Introducing Domaine!

I wasn’t sure what to expect of the Who What Wear girls’ latest venture, Domaine. After all, there are so many home design/decorating and/or lifestyle websites, some of which I really, really love. Could this one light my fire??? Oh, yes it has! In addition to beautiful photography, Domaine offers something a little different – smart web design + a no-nonsense POV + the intangible. Or in their words: …a resource for aesthetic-minded, creatively intelligent design lovers looking for home decor inspiration and ideas. Yep, I'm sold.

Home of Katie Nehra

Home of Katie Nehra

Home of Lea Michele

Like other online mags, Domaine clues you in to the products featured within editorials and elsewhere. But unlike the others, this shopping aspect is front and center, even part of the site's tagline. Getting "the look" is part of Domaine's mantra and easy to do thanks to scrollable shopping lists at the end of each feature.

Home of Katie Nehra

Home of Simone Harouche

Home of Athena Calderone

Domaine. Try it. I think you’ll like it.

Images: Domaine

Friday Fashion: Gucci Spring 2013 RTW

With Gucci appearing in so many recent editorials, I decided to revisit the fashion house's spring 2013 collection. It represents some of the season's biggest trends: bold color, ruffles, retro touches, classic white… Here are a few looks and, perhaps, the most coveted shoe of last year's runway.

Including nods to Liz Taylor and iconic imagery from the past, Gucci's Frida Giannini found inspiration in "Everything that was chic and heroic about the late 1960s and early 1970s…"

Images: (1) Evan Sung, Vogue.com, (Remaining) GoRunway.com via Style.com

Interiors: Eclectic Barcelona Style

Designer Jorge Subietas creates a mix of "cultures, styles, and times" in this eclectic Barcelona home. Though extensively renovated, original features shine through, including mosaic floors, coffered ceilings, and stained glass windows. Art and artifacts are displayed in interesting ways throughout. I personally love the installation on the living room wall – assorted works layered atop dark wood panels. It's just one of many moments that reflect the homeowners' varied tastes.

Among all the objet, art, antiques, and custom furniture are two pieces from Ikea. Can you spot them?

Images: Nuevo Estilo

ADE: An Essay on Modern Glamour

A recap of my POV

Residence by Kelly Wearstler

When asked to label my aesthetic of choice, I’m quick to reference the modern glamour movement. I knew my taste in design was unusual, a hodgepodge of many styles, but it took research, reflection, and a book before I could properly name it. Barring the occasional departure (like yesterday's post), it's what you see here on Sukio. Modern glamour, a way to define the indefinable.

So, what is modern glamour?

Many would simply describe it as a new take on an old idea, i.e., "modern" as in new, current, or fresh - "to modernize". But my MIT-trained brain always views things differently. To me, modern glamour is merely the intersection of two contrasting styles: the sleek, clean, and edgy vs. the fanciful, decadent and exquisite. It is the delicate balance between the two that makes a space interesting and relevant.

Residence by Shaun Jackson

In short, modern glamour is controlled eclecticism. It's a style that allows designers to unexpectedly integrate, marry, and juxtapose the best elements of the design world, creating something wonderful in the process. But like all attempts at eclecticism, the task is tricky and can be downright daunting for many. Marian McEvoy may have put it best in her forward for "Modern Glamour: The Art of Unexpected Style":

It’s easier for a decorator to assemble a room in which everything matches than to concoct a space in which nothing matches but everything makes beautiful sense all together.

While experts like Kelly Wearstler can mix and match using natural intuition, others may opt for a more structured approach. Metropolitan Home’s "Glamour: Making it Modern" boils things down into a list of essential concepts (scale, palette, luster, antiques, Asiana, and multiples) and objects (staircases, fireplaces, drapery, chandeliers, mirrors, and daybeds). Helpful guidelines, but like rules, meant to be ignored from time to time.

Residence by Lee Ledbetter

The gist…

Modern doesn't mean austere or sterile and glamour doesn't mean frilly or overworked. It's a style that marries multiple ideas, viewing traditional notions of glamour, its shapes and textures, through a sophisticated lens. Mixing old with new, feminine with masculine, it conveys artful expression by way of interior design, creating not just a room, but a statement. It respects luxury and craftsmanship but sneers at the ostentatious. Modern glamour is powerful, not delicate or precious, and the chosen aesthetic of movers and shakers everywhere.

Ready to join the movement?

Images: kellywearstler.com, Elle Decor, Architectural Digest

Inspired By Earth Day: Retreats for a Modern Thoreau

I first learned of Henry David Thoreau and Walden Pond as a freshman in high school. I was a self-proclaimed tree-hugger back then, so his thoughts on man and the environment simply fueled my passion to save the planet. As an adult, I can more fully understand the philosophy behind his Walden stay - to simply observe nature and reflect. In honor of Earth Day, here are two locales perfectly suited for a modern-day, Thoreau-like sabbatical. And, of course, both are ecofriendly.

Fogo Island Studios, Newfoundland, Canada

"I love Nature partly because she is not man, but a retreat from him. "

Located along the north Atlantic, Fogo Island offers four artist studios as part of a program to promote habitat preservation and sustainability. Each structure is completely off-the-grid and perched along the island’s rocky coastline. Imagine what these views could inspire!

The Treehotel, Harads, Sweden

"I have a room all to myself; it is nature."

The Treehotel in Sweden would definitely make my bucket list if I ever decided to create one. Each of its treehouse-like cabins is suspended 13 to 20 feet above the ground, offering fantastic views and sparse interiors (Thoreau would be proud!). My favorite room is the Mirrorcube. Its facade perfectly blends into the surrounding forest.

Of course, we can't all scurry off to Canada and Sweden to be at one with nature, so, look for the everyday opportunities. From community parks to your own backyard, embrace and enjoy!

Images: (1-4) Bent René Synnevåg, (5-8) Peter Lundstrom, WDO | Treehotel
Quotes: Henry David Thoreau