Three Reasons to Visit Chicago–Frank. Lloyd. Wright.

Several weeks ago, hubby and I visited Chicago for the first time.  We were wowed by the architecture, the landscaping and the friendly people! 

At the top of my list was a visit to Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio in Oak Park, a short transit ride from downtown Chicago.

Oak Park is an area of large beautiful homes on large beautiful lots with mature gardens and trees.  It was a pleasure to stroll through this neighbourhood and visit the home and studio of one of my favourite architects!

I’ve written about the home tour over on the TBB blog here.  In this post I’m going to share a tour of the studio Frank designed adjacent to his home in Oak Park.

After gaining popularity as an architect at the turn of the 20th century, Frank moved business from his home to the newly built studio adjoining his house.  This studio was designed to allow maximum light without obstruction so architects and their students could work the long hours required.

Support was provided using heavy duty chains as structural support rather than large wooden beams as seen below.

The room was filled drafting tables, overhead pendants and task lighting.  The quote shown from Rudyard Kipling’s “McAndrews Hymn” was displayed in the studio, I’m guessing to provide inspiration.  The adjoining office space was built to display the work of the architects and conduct business with clients.

The studio/office tour was a wonderful glimpse into Frank Lloyd Wright’s work life as well as his design aesthetic.  Next week I will share the walking tour of the Oak Park neighbourhood.

Happy travels….

Please contact dh designs if you are ready

to create a home that reflects your style and your life

Friday Find – September 13

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home, Oak Park Illinois

On a recent visit to Chicago I had the opportunity to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home and Studio in Oak Park, Illinois.   I am in awe of his vision – the implementation of scale, proportion, contrast and colour!  If you ever have an opportunity to do this, I would highly recommend it!

I will be sharing more of this visit on The TBB’s Wine Dine & Design blog shortly!

Happy Weekend … Donna

Please contact dh designs if you are ready

to create a home that reflects your style and your life.

I’m in a Paris state of mind….

Advance Warning – this is a picture heavy post!

As you know from this post, hubby and I celebrated our 30th anniversary this month.  And celebrate it we did!!!  Along with two very good friends, who just happened to also be celebrating their 30th, exactly 2 weeks before ours, we headed off for Paris – the “City of Light”! 

I know you are anxious to hear all about it … so, let me tell you…it was AMAZING (I know … stop yelling).  I don’t know how I’m going to summarize this trip in one post, so you may see a couple more …

For 9 days straight we walked, we gawked, we ate, we drank, we walked, we ate, we walked, we drank and we drank some more.  The food and wine in Paris was fantastic, as were the sights!

Throughout our trip I was in awe of the architecture.  I’ve always known that Europe has so much more history in architecture than we do, but to see it up close and personal was breathtaking!  From the myriad avenues and boulevards to the jaw dropping churches and cathedrals to the enormous palaces and museums – every where you turn is more.

And Paris does not skimp on the flourish – not in the least!  I cannot count how many statues and structures were adorned with gold foil and gilt.  (Below is the entrance to Abercrombie & Fitch on the Champs-Élysées for which there was a line up – yup you lined up to shop)

The ironwork on each and every building lining the narrow streets – unbelievable!

And the Eiffel Tower … by the end of the 9 days I’m sure half of my pictures were of this beautiful structure … it had become a running joke – “ Hey Donna – I don’t think you got it from this angle – snicker snicker!”

There is so much more to share, so stay tuned for more posts!

Shake it up!

During August our family spent a week at a vacation home in Browns Flat, New Brunswick on the St. John’s River.  With the exception of the uncooperative weather, and a little bit of SUV engine trouble, it was a fun week.  We played board games, card games, did a puzzle or two.  We ate some delicious meals and drank a couple, or more, bottles of wine.  There was canoeing, kayaking, fishing and swimming.  Hubby bought me a new lens for my Canon DLSR camera, so there was quite a bit of picture taking too – over the 7 days I took in the vicinity of 800 pictures (which I will share in another post)!  And the icing on the cake, was a lot of time spent with our grandson who was the star of the week.

With the rainy weather we spent quite a bit of time travelling the roads.  As we drove along highway 102 following  the scenic shoreline of the St. John River one thing struck me – how much I LOVED the use of cedar shake shingles on so many of the local homes.  The look seemed fitting for the area, so nautical, so weathered and so wonderfully “coastal”.   So, since its a little dangerous to drive and use a camera, when I got home I hit the world wide web to find homes with cedar shake shingles.  And I found A LOT of examples, in A LOT of styles … traditional, contemporary, natural, stained, painted … have a look at these:

Little House on Cape Cod

Traditional exterior design by Seattle architect David Vandervort Architects

Traditional spaces design by Chicago architect COOK ARCHITECTURAL Design Studio

Modern exterior design by Seattle architect Lauren and Kyle Zerbey

Traditional exterior design by Burlington architect Smith & Vansant Architects PC

Modern exterior design by New York architect Dufner Heighes Inc

Eclectic exterior design by Boston architect Helios Design Group

Traditional exterior design by Los Angeles architect HartmanBaldwin Design/Build

Traditional exterior design by DC Metro general contractor Winn Design & Remodeling

Traditional entry design by Boston architect ZeroEnergy Design

Contemporary entry design by Boston architect LDa Architecture & Interiors

Exterior design by New York architect SchappacherWhite Ltd.

All images courtesy of www.houzz.com.

I’m having a hard time picking a favourite.  How about you???

Organized Storage …

The February issue of Country Living arrived today and right there on the front cover was my dream.   I was so distracted that I may have missed something important that hubby was saying to me.  When I finally did look up from the magazine, dinner decisions had already been made :o) !!

What, you ask, could have consumed me so.  Well, I’ll tell you.  In fact I’ll do better than that, I’ll show you!

Built in shelving and cabinetry! 

I’ve had a love affair with built ins for years.  Not only do they give you the ability to display your collections, photos and books, they also provide much needed storage.  And, probably most important, they provide architectural detail to the space.

I would have built ins in every single room of my house if I had my way.  And here’s why … 

• First, I love books, all kinds of books and up to now I’ve had to part with most of my books due to lack of storage. 

• Secondly, I collect junk stuff, for instance white pottery and dishes (so you can see why the cover photo had such an impact on me – lots of white pottery there!), clear glass vases and containers among other goodies.   Heck, I’ve had to stop going to HomeSense *gasp* because I have nowhere to display all the great stuff I find there. 

• And finally, as I’ve mentioned before, I have some gorgeous inherited china that is still packed away in the basement awaiting an appropriate home in my dining room.  I’ve been scouring kijiji for just the right piece of furniture, but the more I see and consider pieces, the more I realize that the right storage for the dining room is built ins. 

So, I’ve been researching … and here’s what I’ve found so far …

A perfect little spot to relax and peruse your collection …

I absolutely love the blue pitchers – and isn’t the fabric on that chair perfect!

Not sure if I’d ever need two washing machines, but I love the clean, crisp, organized feel of this laundry room!

Built in seating is also something I’d love to incorporate into my dining room!

This unit incorporates media storage and display space, a great combination!  And I love the contrasting dark walls.

And I’ve always had a thing for window seats!

If you’ve got built ins, or great sources for built ins, please share!

Source:  1 - Country Living ; 2 – unknown; 3,6711- House Beautiful ; 4 – www.wineonthekeyboard.com; 5 – unknown; 6 - Traditional Home ; 8 – www.decorpad.com ; 9 – McGill Design Group ; 10 - Candice Olson

In need of a little warmth ….

Brrrr….

This cooler weather up here in the great cold north has me wishing I had a fireplace.

There’s nothing quite like curling up in front of a roaring wood fire to give you that comfy, warm all over feeling.  Now I know wood fires aren’t for everyone, and there are several benefits derived from natural gas fireplaces, or even electric fireplaces, but for me the smell of a wood fire is half the pleasure and if Blogger had that option, you can be guaranteed I’d be attaching it to this post :)!  But since it doesn’t here are some fireplace images to put you in the mood …

The clean warm feel of this room is achieved by mixing the warm wood tones, cream furnishings, walls and windows and of course the stainless fireplace.

I love the glow the fireplace gives this room.

And now, I’m wishing I could live in this beach house, although I’m not sure when I’d curl up in front of a roaring fire ??  But I do know that I’d be out on the beach a whole lot :).

This is more like it – good book, class of red, a nice warm blanket, and a dog or two cuddled up on the sofa with me.

I’d maybe do some mending while sitting by this fire, with a big pot of hearty stew bubbling on the stove.

Although this room doesn’t scream curl up by a roaring fire, I had to include it for the great furnishings, lovely wall colour and yes … the zebra rug!

I love the stone wall this fireplace is inserted into, although it is a gas fireplace.  One day I will use this stone in my home – one day I tell ya…

I love the mid-century modern look of this suspended fireplace.  I feel like I’m looking at James Bond’s ski chalet.  James dahling, that will be shaken not stirred please.

This is in an apartment in the Upper East Side NYC.  Hard to believe.

And now for the total opposite – a rustic home in the Adirondacks – notice the birch tree beside the fireplace?  Interesting!

And for some of these wonderful fireplaces, how about a nifty fireplace screen.  I found these in my latest email from Architectural Digest and fell in love.  They are made by Philip Nimmo Ironworks, out of Los Angeles, California.  They have many unique designs for fire screens, along with other products such as furniture, lighting and fireplace tools.  Philip Nimmo is also an architectural and interior design firm, so check out some of their work here as well.

Here are my favourites:

So are you sitting in front of your fireplace feeling a bit warmer now.  Wish I was!