Friday eye candy: Masculine inspirations

It's Friday! And that means free and spare time to spend in good company and to have fun.  Enjoy!

Nate Berkus LA home via Harper's Bazaar 

Erik Jorgensen EJ5 Corona Chair;

Chic Spaces: What makes them

I've been studying Interior Design, on my own and school, for years.  On my own I love to try to understand the spaces I'm interested in and talk about most of them in this blog.  As Joni from Cote De Texas once mentioned, design style is pretty much adjusted by region or state.  I'm not sure if that has anything to do with weather because actually New York and New Jersey are one cotton ball throw away from each other, yet they could not be further apart in this department. A chic space for me is a space where things juxtapose with tension and friction,  where according to conventional thoughts, things are not supposed to work but they do.  A Luis XVI chair upholstered in black liquid leather and placed next to a Jacques Adnet side table would create that ambiance.  Add an abstract painting on top and the whole feeling will get stretched out a bit more.  It's like having a tension cord about to pop.  A classic architectural home with modern art and edgy small furniture pieces would also create a very chic outlook.  New York, in my opinion is the City that best codifies chic spaces.  Maybe it's because of New York's own diversity and dynamism comes seeping into its interiors?  Of course, chic spaces are all around us.   Below are images that speak by themselves.

The use of a modern sculpture suspending from the traditional ceiling in this library is simply outrageous.  By Robert Couturier.

 Nate Berkus

 Robert Stilin

 A London apartment via Elle Decor

 via Elle Decor

A New York Minute With Nate

As I mentioned in my last post, I flew in to New York for the day to be in the audience of the Nate Berkus Show.  There were apparently 90 other design bloggers who landed in NYC on or before September 21st, the day of the taping. 

Now, this may sound crazy to those who aren’t designers/decorators/DIYers who blog.  But there was a powerful force pulling us all towards New York from our respective homes across North America.  It wasn’t just about seeing a taping of a show.  I’m sure most of us have experienced that at some point. 

Yes, everyone was excited to be in the presence of Nate, a designer that we all admire and have blogged and tweeted about.  The real attraction, the real reason for arranging babysitters, spending money and taking the time to be in NY for a day was to meet other like-minded designers/decorators/DIYers who write and are passionate about design.  I was on a high for two days after my return from just being in the company of people whose blogs I have admired for years and new friends who shared in this experience together.

At the Bouchon Bakery pre-show with the Canadian Bloggers:  Me, Sarah, Michelle, Kerry, Christine and Lisa.

Tamara, Kwana, Sarah, friend of a blogger, me.

Waiting in line in the sunshine to get into the show.

Christine and I with Janet and Joy, the moggit girls.  They were so adorable and were the tour de force, along with Julieann, in making this happen. 

Canadian bloggers and Chanee 

We were seated in the front row center of the second section up from the stage.  At one point, an audience member asked a design question and Nate was standing not a foot away.  I so wanted to shake his hand when he was done.  I felt like my 8 year old daughter at a Jonas Brothers concert, hoping that her idols would reach down and shake hands.  Unfortunately, she had better luck than I had.

The first segment of the show featured a couple who worked with Emily Henderson, HGTV’s Design Star winner, to declutter their home.  I hope we are able to watch her new show here in Canada because I’m sure it will be filled with inspiration and loveliness. 

Susan, who blogs at the House of Brinson, talked about the renovation of her NYC loft.  You must check out the images on her blog.

We were able to take photos once the taping finished.  Nate then answered questions from the design bloggers.  This isn’t normally a part of the show’s format but he wanted to show his appreciation for all of us being there.  This was even better than the taped segments.  He was genuine, thoughtful, reflective, eloquent – not to mention seriously handsome! 

   

Chanee’s insightful post includes videos taken during the Q and A session.  Some highlights  were:

• 80% of what Nate uses in his designs are found objects, vintage pieces, and reupholstered pieces.  Rarely, does he or someone on his design team visit a new furniture showroom.   (Very environmentally responsible.)
• Nate doesn’t have time to read blogs but someone on his staff  puts together “binders and binders of printouts” of rooms from blogs. 
• A home should tell the story of who the homeowners are and not be filled with trendy items.
• Nate is thankful for the inspiration that blogs provide to homeowners and himself.

The lovely Chanee who crafted a blogger photo handout to help us recognize each other.

Sarah, Christine, and I with Camila who organized the after party with Nest.  

Photo by Trent Bailey (low res that I screen printed).  Check out his website to see his beautiful work.

I was so honoured to meet the Rue girls:  Caitlin, Anne, Crystal    and Alaina.  They are all living their dream of creating and publishing a stylish, successful online magazine.  Their launch party was the night before the taping but unfortunately we weren’t in NYC yet.  It was a real success from all of the photos I have seen. 

These were just a few of the talented and inspiring women (I don’t think I chatted with any men) that I had my photo snapped with.  I also had a chance to meet and chat  with Cristin, Rachel, Kate, Amy, Erika and Kirsten whose blogs I just adore.  I’m sure there were others as well that I am missing.

I hope you enjoyed these photos!  It was a day that went by in a New York minute but one I will remember for a long time.  I’m not sure when the show will air, but probably in the next two weeks. 

(Thanks to Chanee and Christine for some of these photos.)

Who doesn’t love Nate?

 

Today is deemed Nate day (no last name necessary) in the design blog community, thanks to the hilarious and talented Moggit girls.   Through the power of twitter, they were able to connect with Nate and within a couple of days, the producer’s of his new show (The Nate Show) agreed to the idea of  filling an audience with design bloggers.  Today is a Nate love fest on over 100 design blogs in anticipation of his show premiering September 13th.

My love of everything Nate is no secret.  Read my previous post here.   A number of the rooms I showed last year were from Billy Joel and Katie Lee Joel’s West Village, New York townhouse (they split in 2009 after 5 years of marriage.)   Their home was featured in the June/July 2008 issue of Domino.

Update:  Katie Lee joined the growing list of bloggers professing their love of Nate.   Read it here. 

Although there isn’t a Nate designed room I don’t like, this home speaks to those of us who crave a space that is both comfortable and elegant.

Specifically, the kitchen is magnificent which is to be expected as Ms. Joel is a cookbook author.  The floor to ceiling steel grid windows replaced a small bay window and is high on impact.  

 

Nate says that 80% of what he and his firm use are vintage sourced from sites like 1st dibs.  Take these 1940’s Italian chairs with Greek key details for instance.

The kitchen is open to the dining room and living room.  Love the view to the beautiful windows in the kitchen and the use of two antique chandeliers. 

 

These chunky shelves in the dining room are practical and beautiful to look at. 

Overall, the home is comfortable, unique, personal and elegant – all trademarks of Nate.  You can watch a video tour of the home here.

Design Talent...Nate Berkus

It looks like designer Nate Berkus will be hosting his own daytime talk show next year. Nate has been a regular on the Oprah Winfrey show since 2001. I remember his first appearance when he transformed a lifeless 300 sq ft apartment into a beautiful home full of detail and character. Ms. Winfrey's company Harpo Productions is behind the show and hopes to syndicate it for Fall 2010. The photos above are some of my favourites of his work. There actually isn't a room of his that I don't like. Check out his website for more inspiration.

Note: On November 20th, Ms. Winfrey announced that her daytime talk show will be ending in 2011, after 25 years.