JHD Travels: Venice
When we decided to make the move from Houston TX to Berlin Germany a big deciding factor for me was to travel and show AJ the world. We have a long running list of places to visit still, but we started with celebrating AJ’s 2nd birthday in Venice. He’s not old enough to expect a proper party, he’s young enough to keep strapped in his stroller, these were are reasons. I would have made any reason really, I wanted to see Venice.
When we decided to make the move from Houston TX to Berlin Germany a big deciding factor for me was to travel and show AJ the world. We have a long running list of places to visit still, but we started with celebrating AJ’s 2nd birthday in Venice. He’s not old enough to expect a proper party, he’s young enough to keep strapped in his stroller, these were are reasons. I would have made any reason really, I wanted to see Venice.
Flying within Europe is ridiculously inexpensive. We’re taking advantage.
Venice is like a dream. The lighting is incredible. The buildings are incredible.
Venice is also packed with people. With tourists. Packed. So many rolling suitcases. The food isn’t great, at least coming from Berlin. I’M SURE there are pockets of delicious unspoiled by tourists food. But we didn’t find them IN Venice.
I would love to return to Venice alone though. I want to get my design geek on without dragging my guys through it. It’s incredible to imagine all of the life that’s taken place there. It’s also really wild to see the direct effects of Climate Change. Wild and sad and scary.
If you go to Venice you must roam the cities at night. Grab a slice of pizza from a street vendor, and wonder the streets. It has a sort of magic feeling at night.
Essentially, one day in Venice was good for us. Luckily for us we stayed in nearby Marghera. Here we found really incredible pizza and bakeries, delicious gelato, and an amazing grocery store. After our one day in Venice we went to nearby Murano. It’s a charming small Italian island that revolves around the beautiful Italian glass industry.
We spent a lot of time wandering around the behind the scenes neighborhood. The hidden from the tourists areas. When I travel I want to see how people live. The reason Venice turned me off so quickly was how so much of what we saw were catering to the tourists. I really love when a place can remain itself and still allow people to visit and observe. There just isn’t much to learn by visiting a ton of tourist shops or restaurants that have the same food every other place has.
A big storm rolled in while we were in Murano. We had to rush to the boats to get back through at least a foot of ocean water that was washing onto the walkway to the dock. There’s a huge example of how they’re seeing the direct implications of Climate Change. You can read how they’re handling it here.
At the last minute we decided to take a train, the next day, to Treviso. It’s about a 20 minute train ride from the Marghera train station. Easy. Plus they’re known for Prosecco. Done.
In Treviso we had the best pizza of our lives. I know Southern Italy supposedly has the best pizza, and I’ll surely get there eventually, but for now this is the best. Plus Prosecco. Prosecco all day.
Treviso is built around canals like Venice, but it’s completely different from Venice.
Treviso is the type of town I could live in. Cozy and charming, easy to get around in, but still accessible for daily life. We didn’t see many other tourists either so that was a breath of relief. {Tourists are the worst. ;) ;) }
This quote from Julia Child in her My Life in France book sums up my feelings about travel:
“I didn’t like traveling first-class at all. Yes, it was nice to have a bathroom in the hotel and fine service at breakfast, and I’d probably never visit those grand hotels again, but none of it seemed foreign enough to me. It was all so pleasantly bland that it felt as if I were back on the SS America. ”
Now based in Denver, Jamie House Design continues to offer expert interior design services for high-end remodels throughout the US and abroad. Whether you’re preserving a beloved home or updating a space to better suit your lifestyle, we bring thoughtful design, timeless materials, and unparalleled attention to detail.
If you’re considering an interior design project, let’s create something extraordinary together. Contact Jamie House Design today to discuss your project.
My Word of the Year, Checking In | 2018
We're at the half way point. Half way through 2018. It's wild. Years are flying by. In my endless search to learn more and improve myself I decided to pick a Word to define my focus for the year, in January. As many have done throughout the years, I just haven't till now.
We're at the half way point. Half way through 2018. It's wild. Years are flying by. In my endless search to learn more and improve myself I decided to pick a Word to define my focus for the year, in January. As many have done throughout the years, I just haven't till now.
I chose Discipline and promptly used the above image to guide me. So far my year of discipline has, honestly, gone the same as any other year. I've done nothing different. I'm working through my business, designing fabulous homes for fabulous people, momming, exploring Berlin, and basically coasting. And it hasn't been terrible.
But it's not exactly going to make a happy end of year review. You know you sit down to review what worked and what didn't over the year to decide what's on deck for the upcoming year. Well I need to check some items off my What Discipline Means To Me list.
Now what does this have to do with Interior Design?
My love and life force is making things beautiful. And I'm good at it. What I'm not so good at is metrics & analytics & detailing specifics in design, business, and accomplishing. Or sharing what's going on. That's where, for me, design meets discipline. Here's the plan:
Blog writing. I'll be writing a bit daily with posts coming two to three times a week plus my Saturday Weekender post of interesting things I've found.
Newsletter. Back to the newsletter. The first coming out again August 1st and then monthly there after. My newsletter, It's On The House, is a more personal check in with you about design, what's going on in our studios, and first peeks at new designs & ideas.
Organizing. I am a constant organizer. I love an organized closet, drawers, storage. You name it I'll label it. I do have room to improve here, as I scan my office I notice piles of who knows what just sitting around. I'm betting you have room to improve as well. I'll be revisiting Marie Kondo's book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I'll post on the blog as I begin and work through it. I'd love for you to follow along and see what we can create when we finally find a place for everything.
Back to Design School. My design school. I've pulled together numerous design books and have created a plan to reeducate myself. I'm sure there are numerous design school basics I've forgotten along the way. I'm excited to review the books and see what I can learn from them. I'll do a separate blog post about this concept with more details. I'll post what I've learned along the way.
More transparency. I vowed to be transparent about my policies, design projects, and fee structures when I redid my website. I am going to go ahead and add visibility and take this vow to the blog. This blog is a place for you to see the beauty and chaos of design. The good and the difficult. Because, you guys, there are difficulties. It's not all shopping and paint colors. Mostly it's not shopping and paint colors honestly. But I love it and I think you will too. The difficulties don't take away from the beauty, they add to it.
So the takeaway, those are the ways in which I'll add more discipline, for you to see, this last half of 2018. Do you have ideas you'd like to see? I'll open up comments on this post so feel free to chime in.
Ok, talk soon!
Now based in Denver, Jamie House Design continues to offer expert interior design services for high-end remodels throughout the US and abroad. Whether you’re preserving a beloved home or updating a space to better suit your lifestyle, we bring thoughtful design, timeless materials, and unparalleled attention to detail.
If you’re considering an interior design project, let’s create something extraordinary together. Contact Jamie House Design today to discuss your project.
Influenced by the Past. Domino 2005.
In prep for our upcoming European move I’ve scanned to many magazine articles I’ve saved. I mean I cannot drag these things around the world with me when scanning technology exists. I found my old Domino magazines and was immediately transported back in time. I’ve always loved, and still love, this home. I was heavily influenced by it in the design of our current home.
In prep for our upcoming European move I’ve scanned to many magazine articles I’ve saved. I mean I cannot drag these things around the world with me when scanning technology exists. I found my old Domino magazines and was immediately transported back in time. I’ve always loved, and still love, this home. I was heavily influenced by it in the design of our current home.
I have been spending my free time cleaning out, ruthlessly. I'm even down to magazines and my binders of design ideas (old school Pinterest). I want to share some of my favorites that I've run across. I also saved a bunch to my Pinterest so I can access all ideas in that one spot. I want to feel lighter, move easier, stop keeping & accumulating so much stuff.
This article from Domino 2005 has been on my mind since it was first published. The layout of that living room. The color mixing. It's all still so now. The entire article is brilliant in showing how a color palette pulls through an entire home but in different ways.
Looking around my own home it's obvious I've been influenced by this home, even though I haven't seen this article in easily 5-10 years. I suppose that's how true inspiration works, it nestles into your mind and comes out in ways your not even aware. Not many entire homes have this affect on me. I still love it. What do you think? Are there spaces you remember influencing your tastes? I'd love to know!
Now based in Denver, Jamie House Design continues to offer expert interior design services for high-end remodels throughout the US and abroad. Whether you’re preserving a beloved home or updating a space to better suit your lifestyle, we bring thoughtful design, timeless materials, and unparalleled attention to detail.
If you’re considering an interior design project, let’s create something extraordinary together. Contact Jamie House Design today to discuss your project.
Inspired by Interior Designer Rose Uniacke
I have been enamored by Rose Uniake's home. Every inch has been thought through, every mundane cord hidden. Every detail is handled, and handled in a beautiful way. It's a marvelous inspiration for how your home can serve your life.
Her home was built in 1861 for James Rannie Swinton, a society portraitist. Rose herself got into the industry by restoring antiques. Her mother is also an antiques dealer with a shop not far from Roses.
I have been enamored by Rose Uniake's home. Every inch has been thought through, every mundane cord hidden. Every detail is handled, and handled in a beautiful way. It's a marvelous inspiration for how your home can serve your life.
Her home was built in 1861 for James Rannie Swinton, a society portraitist. Rose herself got into the industry by restoring antiques. Her mother is also an antiques dealer with a shop not far from Roses. Upon opening her own showroom, of antiques and custom designed furnishings and accessories, she quickly became the go to designer in London for classic restrained interiors.
“Rose is a remarkable talent, charting a route utterly distinct to her. Her austere interiors hum with atmosphere; every corner is an essay in balance, restraint and exquisite quality.”
Her own is the epitome of restrained elegance. Of course the backdrop of amazing architecture, of which she had a hand in restoring, certainly makes that easier. In my experience having minimal restrained interiors requires first fixing the architecture of the home, whether traditional or modern. No surprise that's my favorite part of working on client's homes.
Often when discussing interiors with clients we start talking about whether something matches or if it goes. The idea of any interior is to look collected and thoughtful. But a client, or someone working on their own home, can get scared and default back to matching. Like say the fashion "rule" of not wearing brown with black. Well that's an absurd rule. Just as is making sure everything in a room matches.
That said I want to discuss Rose's bedroom and why it works while seemingly nothing matches. The first most important, to me, element in a room is texture. It's what adds a rooms patina. In this space she combines the warm natural wood floors with an animal hide rug, a natural (as in not starched within an inch of its life) linen dustskirt and the metal of the bed all keep the space interesting even if one was only looking down. But to pull your eye up she has incorporated the same linen from the bedskirt to the panels on the bed. In a room with such grand proportions any bed besides a canopy bed would be insignificant. Without the linen panels on the canopy bed the feeling would be too harsh. With every hard surface there's a counter soft surface. This balance keeps the room livable. In terms of bedside tables and lamps they're both completely different. Admittedly the nightstands being different heights drives me batty. However having different nightstand styles and lamp styles is a chic way of infusing the owners style into the space. Say the woman is more modern while the husband is traditional, they each have their style in their space. While still being a complement to each other.
In this pulled back image you can see how the room flows. The headboard is upholstered in the same fabric as the chair. The bedding accents and table skirts are various shades of green. The green is pulled across the room to the chair by using a green throw. The dark drapery panels serve to draw your eye up visually expanding the size of the room while countering the weight of the bed. Again adding balance. The wabi sabi nature of this space makes it feel thoughtful and comfortable without being precious. When a room appears too planned it can feel uncomfortable. A space can be like a painting. It's pretty to look at but certainly that's all one would want to do with it.
Rose has so many gorgeous spaces to review and I didn't even get to discussing the video. I do hope you watch it. Even the video production is done with a thoughtful restraint. It's gorgeous.
The more I dig into Rose's interiors the more I want to discuss restraint and the beautiful importance of it. So I'll do that in the next post. Well actually I'll continue with Rose this week. I love to really dig into a designer's work and the art of design.
Here are a few more gorgeous images of her home...
“I like playing with space. I don’t like furnishing just for the sake of it. I like referencing the context of a building.”
The purpose of this blog is to study the art of interior design and how it relates to all facets of life. I love to take a design subject and dig deep into it learning what one can from the process.
Now based in Denver, Jamie House Design continues to offer expert interior design services for high-end remodels throughout the US and abroad. Whether you’re preserving a beloved home or updating a space to better suit your lifestyle, we bring thoughtful design, timeless materials, and unparalleled attention to detail.
If you’re considering an interior design project, let’s create something extraordinary together. Contact Jamie House Design today to discuss your project.