Coffee Prince

I've been at it again.  I found another K-drama and {luckily?} got sick while watching it so I could spend a day in bed watching episode after episode.  For some reason I find them addicting, but I have cut myself off until I get my taxes done...

The latest series I watched was Coffee Prince which was cute, but what really caught my eye were the lights in the coffee shop.  They are simple pendants with a silver band across the center which may even hide an ugly fluorescent bulb {mostly} from view.

 

I have no idea who manufactures this light, I've never seen it before but there are plenty of other similar lights.

The Globo di Luce Pendant by Roberto Menghi {at DWR} is beautiful, shiny and pricey.

There is a lower priced Globe Pendant from West Elm {with an exposed bulb} which is simple and pretty but doesn't have the silver strip which is what sets the first light apart from the rest.

I'll have to be on the lookout to see if I can find out the manufacturer.  I'd love to know.

I liked this series better than the last if only because I didn't have to use box after box of tissues and also wasn't tempted to make more kimchi.  I made some after the last series from this recipe {I don't eat fish so it's safer to make my own without the fish sauce} and still have about 3 pounds left!  Kimchi anyone? 

{top image: hulu}

Kravet Continues To Torture Me

Years ago at the Kravet showroom in Boston, there was a chair I was totally in love with.  I was at the Design Center a few days a week and I would always visit "my chair".  They sold it as a floor model eventually and I was sad but happy I didn't have to obsess over how I would buy it {I was fresh out of grad school so purchasing it wasn't really an option}.  I had finally gotten over the chair and now they've gone and done this to me.

Same chair, different fabric, no nailhead trim but I love it.  It's like they're taunting me.

{photo: jeanine}

Anthropologie Window Display - All About Sewing

Or mostly about sewing....I recently stopped by the Rockefeller Center Anthropologie to check out the displays.  This season seemed to be all about parts and pieces, table and chair pieces and clothing materials composed most of the displays.

 

Coat hangers make up the bones of this dress and a few others.

To the side of this display is a nail head trim trunk.

  
The requisite piled furniture display was found but this time with tables.

I liked this bed a lot, too bad there was so much glare on this side of the building.

{photos: jeanine}

Ella's Doors

I took a quick trip to Manhattan last weekend.  I have been trying to get there since last October so it was a long time coming.  I was overdue for a visit here, checked out a {disappointing} new fabric store , unknowingly walked by my great-grandmother's and great uncle's old apartments, and found these great doors in Alphabet City.

I have some other photos - I'll get those up soon.

{photos: jeanine}

The Lenox Hotel

It's no secret I take pictures of public bathrooms.  Yes, I know this is strange, but when I find a nice one, I totally do...  The most recent bathroom to receive this dubious honor was the lobby bathroom at the Lenox Hotel {I actually didn't make it past the bathroom since I was visiting the Irish Pub attached to the hotel}.

I have to admit, I was overly excited about this one though.  I think it was the metallic porcelain tiles, something the clients I design for are, apparently, nervous about. 

{photo: jeanine}

Ace Hotel, Portland, OR

The Ace Hotel in Portland, OR opened in 2007. I think of the four, it is my favorite. I had a really hard time paring down my photo selection so this may be a really long post, but if you make it all the way to the end, there is a special video {It's what prompted me to move this post from my old blog}.


This Ace, similar to the other Ace Hotels, uses a mix of furniture, including vintage pieces, and uses everyday objects to create points of interest in the lobby. For example, there is a card catalog topped with jars of utilitarian objects like paper clips and pencils

The stairwells aren't forgotten with a large mural on one landing and the floor level carved in each post.



The corridors are simple and the doors to the rooms have a fabric tacked on them that is reminiscent of camping tarps. The graphics on the signage are simple but well designed.



The artwork is original, amazing and sometimes off-the-wall, but in a good way. This is countered by the guestrooms which are simple and all have a sort of army barracks/camping simplicity that seems so functional and practical. The nightstands when included in the rooms are made of stacked books.






A closeup of the nightstands with the vintage clip on light.



There are a variety of rooms from larger, more luxurious rooms to rooms with bunk beds and communal baths.







Some of the rooms have record players in them (found in all Ace Hotels I think, unfortunately not all rooms) and you can borrow records to play on them in case you don't travel with your own selection.






There's a great article in Shift with a more in depth article on some of the artists for the murals of the hotel in case you would like to see more. Below are some of the murals in the hotel, all designed by local artists.

{photos: #1,3, 29, 30 & 31 - brockzilla/ / CC BY 2.0; #2, 6-26 - neighborhoodnotes_pdx/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0; #4, 27 - jtcontinental/ / CC BY 2.0; #28 - ews/ / CC BY 2.0; #5 - joannaforever/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0}