I Love Lamp: Hotel Libraries

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I was poking around Hotel Chatter the other day (because a promotional poster I designed for NU Hotel's new Sleep It Off package made the site) and I came across this great bit comparing the libraries of two new, very cool hotels here in New York: NoMad and The Wythe. NoMad is a luxurious slice of hotel life on 28th St. and Broadway. When it first opened last year I read something about the rooms being designed to feel like a mix of the New York and Parisian apartment you wished you always had. YES.

Needless to say, their Library--which is also part of their bar-- is splendid.

I went and had drinks there this summer with my Mom. We sat on the couch on the bottom left of the photo and drank classy cocktails with egg whites in them and whatnot. It was DEFINITELY not this dark, which I must say, would be very not reading friendly.

There are 3,500 books in The Library, all hand picked by Thatcher Wine who owns Juniper Books in Boulder. He says he picked them all while "working closely with the developers, designers, and restaurant operators". All the titles on the lower level were "chosen by subject and is organized that way - entire sections of books about France, New York, music, wine and food, etc."

I must admit I remember the cocktails better than the book selections, if only because the vibe was unfortunately very "do not touch".

On the other end of the spectrum is the library at The Wythe, that hotel in an former textile factory in Williamsburg that I'm jonesin to have a staycation at. Let's take a gander at their gorgeous rooms again, shall we?

Their library is decidedly less formal than that of NoMad, chock full of Idiot's Guide To's, Hardy Boys, Snookie biographies, and board games:

Kudos for the hip/kitch selections that very much reflect the playful air of Williambsurg but DEAR GOD what is happening with the display strategy here? For a hotel that otherwise looks like it was styled down to the seams, this just looks... kind of slap dash.

Before I go, here's one last hotel library thought: did you know there is a place in Midtown called The Library Hotel that is inspired by the Dewey Decimal System? According to their website:

Each of the 10 guestroom floors honor one of the 10 categories of the Dewey Decimal System and each of the 60 rooms are uniquely adorned with a collection of books and art exploring a distinctive topic within the category it belongs to.

I was all revved up to learn about the Dewey Decimal categories and the book selections in each room, but I just cannot for the life of me find out any actual book information on the website. It's all about free Wi-Fi and continental breakfast. Ah well. Someone will just have to stay there and tell me about it.

(All photos via each hotel's website, excluding the Wythe Hotel library ones which are from Hotel Chatter.)

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Patriotic Party Decor

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Last night Steven and I had some friends over to watch the VP debate so we could all enjoy some "facts" and wine together. Since I love an excuse to decorate anything, I had my eyes out for red and blue crepe paper all week but alas, I couldn't find any in time. I DID however find some red and blue candles at our bodega that I then oh-so-classily adorned with a multitude of American flag stickers.

Much to my great happiness, one of our guests showed up with red and blue flowers that were literally oozing with their patriotic colors.

And don't worry-- I saved enough stickers so that we could all wear one on our lapels BECAUSE WE LOVE AMERICA and all this election #malarkey #stuff.

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Verner Panton Chairs in Eastern Bohemia

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I'm not a church going gal, but if I were, and if I lived in the village of Chodovice in Eastern Bohemia I would DEFINITELY get my godly time on at this church designed by Jakub Berdych and Maxim Velcovsky:

Holy Verner Pantone chair! I ADORE this combination of old and new as well as the use of carpets that are much more frequently found in mosques. In the words of the designers themselves:

The central nave has been stripped of dull repaints and left totally exposed so that visitors can watch the course of history on fragments and details on the wall...This space is an eclectic cocktail and a place to ponder, moving us towards cultural dialogue.

I also find it kind of hilarious that the designers note--

although they had known that as a result of this work they would lose the warranty of several years provided by the legendary manufacturer of the Vitra furniture [by carving out the crosses in the chairs], they were not afraid to experiment.

Throw the warranty to the wind, I think it's an experiment that's been pulled off superbly well.

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: And I LOVE Stupid Quizes

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My favorite part of Seventeen magazine was always the quizes. What's Your Love Style? What Kind of Friend Are You? Hell, I'll admit it-- I even made up my own quizes for myself just for fun. (I know.)

So of course I was THRILLED to find a link on Apartment Therapy to HomeGood's Stylescope quiz!

Click the link above, mark the 5 photos that "speak to you" and voila! You are now a design type.

I am...

Oh HELLS yes I am!

I like that the quiz gives you a little assessment of what the label means and then gives you some design tips that relate to you. For example, I have been directed to use my "exotic textiles" in my decor, perhaps as a funky ottoman cover. DONE.

I know, it's kind of ridiculous and cramming us all in little boxes that don't actually illustrate our individuality... but it's so satisfying! I love it.

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Design in Miniature/ Eff Yeah Dollhouses!

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I just came across this link to a dollhouse made out of bookshelves and thought, Cool design idea.

Then I thought, I should look up some more dollhouse stuff online.

And then it was suddenly ten hours later.

My earliest design experiences were all with dollhouses. My first dollhouse was a Sylvanian Family home in which a bear and bunny family cohabitated.

(Photos via here and here.)

Yes, all in a one bedroom house. But hey, they were originally from the woods--what did they care? This was DEFINITELY an upgrade for them.

My parents love to remind me that they often caught me playing with them, earnestly singing the 80s commercial theme song: Sylvanian Families.. Each sold separately!

When I was about eight I got a “real” dollhouse—“real” in that the place was populated with a human family and had a much more realistic bathroom and bedroom count for the inhabitants. My mom and all her design skills persuaded me to go for a Victorian style house, complete with fancy folks to populate it to whom I gave snooty English names like Victoria, Charles, Henry and Elizabeth. I spent lots of time rearranging the furniture and collecting decorative pieces like fireplace fans and faux-marble busts—essentially being my Mom.

We painted it lilac--to match my room of course--and it looked a little like this:

Without the 30% OFF sticker hovering in the air of course.

Cruising the internet for that picture I came across this super cool lazer cut Victorian dollhouse kit:

Part of me was a tad tempted to consider getting it, until I saw the photo of what it looks like pre-assembly:

Mother of god! This might be THE least encouraging DIY kit photo I've ever seen.

But back to this dollhouse-and-design train of thought: Want to make an Ikea design nerd real happy and maybe a little creeped out? Get him/her this adorable miniature set:

And by "him/her" I just might mean "me for Christmas this year".

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: More Glamping!

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This weekend I'm heading up to Vermont for the wedding of a dear friend. It's being held at the summer camp where she and the groom first met eons ago. All of us young'ins are going to be staying in the cabins, having bonfires and skinny dipping at midnight. Had I opted for the camping option I would have surely brought along one of these hilarious tents from Field Candy:

Except for the fact that I forgot to set aside $780 for a tent I'll use twice a year.

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Get Those Guitars Out!

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I've been meaning to hang my guitars since the day we moved in TWO YEARS AGO. (How does that happen?!) Finally, the other day I did it and I'm so pleased. It's no longer an ordeal to get them out of their cases that are stuffed awkwardly in our closet. They're just hanging there on four plain nails, ready to go.

I highly recommend this approach in general-- having something you like to play with readily available-- because it's amazing how easily deterred we all are by having to take something out of storage. And what a silly reason to not do something you love.

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Tabloid Table?

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I just came across this coffee table via Design Sponge made from back issues of W magazine and coffee table glass:

I've been holding onto a circular glass coffee table top for two years now and I think I now finally know what to do with it! The only question is, which of my many magazines should I prominently display? I could always do our many back issues of the New Yorker... OR I could admit to the world that I have subscription to Us Weekly. That's right. A weekly subscription to one of those trashy tabloids that sane people like YOU only sheepishly flip through while in line at the grocery store.

You can come over to my house and get your celebrity gossip on any time.

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Pool Me

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Complaining about weather might be one of THE MOST BORING THINGS EVER-- just beating the retelling of nonlinear dreams for first place-- so I'm just going to say that I'm really feeling pools right now... I love the shape and black outlining of the one at the Raleigh Hotel in Miami:

And how about this pool party at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs?

The last pool party I went to was for my reunion at Pitzer College. After my class graduated, the school began some epic construction projects that resulted in an entire new suite of green dorms that surround the outdoor pool. AMAZING IDEA Pitzer.

And simply because we're on the topic of pools, here's a photo of me and Steven last year at the pool at our rather run down hotel in Bamako, Mali:

Hey, at least there was beer.

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Paint That Something Crazy

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I came across a slideshow of unconventional paint jobs the other day. I'm really digging the one on the right. It kind of feels like the whole room was dipped in paint.

Maybe the blues are also just reminding me of swimming pools. Oooooh... swimming pools... Did I mentioned it's been in the 90s all week? I'm almost tempted to go to the King & Grove hotel pool that was written up in the NY Times last week with this hilarious caption:

With the midday sun overhead, the poolside setting evoked a twisted version of Miami, where the revelers are paler, covered in more ink and have no abs.

Yeah, we pretty much live in a twisted Miami here in Brooklyn.

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Moroccan Trip

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This week I've been doing some translation work for that documentary that took me to Morocco this past spring. It's been so satisfying to watch it come to life and become a real movie.  So, naturally, Morocco has been on my mind, and that's why this Friday's I Love Lamp post is all photos I took on that trip of some of my favorite Moroccan design elements.

#1: I am a whitewash freak and I love that Moroccans are too. I love how clean and simple it is. It's a real staple of village decor. (Is that weird thing to say? Village decor?) I WANT TO WHITEWASH EVERYTHING.

#2: Rooftop terraces where you can sip some tea and listen to the sunset call to prayer ring about the sky.

#3: I love me some Moroccan textiles. Especially when used against plain white (whitewash!) or a striking blue.

#4: The dappled light of handmade lanterns. Serene. Sexy.

#5: Tiles! The intricate, hand-chiseled mosaics below are called zelij. LOVE 'em. They're so trippy and bold. That said, I also adore the more simple, French country-style tiles that made it to Morocco via colonization like the black and white ones pictured after the zelij.

#6: Blue doors. I find them welcoming but apparently they're not to everyone-- they are painted that color to ward off evil.

#7: Crazy old riads just waiting for a little love. This abandoned place is next to my host-family's apartment. I've been eyeing it since 2004.

Sometimes, when I can't fall asleep at night, I imagine how I would restore it. And when I say imagine, I mean, I'm placing where the goddamn electric outlets will go. I have mentally designed EVERY CORNER OF IT.

The neighbors have told me that once upon a time it was a really grand "two door, four woman" house, meaning the guy who owned it was rich enough to have four wives and a separate servants' entrance. BALLER. I'm gonna have a lot to live up to.

(What is I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Boucherouite Rug Chairs

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Boucherouite rugs from Morocco have gotten pretty hot in the States. Funnily enough, they're rag rugs made from scraps and while adored by a lot of foreigners, I've NEVER seen one proudly displayed in a Moroccan's home. Anthropologie is now selling chairs made from them:

For a mere $1,898 you can own a chair that makes your head spin an endless cycle like this:

"So cool--so Morocco--so modern--or, wait--so... Grandma's weird old rug from her faux-wood paneled basement? No! So cool--so Morocco--so..." and on and on. At least that's what the voice in my head is saying. But then again this is the voice that's currently telling me some anchovies would go really good with my iced coffee right now.

I'm not even joking.

(What’s I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Crazy Feet

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The other day my Mom gave me this miniature version of John Dickinson's "African Table". (She's an interior designer, so she comes across things like this more than say, you might.) It's pretty damn cute.

I haven't decided where it's going to live or what, if anything, is going to live on top of it. Part of me is tempted to make a mostly useless object even more useless by putting useless things that I love on it. Like the button egg my friend Juliana made me. Or the piggy bank that Steven made in elementary school whose mouth we stuff with our foreign bills.

Or our Porous Walker tambourine toast or a Malian teapot that leaks.

Or MAYBE I'll actually try to reach that desired design balance of form and function and actually use it for something useful. Like as a home for my phone which I feel like I'm constantly losing in my apartment.

By the way yes, I have not joined the smart phone revolution yet. Feel free to text me any time with your Intagram photos that I won't be able to download.

(What's I Love Lamp? This is I Love Lamp.)

I Love Lamp: Staycation at the Wythe Hotel

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Steven and I are sticking around Brooklyn for most of the summer and the opening of the oh-so-borough-chic (and former textile factory) Wythe Hotel has got me thinking about a staycation...

At the very least I need to go enjoy a drink on their 6th floor outdoor bar. I've heard mumblings that it's actually kind of hard to get into on the weekends and that the staff is hit or miss, but I can only imagine that they've been overwhelmed having opened just a few weeks ago.

By the way, the wallpaper is custom made by artist Dan Funderburgh with Flavorpaper. I love that it is somehow both bold yet subtle, and classic yet modern. It's got me thinking... WHAT CAN I WALLPAPER?!

(All photos from the Wythe Hotel website.)