Design Home Gubuk: September 2009

DIY Bookcase

I'm thinking that a lot of you may have seen this already, but just in case you haven't I didn't want you to miss out. Crafty Nest made the bookcase that you see above from the drawers that you see below. Love the way her mind works!

Garbo's Closet

"Mauritz Stiller who brought then-19-year-old Greta Gustafson to the United States in 1925. A three-time Oscar nominee, Garbo was given a special 1954 Academy Award for her “unforgettable screen performances.”

*Of her legendary desire for privacy, she remarked in a 1928 interview—one of the few she ever granted—“I wanted to be alone, even as a child. I used to go to a corner and think... Thinking means so much, even to small children.”

I have never seen this picture (above) of Miss Garbo. I was thinking that this could be a model or movie star from a recent film or a fashion mag.

Sometimes my mother will tell me about how she loves this 'movie star' or that 'starlet', I take one look at them and say to myself; "when was ugly pretty?"

In the 1950's, the 40's, 30's ....what was up with physical beauty's standards back then??

Physical beauty does go 'in and out' of fashion .

Greta Garbo is the exception to all the rules.

Classic Beauty.

Then and Now.

I lived in Manhattan from 1974 - 1984 on East 58th. Street.

I walked to and from work on East 58th Street every day. I also walked my Shit-Zu up and down E. 57th, and then down on 1st Ave.

Guess who I saw all the time?

Guess who stopped and talked to me and my little dog when ever she saw me?

That is right! Greta Garbo.

And this is Miss Garbo's Closet

The “closet room.”
*The “closet room,” which Garbo created from a small library, is highlighted by one of the carpets she designed for her 1962 series, Birds in Flight. Over the closet is part of her collection of hats; others are stacked on a carved and painted Russian provincial tea table from circa 1880. Garbo chose the upholstery and drapery fabric, which features African tribal motifs.

Isn't this magnificent ?

*A living room wall adorned with artwork.

For Garbo, color was essential in art and décor, and she surrounded herself with vibrant hues. “I love color,” she once said. “With me it’s inborn. I just know. I didn’t have to learn it.”

I really can't believe how much I love this place.

I love her artwork, her interior color scheme, and the placement of her art and objects.

To me, it is perfection.

What do you think of Garbo' place ?
Do you likie??

*From Architectural Digest

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Design Sources, Window Treatments, Custom Design, Paint, Color Coordination, Online Interior Design, Floor Plans, All Custom

Object(ion) of the Week

http://timesonline.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/23/brown_conference_2.jpg

In the various descriptions of Gordon Brown's conference speech one small detail stuck out for me. Apparently Gordon had a full sized replica of the conference podium set up in his hotel room to practice with. Tony Blair always had one too, although in his case you can imagine it wasn't just at conference time.

It's a tragic image though, Gordon standing impassioned in his pyjamas on his fake podium, frantically rehearsing his big ideas of clamping down on binge drinking and incarcerating fallen women to an audience of three snoozing aides.

It raises some interesting questions too. Is it exactly the same as the real one or is it a mock up made from cardboard and sellotape? Does he bring it with him? And who designed it? This is an object which, along with the rest of the conference interior, carries a significant amount of symbolic weight. And yet they are rarely discussed in design terms.

Make no mistake the podium itself is a fucking ugly object, like a huge plastic mushroom with an unpleasant foreskin fold halfway down its length. The whole thing is hydraulic too so the top half actually lowers down at the end of the speech in an unfortunate display of political detumescence.

It's difficult to know where the styling is coming from. There is a touch of the X-Box display stand about it and, obviously, a lot of the pulpit, both of which are probably deliberate. Political symbolism in this country is generally pretty clunky and gauche though from the Conservative's Caran d'Ache oak tree to the Liberal Democrats golden Phoenix rising from the ashes.

At the party conferences such insipid bits of graphic branding are combined with Spearmint Rhino lighting and a love of Union Jack emblazoned plasma screens. It makes for a queasy spectacle, a mix of faux self-effacement, orgiastic self worship and jingoistic mania. I'm not sure it would be preferable if it was well designed but - the vacuous populism of the content aside - its difficult to imagine a more alienating spectacle than the modern party conference.

Ideas para decorar el baño de los niños

Espero que este artículo sirva como una fuente de inspiración para aquellos que buscan decorar el baño de los niños.

La elección del color del cuarto de baño de un niño puede ser complicado. Aunque muchos diseñadores recomiendan tener una base neutral de color blanco y cuadros de los niños que muestren su crecimiento, el cuarto de baño debería tener colores vivos y los temas con personajes preferidos.

He colocado un conjunto de imágenes interesantes que encontré en la red. Echa un vistazo.