BE RELENTLESS - MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY

 xo,

Emi

SOPHISTICATED OASIS

This week I am inspired by the beautiful whites of the Ralph Lauren Spring 2015 Ready-to-Wear Collection. I think a woman who can wear white from head to toe is modern, sophisticated and demure. She wears it with confidence and holds nothing back and all the while keeps an unassuming attitude about who she is.

I have always dreamed of an all-white bedroom. An all-white color scheme looks so inviting...clean, effortless and achingly romantic. With such a restrained use of color, it's very important to use a variety of textures in a space like this. A lack of color means every element in your design should somehow stand out whether it be through its texture, form, or function. A peaceful, soothing room like this will give you the impression like you are on the clouds. I wouldn't mind sleeping on clouds, would you?

Have a lovely weekend, Ciao

  xo, 

Emi

BOND ST. APARTMENT, NYC - HOUSE TOUR TUESDAY

This week we are touring the Bond St. apartment in NYC designed by James Dixon Architect in collaboration with decorator Carolina George. This eclectic apartment combines a chic, modern look with a little bit of whimsy dispersed throughout. 

Over-sized windows allow streams of sunlight in the two-story living room. Pattern and texture is what unifies these spaces set on a base palette of high value contrast black and white, while a functional library features a wall of bookcases with a rolling ladder for easy access. How about a zebra head overlooking below for a little quirkiness?

Across the living room is an elegant, modern dining room boasting trendy lucite chairs.

Adjacent to the dining room; the kitchen features a pillar of mirrored tiles and a bold, black island.

Gotta love these brass elephant head handles on the kitchen cabinet doors.

Brass hardware adorns the kitchen sink. 

Second story lofted area with a view down below has access to the bedrooms. Great space for a writing desk, especially an all brass one! 

This far eastern style sitting room is saturated with bold pattern and color, creating a personal sanctuary.

Bold splashes of pink highlights this bedroom featuring windows looking out to the living room below.

Floral fabric covering the bed and walls create a cocoon-like canopy.

I hope you've enjoyed a tour of this bold and eclectic NYC apartment, I know I did. Now all I want to know is... when can I move in?

 xo, 

Emi

NEVER SETTLE - MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY

 xo,

Emi

FLOWER POWER BABY

Nothing is so sublime as a flower. This week's design board is inspired by the Flower trend in fashion. Although I don't think florals should be called a "trend" any longer, as colorful blossoms continue to pop up in fashion year after year, they can very well be called a "classic" instead. There's always a new incarnation of floral patterns and this year it's BIG and it's BOLD any they come in all shapes and sizes.

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2015

Thom Brown Spring 2015

Michael Kors Spring 2015

Valentino Spring 2015

Jean Paul Gaultier Spring 2015

Christian Dior Spring 2015

Marni Spring 2015

Chanel Spring 2015

Celine Spring 2015

Have a lovely weekend, Ciao

xo,

Emi

HOUSE TOUR TUESDAY - ETHEREAL BEAUTY IN THE SKY

This week we tour the home of art and design collectors, Andrew and Françoise Skurman. Françoise and Andrew Skurman live in an ethereal apartment high above Nob Hill. They are dedicated collectors, constantly on the hunt for provocative contemporary art, experimental furniture, and artist-designed conceptual furniture. A pure white background shows their large abstract paintings, modern furniture and antiques in full force. 

"When I was growing up in Paris, I dreamed of designing a chic white and silver apartment," said sculptor Françoise Skurman. "Now I'm living my fantasy in San Francisco. It's all about beauty and the luminous white interior."

The Skurmans are constantly editing and energizing their collections, adding depth with dramatic new pieces. They live with their collections, savoring and appraising them and studying them every day.

"I don't buy for 'investment', I buy for the love of the object," said Andrew Skurman. Living with the work of avant-garde and accomplished designers and artists is very satisfying and fulfilling, he said.

"Our apartment is so different from anything I ever design for my clients," said Andrew. Friends who come for cocktails are entranced by the magical effect of shimmering glass floors, reflective walls framed with polished steel baseboards and ceiling reveals, and floor-to-ceiling windows with just a sliver of silken white curtain.

For the Skurmans, the apartment continues to captivate. Early morning light tints the walls in pearlescent tones. Sunsets paint the rooms in a glow of rose pink. Later, the lights of the city flicker far below, and the apartment seems to float in the darkness.

A Louis XVI recamier, an heirloom from her Parisian family, was restyled by Françoise with pale grey paint and white jacquard upholstery. The 'Org' coffee table is by Fabio Novembre for Cappellini. The plaster torchères, circa 1940, are by Paris designer Serge Roche, silver-leafed guéridons are from the Estate of Gianni Versace.

Damien Hirst's Bromphenol Blue-Cylene Cyanol Dye Solution, 2005, hovers above a stainless steel fireplace next to a pair of Louis XV fauteuils finished in silver leaf.

A Louis XV chair, re-imagined in silver gilt by Rossi Antiques graces Spiral Painting, 1976, by Robert Slutzky.

Antique and modern collide in the dining room, where the glass tile floor shimmers beneath the tracery of Tom Dixon's dining table.

Alessandro Twombly's The Fall of Icarus, 2003, hangs above the dining table.

Françoise perched her new plaster figure, Dona Mariana, atop a custom-made white-painted rope cabinet by Christian Astuguevieille.

The Louis XVI bed, inherited from  Françoise's family, is dressed with white pique by Scheuer Linens, the bedside tables were designed by Andrew Skurman. Paintings are by Stephanie Peek, left, and Olivier Debré, right, a girandole from the Yves Gastou Antiques Gallery in Paris stands on the bedside table.

19th century Venetian mirrors, acquired in Paris, grace the bedroom wall.

A 1940s Cubist plater bust was acquired at San Francisco's famed Fall Antiques Show.

Venus Refuses The Apple, a new plaster sculpture by Françoise Skurman, stands in the bedroom. The floor is white glass Japanese tile.

Hope you enjoyed this week's house tour. Have a lovely week.

xo,

Emi

Sources and credits: C-Home and The Style Saloniste

BE. HERE. NOW.

THIS WEEK'S QUOTE

Being present here and now is the highest compliment you can give. 

xo,

Emi