Bottega Italiana

A truly unique project that utilized all our services is complete and open for business!  The Interior, exterior, signage and branding all done by Arise Art Group. Watching Bottega Italiana go through the process of securing this location was really amazing, it is clear that they are headed for great things.

At one of the mall's main entrances, just adjacent to Archlight Cinemas, they have great exposure. The storefront is skinned with vertically mounted reclaimed wood slats and a wrapped steel awning.

Inside, everything draws you to the gelato case, which looks amazing every time.  Made fresh each day and artfully decorated.

 

The most exciting part is watching the customers line up for the wonderful gelato and coffee drinks.  Next time your at Westfield UTC, drop in, say hello and indulge just a little. This one is worth the calories.  Check them out here.

In case you missed it here are some before pictures.  Click. 

Architect Barbie

I was recently given the opportunity to be a guest judge at the Design Institute of San Diego.  There project was to design a space for Architect Barbie. . . I was to play Architect Barbie.   After a phone interview with the whole class, they decided it would be more fun and beneficial to design for a real person,  thank you students.

Here are a few pictures of the event.

Check out the hand-colored photo mashup foam-core version of me.

 

It was a real honor to be a part of this and have these soon-to-be designers propose ideas to me. These ladies are talented and witty!  Cheers DI!

Design Tips

We were asked by San Diego Home/Garden to give a few design tips for the magazines' readers.  Here is what has been on our minds regarding the design process:

Design Tips link here

In the Press

Check out the November issue of San Diego Home/Garden,  there is an article on a kitchen that Traci designed in the Design Studio West days

A classic, and timeless design for a historic home, Fit for a family and just in time for the holidays!  This family was a joy to work with, they were open to ideas and embraced my traditionalist-geekout moment.

Read the full article here.

Closing in!

So the Bottega Italiana project is closing in on the final stages,  here is a shot of it today.  This place is going to be fantastic!

And just 3 weeks ago, here we were. . .

Cold Patina, Please

Have you ever had a finish in mind that you can’t find? Custom solutions are
not always out of reach.

This is cold rolled steel that we hand distressed, painted and weathered for a outdoor BBQ
backslash. It is a fun way to add a bit of color and texture change to a backyard, alcove or interior.

You can see this display at Fixtures Living, San Diego.

An Outdoor Room - Southern California

So with summer officially here we decided to finally tackle our last back yard project.
(except the tree house of course)
Below are the before and after photos of the progression of the back of the house.

The backyard now contains two patios for entertaining an outdoor fireplace (which really made a new room on the house that is used all year round) a cantilevering bench, a vegetable and herb garden, grass to play in and loads of native and low-water plants.

Thank you Cube Architecture for the collaboration making for outstanding and creative solutions to making the most out of a space.

Good Bones

So this is our current project.  SOOO exciting!  It does not look like much right now but as soon as the cranes, concrete contractors and framers get out of the way it's on!

The Studio

Anyone who saw a previous post a while back about "Taking Over the Garage" read more here had a little preview to this, and now. . .

The studio is complete!  Fully function and using entirely reclaimed and re-purposed material, the former workshop/storage/mess is reinvented.

Before

 We gathered a dozen shipping pallets and about 30 black milk crates.  With a bit of alteration the pallets hold up to 4 crates each.

1 unit = 2 pallets/6 crates  4 units = 24 crates.  They are mounted with cleats for easy access and removal and hold all our supplies and materials perfectly

A few details for the designer.