Displaying posts labeled "Sponsored"

Happy Sunday dear readers! I received some more new books in the mail lately so I thought I would share them today, in the hopes to distract all those suffering from the onslaught of winter. These books are really REALLY good and must-haves for your coffee table. I honestly need a bigger house with a bigger living room so I can have a ginormous coffee table just to display books. Anyway, this first one from Vendome Press is maximum eye candy. David Gill: Designing Art. I think I have been living under a rock, because I didn’t really know who David Gill was. (Insert shame face) Now I think we should be besties. This man’s appreciation and eye for art is beyond words.

David Gill reveals the famed gallerist’s opinions of and influence on the world of art and design; he presents the works of artists, sculptors, and designers he has discovered and nurtured, among them Donald Judd, Mattia Bonetti, Zaha Hadid, Grayson Perry, Barnaby Barford, Fredrikson Stallard, Jorge Pardo, and the Campana brothers.

Structured chronologically, and divided by location, the book includes never-before-seen photographs of Gill’s galleries, his award-winning exhibitions, and the private collections in his own homes: a converted handbag factory south of the River Thames; the eighteenth-century Albany apartments in London’s Mayfair; and his latest home, a restored palazzo in Malta’s Valetta. Seen throughout are the designs of the many world-famous artists he has represented over his quarter of a century at the forefront of the contemporary art and design world. The book also features a selection of his curated interiors and never-before-published glimpses of the private collections and homes of the numerous internationally renowned collectors with whom Gill regularly collaborates.

Vendome Press also sent over this gem that had me swooning. We have been a fan of Spanish designer Isabel López-Quesada for many years and have featured her work on the blog several times. I was so excited to hear she launched her first book called At Home, and it did not disappoint. I adore her style and this medium of featuring her homes is everything you would expect from her.

Innovatively combining period and contemporary furniture and art in a sophisticated mix, the homes of Isabel López-Quesada (ILQ) are inspirational and unforgettable. At Home is the long-awaited monograph on ILQ, a unique voice in contemporary European design. Passion and obsession have driven the creation of her homes, each a master class in luxurious but warm and inviting interior design, with a savoir-faire revealed by master photographer Miguel Flores-Vianna.
Her personal journey is the backdrop to the discovery of her city house, an abandoned wax factory in a leafy district of Madrid, and its transformation from an industrial space into a family home and atelier. The Madrid courtyard house, with its flowering patios and water features, became a living laboratory as ILQ refined her mix of textiles, finishes, antiques, and contemporary furniture. Subsequently, she transformed a run-down Basque farm in the rolling hills outside of Biarritz.

The folks at Rizzoli sent over a special book called Palm Beach: Palm Beach: An Architectural Heritage: Stories in Preservation and Architecture (written by Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach and Katherine Jacob and Amanda Skier and Shellie Labell). This book delves into some of the palatial homes that make Palm Beach the magical Floridian town that it has long been.

Palm Beach: An Architectural Heritage, serves as an inspiration by featuring thirty-eight classic houses and other buildings that have been restored or preserved with a high degree of sensitivity and taste, and which have won the coveted Ballinger Award–presented by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach to commemorate a restoration or renovation that best exemplifies the traditions of Palm Beach’s original houses and the architects who designed them. 
From Casa de Leoni to Junglewood, Villa Artemis to Las Palmas, the houses of Palm Beach are fantasies of splendor inspiring dreams of fine living in the sun amid beautiful, fragrant gardens. Public and private structures designed by Architects Addison Mizner, Joseph Urban, Marion Sims Wyeth and Maurice Fatio are included as well as those by less recognized architects and builders whose feats of imagination rival those of the most celebrated professionals.

Dear readers, let me start off by saying this is a sponsored post. The items I am reviewing here were gifted to me. Everything I am about to tell you about these items is 100% true and my honest opinion. These items sat in boxes for a week or 2 before I was able to unpack them and try them out. And once I did this past Friday it was, I kid you not, a GAME CHANGER.

Saatva is one of the top mattress companies in America. They recently launched Saatva Dreams – an affordable yet luxurious line of sheets and pillows. The sheets are silky-soft sateen in a 300-thread count, long-staple, organic cotton weave and the pillows are plush, weighty, hotel-quality pillow with eco-friendly, supportive, shredded American Talalay latex. I’ll talk more about them in a bit. Here is a shot of what I received:

Let me start by saying I am a sucker for good packaging, and Saatva Dreams scored big time. My 2 king-sized pillows arrived in a zip-up bag (that I am going to reuse to store off season blankets) and the 2 sheet sets came in beautiful boxes that I will also reuse. Then inside the boxes the sheets were wrapped in tissue, and under the tissue was a thick canvas sack (also reusable!) with the sheets inside. Whoa!

And here they are. 2 king sized pillows, and 2 king sized grey and ivory sheets (the sheets also come in white).

I was really impressed when I first handled them at how plush the pillows felt, and how soft the sheets were. I have to tell you how this all went down so you fully understand how awesome these products are. I spent Friday afternoon unpacking all of this, making my bed with the grey sheets and ivory pillow cases, ironing (first and last time I iron sheets), and taking photos. When I was done all of that I decided to watch a bit of TV in bed and see how I felt about the new set-up. And that’s basically where my life changed. I spent a good 3 hours cuddled up in bed with some of the cats until I finally had to climb out for dinner, and as soon as I finished eating I climbed back in and did not leave until the following morning. I KID YOU NOT. These pillows and sheets are the best I have ever owned. It felt like I was living it up in a hotel room lounging like a queen. They really are a game changer, and I cannot sing their praises enough. (I showed up at work on Monday telling anyone who would listen about them – LOL!) I have slept better since using them than I have in a really long time. If you’re in the market for sheets and pillows, you MUST give these a try. And if you’re not in the market, treat yourself. Or put them on your Christmas list and have someone else treat you. They will take your netflix and chillin’ to a whole other level. 😉

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This post is in collaboration with Saatva Dreams. All opinions are 100% my own.

The prestigious A’ Design Award & Competition is ongoing for the 2018-2019 season and with over 100 categories the A’ Design Award & Competition is the worlds’ largest design competition. But it is not just an award. It is an indicator of quality and perfection in design, recognized worldwide, your design front and centre before design companies and professionals. Entries will be judged by an international jury panel of scholars, professionals and media members and the benefits to the winners are inspiring. The trophy, of course, an invitation to the gala night, a certificate of quality, inclusion in the prestigious A’ Design Award & Competition exhibition and the yearly ResultBook but even more importantly press, PR, introduction to industry professionals and companies and international exposure. Note: There is still time to get entries in for the late deadline. You can register here.

Today I thought I would share some of the top winners in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category (one of MANY categories that are included).

MODERN LODGE Residential House by KEM STUDIO

Malangen Retreat Family retreat by Snorre Stinessen

Hadar’s House House by Asante Architecture & Design

Square Architecture Design by Mei-Lin Hsu

Cabin on a Rock Weekend Residence by I-Kanda Architects

KAP House Residential Home by Diego Molina and Maria Arango

Efjord Cabin by Snorre Stinessen

Hermitage Retreat Recreational Home by Sunil Hu’mane

White Concrete Old House Stand-alone House by IO architects

Bbq House Private house by Karla Aliaga Mac Dermitt

Shubhamkaroti Farms Residential Bungalow Design by Sanjay Newaskar

Near Far House Single Family Residential by Willis Pember

A’ Design Award & Competition is organized and awarded annually and internationally in a wide range of categories – the one I featured above is just one of a very vast range. Every year, projects that focus on innovation, technology, design and creativity are awarded with the A’ Award. While realized projects find opportunities to get published, reach new markets and meet a wide range of buyers for their existing products, the organization also helps the creative minds and startups to meet with the business people to realize their product ideas. If you’d like to register for 2018-2019 you can still do so here.

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This post is brought to you in collaboration with A’ Design Award & Competition

MORE BOOKS!!! I will admit I have another favourite of the books that were recently sent to me from the folks at Vendome Press. It is City of Angels: Houses and Gardens of Los Angeles by Firooz Zahedi and Jennifer Ash Rudick.

This book is total eye candy at its finest. If you are a lover of art you especially need to get online and order a copy immediately. The best part about this book is that many of these homes I had never seen before. They belong to an eclectic mix of film producers, artists, photographers, architects, interior designers, musicians and were designed by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright, Peter Dunham, David Netto, Madeline Stuart, Mark D. Sikes and many more. Kelly Wearstler’s Malibu beach house, Hutton Wilkinson’s Santa Monica ranch, Pamela Shamshiri’s MCM Schindler house…the dreamiest of homes that include the most incrediblly eclectic art and furniture I have ever seen.

Next up is Inspired Design: The 100 Most Important Interior Designers of the Past 100 Years by Jennifer Boles (of The Peak of Chic blog). Every one interested in interior design should scoop this one up. It’s like an encyclopedia of the best of the best in interiors.

The designers included in this book are those who changed how we live and whom we’ll never forget. And some newbies who are currently making their mark in a big way. Americans Francis Elkins and Tom Scheerer, Brits Kit Kemp and Veere Grenney, amazing women such as Nancy McLelland and Bunny Williams. Names you know and names you must if you don’t. 100 years of the biggest and best.

Another gem of a book I received was Dior and His Decorators: Victor Grandpierre, Georges Geffroy, and the New Look by Maureen Footer. I was sold on the cover photo alone.

Here is another shot of it because it may just be THE BEST PHOTO EVER.

Victor Grandpierre and Georges Geffroy were two Parisian interior designers most closely associated with Christian Dior and this book is the first look at these 2 and their relationship. It also recounts the evolution of Dior’s aesthetic as a revolutionary fashion designer and aficionado of interior design, with his New Look unveiled in 1947. It was about creating a modern sense of elegance mixed with refined traditions of the past. Grandpierre and Geffroy brought trompe l’oeil, tiger velvet, antiques and saturated colour into the interior designer scene. It was rich, sensuous, refined. The author was provided full access to Dior archives, which makes this book a treasure, and a keeper.

Last but not least is Island Hopping by Amanda Lindroth Design with photos by Tria Giovan. If you love the tropics, or dream of living in a tropical paradise like I do, then this one is for you.

Interior designer Amanda Lindroth founded her firm in Nassau in 2010, and has become a key designer for island dwellers in Lyford Cay, Antigua, Belize, Harbour Island, Palm Beach and other jaw-dropping locations. Her aesthetic is airy, relaxed, a joining of colonial and island influences that bring together white walls, bold fabrics, cane furniture, canopied beds, straw matting etc. This book is basically a getaway to a Caribbean island in book form. Way cheaper than a trip!

The Vendome Press is one of the best publishers for interior design books (IMHO), and they have come out with a whole pile of awesome reads lately that I got my hands on and want to share with you. This one is possibly my all-time favourite book. I kid you not. American Originals is by esteemed photographer William Abranowicz so you know already this is going to be good!

In William’s book he shares some beautiful and unique homes he’s photographed, the likes of Ellen & Portia, John Mellencamp, Robert Couturier, Jeffrey Bilhuber, Bette Midler and Martha Stewart to name a few. The homes are to die for, his photographs are perfectly composed and if that wasn’t enough, I love that he discusses his personal interactions with the homeowners which was fun to read about. If you’re going to buy one book this year, I’m telling you it must be American Originals. It took me 5 minutes to get beyond the first 5 pages I was so smitten. (Bonus: This book comes with a slipcase so it can stand upright)

Next up is Cabana Anthology byMartina Mondadori Sartogo. This book celebrates the first 10 issues of Cabana magazine, which I unfortunately have never seen nor read.

It shares some of the most extraordinary personal statements in interior design, architecture and lifestyle, and this book showcases some of the best from these first 5 years of Cabana through an extraordinary mix of topics, interiors, objects, and visual essays from contributors ranging from Justine Picardie, Patrick Kinmonth, and Christian Louboutin to Lauren Santo Domingo and Gianluca Longo. Photos are by talents such as Miguel Flores-Vianna, François Halard and Tim Beddow. A bonus with this book – the cover is fabric! The ultimate coffee table book.

Another book I received was The Gardens of Bunny Mellon by Linda Jane Holden with photos by Roger Foley. If you have any interest at all in landscape design, you need to get your hands on this book.

Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and her very wealthy husband had many homes – in New York, Cape Cod, Nantucket, Virginia and Antigua and the gardens she designed for each were exquisite. Despite not being formally trained, she ended up with such a talent for garden design that she created outdoor spaces for President Kennedy, including his grave site and photos and details of each are included in this book. Also included are garden plans, sketches, watercolours and archival photos. The author’s text is based on extensive interviews with Bunny before her death in 2014 at age 103.

Last book for this round is Nora Murphy’s Country House Style.

Nora lives in Newtown, Connecticut and has turned her historic saltbox house into the epitome of a stylish country home. Her blog, website, e-magazine, strong presence on social media, and increasing visibility in print media and on TV are dedicated to this style and she brings it home in this book. Now country style isn’t really my thing but this book is really beautiful and many of the spaces I really love. I can’t help but crave a cottage so I can delve into this easy and comfortable aesthetic.

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