Ace Hotel, Palm Springs

I know I’m a little late in the game posting about the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs.  I’m sure all you hipsters out there have already been there, done that, but given its awesomeness I also know that you probably won’t mind seeing a few nice pics…

For those of you who haven’t been, the Ace is a wonderful hotel tucked into the mountains in the south end of Palm Springs.  It used to be a Howard Johnson but was recently completely renovated and updated into the most hip, un-kitch mid-century oasis one could ask for.  Its almost like mid-century modern hipster camp.

We usually love being out in Palm Springs, exploring architecture and all the funky consignment and vintage stores, but we didn’t even leave the grounds of the hotel once.  Between the pool, restaurant and our perfect little room with private patio we couldn’t think of a reason to leave.

I highly recommend!

The view from my lounge chair at the pool.

my frosty beverage.

lounge chairs by the pool

the counter in the super yummy restaurant, I loved the tile shown here which is used generously all over the hotel.

lounging in bed, that’s the control to my son’s RC car.

OM-burr

My girlfriend, who is also a designer, and I were having a conversation about how much we love ombre.  Something I’ve noticed when it comes to discussing ombre, is that everyone says it differently and no one really knows if they have it right.  Like ikat, is it eye-cat, ee-cot?  It’s ee-cot, BTW…

Anyway, I brought this up to my girlfriend because she was pronouncing ombre the way that I most hear it – hombre, like ‘man’ in spanish.  I’ve always pronounced it om-bruh, with the uh almost silent.  I don’t hear many say it that way though.  I thought it was a french word, hence my attempt at proper pronunciation, but I wasn’t sure.  So I looked it up.

Ombre is the french word meaning shades.

It is pronounced OM-burr.

 

more to come…

I have been in the process of having a client’s home photographed.  I am really bad at having homes and spaces that I have worked on photographed by a professional.  For some reason it seems like a far more daunting task than the actual working on the space.

It’s a forever impression captured in stillness that represents my self expression.  There’s a lot of pressure to get it right.

I still have to get a few more shots in this home, but here’s a little teaser.

photo by Adrienne Cohen Isom

algue

When I worked for Vitra they came out with this product called Algue.  I loved it and wanted to find an opportunity to use it.

Then I forgot about it.

I have been looking for something to put on the wall above a client’s dining table for months with no luck.  The objects that I have found have been out of budget, and even more challenging, my client didn’t want anything to cover the grasscloth that we had installed on that wall.

So I have been looking for something with presence, that is interesting and has a light airy quality that allows the shimmery grasscloth to shine.

I was at Dwell on Design in June and it hit me.  I walked past a display with some poorly executed Algue in it and I knew that it was perfect.

I told my client about it and we ordered it right away.

We ordered 2 boxes of the product, each box includes 25 approx. 12″ x 10″ pieces.  My client and I spent a day last week assembling the Algue ourselves and are quiet proud of the result.

What do you think?

We started assembling on the dining table.  This is 4 pieces of Algue snapped together with little pegs that are provided.

We kept holding it up to the wall to see how we liked it.

We realized that in order to keep adding on to it we would need to mount the piece to the wall.  It was becoming unruly to move it from the table to the wall.

In this image the algue sculpture is nearly done, we added a few more on the right side and decided to walk away for the day to live with it and see if we wanted to add more.  When we know its complete, I’ll share a few pics of it in the space.

outdoor chairs

When I was selecting a few chairs that I wanted to recommend this summer, it wasn’t my intention to go with a theme.  Yet, here we are with a grouping of chairs, none of which have arms.

So there you have it.  Some great chairs for outdoors sans arms…

The Soleil Sling Chair from Serena & Lily  might be my personal top pick for the summer…

The Covina Lounge Chair from Lawson Fenning is my kind of mid-century simple.

 

Naida, from Anthropologie, an earthy nod to the Coconut Chair.

Sol y Luna Armless Lounge Chair through DWR, bold sculptural goodness.

Egg Chair through Potted.

in the pines, in the pines

We went camping in Big Basin Redwood State Park over 4th of July.

I’ve been to Santa Cruz before, but had no idea the splendor that is just about an hour away up a long windy road into the redwoods.

It was so beautiful.

When we got out of the car once inside the park and looked up, this was our view.

The trail to our hike-in campsite.  It wasn’t a long walk, but just enough to make it feel like we were really in nature.  The cars were out of sight, out of mind, but close…

Our campsite.

I loved the delicate texture of the moss on the rough tree bark.

A beautiful Madrona tree.

The Madrona up close, again a beautiful juxtaposition of textures.  The bark was the most rich umber color and the bare trunk beneath had hints of chartreuse and peach peeking through the red…

valspar and habitat for humanity

Back in February I styled 3 different video spots for Valspar Paint.  The first was with Molly Sims, the second with Lauren Conrad and the third with Padma Lakshmi.

Every time you view and share one of these videos, Valspar will donate $1 to Habitat for Humanity.

Have a look, let me know what you think and PLEASE SHARE!!!  You can view all 3 and find out your perfect pallet at the Valspar facebook page.

gaultier at the de young

I was up in San Francisco this past weekend and had the opportunity to visit the newly opened Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the De Young Museum.  I have never been an avid follower of Gaultier, but I have to say that the exhibit was stunning and his work inspiring.

Here are a few of my favorites.

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dwell on design 2012

We went to Dwell on Design last weekend and it was great.  Not amazing, but good.  I think I was so impressed last year that it was just a tad bit of a let down this year.

Here were some of the highlights for me…

This color adjustable light box made me think of James Turrell

so cute by modfire

joey roth planters

Kishani Perera designed space in partnership with West Elm

Geometric by Bend

Terra Trellis

The Kohler shipping container display