Modern Loft Design Tips
Lighting plays a very important role in giving the right look. Lofts usually have cement or unfinished ceilings, so track lighting or cable lighting will work the best. Use the lighting to highlight specific parts of the loft.
Modern/contemporary style furniture works best due to the urban feel of the loft condo or apartment. Natural fabrics (wool, cotton, leather, silk) and neutral colors look great. Metal furniture is also popular for loft living. (more…)
New York designer Alexa Hampton once traded in her Volkswagen Jetta for a custom-built, down-filled club chair from the best upholsterer in Manhattan.
Not a surprising $5,000 exchange from the daughter of the late Mark Hampton, the design legend who brought Bush Blue to the White House in the 1990s, worked with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Pamela Harriman and created one of the first successful designer furniture collections.
When her father died in 1998, Alexa Hampton took over his prestigious Madison Avenue office. Now, at 35, she has brought the business into the new century, furnishing lofts in Manhattan, delving into licensing of lighting and furniture, appearing regularly on two PBS design shows and making Architectural Digest’s list of the top 100 designers.
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The vacant Battery Building stands to gain new life housing upscale condominiums, offices and a restaurant under a $10.5 million restoration plan for the century-old warehouse in downtown Sioux City.
Roger and Jane Bomgaars, owners of the four-story brick structure at 232 Water St., have formed a partnership with Omaha-based developers Jim and Jane Hamlin to tackle the mixed-use project. The two couples unveiled their plans in a meeting last week with Journal editors and reporters. (more…)
The 64th annual National City Home & Garden Show dedicates nine days of inspiration and expert advice to the green gardens of Ireland and innovative “green” building concepts. A 2,300 square- foot Irish castle, complete with drawbridge and solar panels, was specifically designed to celebrate the event’s dual theme.
The full-scale, modern Irish castle, designed by City Architecture and built by Energy Wise Building Systems, both of Cleveland, manages to combine energy efficiency, low environmental impact and cutting-edge technology all under one roof. (more…)
If the Jetsons lived in a California ranch home, it might have some features like these:
Ten-foot doors that slide into the walls, opening the great room to the back deck. Windows that turn from clear glass to opaque with the click of a button. A touch-screen panel that pipes music through speakers throughout the house.
Meanwhile, robotics mop the floor, vacuum the carpets and mow the lawn, while George sips coffee and checks the stock market on what looks like a decorative ball.
Next week, the public will need go no further than Alamo to see for themselves how it all comes together at the first House of Innovation. (more…)
