Planning For Terrace Time

Excellent photo styling by Muskelil.

french fall

le tour les chapelains in southern france. why not?

trans-pecos love letters

desert adventure 2009 | el cosmico

majakowski.gasthaus | berlin

with my summertime schedule and 'new to berlin' status, i've been doing a lot of research about my new surroundings.

i found this great design work about this restaurant on the outskirts of town. i haven't found much else about it and am very intrigued. the identity is done by a berlin/vienna cooperative called up designers.

ship of dreams

been trying to find a way to rent a house boat in berlin. today while searching i found a post on ouno design about ships and boats hanging from ceilings. this dragon photo is from their site. it got me thinking about my friend patty's idea some time ago about hanging a boat from the rafters and using that as your bed.

it got me searching for other hanging bed options and i found these:
this hilarious, so 1970's nest bed
and a source for my favorite playground swing that's like a bird's nest:
so, if i can't find that houseboat, maybe one of these options will do...

texas gets better and better

Open publication - Free publishing - More style

incredible feature in refueled on friend and client, liz lambert. amazing photos, background and design insight on liz's newest project, hotel saint cecilia. friends bobby & steve of mercury design studio get a shout out, too. hooray!

wow | stunning on the ligurian coast

found this hotel in vernazza, italy (on the cinque terra): la malà. the rooms seem so full of light and the furnishings well edited with clean lines.

vernazza is the birthplace of pesto and a great place to take a swim.

their site really captures the mood they're aiming to strike - because really, it's all about the food and the sea and the hotel is done in such a classy way that it frames it all perfectly.

Illustration

Colorful illustrations from talented artist Jenny Bowers.

Perfect for menus, etiquettes, guest services books, and stationery. The grey in all of these above illustrations really adds interest - rather than the standard black.
Love these for house numbers.

Curl up & Read

Lately we've had days that start out really sunny and clear and suddenly we have a huge downpour. Usually, I get all my work done early in the morning and so I can have the afternoons to myself to hike or just be outside. When it's raining though, I love some popcorn and a good book. 

I love to curl up with a blanket like this:


This summer blanket is from Swan Island Blankets. They are based in Maine and have high-quality, luscious textiles.

Scripty Bits

Marian Bantjes is an artist who specializes in script work. This image is of her business card. She has collaborated with Stefan Sagmeister on his books and her work is featured in numerous magazines. Her site is {lovely}.

Check out the {sugar type} on her site. 

Seeing this got me thinking about guest services books in hotels and menus. They are so nice when the focus is on not only the information itself but also the communication channel & design.

Lounge & Kitchen

Total kitchen & lounge envy. Images via desire to inspire

Aim for White & Blue City Fancy

Photography by Brigitte Wolfgang Drejer. Represented by sisters agency in France, she has a whole category dedicated to *snow*

These selections are from her 'white' & 'city slickers' categories.

Farm Stay: Part 2

Looking forward to my assignment in June in Italia. Staying at Fedrica's at this beautiful place {she was recently featured in Marie Claire Italia}. She runs Agrifuturismo and has beautiful photos on her site and in the feature in MC Italia. Fedrica's site works well in firefox (safari's not so hot...).

found out about this beautiful place through Mandarine...which is a lovely blog.

99 bottles of beer in my wall

These buildings are constructed from glass bottles.
As Alex Steffen says:

There is no such thing as garbage, just useful stuff in the wrong place.

via treehugger

Cozy Grey

This light is from the Danish design group Muuto - meaning change in Finnish. They designed this light to be used in early evening 'to create a cozy mood.' Their leading design principle is to take a fresh, uncomplicated look on everyday items -  to illicit a response like: How clever - why didn't I think of that?

Goods available through Finnish Design Shop or via Muuto's website.

Toujours Petite

Love everything about this mini-maison. This idea is a bit like what we're working on at El Cosmico. Low-impact Mini dwellings and art shacks as an alternative to gigantic hospitality structures.

These photos are from a feature in Marie-Claire Maison on weekend homes.

Michelin Star System on its Head

New non-star hotel concept by Swiss twins Frank and Patrik Riklin. They run the {Atelier für Sonderaufgaben} and their newest project is {Null Stern Hotel} located near Zurich.

It is a fall-out shelter converted into a hotel. There are nods towards hostel-life, communes, ideas of elegance and 'traditional' hotel accommodations. 

This video {in German} shows a bit of their construction process and a celebration. The twins are playing with the understanding of 'null' - 'nothing', contrast, content and community; a collective call for connection and focus on shared experience...

The concept allows the idea of  without to be experienced as with.

Lay your head down

Found this photo on a post from {Ouno Design} featuring an old snippet out of Elle Decor Italia. More after the jump - all the photos are incredible - sturdy pieces & great lighting.

Kitchen Helper

Have been looking for something like this for a long time at Brocantes, etc. Found one 'new' at {Octopus}

Cool Spring Night Coverlet

Beautiful folk patterns on a cozy reading blanket by Charleen Mullen
{her site}