Mood Board: Morocco

I've travelled to a good number of places, but one destination that has eluded me is Morocco. It's a country that is high on my bucket list and recently I've found myself "pinning" away on my Maroc board. I'd love to immerse myself in the culture, eat tagine, learn how to tile, hike around the Atlas Mountains and wander through the souks. Sleeping in one of those beautifully designed riads would make the trip complete! 

For the past year I've been doing a "country of the week" with my boys. We spin the globe, close our eyes, and stop its movement with a pencil eraser. Then we study whatever country we've landed on for the next 7-10 days. We talk about culture, language, government, history, food, design and art. When possible, I also try to find something local here in Denver that complements our "country of the week." For example, while we were studying Japan the "Samurai" exhibit was at the Denver Art Museum, we grabbed paletas on Federal Blvd. when we were learning about Mexico, and we ate delicious hummus at Damascus when landed on Syria (we also spoke of ways we could help the refugees fleeing civil war).

This week we are studying Morocco so you'll definitely find me eating at Maatam Fez on Colfax! And since I have Sephardic-Moroccan heritage on my biological/paternal side, this week's country really resonates with me personally and it's something I've been looking forward to!

Here's our Moroccan mood board. Enjoy!

Top left to right...

1. Berber Rug. You can support Moroccan artisans and their work though these two sites: Green Olive Art // Anou. 

2. Grey Sabra Pillow via Proud Mary Global Textiles (Org).

3. The Colorado "Home of the Year": Kamil and Glo Tazi's ranch via Colorado Homes & Lifestyles. (Tazi is a native of Morocco whose family immigrated to NYC in 1966. He's been living in Douglas County, CO for 22 years and his home blends both cultures in the most magnificent way.) Photos by Gibeon Photography. 

4. Riad courtyard.

5. Cosmic Dessert by Justina Blakeney for Hygge & West (available through WallTawk)

6. Cushions inspired by Moroccan gardens from BlueBellGray

7. Another image from the Tazi Ranch via Colorado Homes & Lifestyles.

8. Riad (yes, please!)

9. Tiling details 

10. Stefan Hengst Wallcoverings. 

11. Handmade tiles made in Morocco by Popham Design.

12. Tile-envy via This Is Glamourous.

13. Barons Eye Blouse via H.K.M

14. Gardens at La Gazelle d'Or in Taoudant via Trendland.

15. Wallpaper by KelseyProud through Rockett St George

16. Berber woman, via National Geographic.

17. Palmyra Lamp by Moving Mountains (which is named after the ancient caravan Syrian city, but we think evokes a North African feel as well).

Mood Board: The American Southwest

I've been captivated by the American Southwest ever since we (my father, mother, brother and I) took a family trip and travelled throughout the region in 1986. My parents rented an enormous motor home/RV and we drove across 4 states over a 2 week period. I was 10 at the time, and when we stopped at the Grand Canyon I remember saying, "One day I'm going to live out here..." To which my mother, in her very-Bronx-accent, responded, "Yeah, right." (The rest is history!)

We officially kicked off summer this week and I, for one, can't wait until we start road-tripping across Utah and New Mexico! One of the benefits of living in Denver, in addition to everything that is going on here and the proximity we have to the mountains, is that we're only a few hours away from the desert and its magnificent sunsets. Oh, and huge cacti too! Here are a few of our favorites things right now...

Enjoy!

Amangiri//Sarah Sherman Samuel at Amangiri (Utah)

Nopales, Eric Roinestad. 

Dark Skies by Deviant Art.

Aurora by Calico (available through WallTawk).

Outside on the Porch by Tracy Stuckey through Visions West Gallery (Denver, CO)

Outerwear by Mara Hoffman. 

Vases by Elyse Graham

Horizon Pillow, Aviva Stanoff.

Another Rug by & Tradition and All The Way to Paris via APLUSRSTORE

Cactus Spirit by Aimee Wilder (available through WallTawk)

Vernal Equinox: Here Come the Butterflies (and a moth)

Today is the Vernal Equinox and it definitely feels like spring in Denver. Trees are blooming all over the city and our garden is coming back to life...

Three years ago we tore up a large section of cement, which had been part of a driveway running along the side of our home, and turned the newly cleared space into 4 elevated garden beds.

Now that I have some planting experience under my belt, I've decided to be more strategic about what we try and grow this season. The chives, rosemary, lavender and mint have all returned, and I'll definitely add basil (Italian and Thai), thyme, parsley, tomatillos, and tomatoes into the mix. But I'm going to stop growing greens like arugula, lettuce and kale because they haven't done particularly well and one large salad wipes out the crop (again, this is an urban garden and not a farm). I'm going to replace the greens (which we will now get through our CSA and farmers market), with butterfly plants and local flowers that attract bees. I figure it's the least we can do to support our pollinators...and my boys will have fun watching all the insects, which I hope will descend on our garden! 

To celebrate the Equinox, here's a round-up of some wonderful designs and art featuring one of our favorite orders: Lepidoptera. Enjoy!

1. Blue Butterfly wallpaper by FliePaper.

2. Butterflies on White Wallpaper by Voutsa 

3. Butterfly Parade by Christian Lacroix

4. Artwork by Amy Judd via Trendland 

5. Detail, via &OtherStories 

6. Butterflies Wallpaper (in light mauve) by Timorous Beasties

7. Butterflies via Billowed on Tumblr

8. Valentino's Butterfly-Print Bambolina Dress, 2014.

9. I Love You (Pink, Poppy and Gold), Damien Hirst. 2015. As Hirst says: ’Love is a beautiful thing and I see it as a small antidote to all the horror in the world’. And, in the case of the piece above, no butterflies died for art so maybe the artist himself has had a change of heart. 

10. Butterflies Dome Paperweight from John Derian

11. Rainbow Mirrored Butterfly sunglasses by Matthew Williamson

Hotel As Home: Inspired Interiors

I've been having a serious case of wanderlust ever since we got back from our Panamanian vacation a few weeks ago (more on that in a bit). There are so many places I'd love to travel to, and while I usually pick a destination for its exceptional access to nature or its culture (architecture, language or food), the interiors of these hotels have me thinking about hopping a plane just to take a peek inside! Yes, they're that good.

The spaces below are varied: some designs have incorporated color, some feature more muted palettes, others have bold pattern or installations of wallpaper. Yet all of these hotels have one thing in common: they are designed spaces that feel like home. The designers behind these rooms have seamlessly integrated  a residential aesthetic into the hospitality space, and it's a trend that I hope continues. Travel can sometimes be a hassle or frustrating...but these rooms provide the comfort of what's familiar (even if your home looks nothing like this).

Architect Matteo Ghidoni and interior designer Laura Sari furnished the spaces inside Venice's Casa Flora almost exclusively with Italian material. For more on this hotel read Daven Wu's piece in Wallpaper Mag.

Alex Hotel in Perth, Australia, designed by Arent & Pyke. Photography by Anson Smart. 

The interiors of NYC's boutique High Line Hotel, was designed by the phenomenal firm of Roman & Williams. It has so much vintage character and there's wallpaper in every room. The Tokio (above) is an early Art Nouveau pattern by CFA Voysey (1893), and Hydrangea (below), illustrated by Lindsay Butterfield in 1896, are both produced state-side by Trustworth Studio and available through WallTawk. 

Hotel Panache, in Paris' 9th Arrondissement, seamlessly blends historic architecture with modern elements. Designed by Dorothee Meilichzon, this hotel exists in a 19th-century building that was once the Hôtel Opera-Madrid. Images courtesy of Hotel Panache and Architectural Digest. 

Love the wallpaper above? Drop by our showroom, we'll happily show you a sample! 

Milan's Hotel Giulia- images above and below- was designed by Patricia Urquiola. Photography by Ricardo Labougle via @designboom 

Dining room perfection inside hotel Santa Clara 1728 in Lisbon Portugal. (We traveled to Lisbon 3 years ago and stayed at another fabulous hotel, Memmo Alfalma, which is located inside the city's historic district. One exterior length of that hotel is the old Visigoth wall!) Photography Francisco Nogueira for Wallpaper Mag.

Riad Mena in Marrakech, Morocco, is located inside a traditional home and features modern design (Starck and Saarinen ) and local flare (bright Moroccan poufs and Berber rugs). It looks peaceful, quiet and relaxing (yes, please!). Photos - above and below- by Riad Mena. 

Here is another fabulous design from the Ace Hotel group, this one in New Orleans, designed by Roman & Williams. I stayed here in August and it's truly a magnificent space. Every detail is considered- from the rooms, to the common spaces, to rooftop bar, to the in-house restaurant, Josephine Estelle. The palmetto murals (below) were salvaged from the New Orleans Opera House and frame the room. Photography by Paul Costello for AD Travel. 

The Hotel Jerome in Aspen, Colorado, is rich with detail and warmth...perfect for when you finish up on the slopes. 

The Alma Histórica hotel is located in Montevideo, Uruguay and is housed inside a converted 1920s Art Nouveau-style mansion. (Bedroom goals.) Via  NYT

 If there's one place I want to road-trip to this spring it's Marfa Texas. This is the Hotel Saint George, a modernly redesigned space inside a converted 1930 low-slung stucco building, that was named for an inn that occupied the same site from 1886 to 1924. (The bricks and and marble in the new lobby are repurposed from the site's original 1929 construction.) Photography by Casey Dunn for CN Traveler.

The new luxe boutique hotel, DOWNTOWN, is located in Mexico City's historic district (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) inside a converted 17th Century Palace. Bohemian-chic, meets colonial grandeur, meets modern elements...via designhotels.

This is one of my favorite hotel interiors- the rooms of the Henry Howard Hotel in New Orleans. The city itself holds a special place in my heart. It's where I lived for the majority of my 20s, it's where I learned about myself working as an environmental justice lawyer, it's where I fell in love with design color and pattern, it's where I owned my first home (a shotgun in the Carrollton neighborhood), and it's where I met my husband. 

This hotel hits all the design notes that I love: the original brick is exposed, the architecture is historic, vintage rugs galore, modern art, tiling...and of course, wallpaper (a custom toile printed by Flavor Paper and designed by Kathleen Fitzgerald). 

And here's one more in New Orleans from the Drifter Hotel. Designed by Concordia Architecture and Nicole Cota Studio, via Yellowtrace.

Happy travels!

Modern Spaces for Little Ones

It's been a busy week and we've spent a lot of time curating look books for clients who have nursery (kid room) projects in mind. Here are some terrifically designed spaces that we loved at first sight. 

Jam (as in traffic) by Sissy + Marley for Jill Malek. Beep! Beep! Designed by Sissy + Marley. Photography by Marco Ricca.

This bold room, designed by Kelly Behun, is so much fun. It features the Cones wallpaper by Studio Printworks, a Misha Kahn mirror from Friedman Benda and a colorful rug from Kinder Modern. Photo by Richards Powers via 1st Dibs.

This nursery in San Francisco is B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Via Lonny. Image by Thomas Kuoh. 

Brooklyn-based illustrator Kale Williams provides the wall art in this nursery via Dwell Magazine

'Cities Toile' by Rifle Paper for Hygge & West adds great illustration to this room's walls...and now we are consumed by wanderlust!

Chasing Paper removable wallpaper adds so much to this colorful kids room via Design*Sponge.

The cutest giraffe there ever was from Abnormals Anonymous. Designed by Melissa + Miller Interiors. Photography by Rebecca McAlpin. 

'Dino' by Sian Zeng turn this room into a Jurassic wonderland. The paper is offered in a magnetized version, too,  with optional accessories for hours of entertainment. 

'Woodlands' by Sian Zeng is whimsical and magical. 

We love the pattern in 'Baby Elephant Walk' by Sissy + Marley for Jill Malek. Designed by Mona Ross Berman Interiors. 

What great patterns and colors in this nursery designed by Thienes & Levent using Grow House Grow wallpaper. Photography by Emily Gilbert. 

'Tapestry' by Cavern Home gives this room a hint of Bohemian-Southwest! Via Domino Magazine. Photography by Amy Bartlam. 

Cement Wallpaper by Piet Boon for NLXL gives this room an industrial edge that suits kids young and old(er).

Woods from Cole & Sons via Wit & Delight. Photography by 2nd Truth Photography.

Jungle Love by Anna Ekre from PhotoWalls packs a punch! 

A little 'mini Matisse' from Leah Bartholomew of Beneath The Sun. Styling by Jessica Hanson. Photography Amanda Prior via Poppytalk.

Flights of Fancy wallpaper from House of Hackney has kids dreaming of nature's creatures. 

Dreamy Eskayel wallpaper that adults will love too. Via Lonny. 

Flat Vernacular adds a verdant touch to this large accent wall. Via Lonny. 

'Safari' by Rifle Paper for Hygge & West adds warmth to this nursery's accent wall.  

A fun, patterned and vibrant kids' room on 1st Dibs.