What Is Green Design?




As if it wasn't challenging enough to choose one paint
color over another, now there's 'green'? And, what exactly is 'green'? And, what exactly is 'green interior design'?' And what is 'green architecture'?

Going green,' is minimizing harmful effects on human health and the environment and going green is increasing smart solutions to improving the planet. Designers and architects are focusing design efforts for social good incorporating these green goods and services.



Adaptive Re-use: Re-purposing Old Buildings For New Uses


The The Tate Modern Museum is a preeminent museum that once was a power plant and is now one of the world's most famous examples of adaptive re-use.

The Tate Modern was created from the shell of the old, unsightly Bankside Power Station on the Thames River in London.

One old power station,
goes international,
then goes award-winning museum,
through sustainable architecture.  

The Tate Modern contains four art galleries and houses the national collection of British art from 1500 to the present day as well as international modern and contemporary art.  Its collection includes nearly 70,000 artworks by over 3,000 artists and grows every year.

For a listing of more exemplary adaptive re-use buildings . . .



Click here to continue reading this article and to see "Apple Pecan Chicken Salad On Croissants."

New Kershisnik Art "Fall Coming Like Three Sisters"

American artist Brian Kershisnik's original oil paintings sell for $50,000 +.
 He's deserving of serious props.

It's hard to believe that Kershisnik never considered being an artist in his early years. "I liked to draw," he says. "But I don't think I was particularly good at it. I just had an interest in it."

Brian Kershisnik's family lived and traveled all over the world and he says he hopes to continue doing so; but says it has been in the isolation of rural Utah that his

'vision has had a chance to grow'.

Brian Kershisnik is an American, contemporary, impressionistic artist who is worthy of celebrating.



I'm pleased to tell you however that the Something Beautiful Shoppe makes available to you, a limited number of giclee prints, signed and numbered by the Artist, at reasonable prices.  To see more information about this new art print piece, "Fall Coming Like Three Sisters," click here.


A Bonus For You Heirloom Tomato Tart Recipe

By: White On Rice Couple, Todd Porter and Diana Cu, White On Rice Couple Stories Of Food.
Travel. Life. Photography.


The Tart Dough includes:
  • sliced fresh tomatoes
  • pesto sauce
  • sliced medium onion
  • goat cheese
  • thyme
  • sea salt
  • fresh cracked black pepper
The Pesto Sauce ingredients include:
  • pinenuts
  • walnut halves
  • peppercorns
  • garlic cloves
  • freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
  • fresh lemon juice
  • sea salt
  • olive oil
The above photo and recipe are copyrights on White On Rice.  Click here to see the complete recipe for the Heirloom Tomato Tart, by the White On Rice Couple.  Thank you to the White On Rice Couple.


For more about art articles, you may want to peruse the following:
More Articles About Art And Artwork

"Decorating My Home Journal Entry:  My Studio Apartment (Small, Temporary, Pretty)"
"Art Objects Make Room Come Alive"
"Posters As Art"
"Robert Doisneau, Famous "The Kiss" Photo & His Frank & Humorous Depictions Of 1950's French Life"
"Decorating With Art And Objects D'Art"
"Decorating My Home Journal Entry:  Santa Fe Meets Chic Style - Update of Decorative Painting"
"Decorating My Home Journal Entry:  Master Bedroom Paint Color - Da Da Da Dahhhh!"
"Walls As Art"
"Decorating My Home Journal Entry:  My Loft Apartment - Rockford, IL"
"Design Art - Brad Pitt & Marc Jacobs ( & We) Can Enjoy The Style"
"Chalkboard Art"
Also see my Pinterest Board, "Alternate Art Forms (Chalkboards, Paste On Murals, Random Other Stuff) & Decor"



Decorating My Dreamhouse - Carmel, California











In my current Something Beautiful Journal entry, "Decorating A Dreamhouse," I'm imagining that I'm living in this Carmel Highlands, California house built in 1918 of native stone in Arts and Crafts style. 

The D. L. James House, as it is named, is a monument unique in the United States.

The stone structure seems to have grown out of its site atop the rocky cliffs.  It is difficult at some places to " . . . ascertain just where nature's rock has ended and man's masonry genius has begun," — Randell L. Makinson. Greene & Greene: "Architecture as a Fine Art".  Architects: Green & Green.

You can search the world with attempts to find venues that are as incredibly dynamic and yet so quaint and picturesque as Carmel, nestled in a pine forest above a spectacular white-sand beach.

It's some nice real estate.

We're going inside now, so join me as I decorate my Carmel, California Dreamhouse.




 Article continued, click to continue reading.

Tuna Apple Mini Melts


Tuna Apple Mini Melts Recipe

Yield:  Makes 45 Tartlets
Total:  1 hour, 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup diced Pink Lady Apple*
1/3 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons minced red onion
1 hard cooked egg, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
2 (12-oz.) cans solid white tuna in spring water, drained and flaked
3 (1.9-oz.) packages frozen mini-phyllo pastry shells, thawed
12 deli Havarti cheese slices, cut into 4 pieces each
Garnish:  thin Pink Lady apple slices

Preparation:

1.  Stir together first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl.  Stir in tuna.  Cover and chill 1 hour.
2.  Divide mixture among phyllo shells (about 1 Tbsp. each), and place on a 15" x 10" jelly roll pan.  Top with cheese pieces.
3.  Preheat broiler with oven rack 5-1/2" from heat.  Broil tartlets 1 - 2 minutes or until cheese is melted.  Serve immediately.  Garnish, if desired.

*Gala apple may be substituted.

Ashley McMakin, Birmingham, Alabama, Ashley Mac's, Birmingham, Alabama, from Southern Living


Below Are More Something Beautiful Journal Bonus Recipes:

Heirloom Tomato Tart Recipe
Pecan Pie Muffins Recipe
Spinach Balls Appetizer Recipe
Tuna Apple Mini Melts Recipe

Decorating The Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 1

This is the first article of a series about the four acre adobe ranch house.

It happens that I shared this house, which was easy, because it had two distinct and separate living areas. Located near Albuquerque, New Mexico, it was an enchanting 100-year old adobe house on four acres needing a lot of work. The project started in 2007 and continued for many years.

Left, adobe house are usually simple but may use things from nature or time-honored tools for decor. When I arrived all of the trim and the wagon wheels set into the surrounding walls were unpainted. They popped with vibrancy when I painted them blue.








The roommate was a minimalist but appreciated my art and furniture and energy.  I personally love exotic and indulgence in my surroundings. I saw the adobe house with a whimsically, pretending here was a place where exotic possessions have been brought back from a boating voyage that may have included the Orient or a European coastal inlet. My style in my new place was "ethnic chic" aka "Santa Fe Style Meets Exotic and Indulgent Chic".


Here are some glimpses; it is very much a project underway. 


La Cocina - The Kitchen


I first painted the kitchen butter yellow and then came back and added some fun artwork. The festival tile as a back splash but a gap existed from where a top open had been removed.  I faux painted festival time and a floral display.

Salon - The Living Room

The oil painting on the far wall is of the Dunkirk Harbor, Northern France, a piece from the roommate's family, dating from 1650 - 1700's. 

(I may have forgotton to mention the roommate was into boating, as in any kind, even America's Cup level yacht racing.) He is a minimalist
and boating afficiando also the budget guy; she just buys extra pillows to try to liven up the old pink sofas.



Mi Bano






I love art and artworks, everywhere. Even in my bathroom.



La Sala Para Television - The Television Room




Design issues abound in this room that photos couldn't show - and I'm not even showing the television wall in this article. Smile ..........
 



Sala El Sol

The sun room has the 18" adobe walls of course on three sides and oversize garden windows in the adobe wall on the fourth, plus sun lights in the roof. Most of the house including the sun room has brick floors on dirt, the balance are wood. 


We are lucky to have been able to generously cover many floor areas with significant rugs and the walls host some truly magnificent art. Because the walls are adobe, here and in the rest of the house, we've the challenge of having to hang some artwork from hooks in the ceiling hooks with hanging wire, similar to art gallery style, to avoid literally seeing our walls crumble in front of us.




To me, this seating area is a "triple fingersnap in the shape of a Z," exhibiting Ethnic Chic. The ethnic style starts with the mix of bright colors. Santa Fe style exudes color but it wonderfully seems to honor that 'way back when' these colors were limited to the dyes and pigments of the area's vegetation.


The chic, exotic and indulgent look is in the super-plush and deep seat cushions, the quantity of the pillows and the little important things like dingle balls on the pillows. It doesn't hurt the stylin' look that the pillows have paisley. Paisley is so classic! The 1970's painting is from the family; it is an overview of what the table looked like at Thanksgiving. 



El Quarto Para La Cama - The Bedroom



Check out later!  This room gets killer! Bedding is from Anthropologie.






Los Caballos - The Horses



See below to see how the equine area has changed over time. We built a horse training facility on the property. 

To view more about the four acre horse ranch AND the guesthouse, see below:


Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 1

Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 2
Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 3
Decorating the Four-Acre Horse Ranch, Pt. 4

Pinterest Board:  Horse Ranch Photos And Guest House

Kitchen Lighting Styles And Trends 2014 + Pesto Pasta Bonus Recipe (Cont'd)

Click to return to main post.


The latest kitchen trend isn't a trend or a style - it's a 'livability'.

Since function is the key, primary element in designing kitchen space anyways, this makes sticking to the the fundamentals of vital importance.

Of the many design essentials in creating your extremely livable kitchen, ample light and lighting are requisites. What's more, proper layering of this design element is critical in assuring that you achieve the look you desire and, one that 'lives well'. 

How sweet it is!


In kitchen lighting there are five primary types:  1. recessed  2. wall-mounted  3. pendant  4. ceiling-mounted, and  5. track. Each has its primary and secondary uses and a space may require one or all of these lighting types in order to perform a specific task or set a desired mood.


This is a good time to proclaim: Chandeliers are no longer just for entryways!

Jerome Buttrick of Buttrick Wong Architects, notes about this splendid lighting form, "It's nice to have a chandelier over a kitchen island as it adds intimacy and scale to a room, although it should not compete with the dining room lighting."



This is what kitchens are all about:

  • cooking, fit for a chef
  • the centerpiece of the house

Designed and implemented properly, as seen at right in this wonderfully combined island/casual breakfast nook, both are visually and functionally correct.

This immense space was heightened by the absolutely perfect lighting choices.
























These are destination kitchens. Gone are the days when kitchens are just kitchens.  Trends and styles. Basically design in its best sense. These key notes should bring about the objective of assuring that you achieve the look you desire, and one that lives well for you.

Working with a lighting professional and a qualified interior designer will help assure you get the look you want while eliminating costly mistakes. In the long run this will also save you the most important thing above all else. Your time, to enjoy life!


Pesto Pasta With Sun Dried Tomatoes And Roasted Asparagus

Yield: 4 Servings

A quick and easy dish for those busy weeknights, and its chockfull of veggies.

Ingredients:

8 ounces medium shell pasta
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed
2 T. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup basil pesto sauce*
1/3 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes, drained
1/3 cup diced mozzarella cubes

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees f. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
  3. Place asparagus in a single layer onto the prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, to taste; gently toss to combine. Place into oven and roast for 8-12 minutes, or until tender but crisp. Let cool before cutting into 1-inch pieces.
  4. In a large bowl, combine pasta, asparagus, pesto, sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella.