Thursday 28 May 2009

A small note to say…

 

thank-you

 

Dear Blogger Friends, Colleagues, Clients and Friends,

 

On behalf of all of us at Meade Design Group, I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who in the past few days have supported us with your phone calls, emails, facebook messages, twitter messages and comments in our blog.

 

We are very pleased how well our first TV appearance on HGTV went.  We were number 6 on the HGTV TOP 10  for the games rooms series “Everyone’s a Winner”.  Being in the show  is definitely making us feel like a real winners! 

 

Marla Brown & David Rockwell the critics of the space were phenomenal. I also have to say that the space looked amazing thanks to the camera work of Austin and Jim - the editing of our segment  was brilliant.  Special thanks to Janice for coordinate the shoot and for the opportunity to be part of the show.  No words can describe the fact that you included our past friend Greg Young in the Thanks section!

 

Once again thank you very much to all of you for taking the time to watch the show - Your support means the world to all of us.

 

Gracias!

 

Yours truly, 

Iván Meade-Treviño

 

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MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Tuesday 26 May 2009

HGTV TOP TEN – Everyone’s a Winner

We invite you to look for MEADE DESIGN GROUP on HGTV Top Ten  show “Everyone’s a Winner” tonight!

May 26th 2009 at 8:00 pm EST.

 

image 

 

Rack ‘em up.  HGTV’s Top Ten cues up 10 of the best games rooms on the continent.   From classic to contemporary these rooms go way beyond green felt and tiffany lamps.

HGTV’s Top Ten discovers the best-designed rooms in North America.

From the Hamptons to Malibu, Vancouver to Miami, the program showcases the work of the most important designers and architects from across the continent. Designers who made the show Top Ten lists include Jamie Drake, Vicente Wolf, Larry Laslo, Charlotte Moss, Geoffrey Bradfield and Connie Braemer.  The work of architects David Hertz, Stephen Kanner, Lacina Heitler and Andrew Skurman are also featured throughout the series.

Commentators include Editor-in-Chief of Elle Décor Margaret Russell, design guru Jonathan Adler, architect Matthew Berman, designers Brian Gluckstein and Anna Simone, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolitan Home Donna Warner, industrial designer Karim Rashid and real estate expert Barbara Corcoran.

[ HGTV - Home & Garden Television Canada ]

 

If you want to learn more about the project you can read this entry.

HGTV – Here we come!

 

To see more of the Maple Bay Project please visit our website at:

www.themeadegroup.com

 

Thanks for your support!!!



MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Sunday 24 May 2009

The Loden Hotel - My home away from home.

If you are wondering why I have not been blogging lately is because I have been in Vancouver the last couple of days enjoying the wonderful weather and reconnecting with friends and colleagues and I have to say… practicing some retail therapy. Vancouver is definitely one of my favourite cities in North America, every street is open to magnificent views and one only has to look around to be inspired in this cosmopolitan and vibrant city.

Spectacular mountain and ocean views rub shoulders with innovative urban high-rises, stunning architecture intermingle with a vibrant cosmopolitan centre and its people embrace each other. Not surprisingly then, Vancouver is consistently ranked as one of the best cities in the world. Plus as bonus extra to make my visit even more enjoyable I stayed in what I now consider my home away from home in Vancouver – The Loden Hotel.


Fireplace-Loden

loden-lobby Lobby


This boutique hotel is poised at the edge of Coal Harbour, downtown Vancouver's premiere luxury neighborhood. The service has been always immaculate, the staff have always had the courtesy to greet me by name and the attention to detail is definitely a trade mark of what the Kor Hotel Group has to offer. Also Loden Vancouver is adjacent to many of Vancouver's most popular attractions-from museums and galleries to world-class shopping and numerous restaurants and even some of my favourite fellow blogger friends are close neighbors.


Loden-exterior Loden Vancouver


The rooms have in mind a current earthly palette of caramel, coral and chocolate brown. Loden's meticulously appointed and well planned guestrooms provide stylish repose and premium amenities including floor to ceiling windows and any gadget you can imagine for business nomads and leisure seekers.


loden-room-2 Guest Room


The bathroom is very spa like with a deep soaker bath tub taking center stage, flanked to the left by individually frosted glass enclosed toilet and a large Emperador marble shower. A long vanity will welcome you fully stocked with Molton Brown products – my newest addiction.


Bathroom-Loden Bathroom


The intimate Voya (derived from "voyage") restaurant and lounge in Vancouver at Loden, led by locally lauded Executive Chef Marc-André Choquette, will offer sophisticated food, spectacularly chic décor, a private dining room and a street-side lounge. An ice-blue room centre-lit by three sparkling crystal chandeliers evokes the sophisticated eateries of the '40s, rich with chocolate-hued upholstery, stunning inlay floors, boldly patterned screens, oversized mirrors and sleek white lacquered tables.


Voya-2

Voya Voya Restuarant


I really can't say enough about the Loden Hotel – I have stayed there 3 times already and I would recommend this hotel completely without reservation - It has to be one of the most sleek, comfortable, friendly, and accommodating hotels I have ever stayed. Well after all I named this hotel my home away from home in Vancouver.


Loden Vancouver
1177 Melville Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6E 0A3
+1.877.225.6336
604.669.5060


Website:
lodenvancouver.com




MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Wednesday 20 May 2009

Eye Candy of the Week – Twenty Two Chair

image

image

image

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Twenty Two Chair


Today while I was trying to re-discover the ancient lost art of willy nilly I decided to have a peek in one of my favourite sites - Jaime Hayon’s website. What was my surprise when this beauty created with 22 pieces of the finest maple wood welcomed my tender latin eyes to Hayon’s creative laboratory.


A little bit Thonet, a little bit danish and a little bit mid century modern, this new piece by Jaime Hayon definitely wants to be a guest in my living room.


PRODUCT
Twenty Two Chair


DESIGNER
Jaime Hayon


MANUFACTURE
Ceccotti Collezioni


MATERIAL
Solid Maple featuring an upholstered seat and back, and has a leather-covered tray beneath the seat.


DESCRIPTION

Twenty two pieces of the finest wood make up this amazing work of craftmanship. Hayon's first collaboration with Ceccotti has been presented at the Salone el Mobile.


YUMMY FACTOR
Deliciosa !


image Jaime Hayon




MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Sunday 17 May 2009

In Conversation with Darryl Carter

 DC-4Darryl Carter

 

Darryl Carter has progressively become a renowned design influence. His work is routinely featured in major shelter publications. Likewise, he is highly active on the lecture circuit and he has appeared on a variety of television networks.

This has not gone unnoticed by the industry, as he continues to make his designs more accessible through a series of branding relationships throughout the home category. This past fall saw the publication of his first book, The New Traditional (Clarkson Potter) and the launch of Darryl Carter for Thomasville(www.thomasville.com/darrylcarter/), his new comprehensive full home collection with Thomasville Furniture, distinguished by the sensibility of having been collected over time and true to the design aesthetic that he has become known for.

 

image

 

Darryl also has a stunning lighting collection with The Urban Electric Company www.urbanelectricco.com, and this spring Frontgate www.frontgate.com will debut his first outdoor collection.

Carter specializes in calming environments with subtle colour palettes in which textures play off of one another and striking furniture layouts create one of a kind spaces. His mantra is that no two environments should be alike, just as no two individuals are alike. While keeping that in mind his environments exemplify the "New Traditional", incorporating clean design through the use of antiques and unique pieces that give his spaces a sense of grace and comfort. Simple moldings and architectural details painted out in chalky off-whites create a crisp envelope respectful of the architecture and furniture pieces. Spaces are distinguished by personal effects such as antique books, art and artifacts which evoke memories of days past. Patina is shown with pride. Intricate patterns such as herringbone or marquetry with borders are created with tile work alongside a delicately arabesque-shaped railing with a contrasting stain. Ambient lighting is sensitive to the mood of a room and window treatments are the simplest wooden shutters or linen drapery. The goal is that each environment is welcoming, graceful, timeless and foremost reflective of the individual.

Please read on to learn more about Darryl Carter and his work...

Iván Meade - What was your first experience with design?

Darryl Carter – I think I have always had a penchant for the aesthetic arts. My mother seems to have a memory of me moving furniture around my small childhood bedroom at age 6.

 

DC-1-1Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

 

Iván Meade - Who or what has influenced your style?

Darryl Carter – I have a very dear friend who is presently an antiques dealer in New York. We go way back. Her mother was very forward in her design. When others were doing circular sofas and shag carpet, she had the most austere 19th century farmhouse with no embellishments, simple American furniture, Pre-Colombian artifacts and the moodiest portraiture, all simply placed. These spaces continue to speak to me.

 

DC-2-2  Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

Iván Meade - What was the career change like from lawyer to designer?

Darryl Carter – The career change was freeing and perhaps immanent. But for serendipity, it may not have happened. It’s a complicated tale, but the short version is that I was a weekend warrior and on the side I was exercising my passion by re-doing and flipping real estate. One of the properties I lived in landed on the cover of Metropolitan Home and I received a number of phone calls requesting private commissions. And so, the career change had begun.

 

DC-3-3  Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

 

Iván Meade - What designers of past and present do you admire most?

Darryl Carter – Thomas Jefferson, as architect; Jorn Utzon, his biography and work; Van Day Truex, as a visionary; Bill Blass, for his Connecticut Home and so many others.

 

DC-13 Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

 

Iván Meade - What do you consider to be your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?

Darryl Carter – One in the same: my passion for what I do.

 

DC-14 Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

 

Iván Meade - What do you look for in a furniture piece, alternatively what do you consider as being important factors when designing a furniture piece ?

Darryl Carter – Purity, grace of line and multi-function.

 

DC-8  Darryl Carter for Thomasville

 

Iván Meade - Are there any design rules that you think were meant to be broken?

Darryl Carter – All rules are meant to be broken. This is evolution.

 

DC-5

image Darryl Carter for Frontgate

 

Iván Meade - What has been your greatest collaboration?

Darryl Carter – I cannot speak to this; I am bound to step on several toes. I have had many.

 

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DC-6 Darryl Carter for The Urban Electric Co

 

Iván Meade - What books are currently on your bedside or coffee table?

Darryl Carter – Avoid Boring People by James D Watson; The Last Campaign, Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days that Inspired America, by Thurston Clarke; Original Story, by Arthur Laurents and Audels Carpenters and Builders Guides #1 – #4, by Frank D. Graham – Chief and Thomas J. Emery – Associate.

 

DC 9 Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

 

Iván Meade - What are you excited about right now in the world of design?

Darryl Carter – I am seeing a more liberated risk-taking consumer that is in search of self-expression in the home, rather than manufactured environments that are formulaic.

 

DC-10 Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

 

Iván Meade - What would be your dream project?

Darryl Carter – I am working on my dream project. The renovation of my new office in a pre-civil war building in a very vibrant, emergent part of the District of Columbia.

 

DC-11 Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

 

Iván Meade - What project has given you the most satisfaction?

Darryl Carter – My residence which will never be complete, it is my laboratory.

 

DC-12 Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

 

Iván Meade - What is your next design venture?

Darryl Carter – I am working on multiple home license deals and a television show.

 

DC-15 Photograph courtesy of Darryl Carter

 

Iván Meade - Lastly, you have already created a stunning body of work with many mediums and styles. What would you like your legacy to be?

Darryl Carter – A respect and appreciation for the simple.

 

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Tripel Bel Air Bench

 

Check out the June issue of Metropolitan Home Magazine's "Design 100" featuring editor's picks of the top 100 designs of the year. Among their picks is the Triple Bel Air Bench from Darryl Carter's collection for Thomasville.



MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Thursday 14 May 2009

Eye Candy of the Week – Mistic Candleholder

Back by Popular Demand !


Mistic-GlassClear Glass


Mistic-2Silver


Misitc-3Bronze


Which one is your favourite ?


PRODUCT
Mistic Candleholder


SERIES
Vase Collection


DESIGNER
Arik Levy


MANUFACTURE
Gaia & Gino


MATERIAL
Borosilicate Glass


DESCRIPTION
Mistic creates a contemporary vegetal landscape with strong dynamics, like a forest of pyrex tubes. It can be used both as candleholder or a vase.

Available in 3 sizes and 3 colours, clear glass, silver, and bronze.


YUMMY FACTOR
C'est exquis !



MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011

Monday 11 May 2009

In Conversation with Tobi Fairley

Named one of America’s “Top 20 Young Designers” by Traditional Home Magazine, Tobi Fairley is a multi-talented woman from Little Rock, Arkansas who has mastered a traditional style with contemporary accents which has been flawlessly adapted to a multitude of client tastes.


image Tobi Fairley


With three degrees under her belt: Interior Design, Accounting and Business, this educated woman is a design force to be reckoned with. Tobi’s style is soft, crisp, understated and refined. She has a brilliant grasp on balance

in all forms (visual weight, colour tones and hues etc.) and has a beautiful way of making her traditional designs look current and fresh. In addition to her interior design studio of ten years, Tobi also maintains an internationally acclaimed blog and is developing several product lines targeted for launch in early 2010.

I highly recommend viewing her portfolio and reading her blog.

Please read on to learn more about this talented designer…

Iván Meade – What was your first experience with design?

Tobi Fairley – I recall helping my mom design our home as a young girl of 5 or 6 years old. We would rearrange the furniture and mom would entertain a lot. We also did some really chic Christmas decorating for that time period. I remember our first designer Christmas tree was all shades of pink.


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – Who or what has influenced your style?

Tobi Fairley – Well obviously my mom did. She is one of those people who was just born with great taste! As far as my design work today, I am really inspired by textiles!


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – Did you always want to be an interior designer?

Tobi Fairley – Yes and no. I always loved interior design, but when I began college in the early 90’s, I didn’t really see design as a career option. But just a few years later, I couldn’t resist the calling and I went back to school and got my degree.


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – What made you decide to earn your three degrees? Did you experience careers in all three or was it a conscious decision to help you in your design career?

Tobi Fairley – I wish I could say that I was just so ultra intelligent and that I planned this whole extraordinary educational path to my career. But it would be a fib! I never worked as an accountant (thank God!). I got that degree because I was undecided about what my career would be and I knew that an accounting degree would support any path I chose. As I mentioned above, I gave into my calling for design after getting in the business school, in about year 3 to be exact. So I completed my accounting degree first and then went right back to school in design. When I got to design school, I have a marvellous faculty advisor who had gotten a finance degree and then one in design, and he said if there was anything he regretted, it was not getting an MBA. Well, I had never thought of such a thing…but it was brilliant! And since I had about a million hours already of basics and electives from business school that counted towards my design degree, I used the extra time in my schedule to get an MBA while finishing my design degree simultaneously. The only thing about this path that was crazy was trying to excel in both design and a masters in business at the same time. This was not an easy task!!! But I made it and I am better for it! In fact, I am being named by the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, as their Entrepreneur of the Year in just a few weeks!


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – What designers of past and present do you admire most?

Tobi Fairley

Past, I love Dorothy Draper, David Hicks.

Present day designer that I admire: Jamie Drake


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – What do you consider to be your greatest strength and your greatest weakness?

Tobi Fairley – I think I definitely have a competitive advantage in my career because of my strong business sense. Few designers seem to have this. As far as design goes, I am really gifted with color and I have a great understanding of scale. Both of these talents are inherited from my mother. I also have a lot of confidence which helps in dealing with clients and in going after what I want in my career. I am not risk averse! And I am a really quick study which is great since designers are always challenged with knowing what is the latest and greatest at any given time but also having a vast knowledge of design and art history.

My weaknesses include taking on too many things at one time, so I lack balance in my life. I am not very patient. I am really intense. This can be good and bad. In one sense I am extremely passionate about things, but on the flip side I take myself and my job too seriously sometimes and this can add undue stress in my life.


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – What does it feel like to be announced as one of Top 20 Young Designers in America by Traditional Home?

Tobi Fairley – Fantastic! Fabulous! Surreal! We all work so hard as designers and we do that because we care about our clients and we are trying to make the built environment a better place. Most of us who are passionate about design would do it for no pay and no credit! But when your hard work and years of education and efforts are validated in this way, it sort of puts the icing on the cake.


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – Browsing through your portfolio one can see that you are not afraid of colour. What is your favourite colour to design with right now?

Tobi Fairley – I am really loving shades of pink right now…blush tones. But not a lot of my clients (the males ones anyway) will go for it. So I am painting the walls of my new office pink. I’ll have photos of it this summer when we move in. I also love navy and am still fond of grey tones. With me no color is off limits. So to keep things fresh, I am constantly experimenting with quirky color combinations that push the envelope! I have some fun ones on the horizon for both design schemes and products that I am working on.


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – What books are currently on your bedside or coffee table?

Tobi Fairley – I am a voracious reader but also a collector of books. So at any given time there are literally 20 books lined up to read and I often am reading several at one time. Plus I just got a new Kindle Reader which I am mad about so Right now I have in fiction Eat, Pray, Love( I am ¾ way complete) and Eclipse, the third twilight series both going. I am also reading Paintings in Proust. And stacked up on my bedside or loaded on my Kindle waiting in line are many more including Bringing Home the Birkin which I just can’t wait to start!!!


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – You seem to have a strong passion for fashion; what design cues do you take from the runway to incorporate into your interiors?

Tobi Fairley – Thank you, I do! I especially love shoes and I have a pretty stunning collection of them. My shoes definitely translate into my designs because like in my interiors, my shoes are often in extreme colors! I keep my clothing tailored and classic and I have a ton of black. I have a couture designer in New York who makes a good deal of my clothing because her style is reminiscent of many of my style icons and she fits me perfectly. But my shoes, well they are my accessories, and there are no holds barred with the amount of color. My favourite shoe designers… Valentino, Chanel, Jimmy Choo, Oscar de la Renta, Christian Leboutin, Yves St. Laurent, Manolo Blanik…and the list goes on.


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – What are you excited about right now in the world of design?

Tobi Fairley – I am very excited about breaking into product design. And one reason I am so excited about it is that I am working on designing all the things that I can never find! I am obviously also excited about new media… blogging, twitter, facebook. I really have an amazing grasp of branding, most likely because of my business background. And what better place to self-promote and promote products and other things you love than on a blog! From a more purest interpretation of your question with regard to the industry, I am always excited about new things happening with fabrics and textiles. I am seeing more and more people doing great things with color. And this makes my job easier. There used to be just a few people feeding my color habit, like Tricia Guild of Designers Guild and Osborne and Little. But now there are beautiful choices in dramatic patterns and color ways! I love it!


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – What would be your dream project?

Tobi Fairley – This is a hard question for me! There are so many things I would love to do and yet I already feel so satisfied. I guess I would have to say a project in one of my favourite cities that I have not yet worked in like New York City, London, Paris, Florence, or the California Wine Country. Those also answer the question, where would I like to own additional residences…I’ll take one of each please!


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – What project has given you the most satisfaction?

Tobi Fairley – Probably doing my own home. It really is harder than doing client homes. It is so easy for me to sell clients on a design scheme. I can confidently say we are making choices that fit their styles and their needs. Designing for myself means narrowing down all the many things I love into a look that is cohesive. And that is not an easy task because as designers we get the pleasure of knowing All the options, where the client typically has a much smaller breadth of knowledge about what is available.


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – What is your next design venture?

Tobi Fairley - As I mentioned above, I am embarking on my new facility which is a 4000 square design firm and a 2500 square foot art and furniture gallery. The building is sheet rocked and so now the fun is just beginning! We are planning to move in late this summer and I will be sure and post photos as soon as possible.

Among my many current projects Right now, one that stands out in particular is phase 2 of a large remodel (the project is over 8000 feet total). We have completed the living and dining and 3 upstairs bedrooms and are now moving into the kitchen, family room, media room, office and master suite. This project is truly a transformation and I can’t wait to get to show you the results.

Towards the end of the year I am going to be starting a condo in Dallas which should be exciting and I have a client who just bought a New Condo in LA so that will likely start late summer or early Fall!


image Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


Iván Meade – Lastly, you have already created a stunning body of work with many mediums and styles. What would you like your legacy to be?

Tobi Fairley – Thank you for the compliment on my work!! I hope that my legacy is one of logic. It is my goal in every project, for the client to truly use and enjoy ALL their spaces. I would say I only have one or two clients who are interested in “preserving” their design and don’t get as much enjoyment out of their investment as I would if it were my home. I am of the philosophy “life’s too short not to use the good china”. For the most part, I am successful in helping my clients identify their needs and making their spaces accommodate them. It is frustrating to me when clients have rooms they never even go in. I have even been known to talk clients out of large additions (that would have been profitable for me) because they are not even using the spaces they have. I guess there is even a green or sustainable element to this concept. Now don’t get me wrong, I by no means think that some of the huge houses that I work on are in line with the tenets of LEED design, if for no other reason, because of their size. But I do think that there is something environmentally responsible about helping clients to make the most out of their square footage and not building more than they will really use. So in an ironic sort of way, my legacy could be one of practical or logical luxury living. It is champagne tastes meets mother knows best! Can’t you just see me in my classic 50’s style A-line dress and pearls with by Fushia Leboutins designing these practical mansions??…I can.


image

Photograph courtesy of Tobi Fairley


I invite you to visit Tobi Fairley’s website and blog to learn more about this talented woman.

TOBI FAIRLEY WEBSITE

TOBI FAIRLEY BLOG




MEADE DESIGN GROUP - THE BLOG. Copyright 2007-2011