We finally have the new showroom all set up and ready for this Thursday’s opening party, and we can’t wait to celebrate with everyone!!
So come on by after work Thursday for a tasty Napolean House Pimm’s Cup or a Southern Manhattan (you know we always like to put a little bit of our Southern roots into the parties). There will also be plenty of refreshing wine and bubbly from our friends at Bottlerocket (our favorite NYC wine shop). And for those of you who are fans of the addicting southern cheese crackers we have shipped up from South Carolina- they are back!
And here’s a sneak peak of the new showroom…
above: Flo basking in the sun
We are obviously super excited about the new showroom, but we are equally as excited to welcome some fabulous new fabric lines and debut new products. Here are some of new fabric lines that have just joined the Studio Four team: Michael Devine, Pintura Studio, Maruja NYC, and Zak + Fox.
One of my most dear friends, Amber Thomas, is about to complete her third year in the Savannah College of Art and Design’s architecture program. Amber is also the mother of a very energetic and lovely six year old girl, Ava. On a recent trip to visit Amber, I was amazed by all that she is doing and juggling in life. She is full time mother and student, and she is excelling at both (not to mention she is a dynamite friend)!
I loved chatting with Amber about all the many styles and periods of architecture. There is endless detail that goes into designing a home or building. But architecture can be so much more than just a building. Here are some playgrounds designed by some of the most talented archtiecture firms of today. The best word I can think of to describe the architecture below is MAGICAL!
Amber- I hope you and Ava get to visit all of these one day!
David Rockwell's Imagination Playground in the Financial District of NYC
Anyone can be an architect at the Imagination Playground!
Woods of Net in Japan designed by Tezuka Architects
Artist, Toshiko Horiuchi Macadam, designed the interior so that children can play and jump in the colorful nets.
The Blue Whale in Gothenburg designed by the Danish firm, Monstrum
The interior of Monstrum's magical whale playground
A lovely Parisian playground in the Jardin des Tuileries
Mother’s Day is just around the corner… May 13th to be exact.
My own wonderful mother is an incredible woman! She’s now a grandmother too, so I’d like to give her something special this year. Unfortunately, like many mothers out there, mine can be a bit difficult to shop for. She lives in the country in South Carolina and her favorite things are her dogs, a freshly mowed pasture, and sipping her vodka or gin cocktail from a tiny glass (the woman loves tiny glasses). With all that in mind I will admit that I am currently stumped as to what I plan to get her this year. My Dad would absolutely kill me if I got her another dog (they currently have seven if I’m not mistaken), I don’t think I will have much luck at successfully mowing her pasture, and I have given her enough tiny glasses to last a lifetime already. So my dear mother, looks like I have some creative thinking ahead of me. However I promise I will come up with something extraordinary before the 13th!!
Although I am still unsure of what to get my own mom this year, I might be of some help to the rest of you looking for that perfect gift for Mom…
Our dear friend, Meg Moorhouse, has created some truly awesome Mother’s Day gifts! The only reason Meg’s lovely products aren’t solving my Mother’s Day gift dilemma is because I’ve already given many of them in years past (the Mother Decanter Set was a big hit!!!).
Visit her site, Love & Victory, to see the full selection… but in the meantime aren’t these Cut Paper Silhouettes super fun and beautiful! I just noticed Meg does silhouettes of dogs too, so maybe Love & Victory has solved my gift dilemma again afterall. And maybe Flo has a custom cut paper silhouette in her future too!!
Here they are… the handsome and talented Zac Profera and his adorable pup/fox look alike, Shinji.
We are thrilled to welcome Zak + Fox fabrics to Studio Four! I love the color palate of ALL these fabrics, and the designs are so clean and sophisticated. Zak just dropped off the fabric display wings and samples yesterday, and we can’t wait to get them hanging in the new showroom later this month! But they are here so come see them in person anytime.
Here are some of my favorites:
I LOVE this stripe. It's called Takigawa and the colorway shown here is Ink on Natural.
A detailed shot of Takigawa in the Snow/Rust on Natural colorway.
Zak + Fox pillows are available as well as fabrics by the yard.
We are having a custom bench cushion made for the new showroom window seat in the Matsu pattern in the Ink on Natural colorway.
I think the Postage pattern would look amazing on an upholstered headboard with nailhead detail. It is shown here in the Umber on Natural colorway.
Alot of exciting things are happening at Studio Four these days. I haven’t announced this news yet only because the date keeps changing (construction never seems to go as quick as planned), but we are moving into a new showroom any day now! Fortunately, the move will be as painless as possible because we were lucky enough to find a wonderful space in the same building… and on the same floor. It will be fabulous to have more room for new products and the new showroom has the most beautiful light with giant windows looking out onto Broadway.
Our opening party is set for May 17th and we are counting down the days…. so much to be done still! We will not only be celebrating the move, but we have even more exciting news to be announced in May… so stay tuned!!
But for now I wanted to talk a little about a new rug collection we will be launching at the May 17th party. For the past few months, Stacy and I have been working on a line of hand knotted Nepalese rugs that we are calling the Elements Collection. These rugs were inspired by the simple yet beautiful things in life: waves crashing on the beach, reflections in the water, and the quirky and mesmerizing movement of a burning fire. The Elements Collection rugs and samples will be arriving in the next few weeks but in the meantime I wanted to share some art that we found particularly inspirational when designing the Elements Collection.
The artist featured below are some of my personal favorites. I love the color of Rothko, the intensity of Friedkin, and I am dying to see Corinna Belz’s documentary on Gerhard Richter at work! He is amazing!!
Happy weekend to all!
Orange and Yellow, 1956 Mark Rothko
Sculpted Wave, Hermosa Beach, California. Photo by Anthony Friedkin
Surfboard With Setting Sun, Santa Monica, 1980
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket, 1875
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western Railway, oil on canvas, 1844
I was thrilled for the return of Mad Men last Sunday night! Not only is it one of my favorite shows on TV these days, but it also has some of the coolest set design. I was visiting LA last week and stumbled into this great store in Silverlake called Barkeeper. After chatting with the owner for a while, I learned that Barkeeper actually does all of the bar and cocktail set design on Mad Men.
The Interior of Barkeeper on West Sunset Blvd.
1 quart soda siphon from Barkeeper
Luxardo cherries- the perfect addtion to your Manhattan
It’s no secret that Mad Men has done great things for the world of cocktail culture! But the show also has had a steady influence on interior design and architecture. One of my favorite lines from Sunday’s season premiere was “Just because you see white carpet in a magazine doesn’t mean it’s practical.”
I LOVE white carpet! It’s definitely not practical for my life with a 10 month old these days but I still love it, and we are constantly using it in projects. Here our some of my current favorites:
hand knotted rugs in shades of white
white flatweave and shag... plus e Bella's luxurious alpaca boucle and suri fur rugs
The Cable quality from Merida's Sweater Collection
I’m headed to Los Angeles on Friday and couldn’t be more excited! I think our friend, Shanan Campanaro of Eskayel, has had a little something to do with my excitement.
Eskayel’s newest fabric and wallpaper collection was inspired by a visit to the lovely land of Southern California. The Poolside Collection is filled with beautiful blues and patterns that immediately make me think of the ocean and California sunshine.I just love the colors and the fluid patterns that Shanan has incorporated into the Poolside Collection.
Here is my new favorite pattern from Eskayel…
Reflection Linen Fabric in Pool Colorway
Reflection Wallpaper in Pool Colorway
Be sure to check out the complete Poolside Collection. The display boards and wings are already in the showroom and ready for viewing. A computer screen definitely does not do justice to this stunning collection. But here is a preview just to get you excited…. so stop by the showroom soon to see it in person!!
This week’s beautiful weather definitely has me excited for Spring! I love springtime in NYC… the Union Square Farmer’s Market, the Highline, visits with Flo to Madison Square Park, walks across the Brooklyn Bridge- it’s a wonderful time of year.
One of my favorite things about Spring though is the flowers. I recently discovered the Brooklyn based florist, Saipua, and I am loving everything they do! Need to get some of their flowers for the showroom pronto! Here’s their lovely shop in Redhook:
And here are some of their exquisite bouquets…
I’ve also been really excited lately about all of the lovely floral wallpapers that are getting lots of attention at Studio Four. They are fresh and fun and perfect for adding a little Springtime to your home. Here are some of my current favorites:
Oh, ubiquitous ikat pattern- we can’t help but love you!!
Yes, I have seen ikat everywhere over the past few years. Ikat scarves, ikat placemats, ikat shoes, ikat everything…
above: IKAT EVERYTHING
But let’s face it- there is a very simple reason people have been weaving ikat fabric for centuries… it’s beautiful and loved by many!
So we recently designed some Ikat Aubusson Rugs. We wanted to put a new spin on the traditional ikat rugs that we are so used to seeing in the design world these days. We minimized the pattern scale and added a few unexpected colors.
The result is a new collection we are calling Ikat Jewels. Hope you like!
Yesterday, Stacy and I went to a lovely lunch at ABC Kitchen with our buddies Doug and Gene Meyer. Food was delicious (pretzel dusted calamari is always a hit) and the company was fun and entertaining as always! I haven’t laughed that hard in a while.
Gene and I both admitted that we have gotten into a very addicting night time routine: drinking wine and spending hours on Pinterest. For those of you who are yet to follow the Doug and Gene Meyer Interiors Board on Pinterest- it is an absolute must! Gene- you will be happy to know that last night I skipped the wine and instead sipped an Old Fashioned (the cocktail of choice at the Reynolds residence these days) while spending hours being inspired by your board. Now I just need to get to work and create a Pinterest page for Studio Four…
