Craft Lab

It's almost the weekend!  Craft Lab opened in Somerville last spring {a part of Somerville I like to refer to as a no-man's land or a coffee desert, depending on my mood}, but I haven't done more than peek in the window since it's open only on the weekends.  

I really liked the simplicity of their window display fixtures, just wooden boards and some cinder blocks.  It lets the merchandise be the star of the window.  It's pretty appropriate for a shop where the emphasis is on the construction of the jewelry - most of the construction is done in the workshop.

Someday I might get there but in the meantime, I'm trying to get Michele to get the inside scoop.

Anthropologie Window Display - Denim Flowers

Following along with the 70s theme, I found these denim flowers crawling all over the exterior wall of Anthropologie.

{photos: jeanine}

Anthropologie Window Display - The Neverending Afghan

I love this window idea. I have a tiny afghan in the same chevron pattern {in orange and white} from when I was a little kid so it's for more reasons than one that I'm loving this design.

The fact that the pattern is taken off the wall and to the window and floors makes it that much better.  It's kind of reminiscent of this window but taken to another level.

{photo: jeanine}

Louis Vuitton Fishing Window

I thought this Louis Vuitton window was a clever display.

{photo: jeanine}

Anthropologie Window Display - Cascading Circles

I checked up on the Anthropologie window displays the other week and found this...

It's quite pretty but I'd hate to be the one who had to string all those circles.

{photos: jeanine}

Pavement Coffee

I've made no secret about my love for coffee and since it's my birthday week I figure I should post about something I really, really love. One of my favorite Boston coffee shops is Pavement Coffee in the Back Bay, designed by Brookline-based Lana Kirby. I found it a couple of months after it opened {last fall} when I was taking a class in the area and looked forward to visiting weekly before class.  Unlike some of my other favorite coffee shops, I also like the design of this space.

 Pavement

Man Seeking Coffee

What I like most is the lighting and the upholstered furniture which looks very comfortable.

Pavement

I'll admit I've never actually stayed and had my coffee in the shop.  Being in Boston, it's right around the corner from about 65 colleges so it's always packed, usually by Berkeley College students.

Thrillist

City Rover Media

No Sign Is The New Black

Earlier this spring, I went on what I thought was going to be a lecture and a tour of the Ames Hotel.  They had apparently rented out all the rooms so there was really no tour {disappointing} but I saw a bit of the common areas.

One thing I was thankfully warned of was the the fact that they have no obvious sign on the building, you have to know where it is or know exactly where on the building the word Ames is carved.  This is becoming increasingly common in Boston - places you have to know exactly where they are to enter - I'm assuming it is common in other places too.

The Exterior.  Now if you go, you can find it.

Reception.

Rockwell Group via Arch Daily

The lobby.

The lobby sculpture with mosaic tiles original to the building.

The original stairwell. Love the stairwell.

The restaurant.

via Fast Company

via Fast Company

 The guestrooms.  The bathrooms are separated from the guestrooms by a wall of glass.  There is a curtain but it's on the guestroom side, I don't have a photo of this but perhaps on the website you can see.

via Contemporan

via Inferno10

In the guestroom corridor elevator lobbies there is a surprise in the mirror that you might miss if you aren't looking.

{photos: if no source listed, click photo to be taken directly to source}

Hanging Displays

I was in Neiman Marcus the other day on a desperate search for jeans that I actually like {is anyone else having trouble with this skinny or bootcut only jeans selection?} and I was greeted with one of my favorite hanging displays.

I think the store in Boston has birds of some sort.  It definitely makes the escalator trip up more fun!

Butterflies?  Yes!  Jeans I actually like?  No....

{photo: jeanine}

My Old Favorite Coffee Place

This space used to be a pretty great place for coffee right near my work.  I was really, really, really upset when it closed since now coffee is a 30 minute {at a very fast walk} round-trip away, to a local hipster cafe with un-delicious coffee and tea.

I finally visited the new vegan restaurant that took it's place and, while they literally didn't have the first 3 things I tried to order, the food was good and the interior is nice.  It almost makes up for the fact that this is no longer a coffee shop.

It's a bit dark but you can still tell it's a pretty calm space.  Really though, they had me with the tin ceiling and the new lights.

{photo: jeanine}

Anthropologie Window Display - Cork & String

I passed by Anthropologie in Harvard Square this past weekend and found new windows.  A very 70s sign was up, the stripe made with string {I think it's actually yarn}.

 

The stripes have a quality that almost looks like an oil painting.

 

Around the side things were rustic.

On Brattle Street, there was an abundance of cork along with moss and plants in what looks to me like an ant hill and hanging moss.

I'm also fascinated by the scales in the back wall of the store.

{photos: jeanine}

The Lenox Hotel

It's no secret I take pictures of public bathrooms.  Yes, I know this is strange, but when I find a nice one, I totally do...  The most recent bathroom to receive this dubious honor was the lobby bathroom at the Lenox Hotel {I actually didn't make it past the bathroom since I was visiting the Irish Pub attached to the hotel}.

I have to admit, I was overly excited about this one though.  I think it was the metallic porcelain tiles, something the clients I design for are, apparently, nervous about. 

{photo: jeanine}

Sunshine Lucy's

Sunshine Lucy's popped up near Davis Square some time last year when I wasn't paying attention.  I was walking to work last spring and I first noticed it.

The furniture is more expensive than your typical entry level furniture, IKEA and the like - but it's real wood so it will hopefully last longer.  Last week, when I was on an emergency coffee run to Davis Square I spotted these - there were nailheads everywhere.

 

I don't have any experience purchasing anything here so I can't vouch for them but they seem to be worth considering.

{photos: jeanine}

Madura

While walking on Newbury Street recently I saw this curtain panel in the window of Madura.  I love the colors and the pattern of the fabric, but I'm not totally in love with the way the top of the panel is constructed.  Or at least that's what I tell myself - I usually just assume I can't afford anything in this store anyway.

I have to figure out where the fabric is from though, I know I've seen it before...

{photo: jeanine}

Fall Is Here!

Fall is my favorite time of year and always makes me happy to be in New England. I found this image a few weeks ago and it reminded me of fall. I didn't know exactly why until I went for a walk and saw this.

{photos: top - flickr; bottom - jeanine}

Giant Baby Heads

Boston is a tiny, tiny city in comparison to New York, LA and Montreal {and probably tons and tons of others}.  It's also pedestrian scale - it's walkable and for the most part the buildings are fairly low.

Lately, I've been noticing giant things invading Boston - funny giant things.  A few months ago it was the giant hammock on the greenway.

This fall I began taking a 3d computer modeling class at Massachusetts College of Art.  The Fenway area isn't my favorite part of Boston but I have to say that the giant baby heads, by Spanish artist Antonio López García, I pass on the way to class make it worth the trip.

It's kind of hard to tell the scale in this photo but they are about 8 feet high by 5 feet wide, taller than me or any of the people I've seen posing by them for photos.  More information is here.

{photos: jeanine}

Louis Vuiton Summer Window

I seem to be on a bit of a retail design kick these days.  Next month it will be hotels or restaurants or residential interiors, I'm sure.

I found this picture that I hadn't yet posted of a Louis Vuitton summer window I loved.

They have drawn a "trunk" around their normal display windows.  It is quite charming and a simple way to make the long rectangular display window a bit more special than it otherwise is.

They have since changed the display, but it was a great idea.  As a total wild guess, I think the drawing references the history of the company since they were once popular for their travel trunks, not their logo bags.  Million dollar travel trunks. 

{photo: jeanine}

The Book Mill

I used to live closer to The Book Mill in Montague and I recently stopped in to browse.

 How can you not want to visit a place whose slogan is, "Books you don't need in a place you can't find"?  It's very appropriate.  I had a terrible time finding the place the first couple of times and I surely have purchased enough novels and random books I either needed for class or totally didn't need but really wanted to read. 

As far as store design goes they put other book stores to shame.

Why? It's a pretty casual place, there's nothing fancy about it but there are comfy chairs and couches in every room inviting you to read.  The rooms are small and cozy so you feel like you have a moment to yourself to look things over, check things out, and perhaps stay a while.  The look and feeling is perfect for western Massachusetts, but it could be cleaned up a bit for other locations just as easily.  This is probably what Barnes & Noble would like to be, it's just not as easy to get there in their warehouse sized stores.

Plus, being an old mill it has a fantastic view.

You can just hang out on the balcony and listen to the water {they also have a restaurant overlooking the river}.  It's worth a trip if you can find it, I just wish they had more design books.

{photos: #2 - taygete05; #4 - P Donovan; #5 - Dancing Lemur; all others - jeanine}