Ikea Opens Pop Up Lounge in Paris Airport

Everyone knows that traveling, even under the best circumstances, involves a lot of waiting around.  Swedish design company, IKEA, has come up with a solution to help create a comfortable wait by opening a pop-up lounge in Paris's Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport. Located in terminal 3 from July 13- August 5, 2012, that 220 meter lounge is set up like a house with nine bedrooms, lounge areas and even a kids play zone.  There are sofas set up with tvs to provide comfortable entertainment during the wait.

Here are some pics of the cool lounge areas!  Here's hoping they open one at O'Hare or Midway next!

Gorgeous Shagreen!

Much like croc and snake skin to the fashion world, the interior design industry has its luxe materials like bone, goat parchment and shagreen. Real shagreen, much like leather, is the skin of a pearl ray.  The rough, granular surface of the skin is often dyed to highlight its unique texture.  Shagreen can also refer to a leather that is imprinted to create a shagreen-like surface.  The rays are not large and therefore yield small amounts of skin, making shagreen one of the most expensive materials on earth.

Due to its popularity, many furniture and home decor manufacturers have created beautiful faux products that emulate the original so closely, they are a great alternative to the lower budget client.

This amazing material can even be seen in Ann Sacks new "shagreen" tile.  Each tile emulates a panel like those that would be used in real shagreen.  Now this luxe look can be used in wet locations like bathrooms and kitchens.

Don't have room in your home for new tile or furnishings?   Check out madegoods for their full accessory lines featuring beautiful faux shagreen!

Whirlpool Brings New Life to A Historic Building

In a time when many old buildings are being torn down to make room for newer, modern buildings, it is always great to see a historic space repurposed to give new life to an old space. Whirlpool's new space in the historic Reid Murdoch Center, is a beautiful example of this adaptive reuse, giving the penthouse of the Murdoch Center a gorgeous new identity.

The designers from Valerio Dewalt Train Associates chose to integrate the brands of Whirlpool, Jenn-Air, Maytag and KitchenAid by creating a series of vignettes connected by a white plaster cove that spans the entire width of the building.

The designers of this space did a beautiful job of merging the old, beautiful space with new, modern designs.  Check out some great shots of the space!

 

Generations Divides Highlighted in Home Design Part 2

The next demographic of people highlighted in the UNcontained exhibit is "Forever Fit", featuring "the Zoomers".  Zoomers are defined as people in the baby boomer generation who are nearing retirement age but still live active lifestyles.  The zoomers want their homes to not only look cool and be highly designed, but also allow them to age in place.

The forever fit features cool design elements to make a spa with a pedicure area and a big shower that showcases the interests of the homeowners such as the surf board in the shower and tennis rackets in the "salon".

Interesting facts about Zoomers:

1 in 8 zoomers will live to be 100

Every day 10,000 zoomers will turn 65.  This will continue for 18 years!

6 million young adults live with their parents- a 25% increase from 2007.

As part of the aging in place, Zoomers still need their homes to be child friendly and durable because they will entertain and care for their grand kids.  They also need to use materials and spacial layouts that will accommodate their aging bodies such as comfort height toilets, higher seat heights on the sofa and dining chairs and homes without stairs.

What have you noticed from your Zoomer clients?  Do you agree with this assessment of their needs?

Generational Divides Highlighted In Home Design Part 1

Never before have so many generations been alive and in the work place simultaneously, each with such distinct needs and personalities.  The generational divide is evident in nearly every aspect of our society, including how we design our homes, and really, how we live in our homes. At the recent Kitchen and Bath Industry Show, we learned not just about cool new products but also about the needs of the different generations of consumers.  In an exhibit entitled UNcontained, they displayed five "containers" each designed with a distinct type of consumer in mind.  This education is an important tool to getting into the psyche of our clients and helping to give them the kind of home they seek.  We will show you each of these distinct containers in five different blog posts- stay tuned!

The first, entitled "New Hip Home" reflected the style of a recent college grad (part of their "GEN NOW" generation 18-34): Single, living alone for the first time, needing a little parental support and working in his first job.

Recent studies showed that 88% of those in "Gen Now" want to live in Urban areas.  This urban population tends to like loft style and open concept homes with less defined boundaries for rooms.  They want to purchase furnishings that can come with them from place to place.  This consumer is also different in that they are immersed in information such as blogs, HGTV and even Pinterest, which gives them inspiration and helps them have a better understanding of design.  They are early adopters of cool new trends and technology and aren't afraid to be a little adventurous.  Sounds like a fun client!

Next up: Forever Fit.