Dress My Nest: Paul Newman

"Dress My Nest" is a show on the Style Network with designer Thom Felicia (from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"). He's one of my favorites, but more on him later. In the show, his clients give him 3 clothing/accessory items and 3 personal items and he creates a room for them using the items as inspiration. Such a fun idea! I've wanted to take on a challenge like that for a while, so I decided to do it here.

Now, if you know me, you know that I am crazy in love with Paul Newman. I don't care that he was born 64 years before me, or that he was married, or that he died in 2008. The man was the epitome of everything American, never met a role he couldn't master, and was the ultimate business man, philanthropist and political activist. He even made jeans, undershirts, dirt and grease look sexy. Anyway, I'm currently reading a biography by Shawn Levy called, Paul Newman: A Life and learning even more reasons why I love him. It just so happens that one of my Masters professors did some design work for Paul Newman a long time ago, and I've been thinking about what kind of space he might have created (did I freak out when my professor told me this? yes, yes I did). I decided to use him as my "client" for my first attempt at the "Dress My Nest" feature of this blog.

Clothing/Accessory items:

1. Corduroy Jacket

2. Fur Collared Coat

3. Chambray Shirt

Personal items:

1. Leather Boxing Gloves

2. Bicycle

3. Metal Bottle Opener

Here is what I came up with:

I wish I had the time to do an actual rendering....it probably would have been easier than the collage anyway. I hope you can see the translation. I used the white chairs for the corduroy jacket, the rug for the fur coat, the pillows for the chambray shirt, the sofa for the leather boxing gloves, the table and wooden chair for the spokes of the bicycle, and the metal structure of the furniture and bar cart for the bottle opener. It would be better if you could tell how I would arrange the furniture, but I'm still pretty happy with it. I think the space feels lived in and casual but still classy and masculine, just like Paul himself. And that table is pretty awesome, right?

This sofa was a close second choice:

I think it has so much wonderful character and I love the buckle detailing. I don't think it would be appropriate for a living room, though. It would probably be better in a low traffic area like an office, where Paul would have sat to study politics and create salad dressing recipes :)

So, would you like to see more installments of the "Dress My Nest" feature?

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

Favorite Furniture: Chippendale Chairs (& Happy Birthday!)

Special shout out to my mommy on her birthday! Everything I've learned, I've learned from her. Love you, Mama!

___________________________________

Moving on, I've been seeing Chippendale chairs EVERYWHERE lately. They are by Jonathan Adler and were priced at $495 but now that they are apparently a must-have, the price has gone up to $699 each. Of course I didn't know they were called "Chippendale" when I first started seeing them but I could have recognized them anywhere! Take a look....

Do you prefer them with or without arms? 

Here is my personal favorite...

So, thinking Jonathan Adler really hit the jackpot when these things became trendy, wondering "How did he ever come up with such a pretty, versatile design?," imagine my surprise when I noticed this while watching Lifetime on Tuesday night:

 GOLDEN GIRLS! My favorites! I knew they were smart cookies! Which one of them do you think decorated their place? I'm thinking Blanche. They should have mass produced these babies- do you think they would have been as popular in the '80's? Do you think they will stick around for another 25 years?

DO YOU THINK JONATHAN ADLER WATCHES GOLDEN GIRLS?!





Trending: Exposed Brick

Living in Chicago, there are bricks galore. Unfortunately, finding an apartment with original exposed brick wasn't as easy as you might think in a city full of old buildings. But I still love it and if I ever end up with the perfect apartment, I have a few ideas as to how I would incorporate the beautiful wall into my space.

One of the benefits of exposed brick is that you don't have to go crazy with furniture and accessories. The brick is enough visual interest that the rest of the room can be simple.

 

In the image below, the cabinets are about as simple as they come. The clean lines of the crisp white cabinets make the room feel modern, even with the old brick and obviously worn wood floors. I love the metal counters and barstools against the brick as well as the mix of silver and gold, which is very in right now. This space feels lived-in yet elegant, and I like!

In this living room, the color scheme is layered white with pops of blue and green. The brick fireplace has been painted to work with this palette and framed with an old wood mantle. Other wooden accents like the coffee and sofa tables give a rustic feel to the otherwise perfectly charming space.

More painted brick with very simple metal furniture:

The geometry of the exposed brick and plaster wall is echoed in the rug which covers part of the concrete floor. So perfect. And of course, I adore the antlers!

The high ceilings, black and white color scheme, mirrored surfaces, and tufted furniture provide luxurious elements in a space dominated by masculine brick walls.

Look how light and romantic a space can feel despite the dark brick in the next few photos:

In contrast to the light colors used in the above spaces, the following spaces successfully pair the bricks with heavy wood, whether in the form of beamed ceilings or rustic furniture.

And finally, this is my favorite room of all. It has metal, wood and white paint all in one and it's enough to make me drool!

So, what is your favorite way to use exposed brick? Do you like it painted or au-naturel? Do you prefer the industrial or romantic look? Would you play up the masculinity of the dark material or tone it down with light colors and soft textiles? Would you use antlers?! Cause I would :)

I may have gone a little picture-happy in my first post, but I can't help that 

I LOVE EXPOSED BRICK!

Welcome!

Welcome to Taylormade Interiors, the blog I have created as a place to record all of my design inspiration. As a current graduate student at Harrington College of Design in Chicago, inspiration is all around me. Currently I am obsessing over industrial lighting, the Hollywood Regency style, embossed wallpaper, and ceilings with visual interest. You can expect posts about all of these trends soon!

School is keeping me very busy this summer so my goal is to post 3 times a week rather than every day. I plan on having some fun weekly features such as "Museum Mondays," where I will focus on art- the different styles and mediums and how they are used interestingly in spaces; "Whimsy Wednesdays," where I relate some crazy design trend or a unique interior I have seen recently; and "Furniture Fridays," where I choose a style of furniture, show examples, and explain how to recognize that style. Other posts might explain the essentials of design such as color theory, paint types, or textile uses. I hope to make design less daunting by bringing it back to the basics and making it fun!

Mostly, I want this to be my cheery little corner of the world where I can share current projects, give and get advice, and pretty much just share pictures I love!

For now, I'm off to write a paper on "The Influence of the 1933 World's Fair on Chicago Architecture." Wish me luck!