Monday, April 30, 2012

Random Monday inspirations

Use old linen curtains found at Flea markets to set a rustic table.



Harrison Howard
Use Harrison Howard beautiful wall paintings to create a focal point in any room,
can you imagine a child’s room? Fairytale!




Corridor styling
Use a corridor wall for a design board, or collection of family photos
or inspiring images clipped from magazines.



House Beautiful
Use an empty frame in front of a framed mirror (it can be a more simple frame).



Kitchen Loft style
Use an antique chandelier and luxurious draperies in an industrial style loft.



Silk curtains
Use a contrasting trim on a solid color curtain to make it extraordinary.



Albert Hadley and Schumacher
Use  Schumacher's Tortoise Shell wall covering for a built in cabinet.

Some ideas are simple to replicate and they will make a tremendous impact in your house. All these images and many more are on my Pinterest boards, and I collect them to remind me of the beautiful things I see on other blogs and magazines (sources for above images are on my boards). I am addicted now… and I find it very useful for all my interiors projects, but I admit, sometimes just for the joy of finding beauty!

Follow me on Pinterest and you’ll see what I mean.

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".


Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Three things I like




1. You know I like extraordinary movies (who doesn’t?)
2. You know I like Milan
3. You know I like to talk about I Saloni (also called Design Week).

The result of the above is this post!

During the Design week in Milan one of the most interesting installation takes place at the enchanting Villa Necchi Campiglio, set of the marvelous movie “I am love” by Luca Guadagnino, subject of one of  my previous posts  “An extraordinary house for a movie”.

Villa Necchi is a splendid example of rationalist architecture, surrounded by a park in the very center of Milan and with a marvelous pool, one of the few private ones in this city. It was designed by architect Portaluppi and built in the 1930’s for the Necchi family (Lombardy upper middle class, with a major factory of sewing machines): two sisters, Neda and Gigina and the second one’s husband, Angelo Campiglio.  The villa was donated by them to the Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI) and it is open to the public as a House-Museum.

villanecchi-fabrica-13
The superb stairwell and the colored faux runner created for the event,
repeating the original color of the real one.

The installation is by Fabrica, talent incubator part of  the Benetton group, with the cooperation of important Italian companies, like Richard-Ginori, Moroso and others who re-created 25 objects and small pieces of furniture in the style of the house keeping in mind the lifestyle of the Necchi family, but with a contemporary
eye.


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The Villa classic living room with Murano chandelier, rich draperies,
antiques and a great collection of art.



 villanecchi-fabrica-01
A modern coffee table with long blue fringes amongst antique chairs and sofas.


 
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The veranda has a set of vases recalling the use of double and triple
pane windows in the house.



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The contemporary travel-chair in the corner of the study was
created to match the antique travel-desk of Dr. Campiglio.



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In the huge walking closet (one of the few in 1930 Italy) a hunter-purse recalls the love of
the Necchi sisters for hunting and for collecting fox furs (politically correct at the time).



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The grand entrance to the dining room with the obvious love of a rationalist architect for symmetry. (After Second World War the family called another architect, Tommaso Buzzi, to restore the house and make it more traditional and classic, and more in line with a time of joy after such a big tragedy, this is why we see so different styles).



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A new set of China with the same decor as the ceiling: stars and horses, with traditional recipes of the family printed on the back of each plate (I would love to read them!).



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The classically ornate master bedroom with a contemporary small mirror
reflecting the fringes on the trim of an antique chair.



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For the installation Fabrica has ordered two personalized fragrances, one for each spouse.



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The sisters love for hats induced Fabrica to have a set of boxes in the shape of hats.



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The sister who never married had many admirers so in her bedroom we see
a large vase collecting the notes from gentlemen sending her flowers.



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In the butler pantry we can see some of the original Richard Ginori set of china and
on the small table the set of personalized glasses, all different for each member of the family.



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The family Necchi-Campiglio loved playing cards and
Fabrica has re-created another way of keeping the Poker chips.



villanecchi-fabrica-23
A view of the garden from above, with a beautiful wisteria and an old magnolia; if you think you have seen the statue already in one of my posts…yes! It was part of The Art’s Lady post, back then still in the house of Claudia Gianferrari, art historian who donated part of her collection to this House-Museum.

I also wrote about Villa Necchi in another post, in 2010, during I Saloni, a different installation of contemporary objects took place here.  To see those images read “Old houses and new design”.

A great project by Fabrica, conceived to add new significance to this marvelous house, recalling the lifestyle of its owners.


Photography by Alberta Cuccia

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".


Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Karim Rashid!



Karim Rashid, born in Cairo, half Egyptian and half English, grew up in Toronto and is one of the most creative and diverse designers today,  dynamically touching every aspect of design from  furniture to accessories, sunglasses,  toys, in fact he has over 3000 designs in production, over 300 awards and is working in over 40 countries but still manages to  have fun in the meantime. 

From his website: “In his spare time Karim's pluralism flirts with art, fashion, and music and is determined to creatively touch every aspect of our physical and virtual landscape”.
If you did not visit his website yet…please do it now, if not only for the fun of interacting playing your own music on it. What did I say above? FUN!

Vibrant colors and extravagant shapes are a trademark of this brilliant designer who I had the pleasure of meeting  in Vancouver during IDSWest 2010 (Interior Design Show) to exchange a few words in Italian (he spent lots of time in Milan and Naples, studying design with Ettore Sottsass and others) and the energy he gave the audience was unbelievable, it was a very intense talk and we were scrambling to keep up with notes while he continued moving on the stage, standing, sitting, walking…very entertaining and inspiring. You can read my post on this event, and his philosophy of design, clicking on “Karim Rashid at IDSWest, Vancouver”.

Karim Rashid kitchen
Karim in his kitchen, no fear of PINK! Of this color he says: “It's positive, it's the new black. So many men have issues with anything they consider feminine. I'm trying to break down those gender differences. I want every product I design to soften the world”.
Of course he has a few houses around the world, some simple as the prefab home (cost of about US 5,000 and three days for assembling it) outside new York and others more expensive and elaborated.

Let’s take a peek to some of his interiors:

Karim Rashid Loft
A Loft with his own iconic pieces.


Karim-Rashid-unique-dining-area-582x437
Yellow, pink, blue all mixed together harmoniously.




Karim Rashid Living Room
Talk about Neon colors!…I have to say I love colors but this interior will make me agitated!


Karim-Rashid-living-room-interiors-582x437
Another house, another vibrant mix of colors in the living room: the picture on the wall was taken by Karim while his wife was kissing the shower door!



Karim Rashid bedroom
A bedroom in hot pink, white and purple, the painting on the wall was made by his wife.



Vibrant orange for this bedroom, full of energy.


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A bathroom with funky tiles, pink sinks and red towels


Karim Rashid house
Fresh mint green for another bathroom


Karim-Rashid-Built-in-storage-closet
He also loves RED! We can see it here not just on the carpet but on many of his clothing. Sometimes when I meet a new client for a project I love to see her/his closet, I can judge their preferences in terms of colors by the hues of their clothes, love of neutrals, love of blues, or lots of pastel colors... a major hint on their preferences.



Karim-Rashid-modular-shelving
A modular shelving created by Rashid, here with a collection of fun
and functional objects designed by him.


Karim Rashid and his wife Megan at home
Finally…relaxing at home with  his wife, probably a rare moment in the
life of this energetic and vibrant couple.

***
And now who first answered correctly my question on the previous post:

Congratulations to Princess Fingers Glued Together blog and to the others who took the time to write (you can see their comments on that post).

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".


Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

What House Beautiful is reading this week…


House Beautiful says: What We're Reading This Week


From bold pencils to a recipe for spring, here's our weekly roundup of the Shelter blogosphere.

pencils

The links we clicked on:

Photo: AB

   ***

Brillante Interiors is so happy to be named and so happy to be in such a great company…
Thanks House Beautiful, one of my favorite magazines (the only fault is that sometimes I see the magazine in stores much before it lands in my mailbox but it happens with all my subscriptions…everyone listening?)

     ***
And don't forget to play the game: Can you guess whose house is this?

      ***


©2011 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".


Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Milan musings

I Saloni Milan
Good Monday everyone…
Not much time to blog so I will propose you to read the interesting post
from the Blog Informed, written by Paul Sjaarda, part of the team at Inform Interiors, the iconic furnishings and lightings source in Vancouver.

He is presently in Milan for I Saloni, the annual major furniture fair where I could not go this year, so it is great to be at least virtually in Milan through Paul’s adventures.


cafe
I am going to sip the cappuccino with him in the morning, then take the crowded Metro to the Fairground, when returning to the city centre I will jump on a bike of the fantastic service BikeMi to go to an event at a showroom…


 Brillante Interiors with Barnaba Fornasetti at I Saloni 2011
like this one last year at Nilufar Gallery with Barnaba Fornasetti, son of Piero


Brillante Interiors and Patricia Urquiola at I Saloni 2011
I will have a chat with Patricia Urquiola at another event…then stop for  a pre-dinner drink at Bar Basso (see my previous post on this famous Milanese cocktail place where I started appreciate Alexander, Manhattan, Negroni and of course the huge Mangia e Bevi)



I Saloni 2010 341
and finally, after a nice dinner in Brera area I will go to one (or two?) Design party…



Knoll party I Saloni 2011
So easy and I am not tired yet, it is only virtual, remember?



Brillante Interiors at I Saloni, Milan
Tomorrow is another day and I may rent a Fiat 500 to go to Zona Tortona.

I truly miss the action and the excitement of this crazy-fabulous-fun-exhausting week!

And don't forget to play the game: Can you guess whose house is this?



©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".


Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Can you guess whose house is this?




“Design is about the betterment of our lives poetically,
aesthetically, experientially, sensorially, and emotionally”. 

In the spare time this multifaceted designer flirts with art, fashion, and music and is determined to creatively touch every aspect of our physical and virtual landscape.

Can you guess?…

Please comment only on this post, not on other social media, otherwise it is difficult to track all comments.  I will not publish the comments until the end of next week, so keep writing. The first person with the right answer will have an "honorable mention" and of course a link to the Web site or blog.

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".


Brillante Interiors now offers also online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

900 square feet of colors



Today we’ll visit an open space apartment in Northern Italy, with eclectic interior design, based on vivid colors mixed with neutral pieces of furniture. Colored walls and textiles play with each other, vintage pieces give life and history to the space.



casa-alessandra_4
The living room has an evergreen decorated balcony and a vintage armchair with Designers Guild fabric is the focal point of the room. I love the three panels, instead of most common two, of the off- white linen draperies.



casa-alessandra_1
The kitchen at the end of the living room opens to a terrace through a large French door decorated with three panels of colored fabric.Wood floor all over the apartment creates continuity. I love the colored pendant lights over the dining table and the Elica fan above the stove.




casa-alessandra_2
In the living room a sofa by Designers Guild, whose textiles were also used to upholster the 1950‘s chairs. As you can see the owner loves to mix new pieces with old ones, as the dining chairs, found at flea markets and painted the same color. The coffee table was found in a factory.



casa-alessandra_5
A stunning purple wall creates a division between the hallway and the study, but permitting light to flow from one space to the other.  On the study side a large niche in the new wall became a bookcase,  a Tolomeo floor lamp by Artemide gives light to the old desk. I love the three colors drapery and notice how they gently touch the floor. The bedroom has more privacy, due to the two doors painted in a fresh shade of green.


casa-alessandra_6
A very shallow niche in the corridor serves as shoe storage.



casa-alessandra_7
Even in the bathroom a touch of whimsical, with old wooden boxes
and vivid colors fabric used as open shelves.


No fear of colors here! A fresh and young apartment where old and new live in harmony and where colors create a joyous atmosphere.

Photography by Claudio Sabatino

©2012 Brillante Interiors writes about new trends, timeless decor, iconic pieces, design ideas, or at times just musing about "a certain Italian way of doing things".

Brillante Interiors now offers also  online consultations so please send an email and we can start the process. It will be an investment in happiness at home, a well designed house is always a good part of a great life and a beautiful room will make you happy every time you walk in!
 
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