Bathroom Bling

What better to repost on Christmas than a diamond encrusted toilet and a dancing Miles Redd dressed as Fred Astaire? These are a few of your favorite things, right? In honor of Karly's solid gold bathroom, may it rest in peace, I present to you an array of scintillating bathroom selections, a panoply of golden goodness, a display of dazzling diamond denizens so fine and blinding you may need sunglasses lest your retinas pay the ultimate price. Although, honestly, I'd rather my retinas than my wallet pay for this:

Yes, the diamond encrusted toilet from designer Jemal Wright goes for the low low price of $75,000. Yet, despite its obvious glamor, I don't really know that I need my latrine to be encrusted... it sounds unsanitary.

Let's face it. In today's world of luxury and commodity, hygiene is commonplace. We've really got to elevate the bathroom into a space worthy of our capitalist desires. Enter Lam Sai-Wing, Hong Kong jewelry mogul, and his palatial estate replete with a 24-karat solid gold bathroom:

Apparently he recently started melting it down and selling it off because the global economy is, quite frankly, crap, and now gold is crazy valuable. Thus his golden sink is worth a goose or two. But he says he's keeping the toilet no matter what, and I can't really blame him. It seems warm and oh so soft when compared to cold hard porcelain. Do you think they make gold potty paint? Can you imagine what my dear hunny bunny would say about that?

I bet he would like these diamond encrusted faucets; he's such a sucker for gadgets. No, a toilet does not qualify as a gadget.

Maybe it's just the marketing and slick photography, but I can totally envision these gleaming white gold faucets in my house. You know, right next to the mountain of diamonds I keep on my bathroom sink. Oh wait, this line of bathroom accessories is "strictly for those with the taste and means to enjoy such an exclusive pleasure." Guess I'll just take my bucket of lime and head to the outhouse -- but not without my roll of colored toilet paper from Spanish Portuguese supercompany Renova. It's only four times as expensive as regular old Charmin, but it comes in always stylish black.

Ahhhhh, that should leave me feeling fresh as a daisy, maybe even singing in the rain Fred Astaire-style like my favorite buddy Miles Redd in his most amazing mirrored bathroom, which was featured in Avenue Magazine:

Now that is the bathroom I want! But is the top hat included?

sorry for another christmas repost

Hey kids, thanks again for putting up with our reposts this week, I must admit that it has been rather nice to take a break from the blog for a week.  I do have a sneaking suspicion that Erin has something new cooking up for you tomorrow and, of course, we'll be back with all new goods next week.  Kisses and enjoy the window shopping:

My Friends Bryan and Hannah just bought a house, and, being the GENIUSES that they are, they contacted me ASAP to inquire about window treatments coverings. I hemmed and hawed over helping them. I mean, there are only a few nice things a girl can fit into her 100 mph lifestyle. Then I imagined, what if poor sweet Brian were to, say, fall victim to an injury and he had to, oh, I don't know, spend several weeks in a cast and wheelchair with nothing but a telescoping lens and Hannah's sketches and sandwiches to keep him company? Well, I really couldn't bear the thought of Brian suffering through such a tragedy without a beautifully dressed window to peak out of. So, I decided to be the bigger person and help the kiddos out by compiling this small collection of window goodness.

Oh, one last thing before we get started, and this is VERY important... whenever Erin and I advise a friend via the blog, it is your responsibility, dear readers, to take a shot every time we type their names. This is why we usually only help on Fridays. This week is bonus because there are 2 names: Hannah and Brian (shot! shot!) Hooray! Back to windows

My knee jerk reaction to any window dilemma is Roman Shades! I love them! I think it's because you get all the luxury of fabric but they're nice and crisp and tailored, not all flowy and showy. I just bought some lovely black and white striped fabric to make roman shades for my bedroom that will look similar to this:

Tracey Garet's home via Alkemie

I will forgo the silly wooden sculpture and the fancy wing-back chair. More Roman Shade Porn:

photo 1: Kelly Wearstler / photo 2: Muriel Brandolini via Desire to Inspire

The first picture shows that Roman shades really do have a decadent side, if you must. The second shows their all out sex appeal. Something about the sheer shade that creates texture and depth when it's folded is just oh so hot! I've never really been a big fan of combined window treatments, what does everyone think of the roman shade paired with the printed curtain?

(I'm sorry, I can't remember where I found this picture)

MMMM, naaaa, I don't think I like it.. what about you Brian and Hannah?

Photo by Paul Costello

If you're going to go with curtains, I say go with curtains. These neon yellow over-sized raw silk numbers were clearly hand stitched by the angels in heaven, carried down by little doves and installed by tiny baby kittens with golden paws. Clearly. I also REALLY LOVE when curtains are hung at the top of a wall, just below the ceiling, despite how tall the windows are:

photo courtesy of survive style 5's flickr photostream

Some people like floor to ceiling curtains so much, they just skip the walls altogether, I strongly advise this:

Phillippe Stark via Desire to Inspire

I'm sure that Brian and Hannah's back patio looks very similar to the one below, in which case I suggest the following outdoor treatment:

from le Chateau Les Crayeres (via notcot)

Now that we're all sold on floor-to-ceiling, let's talk pattern. Everything should match perfectly, right?

kelly wearstler

Ok, admittedly, I have a big, huge, giant soft spot in my heart for over-done pattern. Go big or go home, I say. Actually, I've never said that, but I do really love seeing every last inch of a room covered in a perfectly repeating pattern. If Brian and Hanna would like to go with something less, um, dramatic, I would like to suggest a nice chevron or stripe:

Curtain Selection by House of Mann

Yes, I know that is not a window, but isn't that fabric to die for? Yes, yes it is. It will also be a perfect save incase Brian ever gets thrown in Jail and Hannah has to make a beautiful dress from her drapes so she can go find him and beg him for money. (Wear Gloves Hannah!!!)

Oh, and look at this luxurious floor to ceiling set up:

residential project by lazzarini pickering

I need to quickly interject and provide the most important piece of wisdom to Hannah and Brian: no matter what, despite the type of curtain you choose and the height at which you choose to hang it you can never ever even consider for a moment hanging it with these:

I have just this very minute decided that I don't like them. I think it's the wimpy cord, or the wimpy litle circles... maybe if the clasps were more substantial? Oh, I don't know, they just look like they're trying to be a little too clever. Speaking of clever, here are a couple of clever things that you might like:

ASCII Curtains via Nets 2 Go

Brian has one of those techy jobs that none of his friends ever totally grasp, so, I could be REALLY REALLY wrong on this one, but Brian just might appreciate that the above curtains are made from number patterns much like a programmer would see (I'm pretty positive he's not a programmer, though) I think Hannah would like the tree, Hannah likes things that are sweet (did I tell you? she's a nurse). That curtain is like Brian and Hannah: computer-y and sweet. If that curtain told you the most insanely dry and witty joke you've ever heard, then it would be exactly like Brian and Hannah.

Man you guys must be sauced right now! Well, cover one eye and feast the other one on this:

Magnetic Curtain by Florian Kräutli via nets 2 go

Look! It's magnets! Magnets are holding that baby up. No cords or nothing. awesome.

If Brian and Hannah decide, after reading this post, that they have a complete aversion to fabric, might I suggest some lovely indoor shudders:

1st option

Mmmmm, I really just like those more and more every time I see them. Here's another non-fabric window option:

Emma Jeffs White Orba Adhesive Film available at Design Public

Just slap a sticker on it and you're good to go (note, stickers are NOT OK on walls, just windows and only under the right circumstance)

Now if Brian and Hannah are blessed enough to have windows like this, then I suggest no treatment at all:

dream photo courtesy of survive style 5's flickr photostream

Happy early weekend, kids, and good luck sleeping off those hangovers

No Mercy

Hey kids, as promised we are reposting some of our greatest hits during the holiday break. Think of this as a super rare reissue with fancy new cover art... or whatever. I don't really know anything about music. But I do know I love Julian Schnabel. I just finished watching The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a movie about the former editor of Elle magazine who was paralyzed by a massive stroke at the tender age of 42. It was such an amazing film, so luminous and unexpected, that I was curious about what other projects director Julian Schnabel might be currently involved in. I already knew he was a famous painter and respected film maker -- having seen Basquiat I was expecting great things from his latest movie and I was wholly undisappointed -- but I didn't realize that he had also extended his creative pursuits to interior design.

Now I know hotels are usually Karly's forte, but since I'm nursing a mental crush on Schnabel, I thought I'd check out his take on the newly renovated Gramercy Park Hotel in New York:

Is it just me, or does the (grand) entryway look like it belongs in a Harry Potter book? I think it's the script on the custom designed carpet... I have to admit I've always wanted a checkerboard floor, though.

Here's a better look at the hotel's art collection which rotates some pretty heavy hitters. Although I'm not familiar with the particular pieces, I'm pretty sure that's a Warhol on the left and what must be a Cy Twombly on the right. Schnabel also included several cast bronze pieces he made, including that creepy Beetlejuiceified lamp.

There are plenty of bars in the hotel, which suits the decor well since bar design seems to lean toward the theatrical anyway. Of all the rooms, I think these two are my favorite. The Damien Hirst spin art painting on the left is a great counterpoint to that amazing pendant light display and the red curtains, and I love the pink walls with the gold Warhol Rorschach painting on the right. The Beetlejuice bronze definitely looks better as a chandelier than as a floor lamp.

The rooms themselves are a little... different. Instead of relying on art as decoration, they almost look like paintings themselves. This suite is very Vermeer, I think.

The penthouse is similarly jewel toned, with extremely bold color choices. I wonder what it would be like to actually sleep there, not that I'll ever have cash enough to find out.

When talking about his paintings and films, Schnabel claims that he's "aiming at an emotional state, a state that people can literally walk into and be engulfed." It's funny that his movies, not tactile in the conventional sense, do exactly that, but that his hotel seems superficial in comparison, despite its obviously tactile and luxurious environs. I think it's a little cartoonish, sort of like Disney meets the Whitney Museum, and that it misses much of what makes his films and paintings great: a sense of scale and proportion, a willingness to mix real with surreal, and enough grit to take the shine off the decorative.

What do you think? And I being to hard on my new hero? Does adulation always doom the adored?