Summers in France - Chateau's

July 14, 2015 in Thoughts, Current Projects

Just back from a wonderful 3+ weeks in France... so many things to see and be inspired by. Starting off a few days in Paris; this time I actually spent the bulk of my days at various art galleries & museums. In the past Ive preferred to wander the streets soaking in the atmosphere, taking a obsessive number of door & window photos and discovering boutiques and boulangeries. The Louvre got a full days attention this time, I had a wonderful day with all the old masters (all of them), ancient Egypt, Rome & Greece, Napoleon (just a bit of a complex!) and more.

The most confounding thing about my visit to the Louvre was the absolute stream off people that entered and made a beeline straight for Mona; completely ignoring the Botticelli, Raphaels, Mantegna's etc and other Leonardo Da Vinci's on the walls. Went to the Louvre, saw the Mona Lisa - tick. Ugh.

After Paris came three days in the Loire valley visiting Chateau's: Vaux de Vicomte, Fontainebleau, Cheverney, Chenonceau & Azay-de-Rideau. All equally worth visiting as they all had something different to be inspired by & learn about. Just looking at the ceilings alone was worth the trip.

If I had to pick my personal top 3, it would be Chateau Vaux, Fontainebleau & Chenonceau.

Chateau Vaux le Vicomte

Bonaparte was here.

The Royal Palace - Chateau Fontainebleau

Chateau Chenonceau

Links to all the chateau's for visiting information.

http://www.vaux-le-vicomte.com/en/

http://www.musee-chateau-fontainebleau.fr/spip.php?lang=en

http://www.chateau-cheverny.fr

http://www.chenonceau.com

http://azay-le-rideau.monuments-nationaux.fr/en/

Studio updates....

February 16, 2014 in Current Projects, Design, Projects, The 'Beach House'

After many busy months I am dedicating a bit of time to my much neglected blog. Ive had a number of successful project come to completion and lots of exciting new projects are on the books taking me into 2011. I did a couple of photo shoots recently for a few of my projects; one in particular my 'Beach House' project. We were ramping up to commence with stage 2 of the 'Beach House' renovation, which would have included a new master bedroom suite with spa like bathroom retreat, but in a surprising turn (clients included!), my clients have decided to move into a bigger house....

Los Altos Hills - family dining hub

August 06, 2010 in Current Projects, Los Altos Hills, Projects

The new casual dining area for my Los Altos Hills clients' kitchen/family room installed recently. The 5' x 5' large square table features a salvaged live edge maple wood table top, resting on a stainless steel base that I designed specifically for this table. My design of the table base & bench legs were inspired by the youngest members of the household - the family's three 'kids' (including 'Starlight' the yellow lab). The legs purposefully have a playful and anthropomorphic quality to them...

Sneak peek - design process

May 09, 2010 in Current Projects, Los Altos Hills, Thoughts

My Los Altos Hills clients have another room that I am working on - the kitchen & family lounge. The 'family hub' is an open plan room that encompasses the kitchen, informal dining area and family lounge and has access to the large deck and bbq area. My clients have two pre-teen children & young labrador so my goal was to create a space that was fresh, vibrant, multipurpose, durable, and comfortable. We recently installed part of the project - the new sectional sofa and custom throw pillows. Since there are still various elements to be installed, I thought Id post a few images to show how the process of choosing some of the soft furnishing elements came about.

Los Altos Hills - Living room

March 04, 2010 in Current Projects, Design, Los Altos Hills

In December my Los Altos Hills clients had their gorgeous new cow hide rug installed. It was a custom rework between myself and Kyle Bunting Rugs of their 'Jet Stream' design. My client wanted a rug that would be beautiful & different and have visual interest, but not be intense in color. We used a base color of 'maple', with accents in 'silver', 'oak' and 'brown speckle'. I picked up the blue/grey of the mohair chairs in some surreptitiously placed stripes in 'silver', and the warm maple main field color has just enough depth & intensity to ensure the rug didn't end up blending with the maple floors...