Needing, Wanting, Loving: A Canopy Bedhanging

This past week has been a whirlwind of excitement at Amanda Nisbet Design.  Over the last year, we have been working on an exclusive furniture line for One Kings Lane produced by Niermann Weeks, and the line officially debuted last Thursday here.  One Kings Lane also featured an interview with Amanda to discuss the new line and a tour of her Manhattan apartment.  My favorite room in Amanda's home is her bedroom.  She has a gorgeous tufted headboard with a surrounding bed hanging made of Fortuny and Manuel Canovas fabrics:

I think every designer I've worked for has shaped my design preferences a bit, and there's no doubt Amanda has encouraged me to be more bold in every facet of creating an interior.  The dramatic bedhanging she created here provides a cozy focal point for her bedroom.  

Canopies provide a great opportunity to pull together a blend of fabrics and trims to give the bedroom a certain personality.  Here are a few more of my favorite bedhangings/canopies:

{Bailey McCarthy}

{Phoebe Howard}

{Mark Sikes}

{Lonny}

{Bailey McCarthy}

Just as a canopy can create an elegant, sophisticated look, it can also add a fun touch to children's rooms:

{Katie Scott Design}

I'm dying to add a bedhanging above my own headboard, despite the fact that I live in a rental.  The fabrics would add a pretty, dramatic touch to my small bedroom.  Are you a fan of canopy beds and bedhangings?

Honoring the Greats: Piero Fornasetti

Italian artist Piero Fornasetti is legendary in the design field for the creation of several fanciful patterns and ceramics.  Most will probably recognize the artist from the plates, candles, and other decorative objects he made that feature the face of opera singer Lina Cavalieri.  Fornasetti saw Lina's face in a 19th-century magazine and was instantly captivated.  He once asked, "What inspired me to create more than 500 variations on the face of a woman?  I don't know.  I began to make them and I never stopped."   

{Tamra Sanders' SoHo loft featuring Fornasetti plates, photo via Erika Brechtel}

{Piero among his many plates}

Piero was born in 1913 Milan to a wealthy, bourgeois family.  As the firstborn and the son of an accountant, his father envisioned him leading a prosperous life in the world of finance.  But Piero had other ideas- As a child, his mind would constantly race with fanciful ideas and motifs that he began to draw in notebook after notebook.  Common themes in Forensetti's sketches were the sun and moon, playing cards, butterflies, hot-air balloons, and architecture.  It soon became obvious that the only path for Piero was to become an artist.  At the age of 17, he enrolls in Milan's prestigious Brera Academy of Fine Art.  However, much to Piero's frustration, the self-taught artist finds little help in developing his skillset at the school.  After clashing with the faculty over several issues, Piero finally decides to leave in 1932.  

In every infamous designer bio, there's a turning point or certain event/chance meeting that catapults the person's career. For Piero, that did not take long.  After finishing up school and taking a bit of time to travel and work on his designs, he returned to Milan and began creating hand-printed silk scarves that were displayed in the 1933 Triennial di Milano.  The scarves caught the attention of Gio Ponti, an Italian architect who was very entrenched in the Milan design scene. Ponti became Forensetti's most important and loyal patron and whom he collaborated on furniture designs and large scale interior decoration projects (NY Times).  One of my favorite patterns Forensetti developed was this whimsical malachite swirl, shown here on a 1950s trumeau:

This pattern was later developed in to a Cole & Sons wallpaper, which continues to be a designer favorite today:

{Ashley Whittaker Design}

{Wendy Schwartz Design}

{Andrew Brown}

{Nate Berkus}

What is so interesting about most of Piero's designs is that during a time of restraint and minimalism, his maximalist designs truly thrived.  Here are just a few examples:

{Small Butterfly Desk}

{Lip Stool}

  Today, Piero Fornasetti's son Barnaba manages his Milan shop and oversees his business.  While preparing this post, I came across Fornsetti's website and enjoyed the interactive biography shared here.  

Friday's Worthy Links

Friday, I love you.  I've been on a serious get-myself-in-gear mode with trying to eat better and work out more (I even signed myself up for Equinox- did you guys know they use Kiehls products in their locker rooms?  Fancy stuff) and I'm tired of being regimented this week.  I'm ready to celebrate "National Drink Wine Day" well in to the weekend.  Who's with me?

-Loved this Monocycle podcast by Leandra Medine about confidence.  She brings up the interesting relationship between confidence and vulnerability and how we can build confidence through difficult decisions that may pull us back a few steps. Definitely worth the 13 minute listen.

-I'm not Catholic, but every day I seem to love Pope Francis more and more.  While praying at the border in Mexico yesterday, he of course was asked about his thoughts on Donald Trump.  Here was his response.  

-All my friends know I'm having a serious GIF moment and Riffsy is my new favorite app.  It adds GIFS to your texting keyboard.  Isn't it interesting how we can communicate feelings/thoughts so much easier through imagery?  I'm having a blast with it.

-My best friend and I booked a vacay to Jamaica yesterday, and I want everything from this store, as well as one of these off-the-shoulder bikinis.  

-Who loves cute pictures of dogs? These photos from the 2016 Westminster Dog Show will brighten your morning!

-A great way to look at things, and this is just too good.

Happy Friday!!

XOXO,

Sam

Shelves of Style

In anticipation of finally getting to see Hamilton when my parents are in town in a few weeks, I ordered the book to read beforehand.  Last weekend a friend of mine was telling me he highly recommended reading the biography first as it makes the theater production that much more meaningful and unforgettable.  Has anyone seen the play?  I've been dying to go to it since last July when I moved to the city.  With all the books I've been accumulating lately for subway rides (I recommend reading this, this, and this) and subsequently stashing under my bed, I'm in desperate need of a functional bookshelf.  There's nothing more appealing to me than a well-styled bookshelf chock-full of good reads:

{the design files}

{My Domaine}

{Miles Redd via Mark Sikes}

{Traditional Home}

What's on your reading list right now?

Best Winter Buys

Re-callibrating my entire wardrobe from Houston weather to New York City winter weather has been quite a process.  I only came to NY with two pairs of pants, a few sweaters, and a leather jacket.  I didn't know how to translate my mostly warm-weather clothes to a city requiring a heavy jacket 7 months out of the year, so I turned to my local friends for advice and help and where to find the the best winter items to manage the bitter cold winds.   First up- buying a puffy jacket.  Of course my first thought was purchasing a jacket that was stylish and cute.   Soon, my friends interjected and swore to me I'd be desperate for a little warmth if I didn't also consider the jacket's construction.  After polling most everyone I knew in NY, I was led to North Face's Metropolis jacket.  It hits below the knee and insulates all the warmth so your body stays relatively warm amongst the freezing temperatures.  This jacket is the jam and keeps me warm even when the temps are in the teens.  I've worn it every day this fall/winter so I joke about wanting to burn it come May, but I do love it and the fit is nice:

While this New York winter has been mild compared to past years, at the end of January we did get hit by Storm Jonah.  The storm dumped 25" of snow in the city, and I was amazed by how fast the city had trucks out clearing the roads back to normal.  I managed to make it out among the flurries for a coffee and to sled in Central Park wearing my favorite North Face jacket, my J Crew snow boots, and a Burberry cashmere scarf. 

The image was shot right off of 2nd Ave and 77th, where my apartment building is- everyone that was out and walking around was so friendly with one another. It was crazy to see how everyone just slowed down and got along and enjoyed chatting with others out and about- definitely not the usual vibe during a Monday morning rush hour.  My other favorite buy for winter in New York were my SStuart Wietzman over-the-knee suede boots.  While a little pricey, I can say that I have worn these boots nearly every day.  I pair them with tights and a skirt, and then throw on a thick sweater.

{sorry for the awful, dark, iPhone quality pic}

If I want to wear a heel, I go with Kenzo's leather pumps with a wedge (similar here).  They make subway hikes a little easier and I never end up with sore feet after a night out:

Other must haves are tech gloves (to type iPhone messages while walking in the cold), a warm hat to cover your ears, a moisturizing lotion for the dry winter wind, and a classic pair of sunnies:

Shop this Board:

Calynda Beanie $30 (on sale!)/J Crew Jack Sunglasses $98/Club Monaco Lydal Sweater $398/Northface Metropolis Parka $289/Cotton Jackie Cardigan Sweater $44.99/Burberry Cashmere Scarf $475/Tech-Friendly Gloves $36.50/5050 Boot $655/Prada Handbag $2,100/diptyque hand lotion $38



Did I miss anything?  What're your favorite winter weather purchases?

Valentine's Day

Happy {belated} Valentine's Day, and happy President's Day!  Are you enjoying the day off?  I really wanted to do a weekend getaway to take advantage of the 3 days off, but I couldn't get my schedule set in time.  Nonetheless, I thought we could continue to celebrate the holiday of love, Valentine's Day, today- since it only rolls around 1 time a year!

{Elie Saab}

Shop This Board:

Ruby Slip Dress with Lace $99/Hammered Heart Ring in Gold $24/Hot Pink Juju Hat $285/Worlds Away Red Sconce $347.99/Pearl Stud Cuff $38/Crepe Shift Dress $52.80/Capri Candle $28/Bubble Bracelet $32/La Fiorentina Wine & Magenta Throw Pillow $114/

And if you want to watch a few minutes of what true love looks like, see my blogger friend Kelly and her boyfriend Zach celebrate the day of love a few years back in Montauk:


Montauk Love from Nick Onken on Vimeo.

Needing, Wanting, Loving: Thick Stone Countertops

The one room designers and architects are really pushing the limits on these days seems to be the kitchen.  From auto finishes, to bold paint color choices, to added features, the kitchen is quickly becoming the place to express creativity in design.  One trend I am loving is thick, hearty, stone countertops. They add richness and elegance to the kitchen and help to give the space a bit of personality:

{Ryan Korban}

{Katty Schiebeck}

While not a kitchen, I had to share this gorgeous bathroom by Rivera Fine Homes.  Hardware and fittings are the jewelry of the home to me, and the faucet here as well as the drawer pulls create a sense of glamour: 

{Rivera Fine Homes}

Depending on the surrounding design details, thick countertops can blend seamlessly in to both rich spaces as well as minimalist ones, like the kitchen below:

{Hecker Guthrie}

{My Domaine}

I knew I would get in trouble if I ONLY showed thick Carrera marble countertops (my personal fave), so I added in this stunner by Steven Gambrel.  This 1912 Upper East Side home includes a kitchen with rich black lacquer cabinetry, black and white tiled flooring, and a stone countertop- tres chic.

As I mentioned above, designers are making kitchens that are more and more intuitive.  A built-in warming drawer in this kitchen island fits nicely with the surrounding drawer moulding:

So let's discuss- are you a fan of thick countertops?  What are your current favorite trends in kitchen design?