Envisions
Private Spa: the jewel in our crown
Near completion: the jewel in our crown! The intimate and artful design of this Japanese inspired Art Gallery and Private Spa in Whitefish Montana combines true traditional Japanese design with mountain living.The new structure boasts a seventy five foot lap pool, Japanese spa, gym, and gallery. The four-year long project was a close collaboration with Envi...
Artist's Studio: with Shawna Moore
During our last trip Whitefish, we popped in artist Shawna Moore's studio. Wow! We were blown away by her etherial images created in the encaustic medium. Encaustic is created by layers of wax and pigmentation. The result yields a multi-layered and translucent painting with deep texture and richness. Shawna is a definite top pick in our library of favorite artists. I...
In search of the perfect buddha
New York City: the city that never sleeps! The city synonymous with fashion, lights and nightlife may not immediately harken the image of a buddha, but NYC is arguably the best city in the Western Hemisphere to search for this traditional Eastern statue. This is the final selection for our Yoga Studio. We found him at Andrianna Shamaris in NYC. We LOVED his peaceful...
Lotus Furniture: Coming Together!!
Today I visited the wood shop of master artist Christopher Quist Kautz to check on progress of our new, yoga-inspired line of furnishings called "Lotus Furniture". Our first pieces serve as both altars for yoga practice and storage pieces for mats, blocks and straps. Christopher's work is flawless: he embraces Japanese techniques, uses domestic hardwoods and environmentally...
Week 3 Yoga Studio: decorations and the search for the perfect buddha
In the process of designing the home yoga studio for Margaret Vap, founder of cowgirl yoga and Big Sky Yoga Retreats, we have already selected materials, paint and window treatment. We are now at the point where we must consider wall decorations. In a yoga studio, we want to keep the environment as simple as possible as not to create distractions for yoga practice. However, a few...
Week 2 Yoga Studio: Colors and Material Selections
This week, we continue to design the home yoga studio for my client Margaret, the founder of Big Sky Yoga Retreats. So we begin week 2 with the selection of materials for our yoga studio aka the "bliss den". As mentioned, we are hoping to swap out the carpet with hard bamboo flooring for optimal yoga practice. The bamboo product is ecologically harvested, beatiful and will provide a...
bliss den: week one
Bliss Den: Week OneMy beautiful client strikes a pose. As always, Montana landscape provides the stunning backdrop. After meeting with Margaret to discuss the transformation of her basement room into a yoga studio, I affectionately dubbed the project the “bliss den”. I am so excited about this space for her—it has fantastic potential and, because the room is admittedly a...
Behind the Scenes: Yoga Studio for Big Sky Yoga Retreats
The original cowgirl yogini herself...Years ago, I had the good fortune to design for Clodagh in her New York studio in Soho. Originally, I was drawn to the design Guru because of her holistic approach to design and to the spirituality she seemed to impart on each project. During my tenure with Clodagh, I designed the West Side yoga studio for YogaWorks, a nationwide yoga studio born...
Bootcamp: Maine
During our last bootcamp, we furnished an entire home in 3 days!! Well, almost.... As is typical with a bootcamp, we worked fast and furiously to select, shop and order as many furnishings as possible in the few days we had designated for the bootcamp. In this particular situation, I was able to build furniture plans and lists in advance of the bootcamp as architectural...
