Time To Head To The Beach Cottage!

Let's take a little summer vacation and ogle some cute and relaxing beach-styled interiors!

Happy designing and Happy Summer!

The Yves Klein Table bleue

Frenchman Yves Klein (April 28 1928 – June 6 1962), member of the artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme/ Minimalist/ Performance Artist/ Pop Artist, at first seems an unlikely ally in interior design. Known mostly for his blue paintings and art works (in which he utilized the bodies of naked models as "paint brushes"), Klein actually invented a color with the help of Edouard Adam, a Parisian paint dealer. Klein and Adam discovered that if ultramarine pigment was suspended in a synthetic resin instead of linseed oil, as most pigments were at the time, the color became deeper and more vibrant. The hue to this day is called International Klein Blue.

In 1961, Klein made a sculptural conceptual art piece called Table bleue: a table of stainless steel legs supporting an acrylic box of the International Klein Blue pigment. The artist died of a series of heart attacks in 1962. But starting in 1963, the Yves Klein Estate in Paris has overseen the manufacture of these iconic tables ever since.

Below, we see one in the Manhattan loft of fashion photographer super-duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.

Here is the Klein Table bleue in the Hong Kong home of accessories designer Fiona Kotur.

The dazzling IKB pigment shows up beautifully against the palm wood and brass inlaid walls and fireplace in this London Georgian home by Paolo Moschino for Nicholas Haslam.

In the New York City home of interior design superstars Glenn Pushelberg and George Yabu of Yabu Pushelberg, a Klein table lends color in an otherwise neutral space.

Authentic Yves Klein tables are available in the United States through Artware in New York
http://www.artwareeditions.com/Artware_Editions_Yves_Klein_Table_Bleue_p/kley01.htm
or in Paris through Galerie Omagh
http://www.galerieomagh.com/en/oeuvres/table-bleue-2/

Happy designing!

Spring Equinox 2014

In honor of the Spring Equinox on March 20th, here are some ways to bring spring into your home:

Florals...

...pink...

...blue...

...lavender...

...green...

...and bunnies and bird nests.

Photo by Stacey Brandford

Happy Spring and happy designing!

Benjamin Moore's Color of the Year for 2014

Venerable paint manufacturer Benjamin Moore have revealed their Color of the Year for 2014 and it is... drum roll please...

Breath of Fresh Air 806! While I do not believe in following "color trends" (I prefer instead to work with color on an instinctive level), this hue is light, and indeed fresh. I can imagine using this color in many different ways: for a powder room, a full bath, perhaps a ceiling in a master suite, or, as in the second photo below from Benjamin Moore, in a hallway as a way to blur the line between in and out...

But as with any color, remember that how it looks on your wall will depend on how much and what type of light your wall receives, what colors will be bounced onto it from either furnishings in the room or by greenery (or the lack of it) from the outside. I will be discussing how to pick paint colors in an upcoming post for 2014. Stay tuned and...

...Happy designing!