Fun and Budget Friendly Design Hotel in San Francisco

 

When I saw this hotel, I just knew I had to share it.  It's a very unique 

design and art hotel in the heart of San Francisco (in the French quarter

between Union Square, the financial district and Chinatown.)  Each room

is painted by a different artist with a different theme.  The painted rooms 

are paired with very clean lined furnishings.  It is very reasonably priced 

with the rooms ranging between $69 - $130.  

If you're looking for something fun and budget friendly, Hotel Des Arts

should definitely be considered.  In this post, I'm showcasing some of 

the many different rooms in the Hotel Des Arts.

 

 

Here's the outside of the hotel.

 

A mural even on the exterior of the hotel - you can't really miss it.

 

 An asian anime inspired room.

 

 

A totally fun bathroom!

If you're looking for a feel like home with lots of 

pictures and frames, this room is a good choice.

I rather think this room is a bit more soothing the cool

blue color and large scaled design on the wall.

 

 This room reminds me of what a tattoo artist my draw.

 

 This room is on steroids!

Material Girl ^_^

 

  This is a fun room with a vintage Chinese Mao theme.

 

Now that is one very cool bathroom.

 

 Perhaps not the most appropriate for young children given the language...

 

This is a fun colorful room.

 

 

 This room definitely offers street cred... Not sure I 

could sleep in a room like this because it's so busy - 

but it's surely unique.

 

 Now this is a fun room for girls.

 

I find the green soothing.  A very 

neat graphic of a Japanese warrior.

So what do you think?  Isn't it an interesting 

hotel?  Any particular room that you fancy?

Photos from Google & Hotel Des Arts

Fabulous Room Friday 07.16.10

{Left: The striking statue of the Winged Victory of Samothrace looks as if she has just flown into the room. Can you think of a more dramatic piece to add to a room? Right: Dhong swathed the elegant room in beautiful array of blues and greys.}

This week’s Fabulous Room comes to us from interior designer, Benjamin Dhong. The tower attic was designed by Dhong for this year’s San Francisco Decorators Showcase house and was greatly inspired by Parisian style. Dhong wanted to maximize the views of the Golden Gate Bridge and aimed to make the room feel like a “sexy and escape”. I’d say he definitely accomplished his goal. The room has a very elegant aura and the shades of grey and blue are very reminiscent of Paris. The cool tones and luxurious textures within the room would be perfectly at home in a chic Parisian apartment or a grand hotel in the City of Lights.

{How is this for ingenious? Dhong took an Arne Jacobson Egg Chair and had it reupholstered in a Manuel Canovas cut velvet fabric, which he paired with a Fortuny pillow. Dhong added the zebra rug because “the room was too ‘polite’ and needed a bit of edge”.}

{A Silver Giacommeti Lamp topped with a French Blue Silk Shade rests atop a table skirted in a Sumptuous Velvet with Greek Key Trim}

 

All Images Courtesy of Benjamin Dhong

A Chic and Gorgeous Seaside Cottage Renovation

Moving from the "Sound" side house from the earlier post this week,

I thought I would show a very different kind of waterside home.

Jill Johnson is a designer who lives in Manhattan Beach, California.

The house was redone on the inside and outside from scratch - and

as you can see above - with fantastic results for a 1800 sq ft home

where every crook and cranny was put to good use.

I really adore the kitchen and how she used accessories to add a

splash of color (greens and blues.)

Can you believe this was the kitchen before? 

The kitchen was a complete teardown.

A closer look at the details of the kitchen - white cabinets

with luxurious marble and nickel pulls.  Green and blue dishes

and accessories litter the kitchen.

As I mentioned before, the house is only 1800 sq feet and so

every space there was, nooks and drawers were built in

including this sofa across from the kitchen.

The original exterior of the house.

After exterior renovations...Now that's what I call

a Major upgrade on the curb appeal of this home. 

The new window shutters, wood shingle siding and

 brickwork all make a huge difference including

opening up the car port space.

Here is Jill Johnson hanging out at the front door of her home.

A before shot of the master bedroom.

This is what her bedroom looks like now.  Absolutely

divine isn't it?  I adore the colors she used and love her

taste in furniture and fixtures.

A fun living room with lots of different prints.

Her baby's bedroom with a "To die for Armoire" in a

shade of Robin Egg Blue.

What a fun and cozy dining room.  I'm a huge fan of gray and so

I find it cool how she painted the table gray to match the wallpaper

and fabric on the chairs.

Did I mention that I love this woman's taste in furniture?  Right

down my alley with all of the Hollywood Regency references

with the faux bamboo furniture.

So what do you think?  It's sort of like a cottage with a chic and

sophisticated edge to it.  What's your favorite room or thing from

the house?

Photos from Coastal Living

NorCal Style: Erin Martin

In yesterday's recap of my trip to Northern California, I mentioned that I was able to visit Erin Martin's showroom in St. Helena. My friends and I were only there for a few minutes because we had to hurry to make it to our wine tasting appointment on time (priorities, people!). I snapped a couple of pictures of the showroom, which you can see here, but I was left wanting to explore Erin's style a bit more.

I loved the overall feeling of her showroom and her aesthetic in general. It isn't pretty in the traditional sense and I mean that as a compliment. Her style is provocative and a bit subversive. She often plays with scale and does so quite masterfully. There is a sense of humor in Erin's design work and I think it goes hand in hand with the scale of the objects she often uses. It is evident that she doesn't take herself too seriously as her work frequently features whimsical elements, like a playful use of lighting. I like that Erin's work feels unique and seems to embody the spirit of Napa: elegant, relaxed, and rustic in a refined way.

I love the chandelier and coffee table in this room. You'll notice that both are very large.

Fabulous Lighting

I love the idea of using wingback chairs in the dining room. Again, everything is very big. You would need a rather large living room to accommodate all of these chairs.

A Lovely Vignette

California Cool

A rustic kitchen with a few whimsical details such as the gorgeous mural work

Do you remember seeing this in House Beautiful?

Again, Erin plays with height and scale.

I love the use of banquette seating in a home. I think I dig the mural. The handwriting is rather pretty.

Who knew a barn could be so chic?

I love the muted palette used in this room.

Gorgeous Napa

 

Image Credit: Conroy + Tanzer

Bottle Shock -- Napa Valley

I watched an interesting movie this weekend called Bottle Shock.

It's a great movie that was entered into the Sundance Film Festival
and has an all star cast despite not having a huge release. The movie
is based on the events leading up to a contest that put Napa Valley
on the map. It also recognized California wines as world class where
the French had dominated in the past. The event that changed
California's wine industry was a blind taste test held in Paris between
French and California wines where there was shock when it was
announced that California wines won over the French wines in both
the red and white categories. The event was written about in Time
magazine which subsequently helped turned Napa Valley into the
success and fame that it knows today.

The cast is played by Alan Rickman (Snape in Harry Potter), Bill Pullman
(Independence Day, While You Were Sleeping), Chris Pine (Princess Diaries II,
Star Trek), Rachael Taylor (Transformers), Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under,
Ugly Betty), Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Tru Calling, Dollhouse),
and Dennis Farina (Get Shorty, Law & Order).

It's not a documentary as it is a film, but the major events in the story are true
and it is filmed at the original building and vineyards of Chateau Montelena
which was the vintner who won the blind tasting test in 1976 for the best white
wine (Chardonnay.)

I thought I might give a little tour to those who haven't had the
opportunity to visit Napa Valley yet. There are amazing scenes
in the movie of Napa Valley. Photo by Gary Crabbe.

Napa Valley on a misty morning. Photo by Gerhard Bock.

The leaves on the grapevines turn into amazing colors in
the fall. This photo by Ivan Makarov really shows the
beautiful fall colors in the valley.

This is the winery of V. Sattui which is a well established
vintner in Napa Valley near Rutherford.

Isn't the landscape gorgeous?


Another gorgeous photo during the fall in Napa.

There are many beautiful places to stay in Napa Valley
and the rates really run a wide rage (from under $100 to
$5000 per night.)

If you ever visit, I highly recommend the Napa Valley Wine Train.
The Napa Valley Wine Train serves lunch or dinner while you have
a fantastic ride through Napa Valley to take in the views. They do
have Sunday Champagne Brunches and there are special dates in the
year where the staff dress in costume for Mystery nights (like Clue),
theater nights and special holiday rides. I highly recommend the
Vista Dome during the day.

This is a view from the train with dessert.
Photo from Diablo Magazine.

This is what the Vista Dome car looks like.
The windows are larger and you dine in
style up close to the gorgeous view.

Napa and Sonoma Valley have really beautiful back country
roads through vineyards for cycling. Another great past time
is to ride a hot air balloon so you can get an aerial view of the valley.

Probably May through October is a good time to go.

I had mentioned that the winning Chardonnay from the 1976
Paris taste test is Chateau Montelena which is still around today
and going strong. They are located in the town of Calistoga in Napa
Valley.

This is Chateau Montelena's label which shows the
facade of the Chateau's brick structure.

The film Bottle Shock was filmed here and they had a special
showing when the film was finished. Doesn't the chateau
look amazing?

When in Napa, you cannot skip out on the culinary delights.
If you can't manage to get reservations at the 3 star Michelin
French Laundry, then the Culinary Institute of America in Napa
(called Greystone) is a good alternative. It's also easier on the
wallet. Their menu change daily.

Napa Valley is so picturesque even the roads
are tree lined and gorgeous.

You may not know that Calistoga is also home
to one of California's only natural hot springs.
How can you beat a combination of beautiful
wine country and hot springs? Care to try a
mud bath?

If you're in for the 5 star treatment, Calistoga Ranch and Auberge du Soleil
(owned by the same company) are where your celebrities would go. The
balcony above is from a Calistoga Ranch room. Calistoga Ranch also has
a whole menu of spa treatments.

Last but not least is Auberge du Soleil which even has
private manisons. The rates run from $550 - $4500 if
you're renting out any of the private mansions.

Check out the pool deck and area for Auberge du Soleil.
Wow. Talk about glam, no wonder the celebrities come
here.

Bottle Shock

If you do get a chance to watch this movie - it's entertaining,
informative and has gorgeous scenery. For all of you interested
in the wine culture and Napa Valley, it should definitely be on
your list to watch.