Unless you live under a rock, you know Louis Vuitton x Supreme collaboration will drop in July. Given the amount of coverage and fakes that's oozing out everywhere, I have to say I'm kinda over the whole collaboration between those two brands.
However, I came across this cute little stool decorated by Supreme and made by Artek. This Aalto stool was designed by the world famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. It's simple in its form and quite utilitarian in terms of usage. I love that you can stack these stools easily to save space as square footage is a premium when you live in a city like San Francisco or NYC. The stools are available now on Supreme's website for $398 and who knows, they may become more collectible someday than the Louis Vuitton x Supreme shirts and wallets.
I know I have said in the past "this is the most gorgeous villa I have ever stayed at" before. But this one truly is! LOL. I suppose I've cried wolves one too many times. With that said, my villa at Cheval Blanc Randheli is the most expensively decorated villa I have ever stayed at bar none. We are talking about Minotti furniture, drawers with stitched leather lining, etc. Well, let me take you all the way back to Male first.
Once we arrived at the capital of Maldives, we were ushered by several ground staffs from Cheval Blanc and were whisked off to their air conditioned reception room in the seaplane section of the airport. We were given a snack menu. I wasn't particularly hungry so I only had one pastry and a glass of freshly squeezed juice. And yes, they literally made the juice onsite. We waited for about 20 minutes and the Cheval Blanc's private seaplane was ready to take off. The seats were covered in leather and there were 9 of them total. I believe the public seaplane has 18 seats. Thus CB's is obviously more spacious and comfortable. Staff handed out ear plugs and off we go. The interior of the seaplane was not air conditioned so it was a bit warm. But as soon as we were air born, it got cooler. After flying for about 40 minutes, we arrived at Cheval Blanc dock with 7 staffs welcoming everyone. Of course they know everyone's name right off the bat and we were whisked away by our butler to our over water villa via a buggy.
Our over water villa was absolutely stunning. The ceiling must had been 18' high. When you enter the foyer area, there are two hidden doors. One on the right and one on the left. Right side door led to a pantry kitchen with fridge and a sink. This is where your butler will compose all your food before he bring it into your living room or exterior deck. The door on the left hand side led to a powder room which had another door that led to the deck in the back. Pass foyer and you entered into a marvelous living room. Just about everything in that room was made in France/ Italy. The Italian sofa sat beautifully. The rug was silk or silk blend. A wall of glass windows of view of Indian ocean was beyond. Next to living room you have master bedroom area segregated by swinging panels that can be enclosed. Bed was soft and cozy and they have a huge menu of pillows you can choose from should you not like the pillows on the bed. Pass bedroom you come to a gorgeous free standing soaking tub and behind the feature wall with a Vincent Beaurin's limited edition coloured spots artwork is a rain shower enclosed by glass walls. Behind the bedroom there is a beautiful closet with ample closet space and drawers to put all your clothes. Astonishingly each drawer is lined with stitched leather lining. This kind of detailing is done only for very expensive private homes as the cost can be prohibitive. I have never seen this done in any hotels/ resorts.
Each villa is given two bikes which is great as they allow you to come go as you please. Waiting for a buggy to come pick you up never takes a long time but I prefer to be on the go when I want to so bikes are great. I didn't realize this until later.... in order to stop these bikes, you have to pedal backwards. There are no brakes on handles. One time I almost flew off my bike because I couldn't stop! Besides biking, there was snorkeling right off our villa. The amount of tropical fish I saw surpass what I saw at Hanauma Bay. In fact, one day I must have seen hundreds and hundreds of tuna fish right below our villa. I have never ever seen that huge of school of fish in my life except on TV. They were swimming in circles for unknown reason. Besides fish, I saw a sting ray, several squids, and dauphins. It was just incredible. Of course there is also a gym next to the main complex. I went there to do an hour of workout. I was the only person! HA!
Speaking of working out, I was trying to burn off all the delectable food from various restaurants on the island. Food at this resort was just incredible. I would say most of them minimally one Michelin star and their signature 1947 would be a two Michelin stars level food. To achieve this level of cooking in the middle of nowhere is astonishing to say the least. The Italian restaurant Deelani near seaplane drop off was yummy. Every single pasta dish we had were perfectly cook and presented. However, cost of food was eye watering. Two pasta dish, one pizza, and two ice tea came out to be $250! This was almost double what it would had cost at Cipriani in NYC. But then again, we were in the middle of nowhere.... Food at 1947 was great. I don't know how they can cook this kind of food in a place so far from anywhere. The tab without wine came out to be $1000 for two! So food was definitely pricey but at least everything we had was tasty. At some point, you just want them not show you food bills anymore because what's the point? Diptyque is their signature Japanese restaurant. If you are into sushi/ sashimi, then you are in for a treat. Their cooked Japanese food is just so so. I would not bother with this restaurant if you don't eat raw fish. The worst (expensive) food I had onsite was their Maldivian night. The food was like a bad Sri Lankan food and for $175/ person, I would skip it. On top of that, resort had a group of teenage kids came out and do awful singing and dancing. It was atrocious. I was expecting Hawaiian luau but I feel like I got punked instead. Luckily they alternate the entertainment with a small band that come out after those teenage boys and sang Maldivian version of American popular songs which was very lovely. The lead singer had a beautiful voice.
The spa island is something one must try. In order to get there, I had to take a small boat. It was actually rather lovely to have to take a boat to get a spa treatment. Once you arrive on the spa island, you enter this gorgeously designed reception area. Your treatment specialist then take you to a small private villa where you get pampered. I had a deep tissue massage and it was the best hotel/resort massage I ever gotten. My guy was from Malaysia and he went in deep. Nothing I hate more is getting a massage where your masseur just lap on oil and roll that oil back and forth on your back. This guy attacked my knots and at the end, I was a whole new person. In the villa, they also have a shower where you can rinse off and a whole area where ladies can reapply their make up. They even supply a large selection of Guerlain products in case you didn't bring yours. It's a very thoughtful touch. On the island, they also have a spa cafe. It's a lovely space to watch sunset and sip on fresh juice.
My understanding is that once Cheval Blanc Randheli opened, a large section of people from One and Only resort came and never went back. I was told that One and Only resort is much bigger thus had hundreds of rooms versus less than 50 at CB. Because the One and Only resort had the land, it's more private. However, if you are looking for topnotch villa finishes and food, CB is it. I would like to try One and Only someday as well as Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru. When that happens, I will put Cheval Blanc Randheli as the last resort I visit among all three as I have a feeling, it is the best one. Until then, I shall go back to relive my time at CB via videos and photos.
Nothing irritates me more than some interior designers, whom clients rely on for their knowledge of interiors, confuse the style between Louis XIV and Louis XV. Often times, even though they may know there are differences between Baroque and Rococo style, they fail to acquire the knowledge. I see in magazines that a Rococo chair been described as Baroque style and on television Baroque interiors get confused as Rococo style.
Baroque style started in 1600s and probably the most famous building in Baroque style is the Palace of Versaille outside of Paris. If you stand in front of the palace, you will notice that architecturally, the building is stately, balanced, and formal.
Rococo style started around 1720s as people got tired of formality and desired more playfulness in their everyday living. The most famous building in Rococo style is the Hermitage Museum/ Winter Palace. Comparing it to Versaille, you will notice the outside is less formal and use of color is lighter and less stuffy if you will.
So what is the biggest difference between both styles when it comes to interiors? The biggest difference between both style is symmetry. Baroque style is always symmetrical whereas rococo style tends to be asymmetrical. In addition, Baroque furniture tends to be heavy visually. In response to the heaviness, Rococo is usually very playful and light.
The easiest way is look at plaster on the wall when one is trying to
identify if a room is Rococo or Baroque. With a Rococo interior, which
the word Rococo is derived from the French word Coquilles (seashell),
you will often see seashells. So whenever you see seashell plaster work
on a wall, you are most likely looking at a Rococo interior.
When it comes to furniture, it is actually pretty easy to identify which ones are Baroque and which ones are Rococo. Case and point. Here is a Boulle commode (chest of drawer) on the left hand side. Andre-Charles Boulle is often associated with Baroque style. The chest of drawer is ornate and heavy looking. It looks like it will easily take an army of four guys to lift this chest up. As you can see, the decoration is symmetrical.
On the right hand side, we have a BVRB commode. BVRB, aka Bernard II Van Risemburgh, is often associated with Rococo style. Here we have a chest of drawers that is covered in Japanese lacquer. As you can see, the image on the lacquer is not symmetrical and the feet that commode stands on are much smaller compare to Baroque chest of drawers. Even the gilt bronze decoration is much lighter and more delicate looking.
I really can't imagine anyone throwing trash into this Hermes Equilibre d'Hermes wastebasket. I mean after all, I would not want to get that exceedingly expensive wastebasket dirty would I?! And where's my lotto tickets again?! LOL. Joking aside, I do get that the leather is all hand dyed and everything is hand stitched on this beautifully designed trashcan. I'm pretty sure that the canning on the basket as well as the leather strapping near the bottom is all hand done as well. Be forewarned though, this will probably be the most expensive trash can (cost is equivalent of a Birkin bag) you have ever purchased in your life unless you have trash cans made of gold!!!
Just came across an article on Lanvin's wooden chess set based on illustrations by Alber Elbaz. As everyone knows, he was ousted as head designer from Lanvin recently. However, his spirit at Lanvin lives on with this whimsical chess set. I can totally see this set displayed on a coffee table or on a desk of a fashionista. Heck, I'm very very tempted to buy one myself! Get yours at Net-a-Porter!
Are you tire of the usual wood planks on your floor? I recently came across Jamie Beckwith's collection of floor tiles by Los Angeles based designer Windsor Smith and I have to say I'm in love with her flooring. Specifically the Hot to Trot wood tiles. It basically consists of interlocking I shapes and I find the pattern interesting and new. It really gives more depth to the once boring floor wood planks. Honestly I'm thinking to myself why didn't I think of this?
I always advise people buy the best paint you can afford as it'll save you time and money. For me, it's Benjamin Moore's Aura line. I love this line as it saves time and has wonderful coverage. For example, if you want to paint your dining room wall a shade of dark brown. First what you need to do after prepping the wall is prime the wall. After primer dries, then you need to put on minimally three coats and sometimes even four coats if you want to make sure everything comes out even. So minimally you are painting the exact same wall four times if not five. I don't know about you, but I don't have time to paint the same wall that many times!
Aura line is great because the paint includes primer so you don't have to prime the wall. Plus because paint is thick, you really only have to paint the same wall twice or in case of light color, maybe even one time with some touch ups here and there. This is a huge time saver for most people. On top of that, Aura paint contains zero VOC. VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound. It's basically the smelly stuff you smell from freshly painted walls to new furniture. Personally I'm not big on paint fumes so I always use Aura line paint for my own home. Aura line paint cost more than typical paint one finds at home supply stores. But to me time is money. Unless you have nothing better to do, why would you want to paint the same wall over and over again to gain full coverage? Plus you have to use more paint with the cheap stuff. At the end of the day, you may need more cans of cheap paint which may ended up costing the same as Aura paint. For my time and money, I go with Aura paint every time.
It's hard to make new forms in furniture design. Just about everything had been done under the sun. Somehow Kara Mann, for Baker furniture, was able to come up with a new way to construct a console table. Her new wrap console table is a nice fresh take on a form that has been around forever. It doesn't hurt that her collection for Baker furniture can be had in 2-4 weeks time when industry average is 8-12 weeks for American made furniture and 16-22 weeks for European counterpart. I love the clean line of her wrap console. The correct gold tone is perfect to bring out the glamour in an interior without being tacky.
We've all seen typical fruit baskets. They are essentially a large bowl-shaped vessel. Aparentment decided to switch it up. Why not use a donut-shaped vessel instead? Hence we got a super clean and chic "fruit basket" without the usual generic bowl shape container. Clever. This Spanish made Marblelous Ring can be yours for $295. Not a bad price point.
Anyone in the interior design trade will tell you, it's all in the detail that makes a room luxurious. Whether it be natural crystal hand knobs on your kitchen cabinet, or the hand stitched lines on your sofa cushion. Those extra detail cost a bundle but it's those details that makes a room come alive. One of the small detail that people often forget is register cover. We all seen those boring air vents from Home Depot or Restoration Hardware. Yawn. Luckily Annie Kantor see the need and came up with some gorgeous register covers. They can be custom sized and come in various colors and finishes. They are definitely not the cheapest register cover out there but who's looking at the bill when your guests asking you where did you get that cool looking air vent?
If you are looking for a statement sink for a super modern home, look no further. Toto came up with this really cool wash basin called Luminist Round Vessel. It's made of semi-clear epoxy resin so not only you can light it up from underneath, but it's also very strong. Remember glass sinks? Those are so 1990s. Epoxy is the name of the game now. This sink will definitely drawn out oohs and ahhs from your guests.
Just got my latest Elle Decor. One of my favorite part of the magazine is to read the section called "What's Hot". Sometimes there's not much to see but more often than not, there is some cool stuff that I would like to put in one of my project!
Case and point, I really like the Ito Kish's Basilisa Geometric cocktail table. I think the shape looks very fresh and I like the juxtaposition of solid frame with rattan. This piece could have look rather heavy but with the table mostly wrapped in rattan, it looks like a perfect piece for your sun room or your house next to a beach. The price is also fairly affordable at $2,200 (for Elle Decor standard). Can be customized to other colors.
If only I have the money to buy this beautiful tea set.... Georg Jensen has partnered up with Marc Newson to produce a limited edition tea set.... ten total. You know one of these sets will ended up in MOMA and the other one at Victoria & Albert Museum. Given that a Modigliani painting just sold for $170,000,000, what's a mere $125,000? I'm sure these are pennies for those 0.001%. If I were in their shoes, buying this tea set is a no brainer.
If you have been following Jeff Koon's limited edition artwork, then surely you know of balloon dog plates that were published by MOCA back in 2002. I remember seeing the dog plates in red and blue and didn't think much of them. I believe they were asking $595 each. Well, unfortunately for me, I did not stock up on those plates (more like I didn't get any). Today, those balloon dog plates regularly sells for $16,000-$20,000. Pretty good investment if you ask me! MOCA together with Jeff Koons had decided to publish a different color balloon dog plate recently (all net proceeds will be dedicated to MOCA's endowment). This time in yellow. Unfortunately the price is no longer $595....Now it's a princely sum of $8,000. I guess that's still a bargain considering red or blue dog plates routinely sells for $16,000 and up. So for those readers with deep pockets, you may want to buy up these "cheap" plates since I'm sure once they are sold out, you will start to see them popping up at Christie's or Sotheby's for $16,000 and up. One per customer per MOCA website. Start to get your aunt Betty and nephew John calling MOCA. LOL.
Meissen has been around since 1708. It is the first European manufacturer to figure out how to produce true porcelain. Before the discovery, Europeans did produced white-colored porcelain. However, it was soft by nature (hence the name soft-paste porcelain).
It's hard to believe, but porcelain in early 18th century is literally worth its weight in gold. During this time, there were a lot of trials and errors. Thus production was very limited and only upper classes can afford to have them. Hence during early to middle 18th century, porcelain were given as diplomatic gifts among kings and queens.
The most well known pattern by Meissen is called the swan service (schwanenservice). This service was ordered by and made for manufacture's director Count Heinrich von Bruhl. Swan service was so large that it took 7 years to make and the result was more than a thousand pieces ranging from center pieces to plates and cups. The molds still exist today and this pattern is still being actively produce by Meissen. Most of the original pieces from swan service are in museums but occasionally one can find them at auction houses such as Christie's or Sotheby's.
Another interesting offshoot of Meissen porcelain is called Hausmalerei which means home painting. During 18th century, entrepreneurial artists would buy blank porcelain, paint them, and sell them at marked up prices. Thus they are partially original and yet partially not. Today, they are actively sought out by collectors who specialize in collecting Meissen Hausmalerei-ware.
Nope, Alex Katz can't be your daily personal slave! But you can buy his collab stuff from Barney's New York. Alex is collaborating with Art Production Fund and BNY to create a limited edition collection of houseware and clothing accessories. The home goods range from candles to napkins. And accessories rang from scarf to tote. All proceeds go to Art Production Fund which is a non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and producing ambitious public art projects, reaching new audiences and expanding awareness through contemporary art. I am all for creating art and I can't think of a better way to purchase fabulous stuff while supporting this great organization!
With budget cuts left and right for education, art classes are always the first one to go. But fear not, Twirl in Alameda has you covered! This new art laboratory boutique that just opened a month ago is the best thing that happened to your kids.
This 3000 sqft play space is the ultimate fun place for your little ones to can frolic to their content! There are tons of art supply at the space where your kids to be creative and learn. They also offer up a private party room for your children's birthday bash where he/she can invite up to 17 of his/her closest buddies for a day of art fun. And if you want to catch a romantic dinner on Friday night in downtown Alameda, drop off your kids in one of their evening classes and have a great date night alone just between two of you. Did I mention those classes book up really fast....
If you go to an Asian person's home, you will likely find an entryway bench prominently at foyer area as quite a few of us grew up having to take off our shoes before going inside anyone's home. The logic behind that is you don't carry dirt into your home. I think this concept may have originally came from Japan as I don't think you can ever go into a Japanese person's home without seeing an entryway bench.
Given my fondness of an entryway bench, I was delighted to see that Blu Dot now offers one on Target's website. Blu Dot is a mid tier level home furnishing brand that offers great mid century modern style furniture. I know every time I step into their boutique in the Mission District in San Francisco, I'm always tempted to buy a thing or two. The collaboration between Target and Blu Dot had been going on for awhile. The best part of the collaboration is economical price with great design. This well priced bench also comes with storage beneath to store all your shoes and it is additional 10% off today with code: HOMESAVE10
Sometimes less is more when it comes to faucets. Currently one of my favorite faucet is AF/21 from Boffi designed by Naoto Fukasawa. Japanese designers are known for their restrained aesthetics and this faucet is nothing short of elegance in a minimal package. Many interiors fall into trap of being fashionable at the time of installation but often they look dated after 10 years. I think a minimalist bathroom with AF/21 faucet will withstand test of time... but of course only time will tell. ;)
