urbanic in Venica, California as well! Now I just need an advice-giving-architect-friend to thank.


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