I recently visited good friends who relocated to Hong Kong, and it instantly became one of my favorite cities. It is an easy city to navigate by bus, ferry or the MTR subway system, so grab an Octopus card (you can purchase from any subway station or 7-Eleven). I’ve compiled some highlights: Victoria Peak: Victoria Peak is the highest mountain on Hong Kong
Read moreMy friend and fellow interior designer, Betsy (who took all of the fab photos of my work), and I discussed how we totally obsess over certain furniture and accessory stores where we live. So, here’s a quick sample of just a few of my many favorites (plus one of Betsy’s). Most are located in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, and
Read moreHappy new year to you all! If you haven’t already, please check out Dezeen’s post of buildings to look forward to in 2015. From my Profile, you will know that my undergraduate degree is in architecture, so I link both the architecture of a building with its interior design. I was intrigued with the post, because the featured buildings adapt to their settings in several ways;
Read moreI recently visited the Serena & Lily website, and I was pleased to find it a great source for dining chairs. I was so pleased, in fact, that I encouraged a friend to purchase the Riviera indoor/outdoor chairs. She loves them. Not to sound cliché, but they remind me of Paris. They add a great pop of color and interest to any dining room. I
Read moreGet your vintage on! Vintage furniture pieces create a statement, and they already have a history. You get to tell your friends stories about where you found a piece… it’s all about the hunt. They are typically made with stronger materials using techniques that are constructed better than the typical “big box” furniture that you have to put together yourself. Vintage pieces can
Read moreNow that it’s October, I think back to last October, when my husband and I attended the MADE (Milano Architettura Design Edilizia) at the Fiera Milano. We were invited by the Italian American Chamber of Commerce. Many of the new products featured at the expo are now available in the US. Some of my highlights include: The hardware quality from Tre-Piu doors was amazing
Read moreClients and friends ask me who my influencers are, so here is a list of my top 10 practicing residential architecture firms, interior design firms, decorators and designers of objects who I follow (in no particular order): Joseph Dirand Axel Vervoordt Steven Gambrel William Hefner John Robshaw John Derian Stiff + Trevillion Made Architecture Vincent Van Duysen Nick Noyes Architecture
Read moreAs a follow-up to my post last week, if tile is not your thing, I have solutions for you: For a kitchen backsplash, I prefer to specify a thinner version of the same material as your countertop. My favorite countertop materials are quartz (a man-made or engineered material), quartzite (a natural sandstone that is heated and hardened), and marble. Silestone
Read moreThis is a frequent question that I hear from my clients. My general rules are the following: For a white marble or ceramic mosaic (for example: hexagon, penny or basketweave) on a bathroom floor, I prefer a light to mid-gray grout, because you don’t want dirt to show immediately and it’s difficult to keep the white grout clean on floors … believe me.
Read moreI thought you might enjoy photos of my Franklin Avenue project that is almost finished. We removed the load-bearing walls that once separated the kitchen from the dining room and living room (refer to before photo above) to create an open concept kitchen with a large island (well, actually it is a peninsula, since it is anchored by a wall at
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Rachael Franceschina 