I heart Studio Ilse

Today is a day of recovery. After a bitter snowfall yesterday in NYC and biting winds today and then the whole drama with The Bachelor, I'd say we need some gorgeous interiors to aide in our emotional restoration. I discovered this design firm Studio Ilse that does boutique contract design and they have a line of home goods. They have a unique style and the pictures are just pleasing to look at. I hope you enjoy.

This is from one of their residences in Notting Hill. I love how this organic light fixture echoes the glass one in the next room.

There is the chandelier again in the Notting Hill flat. How much are you in love with those antique medical anatomy prints? I love those and I've been on the hunt for some for quite some time.

This is simple, but I love it. I love the desk, flooring, and circular staircase for this Mount St. Shop.

In the restaurant of the Grand Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden, this neutral kitchen is perfectly organized. I especially love the light fixture; they didn't choose the typical industrial pendant.

I HATE those light fixtures but those aggressive white high backed breakfast table chairs are calling to me.

Stunning. And I love the dark green soft texture contrasted with the shiny smooth gilded screen.

Ceiling. Look at it. And also I feel like even though there are different "conversation areas," as there should be in a hotel common room, this room seems unified. Maybe it's the ceiling.

This huge room with soaring ceilings is made intimate with a fireplace and that cluster of paper chandeliers. I love how they mixed that large traditional sofa with more modern shaped chairs. They could be seen as cold, but not here--the whole room looks so soft.

How amazing was that? I love when hotels are designed like this. They are like a home; like an actual person designed it and not like some formula that they had to follow. They are self described as Modern and emotional design. Makes sense I'd say. Studio Ilse has super creative product design, too. Take a look at it HERE. I know a lot of this is modern/mid century which is not something that usually appeals to me but somehow I'm drawn to it. NOW, who watched The Bachelor last night? HUH? ANYONE?? O. M. G. PS- Don't judge me for that.


Alicia B.

Contempo House in Wyoming.

Okay, this one is better. Remember my blog posting a few weeks ago railing against that hideous concrete mess in Idaho? If not, HERE it is. Anyway, I just have a thing about modern houses set in natural landscapes just to make a statement. Why don't you work with the landscape--it's so rare!? Well, I came across this house above in Western Interiors (amazing mag), and was pleasantly surprised. I feel like they (the couple and the designer) actually gave a little thought to the location of the home. They worked with the landscape and tried to integrate it in a modern sort of way. The house was designed by a couple, Lori Ryker and Brett Nave in Wapiti Valley, Wyoming. Take a look.

The materials that were used were glass, wood, steel, and rammed earth. I'm not sure what rammed earth means but it sounds natural.

You can see right into their living room from the outside, but they don't exactly have close neighbors. I like how the angle of the roof is a mirror reflection of the jutting angles of the mountains behind it.

From the magazine: "We took our cues from the rock formations and their varied colors,” says Ryker. “The exterior forms were shaped by our thinking about the interiors, and we strove to make them an integral part of this wild and beautiful landscape." I think this choice is quite apparent. Well done.

Like the other house, the decor feels a tad stark for my taste, but I know that must reflect the style of the home. The window to the right looks like a framed landscape picture and can you imagine waking up to that view?

What do you all think? Better? Worse? Same? I feel like this home looks like a string of old miners huts on the side of a hill. I like how they respected the old style of the area but brought a little of their modern personality to the site.


Alicia B.

I know I'm supposed to love this, but...

I just can't. As a (wannabe) designer, I realize that this is a very important house, revolutionary idea, etc., but I feel sad instead. This is from the NY Times article, Surrendering to the Landscape and is built by architect Tom Kundig and his wife (also a designer) in southern Idaho. Take a moment to look at that view; isn't it incredible? Then you look down at that cement and glass BOX of a dwelling and you say, OH COME ON. Take a look at the rest of the house:

I'll admit that if I were there where she is standing I'd be just dying over that view, but what if you were on that mountain behind her? She's blocking the view!!

Big block cement wall.

This is their garden. Beautiful rose garden with thick cement walls on either side. What's the point?

I love the idea of the windows on either side of the fireplace. That's amazing.

View of the modular living room.

AMAZING view of the mountains while they make me dinner. This is the kitchen, btw.

Lots of books. For some reason though, that fabric on the chairs doesn't really say contemporary/ modern home in the desert.

This isn't part of the article but it's a picture of an uninterrupted beautiful landscape in the same area as the home above.

I do love some aspects of this home, however it just doesn't feel right to me to place that little block in the middle of something so majestic and beautiful in nature. Is there a way that we can have a neat looking house in the middle of a gorgeous landscape without making it look like that? I get it; it's the juxtaposition of the two forms, but I think it's too obvious. I'm over it. Also, doesn't it seem strange that people are railing about destroying our environment, animal's natural habitats etc, yet we're supposed to be in awe of this home? Up by my parents' home, there is a house that is partially underground. It's SO cool looking and there's just a simple silo coming up from the ground (the rest of the house is built into the side of the hill--and it doesn't destroy the view of the Berkshires. Thoughts? Please don't yell at me.


Alicia B.