SPOTLIGHT ON: LIGHTBOYS

Lightboys is a company that makes large scale, quality LED backlit photographs. The company was created by Designer and Craftsman, Jirko Bannas, and Creative Director and photo-book publisher, Oliver Seltmann. They are based out of Hamburg, Germany and the photographs from their online gallery are from Internationally known photographers.
I looked into Lightboys for a project once, I think their product Polaboy is so freaking cool and versatile. You can choose from their online photo gallery full of beautiful professional photos that have an eerie vintage vibe going on or you can send in your own Polaroid. I was plesantly surprised with their prices for custom piece (to get pricing information contact Lightboys via email). I think this would be a great way to add some ambient lighting to a large space, it would be a creative way to share a family photo or a wedding picture. I could see one above my fireplace!

Polaboy

Another product by Lightboys is the Lightwall. By using the highest quality of LED light panels and photography enlargement, Lightboys are able to create this flat and evenly lit photo panel. I would love to use this product in a bar or retail space!

Lightwalls

The Roof Top Lights is similar to the Lightwall in technonlogy. This photo panel and lighting system is light weight and ultra-thin so it mounts to a ceiling easily.

Roof Top Lights

GOOD ART FOR UNDER $100

Art is one of the most important components in a finished space. It can be used to tie together a color palette, to send a clear message of taste and personality or to add an unsuspected twist to the design. Art can be used to tell a story about the owner; it can be sentimental, humorous, dramatic, political, bazaar or just pretty to look at. Art is also another layer of texture, and pattern in a room. If you're someone that's afraid to commit to color and patterns then you can keep a room neutral and add a spark of personality through artwork. I try to buy original art as often as I can, but I don't think it's a crime to buy mass-produced art. Depending on your taste, buying originals can be a very expensive habit and much like tattoos- once you get one it's hard to stop! Personally, I would sacrifice a vacation or shoe shopping spree for a new piece of art, every painting, print or photograph I own has a sentimental value and a story attached to it that I will never forget. 

Lucky for our wallets, today's art scene has become more excepting of limited edition prints. Cool contemporary art can be found in print format at galleries, personal websites and art sites like Etsy, 20x200 or Society6. So no matter your budget, you can be an art collector. Get the most out of your collection by mixing originals with limited edition prints, tag sale art and DIY projects. Think about it in terms of fashion, most people can't walk into Neman Marcus and afford to walk out with a head to toe outfit but if you find a great pair of designer shoes, you can mix them with an outlet purse, a trendy top from H&M, some vintage jewelry and your favorite jeans. There is no shame in buying a piece of art from a store like Target or Ikea, as long as you don't fill your walls with them. Below are some cool limited edition prints by contemporary artists that you can find online for under $100.00!

1. Intersections 24 by Alessandro Puccinelli- $100.00 for an 8"x8"
Lux Archive works with museum quality prints of contemporary photography. Each photograph comes in a variety of sizes and is signed by the artist.


2. Myriad by Yellena James- $60.00 for an 11"x17" archival pigment print
This print by Yellena James is from 20x200, there are 500 signed and numbered high quality prints that come with a certificate of authenticity.


3. Elia by Tali- $20.00
This little gem is listed as a Tiny Canvas Print in the Etsy Shop tushtush. The illustrator Tali resides in Tel Aviv, Israel and she has beautiful original oils as well as hand-streched canvas prints for sale. Although it is a print of an oil painting, it has a hand-made touch because the artist prints the canvas and mounts it on a wood frame with staples. These super small prints would be perfect to blend into a gallery wall or an odd corner of your home.


4. Salt Water Cure by Tina Crespo- $85.00 for a 13"x16" stretched canvas
Society6 offers fine art in a variety of formats; prints, framed prints, stretched canvas, iphone and ipod cases, t-shirts and stationary.


5. Convergence by Liz Brizzi- $70.00 for a 28"x34" Giclee print

Here are some examples of rooms that come to life because of the art selection.

contemporary art gives a traditional space more depth and character

found objects as a gallery wall can be done cheap but looks rich and full of personality

art used to tie together a color pallet

simple texture and materials used as art to create contrast

professional or personal photography, layered to tell a story

neutral room with art as a burst of color

large artwork to add a strong message and personality

MY MEGA DEN EXPERIENCE

Hey everyone, last night I watched a new episode of Mega Dens, featuring one of my paintings! The host, Anitra Mecadon, came by my office while they were scouting for locations and she fell in love with a custom painting I was working on for a client (see here). When she interviewed The Vogeltanz for the show she thought one of my paintings would be a perfect fit for their colorful basement remodel. It was really fun working for the show, Anitra gave me a lot of freedom as far as the shape, size and exact colors of the piece. Before I started on the painting she showed me The Vogeltanz's home, their photography, the wall paint colors and some accessories that she picked out for the remodel, this was enough direction to get me off the ground and running! Check out the photos below, and stop by DIY Network to see more on the episode (season 3, episode 4). 

Any time I work on a painting I start off on a freshly organized desk, but somehow by the end of the project I always find myself spread out across the floor!

Below are some of the things I took inspiration from after my trip through the home owners house- photography from their recent trip to Africa and these beautiful pillows and blankets Anitra found at West Elm.

Please contact me for pricing information on one of my custom paintings.

INSTAGRAM YOUR HOME

Instagram is camera app for taking pictures, editing and sharing with your friends. It's super popular with over 15 million users and it was just sold to Facebook for a whopping $1 billion! I love this app, I use it all the time to add filters and focal points to my amateur iphone picts, you can follow me @kaytedesigns. Today on Fab.com there is a sale for Instagram collage pillows by Stitchtagram, two for $145.00. What a great personalized gift! Forget about a photo album- you could capture your favorite vacation, wedding memories, adventures with your best friend, I could even see using these when decorating a teenage girls room!

photos via fab.com

While we are on the subject, check out some other Instagram products that have popped up over time. The albums and poster below are from a company called Printstagram. Theses printing products are a great value; the tinybook is $10, the minibook is $12, the poster is $25. They also sale individual prints and stickers. 

photos via printsagram

Canvaspop is a great site for printing any photos on canvas and their canvas ranges from 8"x10" to 24"x72", rolled or framed. Recently, they launched an Instagram section where you can sign in with Instagram and upload your favorite photos. The standard size 12"x12" is on sale right now for $39.95. 

photos via cavaspop

STRONGBOX WEST: BEFORE AND AFTER

I've been working on Strongbox West for a while now and I wanted to wait tell I finished before showing some Before and Afters BUT the exterior is so close. It's been so nice outside and I smile every time I pull up so forget it- I must show you some photos now. Strongbox West is a Co-working Community on the Westside of Atlanta (the best side of Atlanta). A lot of the members are in creative fields like web design, programing, graphic design, marketing, and so on. My clients Rick and Amy had a wish list addressing a lot of features and spacial issues they were ready to upgrade, but livening up the exterior was definitely on the top of the list. We decided on a deep grey and orange color palette because it felt lively and appealing to a Tech-savvy entrepreneur-type who may work here. The bold facade, custom signage and abstract photography are eye-catching from the street. We repaired the concrete and drew attention to the entrance with color and by extending the stairs to the left and added a clean pathway to the right. The new linear planter is built, lit and stained but empty while we wait for spring to get here! We're also still on the hunt for a funky vintage bench for the concrete platform on the left. After getting to know the rockstar owners Rick and Amy; keeping the original pirate flag was a no brainer.

We were able to keep the signage cost under control by hiring local artist Keri Cawley to construct the letters out of sheet metal and resin. You can also see in the before and after picture that the grey paint only wraps around the side to the window, you can imagine how much labor and paint we saved by doing this. We also reused the frames from the original window signage as an art feature and we found a new home for the giant red star inside.. More to come soon!

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC

I found this amazing artist on a friend of mine's Pinterest Board. The photographer Martin Klimas creates abstract stills by pouring paint above a speaker and playing music like Miles Davis and Steve Reich. The color palette and music create a beautiful effect when photographed with a crazy high shutter speed of 1/7,000 of a second. You can read more about the collection, Painting With Sound, in The New York Times. He has some other really interesting collections in his portfolio featuring shattering ceramic, birds in flight and floating silk scarves- all with a beautiful effect of motion trapped in still photography.

Paul Hindemith's "Ludus Tonalis"

Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians"

Steve Reich's "Drumming" 

Miles Davis' "Pharaoh's Dance"

Kraftwerk's "Transistor"

Miles Davis's "Bitches Brew"

artist Martin Klimas

PINING VALENTINE'S DAY

This month has been so beautiful; the weather is unbelievable, the sky is blue and it's hard to believe that it's February. Lucky for me, I've been out of the office a lot with shopping trips and installs and I've had the chance to soak it in. I haven't had much time in front of my computer these last couple weeks, so I apologize for the light posts. With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought I would share some beautiful photos I found on Pinterest. Enjoy!

1. heart ballon photography from +nd 2.  red velvet crinkle cookies from Heather Davis
3. red flowers from cmvandelac 4.  apple, ginger and cranberry vodka cocktail from colleen musika
5. cinema in the backyard from Lindsay Fournier

THE LIGHTING SWITCH-UP

Last week I took a photo from Elle Decor and showed you how switching up one furniture piece would change the whole mood of the room. When I look at a photo of a room I can imaging the particular person or family it was designed for, by switching a focal piece it's like you are switching out the inhabitant of the photograph. The person becomes a little more refined and traditional or they have a wilder sense of humor or a taste for modern art. Each piece of furniture in a photo tells a part of a story, by shaking things up slightly you may alter the ending.
Today's beautiful dining room photograph is from Pintrest.com. Lighting is such a important part of design and the options are endless! Below are a few chandeliers that would impact this dining room greatly if switched.

pinterest.com

I really like the staircase in the background of this photo and I thought by adding some warm bronze to the for-ground it would make the carpet on the staircase pop. The fixture I picked is a crystal globe from Restoration Hardware. I was hunting for something in this color palette and this one was a clear winner because the globe shape plays off of the arched doorway, the drapery pattern and the chair back pulls. Because of the form and finish, it would add formality, antiquity and tradition to the room.

restoration hardware

This funky fixture is called Knotty Bubbles and it could take on a lot of different rolls depending on it's environment. This dining room is transitional and the current fixture reminds me of British Colonial Palms (a popular style in the South). If we switched it with the Knotty Bubbles it would steer away from "Southern Plantation" and straight towards "New England Shoreline".  This nautical inspired fixture would look beautiful against the grey and sea-foam color scheme and would add a slight touch of rustic charm. 

roll & hill

The Josephine Queen Chandelier by Metalarte has become a pretty iconic fixture (that few can afford). It's a really sexy and modern take on a traditional form. The shades also come in acrylic but I like that the linen option brings it back down to Earth a little. The curved lines and traditional form suite the room well, while the material and color transform the room into something young and daring.

metalarte

This fixture is my personal favorite of the bunch! I love mixing traditional and contemporary pieces and this chandelier from Y Lighting is a big jolt of excitement in a very mellow setting. The dark bronze finish would accentuate the dark details in the room, like the rot iron railing and the dark chair legs. Because it is a skinny fixture, it wont add too much weight to the setting.

agnes chandelier

THE VIEW FROM ABOVE

If you haven't discovered Fab.com, today is your lucky day! There are loads of daily deal sites for home goods and fashion; RuLaLa, The Foundry, One King Lane, Jack Threads and so on. In my opinion, Fab.com kicks the competition's toosh! One of the sales going on now is for high quality prints from photographers Brent and Sara of Denver based studio, Patterns from Above. They photograph landscapes from a plane to create really interesting abstract images. I love maps and globes, so this style of aerial photography really gets me! Check out Brent and Sara's work, 18" x 18" prints are for sale now for $70.00 on Fab.com.

Here is some similar aerial photography from artist Matthew Moore. You can find this artist on another badass website 20x200. This site is a really cool online store that features limited and affordable prints from a handful of artists. It's a great middle ground between buying mass produced art (lame) and original art (expensive). The site is broken down by Price, Category, Color or Artist and each artist has a brief bio and link to their personal site so you can get into the idea of collecting art. 

matthew moore

While we are on the subject- I've been dying for the chance to use one of these really unique rugs I first found in Dwell Magazine. Landcarpet is an Australian wool rug collection designed by Florian Pucher. The thick and three-dimentional texture is so well made and the color palettes would suite a lot of different rooms and finishes. 

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