Little Bugs and Little Animals

Artwork for a nursery or kids' rooms isn't always the first thing on your to do list but these prints from Rifle Paper Co. certainly bump it higher on the list. And if you don't know where to start on that new nursery or kids' room use their prints for some fun inspiration.

These bug ones are my favorite - a little nerdy and retro. 

Bug Print - Ant 8"x10"  $24

Bug Print - Ladybug 8"x10" $24

Animal Parade Print 8"x10"  $24

Animal Alphabet Chart 11"x14"  $40

If you don't have a little one in your life, Rifle Paper Co. is still worth a visit for their little old school, little new school stationary, cards, calendars, notepads and invitations. Remember paper and a pen?

  

Photos courtesy of Rifle Paper Co. 

Not Ready To Let Go Of Summer Yet

If you're still looking for a place to get away, using summer as an excuse or not, Hidden Pond in Kennebunkport, Maine, could be just the spot for you. Just about an hour and a half north of Boston, Kennebunkport is a great place to visit this time of year when the summer crowds are dwindling but the summer feeling, lobster roll included, is still calling.  

Open from Memorial Day until Halloween, Hidden Pond is new to Kennebunkport, where much needed modern design related businesses are popping up everywhere. One developer, Tim Harrington, is leading the charge and Hidden Pond is a great example of just one of the cool spaces he's been busy bringing to Kennebunkport.

The resort feels like a sophisticated summer camp for grown ups with kids more than welcome. They call it "flip-flop chic" on their website - not sure how I feel about that. Using salvage materials as well as new pieces with a slight industrial and retro camp-like feel, each building that makes up Hidden Pond is unique and well done.

The Reception building at Hidden Pond

The Farm where vegetables are grown and used at Earth, Hidden Pond's restaurant

Amenities are everywhere, from the free bikes for peddling around, to the pool side bar, to nightly bonfires behind their gourmet restaurant Earth.

The Back Porch Bar

Usually not a fan of new developments, I was surprised by Hidden Pond. What I enjoy about it is how each building fits into its surroundings, not too big, not too small, and the fact that each building has its own design. Though it is all new, Hidden Pond allows you to feel like it belongs there, with each cottage having its own personality through its design, inside and out. Some vintage furniture is used and I'm pretty sure some DIY was involved, taking the edge off of the high-end design and making it more comfortable for a wider audience. (Though the prices might not be for the widest of audiences.)

A bungalow with simple and clean architectural details 

Inside one of the bungalows 

Once you've had enough alone time in your private cottage (there are different styles you can pick when you book), you can take in the wooded views on the porch of the lodge or...

let Hidden Pond drive you from your vacation front door to the pool, to dinner, even to the beach for sunset in their exclusive 1957 vintage Ford Station Wagon, affectionately named Bessie. 

As for the beach part, don't worry, they have you covered on that front as well. Hidden Pond's sister development is The Tides Beach Club, located right on Goose Rocks Beach. 

End your vacation, like I did (though I'm lucky enough to call Kennebunkport part-time home) with a bonfire and a cocktail, and yes, I was wearing flip flops. So OK, maybe it is flip flop chic.

Well designed, well executed, and worth the trip. 

Additional photos courtesy of Hidden Pond and The Tides Beach Club 

Carlo Scarpa

I first learnt about Carlo Scarpa when I studied abroad in Rome. My favorite building he designed is the Castelvecchio museum in Verona, Italy.

Scarpa was a master of creating spaces that blended new and old, history and new meanings. Often Scarpa's work mixed geometric shapes with natural materials forcing a conversation about the built environment and how architecture, what people build within the nature we are given, affects us.

He worked, as most architects do, for way too long. His projects range from the 1920s through to the late 1970s and show the array of his influence from residences, banks, museums, cemeteries, to furniture, never overlooking the specific materials used and details. He also taught drawing and interior design in his native Italy where most of his projects were completed.

For more on Scarpa and images of his work check out Carlo Scarpa: The complete works published by Rizzoli.

Back To School

As a former Brooklynite I'm a big fan of all things Brooklyn but this really caught my eye, a design and art school for kids.

Classes start as early as eighteen months and run up until grade six. Kids are allowed to get messy and make something all their own, at the same time learn about all their senses and get their creative minds going. Check out some of these, obviously brilliant, designs:

Myla, 22 months

Julia, age 7   Robots + Aliens Class

Tiernan, age 10    Product Design Class

Check out more about Brooklyn Design Lab here: www.brooklyndesignlab.org. And if you don't live in Brooklyn (sorry about that), maybe some class descriptions will give you an idea or two for an at home class.

Remembering The Greats

I was in Grand Central Terminal today and realized again how the great spaces just don't get old. I come into the station from the train now, not the subway, but otherwise it's a trip I've taken plenty of times. It never gets old. There is always that sense of awe, a reminder of beauty on a grand scale, some new detail to discover. 

Pardon all the people but, you know, it's a busy place.

Some of you may know that the constellations on the ceiling are painted backwards. The idea is that you are seeing the stars as if you are above, looking down on Earth. Look for a small patch of dark blue on the ceiling, (hint: think basketball) which the restoration workers left to show the state of the original ceiling before the restoration work began in 1998. After testing samples from the ceiling it was found that the ceiling was discolored mostly from all the tobacco smoking that occurred in the space, not the exhaust from the trains. 

The celestial ceiling in the Main Concourse

"Meet by the clock" is a famous line. Surprisingly you actually do usually find the person you're meeting. The faces of the clock are made of opal and it is estimated that this antique is worth more than $10 million.



On the facade of Grand Central is a group of statues, Minerva, Hercules, and Mercury, and a clock, which is the largest example of Tiffany glass, measuring in at a thirteen foot circumference.



One of my favorite things in Grand Central are the light fixtures on the Main Concourse, amazingly modern for an architectural great from 1913.



If you can't make it there in person, enjoy the mini station mock up that's the current set of Saturday Night Live or look for it in the Vonage (?) cell phone commercials. Nothing beats the real thing though so if you can make it there, go. If you live in New York City, well then, spend some time just walking around next time, try to imagine what the rumored new Apple store will look like, and discover something new in a place that's so great because it's not new.