I have been enamored by Rose Uniake's home. Every inch has been thought through, every mundane cord hidden. Every detail is handled, and handled in a beautiful way. It's a marvelous inspiration for how your home can serve your life.
Her home was built in 1861 for James Rannie Swinton, a society portraitist. Rose herself got into the industry by restoring antiques. Her mother is also an antiques dealer with a shop not far from Roses.
Read MoreWhile perusing the February Architectural Digest I was stopped in my tracks by the amazing thoughtful and deliberate penthouse designed by Rafael de Cardenas. The skillful use of beige combined with other elements to keep it from looking like a sepia photograph. The limestone and brass mantel, the beige Malachite finish on the ceilings, light herringbone wood floors all combined with really bold moments make this penthouse a masterful expression.
I took this shot with my phone...sorry for the quality.
The entire home was designed around the above pair of armchairs, created in 1958 by Joseph-Andre Motte. They're upholstered in soft leather the color of sand. "I totally fell in love with them, and I never fall in love with beige things," says De Cardenas, acknowledging his reputation for dramatic color. "Then I got into this whole beige-on-beige fantasy, like Armani in the 1980s, and she (the client) started teasing me that I was going through a beige phase."
Can we talk about that ceiling? I've honestly been obsessing over this very pattern of outsize slices of malachite (if malachite was anything but green) for years. I first imagined it in a gray toned concept, I love it in beige though. I'm currently having it done in a radically different colorway of nearly fuchsia in a client's dining room.
How incredible are those kitchen cabinets? Wonderfully imaginative. The bespoke hardware was done by E.R. Butler and Co.
Again I took this with my phone...
I had to include an image, even a poor one, of the breakfast banquet area. The chicest banquet I've seen. Very classy. I love how the photo based framed grouping by Walead Beshty add color to the space.
Here's the bold color that Rafael is known for! I can't get this space out of my mind. The reason it works is because everything else is simple and traditional. When going with a bold element in a space the rest of the room must be more restrained to keep it from being a funhouse type look. Check out Rafael's firm Architecture at Large.
I found these great images on Houzz by Coffee with an Architect. It may help explain to you why your designer is so weird. We just come by it naturally, or our Latteintakeus Caffiene Ventricals (that's E on the second diagram down y'all) are depleted and need to be refilled to the optimum 3/4 again. ;)
I love clever people.
This weekend was really great. I've been testing out a new schedule to prevent burn out and it's been working out great. Part of that schedule is taking Sunday off completely. No work at all on Sunday. So far I haven't made it the entire day, but even most of the day has been incredibly helpful to me, and my husband appreciates it too ;).
I did something huge y'all! I can't wait to share. Probably in my next Day In A Life I'll share.
Have a great week!
If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love contact me to learn more about Jamie House Design interior design services.