Posted in Found Objects, tagged Berkeley, details, historical styles, houses, paint, patterns, porch railings, railings, redwood, victorian, whimsy, wood on September 2, 2013| 2 Comments »
This old house near my office caught my eye this afternoon. I am curious how they maintain that beautiful wood. Is it original? It looks like high quality material. I bet they restain it frequently. The combination of stained wood and painted wood details is nicely done. I particularly like the gable end details.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, doorways, houses, integral color stucco, patterns, plants, process on June 16, 2013| Leave a Comment »
I was biking past to see how the revised stucco color looked on this almost finished project and caught some nice shadows. A good side benefit of a subtle stucco color.
I am loving the new hobbit door!
Posted in Found Objects, tagged acoustics, Clay Pot, lighting design, metal, patterns, poet's corner, recycled, restaurant design, restaurants, San Pablo on April 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »
We stopped in at Claypot, the new neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant on San Pablo last night. The food was good and I really liked the light fixtures by Omega Lighting. They were made out of old wine barrel hoops. What I like most is the cool shadow and light patterns that they cast on the white ceiling.
The place does need some acoustical dampening. The designer owner told me that they would be installing some sound absorbent panels in the middle of the ceiling. I hope they don’t take away from the beautiful shadows!
Posted in Design Projects, tagged boxes, furniture, green, paint, patterns, wood on November 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I finally had a chance to take a few photos of one of our most recent treasure chests. We made this one for Kavi out of maple and a painted poplar top. The hinges are special soft close hinges to protect his small fingers. The paint is my favorite Bioshield Aqua Resin Trim Enamel. I had to use a bit of a different paint for the dark brown part.
Here is a picture of Kavi and his box
Posted in Found Objects, tagged ahwahnee, furniture, historical styles, interiors, kitch, lighting, lighting design, national park architecture, paint, patterns, rustic, Wawona, whimsey, yosemite on November 5, 2012| 1 Comment »
I just returned from a weekend at Yosemite National Park. We enjoyed the fall colors and the stunning natural beauty, but there are also some nice architectural details in the park. The Ahwahnee Hotel is full of decoration and geometric designs. Painted decoration, upholstery, and patterns made of wood and steel are everywhere. The Wawona Hotel, at the other end of the park is a timepiece from the early 1900s with simple white-painted buildings and cute pine cone chandeliers in the dining room.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, interiors, patterns, tile, wood stove on October 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »
We did a bit of rearranging in our apartment this summer. The chimney and hearth have been screaming replace me since I moved in. The closet behind them was also not very functional – very deep with a small door, so not very efficient storage. Now the closet is very efficiently laid out to store the vacuum and brooms and other cleaning tools, and the litter box fits nicely behind the stove with a private cat door at the back. The stove is now recessed into the wall leaving room for a generous raised hearth and a clear pathway to the kitchen beyond. I took pictures of most of the steps.
Posted in Found Objects, tagged bathroom, desert architecture, Las Vegas, patterns, sparkle on May 11, 2012| 4 Comments »
I met up with an old friend in Las Vegas last week. Her employer always puts her up in very nice hotels. I enjoy seeing the details of the rooms and lobbies. This time it was The Cosmopolitan, one of the newer hotels on the strip. Here is a photo of the west tower only. I like the of blue linear lights on the façade. There are also big private balconies attached to most of the rooms.
Here is a less glamorous photo in daylight that shows both towers
Here are three photos of the hotel room. Nice how the vanity and tub area is open to the room, making the space feel bigger.
Hotel room – there is a huge balcony on the other end of the room.
sparkly light fixture
sparkly light fixture and wall paper
The next few photos are all taken on the main floor – casino, bars, and lobby. It is quite spectacular really, but it is the opposite of restrained. Everything shimmers and sparkles and there is a dazzling array of patterns, lights, mirrors, and colors. The aura throughout is opulence and extravagance. It felt strange to walk these halls in flip flops and cotton. Diamonds and pearls would be right at home. Sequins and rhinestones would fit in too.
opulence and sparkle in the casino & lobby
more shimmer and sparkle
another shot of the main floor
casino glamor
The Chandelier Bar
Even the bathroom signage is shimmery and fancy
Posted in Design Projects, tagged painted plywood, patterns, plywood, wood, wooden boats on May 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »
We had a great time at the Wooden Boat Challenge. The Bar-Ba-Loot was the prettiest boat and the fastest boat, at least in a straight line.
18 teams had 3 hours to build their boat out of two sheets of 3/8 plywood, some 1×2 and 2×2 sticks, screws, three tubes of caulk, and some plastic sheet and rope.
I only saw one sailboat this year (using the plastic sheet and rope) It got to the mark very quickly on a beam reach, but broke its rig during the gybe around the mark.
Team deedsdesign built the kayak pictured below.
Onlookers peer at The Bar-Ba-Loot under construction
construction underway
This series of photos shows the start of the championship race. Our downfall was being a bit slow out of the gate and running into a traffic jam just past the end of the dock.
Third Place
Posted in Design Projects, tagged curves, furniture, paint, painted plywood, patterns, value, wood on April 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I made this painted plywood seat for my friend Matt’s family heirloom chair a while back. Just happened upon the photo while searching through my files.
Posted in Found Objects, tagged color, desert architecture, neon, patterns, salvaged, turquoise, wood on April 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Found Objects, tagged decoration, holes, metal, patina, patterns, sparkle, value on March 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Removal of material in decorative pattern creates sparkle of light on plain steel chair back
Posted in Design Projects, tagged box, boxes, color, ensign, furniture, paint, patterns, poplar on February 11, 2012| 2 Comments »
This prototype is solid 1.125″ thick poplar. It also has box joint corners and a piano hinge.
I am using my old artist oils for this decorative paint job. I went to the art store for a new paintbrush and noticed that they now sell “water- mixable” oil paints. I am curious how those work.
deedsdesign 