mad men season 5

our blog is now located at  http://www.id-homes.co.uk/category/blog/

Hurrah! " Mad Men " returned after its long hiatus, earning record ratings and a  host of  new Midcentury Modern design fans obsessed with Don Draper's new Manhattan home. It's June 1966 and  Draper has  traded in his dreary digs from last season for an Upper East Side spread complete with serious bachelor pad trappings.

The apartments full of sleek modern lines and high-tech gadgetry and manly appointments (leather lounge chair, countertop cocktail bar with a drum-shaped ice bucket) is contrasted with his new wife Megan's youthful taste and love of color.

The set decorator  took inspiration from two books by 1960s bestselling interior design author Betty Pepis and "Decoration U.S.A.," a 1965 collaboration between Jose Wilson and Arthur Leaman. "The colors of the rooms and furnishings are so vibrant in those books they almost make your teeth rattle," Didul said.

The kitchen wallpaper brings back memories of my mums kitchen circa 1974! I am not sure its a look I want to go back to?

The Draper living room has grass cloth wallpaper and curtains with a matching valance made from retro material from Fabricut. Outside the window wall: a 1964 white metal patio dinette set by Samsonite that Didul purchased on eBay. The modular sofas and ottoman were designed by "Mad Men" production designer Dan Bishop and built by Omega Cinema Props. Don's Lied Mobler black leather lounge chair came from Galerie Sommerlath in Los Angeles; the magazine rack is from Amsterdam Modern, also in L.A. The glass-topped coffee table is from Deja Vu in Long Beach, and the counter stools are a vintage design by Erik Buk purchased on Craigslist from a Virginia seller.


The dining room has a strong Danish influence. The dining table set and credenza were purchased at Danish Modern Noho. The rug, designed to look like a 1960s rya, was created from shag carpeting at S & J Biren floor coverings in Los Angeles. The gray armchair is part of a pair purchased on Craigslist "because they reminded me of chairs I had seen on 'Bewitched,'" Didul said.


Custom-built kitchen cabinets have a handy pass-through window to the dining room, a built-in cook top and a revolving spice rack, far left, purchased on Etsy. Didul shopped for glasses, cookware and kitchen accessories at the antique malls in Orange and Pomona.
It would be my dream job to be a set designer.

www.id-homes.co.uk

Wild Wild West

 Ralph Lauren Catwalk for  S/S 11 which was heavily influenced by the wild wild west with belt buckles, tassels and fringing galore. Yee hah!  Loved the colour and textures (lots of suede)

and its definitely a trend I've started to see translated into the home. 

Its a very  calming look with lots of natural materials,  rustic wood, bare brick walls and a cactus or ornamental deer head or two for effect!

Not a look I think would suit the Georgian style of homes in Bath but definitely a fun, quirky  look to experiment with

www.id-homes.co.uk

“If a room is like an outfit, then lighting is the jewelry.”

Going 3D

It took some time to style and film but I think it's paid off as the end result is exactly as I imagined.
Take a look at our id homes viral advert and let us know what you think.

www.id-homes.co.uk

                                                    videography http://timfok.com/videos

A little Design..

After visiting two beautiful newborn twin girls on the weekend I've started to think about  design ideas for decorating a nursery. I haven't had the chance to do one as a designer yet. I have done my own kids. I decorated my sons room when he as was 3 (some while ago!) around a circus theme. There was yellow and white striped wallpaper and borders and curtains with circus animals. The fairly imaginative bit was I designed the front of his wardrobe to look like the entrance of a circus tent. With a triangular wood covered triangle pelmet and fabric doors. Anyway enough of the reminiscing.   I think if I did a nursery now I would go for something  a little simpler, something like like these below;

I would most probably keep the design scheme neutral and functional especially if the gender was kept a mystery until the big day.  I love the  scheme above and the very decadent Jacobson Egg Chair. Its a scheme that's not to babyish,very sophisticated, calm and relaxing. Just what you need when you are up at 3am with a screaming baby!

I would even think about incorporating  my love of all things vintage in there somewhere.

Thankfully my last little angel leaves for Uni in September so no worries about designing a nursery for me own use, but if any one else has one for me to do I'm there!

www.id-homes.co.uk

Welcome to Miami.. bienvenido a Miami

There seems to be an increasing number of neon and fuchsia colours popping up in shops and fashion right now. When ever I see them I automatically think Miami and Miami Vice.
 Miami is  place you either love or hate! I myself love the place, brash in your face, with attitude and a place with confidence.

The art deco candy coloured buildings, neon lights, one of the 10 best beaches in the world and the flamingos!

Well maybe not the Flamingos but it's always something that comes to my mind when I think of Miami.
If your feeling brave why not Jazz up a simple  room with a neon colour or two?

Go full on with neon coloured walls or something on a smaller scale with a punch of colour. 

or go with the Havana groove and a Cuban leather look

If you don't fancy the look why not just add a touch of flamingo!

ok, maybe not!

www.id-homes.co.uk

radiating style.....

After a slight mishap I had involving me slipping on steps and colliding with a cast iron radiator (it did hurt)  it did make made me wonder whether I would have had quite so many cuts and bruises if I had installed bog standard radiators? Not that I care along with net curtains and pine cladding I am not a fan of builders radiators.  Mind it is quite an investment as non standard does mean quite a hike in price. Its getting better though some of the Diy retailers like B&Q do passable radiators at a not quite break the bank prices.

If getting a quality designer look  is a priority then here are some of my favourite ideas.

 Traditional Cast iron radiators timeless and fabulous

How about a tall sleek radiator

Or there are growing range of glass radiators coming on to the market?

home office

its great working from home. No gruelling rush hour journeys is a major bonus. But when you run your  business from home having the right sort of work space becomes essential. I find I need at least 3 work spaces. An area for designing, storage for reference library, admin space and  I forgot an area to store deliveries if the project site  is not ready. I think another 6 months and we will have to move into rented offices. I am taking over the house, plus I am not very good at swithing off when the office always there.

If I were to design my dream office it would have a long wooden table or island so i could spread out while drawing and working.

One wall would be filled with storage space so i could keep everything together, organised and on one floor (rather than running up and down the stairs which is my current situation).

It would have a homely feel

It would have a great view, nothing to distracting, maybe a office with glass walls in a wood.

I would never want to work in a big corporate office environment but it looked as fun as  Google's or Pixar's I might consider it.

Shall we take the lift of the slide?

http://www.id-homes.co.uk

www.bathinteriordesign@blogspot.com

Green Living

When we get our wasted collected it now has to go into umpteen different containers for recycling, one for plastics, paper, cardboard, glass etc. With a continuing growth of the number of items that can now be recycled like, furniture, carpets, metals etc I do sometimes wonder where it all goes and what happens to it. A little rummage on the internet did shed some light!

This Chair designed by Richard Liddle is made from 100% recycled plastic made from milk bottles and washing up liquid made of high density polyethylene. Clever but a little strange looking.

Can you guess what this used to be?

A coffee table made from an old washing machine drum from Reestore!

Inside is an energy-saving bulb that creates a light effect similarly to a disco ball-style.

Or how about some  Recylcled Yoghurt pot coasters?

It seems almost like the possibilities are endless one day we may even see on our streets a whole house made from recycled items like the one created by Affresol in Swansea which is made from 18 tonnes of recylced waste plastic. 

                                              http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8531170.stm

How about Alulife Aluminium tiles made out of recycled aluminium cans. 

Rice, straw and coconut are emerging as sustainable sources to create a home from. 

Have you heard of Resysta?

Resysta resembles a tropical hardwood, maid primarily from rice husks.  The husks are powdered and mixed with salt and mineral oil and pressed onto board.  It doesn't absorb water or grey like wood and the material is recyclable and has won awards for its sustainability.

Recycled is the only way to go to give our planet a chance to regenerate. Next time you are undertaking a renovation project look at what opportunities there are to recycle and reuse.

for mor eco designs head over to;

http://hautenature.com/design-architecture/

http://inhabitat.com/interiors/

www.bathinteriordesign@blogger.com

www.id-homes.co.uk

Frame it

It is such a pain sometimes to find the right piece of art to fit in with a room style or colour and then there is the other tricky challenge to find stuff that is affordable
Some of the things I think about when faced with  a challenge like this is to go about using a left over scrap of material, wall paper or even  postcards.

This image is a left over birthday card.

 Or printed off image from the Internet.

I've just bought some fab posters from Bloomsbury to have framed, the prints cost less than £3

http://www.bloomsburystore.com/home_interior/home_accessories/posters/cavallini_poster_wrap_-_world_map.htm


It's one of the simplest things you can do but with a bit of imagination you can  create a really nice and unique piece of art for you home.

www.id-homes.co.uk