BRUTAL

January 23rd, 2012

Just got back from Alt Summit, where weather and snow are apparently allowed to happen. Not cool, Utah. Not cool.

I’ll spare you any girly bloggy wrap-ups for now, but just you wait. If I had taken more pictures besides a slew of ‘hold on, wait? is this fucking snow? Is it SNOWING? What?! Why don’t I have a scarf’ shots, there would be so much more blogging happening.

But it snowed.

I was offended.

How dare you, weather.

Nothing was so brutal in Utah as this bit of brutalist wall sculpture waiting for me back home in the desert.

Not even frozen rain.

Even Bowie was offended when I relayed the sudden brutal conditions that I suffered through by relaxing in a hot tub and drinking a glass of whiskey. Life is brutal. Well, brutal in Utah where girls must wander to the state run liquor store and cleverly disguise whiskey at the hotel pool.

Fooled you, Salt Lake.

And yes, I still need to address fixing up the fireplace with a wood mantel and new coat of white paint and plant life and so on, but I am exhausted. There was a lot of meeting of folks and great roommates and talking on panels and parties and other amazing things that went down that now my little introverted heart needs sleep.

Glad to come home to this one thing solved. Feels good to finally find something like art for above the mantel.

BOOM.

FILED UNDER: alt summit, art, decorating, fireplace

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ALT & CAMP

January 17th, 2012

Two things.

ALT SUMMIT is going down this week.

PHOTO / CAMP is coming.

???

It’s all crazytown around here.

Did you notice how I tried to casually slip this by?

Hello, daybed.

This hunk of comfy recently arrived from Alex and I’ve been fiddling with the living room to accommodate it. Too bad I haven’t had time to make all the changes and or finish up the manic futzing that must be done. Hopefully soon, but just not quite yet.

*Try and ignore that badass brutalist wall sculpture, BTW.

And on another note.

Here’s a little preview announcement of something Laure and I have been working on that we’ve christened Photo / CAMP. The first workshop, FIELD GUIDE, shall go down on March 23 in Los Angeles. It will be incredible.

OK, so FIELD GUIDE is an introductory workshop that breaks down digital photo editing in a hands on, no BS way. Bring your photos, bring your computer and bring your questions – no matter what level of experience you bring to the table. We’ll walk you through the process of making any sad photo look amazing.

Full launch and more details to come.

Let’s take it slow and ease into things.

I thought to mention it before being all up in Alt. If folks are curious and also going to be there, I always enjoy a good nerding out on photo stuff.

Oh jeez, so I will shortly be heading out to Salt Lake to speak on the Interior Design Blogging panel with Emily Henderson, Jenny Komenda and Kirsten Grove. It should be a hoot? Yes! So, come and ask naughty questions.

Wait, are you guys going to Alt? This is my first time and I’m not sure what happens. Fight club, probably?

If so, please say hello or give me a high five or something. I’ll be the nervous one actively avoiding being in pictures while also avoiding wearing white whilst also saying wildly inappropriate things at all the most awkward moments.

HIGH FIVES.

FILED UNDER: alt summit, camp, living, travel

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SLING

January 13th, 2012

One of the big design type projects Laure and I have been working on so diligently is a very stylish (come on, obviously) salon in Laguna Beach that’s just recently opened up called Morrison Hair. Located in an older Spanish style bungalow, Rachel and James wanted the space to remain cozy, comfy and inviting like a great house, but still be stylish and modern for getting your hair did.

A particularly important and big need furniture-wise for the waiting area was a pair of chairs that were unusual, comfortable and made you desperately want to sit in them. So of course my first thought was these slingy bad bays that I have always wanted to reupholster.

Yup.

THOSE slingy cantilever bad boys. Pictured above in the BEFORE situation of upholstery hell.

For sure these were living in Ugly Town, USA and must have seemed like a complete stretch, so trust that it took a lot of convincing and begging to get anyone to believe they could be comfortable and stylish and awesome and not just a hot mess of browntown disgusting.

BOOM.

Reupholstered and reimagined.

I always knew they had a kind of Max Gottschalk or Paulistano type vibe buried deep inside their tubular chrome frames.

For the new slings, I decided to go with a bit of an unusual material. Any guesses? Hmmmm?

Screw that nonsense since I can’t shut up about it and am way too impatient. So, these slings are actually made with vintage wildfire tarp! I know. What?!

These tarps are used by my local Park Rangers and Firefighters in the San Jacinto mountains – located just a few miles from this Brick House. When the forest catches on fire, these giant heavy duty waxed canvas tarps are used to move burning brush and burnt up timbers or whatever else is on fire and needing moving. Eventually they get beat up and decommissioned and end up in retirement with this local canvas fabricator type guy I found.

I loved that the material already had this amazing patina and color and was this super heavy duty weight that I couldn’t find with newer fabrics. Plus, who has wildfire tarp chairs? Who?! No one.

Well wait, I guess Morrison Hair does now, BUT come on, don’t you just want to sit in them?! They turned out super sexy and are shockingly comfy to boot. Like a big hug from a firefighter.

Oh man, I can’t wait to show off the rest of the salon. Sorry about these few quick snaps I tried to grab.

We have a few finishing touches and a photo shoot to do, but I’m desperate to post the rest of the space. It turned out pretty much spectacular with a few custom features that are killer and was an overall great project to work on with some truly outstanding folks.