Steampunk Interiors

In a couple weeks I'm going to a presentation about Steampunk.  The speaker is Tyson Ness, who's an extremely talented emerging Interior Designer.  He's just recently graduated from the Art Institute of Salt Lake, and he did his thesis project on the steampunk style.

A lot of people don't know what steampunk really is.  I admit, I don't either.  I've heard of it, and I've seen various blog posts about it, though everything I've seen has usually been in the form of objects or gadgets, not really applying to entire interiors.  After seeing Tyson's project, I wanted to dig a little further.

Basically, (according to Wikipedia) "steampunk involves an era or world where steam power is still widely used—usually the 19th century and often Victorian era Britain—that incorporates prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy."  


I'll have a much better understanding of the meaning after my seminar.  In the meantime, here are a few photos of 3 fascinating steampunk interiors I've found.


The Edison, Los Angeles

Ramses Hotel, designed by Philippe Starck, Madrid

And a more cartoonish take on the steampunk style:  Three Rings office, San Francisco.  Designed by Because We Can.  This design shows how Jules Verne and his submarine, the Nautilus, influences the steampunk style.

A bookcase hides the door to a secret room

The secret room

Mechanical room for bike storage

Incredible stuff, right?  If you are as intrigued as I am and live in Utah, contact me for more info on Tyson's seminar on October 27!

Nursery Reveal!

Back in April I posted some nursery inspiration photos for my friend Rebecca.  Well, Rebecca just had a beautiful baby boy, and he's lucky to have this great new nursery!  Rebecca used her creativity to do the entire project on a budget.  She painted her own artwork, built the mobile, and sewed the quilt, pillows, curtains, and pouf top herself.  She painted a dresser from craig's list, refinished the bookcase, and reused the crib her dad and grandfather had made for her older son.   Doesn't it look great!

Her fabric choices add so much color to the neutral background.  I LOVE the pouf and the quilt!

Hand-painted wall art, hand-sewn pillows, and the repainted bookcase make all the difference.

I love the grey, white, and orange together.

This started out as a mobile (using sticks from her backyard) but she decided to make a wall hanging instead. It looks great! 

Her son made this in school and wanted his little baby brother to have it.

Caesarstone's New Deep Ocean

I am absolutely in love with the new Deep Ocean color from Caesarstone!  For years the only blue countertop options have been laminate, Corian, or granite (which only has specs of blue, and you typically pay a lot for those specs).  I guess blue pearl granite would count, but it often appears more black or grey than blue.

As the name states, this new blue is inspired by the deep blues of the ocean.  It's muted, yet there's no mistaking that it's blue.  It's a great color and I hope to use it soon!

Laundry Closet Project

Unfortunately our laundry "room" is a closet in our kitchen.  The closet was likely originally just a closet, because our small washer & dryer are still too deep to allow standard doors on the closet.  Someday we'd like to custom-design sliding doors to sit proud of the closet, but for now, while it's still exposed, I just wanted to make it look a little less like a closet.

Here's what it looked like when we bought the house:

And this was our first quick-fix (really really quick fix) so we could fit our stackable units in:

And here's what it looks like now, after a couple weekends of work:

The cabinet, shelf, and drying rack are from Ikea.  The pulls are Riva from Amerock.  The apron is a gift from my mom via etsy, using Amy Butler fabric.  The yellow/green print is a gift from my brother, also from etsy, by Katie Kirk (her etsy shop is closing soon but check it out here while you still can!).  My handy boyfriend made the countertop for me using leftover laminate from our kitchen countertop project.

All of the cleaning, laundry, and dog supplies are hidden behind doors or in the storage baskets.  So much better, right?

Textur 3D panels

I was recently introduced to these Textur 3D panels by Sun Mountain Design Squared (in Orem, UT).  They begin with a CARB-compliant MDF base that contains 100% recycled / recovered wood content (with an option to use a no added urea-formaldehyde MDF or a fire-rated no added urea-formaldehyde MDF).  The panels are then routed with a 3D pattern and the laminated in one of several color options or left paint-ready.

Useful as wall treatments, individual art pieces, headboards, or architectural elements... the possibilities are endless, and rumor has it they might start offering 18" high panels to fit standard kitchen backsplash size!  (Currently the panels can be cut to fit, though starting with a standard height reduces cost and install labor.)

See more colors and textures on their website:  www.smdsquared.com

Simple and Fun

Check out this kitchen from Lonnymag.  If you strip it down, you're basically looking at a boring and outdated 80's style white kitchen with laminate countertops and ugly old appliances.  Oh, and don't forget the honey oak accent strips! Looks like many of the galley condo and apartment kitchens I saw when I lived in DC.

But, add black (chalkboard) paint to the ceiling & walls, a snazzy light fixture, and a giant fork print, and you don't really notice the ugly cabinets and countertops anymore, do you?  

Fluff is Tough!

I've been a bad blogger lately, and I'm so sorry!

Currently I've been buried in a project that is quite unlike anything I've ever done.  My client wants nearly every detail imaginable in this space!  It's a fun project, even if it does seem to consume every waking minute these days.

For interior designers, some design styles come much more naturally than others.  I naturally do very well with modern and transitional styles, and can design for cottage styles pretty easily as well.  This particular kitchen does not fit into any of these categories and therefore takes a lot more effort on my part.  I don't do flair easily, and there's a LOT of flair in this kitchen.  I labor over every tiny little decorative detail, because I want it to really work with the design rather than to just look like a fluffy add-on.

With a project like this, I can't help referring to Habersham for inspiration.  I don't know of any company as over-the-top as this one.  While this isn't my preferred style, I have to admire the abilities of the designers, because wow, fluff is tough!