Old Hollywood Style

Ann Sacks has an incredible tile collection called Beau Monde. The new design for the collection is called 'Rose' and it is a combination of heavenly crème, thassos, rosa portugalo and rainbow onyx. Each piece of the 'Rose' is water jet cut, refined by hand and then pieced together in a mosaic format....the end result is amazing!!!

Here is a link to Ann Sacks' video that describes the process:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1077003216/bctid1534516949

Random Inspiration....it comes from everywhere....even theme parks

I recently took a trip to Florida for a family gathering. While we were in the area we took a side trip to Walt Disney World; we had been several times before and I remembered our meals at The Brown Derby ( modeled after the original in Los Angeles ). I thought about how great the design was and how timeless and emotionally charged the enviroment was. I thought I should share a few of my favorite photos and details from inside the restaurant.






Here are some from the inside of the Tower of Terror...

We are published!

Two weeks later....The San Francisco Chronicle published an article about Dining By Design and it featured our design and chandelier!!! AMAZING!!!



http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/12/03/HONO148SS6.DTL&o=3&type=homeandgarden


Check it out!!!

Dining by Design Complete

We did it! It is over and wonderful. Our design for the wonderful DIFFA charity was a success. We were located on the 3rd Floor of the SF Design Center Galleria Building, right outside the elevator doors. A perfect spot! Lots of inquiries from the public on the first night. Many many questions about the chandelier and some about the rest of the design process. It was an amazing night! My family was there, my life partner was there, Marlene was obviously there, and my mentor Suzette Sherman came to visit while we were setting up to see the installation.


The second night was also amazing because of the guests sitting at our table. Many many media representatives including the SF Chronicle editor and his wife. Steven Miller was also sitting at our table and I only found out 2 nights before the event. This is significant because his Corian vanity for the Decorators Showcase House 2005 was the inspiration for the material used when I created the table top. It was the same exact material and he noticed it right away. It was an honor to have a source of inspiration sitting at the very table that he inspired, and I had no way of knowing when I spec'd the material for the table!

An amazing team of aspiring designers and friends came together to complete this project! You are all so talented and are a bunch of fun to work with....keep up the great work!

Special thanks to Scott, my mom Luanne, my sister Ashley and great friends Marlene, Angie and Josh for taking the time to come and see what all the hardwork was for....



Enjoy the photos!!! ( photo credit: http://www.unniphotography.com/ )

Update

Things have been pretty hectic recently. We are heading into the home stretch for Dining By Design and we are going to be cutting it very very very very close. I think we should be fine though. I am exhausted but excited!!!

I am hoping that everyone will come and visit our design.

More to come soon....

Calling all website designers...

We need a website overhaul....Please contact us if you are able to help or know of anyone who can help.

Paris & Sprout Home

While working on the Dining by Design project I ran across a chair that I thought would be perfect for the concept. It is from a company called Fermob in France... great outdoor furniture ( at a reasonable price ) if you are in the market for such a thing. Anyway, there was something about the chair that was so attractive to me, the Luxembourg Chair.

It had a garden/park quality but after sitting in it at The Gardener on Fourth St. in Berkeley, I was sold. It was VERY comfortable, lightweight, stackable and is available in like 22 different colors. After showing it to my boyfriend ( to convince him that we needed some at our house ) he said "Hey, that looks just like the chair that was in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris"...lightbulb!! That is why it looked super attractive and inviting. So when I proposed the chair to the DBD group for consideration, I included a photo that I took when we were in Paris at Lux Gardens. Go figure....traveling really does pay off...I could go into all the ways that traveling and my design career have reflected each other time and time again, but its really only interesting to me....LOL!

Anyway, enjoy the photos I have attached and check out Fermob at http://www.fermob.com/. If you need someone to help you purchase them...contact us at designstudio@canvasinteriors.com

Another great outdoor resource is Sprout Home. They are located in Chicago and Brooklyn. They have unique and very contemporary garden accessories and furniture. Each of their stores carry similar items but also each store has local items that are unique to that area. They are working that Local angle that is super popular, and rightfully so!!!

They offer a chair called the Possum Chair...sounds weird but is very cool. It is made out of recycled plastic milk jugs. YES, milk jugs!!! Super cool and very modern. I encourage you to at least give it a look.

The owner Tara ( in Chicago ) is very very nice and friendly and super helpful.

http://www.sprouthome.com/

Fantastic tile, anyone???

Recently we had a project that required us to select tiles for some bathrooms and kitchen backsplashes. We sat and thought about different types of tiles, tile patterns and tile materials...sometimes it all becomes a blur. After taking a break I remembered Heath Ceramics. They are a fabulous company that are LOCAL to us in Northern California. They make incredible tile by hand and in fantastic colorways and finishes.

If you have a chance stop by their Sausalito store ( we are going on Thursday ) where they have all of their tile for sale. They offer samples at 1.00 a piece which is a great deal if you need some time to decide at home. After all it is important to get the tile in the environment where it will live it's life. They even have an "seconds" selection and the prices are unbeatable for handmade tile, up to 75% off per square foot....no kidding!!

They also have great tableware and homeware ( accessories )....check them out at http://www.heathceramics.com/

Dining by Design

FANTASTIC AND EXCITING NEWS!

I have been chosen to be part of the team that represents the Academy of Art University at this year's Dining By Design. The event is put on by DIFFA ( Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS ) each year to promote AIDS awareness and generate support via the donations made by attendees to the event. This is a nationwide traveling event that draws the best of the best and we each have to design a 10'x10'x10' space with the only rules being that it has to seat 10 people for dinner. After that, anything goes. I am privileged to be able to participate along with the rest of the wonderful talent that is on our team. The event is November 19th and 20th in San Francisco at the San Francisco Design Center's Galleria building.

To get more information and tickets visit: http://www.diffa.org/

Look for photos coming soon.....

Tony