Love Your Place: March 2009

My BEST friend Barbie recently turned 50 years old and had a fabulous birthday party at the beach in Malibu. I know it's old news by now, as pics from her party have graced the pages of so many newspapers and websites, celebrity cams, video sites, and even some of your blogs, especially over at Apartment Therapy Los Angeles. She's been livin' it up having a grand ole time all around the world. What a life!

Happy Birthday Barbie!

Jonathan Adler decorated the Malibu beach pad for her party with his signature bright colors and bold patterns and emphasized Barbie's love of PINK. He went shopping with Barbie and her OTHER friend Skipper over at the Jonathan Adler Shop to pick out some swell furnishings.

Photo from Apartment Therapy Los Angeles Blog

They should have shopped at Christian's Maison21 Atelier too cuz he has some fab things which are going like hot cakes now at his big sale this weekend.

After reading some of the buzz about Barbie's Birthday bash, I got the impression that some people didn't really like the decor, especially that chandelier made of blond hair. Well, it was her party and she can have her decorator deck it out how ever they want.

Besides, it's not gonna stay that way forever. I will show you what the spectacular home REALLY looks like in my next post. But right now, let's get back to the party!

Jonathan Adler must have gotten some inspiration from Michael Williams, who actually got inspiration from Jonathan Adler to make his Haute Barbie Dream Home Dollhouse... but whatever dudes. I just had to show you these cool pics incase you haven't seen them already.

Photos from Flickr by Mawphoto

Jonathan Adler probably got inspired from Barbie's recent fashion show too which was a big hit on February 14, 2009 during New York Fashion Week. See... she really DOES exist!

Here we are! Barbie's 50th Birthday Party pad turned out absolutely fabulous! Jonathan Adler did a marvelous job!

I love that Louboutin shoe closet! Oh la la!

Photos courtesy Matel for Barbie®’s 50th Birthday Party at her Real-Life Malibu Dream House®, except for the first one with Heidi Klum found on some guys website about cars.

Designer appearances definitely brought the luxe fashions and included Trina Turk (who we all love), Koi Suwannagate, Trina Tarantino, and The Blonds. The A-List Birthday bash guest list included Heidi Klum (who looked divine), Ginnifer Goodwin, Lauren Bosworth, Aimee Teegarden, Jonathan Adler (of course), Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian and Melissa Joan Hart.

Here's what it took to make the party people smile at Barbie’s 50th Birthday Party at her Real-Life Malibu Dream House.

The party was styled and decorated by famed “Happy Chic” interior designer Jonathan Adler and planned by renowned event planner Colin Cowie. The music was provided by DJ AM.

At the Party:
1,800 pairs of Barbie® sunglasses, 3,500 pairs of tiny shoes and 3,500 mini handbags fill up custom-designed lucite tables.
3,000 pink roses, 100 hydrangea and 300 ranunculus make up the centerpieces.
Guests can toast Barbie® with signature drinks including, Barbie Doll-icious!, Ken’s Caiprirosca, Strawberry Blonde and It’s a Pink Thing.
146 pounds of pink candy including mints, chocolate, licorice, rock candy, gummy lips, jelly beans and more line the dessert table.
1,030 pounds of ice make up the cake ice sculpture.

Inside Barbie's House:
The wall-to-wall carpeting lining Barbie®’s bedroom and hallway feature a custom-designed “B” pattern.
Over 200 yards of fuchsia velvet fabric were used to turn Barbie®’s bedroom into the dreamiest place in the house.
50 custom-designed Barbie® pink peep-toe Christian Louboutin heels (straight from Barbie®’s first ever Runway Show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week this February) line Barbie®’s shoe closet.
65 reproduction dolls of the original 1959 Black & White Bathing Suit® Barbie® doll were used to create an eye-catching one-of-a-kind wall mirror featured in the main living room.
The sitting room’s “hair” chandelier, designed by Chris March (contestant on Season 4 of “Project Runway”), consists of 30 blonde wigs and took more than 60 hours to construct.
Two pink plastic poodles on lucite pedestals flank the fireplace.
Three pieces of Barbie® vintage art hang on the walls throughout the house, including the iconic portrait of Barbie by Andy Warhol and the Donald Baechler “Ice Cream” portrait.
Barbie®’s in-house museum features 25 of the most iconic dolls throughout her 50 years.

What's Next For Barbie®:
Barbie®’s custom décor and signature pieces from the Malibu Dream House® will be heading to Las Vegas! This spring, the Palms Casino Resort will launch the Barbie® Suite, the ultimate Vegas destination for bachelorettes, birthdays and anyone who wants to be pampered in pink. Additionally, select items from the house will available for purchase as part of the “Jonathan Adler Loves Barbie” collection launching this September.

Did you know that Barbie has her own blog called Barbie All Doll'd Up. She TALKS and you don't even have to pull the string behind her head.

Remembering Barbie...

My wonderful Mom saved all my old Barbie's and her clothes for me which I think is so sweet. I even made some clothes for my Barbie's too.

Happy Birthday Barbie! Fabulous at 50! You go girl!

Here we are at our next destination right up this sandy path... a contemporary home at the beach. While working on my design for Maison21's Designer Challenge, I ended up creating another imaginary place that turned out to be quite modern. This design is loosely based on the Designer's Challenge criteria but didn't meet all the requirements and lacked the industrial and antique elements. I have always been attracted to antiques and vintage decor so I was quite surprised as to how modern this turned out.

For my design concept, I envisioned a place that was located in a very sunny climate for a home with lots of windows which look right out onto the beach. Perhaps the home looks something like the one in these pictures. This home was designed by Shubin & Donaldson Architects and is often refered to as the Urban Spa House. The Best House Design blog has more information about the home on their site. While I imagine the actual decor is just fine, I just wanted to show you a place that could accomodate the new design. Just take out the furnishings and pretend to add the new pieces below instead for a soothing glamorous decor.

I found a great deal of inspiration from nature some of which can be seen in the images from my previous two posts. There's the sandy beach, the vast sparkly ocean and the crest of silvery waves lapping against the shore, the colorful sea life and uniquely shaped sea shells so many creatures called home. There is twisted driftwood and seaweed, knolls of sand dunes with sea grass blowing in the breeze, the distant horizon and the daily sunrises and spectacular sunsets, an occasional foggy afternoon on a winter day, the blue sky and sound of seagulls and the warmth of the sun and coolness of an afternoon breeze.

Here is the place I created with some pretty furnishings and innovative products. I hope you find it to be relaxing place... maybe you'll stay awhile.

Drapes of silver and steel...

First, it's "curtains" for the home... which can be a good thing. While the place above looks like it uses windows that protect against the glaring sun, perhaps that isn't the case or quite enough in our imaginary place. The warm sun can feel wonderful but it can wreck havoc on your drapes and even your furnishings over time.

Création Baumann, a highly regarded Swiss textile company, has developed a new kind of material that prevents sun damage and can actually control the temperature of your room so they are energy efficient too. These drapes prefer to be called "textiles" and are made of silver and steel yet still maintain the flowing softness of traditional fabrics. They come in a variety of colors and patterns including light muted shades.

Silver and Steel are two collections developed primarily for the contract sector, and would be fabulous for the large windows often found in modern homes. "Silver features a thin aluminum backing in fabrics that range from opaque to sheer. Steel uses vacuum cathodic evaporation to adhere micro particles of steel to fabrics. The advantage of these new technologies is that the fabrics are washable and that the coating can be applied to a much larger range of fabrics and is less subject to the creasing of the metallic film."

Next let's put a soft rug under our feet...

The swirl rug is designed by Paul Smith in the beige colors that mimic the sand and the undulating ocean tide and some of the sea shells too. It can be found at the Rug Company which offers some very beautiful rugs for your home. The Rug Company is also signed up with RugMark in supporting ethical production of rugs. Another reason to feel good about this choice.

Add a elegant buffet for our treasures...

As you may expect from the best in modern Italian furniture, an extraordinary oval European glass buffet from 1 Contemporary Furniture.

And a stunning table to gather around...

The table is made in Italy and also found at 1 Contemporary Furniture. The Tavola X Expandable (6951/32V62G) has an aluminium lacquered table base with a tempered etched glass top. The dimensions are 78 3/4" - 118 1/8" Wide x 39 3/8" Depth x 29 1/2" Height. There are close up photos on their website that show how the table looks when it is not expanded, and the other available color choices. The base reminds me of the shimmery waves and the top is the color of the ocean and sky.

Some hip chairs...

The dining room chairs are also made in Italy by Colico Design are called Hip Erba Paulustre Chairs. Their design reminds me of the sea grass blowing in the ocean breeze. They are located under their new items for 2009 on their website. I can't seem to grab a good picture of them so please check out their stunning items and photos on their website. Hopefully the chair backs are high enough to look good with this table. (Can anybody tell me if their size is appropriate?) If they are not, then my alternate pick would be chairs like shown in the photo with the table.

And some more... Now who could resist a "Bouquet" of chairs!

Tokujiin Yoshioka is the creator of the "Bouquet" chair among many other stunning designs. The Bouquet chair was created for Moroso's New York showroom. It is beautifully crafted, each delicately colored “petal” is hand-folded and sewn on to the egg shaped base, giving this chair the appearance of being in full bloom. I thought they also mimic Sea Anemones discovered in the ocean and tide pools.

I would choose one or preferably two for the dining room. For our room, I like one (or both) in the beige, white and pink colors as seen in the chair closest to the front in the first photo, and second to the last in the photo with five of them lined up in a row. The solid white chair would also look amazing in our dining room. The pink one is my personal favorite! I know you've probably seen these on other blogs before when they first came out but I just had to add them here cuz they are so pretty.

Lights! Camera! Action!

There are so many beautiful choices for lighting it's hard to pick just one for the dining room. Here are some suggestions to choose from.

The Italian crystal spiral chandelier is offered through Barlights and is magnificent. However I think it might be too large to place above the dining room table so perhaps it can be used in the entry way.

Alternate Lighting...

Your ship has come in! This crystal ship chandelier was discovered on 1st Dibs and would look fabulous above the dining room table.

The beautiful Murano lamps were discovered on ebay years ago and sold to the highest bidder. They would have been very pretty with our decor but we must substitute another choice.

These lamps are by Joe Cariati and are available through Swank Lighting. You can read more about Joe Cariati here too. They would look lovely on the buffet or on a side table by the sofa in the adjacent room.

The beautiful room divider screen is by Oly Studio and is called the Serena Screen. It is a four panel screen made of capiz shells with a metal frame in gold or silver detailing.

A stylish new sofa...

While I like the couch that is already in the beach house above, let's get a new one that adds a touch of sophistication and glamour to the place while remaining exceptionally comfortable.

B&B Italia has tempted us again with their "Frank" modular sofa sectional designed by Antonio Citterio. "The different modules of the Frank System are created with simple shapes of generous proportions and lean on a thin profile of nickel varnished or polished supports. All the modules, excluding the pouf and the chaise lounge, are composed by two sitting cushions. Further comfort and relaxing positions are given by three small rigid cushions, which should be placed to add additional support for the back cushions on the sofas, on the pouf, and as an arm rest." It is perfect for lounging, with movable pillows and backrests combined with deep seats that allows any size sitter to get comfortable. The Frank sofa can even be used as an extra bed if needed for your weekend guests too.

Art and Accessories...

Let's add some interesting artwork on the walls. These paintings are by Kazuya Akimoto Art Museum.

The first one is called Abstract Chandelier. The painting mimics the sparkle from a chandelier and reminds me of the reflection from the sun shining on the ocean.

The second painting is called Silver North Sea Currents and looks like the ocean white caps.

Art Glass treasures discovered on ebay would look beautiful on the buffet.

Here are some pretty pillows from Ankasa to put on the sofa and add a soft touch to the decor.

Outdoor Furnishings...

In addition to the lounge chairs, let's add a few other stylish chairs and put them around an outdoor table.

"Designed elegantly and exquisitely by Patricia Urquiola, the new range of outdoor furniture by B&B Italia is something that your lawn and patio would drool over in joy. The Crinoline Collection merges stylish design with sensuous pattern as the furniture made out of natural fibers steals the spotlight with its intricate forms. The symmetrical structure and the ample space they offer also goes well with the spacious outdoor look that is crafted out of eco-friendly materials, merging well with the green. The basket at the bottom seems to accentuate the beauty of the collection and if you throw in a few cushions, then you can enjoy the summer in the fresh breeze outside with ample comfort."