Feeney Gives Stairs Pizzazz

Feeney Inc. has been around since 1948 when it was established as a post-war maritime rigging company making industrial wire rope. The Ralston family bought it in 1979 and the company now makes cable and rail systems.

But they recently announced some great new alternatives to wire rope cables. Feeney now features resin and laser cut infill panels to use with their rail systems!

The acrylic panels come with many different materials such as handmade paper and natural grasses sandwiched between two sheets, to offer a variety of looks and textures for different styles and applications.

And the laser cut designs come in an array of colors. (That Kona coffee bean design would be a cute detail in a café!)

Happy designing!

The Art Of The Staircase

In my design practice, I often have a chance to either start from scratch and build a house, or to work on an interior that is completely demolished and ready for a total renovation. In these cases, I turn to some architects on my team to realize whatever I and my clients might have dreamt up. And stairs are an element that, while necessary, can be a spectacular and unexpected piece of art in a home. Just take a look at some of these amazing creations...

A simple feat of engineering makes the marvelous floating staircase possible. See how nothing touches the ground. Stunning.

This residence below features a hanging staircase of pierced 5mm red powder-coated steel plates by the British engineering firm Webb Yates.

This very unique staircase by TAF Gabriella Gustafson and Mattias Ståhlbom solves a unique problem. Gustafson and Ståhlbom say, "This is a low budget project made out of stacked boxes of pine. The cut out between the ground floor and the attic was to [sic] narrow to construct a regular stair. We had to put each step angled to get the right amount and height of them."

If you love books but have no room in your home for an actual, separate library, this shelving storage solution built right into a staircase is quite brilliant.

If you have room under your stairs, you can also fit in a mini-library!

This amazing ribbon-like staircase is located in the SoHo branch of French luxury goods retailer Longchamp. These beautiful wooden undulating crests and waves designed by Heatherwick Studio combine display areas with the central staircase for the store.

The open design and absence of a hand rail would surely not be permitted here in the United States but this Parisian apartment is pretty amazing with magically floating black steps.

And we have a similar issue with these ribbon stairs (although there is a handrail on the inside wall!). What it lacks in safety is made up in ingenuity and a singularly artistic design sensibility.

The angle of each of these open wooden boxes by Guido Ciompi creates a unique art installation at Hotel The Gray in Milan.

The steps of this truly beautiful white spiral staircase by Italian architect and designer Roberto Semprini seem to be made out of huge, polished river rocks!

And next we have a similar idea with a sensual helix of articulated wooden paddles by French interior architect and designer Patrick Jouin. The central section of this organic design almost reminds me of our vertebrae.

I've been collaborating with an architect on a spiral staircase for a new home. If you'd like to create a unique staircase for your home, give me a call!
Happy designing!

White: A Blank Page Or Canvas 2016

As we begin a new year with promise and possibility stretched out before us, I am reminded of these words from "Sunday In The Park With George" by the great Stephen Sondheim: "White: a blank page or canvas...so many possibilities." Here in the western world, white represents purity. It is basic, untouched, unformed. These are the qualities of a blank piece of paper or a painter's canvas, ready to absorb any ideas and to support whatever might be created upon it.

There are those in the interior design world who think that white is a lost opportunity for color, and being more of a maximalist myself, I might lean in that direction, but I can't deny the allure of the absence of color as well. White can be a bold statement as much as any hue and the following white rooms speak volumes.

Welcome to 2016--may it be a year full of happy designing!