Photography provided by ©iStockphoto.com/barol16.
MOMENTS
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not
dined well.
—Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
1
Contents DECEMBER | JANUARY | 2014
DEPARTMENTS 1
Moments
4
Inspirations: The Happy Hostess
6
In the Kitchen: Gifts for the Food Lover
14 Lifestyle: Baby Steps 16 Gardening: Indoor Crops 44 Destination: Toronto, Canada
FEATURES 20 French Eclectic 22 In Black and White 24 Refined Dining 28 Sun-Drenched Dining 32 Bridgehampton Beauty
36 Whole House: Marking the Milestones
2 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
6
Make edible holiday gifts this season, starting with chocolate-dipped, bourbon-soaked figs.
Photography by (this page) ŠiStockphoto.com/dkgilbey, (opposite page) Erika Bierman Photography.
DINING ROOMS
PUBLISHER By Design Publishing PRESIDENT Adam Japko
V.P. OF OPERATIONS Belinda Richardson
PROGRAMMING Bill Baker, Dan Fritscher, Todd Neumiller CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER Estee Malensky EDITOR Maresa Giovannini DESIGN Lindsay Fournier
CREATIVE TEAM Lori Hartmann, Jason Rebuck, Courtney Cohoon CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Ruth Wertzberger Carlson, Brenda Crow, Catriona Tudor Erler, Ashley Gartland, Jeanine Matlow, Blake Miller, Carolyn M. Runyon, Ronda Swaney COVER PHOTOGRAPH Erika Bierman Photography CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Erika Bierman Photography, Ruth Wertzberger Carlson, Brenda Crow, Scott Moore Photography, Nicole Pereira, Ron Royals, Jim Simmons, Kris Tamburello ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL OFFICE
11626 Tracey Road, Hayden, ID 83835 208-772-8060, FAX 208-772-8061
Advertising Inquiries: adsales@HomeByDesign.com Editorial Inquiries or Feedback: editorial@HomeByDesign.com
Real-estate agents, mortgage lenders, or anyone interested in using Home By Design in marketing plans should contact our sales office at 877-423-4567 or visit our Web site at www.HomeByDesign.com.
Home By Design is a complete custom publisher with many options to help you promote your business. If you are interested in more information about your own customized magazine or marketing program, please contact us at our sales office. Copyright 2014 Network Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Recipients of Home By Design magazine receive their subscription as a free gift of a real-estate professional, mortgage lender, or other professional service provider. The Home By Design magazine program is an exclusive marketing program created by By Design Publishing. By Design Publishing has contracted with its professional clients to provide this free subscription to you. By Design Publishing has contracted with these professionals that By Design Publishing will not use the supplied mailing list for any purposes other than to mail copies of Home By Design magazine and other Home By Design communication products. Your name and address information will never be leased, sold, traded, or used for any other purposes. For more information on our mailing list policy or for more information on By Design Publishing and our Home By Design custom publishing program, please contact us at 208-772-8060.
Home By Design magazine is for entertainment purposes only. This magazine is not intended to solicit other brokers’ listings. If you are currently working with or in contract with another broker, please disregard this information. HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
3
INSPIRATIONS
Don’t forget about your canine hosts.Thank Fido for his graciousness with these all-natural biscuits.The treats are veterinarian approved and ideal for dogs with skin allergies and sensitive digestive systems but available in two delicious flavors: country bacon or peanut butter.What a ruff choice. www.redenvelope.com
HARRY BARKER BISTRO TREAT TIN
Bring the entertainment with Tabletopics. Full of thought-provoking questions and ice breakers such as “What makes someone a success?” and lighter questions like “Who's your favorite celebrity right now and why?” there won’t be any awkward silence.
www.redenvelope.com
DINNER PARTY TABLETOPICS
Give sage advice a prominent place at your next wine tasting or cocktail party with this set of twenty environmentally friendly paper napkins. A perfect gift for the perpetual party thrower. www.surlatable.com
DRINK WINE PAPER COCKTAIL NAPKINS
This compact hardcover book by Brett Cohen is packed with truly useful tips for the everyday man.With directions from how to read a stock index to how to build a campfire; other topics include etiquette, socializing, humor, and business.Your host will be forever thankful. www.zgallerie.com
STUFF EVERY MAN SHOULD KNOW
Lend the host and hostess a hand with their holiday shopping; this tote bag, made of eighty percent recycled water bottles, is a great way to shop green. www.naturallife.com
THINK HAPPY RECYCLED TOTE BAG
4 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
INSPIRATIONS Bring sweet sentiments to the kitchen with this cream linen hand towel.The embroidered accessory is both useful and offers a great reminder for the hectic holiday season.
Show some love with this hand-painted clay heart. Made by artisans in Guatemala, each heart is unique and all are special.
www.cameonouveau.com
PAINTED CLAY HEART
LIVE WELL LINEN HAND TOWEL
www.naturallife.com
Gifts of Thanks for Holiday Party Hosts
The Happy Hostess A toast to your favorite classics! This set of eight, water-resistant coasters features iconic book cover art from Catch-22, Invisible Man, and Pride and Prejudice among others.Which book coaster deserves your Hemingway Daiquiri? And this gift gives back, too.The purchase of this set sends one book to a community in need. www.outofprintclothing.com COASTER SET
These candles offer hours of enjoyment—fifty-four burning hours to be exact. They are elegantly presented in glass cups, filled with a light floral scented soy and palm wax, and packaged in a lovely gift box, ready for giving. www.zgallerie.com
GLOW CANDLES
Buttery popcorn is always a fan favorite, but a few extra gourmet toppings can make it a home run.This ready-made gift collection includes six all-natural seasonings including white cheddar, dill pickle, and sweet caramel corn. URBAN ACCENTS KERNEL AND SIX-SEASONING KIT
www.surlatable.com
HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
5
IN THE KITCHEN
6 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
IN THE KITCHEN
GIFTS FOR THE FOOD LOVER
Thoughtful Presents from the Kitchen The endeavor of gift giving can be a tricky task. Finding a thoughtful gift for every friend and family member on the list is daunting. Long ago I ditched last-minute shopping for making food gifts at home. A bit of advance planning and some recipe hounding is ample ammunition to get the task done—both on time and to the delight of your food-loving friends and family. If you’re intimidated by candymaking, some of these recipes might change your mind. Far from difficult, the principal skill required is attention. The best advice is to be prepared and to organize your ingredients like a surgeon does her tools. I do recommend that you invest in a candy thermometer: an indispensable kitchen tool and a candymaker’s right-hand man.
Written and P hotographed by Brenda Crow HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
7
IN THE KITCHEN
Bourbon-Soaked, Chocolate-Dipped Figs
BOURBON-SOAKED, CHOCOLATE-DIPPED FIGS I discovered these holiday treats during a winter spent in Spain. Southern Spain’s cuisine is highly influenced by Northern Africa—a vestige of the Al-Andalus Iberian Peninsula. And figs play a big part in the confections made during the holidays.This recipe provides instruction for tempering chocolate, a necessary task when enrobing sweets in a chocolaty shell. Your best tool is attention; follow the temperature guide and you’ll come out on top. Makes 2 dozen 2 dozen dried figs 1 cup bourbon whiskey 1 pound dark chocolate (not chips), chopped
8 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
In a small saucepan, bring bourbon to simmer over medium heat. Add dried figs, turn off heat and allow figs to steep for 30 minutes. Strain and set figs aside in the refrigerator to chill.
To prepare chocolate for dipping: Prepare and set aside a medium bowl filled halfway with water and ice for an ice bath.
In a medium pot or double boiler, bring water to a boil. Turn off heat, then rest a clean bowl atop filled with ¾ of the chopped chocolate. Stir to melt, bringing chocolate to 115 degrees F. Do not let melted chocolate exceed 119 degrees F. Once temperature is reached, remove from heat and add
remaining ¼ of chocolate to the bowl, stirring to melt. Put bowl of melted chocolate atop the ice bath, careful not to let any water into the chocolate. Stir and cool chocolate to 80 degrees F. Return chocolate to double boiler and stirring, bring temperature of the chocolate to 88 to 91 degrees F. Remove from heat.
To dip figs in chocolate: Arrange a medium sheet of waxed paper on the counter and set figs and melted chocolate to its side. Holding the fig by the stem, dip into melted chocolate to completely coat. Gently swipe excess chocolate from the bottom of the fig onto the edge of the bowl.
IN THE KITCHEN
Lavender Sea Salt Caramels
Arrange dipped figs upright on waxed paper to set.
LAVENDER SEA SALT CARAMELS Sea salt caramels have been the darlings of the confection class for some time now. It’s easy to see why: sweet, round, and salty, these treats are an absolute crowd pleaser. And they’re quite easy to make. I’ve infused these caramels with lavender flower, but the possibilities are endless. If you’d like to experiment (think cardamom, fresh basil, or dried chili), steep your ingredients with the milk at the first step. Makes 40+ caramels 1 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon lavender flower ½ teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon + ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt
½ cup light corn syrup 1 cup granulated sugar 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
Line a 9-inch loaf pan with tin foil and coat with cooking spray. Set aside. In a small pot, bring cream and lavender together to simmer. Turn off heat and allow to steep 15 minutes. Strain and discard lavender from cream, then add the vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon of sea salt, and 2 tablespoons butter to the cream. Bring mixture to a soft boil, then immediately remove from heat. Set it aside covered, keeping it warm while you cook the syrup.
In a medium pot, bring corn syrup and sugar to a boil, stirring gently to incorporate and melt sugar. Once sugar is melted, refrain from stirring the mixture. Cook the syrup to 310 degrees F, about 15 to 20 minutes. Once reached, turn off the heat and add the warm cream, stirring until smooth. Return to medium heat and cook caramel to 260 degrees F, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the remaining butter, stirring until smooth. Pour the caramel into the prepared loaf pan. Let it rest 10 minutes, then sprinkle with the remaining ¼ teaspoon flaky sea salt. Allow to cool completely.
HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
9
IN THE KITCHEN
Chocolate-Dipped Honeycomb Candy
Once cool, lift caramel sheet out of the pan then peel away the foil. With a hot, sharp knife, slice caramel into rectangles. Wrap caramel pieces in waxed paper, twisting each side to close. Store in an airtight container and they will last for about a month.
CHOCOLATE-DIPPED HONEYCOMB CANDY Honeycomb candy is the ultimate nostalgic treat. And you wouldn’t believe how easy it is to make. Comprised of just three ingredients, your task is to bring them to hard-crack stage, then add baking soda to aerate the cooked down sugar. Make sure you pour this confection out onto the baking sheet immediately after incorporating the baking 10 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
soda, as its rise will take place on the pan. Once cool, crack, dip in chocolate if desired, and keep in a tightly closed container as air tends to quickly deteriorate this confection. Makes 1 sheet cooking spray ¼ cup water 1½ cups granulated sugar ¼ cup honey 1 tablespoon baking soda 1 pound dark chocolate (not chips), chopped
Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking sheet with cooking spray or vegetable oil.
In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, combine water, sugar, and honey. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stir-
ring to combine. Once the sugar has melted, stop stirring and allow to boil until a candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees F. Immediately remove pot from heat and add the baking soda. Stir only to combine, then immediately pour out onto greased baking sheet. Do not smooth out with your spoon. Let cool completely, then break into pieces.
To prepare chocolate for dipping: Prepare and set aside a medium bowl filled halfway with water and ice for an ice bath.
In a medium pot or double boiler, bring water to a boil. Turn off heat, then rest a clean bowl atop filled with ¾ of the chopped chocolate. Stir to melt,
IN THE KITCHEN S’mores Kit
bringing chocolate to 115 degrees F. Do not let melted chocolate exceed 119 degrees F. Once temperature is reached, remove from heat and add remaining ¼ of chocolate to the bowl, stirring to melt. Put bowl of melted chocolate atop the ice bath, careful not to let any water into the chocolate. Stir and cool chocolate to 80 degrees F. Return chocolate to double boiler and stirring, bring temperature of the chocolate to 88 to 91 degrees F. Remove from heat. To dip candy: Arrange a medium sheet of waxed paper on the counter and set broken pieces of honeycomb candy and melted
chocolate to its side. Rest a piece of honeycomb candy on the tines of a fork, dip into melted chocolate to completely coat. Gently swipe excess chocolate from the bottom of the fork onto the edge of the bowl. Arrange dipped candies on waxed paper to set.
S’MORES KIT Who says s’mores are strictly summer campfire food? Certainly no one who’s indulged in this divine treat during the throes of winter.They are the perfect cold-weather confection. Since I discovered the joys of homemade marshmallows, I always opt for whipping up a batch myself. You'll need a candy thermometer and stand mixer, but after heating the syrup the mixer does all the work for you. When it’s mixing, feel
free to put your feet up for 15 minutes and return to a bowl of sweet marshmallow fluff. And the creative possibilities of homemade marshmallows are endless. Experiment with extract flavors, citrus zests, spices, or try coating the cut squares in toasted coconut. Bundle your homemade treat with a chocolate bar and graham crackers and you’ve got a lovely gift. Makes 4 kits 4 bars dark chocolate 4 sleeves graham crackers 12 Homemade Marshmallows, recipe below Homemade Marshmallows Makes about 48 squares 1–2 cups confectioners’ sugar (powdered sugar), for coating 1 cup cool water, divided HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
11
IN THE KITCHEN
3 (¼-ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin 1½ cups granulated sugar 1 cup light corn syrup ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt 1 tablespoon vanilla extract zest from 1 orange (optional)
Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the sides. Lightly grease the foil and any exposed parts of the dish. Sprinkle 12 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
entire dish with confectioners’ sugar. Set aside.
Combine ½ cup water and gelatin in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Set aside to soften. Combine remaining ½ cup water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve
sugar. When dissolved, attach a candy thermometer and boil, without stirring, until temperature reaches 240 degrees F, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 1 minute. Turn mixer on to low speed. With mixer running, slowly drizzle in hot syrup down the side of the bowl. Slowly increase mixing speed to high and whip
IN THE KITCHEN
Cinnamon Anise Palmiers
CINNAMON ANISE PALMIERS Palmiers are the perfect last minute gift. Instead of hapless eleventh hour shopping online, make a batch of these cookies for the food lover in your life.They take no time to prepare and the end result is impressive. I’ve added ground anise seed to the mix, one of my favorite spices. Its subtle licorice tone provides a good contrast to the otherwise sweet cookie.Take care when flipping these cookies as the caramelized sugar can easily burn. Makes about 40 cookies 1 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons ground anise seed 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon orange zest 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Combine sugar, anise, cinnamon, and orange zest together in a bowl. Pour ½ of this mixture out onto a work surface, spreading it evenly in a shallow layer. Lay the puff pastry on top and roll it out, pressing it into the sugar and using the remaining ½ sugar mixture to coat the top of the puff pastry. Continue to roll out the pastry into an approximately ¼-inch thick square, evenly coated with sugar.
until marshmallow is very thick, fluffy, and tripled in size, about 15 minutes. Near the end of mixing, add vanilla extract.
Cover a large rubber spatula in cooking spray and scrape marshmallow into prepared pan. Smooth top and sprinkle powdered sugar over the surface. Allow to set, uncovered at room temperature, for at least 3 hours.
To cut, transfer foil and marshmallow to cutting board. Coat a very sharp knife with cooking spray and slice marshmallow into 1- to 1½-inch squares. Dredge sticky sides of the marshmallows in remaining powdered sugar. Store in a sealed container for up to two weeks or eat right away!
Fold opposite sides of the square inward, halfway toward to the middle, then fold them a second time in the same fashion so that they meet at the middle of the dough. Then, fold the two sides shut, as if closing a book. Slice crosswise about ½-inch thick. Arrange slices onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes on one side, until caramelized. Carefully flip cookies and bake another 2 to 4 minutes until lightly caramelized on the other side, too. Store in an airtight container. HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
13
LIFESTYLE
i
BabySteps This Year, Think Small When It Comes to Health-Minded New Year’s Resolutions
Written by Ashley Gartland
It’s easy to get caught up in the hoopla of making New Year’s resolutions to improve your health. But when it comes to your diet, radical goals like your annual pledge to drop twenty pounds by March can leave you feeling overwhelmed and defeated before you begin. The easier, more empowering route to improve your health this year is to make small, more manageable resolutions that can help you stay motivated, sustain a healthy lifestyle, and possibly lose a few pounds along the way. “When you make small changes, there isn’t a feeling of failure. It is more about a feeling of accomplishment,” says registered dietitian and author of The Small Change Diet: 10 Steps to a Thinner, Healthier You, Keri Gans. Need some direction to get you started? The following six small changes are completely doable and beneficial to your health, too.
14 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
LIFESTYLE HAVE A THREE-FOOD-GROUP BREAKFAST. You’ve heard the old saying that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But even habitual breakfast eaters can improve the morning meal by incorporating a protein, a carbohydrate, and a healthy fat.The fat promotes satiety, while the carbohydrate provides quick energy to jumpstart your body after a night-long fast. Slow-digesting protein is also essential because it keeps you feeling full long after the meal ends. “I recommend making a bowl of oatmeal with a half cup of oats and one cup of low-fat or nonfat milk,” says Gans. “Then top it with berries, cinnamon, and walnuts or almonds so you are covering all your bases.”
1
JOIN THE MEATLESS MONDAY MOVEMENT. Research has shown that reducing your meat intake may decrease your risk of chronic conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. And if you don’t want to cut out meat entirely, the Meatless Monday movement (meatlessmonday.com) offers a simple way to reduce your meat consumption and saturated fat intake. Plus, going meatless on occasion will introduce you to an abundance of nutrient-dense, plant-based protein sources (like beans and quinoa) and help you adopt a more varied diet.
2
FILL HALF YOUR PLATE WITH PRODUCE. Whether you eat a generous salad with lunch or incorporate a serving of vegetables into a pasta dinner, making fresh produce the star of the plate delivers plenty of nutrients and helps keep the serving size of other food groups in check. “Calories from carbs and protein can add up quickly, and if your serving size gets too large, that equates to extra calories you don’t need,” says Gans. “If you watch your serving sizes, you will need more food to help fill you up and that’s where vegetables and fruits come in.”
3
FAVOR HIGH-FIBER FOODS. High-fiber foods like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can help lower cholesterol, control blood sugar, keep you regular, and prevent you from overeating, says Gans. Eating fiber-rich foods at any time provides health benefits, but for weight maintenance purposes try incorporating them at the start of a meal. A Pennsylvania State University study found that people who eat a high-fiber food like an apple or a salad at the start of a meal, consume fewer total calories overall.
4
REDUCE YOUR LIQUID CALORIES. In our beverage-loving culture, people often forget to count the liquid calories they consume in lattes, sports drinks, sodas, and alcoholic beverages. Start paying attention to the calories you drink. Then, look for ways to improve your choices like replacing soda with sparkling water or enjoying a glass of antioxidant-rich red wine instead of a high-calorie cocktail.
Photography provided by ©iStockphoto.com/hlphoto.
5
Physical Resolutions Ready to try the small-change approach in other areas of your life? Here are three tiny lifestyle tweaks to adopt to improve your health in small but significant ways. Skip the Elevator. Whether you’re visiting a friend in a seventh-floor apartment or heading to work in a downtown high-rise, take the stairs to sneak some extra aerobic activity into your day. Multitask During TV Time. The average American watches more than thirty-four hours of television each week. If you find yourself in front of the TV, spend some of that time doing exercises like crunches, push-ups, or lunges and you’ll improve your fitness by the time the latest episode of The Voice ends. Forgo In-Office E-mails. Instead of e-mailing co-workers, visit their desks to chat in person. Do so a few times a day and you’ll interrupt a sedentary day at the office with brief spurts of activity.
REDEFINE YOUR DEFINITION OF DESSERT. Even health-conscious eaters fall victim to post-meal cravings for sweets. Instead of satisfying that craving with nutritionally poor foods, try eating naturally sweet fruit, which has roughly sixty calories per serving and is packed with immune-boosting antioxidants. If plain fruit doesn’t interest you, Gans recommends baking an apple with a little cinnamon and serving it with a spoonful of Greek yogurt. “There are ways to take fruit and make it sweeter in a healthy manner,” she says.
6
HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
15
Indoor Crops This Winter, Harvest Your Own Fresh Produce with a Few Foods That are Easy to Grow Indoors
Written by Catriona Tudor Erler
GARDENING
i Photography provided by (clockwise from top right) ©iStockphoto.com/Ben185, ©iStockphoto.com/Studio-Annika, ©iStockphoto.com/cglade.
If you have a year-round hankering for homegrown food, there is plenty of opportunity to have just that—even in the coldest climate. The secret? Grow your food indoors.There are a surprising number of foods are easy and fun to grow in your own home. Here are a few options to get you started. TOMATOES. Imagine the pleasure of fresh, homegrown tomatoes in winter. Indeterminate (they produce until they die) varieties of cherry, grape, or pear tomatoes are ideal. They will give you an on-going, continuous harvest throughout the cold weather. You can start your indoor winter crop of these and other tomato varieties from seeds. But to jump-start the growing process, start your indoor tomatoes from cuttings taken from your outdoor plants. It’s easy. In late summer, cut a branch from an outdoor plant and trim it into several six-inch pieces, each with at least two sets of leaves. Remove the other foliage, leaving only the pair at the top of each cutting. Place the cuttings in a jar of water and leave indoors in a sunny window sill; you’ll have rooted plants within days. Pot these up, choosing containers that will allow for as deep a root system as you have room for indoors, and grow them in a sunny outdoor spot until frost threatens. Once they are inside (tomatoes are sun lovers, so position them where they will get as much as possible), prepare for the plants to grow tall. Create a sturdy trellis to support the vines, or stretch strong string between small nails set into the window frame to support the weight of the growing plants and the fruit they’ll bear. Feed the plants regularly, following the fertilizer package instructions. Tomato flowers are self-pollinating, but to help the process give the plants a gentle tap when you water; this simulates the wind and bees rustling the flowers and it helps to move the pollen around inside.
Come spring, root cuttings from your indoor plants. Once they're rooted and the weather's warm enough, plant the cuttings outdoors for your summer garden tomato crop. These are plants that will keep on giving for years to come. GARLIC. Like the miracle story of the loaves and the fishes, you can take a head of garlic and turn it into many new plants. Break apart a storebought (or homegrown) head of garlic, and plant each clove root side down, pointed end up, in a container that’s at least eight inches deep. Often, garlic in the stores is treated to extend shelf life, making them harder to grow. So start with organic heads. The cloves should be buried one inch deep from the top tip, and at least four inches from the container side and other cloves. If you just want the garlic greens and not the heads, you can put them closer together. Place the container where it will get a minimum of eight hours of sun per day, and water as needed to keep the potting mixture moist but not wet. Snip off the tiny flowers as they grow so energy goes into producing the new garlic head. Eight to ten months later, when the leaves begin to turn brown, rejoice.Your crop of garlic heads is ready to harvest. Also, garlic is a natural pest repellent so try placing them next to your indoor tomatoes to ward off mites and aphids. SCALLIONS (SPRING ONIONS). Spring onions are easy and fun to grow indoors, and they don’t require a lot of space. When you’re trimming your store-bought scallions, save the cut off root and plant it in a container. Spacing is not an issue so jam as many roots into the pot as will fit, even allowing them to touch. The roots will sprout within days, and you can enjoy the oniony greenery throughout the winter. Growing food is an activity that gives back. Plant indoors in the fall and you can enjoy the fruits— and vegetables—of your labors all winter long.
More Crops to Grow Indoors Salad Greens rape, mustard, cress, sunflower greens, and buckwheat greens Herbs parsley, rosemary, chives, bush basil, winter savory, and dwarf sage Citrus dwarf varieties of calamondin, Trovita, and Otaheite orange; Improved Meyer, Ponderosa, and Eureka lemons; Kaffir, rangpur, or Persian (Bearss) lime; Eustis limequat, Nippon orangequat, and the strangelooking Buddha's hand (Citrus medica var. sarcodactylis) Avocados Sprouts bean, alfalfa, wheatgrass Watercress root cuttings from a store-bought bunch
HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
17
FineDining & Entertaining
The dining room plays host to the finer things in life. With well-designed place settings and well-cooked meals, this space offers a place for friends and family to dine and divulge in complete comfort. Each of the following dining room designs introduces a unique interpretation of stylish comfort and provides a feast for the eyes.
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT: Sherry incorporated a palette of grays, blues, and black into Horgan’s dining and living rooms. A stunning custom-made, pale-blue velvet tufted banquette is the focal point of the shared space. An eclectic collection of artwork and mirrors leads downstairs to the dining room. Casual pillows provide a comfortable place to relax.
French Eclectic A North Carolina Designer Teams Up with Her Wardrobe-Stylist Client to Create a Classic, Modern Dining Room WRITTEN BY BLAKE MILLER PHOTOGRAPHY BY RON ROYALS
The problem at hand was simple: Catherine Horgan’s dining and living rooms needed a major overhaul.The bungalow, located in the charming Elizabeth neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina, was outdated and “stuck in the nineties,” says Lisa Sherry of Lisa Sherry Interieurs. “The space needed a facelift.” As a stylist and fashion blogger—her Closet of Style blog covers everything from fashion to beauty and travel— Horgan has an eye for design and had an idea of what she wanted the space to look and feel like. But she enlisted Sherry to help transform the large space into an ideal area for entertaining and for showcasing Horgan’s love of fashion. The first issue at hand was the layout. “Being an amazing wardrobe stylist and with great taste and style, Catherine had many ideas for us to reference but left the layout of the space to us,” says Sherry, who splits her time between her High Point and Charlotte, North Carolina offices. “Rather than keep [the room] for dining only, we challenged ourselves to create a space for lounging, as well.” The long, narrow room (once only designated as the formal dining room), needed to be both overhauled with new decor and reworked to fit the family of four’s lifestyle and interests. “We spent a long time reinventing the space on paper to see what the possibilities could be,” says Sherry. The end decision: buck tradition and move the existing dining room so that it sits prominently in front of the fireplace, and divide the area into two rooms that work seamlessly together. One part would be the living room, where guests could mingle and sip cocktails, while the other would be the dining room. To delineate the spaces, Sherry added a 20 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
circular table styled with vintage vases, bowls, and beads beneath an antique chandelier. Moving the dining table in front of the fireplace—an area traditionally designated as the living room—was just the beginning of Sherry’s installation, which she defines as French, modern, and eclectic. “I like juxtapositions,” says Sherry, “so the traditional architecture called out for modern eclecticism.” This French-eclectic look was achieved by incorporating a modern color palette of grays, taupes, and blues coupled with dramatic black walls accented by white trim. To modernize some of the decor, Sherry updated and reinvented some of Horgan’s existing pieces such as the antique dining table, which was painted and then sanded for a modern, weathered look. By adding a French settee, wing chairs, and modern side tables to the dining room, Sherry was able to update the overall look and have it appear “more collected.” A timeless seagrass rug ties the living and dining rooms together while the fireplace, once the centerpiece of the living room, now anchors the dining room giving it a more European look and feel. One of the best parts of the installation for Sherry’s clients is the anticipation of seeing the project completed. Sherry asks her clients to leave so that she and her team of designers can install the project completely.The result is a space that’s thoroughly designed, in what feels like a relatively short time span. For Sherry, the collaboration with Horgan was ideal. “Being designers, we like to push our clients a bit,” she says of how both women operate in their respective careers. And for the final design of the space, Sherry and her team took the lead. “We took Catherine’s thoughts and ideas and went above and beyond.”
In Black & White A Clean-Lined Los Angeles Dining Room Suits a Designer Homeowner’s Many Needs WRITTEN BY ASHLEY GARTLAND PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM SIMMONS
When designer Morgan Brown of Morgan Brown Designs found her five-bedroom, five-bath home in Los Angeles's Hancock Park, it was the neighborhood that convinced her to make an offer on the 4,200-square-foot space. “Hancock Park is a beautiful suburban neighborhood that has an old-money kind of atmosphere,” she says. “I moved here because it reminded me of the East Coast. I have a house in the Hamptons and grew up going there as a kid, and Hancock Park’s main street reminds me of the main street in the Hamptons.” Brown also recognized that a great neighborhood alone wouldn’t make the classic residence suit her style as a designer or her needs as a homeowner. It needed a lot of work. “When I first came into the house, it was stuck in the ‘80s. There were pastel mosaics around the tiles around the fireplaces and the rooms were painted lime green or covered with terrible wallpaper,” she says. “I wanted to bring back some elegance, charm, and personality to the home’s design.” The renovations commenced in the dining room and kitchen, which Brown calls the epicenter of her home. Originally, a wall separated the two rooms but Brown removed it and added two large wooden support beams in its place such that the rooms now flow into each other. By connecting the rooms into one L-shaped space, Brown improved the function of both spaces and vastly improved the look and feel of the dining room in particular. “The original dining room was stark and cold feeling, closed off, and small,” she says. “It functioned as a dining room did twenty years ago when dining rooms were primarily used for entertaining and special occasions. Those rooms were kept very separate from the kitchen, where the house staff or wife prepped the meals and brought them into the dining room to serve. It was a very formal space that did not fit the life I lead these days.” Today, Brown uses the 300-square-foot dining room as a space to host dinner parties or help her child with homework when she switches to mom mode. The clean-lined, 22 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
black-and-white furniture she wisely selected for the room suits such multifaceted needs as well as the size and color palette of the space. For example, the upholstered chairs, the benches, and the long rectangular table from Room Service in Los Angeles provide seating for small gatherings but can easily be reconfigured so the table can serve as a buffet table when Brown throws large dinner parties. In addition to updating the room’s furniture, Brown made a few cosmetic changes to breathe new life into the space.To create continuity between the kitchen and dining room, she started by giving the rooms matching subway tile treatments and staining the floors a dark black. Pitted against each other in the dining room, the high-gloss floors and simple tiles create the much-needed contrast that Brown says the space lacked before. “The floors were originally a light, natural color and they provided no contrast in the space. In my work, I try to create contrast so I like to do a black or white floor in a room to really make the walls stand out from everything and be more present in your eyesight versus just melting into a light colored floor,” she says. “I also like [the combination] in this space because the black floor pops so much and the subway tiles contrast it to make a real statement.” To complement the black-and-white color palette used on the floors, walls, and furniture, Brown painted the remaining sections of the walls a soft-blue hue. “Between the floor and the tile, I needed a color for the walls that wasn’t white and that wouldn’t draw your eye away from the tile,” she says. “I find blue to be such a calming color and one that brings a little piece of serenity in a room. And I like a soft blue and high-gloss white together. I find it to be a very clean combination.” The same could be said of Brown’s overall design for the dining room, which partners smart structural changes with just the right aesthetic updates to perfectly suit Brown’s traditional-modern style.
When creating the dining room for her Los Angeles home, designer Morgan Brown employed striking black floors and sleek subway tiles to provide much-needed contrast in the space.
Refined Dining A Modern Home with Old-World Ambience
WRITTEN BY CAROLYN M. RUNYON PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT MOORE PHOTOGRAPHY
Sharon Coleman was raised in Southern California and always had a deep love of Spanish-influenced architecture. When she moved to Atlanta, Georgia and decided to make it her permanent home, she wanted to design and build a house that was reminiscent of the homes she grew up with on the West Coast. Coleman and her husband researched styles with dominant Spanish features and found that in early twentieth-century America, George Washington Smith, an architect, was the “father” of the style home they loved— Spanish Colonial Revival. This style of home became popular in California during the 1920s following their display in the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. The homes were a catalog of styles unified by the use of arches, courtyards, plain stucco or plaster walls, and tile roofs—all derived from the Mediterranean world of architecture.The new style was named Spanish Colonial Revival and was in abundant demand until the Great Depression The Spanish Colonial Revival style had been enthusiastically adopted by Santa Barbara, California, so the Colemans traveled there to complete their research.They took photos and studied exterior and interior features. Soon afterward, Coleman consulted with Leah Bailey, ASID, then lead designer of Atlantabased Pineapple House Interior Design, and with architect William T. Baker of Atlanta-based William T. Baker and Associates, who helped her realize her dream for the entire 12,000square-foot home. According to Baker, the owners wanted an old-world feel throughout the house. “Special arched 24 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style emphasizes many Spanish-influenced details. Arches, stucco surfaces, built-in niches and alcoves, intricately carved dark woods, wrought iron accents, and tile are among the most prominent.
openings and hand-carved wood doors lend a feel of centuries to this new-construction house,” he explains. “Many of the accents and furnishings look as though they could be from an original villa in Madrid.” This dining room, full of Spanish-influenced details, is part of a larger open-concept room that includes the living room and gallery hall. “Shaba Derazi, [currently withYoung & Meathe Custom Homes] was the project manager and his input and guidance were invaluable,” says Coleman. “He worked with me on many of the interior custom design features of the home.” The walls are drywall with a skim coat of plaster over them to resemble the original stucco walls of vintage Spanish construction. Painted a soft beige, they provide a subtle background for the contrasting deep wood and wrought iron accents. Four pecky cypress beams highlight the thirteen-foot ceiling in the entire great room area. Carved, heavy, ten-foot doors in the dining room are mahogany and were purchased through No Mas!, a company that designs and imports Mexican art objects. And Coleman says the doors to the left and right of the sideboard, were carved by a seventy-year-old Mexican woman. “All the other doors in the home were custom designed by William T. Baker and myself,” she says. “An example is the beautiful dark-wood-framed, glass-paned arched door leading to the courtyard from the dining area.” The wrought iron chandelier, well sized for the high ceilings, has a match in the living room area and both were sourced from California-based Arte de Mexico. The arched niche is a traditional architectural design element of the Spanish Colonial Revival style.The sideboard, a rich dark wood that is typical of the style, was purchased in an antique store and nests perfectly in the space.The mirror above was custom-made.Two sconces, which also appear in other areas of the home, are reminiscent of early Spanish candleholders. And the tile floors throughout the entire dining room, living room, and gallery hallway are travertine with chiseled edges. The dining room table is a double pedestal table that the owners brought with them to this home, but the antique wooden chairs were purchased separately. “The host and hostess chairs were designed and upholstered in fabric from Lewis & Sheron Textiles by my upholsterer, Miquel Moreno of Custom Slipcover & Upholstery,” says Coleman. “They add a soft and plush feel to the dining area.” Baker says that the owners wanted a dressy-casual family home that would fit their lifestyle. “They wanted the home to be comfortable for when it was just the two of them, and to function perfectly when it was full of family or friends, or when they hosted a major corporate event,” he explains. “The Spanish Colonial Revival style lends itself well to all of these needs. From relaxing and casual to formal or elegant, the design is exactly suited to what the Colemans were looking for.” 26 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
Warm colors and rich fabrics soften the dark wood tones and ironwork. The combination of architectural detail, rich warm tones, and vintage touches gives the dining room an elegant yet comfortable, welcoming feel.
Sun-Drenched Dining
The homeowners wanted their extensive art collection to be displayed throughout the house in a relaxed fashion instead of in a formal gallery. The dining room showcases Chinese ginger jars, an oversize painting, and an ornate gold bowl from their collection.
The Sunshine State Lives Up to Its Name in This Cheerful, Asian-Themed Dining Room WRITTEN BY RONDA SWANEY PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICOLE PEREIRA
Located on Williams Island, a private island near Aventura, Florida, most rooms in this townhouse take advantage of the wide water views on both sides; however, the dining room is an anomaly: it has no windows. “When I first saw the space, I was afraid this room would end up being a dark cave,” says Barbara Murtagh Nash, owner of Blue Sky Environments Interior Decor in Coral Springs, Florida. When Nash first encountered the home, it was new construction and the homeowners were first-time clients. On meeting the Feinbergs, Nash soon learned of their affinity for Asian style. One of the few requirements placed on the dining room design was the use of two large Chinese ginger jars that the couple acquired during their travels. Inside the jars was a pleasant surprise. “When you stand above them and look down, you see koi painted inside,” says Nash. The jars became the base of the dining table and as an allusion to the painted fish hidden inside the jars, Nash had the ceiling painted with a mural that gives the impression of peering into a koi pond. The brilliant color of koi and the desire to lighten up what could have been a dark room, inspired Nash’s design choices. “We wanted it to feel sunshiny,” says Nash. “The wall color is mango, and [it] feels refreshing, like a sorbet.” The wallpaper 28 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
combines the formal feel of damask, but lightens the mood with an avant-garde tone. The Chinese ginger jars sit on a mahogany base, and the same rich wood tone is used in the wall mirror, dining chairs, and buffet. The lattice-backed guest chairs are covered in tangerine silk, and the same silk provides a matching welt in the upholstered host chairs covered in the slightest shade of orange. A good lighting plan was another essential element to cheer up the windowless room. The chandelier structure is open and light. Its carved wood center supports iron arms that display droplets made of wood and crystal. Wall sconces depict an Asian man and woman, each holding a penshell parasol.When lit, the aubergine and beige tones of the shell shades become apparent. Recessed fixtures provide light around the room’s edges, serving to complement rather than compete with the sconces and chandelier. Nash took several steps to make the room feel open and inviting. One essential part was adding the homeowners’ artwork. “They had numerous art pieces that they wanted to display, but not in a stodgy way,” says Nash. “They wanted the artwork randomly placed throughout their house so it felt relaxed and natural, and not forced or overly formal.”
Do’s and Don’ts for Formal Dining Room Design Light it up. If there’s one room in your house that needs lighting options, it’s the dining room. Sometimes you need the space to be brightly lit for setting the table or prepping for food service. Other times, you need it to be dimmed down, either for mood lighting or, as in an open floor plan, when the dining room serves as a backdrop to other rooms. Mix sconces, chandeliers, buffet lamps, and recessed lights to suit your needs.
1
Dial it down. If a formal dining room is too stuffy or serious, it may go unused. Make the room feel welcoming by mixing rustic pieces with refined wood with glass, and case goods with upholstered finishes. An eclectic mix makes the room appear more accessible and less like a showroom.
2
3 4
Leave some elbow room. Don’t make your guests feel like canned sardines. Leave ample space for chairs, tables, and traffic paths.
Soften the edges. Few rooms contain more hard surfaces and edges than a dining room. When possible, use window treatments and upholstered dining chairs to add softness.
Nash mixed styles and textures to keep the design from feeling stiff, which often happens in formal dining rooms. “You need a juxtaposition of a lot of different finishes,” she explains. “If you have a formal piece, offset it with something more accessible and less traditional.” The chairs and wallpaper feel quite formal, yet the simple lines of the Ebanista buffet and the glass dining tabletop, tone down the formality. The Crema Marfil floors and offwhite trim also warm up the room, making it feel approachable. In fact, approachability was a key concern of the homeowners.They enjoy the outdoors frequently and wanted a room that felt like you could transition from the boat deck to the dining room table and still feel comfortable. “People design dining rooms so formally that no one wants to use them or feels comfortable in them,” says Nash, who goes on to explain how to raise the comfort level. “Chair comfort is important but [so is] the comfort of their placement. I think people like a gracious amount of seating. They tend to linger more after dinner and talk when they feel relaxed in their space.” Fortunately, Nash doesn’t have to worry about the room feeling like a stuffy, dark cave. “It was so rewarding to see how warm the space felt after it was completed,” says Nash. “Even with the lights off the room is so inviting. It’s become a very cheerful corner of their house.” 30 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
The Ebanista buffet employs simple lines that do not compete with the drama of the chandelier or the intricate Chinoiserie woodwork of the dining chairs. The lines are simple but the wood tone coordinates with the other rich mahogany hues in the room.
In order to keep the aesthetic seamless from room to room, designer Amy Lau designed this dining room with a color palette of whites, yellows, and natural hues—a nod to the beachy vibe throughout the Hamptons, New York home.
Bridgehampton Beauty Designer Amy Lau Creates an Upscale Beach Aesthetic in a Hamptons Home WRITTEN BY BLAKE MILLER PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRIS TAMBURELLO
Though many of Amy Lau’s clients live in or just outside the city, the Manhattan-based designer has designed several, often second homes for clients in the Hamptons. So when one of her clients tasked her with installing an upscale beach aesthetic in his Bridgehampton manse, Lau’s mind was already spinning with ideas. But it wasn’t until she saw the large, unobstructed views from the 1,700-square-foot home, which sits adjacent to the Bridgehampton Polo Club, that she knew where to draw inspiration. “When you’re looking out these great windows, you’re seeing so much color—like the citron of the flowers outside the windows. So we really wanted to bring the outside in,” says Lau of the dining room’s color palette. 32 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
The dining room, though, had to work seamlessly with the other downstairs spaces such as the adjacent living room, where the homeowner often entertains. “I try to have a dialogue with each room so that you know they’re together as one but very different,” explains Lau. “They always relate.” To keep with the established modern, beach aesthetic, Lau chose to add pops of white in the trim, ceiling, and natural stone flooring complemented by natural fabrics and textures. A dramatic Stark grasscloth wallcovering appears to boast a celadon hue, which stems from the wall’s paint color underneath.The grasscloth wall emphasizes the focal point of the dining room where a driftwood lamp sits atop a coveted Harvey Probber sideboard, which Lau
THIS PAGE: A dramatic installation titled “Aggregation” by artist Masami Tsuchikawa, which Lau spotted while at the Palm Springs Modernism show, is the focal point of the dining room. OPPOSITE, FROM LEFT: A subtle Stark grasscloth wallcovering adds texture to the space. Lau refinished a classic Harvey Probber sideboard with white lacquer for a modern element.
had refinished in a modern white lacquer. “I decided to lacquer it and lighten it up,” she explains of her decision to alter the classic piece. “I wanted to give it a light appearance like it was floating.” Hung above the sideboard is the pièce de résistance of the dining room: an installation titled “Aggregation” by artist Masami Tsuchikawa, which Lau spotted while at the Palm Springs Modernism show. “Her work is just to die for,” says Lau. “[When I saw it] it stopped me in my tracks. I knew the second I walked into the dining room [that] it would be perfect in there.” For Lau, it was the central piece to the room, though the installation was the biggest challenge of the entire home design. “It reminds me of seashells; the preciousness of nature,” she explains. “It draws your eyes in. I love when you look at 34 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
something at first glance and the more you look at it the more it becomes interesting.” Continuing with the upscale beach aesthetic, Lau added a vintage Vistosi glass chandelier—that reminded her of iridescent shells—which hangs above a natural walnut dining room table to anchor the space and “give the room a sense of earthiness.” Extra doses of color were then added via the dining room chairs, which are swathed in a textured chartreuse fabric. A relatively seamless transition paid off: Lau’s client is elated, and not only with the dining room’s upscale beach aesthetic but the work in the entire home. The result of Lau’s installation is that the room is now the picture-perfect space of “casual elegance,” she says. “I was lucky—my client has incredible taste and a great eye.”
marking the
Milestones celebrations
A String of Encourages a Couple to Complete Their Enchanting Pasadena, California Home
Written by Jeanine Matlow Photography by Erika Bierman Photography
A
Anything’s possible when you have clients with a vision and the right designer to guide them—especially when you add some tight deadlines into the mix. Just ask Charmean Neithart, interior designer and owner of Charmean Neithart Interiors in San Marino, California, who made the magic happen for a soon-to-be-wed couple who needed their home refurbished in a hurry. “They were motivated,” explains Neithart. “Their goal was to get everything done because they were getting married.” The designer was brought on in August of 2011 to have the main level finished in time for her clients to host Thanksgiving dinner later that year. The next phase required the second floor to be ready for overnight guests that would attend the couple’s spring wedding. The three-story, roughly 6,000-square-foot Colonial was rather grand. “We wanted to ‘deformalize’ the house,” says Neithart, who lives in the same neighborhood as her clients, Ezra and Marisa Callahan. “They literally had nothing. Some people say that and really have some furniture. [But] we had to fill it up and take away the formality.” Neithart prefers contents that look like they were acquired over time. “There’s a sophistication to acquiring, but with a new couple that can be a bit tricky,” says the designer. “When a house is done, I like to step back, take a look, and see things that mean something to [the homeowners].” Here, she incorporated some pieces from their childhood homes along with art from their travels. Despite their youth, the Callahans (who met when they worked at Facebook) were drawn to more traditional trappings, which came as a bit of a surprise to the designer who opted for a less formal interpretation with a British Colonial aesthetic. “We took out the formality of the
38 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
sophistication
“There’s a to acquiring, but with a new couple that can be a bit tricky.”
Sophisticated
but fun palettes like blush, plum,and turquoise
were paired with traditional furnishings.
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT: The dining table is elegantly set for the homeowner’s bridal shower. A sitting room within the master bedroom features an antique Chinese altar table flanked by two chairs that wear blue-linen slipcovers. An amethyst lamp and oil painting by Greg Carter rest on the dining room sideboard. An antique British Colonial bench from Sri Lanka provides the perfect perch on the staircase landing.
Federal Colonial with fabrics, color, even furniture,” she says. For instance, the faux bamboo bed in the master bedroom and an antique British Colonial bench that punctuates the staircase landing. Sophisticated but fun palettes like blush, plum, and turquoise were paired with traditional furnishings. “We really ended up in the middle,” says Neithart. The designer turned a blank wall between the family room and the kitchen into a wine wall. “Both are avid wine drinkers,” says Neithart. She covered the wall with burlap paper and wine racks made from old wine barrels, and added a ledge to make it feel like a tasting bar. Because the homeowners love to entertain, they wanted the dining room to be special and more formal than the rest of the home; hand-painted, custom-cut wallpaper from Gracie sets the elegant tone in that space. Except for the sideboard, all of the dining room furniture is custom, including the table and chairs that were designed by Neithart. “I have wonderful craftsmen. I will go and watch them carve,” says the designer, who added a new mahogany top to antique carved legs from another table for a look she calls semi-antique. The reflection of the Italian crystal chandelier in the antique gold-leaf mirror was no easy feat. “It was really tricky to get the placement right with the existing fireplace. I had to do a little bit of hocus pocus, but we made it work and everybody was happy,” says Neithart. The designer prides herself on being able to find unique pieces for her clients, like she did here with the distressed mirror on the wall and the amethyst lamp on the sideboard. Silk draperies complement a vegetable-dyed Persian rug. “I love colors that are sort of in-between, like a plum tone with a bit of gray in it,” says Neithart, who threw a bridal shower for Marisa at the house and gave her the tabletop items as gifts. “They were fabulous clients. I wanted to do something special for them.We also wanted to break-in the dining room.” Although this project was jumpstarted by one joyous occasion, the celebrations seem to keep coming for the Callahans. “It was a really fun year [with] a whole bunch of landmarks [and] we made it,” says Neithart. “We did all of it and then she got pregnant on their honeymoon and they had a baby. They were so much fun and the easiest clients. [They] were open and agreeable and made decisions really fast.” And considering their rapport, it’s no surprise that Neithart credits the couple with the success of the project. “[My design] can only be as good as my client allows it to be,” she says. “Somebody has to approve everything and trust the process. These were clients that trusted the process. That’s when magical things happen.” 42 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
THIS PAGE, FROM TOP: A black faux bamboo bed makes a statement in the master bedroom where grasscloth walls lend texture to the well-appointed space. Custom bedding and antique bamboo nightstands strike a luxurious note. A guest room with a mint and raspberry palette, features custom bedding and a Restoration Hardware headboard. OPPOSITE: In a blue-hued guestroom, Neithart also included custom bedding and a headboard from Restoration Hardware that contribute to the soothing space.
Distinctive Dining Room Decor Because a dining room is typically not an everyday space, Charmean Neithart likes to make it stand out from the crowd. “A dining room should feel special,” she says. “It shouldn’t feel the same as the place where you have cereal in the morning.” Here are her tips for creating distinctive dining room decor.
1 2 3 4 5
Apply patterned wallpaper. It works well in a dining room because it’s interesting and it stimulates conversation. Add a little bling (something that sparkles), like a crystal chandelier.
Scale chairs to fit the table so you and your guests can eat comfortably.
Select a dining table that is thirty inches high and a rug that’s wide enough to fit under the chairs. Hang an appropriately sized mirror. When a mirror catches the reflection of a chandelier, the entire room feels special.
The West Queen West Area of the Canadian City Offers Abundant Food, Culture, and Sightseeing Written by Ruth Wertzberger Carlson
in the Spotlight
DESTINATION
CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT: Toronto's skyline sparkles at night. Even graffiti is considered art in Toronto; book a tour of Graffiti Alley to hear the soap opera stories about dueling spray painters. When the National Ballet of Canada celebrated its sixtieth anniversary, artists contributed sixty custom designed tutus (including this one) to celebrate the milestone. The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) hosts ever-changing exhibits about Canada, art and culture, and science. This year, the ROM celebrates its centennial. 46 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
Photography courtesy of (opening spread) ©iStockphoto.com/beastfromeast, (opposite page, clockwise from top left) ©iStockphoto.com/KeithBinns, Ruth Wertzberger Carlson, (last photo) ©iStockphoto.com/peterspiro.
i
“I hate Toronto,” a Canadian recently told me. Clearly she had not visited the same “Torrono,” as the locals pronounce it, that I did—the artsy side, known as West Queen West. Helen Racanelli—a travel writer and friend of mine who has lived for three decades in the West Queen West area, the center of the hip art and design district—says Toronto “was the city that often played other cities in movies, but never played itself.” “For the longest time Toronto had an inferiority complex,” she explains. “Not as chic and European as Montreal. Not as glamorous as New York. Not as historically rich as Chicago. . . . But it has always been a city with amazing neighborhoods and great diversity. These days it’s a huge player in so many realms: art, design, fashion, and media.” Artists moved to Ossington and West Queen West because the rent was cheap. Now that it’s gentrified, this area is the hip place to live and visit art studios, ateliers, and experimental restaurants. Just ask George Clooney, who attended the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) awards and was spotted having drinks at the then new Ritz hotel. Cannes is TIFF’s main competition, but a local told me during my visit that the difference is anyone can get tickets to a movie premiere in Toronto. When I asked whether stars also attended these Canadian showings, he answered nonchalantly, “Oh, yeah, they sit next to you.” Even graffiti artists are revered here, and a hot seasonal tour by the Tour Guys visits alleyways along Rush Lane, nicknamed Graffiti Alley, that are covered with artistry that seems similar to some of the Picasso masterpieces in the Art Gallery of Ontario. From the downtown walls to the uptown museums and stages, Toronto reveres art. When the National Ballet of Canada celebrated its sixtieth anniversary a couple of years ago, it invited artists to design sixty tutus for the occasion. The result: poufy skirts made out of
DESTINATION
colorful rolled-up film rolls, a patchwork quilt skirt, and one made of dolls. My favorite museum is Bata, a historical tour of the origin of shoes and how they’ve changed over the years. With an abundant number of artifacts, the museum rotates exhibits like the celebrity collection with shoes donated by Madonna, Elton John, and Elizabeth Taylor, to name a few. And the museum's flagship exhibition, All About Shoes, is a voyage through 4,500 years of fashionable and functional footwear. The hotels also support the arts. The Drake Hotel has a full-time curator who changes installations regularly. If you visit, be sure to have a cocktail on the rooftop bar. It’s a magical setting: an open-air restaurant with striped couches illuminated by twinkling lights on overhead wires, competing with the stars. The area has one-of-a-kind fashions. At Magpie Designs, the owners use feathers, leather, and dramatic textures in their backroom atelier to create dresses worn by local opera stars. Queen’s Pen is also located in this neighborhood. The nickname refers to ten blocks of menswear stores, Canada’s answer to Savile Row. And Kol Kid is considered by many to be one of the best kids’ stores in Toronto. The food is just as eclectic as the art. Harlem Underground is an homage to the 1920s, with the menus printed on vinyl records. Local Ethiopian restaurants offer global cuisine. BYOB is a store/classroom where the owners offer mixology classes as well as an assortment of antique and modern bar accessories. Racanelli recommends CZEHOSKI, a spot people love for its gourmet comfort food, and Clafouti, a petite shop offering coffee, pastries, and berry-topped sweets located across the street from Trinity Bellwoods Park. “I love Toronto because I can walk everywhere,” she says. “It’s just an amazing lifestyle. Fantastic restaurants. Great museums. . . . There’s theater, ballet, opera. We’ve got it all.”
See the Sights 1
One of the biggest attractions in Toronto is easy to find, as it’s the CN Tower, the tallest building in the city. You can get strapped into a harness and walk along the tower’s ledge, 116 stories high, hands free. Or, make your way into the revolving restaurant for the same 360-degree views with a glass of wine to boot.
It wouldn’t be Canada 2 without a temple to hockey. The Hockey Hall of Fame allows you to try your luck on the ice against simulated life-size players such as Wayne Gretzky.
3
If you visit anytime but winter, you can explore Lake Ontario by renting a kayak, canoe, paddleboat, or sailboat from the Harbourfront Canoe & Kayak Centre. Mariposa Cruises also offers year-round boat rides around the harbor, including one on New Year’s Eve.
Check out the Royal 4 Ontario Museum, or ROM, as locals call it. It boasts ever-changing hands-on exhibits of the world today and in the distant past. You can learn about Canada’s influence on international fashion; visit the bat cave; and see dinosaur skeletons and fossils up close and personal.
HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
47
20 French Eclectic Lisa Sherry Interieurs High Point and Charlotte, North Carolina 336-885-1546 www.lisasherryinterieurs.com
22 In Black and White Morgan Brown Designs Los Angeles, California info@morganbrowndesigns.com
Resources DECEMBER | JANUARY | 2014
48 HOME BY DESIGN | DECEMBER | JANUARY 2014
32 Bridgehampton Beauty Amy Lau Design New York, New York 212-645-6168 www.amylaudesign.com
36 Marking the Milestones Charmean Neithart Interiors San Marino, California 626-441-4288 www.charmean-neithart-interiors.com
Photography by Erika Bierman Photography.
28 Sun-Drenched Dining Blue Sky Environments Interior Decor Coral Springs, Florida 855-341-1401 www.bseid.com