The Jersey City skyline has changed over many decades, and in its current form it showcases the work of Mack-Cali Realty Corp. The Jersey City-based REIT has served as a steward of transformation for New Jerseys waterfront over the past several years by successfully bringing the companys vision of a nationally recognized transit, commerce and lifestyle hub into existence at Harborside, a mixed-use residential and commercial neighborhood, located in the buzzing heart of Jersey City.

A main thoroughfare for New York metro transportation, Harborside provides locals and commuters with access to the Exchange Place PATH station, the Harborside Light Rail station, and a brand-new NY Waterway ferry terminal. Mack-Cali invested $75 million to execute vast upgrades to existing office buildings in the neighborhood, including transforming lobby and amenity spaces to encourage a live-work-play atmosphere that has attracted some of the nations top companies to the area. Along with these renovations came new public infrastructure improvements as well as a unique lifestyle offering in District KitchenJersey Citys first-ever food hall showcasing popular local vendors. Harborsides Atrium also hosts various community events, festivals and expos nearly every week, and professionals flock to the newly opened cocktail lounge, Mannys. The bar and event space, outfitted with ample seating, ping pong and billiards tables, and numerous large-screen televisions, serves as an industrial-chic retreat for everything from casual happy hours to corporate meetups.

101 Hudson terrace. TPG ARCHITECTS

Adding to Harborsides gravitas is the impending arrival of Whole Foods Northeast headquarters and a new retail location, set to total approximately 48,000 square feet when finished signaling Harborsides ability to attract national, prominent brands to its waterfront location.

A key example of Mack-Calis work on existing buildings in Harborside is 101 Hudson Street, one of the premier office buildings in the area, which features 42 stories of Art Deco-inspired architecture and 1.25 million square feet of Class A office space. The iconic structure the third tallest commercial building in Jersey City is currently undergoing a transformation of its lobby and entry plaza as well as the addition of a dedicated suite of amenities spanning the entire 17th floor.

Leading the redesign of the buildings lobby and entryway is renowned architect Dan Shannon of MdeAS Architects, who is reimagining the main entry and plaza renovations with a focus on visibility and transparency, elevating and defining the sense of arrival at the stately building. Upstairs on the 17th floor, New Jersey-based TPG Architects designed a suite of full-floor indoor and outdoor amenities dubbed the 101 Club. Available for use by all building employees, the 101 Club includes comfortable workspaces in an inviting, open-seating plan, a pantry and kitchen area, private meeting spaces and an expansive outdoor terrace with breathtaking Manhattan views. The spaces feature a mix of warm, natural woods, polished concrete floors, and decorative lighting that provides tenants with a comfortable and welcoming area for rest, relaxation and escape from the busy hustle of their workday.

We wanted to bring the idea of an urban oasis to life inside the building, and we knew that TPGs team could realize that vision, said Nicholas Hilton, executive vice president of leasing at Mack-Cali. It was important to create a distinct space for our tenants to enjoy that serves as a space for them to work, but also to relax, dine and socialize, and the 101 Club feels much truer to the definition of a retreat within 101 Hudson.

Mack-Calis collection of structures is not limited to office properties. Harborsides identity as an all-in-one hub for activity offers the citys residents a range of elevated living options along with a vibrant urban lifestyle. The popular residential development, Urby, features imaginative architecture combined with a boutique hotel sensibility that has made it one of the most successful residential buildings in Jersey City. Residents occupy apartments with spacious layouts and enjoy a suite of luxury amenities including a saltwater pool, a private pocket park ideal for social gatherings, and a Woofgarden for the four-legged tenants, all complimented by unobstructed and breathtaking views of the iconic New York City skyline.

These architectural landmarks on the Gold Coast both old and new offer unmatched accessibility to Manhattan, which is particularly crucial as Jersey City has gained more recognition in recent years as an extension of the booming finance and tech markets across the Hudson in the Financial District. These buildings also offer an unmatched legacy in both their artful construction and their long-term potential for economic vitality. The architectural skyline of the Jersey waterfront, in many respects, has been defined and will continued to be defined by Mack-Calis portfolio.

Deidre Crockett is chief administrative officer at Mack-Cali Realty Corp. and Roseland Residential Trust.

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Placemakers on the waterfront - NJBIZ

How often did we hear the capitalists of the world say We cant just stop all our factories and businesses to stop global warming. Meet the year 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic that has us all shut down, literally. While we stay at home and flatten the curve, we need to focus on what can we do after this ends. One solution is to promote the trend of green living! Vertical Gardens, urban farms, sustainable housing are the terms the millennials are understanding and living upto. Architectural designs play a major role in promoting them by having the green built into your setup, giving a cool relief to the increasing urban jungle. This curated collection is sure to inspire you to add a small green space in your home, to begin with. After all, slow and steady wins the race against global warming!

Danish kolonihaver, or colony gardens are communal groupings of leisure lotseach complete with a little cabinthat are peppered around the urban and periurban corners of the country. These structures captured by Henry Do show how the colony is not just there to save space or look futuristic, they actually serve a purpose for the citizens of the Dutch capital. Theyre similar to allotment gardens, multi-year land rentals in a dedicated area, leased for the express purpose of gardening. When applied for, local residents can rent out the lots if they are looking to grow their own gardens. Due to the way each plot of land is set up, it gives a long vertical area for people to garden, as opposed to regular subdivisions which just provide a very small lengthwise area. Sounds like the perfect summer vacation!

Shilda winery in Kakheti, Georgia byX-Architecture is one of those places where you can literally lose yourself in the surrounding hills! Made to resemble the sloping vineyards, this design provides ample natural lighting to your living space while making the most of your surroundings.

Meet the Villa Vals, designed by Bjarne Mastenbroek and Christian Mller, respectively of the architectural offices SeARCH and CMA. Their design plan was to completely integrate the villa into the landscape to avoid disturbing the unspoiled nature. That is why access to the villa is only possible via the nearby wooden Graubnder shed, through an underground tunnel that runs straight through the mountainside. The faade of the house is slightly slanted, adding to the view of the mountain scenery across the valley opposite the house.

The Faroe Islands, a green country between Norway and Iceland consists of 18 islands spread across the ocean. This place is a remote, peaceful and quiet place with its pristine nature. Pyramid-shaped mountains stripped of long fjords, old churches with roofs covered with grass, lakes, stunning waterfalls and colorful houses in small villages overlooking the ocean. This place has maintained the perfect balance between civilization and nature.

Meet the Dune House by Studio Vural, a seaside holiday dwelling that is carved into sand dunes and operates without relying on public utilities. Using a vast solar field and miniature wind turbines, this house produces more energy than it consumes!

The AMKC House by Dannel Reskala of Sonny Sutanto Architect is proof that green architecture can be modern architecture as well! The wire mesh creates an enclosure for the plants to grow, provide natural lighting while co-existing with the urban environment.

The hexagonal pyramids on the roof of this museum are now covered in a layer of grass, helping the building settle into its marshland environment in the Netherlands. Rotterdam firm Studio Marco Vermeulen carried out the renovation of the Biesbosch Museum a building with multiple pitched roofs. The holistic nature of the design minimizes energy consumption, with glazing fitted with heat-resistant glass that eliminates the need for blinds. Meanwhile, the earthworks on the north-western side and the green roof serve as additional insulation and a heat buffer.

Designed by Singapore studio Chang Architects, this home was created to accommodate a multi-generation family with space for future additions if the children marry. The concept behind the project looks to enhance livings spaces within a tropical climate through the implementation of well-designed communal spaces, connecting family members. The design creates a tropical haven, bringing greenery and light into every space. An abundance of greenery is also implemented at every opportunity, creating a house that directly connects to nature and brings a certain vibrancy to the indoor and outdoor spaces. With the central pool space framed by cascading planters and green stepped decks, the overall planning is to have passive cooling to create a healthier living environment.

MVRDVs design for Valley emphasizes the contrast between the corporate history and the more residential future of the Zuidas. Its offices boast high floor-to-ceiling windows, large, brightly lit floorplates and full-service amenities. The residential levels have large openable windows and sliding doors for outdoor spaces integrated within the stone facades. Outdoor ceilings and terraces are clad in natural stone as well, as are the fixed, automatically hydrated planters of varying heights that facilitate Valleys distinct green appearance. Full glass railings protect residents against wind and sound without impeding on their panoramic views.

Houses in rural Vietnam are planned around common spaces like gardens, ponds, lakes where people connect together. In urban areas, there is a lack of community spaces affecting the users and their connectivity with each other. Ho Khue Architects designed the main concept of the structure from terraced fields. The units are stacked on each other with stepped terraces which provides plenty of light to the apartment units. On the inner sides, atriums are provided so as to get natural light and air ventilation.

Reality is stranger than fiction they say. Not sure about being stranger but it surely is more environment friendly in this case! Hobbiton in New Zealand lets you go visit and even stay in the shire.

For more such exciting and sustainable designs, check outPart 1 and Part 2 of this series!

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Architectural designs that focus on humans and nature alike: Part 3 - Yanko Design

Stunning, one of a kind 4 bedroom, 3.5 baths, 4400+ finished sq ft, extended 3 car garage, cul de sac, .62 acre, waterview lot. $137K+ in builder upgrades. Soaring 17 vaulted ceilings, gleaming hardwood floors, lighted plant shelves, arched brick gas fireplace, special mill work, recessed can lighting, windows galore. Dining room w/tray ceiling, chair rail, wainscoting. Gorgeous kitchen w/Silestone quartz countertops, s/s appliances, walk in pantry, extended breakfast room. Master bedroom suite boasts coffered ceiling, 5 window bay, luxury master bath, double sinks, makeup area, shower w/seat, soaking tub. Incredible covered deck w/ceiling fan, private deck off master. Partially finished, walkout lower level, full bath, large rec room w/acoustic ceiling tiles, beautiful wet bar w/granite countertops, dishwasher, full size frig, extra windows, lots of addl storage areas, covered patio. Generac backup generator, zoned HVAC, 250 gal water heaters, irrigation system, 2x6 exterior walls.

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From Shiloh to Webster Groves: See some of the most expensive homes that just hit the St. Louis market - STLtoday.com

The eco-habitat, which is a fancy word to describe a completely self-sustainable home, is called TERA and comes from the team of architects and designers known as AI SpaceFactory. In case youre wondering what space has to do with building homes on Earth, the answer is simple: this is the same team that delivered a 3D-printed home prototype for Mars, which eventually won a $500,000 NASA award.

That Mars habitat prototype, MARSHA, grew up to become TERA. TERA is a literal demonstration of how Space technology can reshape how we build and live on planet Earth, AI SpaceFactory says. In other words, they used everything they learned with MARSHA and applied the technology to conceive a home back on Earth that would come with no footprint, be completely sustainable and make no compromise on comfort.

In June 2019, TERA went live on IndieGoGo to raise funds to build the first unit outside New York, on the banks of the Hudson River. Funding was secured and the unit went into production, with an estimated delivery date for Spring 2020, when it would have become a B&B, with the pledgers as first overnight guests. Given the current international health crisis, all development phases have been pushed back, with the team expecting delays into the delivery by at least another season.

That said, TERA is a beautiful example of the kind of homes we could be living in in the near future. It is 3D-printed from top to bottom and uses materials that reduce waste and pollution, but are twice as strong and durable as concrete. Its outer shell is made from biopolymer basalt composite, which has been validated by NASA to sustain longterm human life on Mars through the MARSHA concept. This composite is developed from crops like sugar cane, and once it reaches the end of life, can be returned back to earth as compost.

And its just as impressive on the inside as its on the outside. The interior is made with birch and poplar, bringing to mind comparisons with a very luxurious (but strikingly minimalist) treehouse. While green, the eco-habitat will be packed with technology meant to make life easier and more friendly on the environment.

The 2-story home has no actual walls and/or rooms to speak of, but main areas placed around a central staircase. The ground floor will consist of the living area, complete with bathroom and shower, food preparation counter and living room with seating area. An indoor aquaponic garden is also in the plans.

The second floor will be adaptable to the future owners needs, but on the first unit, it will consist of the sleeping and relaxation area, fitted with a telescope for stargazing. Theres also a wooden terrace that extends the space available on the ground floor, allowing guests to fully take in the breathtaking views.

The designers do not say how many people could comfortably live inside TERA, but based on renders made available, the answer is probably at least a family of three. Boasting of being a home like no other and the most sustainable unit ever conceived, which uses patented space technology, TERA aims to help humans remember simpler and more beautiful times.

TERA will be a futuristic terrestrial home for this planet one that emphasizes the beauty of its natural environment, AI SpaceFactory says. It offers a simpler, more sustainable solution for building on this planet, while advancing the technologies for living on another.

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TERA: Space Technology Used to Build the Most Sustainable Home on Earth - autoevolution

Spartan Shielding's Safe Sleep isolation chamber

Safe Sleep chambers give hospitals a way to isolate or treat individuals or provide workers with a safe haven to rest. The units can be built to any size and set up with a negative air or positive air configuration.

Interior of a Safe Sleep Chamber

The Safe Sleep isolation chamber can be easily wiped down or cleaned after use. Modules ship flat and are easily assembled on site.

PERTH AMBOY, N.J., April 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spartan Shielding, LLC., a full-service shielding company serving the medical, government/military and industrial sectors, announced today a modular isolation chamber ideal for medical staff or patients in hospitals and other healthcare facilities on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.

Designed by the companys inhouse team of architects, engineers and construction experts, the isolation rooms can be configured to any size and used in hospitals or in any facility needing to separate and treat individuals, or give staff a safe haven to rest. Cabins can be set up with a negative air or positive air configuration.

The World Health Organization reported in UN News on April 7 that COVID-19 has caused unprecedented levels of overwork by nurses, particularly those specialized in intensive care units, those in management or those most directly involved in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, oftentimes without adequate time for rest and recuperation, without support and assistance, with limited considerations for their mental health and wellbeing.

Our whole purpose is about improving and saving lives, said Geoff Pierini, CEO of Spartan Shielding and its parent company, Excalibur Group. Weve been in the healthcare design and construction industry for 25 years and are very in touch with the needs of doctors, nurses and employees in healthcare, especially in the New York market. This is something we can do to provide a place for them to take off their protective gear, rest and get a little peace of mind.

Spartan is now seeking interest in the solution from hospitals and government agencies overseeing emergency response to COVID-19.

Typical isolation rooms take a lot more time to fabricate, whereas one of these chambers only takes an hour to build, noted John Vas, Spartan Shieldings COO, who led the design effort to use materials that could be easily wiped down or cleaned after use. Because COVID-19 can linger on metal, the units use finishes such as anti-microbial paint that can be easily wiped down, sprayed or fogged.

D&B Building Solutions in Bloomfield, NJ, and Global Plasma Solutions (GPS), an indoor air quality technology company in Charlotte, NC, supplied the air cleaning technology.

We work with many hospitals in the New York and New Jersey area whatever we can do to help healthcare workers and keep Coronavirus from spreading, we will, explained Edward OConnor, partner, D&B Building Solutions.

Spartans isolation chamber offers air change which exceeds the U.S. minimum requirement of 12 air changes per hour for isolation-negative pressure rooms. The air intake chamber includes two filters and an Ionizer for standalone operation. The modules can also be easily ducted to an outside air source, which is highly recommended for a COVID-19 application.

GPSs air cleaning technology reduces particulates and destroys pathogens as validated in CDC- and third-party certified labs.

Weve focused on advancing the technology with a real commitment to testing, validation and research, said Kevin Boyle, VP of Marketing, GPS. We consider applications like Spartans that help first responders to be high priority and are reserving inventory for these applications whenever possible.

Modules ship flat and are easily assembled on site. Lighting and ventilation are plug and play and can be plugged into any wall outlet. Spartan also offers field office chambers that can be set up inside existing facilities.

Units can be insulated and finished for exterior placement. Any of the units can be configured for negative air flow for patient isolation.

Pierini credited his companys ability to innovate quickly to the fact that the company does not rely on subcontractors, but employs a full inhouse team of electrical, HVAC, engineering, and millworks experts on site. A core team designed the prototype in late in March at the companys Perth Amboy fabrication shop.

About Spartan Shielding, LLC.

Spartan Shielding is a full-service shielding company with internal manufacturing capabilities for radio frequency, magnetic and radiation protection systems. With headquarters in Perth Amboy, NJ, Spartan Shielding provides shielding solutions to the healthcare industry, including RadNet, a nationwide network of outpatient imaging centers. Spartan Shielding is part of the Excalibur Group of Companies, a leader in healthcare design and construction for the last 25 years. Excalibur offers turn-key construction, with in-house capabilities including architectural, engineering, interior decorating, project management and all aspects of construction. Learn more at spartanshielding.com or xgllc.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:Peter Murraypmurray@spartanshielding.com888.442.3008 or 732.442.8440

Twophotos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/84bd2b88-5997-4ef3-9af8-7dffdd49a590

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0822f64d-995b-41c6-8859-e067f45a8406

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Spartan Shielding, LLC. Announces Availability of Modular Isolation Chambers for Hospital Patients and Staff Fighting COVID-19 - GlobeNewswire

Palm Desert | $449,000A midcentury-modern ranch house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, on a 0.2-acre lot

Just over two hours east of Los Angeles, Palm Desert is a city in the Coachella Valley popular with fans of midcentury-modern aesthetics. In addition to its plentiful midcentury homes, the area (along with nearby Palm Springs) is home to a number of antiques stores specializing in 1950s and 1960s furnishings.

This home, built in 1957, was remodeled in 2015. To retain a midcentury look and feel, the sellers worked with Moderne Builders, whose president and principal designer, Avian Rogers, specializes in midcentury renovations. The house comes furnished in a period-appropriate style.

The Shops on El Paseo, an outdoor dining and shopping area, is a five-minute drive from the property, and downtown Palm Springs is about half an hour away.

Size: 1,152 square feet

Price per square foot: $390

Indoors: Like many desert houses of the mid-20th century, this home has a glass-walled entrance shielded from the street by a privacy wall in this case, one rendered in lime-green and white stucco.

The main living area is open plan. To the left of the entrance is the kitchen, with teak cabinets and Caesarstone counters.

A block wall runs along the right side of the house, topped with triangular windows that let light into the dining space. Floors in this room, and throughout the house, are concrete.

The living room is open to the kitchen and dining area, with sliding-glass doors that open to the patio for an indoor-outdoor feel.

A hallway leads from the living room to the two bedrooms and bathrooms. Nearest to the living spaces is a guest room, with access to a side patio, and a guest bathroom with a walk-in shower tiled in shades of blue.

At the end of the hallway is the master suite, which also has access to the outdoor spaces. The en suite bathroom is tiled in bright green and orange.

Outdoor space: The living room opens to a covered patio, large enough to hold a dining table and chairs. Surrounding the oval-shaped pool and hot tub is concrete paving with plenty of room for lounge chairs. To the left of the pool, the sellers installed an artificial grass bocce court. The attached garage holds two cars.

Taxes: $5,747 (estimated)

Contact: Laurie Ridgeway, HomeSmart Professionals, 760-272-6142; palmspringsathome.com

Tulare is a small city in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley, roughly 200 miles from San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, making it a transport hub for the agriculture-based economy of central California. In February, the city plays host to the World Ag Expo, one of the worlds largest agricultural expositions. The area is also near Californias national parks: Sequoia National Park is an hours drive, while Yosemite is about three hours away.

Tulare has its own small downtown, complete with a historical museum, while the larger shopping and dining districts of Visalia are a 20-minute drive away.

Size: 2,548 square feet

Price per square foot: $176

Indoors: This house is on a cul-de-sac, with a wide driveway that leads to the front door. Built in the 1950s, the home originally had a flat roof, but the facade and roofline were reimagined by a previous owner.

The front door opens to a tiled foyer. To the right is the kitchen, which has custom cabinets and stainless steel appliances, and is open to the dining room.

To the left of the dining room is a formal living room, brightened by a wall of windows, with glass doors that open to the swimming pool. The seller, a designer, chose the custom light fixtures and the stone fireplace that runs the length of one wall.

The windows continue around the corner to a family room with exposed beams and a built-in entertainment center.

The family room and the kitchen connect to a hallway that runs along the right side of the house. At one end is a guest bedroom with a window overlooking the pool and space for a queen-size bed. Toward the front of the house are two additional bedrooms; one has an en suite bathroom, while the other has access to a hallway bathroom with a combination tub and shower. Along the hallway are a built-in desk and laundry facilities.

The master suite is to the immediate left of the front door. It has clerestory windows and a private entrance to the side yard; the en suite bathroom has a double vanity and a marble walk-in shower.

Outdoor space: The formal living room opens to a covered outdoor patio equipped with a ceiling fan. Concrete paving surrounds the swimming pool, and a grass yard extends along the side of the house. A two-car garage is attached.

Surrounded by similar early-20th-century-era bungalows in the citys South Side Historic District, this home is within easy walking distance of commercial districts and outdoor space. The state capitol building is about 15 minutes away on foot, while Southside Park, with its man-made lake and regular farmers markets, is a five-minute walk. A number of museums and cultural landmarks, including the Crocker Art Museum, the Leland Stanford Mansion and the Old Sacramento Waterfront District, are a 20-minute walk or a five-minute drive.

Size: 924 square feet

Price per square foot: $486

Indoors: A red picket fence shields the front yard from the sidewalk. A wooden stoop, also accented in red, leads to the front door, which opens directly into a living area, with a sitting room on one side and a dining space on the other.

Directly off the sitting area is one of the homes three bedrooms, which can also be entered through a rear hallway.

The dining area is partially open to the kitchen, which has granite countertops and gets plenty of natural light, thanks to a large window facing a garden on the side of the house.

Beyond the kitchen is a hallway connecting the bedrooms and the bathroom. At the far end are two bedrooms, equal in size, set across from each other. One has a side-facing window, while the other has one side-facing window and another window that looks out to the backyard. Each has its own closet.

The bathroom was refreshed by the sellers, who added a new vanity and a light fixture, but retained was the original claw-foot tub.

The third bedroom, next to the bathroom, is currently used as a home office. It has a door to the deck and backyard, as well as a closet concealed by shutter-style doors.

The basement has a small laundry area and unfinished space the sellers have used as an art studio.

Outdoor space: The backyard has a sizable deck with a built-in barbecue and space for outdoor furniture. A path lined with decorative rocks and bamboo leads to space on the side of the house that could be used as a dog run.

Taxes: $5,208 (estimated)

Contact: Christina Ellermeyer, Coldwell Banker, 916-548-2053; ellermeyergroup.com

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$450,000 Homes in California - The New York Times

For the Italian-born, London-based artist and designer Viola Lanari, creativity is often fueled by a hunt for solutions. When she moved into her two-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a handsome Victorian terrace house in Earls Court in 2011, she discovered two unappealing brushed-metal table lamps that had been wired into the fitted alcove cabinets of her living room by a previous owner. Rather than reaching for a screwdriver, she set about reinventing them with a cache of plaster strips left over from an art project shed completed during her time at the London College of Communication. Inspired first by the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacomettis 1930s Tte de Femme lamps, shaped like semi-abstracted female figures, and later by the idea of a fragile flower, she began layering the nondescript bases with the soft, water-soaked gauze. The resulting sculptures are nave and enchanting: One depicts a womans face, its features smoothed and barely discernible, like those of a timeworn marble sculpture; the other evokes a bloom with delicately layered petals, their alabaster white surface mottled by the marks of the artists hand.

It was just for fun, says Lanari, 32, when I visit her home in early March. She gestures to the two pieces, which now flank the simple white-painted wood fireplace in her living room. I remember thinking, Its not bad for a first attempt. But I never imagined anything would come of it. When she showed the lamps to friends and design editors, though, they soon commissioned her to make similar creations for their own homes and professional projects. Now, these sculptures which, depending on the hour, cast dramatic shadows across the wooden floorboards and plum, emerald and tawny brown walls of her apartment are the foundation of her practice. Each morning, Lanari makes the 20-minute trip across the city in her 1980s Volkswagen Polo to her studio in Clapham, South London, a diminutive, 345-square-foot stone-floored Victorian outbuilding part of a larger warehouse complex now occupied by artists work spaces whose weathered yellow-brick facade is obscured by a profusion of climbing ivy. Here, she strives to keep pace with the demand for her growing collection of plaster lighting and furniture, which she makes for both private clients and collaborators, including the interior decorator Beata Heuman, the antique and design gallery 8 Holland Street and the luxury bathroom specialists Balineum.

Apart from that original pair of spontaneously executed lamps, few objects in Lanaris charmingly ad hoc, ever-changing home are anchored in place. I rarely hang things, she says, referring to the unframed found canvases of daffodils, roses and pastoral scenes that lean precariously against walls, door frames and even the back of the living rooms dusty blue sofa, itself a chaotic patchwork of leopard-print, floral-patterned and embroidered cushions and throws. Nothing is fixed, she says, which allows me to swap things around easily and play. Its an interior thats never going to be finished. Indeed, Lanaris home is a living scrapbook of materials and inspirations. On every surface are assemblages of objects and ephemera that she has collected on her travels and on weekly pilgrimages to Portobello Market, from a wicker Kenyan tea set that now rests on a round end table of her own design by the fireplace to the beaded turn-of-the-20th-century macram samples she won at an auction and now displays over the backs of two Victorian nursing chairs. Such habitual sourcing is a throwback to her previous job as a stylist and assistant shoot producer for decorating magazines and provides a rich stream of ideas for her plaster art.

I like looking at objects and materials and thinking about their possibilities, she says. Its research you note the proportion of things, the color, the texture, and it all gradually builds up in your mind. One disc-shaped mirror she picked up at a flea market has found its way into her latest work; it forms the bold centerpiece of a thick, textured rectangular console, built from a chicken-wire base covered with discarded scraps of fabric many of them donated by her friend, the textile designer Kirsten Hecktermann dipped into hard plaster and carefully molded and carved to create a raw, unfinished texture. Its like a collage, she says of the piece, which currently sits in her living room and is offset by a dark brown hand-painted devor velvet Japanese wall hanging discovered at a Swiss brocante by her mother. Next fall, this creation, along with a series of other new works Lanari is producing, is scheduled to go on display in a solo exhibition at the Lant Street design showroom in South London. Shes also developing new objects, including a floor lamp and a mirror frame, to add to her white-plaster collection of lighting, consoles and side tables for the British design company Porta Romana.

These projects are encouraging Lanari to experiment with new ways of working: Shes exploring the illuminating effects of adding metal oxides and stained glass to plaster, and plans to create some terra-cotta sculptures (she recently inherited a kiln from a neighboring studio). Yet five years after her first endeavors with plaster, the powdery, malleable material still captivates her more than any other. Its so full of soul, she says. It can be shiny, like Venetian plaster, or rough; its supple but strong, fragile but sturdy. Its so generous in its uses. And so, for now at least, she will continue to fill her studio, and her home, with the luminous, unmistakably handcrafted forms that only plaster could produce, layer by gloopy layer.

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A Designer Whose Home Is as Fanciful as Her Plaster Creations - The New York Times

(CNN) For many visitors to the Netherlands, one of the great discoveries when wandering through the streets of Amsterdam or other towns and cities is that you can often take a look inside people's homes when it gets dark.

That's because many Dutch people never close their curtains or blinds. Often, people don't even have curtains or blinds.

At a time when coronavirus restrictions are confining people all over the world to their homes -- with only a window for contact to the outside world -- this national quirk seems even more intriguing.

The Dutch themselves don't think it unusual. It's so interwoven in their culture that researchers have struggled to figure out exactly why people in the Netherlands care so little about their privacy.

Those who look for an explanation for this rather curious exhibitionism quickly get caught up in major sociological tangles.

Is it an "I've-got-nothing-to-hide" or a "look-what-I've-got" mentality? Or both?

The most popular explanation stems from the Protestant religious tradition of Calvinism, which insists that honest citizens have nothing to hide.

Closing the curtains could indicate otherwise. And by letting people have a look inside, you let them know: Look, I'm a decent person!

A desire to show off possessions could also be an explanation.

As standards of living have risen over time, materials and interiors have become more luxurious and opulent. And even now people like to show off their custom-made open kitchens, designer couches or latest-model flat-screen TVs.

Some city guides explain the openness as a way that business was done in the old days. People would leave curtains open to show off a room full of the finest of furniture, decorations and art as a way of proving to merchants that they were trustworthy.

Others say it's a tradition that only really dates back to the 1950s, and has already begun to change.

Open culture

Windows help foster the open culture for which the Dutch are known.

Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

Anthropologists Hilje van der Horst and Jantine Messing researched the phenomenon in 2006 and observed that people in tight-knit neighborhoods were more likely to leave their curtain open -- and more likely to decorate their windows with statues, vases, and (fake) flowers.

Another reason, of course, is the desire of residents to watch the world go by. It's fair to say that Dutch people typically like to look outside and see the lights, the hustle and bustle of the streets, and people walking by.

The interaction between inside and outside helps foster the open culture for which the Dutch are well known.

As a Dutch citizen, I grew up in houses without curtains.

And when I moved out, I didn't use them for the first 10 years. I have them now because I have a bigger home and they bother me less.

My mother, Astrid (interviewed below) still has no curtains, which is common in De Jordaan, the now gentrified working-class district of Amsterdam that I grew up in and where she still lives.

Here, five Dutch residents with no curtains tell CNN Travel about why they still like to peek and be peeked at through their unadorned windows.

Astrid Brokke, 68, lives on the first floor

Astrid Brokke: Curtains are too bourgeois.

Katja Brokke

When I moved to live here in 1987 I tried curtains, but I found them smothering and removed them. My street is quite narrow, but until 10 years ago I had no neighbors opposite. Only a garage in a low-rise building and a company building in the distance. So there was no need. Besides, I don't like them.

Ten years ago they started to build apartments just across the street and I had to get used to close neighbors, about 10 meters from window to window. Soon it became clear that my closest neighbors had roller blinds which they shut down day and night, so the need for me to get something in front of my windows wasn't very urgent.

Why I don't like curtains, I'm not sure. I never had them apart from for a short time in the '80s. Maybe I don't like the bourgeois side of it. Maybe because I'm too lazy to do anything about it, but I don't care on the other hand.

Until a year ago I had neighbors next to me who were real Jordanesen [original residents from the the Jordaan]. They lived on the ground floor and liked showing everybody their knick-knacks, porcelain figurines and cozy lights. Especially during the holidays their house was filled with colorful fairy lights and other Christmas decorations. Even guides with groups of tourists stopped by to have a look.

A lot of the original inhabitants of De Jordaan like to showcase their interior. Sadly most of them have passed away or were forced to move because of the rental and house prices going through the roof.

Since there's been an increase of outsiders -- mostly expats -- more and more curtains close. Also young people tend to want to have more privacy. Unfortunately the openness disappears; the lights in the streets coming from the living rooms, the social control that comes with it and the gezelligheid [a Dutch concept meaning conviviality, coziness or fun]. It's getting darker every year.

Jan Willem van Hofwegen, 41, lives on the third floor

Jan Willem van Hofwegen: Curtains are too stuffy.

Michel Schnater

For the past five years I'm living in this house, on the third floor -- so pretty high -- and I always thought people couldn't look into my living room which is in the front part facing the street and the apartments opposite. From across the street it's too far away and from the street it's too high. I thought.

Then I was buying groceries across the street and my partner turned on the lights. I looked up and realized people passing by could see everything happening.

I wasn't aware of this, but it will not make me use any blinds or curtains. I never have, primarily because of aesthetic reasons. I don't like blinds and they are not practical since my windows open inward. Curtains I find a bit stuffy and they don't match my modern interior.

Jan Willem van Hofwegen

Besides the aesthetics and stuffiness I like to see the outside lights when it's dark. I don't mind neighbors looking into my living room. It's quite a distance and I've never seen anyone with binoculars lurking outside my house, so I don't care.

I think a lot of Dutch people don't use curtains because we like the light and we don't have anything to hide.

When I was a kid I delivered the mail as a side job and during my shifts I could follow popular TV shows by riding my bike from house to house. I like peeking in people's homes at night, especially the canal houses in Amsterdam with their beautiful ceilings, paintings and closets. I'm not staring or anything, just peeking inside while walking by.

Marianna Beets, 51 lives on the ground floor

Marianna Beets: Most of the time people smile and wave back.

Puk Beets

I have lived here for over 25 years, but it's only for the last 13 years I've not had anything to cover my windows.

Thirteen years ago I demolished my old house and built the one I live in now. Buying curtains was on my to-do list, like hundreds of other things, and apparently the curtain part wasn't that urgent since I still have uncovered windows in the living room.

The room is located directly on a street and canal in Edam, a touristy fishing village next to Volendam, where I'm originally from.

There are always people walking by. Sometimes they stop and stare. When I wave they get shy, promptly aware of what they were doing, but most of the time they smile and wave back. I don't mind.

I like watching tourists and the interaction. I think otherwise I might feel secluded and this way I am always in contact with the outside world. It's an extension of my house. It's gezellig.

Marianna Beets

I understand why people peek inside, I enjoy it too. Other people's interiors inspire me and the best time to do so is at night when it's dark and the lights are on.

When I was living in Amsterdam I had neighbors who were not aware of the possibility they could be seen because they lived on the fifth floor, but I saw things that did not belong to my eyes!

I have no problem walking through the house in only my sleeping shirt and undies. Only on Sunday morning, during the Sunday Mass in the church across the canal, I make sure I'm more covered.

In the end I do want curtains, for sure. It's on my list again now I have more time due to corona. Why? Because I want to have a choice. To close them, or keep them open.

Natasja Wielandt, 34, lives on the second floor

Natasja Wielandt: I don't want to block that view with any curtain or blinds.

Fay van den Bos

In December 2016 I moved from the city center of Amsterdam to IJburg, a relatively new suburban area with lots of space and nature around.

My house is located next to a big lake called IJmeer so the views from the front of the house are spectacular. One side of my house borders several walking paths and the other side a courtyard and some apartment complexes, but not close by.

I have a panoramic view on the water and a city beach and I don't want to block that view with any curtain or blinds. Day or night.

The view during sunsets are amazing and I get very happy waking up and walking into the living room with my coffee and looking outside. It creates a feeling of calmness and freedom and with the city life continuing outside it gives that city feeling I need.

I can't imagine living somewhere secluded on a meadow. I like the wideness and the water in particular. The view is a very pivotal part of the reason I'm living here.

To create some privacy I placed my couch in a way I can relax and lay down without people noticing.

At my grandparents' house the curtains were always open too. I think they didn't mind people looking inside. Their generation was more open and more social anyway. Everybody was always welcome.

I myself only look at people's houses when I see something I like or that inspires me, like a beautiful furnished room or a beautiful garden. I have no need to watch people eating or sitting on the couch watching television.

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'We have nothing to hide' -- Why Dutch people don't mind you peering into their homes - CNN

The 50 States Project is a yearlong series of candid conversations with interior designers we admire, state by state. Today, were chatting with Tiffany Skilling, who founded her Indianapolis-based firm in 2015 and gained early clients by leading tours of her own home on the local neighborhood associations house walk. In addition to sharing the renovation of her house and home office, she talks about seeing the potential in old homes, the in-person design activity she misses most during quarantine, and why she doesnt want her firm to grow much bigger.

Tell me a little bit about the design scene in Indianapolisthe types of clients and size of the projects youre working on.The firm started out with just me five years ago. I did small projects, one room at a timeId do a kitchen, or a living rooms furnishings, and a half-bath or a master bath. Now, it's evolved. We really like to focus on whole houses, and specifically in the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood and the surrounding area in midtown Indianapolis. And we like to focus on renovating historic homes.

How did you focus in on that niche specifically?Ive always loved historic homes. Im originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan. My husband and I lived in Cold Spring, New York, for a while before moving back to the Midwest. We lived in Grand Rapids for a year in an old farmhouseit was the first house [built] in that area, and then all these larger, beautiful historic homes popped up over time. We got our first taste of old houses there, and then four and a half years ago we moved to the Meridian-Kessler area of Indianapolis and bought a fixer-upper. Its been a labor of love, this house. But moving into this area brought me my clients. I was lucky enough to be on the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood association home tour right after we finished the house, so several thousand people went through it, and my businessI wouldnt say it exploded, but I really started to gain interest.

So, on the house tour, were you also saying, Im a designer and you can hire me to do this?Yes. You had an option to be at the home during the tour, and I was so proud of it that I wanted to be one of the docents. I hung out there, answered questions and shamelessly handed out my business card. If you want something, you gotta make it happen.

Since then, its all been word of mouth, and Ive had amazing opportunity after amazing opportunityand wonderful clients who believe in us, who Im now on second and third projects with. At this point, we really are focusing on whole houses, which is super fun. I mean, its kind of crazy right now. Some of our houses have been halted; some are still under construction.

The kitchen Skilling designed for her own homeAshlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

What are you working on right now?Whole-house wise, we have a refresh thats underwaywe went in and changed the exterior, including paint colors, windows, lighting, and then new wood floors, paint, trim and lighting inside, and we redid their master bath. Thats almost done. And then we have another house, a large Tudor that weve completely transformed. We changed the entire floor plan but kept all of the beautiful elements. And then were transforming a large Greek Revival home too, and it also has an addition. Those are our big projects, and then we have all kinds of little ones going on in between.

How many projects are you typically working on at one time?Large-scale, I would say three to five. Smaller-scale, probably 10 to 15. And then we have our repeat clients who will say, Hey, I need a lighting update, or I need some new art, or I need a new sofa. We always have them coming back, so we have to have room for them too.

What does your team look like now?Well, right this minute, its a little different because were all in the shelter-in-place atmosphere. But in general, Kelly Colby is our director of operations; she handles billing clients and doing all of our QuickBooks along with assisting me with design. And then Donna Porter is our design coordinator. She just joined usshe was actually a client of ours, and we just finished their whole house in January, but she started working with us in September because she loved the process so much and I was like, Ooh! We need you! She works for us about 15 hours a week, keeping the office in shape by making sure that samples go in and out properly and that our crazy library of samples is always in order.

Your own sample librarian!She is. Shes amazing. And shes kind of my mom too. She always takes care of me. She makes sure that the printer has ink and orders us new business cards, that kind of stuff. And then we work the Ashlee Kindred on our photography and social media.

Skilling's living room, which helped her net early clientsAshlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

Youre all working out of an office in your home, right?So, this house that we bought, were the third owners. It was a Lutheran parsonage, and then this other family bought it and owned it for 40 years. It hadnt been touched besides a 1960s renovation to the kitchen. It was a three-bedroom house with a bunch of small, compartmentalized rooms, but a huge dining room because it was a place for the clergy to meet. Only the main floor was finished, but the attic was huge. It had 9-foot ceilings, and the floor joists supported a second floor. We knew that before we bought the house.

We did a renovation in two phases: First, we did the main floor. At the time, one of the bedrooms that was off the kitchen and made that into our laundry room and also my office. But we knew that there was always going to be a phase two for the attic, which we finished a year and a half ago. We added three bedrooms and two baths upstairs, which completely transformed how this house worked. Our old master bedroom became my office. I was like, Oh, my gosh, I have my own space now. Because for the first couple of years, my office was in the laundry room but I really worked at our kitchen island. I had crap there all day, every day, and it drove everyone crazy.

Did you have a team at that point, or did you have your own dedicated space by the time you had a team?Kelly and I worked together at my kitchen island for a year and a half. She just went along with it, and it was great. She and I laugh about it nowwhen the major construction was going on upstairs, adding plumbing lines and electrical to this empty shell of a space, it was so loud we couldnt even hear anything. So its funny to look back and remember that. Now were bursting at the seams in this office!

The first-floor home office where Skilling and her team workAshlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

Where do you typically shop?We have a lot of direct relationships with reps, so I dont go to the design center [in Indianapolis] a lot. There are times that we do get there, and theyre a fantastic resource. But I find that for where we are located, how we work, and the efficiencies for our business, having reps come right to us when there are new products, its sometimes more efficient to work [with them] directly.

For fabrics and wallcoverings, I love Thibaut, Schumacher, Phillip Jeffries and Quadrille. I love Stark for carpet, and we also work with a local company called Blakeleys that carries a lot of different carpet brands. I like DuChateau for hardwood flooring; for tile, I have a special place in my heart for Rookwood Tiletheyre an amazing, small, historic tile company. Theyve been around since the late 1800s and are a women-owned company, and 80 percent of their employees are women too. They also do really beautiful ceramics. We also work with The Tile Shop, Louisville Tile and another local tile company called Architectural Brick & Tile. And for lighting, we tend to use Visual Comfort in most of our projects, as well as Currey & Company, Urban Electric Co., and Arteriors. Whoever is really easy to work with, theyre the ones who are kind of our tried-and-true.

You studied textile and apparel design and then worked as a fashion designer and clothing production manager. How did you get your start in design, and what was your journey to launching your own firm?I had stopped working [as a stylist] at Anthropologie and took a little time off. I had our second child and really just didnt know what I wanted to do anymore. We were renovating a house in Carmel, Indiana. I knew I really loved interior design, and I could take the skill sets I had through fashion design and the different industries Ive been in and create a business. The big step was right before we moved [from Carmel] to this home in the Meridian-Kessler area. I just took the leap [in 2015], and people started hiring me.

With the shelter-in-place order, how much work is on hold for you right now, and how are you approaching that pause?For the first couple weeks, some projects were still going pretty heavy. I was finalizing whole-house lighting plans in two different homes and a couple other large-scale deliverables that I needed to give to some contractors who are still moving forward. Construction in Indiana is still essential, for the most part, so those projects kept me busy for the first couple of weeks. Last week was slower, but in a good waymy kids were technically on spring break. Then this week has kind of been like, What do I do next?

Last Friday, I had a potential client contact me through Instagram, saying that they have a new build that they wanted to talk to me about, so now I have a call with them tomorrow. Thats starting in the fall. Then I have two other future new-builds happening. One is slated to start in the fall, so were working on exterior renderings right now. People are still thinking about the future, so things are still going on. And then I have another new client that we just signed that wants to do two furnishing projects and she is OK with doing them virtually. So we had a FaceTime call last week, and then she uploaded photos and video of the two rooms she wants to work on, and did a little walkthrough for me, and shes providing me with measurements, and were moving forward.

So its a little slower, and there are some things that are on pauselike a couple of stair-runners that we havent installed because the clients dont want people in their houses. Our amazing workroom that does all of our custom draperies is on pause right now. But you know what? Its fine. You know? We are where we are right now. We also canceled a couple of photo shoots. Im kind of sad that we cant show our work on those right now, but were just trying to do our part.

Skilling's officeAshlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

The home's master bedroomAshlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

Left: Skilling's office Ashlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative | Right: The home's master bedroom Ashlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

Before the coronavirus, what was the biggest challenge you were looking at in the business, and how were you thinking about opportunities to grow?Last year, our goal was to rebrand. We revised the website and did a new logo. This year, its really about refinement and trying to do all of our processes better, be more efficient. But growth-wise, I dont necessarily want [the firm] to get bigger. I know that thats crazy.

No, I think thats really interesting.The workload we have is a lot for our small company. My biggest challenge is that sometimes Ive taken on too much and not known when to say no. But in the end, the only people hurt by it are me and my family because Im working too much. This year is about knowing when to say no and knowing when to work smarter, not harder.

How do you start to do that? I feel like thats something thats so much easier to recognize in hindsight.For me, its after so many times of doing it and then realizing, Oh, why did I take that? Ive done it so many times now, that its just [making myself] pause for a second and really think, Is this a project that will bring me growth and positivity?

Sometimes you look at a project and youre like, Nope, red flag. Its not going to be a good fit. Not because its not a great project, its just not a project for my firm. Ive taken thinking about those things to heartreflecting on previous jobs and knowing if something would be good or not. And Kelly, who works with me, is an amazing voice of reason too. Shes like, Tiffany, are you sure thats one you want to do? She makes me think a little deeper sometimes instead of just saying yes all the time. And its hard to say noit really is! But we do it a lot now.

Is it about saying no to projects, or is it about adjusting timelines until youre available for those projects?If clients are willing to wait for us, then we absolutely will put them on schedule when we think that we can fit that project in. Like, if its a kitchenkitchens arent crazy anymore for us, so usually those will be two months out, depending on our schedule. But we have really overcommitted in the last couple of years, [to the point] that I found myself constantly gasping for air because I just said yes all the time. I feel like we have just come out of that in the last couple of months, and now that I am on the other side of itthere was a great project [recently], a new build that was right down the street from me, so easy to do. But they wanted to meet right away and to make these selections immediately. They had this timeline that I could not, with my current capacity of clients, there was no way that I could make it work unless I bent over backwards, so I had to say no! It was not fun.

The home's denAshlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

Saying no to things means less revenue. How do you balance the health of the firm versus the revenue side of the decision?It could mean more revenue, but then were not supporting our current clients and working to their full capacity, so then I might not be billing the hours that I really should be for them. So I feel like it kind of evens out. Now if I wanted to grow more and hire another designer, we could take more, but then theres a whole other aspect to that too. Im trying to figure out where we really want to be in the scheme of things and right now, I like being [small] and not taking on too much anymore.

I love that. Its so refreshing, because I feel like the external pressure is to always get bigger, to grow, to take on more. Yeah, and you know, I felt that.

I would like to get bigger in terms of gaining more of a following on Instagram. But in regards to overwhelming ourselves with projects, I think if people want to work with us, I would hope that theyre willing to wait. And if not, then its not meant to be.

How do you approach billing?Our design agreement says that we bill by the hour, in 15-minute increments for everything that we do for the project, and that we bill at the end of every month. Now, of course, if Im just doing a quick text to someone, I dont bill my clients for that. But anything from doing actual project work, making selections, renderings, space plansif were on a call, if someday we meet in person againwe bill for that time.

Has there ever been pushback around that? I would say, one in 50 clients question it.

How have you managed that? Thats amazing.Theres always going to be that one person who challenges you. But our clients really respect us and the work we do. I mean, they dont even flinch at what we're billing at the end of the month. Were very thorough in what we say that we do. I have my billable hours in front of me right now: For one client, a 15-minute FaceTime call. Another client, hardware schedule, 1 hour. Im really old-school, so I have a pen and a pad of paper and I write my billable hours as Im going through. I dont have any crazy program that I use, I just write them down as I go. I could be losing hours doing it that way, but I feel I've gotten really good at it, for the most part. Then I take a picture of my pad of paper and send it to Kelly, who enters it into Ivy.

The open dining area offers views into the kitchenAshlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

A breakfast table in the kitchenAshlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

Left: The open dining area offers views into the kitchen Ashlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative | Right: A breakfast table in the kitchen Ashlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

Speaking of Ivy, what tech has been essential to make the firm run?We really like Ivy. It integrates really well with QuickBooks, so we use those two hand in hand. I probably dont use Ivy to its full capacityI still do my mood boards in Pages. I like doing them that way, its easy, it doesnt take too long. I do all of my space plans in AutoCAD. And I still do a lot of hand drafting. I did take a lot of classeswhile I do not have an interior design degree, I have taken a lot of classes at IUPUI. It was almost to get an associates, but then I decided to quit because I just couldnt handle it anymore. Going to school full-time, working full-time, and with the kids, it was too much! I was like, What am I doing?

When did you do that?I did that the first couple of years of having my firm. It was insane. I do not recommend it.

Thats a lot all at once. What made you want to start?The first drive for that was because I felt that I needed itbut I only felt that I needed it because I didnt believe in myself enough. My husband always told me, You do not need to do this. People do need to go to school, dont get me wrong, and I feel like in the end, it was invaluable. I learned so much. And I needed that for my story. I love that Steve Jobs quote, You can't connect the dots moving forward, only looking back. I know that I needed to do that. But I also knew there was a time when I needed to be done.

What were the most useful elements of those courses?AutoCAD. I took several AutoCAD classes and a couple of Revit classes, though I dont use Revit because its a little more robust than what I really need. I took several classes on lighting design, a ton of space planning classes, some mechanical design, an introduction to building construction. It was enough for me to learn what I needed to understand about how the trades and construction work. I wouldnt say I have formal training, but weve done enough projects now that I think Im kind of there.

Though the upstairs of the home was immense, the second story had never been built. Skilling had to add a staircase for access when she renovated.Ashlee Kindred, Ash and Co. Creative

What shaped your aesthetic, and what are the influences that have informed the look and feel of what you do?I think the most beautiful designs are ones that have this rich layering to them. I am a very avid antiquer. Its killing me right now that I cant. I mean, I antique weekly. Im always going to junk shops and antique shops and finding treasuresthats what I call them. On any given day, theres a bunch of what my husband calls crap in my office. My mother-in-law and I started antiquing together years ago, and she taught me a lot too. She has a really great eye. Also, my background in the fashion industry [has influenced me]its a lot of things rolled up into one.

When youre antiquing, are you buying with a client or a place for that piece in mind? Or are you buying because you know it's a good piece and youll find a place for it?Both! I have a running list right now of clients who want specific things. Actually, right before all of this happened, I found this beautiful wardrobe for a clientI had the dimensions with me in a Google doc of exactly what could fit in this space. We took away their foyer closet when we renovated their kitchen, so they still needed a place to put coats. I came upon this beautiful armoire, and it fit perfectly for them. I found several sets of antique corbels a couple months ago, and I only have one set left. They found homes in different projects, but when I bought them, I had no idea where they were going.

Is there risk in that, or has that worked out well for you historically?To me theres no risk, because we are always using what I am sourcing in staging for photo shoots, and most of the time, whatever we stage, clients will buy some of it. So its always rotating. One client recently said, Hey, I need something for my dining table. So I was like, Lets go shopping with Tiffany, and I texted her all of these pictures of things that I had that would work. Then I walked down the street with this antique foot bath and dropped it off on her porch yesterday. And she sent me a picture of it this morning!

Are you optimistic about what the next, two, three, five years hold? Where do you hope to be? I hope to continue working on these beautiful old homes, telling the story of these homes for our clients. I feel like its so special to be a part of, and you really develop these rich relationships with people, and I hope people continue to want to do that with us. I would love to start designing some furnishings, whether its tabletop, decorlike vases or objectsor I really love doing custom artwork. Now that were in this slow time, I have a bunch of custom artwork, some original pieces by me that Im going to upload to our e-commerce site. I hope maybe that evolves a little bit. I would love to design wallcoverings and maybe some textiles. Things like that. I would love to grow in that way. In regard to home design, I dont know if I want to be any bigger than we are.

To learn more about Tiffany Skilling, visit her website or find her on Instagram.

Homepage photo: Tiffany Skilling | Chloe Lane Photography

Originally posted here:
How this Indiana designer used her own home to nab clients - Business of Home

Toward the end of March, designer Eny Lee Parker posed a challenge on Instagram: Create your dream home in miniature using polymer clay.

Parker is a ceramics artist known for her spherical furniture and jewelry designs, many of which are inspired by the natural world. She recorded her own room-making process on Instagram Stories in hopes of inspiring others to participate in the event, dubbed Clay Play.

I started three weeks ago when New York City started to quarantine, Parker tells Eleanor Gibson of Dezeen. I knew that for me, I'd have to keep myself busy so my mind wouldn't focus on the bad news happening everywhere. You need a balance of being well-informed while finding positivity to stay sane and safe.

Viewers can watch Parkers process via Instagram, from the textures she adds to a miniature chair and sofa to her development of a tiny version of a lamp seen in the videos background. The artists final design features a checkered rug, blue double doors and a wavy coffee table set in the center of the room.

Semi-transparent sconces appear flanked by black polymer clay chain links that resemble the ceramic chains frequently seen in Parkers work; in real life, the motif adorns vases, dangles from earrings and dots entire curtains. A vase of tulips is the designers favorite part of the room, she says in her Instagram Story.

I thought of ways to start a challenge that people could do while being home, Parker tells Dezeen. Polymer clay was my go-to since I focus on ceramics, and creating an ideal room seemed fitting since we are all in our homes.

Parkers designs are based on natural shapes ranging from the beach to, most recently, individual brain cells. As the New York Times Lizzie Feidelson reported in March, the artists latest collection of 11 lamps was inspired by 20th-century Spanish scientist Santiago Ramn y Cajals pen-and-ink drawings, which she stumbled upon while exploring a secondhand book store.

To share the fun and encourage participation in the Clay Play challenge, Parker sent materials to seven fans who didnt have them on hand. By the contest deadline of April 2, 46 artists, architects and designers had sent in submissions.

Entries feature stained glass, elaborate fireplaces, multiple levels and sunsets in the background, among other creative touches. One finalist recreated a Pablo Picasso mural on their ideal rooms wall, while another used mirrors to create the illusion of an infinite space. The clay miniatures made use of furnishings from favorite designers, including several of Parkers own creations.

Four days ago, the artist shared snapshots of the nine finalists on Instagram and put the final decision to a vote. The poll has since garnered more than 7,500 comments. Parker has yet to announce the contests winner and runner-up (who will receive a small Oo lamp and daisy sconce, respectively, as prizes), but in the meantime, those interested can scroll through the dozens of submissions to see where artists wish they were spending their stay-at-home periods.

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Read the original post:
These Artists Used Clay to Build Their Dream Homes in Miniature - Smithsonian.com