The Great Outdoors

Image courtesy Sunset Magazine

It was boiling hot yesterday in New York and all I wanted to do was step outside through our imaginary screen door and hang out on the terrace/deck/patio/yard that exists only in my mind. We are lucky enough to live a few blocks away from Central Park, which we treat like our own backyard. But, sometimes we wish all those strangers would get the HELSINKI off our lawn!! In our next life (or later in this one, if we can make it happen) Oliver and I will have a little bungalow with a yard/patio/front walk/tiny square of private outdoor concrete on which we can sit and sip coffee in the mornings, frosty drinks in the afternoon have bar-b-ques, tend to some herbs and flowers, and soak in the sun.

So, today, we are going to see some gorgeous, enviable outdoor "rooms." Most of them are inspiration images I've collected to guide me when I finally do have a little patch of land outside in which to play. What I love about all of them is that the designers managed to carve out spaces that feel like they're inside, using trees and foliage as floor, ceiling and walls, then embellishing with breezy textiles, trellises, interesting seating options, lighting and, of course, beautifully set tables - it looks like you could just step into the picture, sit down and pour yourself a lemonade, or mojito, whatever your poison.

So simple, and yet, so elegant:

From Domino Magazine

From Elle Decor

The trees make a perfect canopy - and a great place from which to hang a romantic pendant! And that brick flooring is to die for!

From House Beautiful

I'm always game for a sunburst mirror, a splash of zebra and a ceramic drum. Sign me up for this garden party!

Windsor Smith, via Traditional Home

So, the grass might get a little scratchy, and it's kind of an invitation to mosquitos, but it sure does look beautiful:

Photo by Amanda Pratt

Photo by Lisa Hubbard

Styled by Brian Andriola

Via Belle Chic

This looks so easy to achieve and low-maintenance:

Photo By Jessica Claire

I've always been enraptured by Victorian wrap-around porches. I love a porch with a swing, but I suppose this one would do:

Via Southern Accents

This set up could just as easily be inside, in a living room. The daybed, the textiles, the tray, the seagrass side table - love it all:

Via Belle Chic

Via Vogue Living Australia

Don't you just want to pull up a chair and get your s'mores on?

From Domino Magazine

I don't have a credit for this photo, which is a shame, because it is GORGEOUS. I love the mixing of blue and white stripes with the flowers and their patterned containers, the black metal lights above, and the hint of gold detail from the chairs, all offset by what looks to be a stunning yard.

If every evening came to a close with this set up, I wouldn't complain.

A WHALE of a time

It was a busy weekend full of work over here at Frisson (YAY!), so I fell a bit behind in my blogging. While I catch up, enjoy this fantastic illustration by our dear friend and outrageous talent, Jordan Awan, of Springtime Studio:

Jordan runs Springtime Studio with his wife, Morgan Elliot, also an amazing illustrator, and they have a great blog chronicling their work.

I doubt any of you know this, but I love an expressive, stylized whale illustration! I love the ones with the endearingly square heads that taper down into the skinniest of bodies and curl up into a giant tail fin. They are too cute. And I love this one, by Jordan, with it's big body, tiny chicken-wing-fin and that big, worried eye. And all those waves! Jordan is a master of detail and patience in his pen work, but at the same time manages to maintain a whimsical simplicity in his work. He and Morgan are both illustrators that can say everything with one expressive line–no easy feat.

I always look forward to their blog updates, and especially seeing their work published in various periodicals. Look out for this illustrative force!

Walking Tour: Chelsea

A few years ago my mom gave us City Walks: New York, a deck of fifty cards, each outlining a different neighborhood. Chronicle Books, a San Francisco-based (and longtime favorite) publisher, has created decks for tons of cities. We used to pull out a card every once in a while and roam around a neighborhood for a few hours, but it had been a long time. New York is an expensive place, but there is actually a lot to do for free, and now that it's all about doing more with less, taking a city walk is just about the most affordable way to spend a day in New York.

Last Saturday, we decided to check out Chelsea, even though we've both spent a lot of time there. It was a bright, sunny day, and this tour would take us along the water. The tour was to start on 23rd Street and 8th Avenue, but train troubles made us start off on 34th street. (Train delays? On the weekends? In the summer? SHOCKER) No biggie, we got some gratuitous shots of the monumental James Farley Post Office.

Built in 1912 by McKim, Mead and White, the post office, which sits on eight acres, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building has been slated for reuse as an Amtrak station, and would be renamed Moynihan Station, after the late politician, Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

As we mosied down 23rd, where we were met with the stately London Terrace apartment buildings (which my parents lived in at one time), one of which replaced the original "Millionaire's Row."

An original advertisement for London Terrace:

The tour took us along Ninth Avenue, where we passed the retro Empire Diner, which was jam packed full of brunch go-ers enjoying the outstanding weather. I like the sign above the restaurant, telling people what to do there:

Above the diner, we spotted another fine example of fire escapes in use as terraces, a favorite New York adaptation.

Speaking of fire escapes, they can be such eyesores, but these white ones are so chic:

The side streets (in this case, 21st and 22nd streets) are beautifully cared for by brownstone owners, who have restored their homes. We enjoyed the ironwork finials and gates on various stairs.

Oliver always has a soft spot for buildings covered in ivy - they're so soft and plush:

Before we crossed the street to the Hudson River, we stopped to get a close look at the new Jean Nouvel building at 19th Street and 11th Avenue/West Side Highway. It is quite a site, with it's unique facade, described in a New York Times article as "glittering" and "twinkling."

Here, you can get a real sense for the varying colors in the windows

It is a stark contrast to Frank Gehry's adjacent chubby-yet-billowy IAC building:

From afar, the glass windows of the IAC look frosted, but the windows are actually fritted with bands of white dots, a treatment to control and mitigate the flow of sunlight, which is intense in the afternoons, as the building faces West.

Our tour "officially" ended at the monstrosity that is Chelsea Piers, but we continued to roam around the various docks, and for the first time, saw the multi-tiered, year-round driving range:

Doesn't it look curiously like New Orleans architecture?

Photo by Rick Murray

We continued winding in and out along the piers, spotting a massive Carnival cruise ship along the way.

I had planned to sit and have a drink at The Frying Pan, a former US CoastGuard Lightship-turned bar with pub fare, now docked at Pier 66. To my utter disappointment, this place was essentially a giant frat party on a boat (or as one yelper put it, "a frat party on steroids on a boat"). Not my jam, and pretty much Oliver's worst nightmare. We walked in and promptly turned around. I'd like to try again sometime. Maybe earlier in the day, before all the undergrads awake from the previous night's festivities.

Oliver spliced a couple of pictures together to create this panorama-der-D-baggery. Sorry for anyone we know who loves that place mid-weekend-day. I'm sure it doesn't surprise you that we don't fit into that scene.

We decided to skip the hubub and headed home to make our own little feast, complete with margaritas:

Project: Bachelor Pad Pied-a-Terre

I recently photographed a small project I completed with a co-worker from a freelance job. The client works and owns a home in Greenwich, CT, but keeps a pied-a-terre in midtown Manhattan for use on the weekends. The large alcove studio is in one of those new luxury rental buildings on 42nd street near the Hudson River. His unit is so high up, it's is practically floating in the sky. With such a stunning backdrop, we kept the color scheme and furniture/accessory choices simple. Because he doesn't own the place, and isn't sure how long he'll keep the apartment, he understandably wanted to keep costs down, but still have a comfortable place in which to hang out and entertain guests. We're very happy with how the place turned out!

Here's what we started out with:

The final product:

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