Posted by Isla on Apr 12, 2010 in
Finds I recently found the design blog Odi et Amo and now religiously check it every morning. She had a post a while back about books and book covers and how it irks her when stores sell books purely for decoration. When i went on Amazon today…sure enough, there were some gorgeous, Penguin vintage book covers that just hit the spot.
These perched in a series of open shadow boxes would be so fun in a cottage or study or hall…
Tags: Books, Inspiration, Interior Design
Posted by Isla on Aug 5, 2009 in
Books Taschen does it again with The Temple of Flora, a beautiful book of reprints by botanist Robert Thornton, based on his original book printed in 1799. This is not a new book i know, but these prints are just beautiful. Below are some of my favorites.
Tags: Books, Temple of Flora, Tropical
Posted by Isla on May 27, 2009 in
Books After reading about Renee Loux in the HiLuxury Green issue, i was totally blown away by what an amazing woman she came across as. I actually emailed her and told her how impressed i was with all she has done and to my total delight, she emailed me right back thanking me for my email! It’s these kinds of exchanges that happen a lot for us all here at So’mace and it’s such a fulfilling feeling when they do. We love it and appreciate it and hope to keep that kind of excitement and gratitude coming and going…
We’ve got an order in for Renee’s book so be sure to come by and check it out. We’re hoping to have some here in time for our Lifestyle Market, happening here at the store the last Sunday in June. You’ll be blown away by all Renee has researched, it’s an amazing resource for green living.
Tags: Books, Green, Renee Loux, So'mace Lifestyle
Posted by Isla on Mar 17, 2009 in
Books This book is beautiful. It’s called Art Forms From the Ocean by German biologist, naturalist, philosopher and artist Ernst Haeckel and I would love to have it for the store someday. Two would be fun to have so i could cut out some of the pages and frame them for myself! I remember doing a similar thing in high school – saving Vanity Fair covers and framing them in glass floating frames. I should do it again actually, they looked really awesome. But anyway, ocean inspiration is always influential here in Hawaii and i know “vintage, biological, medicinal art” isn’t exactly the trend right now, but to me these would always be classics. Elegant and colorful, they would fit any style. I can imagine them in both a classic New England style Manoa cottage or a Lanikai beach side abode.
Kaypee sent me a link to one of his favorite books (which i’ll post as soon as i can find more images of inside pages!) and somehow i ended up finding the one above, but i’m so glad i did. I will forever love this kind of art, including the energy of exploration and unknowing behind it all. We all seem to sometimes know too much these days…
And for a Pacific island home, i immediately put these together in my head…they would be beautiful mixed with lot’s of other creams and dark wood tones…
The Tapa above was hand drawn by Kaypee and then scanned in and “worked” on. Check out his site to see more of his Tapa Collection.
Tags: Books, Ernst Haeckel, Hawaii, Kaypee Soh, Ocean
Posted by Isla on Mar 10, 2009 in
Books 
Back in the day, when i had time on my hands (!), i used to put together design books for inspiration. Partly because i was in a place where i couldn’t really do what i wanted to with the decor, but mostly just because i liked to and it made me smile and in some ways, made a part of me come to life. I’ve spent hours and probably millions of dollars at Borders, on magazines alone and instead of tossing them or letting a dusty stack pile under the bed, i decided to archive my favorite images in another way.
I have seven of these black books now. My dream has been to use them in our store for customers and clients to browse through, admire, and enlighten their design senses with. They are random and sometimes don’t makes sense, but they are filled with hundreds of different colors, styles, tastes, patterns, textures, scenes…i could go on and on but the bottom line is that they’re a great pick-me-upper and a great resource for inspiration. Especially now with all our favorite magazines disappearing (they’ll come back in other ways i know), we need to be more resourceful when it comes to finding sources for unique design. I hope to make my next book in themes of color and down the road, have one for all my travel tid bits i’ve collected over the years, the inspiration is just everywhere! Anyway, I would love for you all to come in and sift through mine. We all love design here at So’mace Lifestyle and are always up for a good challenge, and a good chat.
Tags: Books, Inspiration, Interior Design
