Stylist Lili Diallo's Chic Brooklyn Loft

I've managed to contract the plague that is going around New York right now so I'm too busy chugging cough syrup and watching the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice to write anything coherent. Until I recover, I'm leaving you with some lovely photos of stylist Lili Diallo's Brooklyn loft. I think this is a prime example of the type of features that Domino does best. A very personal home that is filled with treasures from around the world and is full of personality. Unlike me a the moment. Enjoy!

David Netto's Chic Progression

I have California on the brain this week so after posting Kaufmann House designed by Richard Neutra, I thought it might be fun to see how David Netto's style progressed after he moved from New York apartment to a Richard Neutra house in Los Angeles. Above is David and his wife, Elizabeth and their daughter Madelyn as seen in the January issue of Vogue. Rus Meyer wrote the accompanying article which makes me wonder if it had originally been slated for for House & Garden. Although, Vogue profiled David Netto and his then fiancee Ione Skye in 2003 but I'll get to more about that later.

I think the best thing about living in California and in a Richard Neutra house is the blurred line between indoors and out and the abundance of floor to ceiling windows. Which is perfect since it's sunny 360 days a year. In the living room above, a Mies van der Rohe daybed and Poul Kjaerholm lounge chairs sit a top a rug that looks suspiciously similar to one in the house Netto shared with Ione Skye which you'll see coming up. The white sculpture is by John Koga and the wicker ottoman is by Franco Albini.

David wasn't afraid of color as evidenced by his bright red office above which to me looks like it harkens back to his Upper East Side upbringing. The sofa is by Zanotta and the artwork is by Gregory Crewson, Al Held, Michael Muller and others.

In the dining area that faces the interior courtyard, sits a Jean Prouve table and Jens Risom stools. The lamp is Giacometti and the photograph is by Candida Hofer.

The best thing David Netto ever did for the world of design was create Netto Collection his "line of stylish furniture and accessories for kids and the parents who love them." I could never understand why all baby furniture and accessories had to be pink and blue. I will definitely be buying it when I have children. The best part is that it's all eco-friendly and non-toxic and non-VOC emitting!

David's last house in Los Angeles was the one he shared with Ione Skye when they were together, above. It was originally owned by Ione and now she lives there alone. Vogue profiled the two of them for a 2003 article and Domino published her home in September 2005.

Of course, Ione picked out the IKEA lounge chairs on the pool deck. We all know David has much more expensive taste!

A montage of David and Ione's New York apartment and LA home above.

You'll have to excuse the small images but I thought they were too cute not to include. Above is a photo of David and his parent's taken in East Hampton where they had a house. He admits he had an privileged upbringing and was interested in interior design from a young age. When he was 14, he upholstered his bedroom at 1020 Fifth Avenue in green velvet. His father was also responsible for reviving Cowtan & Tout which David said was "instrumental in fueling the eighties look of glazed chintzes."

You have to wonder if David's daughter Kate above or his other daughter Madelyn will follow in his interior design footsteps.

David was the one who overhauled Ione's home when he moved in. He sanded the floors, painted the whole house white and converted Ione's studio into the master bedroom. I think the nicest touch are the African touches he added to warm it up like the pillows, baskets and stools.

He also added cozy sheepskin rugs which add texture and Ione's paintings including the one in the background.

The low dining table is not something that most would try but Ione says it's inviting and great for kids. Just hope there is someone on hand to help you back up later.

I think you couldn't help but be inspired if you sat at a red desk like the one in Ione's office! The photograph above is by John Swope.

In daughter Kate's room, David converted an Italian bookcase into an armoire which inspired his Netto Collection. He says and I agree, "a child's bedroom doesn't need to suffer overly cutesy furniture."

In the bedroom they shared, a jute rug takes center stage in the calm bedroom.

In the bedroom that is hers alone now, Ione traded out the jute rug for fun stripes and added a patterned coverlet. You can see her hippie making the house her own again.

Before he moved to Los Angeles permanently, David kept his apartment in New York and would commute back and forth. I would be loathe to give up such an amazing apartment on Washington Square too! I think we have all at one time or another discussed how much we love David's co-mingling of modern furniture and antiques. It really is the perfect mix!

I would kill for a wall of bookcases like his and the Cy Twombly and the Yves Klein coffee table. I love it all. "You're not living until you have an Yves Klein coffee table" insists David. I'll remember that!

I especially love the odd assortment of chairs that you know he probably picked up here and there along his travels. “The signature of my work is to make people look like collectors, no matter what they haven’t got,” David says. “That’s how you get personality into a house.”

“I wanted the space to feel like the most beautiful suite on a 1930s French luxury liner.”

“The most elegant interiors are just slightly tatty.”

In the sitting room are a pair of French leather armchairs and a cocktail table from the 1920s, and an 18th-century Swedish drop-front secretary. “I wanted it to feel like a movie set.”

In the kitchen, a Charles X opaline chandelier hangs above a Alvar Aalto table and chairs.

The walls of the master bedroom are covered in a hand-blocked wallpaper mural by Zuber. “It has taken Elizabeth a while to get used to it,” Netto admits, “but I think it’s extremely cool.” It serves as the backdrop for a Jean-Michel Basquiat drawing and a Regency mechanical table. I'm not sure I could have moved to Los Angeles if I owned this apartment! It's too perfect!

April Domino Cover

US Weekly has a sneak preview of the April cover of Domino magazine featuring Drew Barrymore in this week's issue...and you thought they were just good for useless celebrity gossip. I will definitely be stalking my local newsstand until it arrives!

Kaufmann House

My last post about J. Crew using Kaufmann House in Palm Springs as a backdrop for their latest catalog shoot had me going back for more. Designed in 1946 by Richard Neutra, it is a wonderful example of mid-century modern architecture.

The house was commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. who also commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build Fallingwater. It's interesting how both homes clearly embrace their environment and blur the line of indoors and out.

Both homes employ glass corners so as not to obstruct the views and horizontal stone walls, but were designed by different architects 10 years apart. Therefore, one has to wonder how much influence the Kaufmann's had on the designs.

According to The New York Times, "Neutra was known for catering sensitively to the needs of his clients, so that their houses would be not only functional but would also nurture their owners psychologically." So maybe the Kaufmann's were influential in the design.

"The house stood vacant for several years after Kaufmann's death in 1955. Then it went through a series of owners, including the singer Barry Manilow, and a series of renovations. A patio was enclosed, one wall was broken through for the addition of a media room, the sleek roof lines were interrupted with air-conditioning units, and some bedrooms were wallpapered in delicate floral prints."

"After purchasing the house and its more than an acre of land for about $1.5 million, the new owners removed the extra appendages and enlisted the architects Leo Marmol and Ron Radziner.They sought out the original providers of paint and fixtures and even reopened a long-closed section of a Utah quarry to mine matching replacement stones."

The new owners also bought several adjoining plots to more than double the land around the 3,200-square-foot house, restoring the desert buffer that Neutra envisioned.

Kaufmann House was just one Palm Springs home made famous by photographer Julius Shulman and will be part of 150 photographs of structures by architects such as Richard Neutra, John Lautner, A. Quincy Jones, Paul Williams, E. Stewart Williams, Albert Frey, William Cody, Donald Wexler and Palmer & Krisel, in the new exhibition Julius Shulman: Palm Springs that runs through May 4 at the Palm Springs Art Museum and also in the beautiful book by Rizzoli, Julius Shulman: Palm Springs.

But Julius Shulman wasn't the only famous photographer to shoot the famed Kaufmann House, Slim Aarons shot these two iconic photos of the home in 1970 and were obviously the inspiration for J. Crew. Oh, and don't forget that the house can be yours for approximately $25 million if you feel like bidding at Christie's on May 13. Bonne Chance!

J. Crew at Kaufmann House

I've been wanting to visit Palm Springs for a while and now I'm even more inspired after seeing the photos of Kaufmann House, the backdrop to J. Crew's spring collection.

Kaufmann House was commissioned by Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr., the same man who commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build Fallingwater. It was designed by Richard Neutra in 1946 and was recently restored to it's former glory. In a weird twist of fate, the couple behind the restoration, Brent Harris, an investment manager, and Beth Edwards Harris, an architectural historian, are finalizing their divorce, and plan to auction the Kaufmann House at Christie's in New York on May 13. The building, with a presale estimate of $15 million to $25 million, will be part of Christie's high-profile evening sale of postwar and contemporary art.

I'll post more photos later but until then, I'm off to shop. First stop, J. Crew of course!

Tables by Alexandra Von Furstenberg

I heard Alexandra Von Furstenberg was launching a line of furniture a few months ago but couldn't find any information until now. For the few of you who don't know, Ms. Von Furstenberg is one of the Miller sisters and was formerly married to Diane Von Furstenberg's son. She is well bred and well traveled so I was interested to see what she would come up with but must admit that I am disappointed. According to the New York Times, her collection is made up of "sculptural high-gloss plastic tables that are injected with neon colors and named after diamonds (and priced like diamonds, too)" from $7,000 to $60,000!


I see where she was going with it. She said, "It's the same thing everywhere: the same handbag, the same painting hanging on the wall, the same car. I wanted to make something in limited editions with love." But I don't feel like she has a handle on the mood now. And I don't mean trends, I mean the mood of what's going on in the country. We're going through a recession now and people are spending more time at home. They want a space that is cozy and embraces them in a big hug. They don't want to come home to furniture that looks like they might poke them in the eye or cut their shin. I think that's why people have responded so positively to the interiors in Atonement and now Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. Not to mention the fact that the tables cost more than some cars. I'm curious as to what everyone else thinks.