Washington Spaces blog

We can’t go out to my mother’s beach house in Fenwick Island, DE, until the boys finish their Little League and tee ball seasons in a couple weeks, but the gorgeous weekend coming has me pining for it. I found a photostream on Flickr by photographer Tom Lynch, whose own mother has a house out there, and his images perfectly represent what I see when we go.

Thanks, Mr. Lynch, for capturing so well what I probably couldn’t with my own digital camera.

My sons can see the Fenwick Island light house from the window of their room.

The beach at Fenwick often has little pools and eddies left there when the tide goes back out. It’s so beautiful to see when I go running there in the mornings.

These are the same beach houses I see when I go running.

But there is still evidence of a bygone era in Fenwick – tiny, colorful cottages in the shadows of the new McMansions.

Anyone who’s driving up Coastal Highway from Ocean City to Bethany (Fenwick is in between) knows these WWII-era gun towers. It’s nice that the same landmarks we knew as children remain for our own children to see today.

I found another photo stream here which shows a bunch of new – and colorful – houses that just went up along Assawoman Bay, along Route 54, which leads into Coastal Highway at Fenwick.

And, from the same photo stream, here’s another favorite view of the beach – on top of the dune, heading down. Can’t wait to go back soon.

Who would have thought that this home

with this kind of interior

would open the door from this ultra-traditional dining room

into THIS KITCHEN?

The Washington Post today had a great story on the newly remodeled kitchen at the residence of the Italian Ambassador.

The story introduced me to an Italian kitchen designer and a French appliance maker I had not heard of: Arclinea, which the story called “the Ferrari of kitchen design.”

I also found out about Scholtès, the French appliance maker, whose four dishwashers and built-in coffee maker have a presence in the Villa Firenze kitchen.

Today’s chill reminded me of a luscious company I discovered in High Point: Rani Arabella.  Its cashmere and cotton throws and pillows are just the ticket to curl up in on a cool, rainy day.

I picked up this Porto Cervo throw at Rani Arabella’s booth in High Point, and it’s so light, it would be perfect for a summer evening.

This pillow and throw would play splendidly among our horse-country set.

I just got some amazing pictures of a new home office Hardwood Artisans designed for a condo resident near DC’s Chinatown. If you are not already familiar with Hardwood Artisans, we wrote about them in a piece about local furniture makers in our winter issue.

This latest project is an illustration of the creative ways you can use a tiny space to meet all your needs. Take a look.

Here’s what the office looks like when you walk in the door. I love the custom shelving and cabinets. But what you don’t see are the many other elements that are still hiding.

One of the bulletin boards folds down into an additional desk.

And that ottoman under the larger desk? Check out the great storage it holds inside.

And now for the best trick – the Murphy bed that folds down from the wall. So this tiny office is now a guest room.

“Considering that so many people are unwilling to move or add on right now,” Marketing Director Alison Heath wrote, “I thought perhaps readers might be interested in, well, how NOT to add a room to your home.” Yes, indeed.

If you want to take a closer look at Hardwood Artisans, go to its third annual lemonade social on June 27, where you can tour the workshop and purchase several marked-down items. I’ll have more information on that in the coming weeks.

Lots of my friends in journalism have been migrating – by necessity – out of journalism lately. Lucky for me that my former reporter colleague Jeff Miller just landed as VP of marketing for a start-up company called Bambeco, an online shop for green – and beautiful – home goods.

The Soleil Trays are made of 100-percent recycled materials and feel just like wood.

“The Bambeco name celebrates bamboo, the planet’s most renewable and versatile resource, and ecology, the essential relationship between people and the natural environment,” according to company literature.

This welcome mat is woven from the fibers of coconut shells.

Last month, I blogged about a really cool contest to coincide with The Phillips Collection’s exhibit on Giorgio Morandi’s still-life portraits.

Well, The Phillips Collection, with the DCist blog as a partner, finally chose a winner, who receives a $100 gift certificate to Apartment Zero and the Phillips exhibition catalogue.

Personally speaking, I’m not sure this is the best fit with Morandi’s rustic style, which includes lots of browns, creams, and yellow. I think the runner-up should have been the winner (in my humble opinion).

I’ve always thought that living in a hotel would be so glamorous, as any girl who’s read Eloise would surely agree. So of course I was drooling with envy when I saw these images of the newly-renovated Ambassador and Presidential suites at the Park Hyatt Washington, designed by the renowned Tony Chi.

Chi designed the hotel’s premier suites specifically to look residential, hotel spokeswoman Renee Sharrow says.

This dining room in the Presidential Suite, for example, with its French oak table and North American walnut flooring and walls, just doesn’t remind me of any hotel I’ve ever been in.

The interiors are punctuated with American furniture, such as rocking chairs crafted in Vermont. American folk and modern art accent the walls and shelves, such as this work area in the Presidential Suite. I think I could be very productive here, don’t you?

If you love modern design, you need to go to New York this weekend for the annual International Contemporary Furniture Fair. It’s a candy store for contemporary aesthetes, and here’s why:

The resin tables of Martha Sturdy Inc.

Multi-tasking furniture from Molteni & C.

Wallcoverings from the likes of Flavor Paper…

… and Madison & Grow.

And wouldn’t you love these “Dancing Tables” from the Joel Escalona Studio in your breakfast nook?

The show is open to the trade starting tomorrow, but the public is allowed to purchase tickets and tour the show on Tuesday. It’s a great chance to see all this fabulous design happening that you otherwise wouldn’t readily see in the United States.

If you can’t go, the show has this nifty link to “ICFFcasts” so you can follow the action remotely.

Editors’ awards are given for the best in design, and we can’t wait to see who will win this year. Keep reading to see last year’s winners.

On Tuesday evening, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted “An Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word” in the East Room of the White House.

“We’re here to celebrate the power of words and music to help us appreciate beauty, but also to understand pain; to inspire us to action, and to spur us on when we start to lose hope; to lift us up out of our daily existence – even if it’s just for a few moments – and return us with hearts that are a little bit bigger and fuller than they were before,” President Obama said.

His comments made us remember the incredible Quote Collection in the Natural Curiosities booth in High Point. These quotes were typed on a 1929 typewriter, scanned into a computer, graphically rearranged, hand-silkscreened onto handmade cotton paper, and framed.

In the words of Edward Thorndike, “Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but words endure.”

Read on to see more of our favorites:

I’m a fan of John Houshmand, and have blogged about his beautiful work combining wood with other media such as metal and glass.

So, my jaw dropped when he sent these pictures of his new acrylic line. Gorgeous.

Is it because everyone’s comparing the current downturn to the Great Depression of the 1930s, or because we simply are seeking a return to simpler times – a retreat away from our laptops and iPhones and BlackBerrys? Whatever the case, we saw a ton of vintage styling on new furniture introductions at High Point last month.

The biggest grouping was at the Vanguard Furniture’s Bloomsbury Collection, named after the famed group of writers and artists working in London’s Bloomsbury in the early 20th century.

Of course, the furniture really “works” with the appropriate art, paint, and other touches copied from the original Bloomsbury commune.

I particularly liked the Bell Spool Chair (what a sweet idea to have a small footstool underneath).

And the Omega Shin Warmer Chair is so cool – it’s so low to the ground that it looks like a children’s chair, but it’s really so you can pull up to a fire and warm your shins. How clever.

I think I had the best Mother’s Day of anyone yesterday. Seriously. We went on this fantastic garden tour in Middleburg, VA. The tour of two sumptuous gardens on horse-country estates benefitted the Middleburg Humane Foundation, which is run by my lovely cousin, Hilleary Bogley.

The first stop was a 60-acre estate called Wingfield Farm, which has grown up over the past 18 years to be the most impressive tour of structures, statuary, plant and tree specimens I’ve ever seen.

This weeping evergreen beautifully frames a solar garden, which gets 10 hours of sunlight each day.

The Deauville table lamp by Jamie Young

What is it about birds that is so enchanting? Is it because they can fly or because they can build beautiful nests with mere twigs and scraps? Or is it just because they’re so darned cute?

Whatever the reason, furniture manufacturers love them, and they have for several years now. The new introductions in High Point this spring had them out in abundance. Here are a few that Trish and I noted.

Gallery Designs, which along with Jamie Young had the coolest lamps I saw at the show, featured these bird beauties in the front of its showroom.

Lee Industries spiced up its furniture offerings with bird-themed artwork scattered over most of its cocktail tables.

And Oly, one of our favorite furniture manufacturers that also sells art, had these incredible offerings:

Last night at Appliance Distributors Unlimited Inc. (ADU) in Takoma Park, MD, builders, architects, kitchen designers, and home-technology professionals got together to learn (and taste!) some recent advancements in GE appliances. Sam Gregory, ADU’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, celebrated GE Brand Night by showing off eco-minded Energy Star appliances, a double oven that fits into a single-oven cavity, and a refrigerator with “French doors” that Gregory likened to a walk-in closet for selecting food.

The GE Café line at ADU combines sleek, modern lines with the sweetness and comfort of a latte bar. All photographs by Jacob Goodman

ADU also served delicious French hors d’oeuvres prepared on-site by Chef Erik Rochard of Café de Paris in Columbia, MD.

Chef Erik Rochard

Rochard gave an informal talk with some pointers on creating simple, healthful meals.

Justin Cunningham of Stuart Kitchens admires the features of a GE oven.

Ira Malkin of Home Renovation Solutions, John Tabor of Tabor Design Build, and Jack Marshall of ADU.

Dan Wittig of Aegis Technologies Inc.

Sam Gregory discussed the energy savings achieved with GE’s Energy Star appliances.

Rich Cassagnol of Bowa Builders chats with Washington Spaces Account Executive Mary Sue Jedele and Associate Publisher Heather Heider.

Temperature-controlled wine storage and cooktop by GE

John Stebbins of Natelli, Mary Sue Jedele, Heather Heider, Account Executive Jill Yager, and Pete Della Pietra of Natelli.

Another sweet treat: The limousine shuttle that brought party guests to and from their parked cars. Despite the dreary weather, everyone came and went in style.

I was inside a beautiful home near Marshall, VA, recently for a feature I was working on, and the homeowner was apologizing for the sad state of her garden (it was in March, and hardly anything had blossomed yet). As I have black thumbs, I told her I thought it was lovely as it was. She promised to send me pictures of her garden when it was up to speed.

This is a woman who can work eight hours in her garden and not notice any time go by – sort of like a painter who can get lost in his art.

Well, here’s the result – ready for museum framing.