With the weather Gods still smiling upon us, the last touring day of BlogtourNYC begins. After a late brunch, we were off to visit DecorNYC.

This is New York City’s only luxury consignment store and boy, if I lived in this city, I would so be a regular here.  And if you look closely, those white leather swivel chairs at the bottom are Hermes!

After a lovely lunch provided by DecorNYC we were off for a leisurely stroll across the Brooklyn Bridge.  I have visited New York City a few times, but this was my first time to get up close and personal with the bridge.

A view of the bloggers taking pictures and the sights and sounds of New York!

And some pictures from the Brooklyn Bridge.

And New Yorkers have adopted the European tradition of writing lovers names on a lock, attaching it to part of the bridge and throwing the key into the water.  How romantic!

And with our little jaunt over the Brooklyn Bridge we are in Brooklyn, specifically DUMBO.  DUMBO, which stands for Down Under Manhattan’s Brooklyn Overpass is the name for this area that houses many creative studios and artisans.  It is an up and coming area and has many interesting and diverse buildings and characters.

And here Tim is showing us exactly where we are, which was the norm for the entire trip 🙂    Cobblestone streets, old brick buildings, tons of character and imperfection everywhere.

We met with Karen Auger of Auger Agency, she was gracious enough to give us a guided tour even though it was Saturday and her day off.  Karen is the lady behind Brooklyn Designs, a design show specifically for products created and manufactured in Brooklyn. It has become a design destination and if you are going to be in the area between May 10-12, 2013 (at the St. Ann’s Warehouse), be sure and check it out.

First up, we stopped into Christopher Coleman Interior Design and we were shown his colourful and fun art pieces. These bookends below, show how the colours have been all layered together to form one complete piece.

Then we were off once again, to visit with Mark Jupiter at his studio. Talented and handsome to boot!

Mark constructs out of materials sourced from the history of New York City itself.  It can be old growth Redwood for a 100 year old New York City water tower, rare spalted Elm from trees that fell during the Brooklyn tornado of 2011 or extinct Heart Pine from Brooklyn’s Red Hook refinery, all are used by Mark to create handcrafted pieces of beauty and workmanship.

 

Industrial Walnut Table

The Storm Tree Coffee Table

Now you’ll have to indulge me as I attempted some artsy photos while I was at Mark’s studio.

Next, off to Eric Manigian’s Studio.  Another talented carpenter, Eric was the creator of the Enso table, which was shown at Brooklyn Designs in 2011, to much acclaim.

Enso Table is a new large-scale table inspired by the Zen Buddhist symbol “enso”-a simple circle drawn with a single, broad brushstroke as a symbol of infinity, void, and enlightenment.

In Mark’s words,

“Enso Table will be a dramatic circular table 15-16 feet in diameter, with the wood’s gestural natural edge exposed. The lumber to be used comes from a salvaged spalted maple tree acquired earlier this year.

In these boards the “spalt” refers to the black lines created by this diseased tree. These expressive lines can be seen as evoking ink brush painting and calligraphy. The table itself connects slabs of spalted maple to form the enso’s circular shape using traditional hand joinery techniques used by Japanese temple builders with whom I had the opportunity to work with on occasion over the last several years.”

 

If you are attending this year’s Brooklyn Designs, be sure to look for Christopher, Mark and Eric.

Again, some artsy photos, courtesy of Eric’s studio.

Again, we grabbed some cabs to head to Chelsea Piers for our night time tour around Manhattan on the boat aptly named, “Manhattan”.

Breathtaking views, a delicious dinner, wine and great company.  What a perfect way for BlogtourNYC to end, not that any of us wanted it to end.

 

Thank you Veronika and Tim of Modenus, Mr. Steam, Miele, Silestone, Blanco, Jenn-Air, Du Verre Hardware, NKBA, Barber Wilson, for this absolutely wonderful and inspiring time.  I am honoured to have been included in such a talented group of bloggers and these memories will last a lifetime.  Cheers!

 

 

 

All photos not credited are my own, please credit me, if using.

So with all the talk these days about the new neutrals and white making a huge comeback, I’d thought I’d share one of the most elegant white hardware I’ve seen in a very long while.

This is the Arroyo collection from designer William Harvey and it is produced by BlogtourNYC sponsor, Du Verre Hardware.  I had the privilege of seeing it in person while in New York.

It has an architectural feeling and is so elegant and sculptural. I’ve shown it here in white, but it is also available in oil rubbed bronze and satin nickel.

Made from environmentally friendly recycled aluminium it is compatible with LEED objectives.

 

 

I can just picture these against pale wood cabinetry with white quartz countertops.  Where would you use them?

 

 

Blanco was another one of the fabulous BlogtourNYC sponsors and we got a really good look and feel for their brand new Modex sink.

It is shown here in a new colour, Cinder, a warm dark gray with black and dark brown particles.  Modex  has a 3″ profile that sits above the counter, it drains gracefully into the sink and also has an integrated cutting board.  Modex is part of their SILGRANIT II series of sinks that includes HYGENIC+PLUS, a patented formulation that shields the sinks from dirt and bacteria. Therefore, the surface stays cleaner longer which lessens the use  of strong cleaners, a big plus in my book.

Isn’t she a beauty?

The three photos above are courtesy of Blanco.

We also got to see the brand new Alta Compact faucets.  As seen above with the Modex sink.

They are a classic contemporary style and feature an extendable pull out design with dual sprays. The perfect faucet for compact sinks or work areas and available in six colours (four shown here) or in Chrome or Satin Nickel. Any of these colours are just right for the neutral trend. I’m particularly partial to the white one and think it would be perfect fit for my laundry room.

                        The three photos above are courtesy of Blanco.

So pretty!

All photos not credited are my own.