Design's Guiltiest Pleasure

We’ve been inundated with reader questions surrounding products used on the FX show Nip/Tuck. To answer these questions we’ve enlisted the help of Ellen Brill, interior designer and the set decorator of the hit show.

I love the Christmas tree in the McNamara/Troy office on Nip/Tuck featured in December 2005. Where can I find one?
The Christmas tree was rented from Dr. Christmas -- a prop-house in Burbank, CA that specializes in Christmas set dressing. Try contacting a prop-house in your area to achieve the same look.

Where can I find the bedside table lamps in Sean and Julia’s bedroom Nip/Tuck?
The bedside lamps are from a store in LA called Shelter, located on Beverly Blvd. (323) 937-3222

Please tell about Christian Troy’s five globe floor lamp on Nip/Tuck.
The lamp in Christian's newly decorated digs is vintage.

Where can I purchase the chair used by Brook Shield’s character on Nip/Tuck?
The chair is from Digs -- a store in Venice, CA located on Abbott Kinney Blvd. (310) 450-3072

We love the show -- and the set designs -- as much as you! Special thanks to Ellen Brill for helping our readers.

More Nip/Tuck Q&As

Technorati Tags: Nip/Tuck, set design, modern lighting, Sean McNamara, Christian Troy

Fun Flooring

In addition to remodeling my kitchen and the exterior of my home, I’ve now added finishing the basement to my laundry list of home improvement projects.

While choosing colors for my Marmoleum flooring I noticed FiberFloor from Tarkett – a resilient flooring new to North America but widely popular in Europe for more than a decade.

The cushiony flooring claims to be virtually maintenance free – just roll it out and lay it over above grade, on grade or below grade concrete, plywood or prepared existing floors. FiberFloor can also be installed over radiant heated floors -- and the fiberglass inner layer makes gluing obsolete.

So why install in a basement? FiberFloors are water resilient and easy to clean – wipe spills with a damp cloth, sweep or vacuum. Three levels of flooring are available – Personal Expressions, Easy Living, and Fresh Start – with 15, 10, and 5 year warranties to protect again rips, tears, gouges, indentation, scuffs and stains.

Have kids? Lay down one of the glow in the dark designs in the playroom -- your little ones can even paint on the floor (watercolors, easy clean plaints) and wipe away when done!

Available in more than 100 styles and designs and three affordable price points, FiberFloor is a hypoallergenic alternative for every room in your house.

Technorati Tags: resilient flooring, modern flooring, basement flooring

Eco-friendly surfaces

With talk of global warming and hybrid cars buzzing in our ears, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of environmentally friendly products.

Composed of 80% recyclable materials, including marble, granite, and glass chips with a cementitious binder, Eco-Terr tiles are a great alternative to costly counter tops for the modern kitchen.

With 36 colors to choose from, the tiles are available in sizes of 16x16x5/8", 24x24x3/4" or slabs of 100"x56"x 3/4" and 1 1/4" - with sizes available for flooring needs.

Technorati Tags: modern kitchen, contemporary kitchen, green design

Expressive Modernism Loses Major Designer

Designer Sergio Savarese, who founded with his wife modern furniture store Dialogica, died Friday September 15th in a plane crash in Colorado.

The following is the story as reported by Barbara Graustark in The New York Times.

Sergio Savarese, a designer known for lyrical shapes and a founder of the furniture store Dialogica, died on Friday in a small-plane crash in Moffat County, Colo., that also took the life of his flying companion, Ivan Luini, according to their families. Mr. Savarese was 48 and lived in Manhattan and Southampton, N.Y.

The two men co-owned a plane registered to East End Aviation in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., and often traveled cross-country, visiting their respective stores, according to family members.

In 1988, working with his wife, Monique, an interior designer, Mr. Savarese created Dialogica, one of the first retailers in SoHo to feature contemporary furniture designs. They developed Dialogica into a multimillion-dollar business, with stores in Los Angeles and New York, and distributors in other cities.

Mr. Savarese's expressive and sculptural silhouettes and his wife's bold use of color helped mark a new informality in contemporary design -- a break from the spare or historical aesthetics that were popular in the late 80's. Tailored velvet sofas, chairs and daybeds commanded cheerful attention with yellow, crimson or cerulean blue upholstery, with colors mixed together in a single piece .

Mr. Savarese was born in Naples and moved to Rome. He was, his wife said, a designer by accident. He studied as a geologist and spent seven years working for health organizations in Africa, analyzing soil to determine what crops to grow. Returning to Italy, he designed a folding stool, found someone to produce it, and then expanded his collection. He met his future wife, who was studying at Domus Academy in Milan, and they married in 1987.

They drew praise at the first International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, which encouraged them -- despite no retail experience -- to risk opening a store on Broome Street in SoHo, alongside a handful of design pioneers like Ad Hoc Software and Murray Moss. They produced furniture in the Bronx, ultimately selling the factory to the artisans who continue to make the furnishings today.

Their emphasis on strong sensual forms that reinterpreted classical styles, and the vibrant colors, struck a popular chord. ''They gave a legitimacy to expressive modernism, a different door of the modern movement,'' Arlene Hirst, a senior editor of Metropolitan Home magazine, said yesterday. ''Their style was romantic, and they have stayed with that one design vocabulary, which is very appealing to people who don't like the hard edges of modern design.''

In addition to his wife, Monique, Mr. Savarese is survived by their twin 9-year-old sons, Luca and Matteo; his mother, Adriana Sora; a sister, Rita Fradelloni; and a brother, Sati Savarese, all of whom live in Rome.

The luxury of a luxury bath

There is nothing better than a steaming hot shower on a cold winter morning -- until you step onto the cold bathroom floor!

Nuheat's Floor Warming Bathroom Kit is the newest luxury tool for bathrooms -- a pre-built electric mat radiant floor warming system designed to warm tile, stone, laminate, engineered wood floors and granite counters.

Outfitted with an Energy Star approved programmable thermostat, the bath kit is available in over 60 standard sizes of squares and rectangles. Contact Nuheat for custom sizes.

Pictured: Calico Bathroom from Altamarea by Tecnolac s.r.l.

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Interior Design Rules

For Jonathan Adler, there's one overriding rule for interior design: keep it fun.  Safe design, he says, is such a bummer. But that doesn't mean it's ok to ignore all pretense of good taste. Beyond the one rule, Adler does have an important guideline:

I believe that design should be chic and happy at the same time. I think the key is to strive for a classical foundation--good proportions, timeless sofas, furniture you won't get sick of--and then add a layer of playful punctuation with accessories.

Accessories can be fun, seasonal, less expensive than the big stuff, and easy to swap when tastes change. But doesn't everyone know that?  To create a truly unique, fun, stylish and self-expressive home Adler suggests everything from a punch of orange to ignoring the neighbors.  Get all his tips and tricks in his Interview with Pure Contemporary's Caroline Barry.

Rain Chains

Instead of unattractive gutter downspouts, outfit your home with Japanese-created Rain Chains -- used to guide rain water down chains or cups from the roof to the ground.

Check out RainChains.com for styles and pricing!

Meet Möbelform

People looking for a flexible way to mount their plasma tvs often turn to wall mounted arms.  The robotic limb holds, tips and turns a tv easily, but lacks any real aesthetic refinement. The Periscope from Möbelform offers good looks with ease of movement.  It’s available in floor and wall mounted configurations through Möbelform showrooms and online at www.mobelform.com. Expect to pay about $5,800 for the floor mounted and $3,800 for the wall mounted version.

Heat rising

If a bulky brick-covered fireplace isn't your thing, consider suspending your heat source from the ceiling.

Constructed through a process of spinning steel into form, the Fireorb is well-rounded -- rotating and radiating 360 degrees.

More modern ways to warm.

Washed out by white?

While traveling through Chile, Irish-born designer Clodagh was struck by the chocolate-brown, oven-proof tablewares in the village of Pomaire. Wanting to share the new-found pottery with others, she sent a buyer back to the pueblo to retrieve the simplistic wares.

All white plates not enough to satisfy your palate? The Chilean Tabletop Collection is now available in her NYC showroom.

Technorati Tags: modern tableware, Chile, modern tabletop, contemporary dining