sexy apartments and the city

from my xanga post on 9.15.05

since i am too cheap to order cable tv (cable is expensive!) and too lazy to go out and buy an atenna for my tv, i have been living tv-less for the last 6 months.  you know the theory where if you watch less tv, you will become more productive.  well, i am a living testament that…  it is not true.  i just sleep more, and watch sex and the city dvd repeatedly on a daily basis.

speaking of my beloved show, satc, i am absolutely in love with the set design by jeremy conway.  each characters' apartments are all so beautiful with great details.  even if the style is not what i typically would prefer, i can always find something i love about each room. 

charlotte's study – i love pink, so charlotte's pink apartment really satisfied my girlie side.  my favorite parts of her apartment are the pink sateen drapes that has the little mirror sprinkled all over and the pink petals on the wall paper of the dining room.

miranda's dining room - miranda's apartment is very straight forward and not "soft" (basically very opposite of charlotte's place.)  her apartment is more uni-sex and the style looks very similar to my house.  i love the clean lines they use for her space.  especially the modern chandeliers that match the dining chairs (west elm has something very similar.)

carrie's foyer – i think if i was living alone (translation: no one to clean after me) my place would look something like carrie's.  maybe a little more matchy with a little less color, but definitely messy, most likely, messier.  i think her foyer is very inspiring.  i totally dig the reading area with the bench in front of the big book shelf that is filled with hundreds of magazines.  probably something i will try in my house sometime because david is starting to threaten me with throwing away all my magazines, if i don't organize them soon.  and of course, you can't go wrong with the classic calvin klien bed set, like the purple ones she has.

samantha's loft – finally, my favorite apartment in the show is samantha's loft.  i love the bold colors they use and the sexy sheer drapes they have throughout her place.  it almost reminds me of a hip lounge or club.  maybe even a little "FAB-ish"?  (yes, i'm starting to really like the new FAB style.)  the design is very modern and sensual, which pretty much describes sam's character.  this is the type of style i would like to experiment with.

light up my life

from my xanga post on 1.25.06

I guess since I stopped posting for a while, I am now on a xanga rampage.For the longest time, I have been searching for the perfect, yet somewhat affordable pendent/chandelier for my dining room.  This light's purpose is not so much in providing better vision, but more as a sculpture for my dining room.  I came close once on the Random light by Monkey Boys from Moooi.  However, upon seeing it in person, it looked quite cheap, but I will not completely banish it from my dining room just yet.  It definitely makes a statement from a far.  It's been pushed back to Plan B.  Next, came Icarus by Tord Boontje.  At under a hundred dollar a pop, one cannot make much complaint on the price.  Unique, check.  Elegant, check.  Unfortunately, I find the horizontal sense of this piece is a little too weak for my long dining table.  I need something that can hold its own against my big, black table.  It must be wider. All this blabbering brings me to another favorite store of mine, Unica Home.  They carry top of the line designs by the industry's most prestigeous designers.  I am always in awe with their lighting section.  Of course, the price tags are staggering, but it's definitely a motivation for me to save my money for one amazing piece or at least one that is as unique as these beauties. Birdie by Ingo Maurer (I've been obsessed with this design as long as I can remember) Zettle'z by Ingo Maurer (Dave's favorite light of all time) Oh Mei Ma by Ingo Maurer (Can you tell we're big Ingo Maurer fans?) Dandelion lamps by Richard Hutten (Hello Mod!) 14 Series by Omer Arbel  (Ok, I think I found my new favorite) Bokka Lamps by Karim Rashid (Reminds me of the forest spirits from Princess Mononoke) Crystal Waters by Brand En Van Egmond (D-R-A-M-A-T-I-C!!!) Norm 69 by Simon Karkov (Affordable and a mod classic, but again, it looked cheap in person) So I guess the conclusion is I can list every single one of Unica Home's lights, or you can just go visit their website and save me the time.  You might not agree with some of them, but I'm sure you'll find at least one that will just blow your mind.  Just a warning, after seeing these masterpieces, it might be hard to come down to "regular" lights.  I know I will never be able to look at Home Depot Lighting section or LampPlus the same way again.

there’s no place like home… or an incredible hotel

since i'm not too tech-savy, i still have yet to figure out how to import my old xanga posts over to this wordpress blog.  so until then, from time to time, i will get a little lazy and post some of my favorite old posts from my xanga blog.

xanga post from 2.10.06

One thing that really gets me inspired are photos of hotels.  I can literally spent hours on the internet just looking and searching for hotels from all over the world.  Although most are so extravagant that it's quite difficult to achieve the same look with the limited budget and normal surburban houses, I still find referencing to their concepts of shapes and colors to be very insightful.  Hotel suites also provide great ideas for the bedroom, since most of the furnitures and layouts can be easily duplicated. 

The Ace Hotel (A practical, budget-friendly, yet modern hotel located in Seattle.  I can easily see these rooms as someone's apartment.)

The Standard (A true reflection of the LA style, FAB and glam!)

W Seoul Walkerhill (W hotels are known for their modern facilities, but I think this one tops them all.  Beautifully eccentric meets futuristic mod)

Hotel Sezz (A French hotel that is masculine, yet very sexy)

The Hempel (The Brits sure have some beatiful designs.  So clean, so simple, my ultimate inspiration)

If you see any cool hotels out there, send me the links!