What is that?

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” Edgar Degas.

The famous quote reminded me to share this story because I have seen this image of one of our projects, The Fieldstone House, a number of times. I had noticed the art, but never really took the time to think about it.

Once the project was completed and ready for photographing, the homeowner realized she did not have artwork for the large wall yet. So to temporarily fill the space she created the large modern wall art piece out of construction netting, typically seen at constructions sites as warning fences. This stuff:

Can you believe it? Genius right?

It's so easy to assume the art was a very expensive piece, cost wise, but it turns out it is a priceless piece and one of a kind too!

SFDS 2015 - It's a Wrap, Thanks to All!

So concludes the 2015 San Francisco Decorator Showcase House. We had a great time designing and executing a wonderful little space for a lucky young guy. Much thanks and gratitude to the homeowners, the staff at University High School, Jenny Bitner, and Thelma Garza. The event could not happen without you all!

Thanks to our construction team at Cook Construction; Greg Cook, Maija Markula and Jesse Beyer for putting our space together.

For our well lit space, many thanks to Lighting Designer Claudio Ramos of Banks Ramos and his team Linda Cooper of Lighting Systems and Tim O’Keefe of Luminii.

For our finishes and materials, big hugs to Helena Jausas of Spec Ceramics who outright donated the  large format tile. A big shout out to Steven Stolman at Kohler for donating all of the plumbing fixtures, and to Jonathan Graves and Shonda Dawson of Dal Tile for their help with the glass mosaic tile.

For the showstoppers, the bathroom wouldn’t have been possible without the generous help from Sozo Studios’ Cynthia Miyashita, Josie Biteng and Allyssa Kucera who designed and fabricated the gorgeous vanity for us.  Alex Blair and Joseph Radovilsky, owners of J&A Stone and Tile for helping us make a splash with their tile installation. And of course to the guys (gals) at DM+A: Rachel Malchow, Lisa Woo, Lannette Guerra and Danielle Johnson, without whose tireless efforts the project wouldn’t have happened.

Last, but surely not least, let's give thanks for the art. Thanks to local SF street artist Jeremy Novy for his awesome installation of the 'No Diving' symbol, and to Lisa Chadwick and Melissa Ross with Dolby Chadwick Gallery for loaning us the lovely artwork.

Thank you all!!!!!

San Francisco Decorator Showcase - Bathroom Fetish

Well, we all did it! Opening night at the 2015 San Francisco Decorator Showcase House was a night to remember. Congrats to our fellow designers, your rooms are inspiring and oh so cool! On trend this year are textured and patterned wallpapers, high gloss reflective ceilings and draperies with gorgeous adornments. Many of the spaces take on a very masculine or feminine feel.

Since we designed Karter's Bathroom this year, this post is dedicated to the bathrooms in the house. These rooms go beyond utilitarian; they're space to brighten your day, to soak in, literally and to refresh your soul.

Karter's Bathroom, for the families young, sophisticated son, was inspired by the David Hockney piece "Swimming Pool with Reflection". The over scale "No Diving" wall/ceiling art, installed by San Francisco Graffiti Artist Jeremy Novy is a playful nod to the swimming pool diving board and the modern art piece Atmosphere River V, 2015 by Artist, Hunt Rettig in synthetic rubber and acrylics encapsulated in a polyester film, read as sunlit water in the pool. Big thanks to Lisa Chadwick and Melanie Ross at Dolby Chadwick Gallery for providing the artwork in our space this year.

For the families daughter, Nest Design created the ultra feminine, Lips Bathroom. The vanity sconce light fixtures are a must see! Thank you Rob J Photos for the images.

Two other spaces with feminine appeal is the ultra glam En Vogue Salon designed by the fabulous Tineke Triggs of Artistic Designs for Living. Every detail in this space was accounted for, from the mesh fabric used as window sheers to the ceiling treatment. I want to live in this space! Julie Rootes designed the beautiful Powder Room full of glitz and glamour. That tile, that sink, that wallpaper, need I say more!

There are so many more amazing spaces to mention, but so little time. Please visit the showcase house and see for yourself, but if you don't have the chance, SF Curbed showcases the house in all it's glory, thanks to the amazing photography by Patricia Chang Photography. Check out the house here.

Demo Done. Hard Hat Party On!

Being a part of the San Francisco Decorator Showcase is not all work, and no play. With demolition complete, our California Cool Bath project is moving along as planned. So with work in order, we will play. The Decorator Showcase House is in demo mode, so why not have a party? That's exactly what happened. Last week we attended the 1st of many parties for the showcase house - The Hard Hat party. A time to appreciate the beautiful 9,700 sq ft home designed by Architect Julia Morgan and to catch up and connect with fellow designers and vendors.

Connecting we did. It was so awesome chatting with Alexandra Ray of Five Senses Art, about that perfect piece of art for our showcase room. Thanks for sending your ideas, Alex! Love the idea of a skateboard for a young boy's space - Spin Yellow, 2009 by Damien Hirst is super cool.

Also a big thanks to Thelma Garza, Director of Events and Special Projects at San Francisco University High School for keeping us in the loop and making things happen!

Looking forward to the April 25th Opening Party to be blown away by all of the creativity and sheer gumption from the many top designers of this years showcase house.