8 Outstanding Design Books – Holiday Gift Ideas

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I LOVE books, especially inspiring books on design and design history!

And I love to give books to friends, clients, family and my staff in the holiday season.

My own library was started in earnest over 30 years ago – and now includes many books in my office, my apartment in Brooklyn Heights and at my still-pretty-new-very-old house in Connecticut.

I looked through my library to find eight books – new, not-so-new, and old – that I think are true gems that would make excellent gifts!

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Behind the Scenes: Manhattan Dining Room

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In this large apartment in New York City, a large round table was selected for its ‘democracy’ (i.e. no heads of the table), and for how it compliments the nearly square shape of the room.

The 72″ diameter inlaid Pearwood table custom-made by Holly Hunt can seat 8 people without putting in either of the two 18″ leaves, when the table can comfortably seat 12.

The chairs were a customized version of the “Russell” chair from Dessin Fournir, upholstered in a Jerry Pair leather called “City Slickers

The custom area rug was made by Tai Ping in a pattern and density to accommodate very regular use, and to help camouflage any stains if they occur.

The antique cabinet circa 1927 designed by Gio Ponti is made of Italian Fruitwood and has understated neoclassic elements including bronze details.

The chandelier was custom-made by Lorin Marsh on the islands of Murano, in the lagoons surrounding Venice, Italy. The fixture was made using traditional techniques in the manner of a 1940’s original Venetian glass.

The curtain panels were tailored from a Holly Hunt wool satin; the tailored Roman shades in a sheer fabric from Rogers & Goffigon called “Romance”.

The pair of painted portraits are of family relatives long past, and the ink drawing on the Gio Ponti server is by Louis Bourgeois.

#TBT – Michael Kors – Seventh on Sale – 1990

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SEVENTH on SALE 

1990

I designed this temporary Michael Kors booth for the first ‘Seventh on Sale’, an initiative  to raise money for HIV and AIDS created by VOGUE and the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America).

The large photo, an ‘abstracted’ Christy Turlington, was part of their advertising campaign.

Michael’s concept for the opening of the sale was that everything in the space be shades of silver, grey, white & black; although it appears otherwise, this is a full color image!

Michael Kors’ New York Apartment in Remodelista

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Over the weekend Remodelista published a post about the penthouse I designed for Michael Kors and his husband Lance Lepere – with 9 additional pictures of the austere black and white apartment decorated in keeping with Kors’ aesthetic, with iconic pieces by Florence Knoll, Mies van der Rohe, and George Nelson.

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“After a day spent obsessing about color, texture, and ornament, what would you want to come home to? For fashion designer Michael Kors, the answer is an apartment that’s “clean, spare, and simple, but the pieces have presence and quality, which is the same approach I take to designing clothes.”

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Read the full article.

And a big THANK YOU to Meredith Swinehart and Remodelista for creating this fantastic article!

Storage is a Key to Mental Health

Glenn Gissler - Blog - 2014 - Hoarding

American homes are often filled to capacity with STUFF.

We fill our closets, cupboards, attics, basements and garages with stuff – and sometimes rent a storage room (or two) such as a self storage facility in Perth for the ‘extra stuff’ that won’t fit in those other places.

In the nearly three decades that I have been designing residential interiors I have seen a lot of homes – and nearly everyone has accumulated more stuff than they need, want, use, and in many cases don’t even like….

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DLS Day 3 – Brooklyn ‘Makers’ Tour

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Feeling a bit like Marco Polo, I joined in the DLS’s full day tour of the studios of ‘Brooklyn Makers’ organized by Wanted Design founders Claire Pijoulat & Odile Hainaut.

While I had to keep checking a map to see where exactly we were, it was rewarding to meet  and experience members of the rich creative community that’s developed in Brooklyn in recent years. Here are some of the craftsmen I found most interesting…

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