American Gourmet in St Barths

One of the best things about St Barths is the quality and variety of food and dining. While visiting there recently, I came across a market called American Gourmet. The name of the shop made me wonder for a minute if this was not a little out of place in St Barths where everything is French with a capital "F" if you know what I mean. As I got closer, I saw a list of chefs, the who's who in the cooking world, noting that their products were for sale inside. Now I was intrigued, this wasn't an island knock-off of William Sonoma. Quite the opposite, inside I found neatly lined up products that only the finest of foodies would know what to do with. It was Ahhhmazing! While walking through the aisles, I was imagining the gourmet meals that the chefs on the yachts parked right outside in the harbour were preparing in their kitchens at this moment. I mean, come on, really? This is truly what it means to live "the good life".

Photo of the owner of American Gourmet

I drifted around feeling like I was in a Nancy Meyers film eavesdropping on a conversation that the owner was having on his cel about how quickly he could have fresh Kobe Beef delivered to the yacht. I wandered over to the counter when he hung up the cel. I introduced myself and told him how much I enjoyed his market. He asked, "Do you know Diane Von Furstenburg"? I said of course. He proceeded to tell me that he was just speaking with her to prepare the menu for her family when they arrive next week (for Christmas). Before this, I could only imagine who his clientele was that demanded this level of novelty foods. Now, it was confirmed.



Me standing in front of the shop.


A wonderful selection of teas.


Fois Gras to feast your taste buds on. (click for a larger view)


An amazing assortment of chocolates from all over Europe.


Olive oils that are packaged in bottles that look like designer parfumes. As an interior designer, I was envisioning styling a recent kitchen I've designed for a photoshoot with these bottles lined up on the Carrera marble counters.



More olive oils and sea salts from every ocean.

Here's a preview of one of the stocked shelves.

St Barts...coming soon

My blog is taking a break today so that the Viceroy Hotel is not overshadowed by tomorrow's post. I'll give you a hint...gourmet food shop in St Barts.

Kelly Wearstler::Viceroy Anguilla

Sorry for the lag in my posts. As the photos below tell the story; you will see we have been away on vacation. My husband and I were fortunate enough to be the very first guests to check into the new Viceroy Hotel & Resort in Anguilla on December 16th. They had a soft opening earlier in the year. The place is stunning. The design and architecture teams were still frantically unwrapping furniture and postioning it as we wandered around. I didn't mind at all. What designer can't relate to the last minute race to the finish line.
Our initial reaction was that the architecture is absolutely amazing. Then we were escorted to our beautiful guest room with a two-story balcony and plunge pool. It was there that I began to see all of the unbelievable attention to detail in the fine furniture and fabrics that were used throughout.

Let's just say... there wasn't anything cut from this extraordinary budget. Or at least it didn't seem that there was. Waterworks & Dornbracht fixtures, Sferra sheets and towels, Kohler sinks...

We loved every minute of our stay. The service was outstanding. Virgil, the director of sales and Jan, the general manager went above and beyond what any staff has ever done for us to make our stay quite special. Thank you for being so wonderful. Because of your hospitality, we hope to make this an annual trip and bring our friends and families in the future.

Let's get down to business...the design:

The Oh So Amazing...Sunset Lounge.

These french chair are upholstered in a green cow hide.


The floors and ceilings are also design elements.


The gorgeous Coba Restaurant:


Welcome to your 5 BDR private villa...where you will find your private butler, private nanny quarters, laundry room, kitchen, infinity pool, hot tub, outdoor grill, outdoor dining table. I could go on and on. Like I said earlier, there were no details left undone. They thought of everything and more.


I love the bed side mirrors made from horn.


One of the 4-5 private bathrooms.


Only Kelly Wearstler would dare to upholster bar stools at an open-air bar with black cow hide. Exquisite. (see photo below).


The barstools below are my husband's favorite. They were quite the conversation piece.

Every evening while sitting in the Sunset Lounge with cocktails in hand, my husband and I had conversations about how Kelly Wearstler dares to go beyond where anyone else will go. I love this about her as a designer. I also love that my husband will have these conversations with me. Ha!



Our lovely bedroom:



I find that I am at a loss for words to describe this fabulous place. So if you have the good fortune of experiencing it yourself, please send your comments to me. I will try my best to paint a narrative through the photos we took and make comments about the fabulousness. What impressed me the most was Kelly Wearstler's use of materials, textures, and color. Black cow hide on grey oak barstools sitting at an open air bar on the beach. The casual elegance of linen slipcovered sofas with throw pillows that looked almost thrown together effortlessly in tones of grey. Cerused oak furniture played nicely off the italian travertine backdrop of floors and walls. It was so delicious I wanted to eat it. Ok, not literally. As a designer, you get bathed in all of these wonderful things and then they somehow slowly get edited out of your design scheme as the realistic conversation of wear and tear and "is it childproof etc" come up?



Need I say anymore? The photos speak a thousand times better than I can about this beautiful place.

Worth The Wait...More To Come

There are very few times where architecture and design are so successful that they satiate the senses beyond words.
Stay tuned...tomorrow.

French Inspired Side Tables...

Recently, a girlfriend asked me to help her find reasonably priced side tables for her formal living room. When she came down for my wedding; she absolutely fell in love with the decor of the St Regis Hotel in Atlanta. So I went searching and found several options that reminded me of the french inspired interiors at the hotel. I'm hoping she likes what I found. Jordana, what do you think?

All of the above side tables are from Global Views to the trade only. Please email me if you are interested in getting more information.

Antoinette Side Table with mirrored top from Hickory Chair.

The East Paces End Table (above) is part of the Suzanne Kasler line at Hickory Chair. It's a perfect size end table and is one of my favorites when ordered with the black absolute honed granite top. I wish I could find a better photo of it, but trust me, it's great!!

Loving These Chairs Today...

I've seen Kelly Wearstler's trellis fabric used a lot in pillows and her wall paper is often photographed...but these are my most favorite. If you are interested in this fabric, it's to the trade only through Schumacher. It comes in several great colors. I'll try to post them soon.

Painted Cabinets: Always In Style

A classic white kitchen by Victoria Hagan

Kitchen Design(above) by Kevin Reiner

Gray painted cabinets with honed or polished carrera marble tops will always be one of my faves and will never go out of style. The beautiful sketches on the wall are by one of my favorite Chicago artist's Francine Turk. Photograph from Chicago Home & Garden Magazine.

My Passion for Dutch Architecture

When I was in design school I passed up an opportunity to study in the Netherlands because the Gulf war had just begun and everyone was uncertain about overseas travel. That's when I started to explore Dutch Architecture and have been a lover ever since. A dutch architect to watch out for is Piet Boon. He's new on the scene in the US and is slated to design the Delano in Vegas. He has a great coffee table book out on Amazon. I posted a few images of his work below, but there are better images in his book.

I'd love to have lunch at this restaurant in Amsterdamn.

Be Eco Chic

Cold weather is here, well not quite here in Atlanta yet, so why not install an eco friendly fireplace in your home or outdoor patio? It's fueled by renewable energy so you're doing a good thing for the environment. And, what's even better, you get a $1500 tax credit if you purchase before December 2010. Check it out at http://www.ecosmartfire.com/ or visit my friends at Kolo Collection in Atlanta to inquire about pricing.

All White!

I dream of a beach house with this feel. I love personalizing a bedroom with family photographs. The spray painted monogram on the basket is a nice touch along with the great fabric on this armchair.

Photograph courtesy of Domino Magazine

Ideas for an Outdated Room

When I received a call from this very special client, I was excited to help her turn an unused room in her home into her very own home office. Her grandchildren were growing up and she wanted to replace their nursery/playroom with a custom home office space that would be a place where she could not only conduct her extensive charity work but also be a haven to hang out and enjoy a good book. Take a look at what we did together as a team.

BEFORE::

AFTER::

Photograph Copyright 2009 Lauren Loef Interieurs

Photograph Copyright 2009 Lauren Loef Interieurs

Don't Prejudge A Chair By It's Fabric

BEFORE::
No matter what your style is, there's always a place for a great Wing Chair. To be honest, when I first saw the above plaid chair at my client's previous home, my initial thought was, "They don't want to take this chair with them when they move into their new home that I'm designing, do they?" Well it doesn't always happen that way and in this case the chair is a favorite of the grandfather's when he comes to visit the family.

AFTER::

So I set out to reinvent this chair as my personal challenge. My clients were moving from a more traditional home to a transitional custom home so selecting the "appropriate" fabric for the style of furniture became as important as the furniture itself. I asked my upholsterer to change the stain on the chair legs which helped freshen it up. Then I chose a wide-ribbed fabric in a linen tone to add a bit more interest than just a solid linen fabric perhaps would have. I also added a welt around the arm and the sides of the chair to highlight the shape. You can achieve this by using nailheads as well. A welt seemed more appropriate for this chair to keep a softness about it. Voila! It turned out to be one of my favorite chairs in the client's new home. Click on the image for a closer view.

Photograph Copyright 2009 Lauren Loef Interieurs