Design & Lifestyle Blog

6 Jan ’11

Swimming Pool Art With Sicis | Finishes

Filed under: Finishes — Tags: , , , — Sahar @ 10:00 am

Designing in Kuwait, the need to design a swimming pool or update its finish (that was now given to the hands of the experts from bellaaquapoolsandspas.com) is on a constant rise. For that I opted to share with you an artistic method of using mosaic tiles in your swimming pool. In a future post I will share the flexibility of including this type of finish within other parts of your home, be it you flooring, the bedroom wall, the living room, bathrooms etc. Below you will find photos of the lovely mosaics designed and made by Sicis in Italy.

Sicis started in 1987 as a company specialized in mosaics. Its aim, however, was to allow others to see mosaic not as a simple tiling product, but as a means of communication, and an expression of trends, fashions, and lifestyle.

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5 Jan ’11

Casa Son Vida by Marcel Wanders | Residential Design

World renowned designer and a personal favorite,  Marcel Wanders, and award-winning Los Angeles, Switzerland and Hong Kong-based tecARCHITECTURE collaborated on the Casa Son Vida luxury villa on the Island of Mallorca. Located approximately 15 minutes outside of Palma de Mallorca in an exclusive community called Son Vida. The 8,500 square foot luxury residence acts to  redefine luxury architecture as it is typified by the traditional Mediterranean and Tuscan styles otherwise found on the island.

 

 

The  structure is a bold, curvaceous shape that completely evades conventional definition of modern villas. The idea is that the two pieces co-exist as separate entities, meeting abruptly and then quite literally turning away from each other. Their interaction suggests a chance encounter and speaks to the deliberate and bold juxtaposition of the two elements.

 

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4 Jan ’11

Handmade Tribal Designs by Pamela love | Jewelry

Filed under: Fashion — Tags: , , , — Sahar @ 10:00 am

Pamela Love is an artist, jewelry designer, and drummer living and working in New York. She started her line in 2006 after working as an assistant to a painter. She  gets her creative juices from tribal Indian and Africa, but this time, rather than channeling warriors, the jewelry is more spiritual, less violent. Pamela is inspired by religious imagery and traditional African and South American Jewelry. Every piece is handmade in New York.

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3 Jan ’11

Sex & the City in Baddakan NYC | Restaurant Design

Some movies are synonymous with their settings, such as “Central Perk” in Friends, and “Monk’s Cafe” in Seinfeld. But the movie where people followed the footsteps of the actresses the most was “Sex and the City”. Almost every girl wants to be in Carrie’s shoes (and closet); the special thing about the locations in this movie  is that they are real and not made up sets.The photos in the post are of the Buddakan NYC restaurant, where Carrie and Big had to rehearse for the wedding. Not only do I like this place because it was in Sex and the City, but because it was designed by one of my personal favorite designers, Christian Liaigre.

Where there was once a neighborhood full of slaughterhouses and meat packing plants, the area developed into a trendy spot full of fashion boutiques, top notch restaurants, and designer hotels such as Pastis . The advantage of the lofty industrial warehouses is the ability to create restaurants with tremendous scale. Named one of “America’s Top 50 Restaurants” by Travel + Leisure magazine, Buddakan has attracted an all-star clientele with its Modern Asian cuisine and dramatic atmosphere. It cost around $14,000,000 for an area of 1486 sq. m and accommodates up to 320 diners.

To check out a slide show of Sex & the City’s most famous NYC locations click here.

 

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1 Jan ’11

10 Tips to Keep Your Home Odor-Free

You have to admit, first impressions can’t be undone. One of the worst encounters you may come across is: The Bad Smell. It’s the beginning of a new year, why not start with a post that’s all about new and fresh beginnings, a post full of tips for making your home smell fresh. I’ll indicate methods I’ve learned and used through the past years. You will be surprised at some of them.

Before spraying around Glade with the attempt to cover up the smells, you should figure out the origin of the odors. Areas to look in, carpet, upholstery (sofas & armchairs), garbage can, sink drain, old worn out furniture or cladding, pets etc… Once you do, you can start applying these tips.

The 10 tips to get rid of odor and to keep your house smelling great:

1- Carpet & Upholstery: Steam clean carpets once in a while, on other days sprinkle carpet odor removal powder or baby powder on your carpets, wait a while and then vacuum clean. Carpet can hold a large number of allergens and dust and this it must be cleaned by experts from Carpet Cleaning St. Matthews.  Clean sofas professionally, or use “Febreeze” a spray that removes odors from fabrics.

2- Garbage: Garbage should not overflow to be removed, remove bag as soon as possible, I know most people in the Arab world have help in the house, so no excuse there. All bathroom  and kitchen garbage should be removed every morning. Depending on household traffic, you might have to remove more often.

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31 Dec ’10

A Toast to You , Happy New Year !!

Filed under: From a Designer's Journal — Tags: , — Sahar @ 10:00 am

It’s that time of the year where most of us look back and evaluate our actions, reactions, and whether we could have done any better given the circumstances. I look back to remember if anything significant happened and its tough because every event was part of a sequence, part of a series of mini events that seemed only natural at the time. Many of which I would not have ever anticipated of when the year started.

This is the reason we all check out our horoscopes at the beginning of each year in search of what may happen. Most of us don’t keep a log of the “events to take place” and we barely remember if any of them were true, yet we still read them. Its part of human nature I guess to look for hope everywhere. This hope is the fuel for the engine that keeps us striving and living for tomorrow.

I do not usually keep any resolutions, but I know I want to be better in every way, everyday. I look back and see what I have achieved then directly look forward and move on. During 2010 I started this blog and I love it more and more everyday. The ability to share information, to get feedback, to engage with everyone around me, and most importantly make friends from all over the world is a gem. Through this blog and twitter I have managed to enter a world I would have never dreamed of entering. Whoever criticizes social media negatively, is probably doing it all wrong.

I am glad to have met you, during the coming year I plan on enlarging my circle of friends and getting to know you better. There is nothing better than learning from others and yet teaching and sharing what you acquire.

I look forward to 2011, as I look forward to the course of every year. I look forward to getting to know you more and sharing more.

I am blessed to have this space to wish you a safe year, that’s all you need from anyone, the rest is up to you and how you turn each day to your advantage.

 

Happy 2011!

29 Dec ’10

Reimagining the Public Pool | Les Bains des Docks

Filed under: Architecture — Tags: , , , , — Sahar @ 10:00 am

The $29 million Les Bains des Docks aquatic center, reimagines the concept of a public pool. The overall design was inspired by the Roman thermal baths as people can go to congregate in most of the various pools year round. Located in Le Havre, France, it is the brain child of designer Jean Nouvel. On the exterior, the boxy precast-concrete shell, painted gun-metal gray, echoes the scale and simple massing of surrounding warehouses. Only the playful composition of rectangular apertures hints at an interior transcending the ordinary or functional.

 

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22 Dec ’10

Stair-Scraper Wins Abu Dhabi Housing Competition

Barcelona-based ‘Nabito Architects proposal ‘a desert green’, has won the total housing competition in Abu Dhabi. The stairscraper is a superposition of individual singular garden houses with the same characteristic of  horizontal sprawl, but liberating the land and concentrating the uses and the energy. It is a social collective of individualities.

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