I WANT TO BATHE IN HERE!

It has been a great 'christmas present' to get photos of four projects from my photographer.  I hope you enjoy them too!

As I said a few weeks ago, bathrooms are fun.  Here are 2 other great ones from the same house- the powder and the master.  It is so rewarding to take a pretty typical builder home and make the spaces feel custom and luxurious.  I would love to bathe in the master...I think it certainly has the feel of a high end spa.  Thanks to my great clients for the opportunity to work on such a fun project!

POWDER BEFORE:

POWDER AFTER:

MASTER BEFORE:

MASTER AFTER:

CHECKING OFF ANOTHER STARCK HOTEL

Anyone who knows me or my design sensibilities knows that I LOVE the designs of Philippe Starck, that crazy, arrogant Frenchman.  And it has been a goal of mine to view as many Starck hotels as possible, even if not to stay in them all, which would be nice, but my pocketbook cannot afford too many nights in Starck hotels quite yet.  A few weeks ago I was in San Francisco and while I was unable to get a room at a Starck hotel, I was able to stay in another icon of early boutique hotels, the Hotel Monaco by Bill Kimpton, which happened to be just one block from the Starck San Fran original- the Clift.  The best part of the whole experience was that while I did not realize the proximity of the two hotels before arriving, as I drove down the street towards Monaco, I KNEW I was approaching a classic 90s Starck hotel long before reading the very discreet sign that marked it as the Clift.  It was a wonderful experience, much like the first time I could truely tell a Neoclassical chair from a Rococo one.  The exterior, while quite plain, had the telltale narrow white brick and the narrow vertical bushes in large pots out front.  That is Starck, I know it. 

Here is the Hudson in New York with similar exterior treatment:

So of course I had to have a drink in the lobby...which of course was appropriately dark, so I apologize for the photos.

The highlight of the experience was seeing in person and actually sitting on the hotel's iconic shiny gold, vinyl upholstered, rococo revival style chaise...

One more off the list....

PROFESSIONAL HOME OFFICE ON A BUDGET

Some months ago I had the great opportunity to help a friend rennovate her home office space. Jennifer Armitstead is a very successful small business owner working in job placement and career coaching- check out her business- JA Career Coaching- and website here. (And note the great job we did of incorporating her logo colors into her office space!)

Jennifer needed a more professional space to bring clients into but also needed to stick with her existing home office location. As a small business owner not wanting to sink too much capital into any one thing (I certainly sympathize), she was working on a budget and we both decided much of the office space could be completed with Ikea product and supplemented with some other items here and there.

As it turns out, we ended up using all Ikea, excluding some decorative items Jennifer already owned- elements that gave the space some real personality and individualism. In addition to the new furniture, we selected new paint throughout and reworked the layout to better accomodate Jennifer and a client in 2 comfortable chairs for coaching and consulting.  We added functionality and reworked storage to make the space run more smoothly on a day to day basis.

So, here is the before:
 

The during:

And the after:

I have to say, I did not think Ikea could produce such a professional and pulled together look. I think, in fact, they are a great resource for small businesses, despite their strong ties to the residential market. However, I do want to reiterate the importance of those key unique items Jennifer brought to the space...without these the Ikea office would probably lack soul- an important element to Jennifer.

 
 
 
 
 

Thanks Jennifer, it was a pleasure!

THANK YOU!

While I am thankful for lots of things in my personal life, today I wanted to share my thanks for my wonderful clients I have been privileged to work with this past year. I have been lucky enough not only to have (almost) more than enough work than I know what to do with, but also to have clients that have allowed me to develop projects I believe in creatively, and also clients that have been nothing but a joy to work with. My projects this year have become great collaborative undertakings, embodying my clients desires and visions, adding my expertise as needed, and ultimately producing a great end result.




As a small business owner, my clients are key to my business growth and ongoing development, the honing of my skills and overall design sense. So, to those of you that visit my blog- thank you!



And to everyone, Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for your ongoing support of my blog!

SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY

I felt as a small business owner myself, I wanted to call attention to the 'Small Business Saturday' push that is happening for the second year during the biggest shopping weekend of the year.  I think it is a great initiative and a great opportunity to find great small businesses in your area.  Check out the facebook page if you want to find out more, and other small business owners- lets promote!  http://www.facebook.com/SmallBusinessSaturday?sk=app_214385065292578

As for my loyal blog followers, I thought I would offer a special 'Small Business Saturday' deal- between now and November 28th, I will be offering your first three hours of design consult at half price.  So try a consult for the holidays at just $75 for 3 hours!  Three hours is a lot of time...consider all we can get done on your new or existing house in that time.  Shoot me an email if you are interested: christa@christapirlinteriors.com


Happy Holiday Shopping!




Fine print: Must be booked through Christa Pirl Interiors by 6pm November 28, 2011.  One per customer and per household.  Three hour consult must be used by Jan 15, 2011.  Consult only valid in the greater Salt Lake City and Park City area.  Valid for residential or small business projects.

LITTLE (AND NOT SO LITTLE) GIRLS ROOMS

I am currently working on a bedroom for an utterly adorable one-year-old.  It is a wonderful type of project that I don't often get to work on.  Kids rooms are often considered less important than the main living spaces in a home, and it is assumed the kids will pretty much destroy anything nice in the space regardless.  However, I would claim that a well designed children's room can mean a much more tidy and special place. 

I recently completed the transformation of another girls room from little girl to early teenage girl.  This was a great chance to consider that constant evolution of the kids room, and I am currently taking that very much into consideration with the baby room I am now working on.  Here are some before and after photos of the now updated 'teen' room.  Does not take a lot to make that leap...we were able to keep all of her traditional family heirloom furniture, and just give the room some more pop and color.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BATHROOMS ARE FUN

I just love designing bathrooms.  Especially when you have great clients who are interested in doing something unique and fun.  Bathrooms are not nearly as involved as kitchens, and there are such endless options for tile and fixtures these days. 

I recently finished a particularly fun project with wonderful clients.  This is a secondary bathroom in their basement which will function as a 'spa' bathroom and will mostly be used after working out or when they are entertaining in their basement bar/media room/pool hall.  Hence it needed a great shower but also needed to function as a fab powder room for guests.  The large walk-in shower is equipped with multiple showerheads and jets, however, all of this is neatly tucked away behind a glamorous looking olive green glass tile wall.  The 'front-of-house' has a custom concrete sink from Mountain Wave Concrete, wonderfully dynamic glass tile from Bedrosians, lighting from Hudson Valley Lighting and Price Pfister fittings.  Here are some photos taken by two photography students at the Art Institute of Salt Lake, Melissa McCafferty and Cory Steffen. 

BACK FROM OUTER SPACE

I have been off line for a few weeks, being really busy with clients both old and new.  It has been great, but I regret having neglected my blogging duties.  So now I am back. 

In addition to working like nuts, there have been some additional really great developments.  I have had 3 great projects photographed by a wonderful recent photography graduate from the Art Institute, Melissa McCafferty (stay tuned for these photos over the next few weeks), had new portraits done for the business by another great photography student at the Art Institute, Cory Steffen (look for these on social media profiles), and...

most exciting is the ASID 2011 Award for Design Excellence I received for the design of my own home.  To see photos of the project, check out this blog: http://christapirl.blogspot.com/2010/08/home-sweet-home.html 

Despite the fact I was unable to attend the award ceremony, it has been very exciting to gain recognition from my peers for the first time.  I look forward to submitting more design work to such competitions in the future.  Here is a glimpse at all the winning projects from this year: http://www.asidintermountain.org/about_us/awards/2011_professional_design_awards

WISHING FOR FALL

Well, here is Salt Lake it is estimated to hit 90 tomorrow (only 88 today) and I am really missing fall weather as we approach October in just 2 days.  It is not only that wonderfully crisp air, but the fall foliage and weekends in New England that I miss...the historic homes, the stone walls and the overall ooze of charm.  Yes, I miss the east coast.  Sure, there are leaves and crisper temperatures up in Park City, but its just not the same.

Here are a few charmers that are still around courtesy of Historic New England that I would love to visit:

The Sarah Orne Jewett House in Maine, 1774:

The Spencer-Pierce-Little Farm in Newbury Mass, 1690:

And a few great properties I have had the pleasure to visit already:

The Otis House in Boston, 1796:

Lyndhurst in the Hudson Valley, 1838:

And a historic site I visited often in my teens and absolutely embodies the New England autumn- Weir Farm in Wilton, CT (photos from the Weir Farm website):

"THE CROWN JEWELS OF HOLLYWOOD"

Christie's has dubbed Liz Taylor's jewels "The Crown Jewels of Hollywood", and I can see why.

And you have to get some sense of scale with this ring...

Wow.  This is some pretty amazing stuff...certainly rivaling anything the British have on display at the Tower of London. 

And despite the fact I am disappointed Sothebys did not get this sale, I am happy to see there will be a worldwide tour of the 269 jewels (with an estimated worth of over $30 million) for all us regular folks to view.  Alas, I am not in Moscow, London, LA, Dubai, Geneva, Paris or Hong Kong.  And the most disappointing is that I will be in NYC just about a week after they are on show there...by then all these jewels will have already found new homes.  And my home will not be one of them.  Sigh.  A girl can dream though...