happy easter!

all peeps are created equal.

and i hope all my peeps out there are enjoying the heck out of their holiday weekend. xo.

the last 7 days... (part 2)

we ran super late to the westweek events we wanted to attend on thursday- due to a plumbing issue which left the water shut off and us unshowered until about 2 pm, hence my look of consternation. grrr.

but late or not, we still made time to stop and smell the beautiful flowers (it's only design, y'all. running a 'lil late ain't gonna kill anyone). ps, i love my beautiful city of angels, especially in spring.

speaking of beautiful, this colorful display in the PDC of quadrille fabrics makes me happy.

these awesome prints by my friends at ferrick-mason are also happy making (represented in the chic thomas lavin showroom); i also love that this lovely line is 100% designed and made with love here in southern california.  yay for shopping local!

speaking of thomas lavin, james magni gave a standing room only talk and book signing in the lavin showroom the day before, but alas, i had an appointment and was unable to attend. thank goodness his people set aside a copy of his new book "magni modernism" for me, as the showroom sold out during the signing, so i'm very fortunate to have received my preview copy! 

talk about inspring! this glamorous entry way is one of many chic projects featured in the book. i'm really sad i missed mr. magni's talk after thumbing through the volume- i need to soak up everything i can from designers who work on projects of this scale in the hopes it'll rub off on me!

a children's playroom from magni's book. don't know why this one struck in my mind, except it shows that even the most refined designers can stretch a bit, and i also thought this kid's playroom probably had a bigger budget than many entire homes i've done. ;-)

speaking of inspirational designers, i somehow scored an invite to thomas lavin's vendors-only party at his chic hollywood hills home, where i met legendary designer erika brunson for the first time (her furniture collection "erika brunson couture living" is repped by lavin). i totes wanna be like her when i grow up- not only does she design palaces (yes, for reals, palaces), she is also charming, funny, and best of all, donates the profits from her furniture collection to rescue animals, including operating a mobile spay and neuter clinic that services low income neighborhoods. how cool is that? (ps- if you want to see lavin's cool pad in the hills, it's on the newsstands in the lastest issue of interiors magazine. of course, you won't get cocktails and hors d'oeuvres with it like i did).

later in the week, i also went to a packed party at the ralph pucci showroom where i really admired the ruben toledo installation of black and white paintings against bright red walls- it looked so fresh- and pardon the blurry picture, but you know, i had already drank me some wines. ;-)

designer delta wright, photographer john ellis, california home + design editor-in-chief erin feher (sporting the cutest baby bump), moiself, and designer/photographer amy benton, in the pucci showroom. we are all smiling because seconds earlier someone knocked over a kajillion dollar vase and we are all delirously happy it wasn't one of us. ;-)

i ended my week by hiking these steps, up this hill. kicked. my. ass.

but i was so winded, i had plenty of opportunities to stop and admire the native southern california wildflowers blooming everywhere. so pretty. as always, i'm reminded how fortunate i am to live in such a lovely place.

and of course, i ended my week where i am happiest, chilling with the kids.
;-)

the last 7 days, part 1

i started my week by discovering that j.c. penney is now called jcp, and actually has cute stuff i want to buy. who knew? well, so cal social media superstar jonathan lo of happy mundane knew, as he has been pimping cute jcp stuff on his pinterest boards for ages, which led me to take note, and then discover that hot fashion daddy* nick wooster also knew, as he curated a clothing collection for jcp- of which i bought a couple pieces for practically free!

*hot fashion daddy is a phrase i never thought i'd type as those three simple words NEVER seem to go together, much to my disappointment ;-)

see? i bought this bow tie there, and was particularly proud of myself for successfully tying a bow tie for the first time in my many years on this planet. all my prior attempts ended in tears and frustration, so thanks youtube!  normally, i might just keep where i bought my twelve dollar tie to myself, but i'm proud to be able to support j.c. penney as they've been supporting me with their equality-focused ad campaign. love them for that, so please, if you are looking for somewhere to buy cute high-style yet mass market-priced fashion and housewares, find a jcp and spend away! 

i wore my equality tie to a couple of cool parties to kick off westweek, the pacific design center's annual spring market, including a soiree at the beautiful janet yonaty showroom hosted by my friends at california home + design where i laughed and gorged on prosecco and chocolate-covered strawberries. rough life, right?

i also attended another packed house at michael smith's jasper showroom the same evening. i was super bummed i didn't get a picture with teh delightful  amanda nisbet , who i had the pleasure of meeting for the first time that evening. she and i  discussed our mutual friend (and her former employee) the very talented maggie waltemath, of vibrance + chaos. maggie is a designer to watch, as though she is just starting out, i have a feeling i might end up working for her one day! and while i didn't get a picture with my new friend amanda,  i did get a picture of a woman in an awesome hat with crow's wings, so that was almost as good.

westweek is all about the introduction of new fabrics and merchandise from our favorite industry sources, and though these fab velvety outdoor chenilles from donghia aren't new additions to their line,  i still used my time wisely while in the showroom to pull a few samples for a future project. how amazing will these be as pillows on white chaise lounges surrounding a blue pool?  oh yeah, donghia also had a party to celebrate their sponsorship of this year's los angeles antiques show in october (at a new location!) so that is exciting too.  last year's show was great, so i can't wait for this year to be even better.

kneedler fauchere had a party to celebrate 65 years in business, and in-between ogling the hot waiters they hired, i was captivated by this hand painted and lacquered wallpaper from dessin fournir. the lacquering and layered painting and gilding technique really sets it apart from some of the other hand-painted papers on the market. always nice to have more options!

the PDC also has several art galleries housed inside, and i had to stop i to the see line gallery because this colorful and unusual canvas by christopher cichocki caught my eye. scorched earth reinterpreted in unearthly colors = my kind of thing.

this painting by tyler vlahovich at wharton + espinosa also grabbed my atttention as i was walking by. love.

one of my favorite things was installation of 5 large "optic cloud" sculptures in the lobby by local architecture firm predock frane. good job, john!

of course the week wasn't all art openings, fabric shopping, and parties, lots of boring paperwork in the office was accomplished as well (ick), but sometimes our work isn't so boring- like when we get to go an a field trip to warner brothers studio facilities to work with their production people on a furniture piece we are having made...

at warner bros, i didn't just look at art, i made some! (detail of a mixed media assemblage panel i'm conspiring on).  20 bazillion years ago, i went to art school to make furniture before i decided that being a craftperson was not my forte and switched to interior design... so to be able to make art, that will be turned into furniture, for an interior design project is a full-circle bonus moment, and i'm incredibly gratified. i may bitch sometimes, but really, my job is awesome. :-)

and of course, even with all this going on, there was still time to cuddle with teh ones i love. ted's little pink tongue is just the cutest thing in the whole wide word, innit?

stay tuned for the last 7 days part deux!

everything old is new again (a designer's eye at the getty villa)

last weekend, the talented, scott tjaden, one of st. louis' top designers was visiting LA, and that proved a perfect opportunity for two interior designers who were facebook friends to become IRL friends. we spent an afternoon together surveying the fabulous collection of roman antiquities at the getty villa in malibu, and naturally, my eye went to the timeless design of many of the objects in the collection. here's my brief pictorial overview of ancient modernism:

proof that chunky jewelry is a timeless look

i think i saw this in the made goods booth at high point last market

and this vessel could easily be in the kelly wearstlers's home accessories line

z gallerie brass tchotchke, or priceless ancient roman figurine?

is this fab pendant circa 1960 or AD 60?

do you think charles & ray eames based their iconic shell chair on a ancient roman design?

marble mosaic has proven to be a timeless classic

2000 years of klassic klismos

classic modernist form, 2000 years old.

i want this glass serpent for my desk.

and here i thought the w hotels invented backlighting onyx, but it was actually the ancient romans! (ok, this isn't ancient but it cracked me up nonetheless)

i swear i saw this bowl at barney's just last week

and last, here's to centuries of indoor/outdoor living and relaxing water features:

Getty fountain vine.co/v/bdLK7h21aD7
— christian may (@maison21) March 17, 2013

the last 7 days, part II

i started out my week looking at very modern statues of giant animals at robert kuo

and ended it looking at giant statues of ancient gods and goddesses at the getty villa

in between, i marveled my my good fortune to live in paradise

where natures's colorful beauty abounds 365 days of the year

i also visited janet yonaty inc. on melrose, where nature inspired these colorful luigi bevilacqua animal velvets

while there, i literally gasped at the intense colors of this chinoiserie wallcovering by fromental- i want to line a room with this, and then put in nothing but white & chrome modernist furniture...

and this orange malachite inspired fromental wallpaper will be used in a project soon- as god is my witness! so hot. thanks for pulling it out to show me, holly!

i had a dinner meeting at toritillia republic (i am addicted to their jalapeno margaritas) with public relations guru, tamar mashigian, where we laughed and gossiped, all the while plotting world domination...

and reminisced about the evening tamar put together at chic new woven accents showroom the week before- where i had the opportunity to spend time with a few of my favorite LA peeps, disney imagineer (and artist), katrina mosher, and tracy hiner,  goddess of wallpaper at black crow studios (not to mention zak graff, of ensemble zkg, who was just out of camera range). teh four of us had dinner afterwards- and drank more of those tasty margaritas- again, while laughing and gossiping and plotting world domination...

and last, spent some quality time with the ones i love.  this extended paw on the staircase means "please play with me". so i did:

richard #cat #catplaying #catvideo vine.co/v/bdTiJQxF6E7
— christian may (@maison21) March 15, 2013

***for the 1st half of this post, click here and for the unedited, uncut, straight up version of my week in instagrams, follow my feed here.