A Tiny Retreat

I absolutely love this little cottage in the woods!!! The New York Times featured it on Thursday in the Home and Garden section. [here] I would love to even have a place as little as this for an escape from the city.

I've always dreamed of having a beautifully decorated tree house in the woods. I remember when I was young my neighbor had a tree house. It was always our meeting point where he and I would map out the days events of tree climbing, hiking, bike riding and whatever else we could conjure up. After I became a teenager and Ryan moved away, my tree house became the canopy bed past down from my mother. The feeling of having an enclosed retreat always seemed to fulfill my nesting needs. When I first moved to Brooklyn, I bunked with 4 other roommates in a built-up a loft apartment. The space was about 1,000 sq. ft broken up into 6 different living spaces and my bedroom was 8ft by 8ft. It was tiny! But so cozy. My father built me a lofted bed where underneath I could store my clothes and above I could nestle into my bed. I guess that's why living in a 450 sq. ft apartment now feels like the plenty of room. Seeing the little cottage reminded me of the piece Domino did a few years back.

I searched through my archives for it, and couldn't find that issue. (I hope I have it somewhere) but luckily other bloggers have written about Linda Aldredge's woodsy escape (Thanks Spirit Cloth). This tree house if I can remember correctly, the Aldredge's built themselves. The eco-friendly house also runs on its own, as they added solar panels on the roof. Doesn't this place seem like a wonderful getaway!

Tree houses have really been on my mind lately, I think it's because I am reading the novel Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It's a fictionalized story about Mamah Borthwick's love affair with Frank Loyd Wright. Although I heard stories about how he was stubborn and in some cases a bit of a tyrant about his designs, this book brings a lighter note to his personality. His love of nature and organic architecture really wasn't such an abstract concept, I think everyone wants to live in a home that brings in the outside in. Even in Manhattan, having a place with natural light is a high priority. I'm so thankful of how where I live, we can hear the birds in the morning. Sometimes, we'll even have the occasional mourning dove visitor on our fire escape.

NYT photo credits: Trevor Tondro - Tree house: if anyone knows the photographer, please tell me. I can't find the name on the blogs that posted the pictures.

Mad Men

AMC's Mad Men is back this Sunday (July 25th), and like many other people I'm excited! It's a cult phenomenon that has effected the country's design aesthetic by inspiring us in the way we dress (please see Banana Republic [here] and QVC [here])

Raise the martini glass: Banana Republic and "Mad Men" are collaborating again. Photo courtesy of AMC/Banana Republic

and even the way we design our interiors (ie. Design Within Reach [here]). I mean haven't you all noticed the resurgence of mid-century modern furniture in the past few years? Not only is this show full of beautiful people and interesting story lines, but also (in my opinion) it has one constant character, makes it so great. The set design.

Photos courtesy of Interior Design Magazine and The New York Times, photographer: Carin Baer

The designer Amy Wells is wonderful with creating period interiors that feel authentic, and in some cases entirely modern. Her work can also be seen in the beautiful film, A Single Man. I must admit, I was very excited when I noticed the fabric on Charley's headboard is the same kind I plan on using on my Louis Chairs!

I found an interesting interview by Interior Design Magazine with Amy Wells, you can read Conquest of Cool [here]. I also read an article published in The New York Times this past Sunday called, Back to Work for 'Mad Men' [here] which discusses the changes that will be happening in the new season. Can't wait.

Happy Bastille Day!!!

Oh the Irony. Hope you all had a great Bastille Day!

Paris, I miss you

Just a few more miscellaneous photographs from my most recent trip to Paris.



Top to bottom-left to right:  Notre Dame, just after the storm - Young girl playing with a sail boat in the Luxembourg gardesn - A traditional Parisian breakfast - The Canal at Versailles - Lighting in the Jardin du Palais Royal - Place de Concorde - Mixed jars of food, location unknown - Artazart Design Bookstore - Garden in Versailles - The Canal St. Martin

All Photographs by: Lauren Gries

"I'm one to look back in order to move forward" - Thomas O'Brien

photograph by: Lauren Gries

Last week I wanted to write a witty post about how as we celebrated our independence, we should also be remember how much of England we owe our lives to American in interior design, music, fashion etc. Well I didn't get around to it soon enough to do the post so I just decided to forget about it. However, tonight as I was reading through the new Thomas O'Brien book American Modern, his introduction basically explains my thoughts perfectly.

"Although I'm often referred to as a modern designer, my job is, I think, more about editing what has come before and making it into something new. I've always felt you can't move ahead unless you know where you're coming from, in order to really decide what you want to take with you and what to leave behind. In American design, that entails a particular debt to English and Continental influence, filtered through colonial assimilation, rural enormity, and the intensity of the city. Remixing those ingredients - making that mix your own - what I like to practice. I do believe there is something in that process which is quite American in spirit, ultimately modern in implementation."

O'Brien goes further to say

"Practicality, industry, boldness, scale. Simplicity and sincerity. Innovation. These are the ingredients of American modern style."

Betsy Burnham's dresser seen on Decor Demon

Maybe it doesn't fully explain what my post would have been about, but it describes the ideas I would have liked to evoke. I have grown up in America and fully appreciate what this country has to offer and has given me in my life. However, I feel that there are too many people in America who forget about where and how this country came about. If it weren't for England, we wouldn't have America. There would definitely be a country here now, but it just wouldn't be the same. In any case, whether it be an understanding of our country or just anything that we enjoy in life, I think it really important to have an understanding of where and why that came from. I would see it so much in college where people would want to make something that referenced a certain style of design, or just 'liked' something, but never actually took time to research what that style was and why it even existed. I have to say, that would drive me crazy!

"Design can be many things to many people, but to me, it has always been about tradition in modern life. I am guided by traditions, both inherited and studied, which I will bend to the moment I'm living in. I'm one to look back in order to move forward." - Thomas O'Brien

On a lighter note, I'm really impressed by O'Brien's new book. Although I'm only a few pages into the text (there is more than the usual design books), I have flipped through the photos and have already chosen a few favorites. Above are images pulled from aero studios and Laura Resen, the photographer.