Resource Review: The Distinctive Home

Several weeks ago, I had coffee with a former professor (hi Ben) who after taking a look at my blog suggested I read The Distinctive Home - A Vision of Timeless Design by Jeremiah Eck. I just recently finished the book and could not recommend it more. In fact, instead of doing just one post dedicated to the book's review I have planned a small series. 

In the introduction, Eck defines distinctive houses as those that "avoid the sameness, blandness, and thoughtlessness of many new houses being built today" (Eck, 2).  He goes on to state that the means to create a distinct home is to take a step back and look at four fundamental design concepts - the site, the floor plan, the exterior elements, and the details. Each principle is given its own section of the book and uses examples of contemporary residential architecture to support the points being made.

A premise of the book, which is never clearly stated, is its assumes all new construction. I find this to be somewhat isolating in that the majority of people are not building their own homes from ground up but rather are in some way modifying an existing home. This is not to stay that Eck's points don't apply but rather they just need to be adapted; which is what I will attempt to do in my forthcoming posts. Stay tuned for the first installment on the site!

bedroom inspiration

A couple of weeks ago, I did a post about how much I enjoy spindle beds and have since been dreaming of how I would use one as the focal piece in our master bedroom. For me, the Gwendoline Spindle Bed by Bradshaw Kirchofer is the bed that is the most visually appealing. Its proportions are spot on and the detail work is incredible. I further fell in love with the bed when I learned a bit more about its makers. Bradshaw Kirchofer is a small, handmade furniture company based out of Los Angeles.  It was started in 1994 by a couple who had and continue to have a deep appreciation for furniture inspired by their British heritage. Their furniture is created by a team of skilled craftsmen who hand finish each solid pine wood piece. The furniture is available in 21 different finishes ( 4 stained and 17 painted) with an option to completely customize your own item. Additionally, the company offers ready to ship pieces that are available for delivery within roughly 2 weeks of the order being placed (custom, made to order takes approximately 4-6 weeks to complete). Personally, I most drawn to their stain options but could see how doing a colored finish could be equally amazing (like their new St. Andrews Daybed in Heritage Blue).

For our inspired master bedroom plan, I am torn on finish selection as I really like the look of the black walnut, limed pine and english pine stains. If or shall I say hopefully when I order our bed, I would definitely need to see wood samples (which Bradshaw very conveniently makes available for you here). However, for the sake of this design exercise I selected the english pine stain which is their ready to ship finish and looks pretty amazing with the brass accents. Since the bed is more rustic and I like to mix styles, I went more modern with the other elements in the room. I used matching mid century inspired dressers from Chelsea Textiles Ltd (featured in this furniture design post), brass accents in the drapery rod and lighting, a fun take on a traditional pattern for the curtains designed by Sarah Richardson for Kravet, art from photographer Kevin Russ (recently written about here), chunky knit throws from West Elm, pillows made from Kelly Weartsler's new line for Groundworks and would complete the look with adding gray grasscloth on the walls. Now only if I could make this plan a reality....

1. Lucite and brass drapery rod by LuxHoldUps via Etsy  2. Brookhaven Chambrey by Sarah Richardson Design for Kravet   3. Chunky tassel throws by West Elm  4. San Pedro photo by Kevin Russ via Society 6  5. Feline Lake/Slate by Kelly Wearstler for Groundworks  6. Gwendoline Spindle Bed by Bradshaw Kirchofer  7. Robsjohn-Gibbings inspired chest of four drawers by Chelsea Textiles Ltd.   8. Gourd bedside lamp designed by E.F. Chapman via Circa Lighting  9. Leona Gold Leaf Pendant by Worlds Away

our bird netting solution

As I mentioned last Monday, we added a bird net to our vegetable garden. Initially, I just draped it over top of the cucumber trellis knowing that sometime in the near future we would need to add corner posts. Yesterday, Jeff went out to the store and bought some bamboo posts and now we have a garden that looks like a covered wagon. The solution is not particularly elegant and I do have concerns that the cucumber plant is going to growing into the net but I think it should work for the remainder of the grow season. Its all a learning process and I definitely will be making some design edits next year.