Author: sichen
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A True Thanksgiving: How Our Client Recreated Babette’s Feast
In the remote, dreary Jutland coasts of 19th-century Denmark, a pair of spinster sisters took in a Parisian woman named Babette as their housekeeper, even though they could not afford to pay her. For the next fourteen years, Babette cooked the bland meals demanded by the sisters’ late father, whose strict religious beliefs they still…
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It’s All in the Gravy: Vista Alegre’s Venezia Gravy Boat in Bon Appetit!
What’s the perfect gravy boat for your Thanksgiving feast? Naturally, a question for Bon Appetit’s big November 2015 issue: And one of the answers is the Vista Alegre Venezia Gravy Boat: According to the editors, “The intricately patterned piece has a pointy spout for daintier pours (and less mess).” See if you agree: Click here to…
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The Architecture of Light at The Broad Museum in Los Angeles
How would you display one of the most coveted contemporary art collections of our time? Eli and Edythe Broad, by now L.A.’s most famous art collectors, were so particular about how their art was to be displayed, they actually turned down just about every museum in town and commissioned their own $140-million museum by Diller…
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Rebranding Our 16-Year-Old Startup
1999. The NASDAQ set new highs. Nokia introduced a cell phone with games and picture texting. AOL’s free CD’s made the Internet the hottest thing. In Manhattan, a young couple had just gotten engaged, bought their first house, and quit their jobs in finance to start a business together. They didn’t know much about business,…
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7 Secrets for Designing Amazing Small Spaces
Small spaces should be jewel boxes. From New York, London, and Paris, we’d like to share with you some amazing small spaces, and the secrets for what made them so great. 1. Tear down the walls. There’s no room to hide, so open up! 2. Order, order, order! A small space must always be neat…
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How To Decorate a Teardown
We found a house last year whose architectural style was officially listed in the MLS as “Teardown.” The selling agent insisted on showing us the house personally so that we “knew what we were getting into.” We loved the neighborhood, so we bought it anyway. Since we weren’t ready to do any major work on…
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What Does Design Say About You: A Walk Through Our Neighborhood in Los Angeles
Alain de Boutton recently wrote a book called Art as Therapy, where he asked: “What does art do for us?” His answer is that art completes us — it gives us what we yearn for but are missing in our day-to-day lives. For example, why does this painting, “A Courtyard of a House in Delft”…
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10 Tips for Hosting Fun Parties
It never rains in L.A. in August … except a couple of Sundays ago. Which could have been a disaster, since we had planned a post-wedding garden brunch for 45 relatives. At the last minute, we cleared the living and dining rooms to set up the party indoors, and the party turned out to be…
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Stylish Summer Soirees Made Easy
Summer. La dolce vita. A party by the pool. Sailing on the water. Or just a nice lawn barbecue. Naturally, friends and family will come in droves. So how do you entertain them in style, without setting up for the high holidays? Here are our little secrets (shhh….) – Acrylic stemware from Mario Luca Giusti:…
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Book Review: Soiree by Danielle Rollins
Ever wonder what it would be like to host a party for Oscar de la Renta, Rachel Roy, Emily Giffin, Miles Redd, or Gil Schafer? You don’t have to any longer, thanks to the book Soiree: Entertaining with Style by Danielle Rollins: In this book, the first by the Atlanta hostess, philanthropist, and writer, you’ll…