Fall in July

July 22, 2010

Ok! Let’s jump right in…I am sooo ready for FALL!!

I know! I know! We aren’t even through July yet, but this happens every year. Just when I get enough sun and flowers I begin longing for crisp air and cool breezes; fires and crunchy leaves. Not only do I enjoy the nostalgia of fall, but I enjoy the change in décor and textiles that inevitably follows. Who doesn’t love snuggling with their favorite blanket perhaps while watching a scary movie as October approaches?

Of course you can’t talk about fall without talking about color. While bright hues fade into warm yellows, browns, and reds, it feels good to add some warmth to your home even using those very colors! When you start to think about the change that accompanies this season you begin to realize that fall is a prelude, a journey taken in preparation for the winter that lies not too far ahead. With cooler weather and visions of snowflakes dancing in ones’ head we should all be reminded of the coming retreat and refuge to be taken in our homes; becoming more acquainted with all things residing within the walls that surround us.

Alas, it truly is the time you will begin to see fall fashion premiering on the racks, and fall designs in the likes of Pottery Barn, West Elm, CB2, and Design Within Reach catalogs showing up at your door. If you did in fact recently peruse the West Elm fall catalog you might have noticed something exciting and new. It seems even the latest of furniture designs and designers are continuing to reinforce and embrace the ever unique and tempting combination of vintage with modern. All over this catalog you will find classic mid century modern pieces, rough industrial charms, and the smooth polish of a newly lacquered modern piece coming together to create a space that is nothing short of sensational!

I, of course, am thrilled! Offering my customer a one of a kind vintage piece that then works with already existing décor and new apparels is what Domino is all about. As it were, Domino is offering new fall and winter designs, furniture, colors and inspirations, making their debut the first weeks of August!

As far as I am concerned, welcome fall! Bring us a season full of cool nights and warm beginnings.

Hope to see you soon!

Singing off for now,

L.A.

Domino Home Post 1

What I would like to express through this blog, are all the reasons why design and home are essential to living in peace and harmony with one’s self. Sometimes people overlook the importance of placement, color, contour and lighting when staging their lives and living areas where ultimately all things begin and end.

I think Italian modernist master Gio Ponti said it best. He believed that a home is full of emotion and is meant to be not only beautiful but practical as well, “alive, versatile, silent…to live in, in fortune and also in sorrow.”

With the past years of turmoil in the financial markets and the struggles passed down to the average American it stands to reason that “home is certainly where the heart is”. As we see more foreclosures and people being forced from their “homes” we must start reimagining and training ourselves to see home as a state of mind, and enforce that with the décor we choose. No longer is it about the biggest and the best, but about expressing what we hope, feel, think and long for.

While Jason and I traveled the country these last several years, “home” more often than not took the form of a hotel room. Where my husband, dogs and cat were is where my passion was, but bringing along my favorite throw blanket and candle helped create a place that we could all feel we belonged and enjoyed coming back to after a long day at work.

In my vision for Domino I see a place where an individual can come to find something special to bring inspiration to their lives and a since of power in the idea that there are some things we have control over, and your world is what you create it to be.

It’s truly not about what you buy; it’s about what you love. It’s no mystery that quality design like the classic Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer designed in 1925 lasts through the ages because there was not only a great deal of precision and care that went into designing it, but people actually liked it and wanted to see it every day in their homes and offices. What’s more they actually felt comfortable when sitting in it! Now that’s a novel idea. So chances are, since the chair is still being produced nearly 130 years later, if you were to acquire one, it would stay in your life for some years to come.

Furniture, especially vintage pieces, speaks a language. Kitchen tables witness your most intimate moments with loved ones, couches support you, they watch the same movies cradle your sleep, chairs breathe life into a corner, lamps light the desk you write your thoughts, or aide you in your late night reading of a great book! You may not be aware, but these items bring energy to your life. The only question is what type of energy will you invite? So ask yourself, what could you change in your life with just a simple piece of furniture?

Signing off for now,
L.A.