blog | marks & frantz

Feeling a little bit nautical…

Maybe because I just hopped a plane to Florida for a little vacation, it just seemed like the right time for a post on rope-inspired furniture. Originally I had been saving up Dorothy Draper influenced gold rope tassel furniture (see her company logo below in coral tassel rope!) or I’ve gotten sucked into the the modern “organic homemade” craze, it seemed timely to mix in a bit of that as well. Enjoy!

Rope Twist coffee table for Baker Furniture

A pair of vintage rope leg vanity stools

Dorothy Draper's company logo

Rope beds by Thom Felicia, do you think that they sway?

Rope chair at Moma by Campana Brothers

Thom Felicia's nautical inspired hand rail

Drawer pulls or oversized cuff links!

Posted on February 22, 2012 (Accessories, Antiques, Furniture, Hollywood Regency Style) Tagged rope, tassel | Leave a comment

Holland & Sherry Embroidery

I have always loved Holland & Sherry for their luxurious featherweight wools and cashmeres, but the embroidery has become my latest obsession.

The company got their start over 170 years ago as Savile Row woolen merchants in London and are the go-to fabric suppliers for bespoke tailors. Constantly on the quest for the most luxurious cashmeres, woolens and worsted vicunas, Holland & Sherry has partnered with Paris couture houses, including Dior and Lanvin. In 2001, the company re-invented themselves as a luxury home collection and their custom embroidery program was introduced. Designer Nicolas Chambeyron was wooed from Christian Dior where he created exquisite patterns for John Galliano and began to create unbelievable border patterns that have evolved into more intricate and complicated overall patterns. Using a combination of applique, various embroidery techniques, wools, cashmeres and silks, each piece is more exceptional than the next.

Posted on February 21, 2012 (Fabric, Uncategorized, Window Treatments) Tagged couture fabrics, embroidery, holland & sherry | Leave a comment

New Press Page, check it out!

We are so excited about our new press page, we want to scream it from the rooftops! Our web designer Jeff re-worked the page so that it is much more informative, user-friendly and just downright good lookin’! Sign up for the mailing list on our home page…. lots of exciting press and events coming soon. Cocktails, we promise!

Click here to see it!

Posted on February 20, 2012 (Press, Uncategorized) Tagged Elle Decor, press | Leave a comment

Friday Favorites…Lipstick Console

As our devoted regular readers have probably figured out by week 3 of “Friday Favorites,” we tend to collect groups or collections of revered things. I’ve been holding onto this image forever and cannot seem to put it in a category. This console, designed by Hudson Furniture in New York City and well-known for their live edge tables, defies classification. Made from slices of solid walnut, gloss nickel, polished bronze, plexiglas, black and grey lacquer, I am in love….all my favorite materials! And why it’s called the Lipstick Console, any guesses?

: The Lipstick Console by Hudson Furniture NYC

Posted on February 17, 2012 (Furniture, Sculpture) Tagged console, furniture, nickel, plexiglass, wood | Leave a comment

James Lecce

Last year, we helped a client curate a starter art collection for their new home. During the process we were able to bring in some favorite artists and discover some exciting new ones. With the help of Valerie McKenzie at McKenzie Fine Art and a few bookmarked editorial spreads by one of my favorite designers, Jamie Drake, I was led to James Lecce.
The technique he uses to create this fluidity gives his work a great feeling of movement and liquidness. The swirling shapes and macro view make you think that each painting is a snapshot of an infinitely larger and ever moving entity. There is no beginning and no end.

James Lecce paintings gave me a much needed mental boost for this Monday morning!

Flyer

and another Jamie Drake interior

Jamie Drake's study for Californication features a Lecce, I think Drake may be his biggest fan!

An installation of last year's James Lecce show at McKenzie Fine Art

Chambord

Pinup

Posted on February 13, 2012 (Art) Tagged art, color, jamie drake, mckenzie gallery, New York City | Leave a comment

Inaugural issue of New York Cottages & Gardens – thrilled to be involved!

Look for us in the March issue of the brand new New York Cottages & Gardens!

This just in from Curbed:
“Now reps send in the inaugural cover of New York Cottages & Gardens, the newest magazine to emerge from the Cottages & Gardens group of regional high-end design and lifestyle magazines. Extending the publisher’s foothold from Connecticut and the Hamptons to New York City, Westchester County (a region once covered in the now-defunct Westchester Cottages & Gardens), the Gold Coast of Long Island, and the Hudson Valley, NYC&G will be helmed by Hamptons Cottages & Gardens editor Kendell Cronstrom and published five times this year starting next month. According to the release, projects will range from “a rooftop terrace garden on an 1840′s Brooklyn brownstone to a classic-six apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side [to] an ultra-modern house overlooking Long Island Sound to a pre-Revolutionary War mansion in the Hudson Valley”

Posted on February 10, 2012 (Press) Tagged advertising, New York Cottages & Gardens | Leave a comment

Friday favorites….. Spool Chairs

The spool chair has been around since the 19th century and was considered an outdated relic of country cottages and dusty attics until Hickory Chair with Mark Hampton brought it back into vogue. Often seen in traditional homes, they are appearing everywhere in glossy enamel colors, whitewash and assorted woods with all types of fabrics and contrast welting. It is just the sort of thing that a living room is always looking for! They have a classic feeling and yet they give the room an interesting personality. Here are a few of our faves:

The Hickory Chair classic

Dransfield and Ross makes this adorable black, white and grey stripe spool, would be great for a pool house or summer porch

Blanchard Spool Chair by Julian Chichester

Ralph Lauren's Spool Chairs shows off a little more frame

Lazaro Rosa-Violan has the most contemporary ones I've seen....love these

Mecox Gardens has a snappy version with contrast welt

For a more budget-conscious spool chair, Wisteria makes a great one, just needs a jazzier fabric and could be hip with the black frame

Posted on February 10, 2012 (Antiques, Fabric) Tagged chic, Hickory Chair, ralph lauren, spool chair | Leave a comment

Black & White

This post is a dramatic deviation from our usual post style of nuanced color, textures, shapes, styles and layers, layers, layers! This is pure drama and all about, well.. quite simply, black and white

Do you have a favorite black and white image? Please share!

Posted on February 8, 2012 (Color, Uncategorized) Tagged black and white, dramatic interiors | Leave a comment

Lazaro Rosa-Violan

I have been holding onto these photos of Barcelona artist-turned interior designer’s home/studio since I first discovered him in Australian Vogue Living last January. Rosa-Violan’s Contemporain Studio is known for stylish hotels and restaurants. I can’t find any other residential examples of his work except these below of his own home. He describes his work as “lived-in spontaneity” and I describe it as “beyond fabulous.” I have turned to these richly textured images several times over the past year for inspiration for my own clients. His mix of styles and periods, punctuated with art is redolent of everything that Lydia and I design at Marks & Frantz. We like design-inspired surprises at every turn and I hope all of our rooms resonate like this one!

Chesterfield Sofas paired with French Art Deco chairs from the 30s

Artwork by Lazaro Rosa-Violan in the dining area

Antique brass ceiling piece re-purposed as Oject in front of mirror over fireplace

Beautiful divided lite arch top doors

I am addicted to Spool Chairs (future post on that)! These are the most contemporary ones I've seen

The japanese screen gives the room a spectacular shimmer, we are about to install a Grace screen similar to this in a client's home, can't wait to see

Posted on February 6, 2012 (Accessories, Antiques, Art, Interior Design, Uncategorized) Tagged australian vogue, barcelona, Interior Design, Lazaro Rosa Violan | Leave a comment

Tulum: Jungle Chic

I just got back from a quick trip to Tulum. This gorgeous little stretch of coastline on the Caribbean Sea is one of the my favorite places in the world. I have been visiting these beaches and staying in different cabanas there for the last 15 years or so. Tulum has been getting very popular – just two weeks ago the New York Times published an article about Tulum and how fashionable it has become. Along with the new popularity comes a lot of other things, some good and some not – more people, great restaurants, wifi at hotels, ATMs, a boutique. But what has not changed much is Tulum’s eco-chic design aesthetic. Here are some fun examples of the creative ways that Tulum embraces sustainable design.