Tiernan Design

Mom Business Cards

Stella is going to be starting Pre-K/Kindergarten soccer.....can you say "laugh so hard you pee your pants".  Anyway I was talking to the mom who is heading up the soccer team last night.  I had no paper, no pen or anything to write practice times, game info or anything down.  She whipped out a business card with her kids names on it and all of her contact info.  She wrote the first practice info on the back and said to contact her by any means listed on the card if I had any questions.  I thought it was the coolest thing.  So needless to say, I have already ordered my "Stella & Frankie's Mom" cards. 

The best thing about this is they are FREE!  Well, you have to pay for shipping, which is minimal, and put blinders on while navagating through the check-out process because they show you a lot of cute items with your new "business" info on them, like baseball hats, stamps, note pads & sticky notes.   

I Must be Craving Sun

First the sun caught my eye, then after I looked harder I saw a beautiful product.  These are copper panels which act as wonderful filters for the sun.  Go to Parasoleil's website to get more information, but honestly the applications are endless.  With these being copper, you can allow them to get a great patina and they require no maintenance.  They are made from 90-95 percent recycled copper, weigh as light as a feather.....just like me.....not......and are very reasonably priced.  Wholesale pricing for a 36" x 96" panel is $369.  If you don't see a pattern you like, the owner/artist Uriah Bueller, will do a custom design for you.  There are so many things you can do with these beauties; sunshade, privacy screens, accent lighting patterns, cabinet door inserts (if you are tired of glass), fences, awnings, railings, water features, etc.  So anyway, yes I think I am really craving sun as you can tell from last few postings.  There is a man in my office leaving for Jamaica on Monday and I couldn't be more jealous!

Valley Ho Anyone?

It is just about the end of January and February that I get a little tired of cold weather and realize that we still have about three to four months before we even come close to feeling warm sun on our face.  I saw a little add for the Valley Ho hotel located in Scottsdale, Arizona and got a sudden hotel crush.  This historic hotel has recently been renovated and I think they ended up with a great design. 

When you go to the Valley Ho website, there are the coolest Vibes playing in the background and it makes me want to buy an airline ticket or rent a car and be sitting next to the pool by sunset.  Check out the warm sun coming into the rooms above.  I am all over the map when it comes to design.  I live in a rather traditionally designed house, but if I had the chance, I would design a sprawling Neutra-ish ranch and close my eyes and imagine I was living in Palm Springs.  Below is a scanned image I have had pinned to my office tackboard for a while now.  It is a 1963 Richard Neutra house designed for Samuel and Luella Maslon in Rancho Mirage, CA.  I love that name, Luella.  Too bad we are done having kids because I think Luella would be at the top of MY list for girls names.....probably not so much at the top of my husband's list though.  Unfortunately, the Maslon House was torn down a few years ago and most likely replaced with a "ginormous" monstrosity.  Too bad......shameful.

I am guessing the women in the bikini is Luella.  I have read the house was 5000 SF.  Now that is a sprawling ranch. 

This a photo taken before it was torn down.  Check out how big the sculpted bush has gotten over the years.  Must be a pretty hardy plant to last for 40 years......sorry random thought.

City Museum

I have not been to the City Museum since I used to park in the serpentine fenced parking lot REALLY late at night to walk to the few bars sprinkled on Washington Ave. about 12 years ago....Tangerine being my favorite.  Don't tell anyone, but I have a nice collection of the cool glasses they used to serve there drinks in.  So, much to my surprise, the parking lot looks a bit different.  Check out the elaborate "mess" of climbing adventure that greets you before you walk in the door.  Tim Burton would be proud.  We went with our kids New Years Day and it was pretty darn cold out and there we kids climbing and tunneling and running all over the exterior.  I thought I was going to be crawling through tunnels, climbing up some obscure places, and I did, but I was pleasantly surprised to see one of the best lessons in Terra Cotta on display.  Take a peak.  Not only were the salvaged architectural pieces on display, but they were also incorporated throughout the design of the museum in random and not-so-random places.  It was sensory overload and it was great.  The whole place had a very cool, Tim Burton/David Lynch vibe.  If you want to wear your kids out and get some great ideas for your next mosaic project - because there are mosaics everywhere - take a trip to the City Museum. 

Bloomin' Drywall

I have dogwood motifs throughout the architecture of my house.  They are found in my fireplace mantel, on the tile of my entry walkway and the cast limestone details around my front door.  That is why this product caught my eye.  It reminded me of dogwood blossoms.  What it really is, is fancy drywall.  I use the word fancy lightly because it is so much more than that, but it really is drywall.  There are 15 bas relief drywall designs that you can choose from, but my favorite is the one pictured.  It is called Vortex Bloom.  These panels come in 32" x 32" x 1" panels.  I would love to install the Vortex Bloom at the head of bed in a master bedroom or a little girls room or it would look great as a feature wall in my dinning room, a feature wall behind a reception desk or nurse station in a women's wellness center, spa, boutique, etc.  The options are endless.  I just love this product!

Iceboxes and Apple Pie

I think you could actually call this an icebox instead of a refrigerator.  This throw back to the 1950's was a fun product find.  Imagine how these Big Chill works of art would look with fun magnets and filled with glass milk bottles.  It makes me think of the iconic happy homemaker standing next to it with a cigarette, a martini and a great tea length dress!  Has anyone watched the AMC series called "Mad Men"?  I just love that show.  It makes you wonder how we accomplished anything when everyone was drunk by 10:00 am!

Try Not to Stair

For those of you who want to soften your stairs, without being too stuffy, designer Liza Phillips is your girl.  She has come up with a great way to dress your stairs.  If the available colors and designs fit the style of my house better and if I didn't have a curved stair,  I would be all over these.  Simple, simple, simple.  Imagine how easy these would be to clean!  Strike that last comment from your mind.  That was not very "designer" of me.  Anyway, I have a feeling she might be designing more options and colors because these are going to be a hit. 

Think Outside the Shed

Ditch those preconceived notions of what a tool or garden shed should look like.  Check out these pint-sized modern sheds.  Forget those home improvement store tool sheds.  These go along with the notion that if you are designing something functional, why not make it beautiful.  I don't know if beautiful is the word I would use to describe these, but I would call them interesting, different and refreshing and I would love to have one at my house, especially the "studio" version.  These basically come boxed up and ready to assemble; you add the color and personality.  If you don't want a tool shed, they have studios, play houses and even larger dwelling units.  What a great place to go to work on your art, work out of your house without being in your house or escape from your kids..........did I say that?

Beautiful Function

Okay, IF you were to put a basket on your bike, this is the one to get.  This is something that actually has a worth while function, is beautiful and is one of the coolest things I have seen in a while. Designed by the Swedish industrial designer Marie-Louise Gustafsson Marca, "Carrie" will soften up the look of any bike and give it much needed personality.  Check out her website for more interesting designs or you can see it highlighted on www.designhousestockholm.com.  Design House Stockholm is worth pulling up just to see the man on the main page!  You can always pick out a European company, because there are always half-dressed, beautiful people scattered around their advertisements.  I thought about putting this in the "Just Add a Bow" category, but it was too unusual not to put in the "cool" category.

Something New Under the Sun

Cool stuff is a new category where you can find all things "cool".  That is a designer term by the way.  Here is my first entry.  This is a new, great, inexpensive and, did I say cool, way to filter sun, partition loft spaces, add a bit of "whimsy" (another designer term) to any space.  Check out Parametre Shades on line and see what I am talking about.  Once I opened up the website I noticed it was a company under 3Form, a product I just can't get enough of.  When I saw this product, my mind started racing about where I could use it in my home.  My first thought was on our sleeping porch.  Take a look at some installations I pulled from the site.  These shades come 8' long, are avialable in two, four or six foot widths and are shipped in cardboard tubes ready for installation.  100% Polyester.