Archive for March, 2014

I just had a photo shoot here with Jamie Salomon for Cottages & Bungalows Magazine – a holiday shoot for next years holiday issue. In the midst of all this I have been working on updating my own first floor and  decided the photo shoot was a good excuse to try some art in my own entry. I’ve loved David’s paintings of fishermen for ages, but they all are rather vertical, and lets be honest – we have enough fish on our first floor – in all forms! I saw this lovely piece that reminded me of my many road trips in Maine, so I called David up and asked to borrow it.

Kristina Crestin Design_David Witbeck for photo shootVoila, a short road trip to Kennebunkport with Mom and the folks at Maine Art packaged it up for it’s road trip home. Now that it’s here I don’t want to let it go!

Kristina Crestin Design_David Witbeck from Maine ArtHere are some of his other pieces at Maine Art – I’d take all of them!

Kristina Crestin Design_David Witbeck from Maine Art arrayYou can see these pieces at Maine Art in downtown Kennebunkport, ME. For more of David Witbeck’s work check out his web site.

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As a final post wrapping up my take-away’s from the  KBIS (Kitchen and Bath Industry Show) I wanted to share a couple random items I liked that were not plumbing related.

On the kitchen end of the Kitchen & Bath Show spectrum I think my favorite product was Vikings wall mount oven in color wasabi. How could you not love the idea of something risky!  This one was their 27″ double electric one that comes in all their fun colors. Model #VEDO5302WS

Kristina Crestin Design_Blog Post Viking Oven WasabiAnother product I was interested in were these large acrylic wall panels from Lustrolite. The options are endless as far as applications – a kitchen backsplash or shower walls for instance but the fact that intrigued me was it is 20 times as strong as glass but half as heavy. Not bad when thinking about creative ways to use it and how to adhere it. Of course it’s nice it comes in some colors that I clearly like!

Kristina Crestin Design_Blog Post Lustrolite panels

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Kristina Crestin Design_Blog Post KBIS show

We finally made it! My first time to KBIS (Kitchen and Bath Industry Show) and I was pretty excited. I didn’t over schedule myself for this show. I had one meeting with K+BB Magazine (Kitchen and Bath Business), where I sit on their editorial advisory board and otherwise got to just wander the show and soak in new product introductions. What more could a girl obsessed with plumbing want!?

I quickly realized I am slightly spoiled with the level of projects we work on here and with the excellent local showrooms we have!  To share here are some of my favorite items from the show:

1. Kallista‘s ‘One’ Single Hole Lav Faucet. Sexy, just sexy. The scale was really great and the proportions. If I could have slipped it in my bag without anyone noticing I would have!

Kristina Crestin Design_Blog Post Kallista faucet A2. Not to overshare from one vendor, but Kallista again hit the design jackpot for me – another faucet but on the traditional end of the spectrum – the Bellis. The handle details were so unique, understated but so well designed at the same time. Clearly when a client asks how a faucet can be $1,000 this level of quality and detailing is a clear answer why! This guy is newly shown in the unlacquered brass.

Kristina Crestin Design_Blog Post Kallista faucet B

I am sure sometimes clients wonder how exciting a sink can be. I’ve done hammered nickel sinks before, with beautiful ripples, but this sink sure sparkles! It’s the Bacifiore by Mick De Giulio for Kallista, who I’ve written about before here. The polished stainless steel looks just like flowing water. Which is of course what they intended!

Kristina Crestin Design_Blog Post Kallista De Giulio sinkPhotos taken at the KBIS show

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Product: MUD Australia

March 17th, 2014

I’ve been looking for some great dishes for the new office,  something modern but organic. I came across these gorgeous pieces from Mud Australia. The color palette they work with is just yummy. I stumbled upon their product from a great post that Decor8 did on their blog. Made me wish I could take the same trip!  I want! I especially love the pop of bright salmon in the bottom photo. I am working on trying to see what colors they offer and how to see them in person. I do think they are on the ‘want’ list rather than the ‘need’ list …. darn ….. !

Kristina Crestin Design_ Blog post

Photos sourced through Mud Australia’s site.

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Stacey here!  I am currently working with an amazing client in Cambridge and we have been on the hunt for large (72″+) round dining tables.  So much harder to find something great than I thought it would be!!  Here are 10 of my favorites (so far!) that I came across whilst “shopping”.  Hope you love them too!!

top ten round dining tables_Kristina Crestin Design

 

1. Vintage Mastercraft Table from Gustavo Olivieri on 1st Dibs // 2. Restoration Hardware Salvaged Wood Beam Round Table  // 3. Mr Brown Home Belmondo Dining Table in Storm Faux Shagreen  // 4. Holly Hunt Trice Round Dining Table  // 5. Ochre Whippet Table  // 6. Patagonia Legacy Base Equis  // 7. BBDW Bron Table  // 8. CFC Furniture Basket Dining Table   // 9. B&B Italia Tobi-Ishi Table  // 10. Victoria Hagan Parker Table via Studio534 in The Boston Design Center

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On the Road: Palm Springs

March 10th, 2014

Blog Post Palm Springs _Kristina Crestin Design

Continuing on our trip towards Vegas for the KBIS show we left Santa Barbara heading to Palm Springs. After a boring drive checking into our hotel was a treat. I searched out a smaller hotel where we could walk to dinner and breakfast and had a more retro feel, picking Movie Colony Hotel.  We had a great little suite at the pool with a view of the mountains. Its nice when picking out something on line works out! I am wishing we didn’t need get to get to Vegas for a certain time, I found all sorts of tours led by architects to private homes, darn! Next time…….

Blog Post Palm Springs_Kristina Crestin DEsign

Clearly I hadn’t read up on the area, I was surprised by how big the surrounding mountain was. Duh. We heard there was a restaurant at the top of the mountain.  Somehow timing it perfectly we took the tram to the top at sunset and enjoyed a great meal at Peaks. Definitely worth a trip!

Blog Post Palm Springs _Kristina Crestin

Because we’re bacon lovers I feel like I need to share one more item – one of the best breakfasts we’ve had!  Cheeky’s within walking distance from our hotel had a bacon sampler plate. Heck ya. We sadly didn’t have much more time in Palm Springs before we had get to Vegas for the KBIS show kickoff, but at least we got a killer breakfast being leaving town!

Blog Post Palm Springs _Kristina CrestinTop image done with an app.

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Kristina Crestin Design_Santa Barbara tripOur day on the road was a rather long one and by the time we rolled into Santa Barbara it was almost dinner time, so what better to do than hit the Urban Wine Trail. What’s the Urban Wine Trail you ask? Basically a sophisticated pub crawl! So many people had told us about how amazing Santa Barbara is and we lucked out with amazing weather for strolling around. What we didn’t know was that there was a film festival in town that weekend, so there wasn’t a dinner reservation to be had, but we fixed that with BBQ from a delicious food truck and wandered from tasting room to tasting room. (and not a celebrity sighting at all!)

Our first stop was  Kunin Wines which after sitting in a car for hours and hours was a treat – an airy open space, a buzz of people and some lovely wines. My absolute favorite stop though was AVA Santa Barbara. I’ll be honest, it was on my ‘must see’ list because I heard about this amazing massive wall of chalkboard art. Jackpot! It was even more amazing in person. Elkpen’s mural showcases the region’s topography, soils and microclimates; and throughout the tasting they used the mural as a backdrop to explain these points. I already have plans to have black walls in our new offices kitchenette and now I am obsessed with wanting a chalkboard mural!

Kristina Crestin Design_Santa Barbara urban wine trailFor Kunin Wines stop by their tasting room at 28 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 and for AVA Santa Barbara 116 E Yanonali St, Santa Barbara, CA . For a full listing of Santa Barbara’s Urban Wine Trail check out their link: www.urbanwinetrailsb.com. Top image done using an app.

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On the Road: Hearst Castle

March 3rd, 2014

Hearst Castle_Kristina Crestin Design After driving, driving and more driving we finally got to Heart Castle – so exciting! It’s been on my bucket list but I never thought I’d actually get there! There was a crazy, winding drive up to the castle and then suddenly you were in the presence of this amazingly large structure. I wish I got more pictures, I was too busy looking!  My two favorite spaces I think were both pools. Firstly the outdoor pool (the Neptune pool) is just so grand you can’t help but be in awe. It makes you wish you could have been a fly on the wall back in the day when Clake Gable and Carole Lombard were strolling around the pool. The other pool (the Roman pool), which in my opinion is even more interesting is the indoor one – which apparently didn’t get a ton of use as it was tucked away under the tennis courts. It’s just a marvel. I can’t get my brain around the time spend laying every single mosaic tile – every surface is covered in 1″ tiles. The tiles called smalti are colored or clear with fused gold inside – this makes them shimmer. Who knew!

Kristina Crestin Design_ hearst castle

Though you could be overwhelmed by looking at the craftsmanship inside the house (is house not a grand enough a term???) I seemed to be walking into things (and not staying on the ‘tour’ carpet – shoot … so close to being thrown out!) as I couldn’t help but keep looking up in every single room I walked into. I already have an obsession with ceilings but Hearst Castle clearly prescribed to the idea that no surface should be left untouched. Check out the detailed carvings – so intricate.

Kristina Crestin Design_Hearst Castle Ceilings _ A

Kristina Crestin Design_Hearst Castle Ceilings _ B

Kristina Crestin Design_Hearst Castle Ceilings _ C

Kristina Crestin Design_Hearst Castle Ceilings _ D

Kristina Crestin Design_Hearst Castle Ceilings _ E

Kristina Crestin Design_Hearst Castle Ceilings _ FTo take a tour of Hearst Castle I’d schedule it in advance, and heads up there are tickets by space, not one general tour. Check it out here.  Rendering at the top done by using an app,  I haven’t watercolored myself in years!

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