Starry Night Mural by David Goldberg outside of Union Hardware in Bethesda, Maryland

If you’re adept at combining tongue-in-cheek humor with artistry that takes one of Vincent van Gogh’s key works into new, appealing and uncharted territory, then you’re okay by the Styleture editorial team.

Artist and Union Hardware owner David Goldberg

That’s exactly what “David van Go-berg” has done with the real Van Gogh’s Starry Night masterpiece, a Post-Impressionism painting from 1889, done on canvas with oil, which is now housed in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The piece features a night sky filled with swirling clouds, stars ablaze, and a bright crescent moon, all hovering over a quaint town. It’s one of the most well known images in modern culture, replicated in prints, but never replicated in a Post-Door Impressionistic style as it has been in the Starry Night Mural. This new rendering utilizes over 1,250 door knobs, levers, and back plates from Italy, Germany and the U.S. The background consists of PVC boards that the artist stained with PVC primer. All of the hardware for this creative repurpose is old, remnant, and has been salvaged and accumulated over the course of many years by specialty retailer, Union Hardware. This visionary and design-forward endeavor perhaps marks the first time such materials have ever been used in the art world.

Door hardware used in Starry Night

The mural draws a crowd outside Union Hardware

The Starry Night Mural installation is located outside of Union Hardware – a company in the business of selling decorative plumbing and hardware products since 1914 – located in Bethesda, Maryland. If you’re heading over to have a look, make sure to rub the Italian Chrome Leaver in the center of the swirl; according to folklore, you will then dine on a sumptuous pasta dinner.

Mix and Match

“From high-low pricing, to mixed finishes and styles, antiques and vintage mixed with modern forms – true eclecticism is taking hold in the design world,” said Merrill. It’s partly a response to the economy and partly environmental. “We’re all reusing and refurbishing what we have, stretching the budget, splurging on some items, saving on others, keeping things out of landfills,” she adds.

Mix and match Hastings Tile & Bath's GDO Raised Panel Ceramic Tile

With Hudson Valley Lighting's® Chatham

The Old-World Lived In Look

“The ‘old-world’ Belgian design style that has been in for a couple of years is still going strong,” said Merrill. “It features weathered gray oaks, the natural patina of age and use, the weighty feeling of good construction, and it’s ready to last generations. Nothing is overly fussy or precious.”

GRAFF®’s Bali faucet in Oil Rubbed Bronze

Spa Bath

Our lives are so stressful that more people are looking to relax at home and feel like they’re off at a high-end spa. Merrill tells her clients, “Calming colors, simple lines and ease of use are the key ingredients. Calgon, take me away!”

Stone Forest's® Papillon Bathtub

It’s looking like it’s going to be another great season for interior design this Fall and we thank Linda Merril for her insights, which are always welcome on the pages of Styleture.

The AK-47 Bullet Ice Cube Tray

Silver Bullet Cocktail Ingredients

1/2 oz Scotch whiskey
2 oz gin
Two slices lemon for twist and garnish

Preparation

Pour the scotch over ice in a cocktail glass. Stir to coat the ice. Pour out the Scotch. Add gin and strain into a high ball glass. Finish with a twist of lemon and lemon slice for garnish.

The ultra-modern Hoerboard Scomber mix DJ stand

Admit it – you’ve entertained dreams of telling your boss at your day job to go fly a kite, just so you can jet off to Ibiza and DJ the summer club circuit. It’s ok, we all have. Perhaps that dream was never more appealing than now, considering that the ultra-modern Hoerboard Scomber Mix DJ Stand is just a few thousand bucks ($2,330 once fully customized, to be more precise) away from being yours.

Hoerboard Scomber's Dutch Orange finish

If this puppy looked anything more like a Macbook, or something from the minds of Apple’s genius design team, it would, well, be made by Apple. The white has that sleek, glossy finish we have come to know, love and expect from our modern electronic equipment and gadgetry; for that matter, so do the plethora of other colors – Apple Green, Dutch Orange, Basalt Grey and Night Black – in which the Hoerboard Scomber Mix DJ Stand is available. Each DJ workstation can be customized with mixers, turntables, CD-players, space for your laptop or whatever else you may desire. Making it so any turntables fit perfectly into their own design-forward workstation, the stand consists of two units to make you more mobile, like on that aforementioned jaunt to Ibiza. The top of the deck is fixed to a laser-cut powder-coated steel support and all cables are made invisible by a smartly designed corpus. Turntable positioning comes with two options: To be angled in a battle position to give you ample mixing and scratching mobility, or in a classic position for standard mixing needs. With the well-designed laptop clip, you can be sure your precious storehouse of music isn’t going to crash to the floor and cause you to have a heart attack in the middle of your masterful performance. When not in use, you can cover the stand with the custom dust hood, which is designed to be almost invisible for a pleasing aesthetic. There’s no doubt that Hoerboard is on the leading edge of turntable design; the company has infused the creative German spirit into all of its elegant pieces and made them fully customizable to meet your needs. At once simple and highly thoughtful in terms of functionality, the company assures customers that their products will last a very long time.

The top of the deck is fixed to a laser-cut powder-coated steel support

As the brainchild of master designer David Kornmann, the Hoerboard Scomber Mix DJ Stand is leading the evolution of DJ-ing equipment. If you’re a working DJ, or dream of being one, don’t make the mistake of not checking out the company’s gear at www.hoerboard.com

Entra Magazine May/June 2011 issue

Presented by an editorial team with decades of publishing experience, images within Entra Magazine have been shot by internationally known photographers. Dramatic layouts of residences, shot in a way that captures the original vision of architects and designers (read: no stylists for photo shoots), coupled with concise and enjoyable text, makes Entra Magazine a pleasure to read. Videos provide you an opportunity to hear directly from the architects and designers. In addition to private residences, Entra Magazine brings you a variety of topical subjects including contemporary design, visits to showrooms and artists’ studios, humanitarian and preservation issues, antiques, market trends, and personality pieces. They also introduce you to new hotels, exhibitions, and books. The Styleture team was thrilled to learn that the July/August issue of Entra Magazine featured two of our favorite interior product design companies: Corbett Lighting, a producer of sophisticated and singular lighting fixtures by designers who expertly meld organic, rare and rich materials into stylized and luminous products for the hospitality and residential markets; and THG Paris, artisans of ultra-luxury, custom-crafted faucetry and bath fixtures using an intricate processes that has been passed down from generation to generation. The magazine features Corbett Lighting’s stunning foyer chandelier, Dolcetti, which boasts contrasting shells and honey-colored art glass; and THG Paris’ unique collaboration with Daum, the legendary Parisian atelier devoted to producing lead crystal and art glass. Entra Magazine undeniably attracts world-class clientele and brings readers the best-of-the-best in architecture and design.

Entra Magazine THG Daum feature

Entra Magazine was inspired by the word enterer (French), meaning “to enter” or “join”. If you have an interest in architecture and interior design, we high recommend the magazine and strongly encourage you to do exactly that – “join” – at entramagazine.com.

Entra Magazine Corbett Lighting feature

The OfficePOD

The design of the OfficePOD is to satisfy four distinct criteria: 1) To create a self contained office that exceeds all standard office accommodation regulations and requirements; 2) To provide an environment that is conducive to productive work; 3) To create a product that staff would want, and even be proud to have, in their garden; and 4) To have the minimum possible impact on the environment – both in manufacture and use. The pre-fabricated, modular design of the OfficePOD allows it to be easily situated in a yard or garden, and ensures that little to no planning consent is needed. It is optimum in size (6.9ft x 6.9ft), has been meticulously crafted for user-friendliness and provides an appropriate degree of security both when empty and occupied. OfficePOD boasts excellent environmental credentials; recycled, recyclable and sustainable materials have been utilized wherever possible and man-made materials have been incorporated only when performance requirements dictate as such.

The OfficePOD is optimum in size (6.9ft x 6.9ft)

With an OfficePOD, the frustrations of “going” to the office are a thing of the past. Its contemporary look and feel is not only inviting, but conducive to productivity. The OfficePOD is ultimately a solution to the work/life conundrum that so many face; it is an opportunity to strike the ideal balance between the two.

Shia LaBeouf

Success is not easy to come by in Hollywood; millions of hopefuls try, but only a fraction of a fraction actually succeed. There is no doubt that Shia LaBeouf, 25, star of hit films such as “Transformers”, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, “Eagle Eye” and “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps”, is breathing in that rarefied air of success that so few will ever get to experience. With such success comes all the perks including the seven-figure salary and the palatial movie star home; not long ago, LaBeouf plunked down $1,825,000 for a 2,463 square foot bachelor pad in Sherman Oaks, California.

Shia LaBeouf’s Sherman Oaks Bachelor Pad

Set on over ½ an acre with natural, panoramic, mountain and city views, LaBeouf’s hip 1958 mid-century home features 4 bedrooms including a large master bedroom, 3 bathrooms, a sunken living room, floor to ceiling walls of glass that offer views over the L-shaped swimming pool, an ultra-modern cook’s kitchen with stainless steel appliances as far as the eye can see and a separate office (for reading “Transformer” sequel rewrites, we presume). The sunken living room is actually wrapped in glass, features a fireplace, saltillo tiled floors, and is the perfect pleasure den for LaBeouf to romance his numerous female guests. For that matter, so is the backyard with a plethora of mature, shade giving trees and the aforementioned L-shaped pool from which guests can peer far off into the distance at Encino, Tarzana and even Calabasas. To park his eye-catching automobiles, Labeouf’s home features a stunning, stone-floored private motor court and a two-car carport. It’s hard not to admire LaBeouf for this relatively reasonable home purchase; with all the “Transformers” money that’s been flowing his way, the star could have dropped ten times the dough he spent here on some overblown Beverly hills estate. Instead, the first time home buyer, who reportedly had previously lived with his parents in La Canada, chose this tasteful, sound residence perfect for someone of his age and with his bachelor lifestyle.

With plenty of privacy, awesome views, opportunities to enjoy both the indoors and out, not to mention a plethora of romantic sunsets, there’s no doubt Shia LeBeouf’s home will keep him happy for years to come. Or at least until he decides to flip it.

Hidden Passageways

Everyone has something to protect: perhaps cash, jewels, gold, family heirlooms or sensitive documents. Many homeowners opt to keep a safe in the house to store such valuables. However, there’s an alternative to the safe that is perhaps even safer: the hidden passageway.

Creative Home Engineering is in the business of designing, fabricating and installing secret passageways and hidden doors in homes. Be it a vault for a priceless collection or a fun hideaway for the kids (or adults) to play in, Creative Home Engineering can make it happen. In your very own home, a bookcase, dresser, fireplace, mirror or other common amenity could be much more than meets the eye, opening up to reveal a secret world that only you know about. With a hidden door leading to a secret passage, you add an element of safety to your house that is unparalleled; after all, how can a burglar break into something he does not know exists? Creative Home Engineering also offers vault doors that feature heavy duty locking systems to resist forced entry. Furthermore, they offer biometric access controls like fingerprint scanners and retina identification systems for their concealed doors and passageways, ensuring that only select users are allowed to enter. Creative Home Engineering has received considerable attention from the media for its quality hidden passageways including a write-up in Popular Mechanics that stated, “If you’re in the market for a Batcave – or just a place to hide your stamp collection – Creative Home Engineering should be your next call.”

Hidden vault

Creative home engineering’s headquarters are based out of Gilbert, Arizona. The company installs hidden passageways in the finest homes all over the world. Additionally, they can match finishes to other design elements of the home on almost all projects and offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all their work. To learn more about Creative Home Engineering’s hidden passageways, check out http://hiddenpassageway.com

Staircase passageway

Bookcase passageway

It’s not a very difficult task to find beauty in glass; as artist Dale Chihulyss once said, “Glass is one of few natural materials that light goes through, and where colors can be so intense, or so subtle.” In these trying times of rampant environmental destruction, glass is also a pure and sustainable material capable of being recycled indefinitely.

Cheryl McNeill, the artist behind Rabbit Canyon Designs, LLC – a custom glass art company based out of Mesa, Arizona – is also well aware of the beauty and potential inherent in glass. Cheryl takes glass art to striking new levels, meticulously hand-carving, painting and gilding everything from vases to wall hangings to furniture, as well as custom glass art for both residential and commercial settings. Interestingly enough, Cheryl spent nearly her entire life in the rough and tumble world of professional politics, including serving on successful campaigns for Governor and Congress around the country, on two presidential campaigns and even elected in her own right and serving on Board of Mayor and Aldermen of Manchester, New Hampshire in 1997.

However, the rigid and draining life of politics made Cheryl decide she needed an outlet to express herself more creatively. She turned to glass as a hobby, which eventually turned into the end of a political career and the birth of Rabbit Canyon Designs.

Now that’s the kind of story we at Styleture love to tell!

UrbanEdge Utility Sink by Julien

For most homeowners, the last room of the house to get any love and attention when it comes to design and functionality is the laundry room. Beyond a functioning washer and dryer, the design elements and amenities are usually about as bare-bones as you can get. But the fact is, the modernized laundry room, with well-designed appliances and fixtures, is increasingly becoming a feature of the modern home. Aside from being easier and more pleasurable to use, well-designed laundry rooms can also increase the total value of the home.

Incorporating top of the line, high-efficiency washers and dryers by reputable name manufacturers like Kenmore and LG are obvious appliance choices to bring modernism and good functionality to the laundry room. But what about incorporating updated fixtures like the laundry sink and the faucet, which are typically some of the most outdated and least-replaced items in the home? And how about laying down some quality tiles in a room that often has unfinished concrete floors, or worse, cheap peel-n-press linoleum? These are definitely important aspects of a well-designed laundry room and there are a couple of manufacturers whose products can facilitate the desired, modernized effect:

Utility Sink
The Pedestal UrbanEdge^® utility sink by Julien is a stylish, stainless steel workhorse that is corrosion resistant and features highly efficient sound deadening pads. With a practical flat sink bottom, straight bowl sides and a convenient 5” high backsplash, the Pedestal UrbanEdge makes for a functional and striking addition to the modern laundry room.

Faucet

The Steam Valve Original faucet, in three-hole, deck mount configuration with pull of spray, made by JACLO, features a push/pull spray head that diverts from stream to spray. Silicon nozzles and a plastic coated stainless steel hose make it easy to clean. Compliant with both California and Vermont’s lead requirements, this faucet is not only versatile, but safe as well.

Tile

The VTW Series City Collection Tiles from Hastings are solid colored tiles that offer a simple, clean and cosmopolitan look. Strong, durable and highly suitable for areas of heavy-duty traffic, color options like brown, grey, beige and black make this collection an ideal choice to match most any décor in the laundry room.

Once an afterthought, the laundry room is now one that commands attention in the modern home. Utilizing products like the ones above, a laundry room can display a sense of thoughtful functionality and design, and bring great value to homeowners.