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The Midas Touch: Seletti’s Estetico Quotidian Collection

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: May 17th, 2013 6:58am
Category:: Obsessions

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that pretty much anything becomes infinitely more chic if you dip it in “gold,” driftwood, rocks, rope… (all of which I’ve recently subjected to a can of gold spray paint) you name it.

I’m also going to say that Seletti agrees.

For their brilliant (no pun intend) Estetico Quotidian line, the Italian company known for its whimsical, high-design furniture and decorative objects has gilded sundry everyday items (i.e., colanders, laundry detergent bottles, pie plates), taking them from merely utilitarian to totally-in-your-face little works of art.

My friend Sam gifted me with a Seletti sardine can a couple of years ago, and I can’t help but smile every time I look at it. It’s a total happy maker. (Bonus: every piece in the Estetico Quotidian line rings in at under $100.)

You can pick up your own piece of smile-inducing gold goodness locally at Nest, We Are 1976, and TenOverSix. Or you can nab one online.

Happy shopping!

Michael Wilson Makes Gorgeous Furniture

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: April 30th, 2013 10:55am
Category:: Design

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be hosting a wedding shower and a rehearsal dinner…at my house, which means I have a ‘to do’ list a mile long. And, as is my M.O. when it comes to pressing deadlines and looming tasks, I’m surfing the Internet like it’s my job.

So I figured the least I could do is pretend said Internet surfing actually is my job and share some of what I’ve been ogling online with you guys, yes?

Ok, here goes. For the past hour, the object of my online affection has been one Mr. Michael Wilson, woodworker extraordinaire. The California native was a detail-obsessed sushi chef for seventeen years before focusing on handcrafting modern-organic, sculptural pieces of furniture. A self-taught woodworker, Wilson is involved in every aspect of creating a piece, from hand selecting materials from local suppliers to milling his own lumber and making his own non-synthetic oil and wax finish. Each finished product is a true work of art, branded and dated upon completion.

Wilson now resides in Wimberley and offers his one-of-a-kind chairs, tables, lamps, and sculptures locally through Scott + Cooner.

You can learn more on (yep, you guessed it) the internet…

The Joule Dallas: An Update

Author:: By Ryan Conner
Post date:: March 27th, 2013 1:51pm
Category:: Design

Photo courtesy of Rip + Tan.

This morning Laura and I meandered over to The Joule hotel for a tour with the nice people in the sales department. They showed us the new wedding spaces (can you say retractable rooftop space?) but also outfitted us in hard hats and safety vests to sneak a peek of the highly-anticipated retail spots. I think I asked, “When is this opening? When? When!” about one hundred times. I ask the hard-hitting questions for you, readers. And I got answers. Sort of.

Traffic LA’s women’s boutique, TenOverSix, Weekend Coffee, the Taschen Library, and home accessories and gift shop TenOverSix Presents are all slated to open in “early summer” according to Abby Morgan, director of sales and marketing for The Joule. Let me just tell you, the team spared no details, pennies, or resources for the renovation. I don’t have any pictures to share (it was all dust and jack hammers at this point), but I’ll leave you with a photo of the inspiring mid-century Los Angeles home of TenOverSix co-founder Brady Cunningham. Brady and co-founder Kristen Lee’s abodes were recently featured on designer Jenni Kayne’s lifestyle blog Rip + Tan. If the pictures and design notes from the blog piece are any indication of what is in store for the shop, count me in.

Where in the World Should Laura Move (in Dallas)?

Author:: By Laura Kostelny
Post date:: March 5th, 2013 4:05pm
Category:: Obsessions

After living in the Knox/Henderson neighborhood forever and ever and ever, I think it’s time to try something new. But I don’t know what to do. (I’m a rhyming fool.) I sort of feel sick to my stomach when I think about the pain of moving, so I’m going to close eyes and pretend I live in Fendi Casa land. All is well.

Christina Tosi Is My Hero

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: February 5th, 2013 8:56am
Category:: Events

A couple of years ago, I picked up a copy of Christina Tosi’s Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook in an attempt to take my dessert making prowess up a notch (or seven).

Tosi, Chef, Founder and Owner of cult NYC haven-o-sweets Momofuku Milk Bar (and 2012 James Beard Rising Star Chef) is a bit of a dessert rock star. Her inventive, witty, and insanely delicious creations riff off the favorite foods of her childhood (i.e. cereal) but with a decidedly sophisticated twist.

Her cookbook reads like a foodie memoir punctuated with recipes, and, friends, I couldn’t put it down. In fact, not unlike how I feel after finishing a favorite novel, I was sad when I hit the last page.

Later this month, my foodie girl crush is making an appearance at Central Market on Lovers Lane. Tosi will be there on Thursday, February 28 from 6:30-9 p.m. for a featured chef demonstration where she’ll discuss, among other things, her creative processes and her love of cookie dough. She’ll also demonstrate some of her greatest hits including: Crack Pie, Cereal Milk Ice Cream, and Cornflake-Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookie.

The evening costs $80, copies of Momofuku Milk Bar will be available for sale, and Tosi will be available to sign books after class. Register here… Hurry, there are only 27 spots available.

Obsessed: Marble, Marble Everywhere

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: January 24th, 2013 1:23pm
Category:: Obsessions

I am still pining for marble countertops in my kitchen…I also want marble backsplash snaking up the walls a la Jennifer Robert’s gorgeous kitchen above. Friends, I want the marble bad. I want it like the deserts want the rain.

Sadly, my bank account says it’s a no go, so I just keep buying marble bits and bobs (i.e. fruit bowls, pastry slabs, etc) in an attempt to fill my longing.

In honor of my obsession, I pulled together a little roundup of my favorite marble finds for your viewing pleasure. (I may have purchased one…or five of these myself, but I’m not saying for sure.)

Prices and stores for all this marble goodness after the jump…

(more…)

The Gems and Minerals Hall at The Perot Museum of Nature and Science Is My Happy Place

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: January 3rd, 2013 2:20pm
Category:: Obsessions

One of my new year’s goals is increased self-awareness (whatever that actually means), so let’s start with the public admittance of a raging obsession, shall we? Here goes…

My name is Joslyn, and I am a gem/mineral/big craggy crystal thing addict.

My addiction started with the crystal encrusted goodness happening at Chanel’s Fall 2012 runway show (of which you can witness a whisper of in that image above.)

The Chanel loveliness went on to inspire a “Stone Age” product page (shown above) in our May/June issue of D Home. And, truth be told, after pulling that page together, I thought I’d had my fill of crystals. I was, dare I say, feeling gem-ed out (like when you try to kick cigs by smoking until you puke…or something like that).

But then I walked into the Gem and Minerals hall at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science and realized I’d made no progress whatsoever.

This is going to be harder to kick than I thought…

Check Out a Gingerbread Downton Abbey

Author:: By Laura Kostelny
Post date:: December 19th, 2012 3:02pm
Category:: Obsessions

Sorry, things have been a little light over here due to finishing the last magazine before our winter holiday. But I’m now committed to reading everything on the Internet. If you—like me—dig gingerbread and are obsessed with Downton Abbey, then this post on Grub Street will make you happy.

Rugs from Tufenkian and IKEA to Transform Your Kitchen

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: December 12th, 2012 12:58pm
Category:: Design

I am a bit obsessed with kitchens that don’t look like, well, kitchens. (So much so, that I’ve created an entire Pinterest board devoted to the topic…) While not exactly practical, I dig an otherwise utilitarian space tricked out with furnishings usually seen in the living room. After all, where do the bulk of your guests end up at every party you throw? Yep, the kitchen. It’s the hub; it deserves to feel special and cozy (or at least hang-worthy).

A big glittery chandelier, upholstered chairs, and framed art are perfect foils for the more practical aspects of that fetching kitchen above photographed by Vincent Leroux for Marie Claire Maison, but it’s the luxe rug that takes things from good to great. I regularly troll eBay for tattered kilim runners to put in front of my stove and sink. I also like IKEA’s Persian-inspired Valby Ruta runner. It’s durable, and at $30 you won’t be devastated if it becomes a causality of last night’s spaghetti dinner.

But if you really want to pull out the big guns, might I recommend one of the 2×3 Tibetan woven rugs currently on offer at the Tufenkian showroom. (Think designs from Barbara Barry, Vicente Wolf, and Laura Kirar handmade in Tibetan wool and silk for about $100.) With one of those one-of-a-kind lovelies hanging out in your kitchen, you may just want to move your bed in there too and call it a day.

Local Photographer Nancy Newberry Gets Some Jezebel Love

Author:: By Laura Kostelny
Post date:: December 6th, 2012 4:12pm
Category:: Obsessions

Dallas-based photographer Nancy Newberry gets some love from Jezebel.com for her photographs of young people and “these pins—many bigger than a dinner plate and covered in artificial flowers, ribbons, and even stuffed animals—are known as mums.” Go here to check out lots of her work.

Obsessed: Reinaldo Sanguino Ceramics at The Nasher

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: November 7th, 2012 3:18pm
Category:: Art

On a recent spin through the Nasher store, I found myself in a moment of serious coveting. The object? These graffiti-embellished Reinaldo Sanguino ceramics above. Now let me pause here to say that I am not typically one to covet. Sure I like (ok love) beautiful things. But I see a lot of them in my line of work. A lot. If I were in the practice of coveting, I would spend pretty much every. waking. moment. in a state of want.

And that’s just a bad scene friends…on every level.

So it has to be something really (really) stellar to the inspire the level of longing that occurred when I stumbled upon those Reinaldo Sanguino creations. Let’s just say, I am 100%, wholly, and completely smitten.

The Venezuelan-born Sanguino currently lives in New York City and shows his works in both one-person and group shows throughout the United States and Latin America. He’s won all manner of national and international grants and awards and has pieces in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston among other institutions.

Oh and he has a cache of stunning works available for purchase mere blocks away from my place of employment.

I covet them regularly.

The Perfect “Plant” for The Green Thumb Challenged

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: October 8th, 2012 9:54am
Category:: Design

Contrary to my reputation, I struggle with plants. I love them, have them all over my house, but my track record with keeping them alive is a solid 50/50. The secret weapon behind my perceived plant prowess is actually my husband. He is a plant whisperer extraordinaire (but don’t tell him I told you, as I like to keep him humble).

So my first thought when I stumbled upon Houston based Michelle Weddle’s genius Waterstone Succulents on Etsy was, “this is a plant I can get behind.” They’re impossible to kill, cool looking…I’m in.

Ryan, are you with me?

Obsessed: Santa Maria Novella Incense

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: October 2nd, 2012 2:46pm
Category:: Obsessions

I have a sweet spot for incense. It’s sort of the Talitha Getty of room fragrance…just so much cooler and exotic than the ubiquitous candle.

It can, however, quickly veer into a cloying, smoky mess faster than you can say patchouli. The key is being very, very selective when you purchase it. No cheap corner store sticks friends. You have to spring for the good stuff.

Like, for example, a box of Santa Maria Novella Autunno incense. Sure it’ll set you back about $50… a box (!), but it makes your entire house smell well…amazing. And, most important, not the least bit “cloying hippie.”

I bought some yesterday at LAFCO New York in Highland Park Village. And yes, the 103 words above were pretty much just a long-winded justification for spending $50 on a box of incense. But I have no regrets… It’s some darn good incense.

Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin Have a Killer Apartment and An Exhibit at The Dallas Contemporary

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: September 28th, 2012 2:23pm
Category:: Art

As houses go, Dutch photographers Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin’s Manhattan apartment featured in Architectural Digest is one of my very favorites. Sure it’s an artful, light-filled NYC loft designed with the help of Simrel Achenbach of the Brooklyn design-build firm Descience Laboratories (Achenbach being a master woodworker and former assistant to painter Francesco Clemente), so it’s easy to love. And it’s got that whole warm boho meets sleek modern vibe down pat. But what I’m really loving is how they get “wrong” so right.

Take, for example, the pale, powdery pink cushions lounging up against a backdrop of oft-maligned knotty pine (!), or the fact that they mix such seemingly disparate elements as skull art, peony-filled Delft pottery, Moroccan rugs, and wait for it… D. Porthault towels.

It’s all jacked up, but it totally works.

The duo also happen to have an exhibit entitled Pretty Much Everything running at the Dallas Contemporary through the end of December. The show, based on their three-book compilation of the same name, is a retrospective of works from their 25 year collaborative relationship.

And if it’s half as good as their apartment, you’ll want to make a beeline over to the Contemporary as soon as possible.

Obsessed: Celerie Kemble’s Stunning Debut Wallcovering Collection for Schumacher

Author:: By Joslyn Taylor
Post date:: September 27th, 2012 9:55am
Category:: Obsessions

I am a fan of wallpaper. So much so in fact, that if not for two substantial roadblocks, namely funds and the fact that my husband is, well…not so much a fan, I would swath every wall in my home in patterned splendor.

It should be noted, that I tend to skew toward a more minimal aesthetic, so this wallpaper love of mine is not necessarily a rational one. But it is a love nonetheless. A passionate, unyielding, intense love.

You get the idea.

And the latest target of my affection is Celerie Kemble’s debut wall covering line for Schumacher. It’s all graphic yet organic, bold yet subtle. The ethereal Feather Bloom (above) is an easy favorite, but the pattern that haunts my dreams is the hand-printed sisal Cirrus Clouds in Plume (a rich teal/navy combo).

I have to figure out a way to get that action into my dining room.

Stat.