In this month's edition of our coffee table book club, we have three titles that speak to how our inner selves reflect the spaces we inhabit, and vice versa.  

The Home Within Us: Romantic Houses, Evocative Rooms by Bobby McAlpine

“What we crave in this life is an outer beauty that reflects the gorgeous world inside us. I am speaking about the house within us ... One of the strongest ingredients in keeping you who you are, your physical environment also keeps you in full awareness of where you are. If you can find your way to live in the house without you, then you not only create an enormous, broad, and lovely offering to yourself, but also to your "pack" – your family and friends. You will also inspire anyone who has not yet been able to make this connection. Such is the power of rooms.”

The Private World of Yves Saint Laurent & Pierre Bergé 

Pierre Bergé passed away last month. The true end of an era. While he has long since sold off his and Yves Saint Laurent's (his former business partner and lover) incredible collection of homes, art and furniture, it's still sad to think how their dazzling world has been scattered to the wind. At least we have the photos. Their homes, villas, and apartments in France and Morocco reflect the many interests, passions and fantasies of these complicated and influential men. 

A Mondrian hangs in their famous Right Bank Apartment

Their seaside Deauville estate in Normandy

Yves' "Bachelor" apartment in Paris where he went to, um, have fun. 

American Writers at Home by J.D. McClatchy 

There is nothing more private and more sacred than the writer’s room. From Victorian mansions to rustic stone cottages, this book is a fascinating historical look into the rooms where America’s greatest literary works were created. 

Louisa May Alcott's writing desk

Known amongst design insiders simply as “Market,” the High Point Furniture Market held each October and June in High Point, North Carolina is design mecca for anyone who makes their living in the furniture and design trade. 

Held in the furniture manufacturing capital of America, the Editor-in-chief of House Beautiful (America’s oldest publication), Sophie Donelson, describes the 11 million square-foot showcase as, “the most concentrated moment of what’s new, trends, colors, profiles, what are people going to be talking about, what we should be paying attention to.”  

For an interesting read on the history of furniture making in High Point, check out this Architectural Digest article. Or have a quick scroll through some of our favorites from the most recent show: 

This new table design has a nice Sérgio Rodrigues thing going on, but no rainforest was hurt in its making, one hopes...

Comfy, soft throws on a snowy night ... yes please. 

Clean, mid-century lines with a rustic finish

Finding a good console is always serendipity at work.

Won't your house guests be charmed! Comes in custom leather colors. 

Comfy and clean 

Cross bow cotton rug 

Ignore the bedding, but the detailing on the bed frame is very elegant. 

America Rules!

Das is Wünderbar

Ralph Lauren's Telluride Ranch bedroom

Some fall leaves in Germany

Of the many aspects that set Aspen apart, the unique blend of architecture is high on the list. While its 19th-century Victorian roots can be found in towns across American, less common are the Swiss/Alpine style chalets that were popular among Aspen’s postwar settlers. Many of them direct from the Alps, Paepcke-era residents wanted Aspen to look like their homeland.  

Nowadays, there is a healthy mix of both Alpine and American Western styles, sprinkled with international modernism. How exactly are they different? How are they the same? And most importantly: Which is better? 

Similarities

Quintessential "Swiss Chalet Style"  (Photo: Wiki) 

Typical American log home with green trim

Both styles have wide sloping roofs to acommodate large amounts of snowfall. Both are clad in wood, often with a stone base.  

Ornament

Massive logs and soaring windows define this Western home

Flower boxes, murals, and wood carvings decorate this Bavarian house. 

When it comes to ornamentation, American style goes for big windows, and lots of them. Our nation’s fondness for size is reflected in the scale of the rooms and materials, with giant beams and columns, multiple roof lines and meandering floor plans. In the Alps, they like to keep the buildings symmetrical and simple, and use painted murals, lots of flowers and ornate wood carvings to add a sense of grandeur.

Logs vs. Panels

A log-lovers paradise in Arizona

A bedroom in Switzerland(Photo: AD)

American western homes are all about logs, both inside and out, whereas in the Alps, they prefer either wood paneling or stucco. The paneling can be rustic or more ornate like the bedroom pictured above.  

Influences

Classic American West by Ralph Lauren Photo: AD

Traditional Alpine Chalet living roomPhoto: AD

Of course each style is informed by its environment, culture and history. The American West reflects hard-scrabble pioneers making the best with limited resources, bringing with them what East Coast artifacts they could manage. The Alps have been settled by more or less the same peoples for millennia and speak to centuries of decorating traditions. 

A Summit

A Kristin Dittmar designed home in Aspen

View of the Matterhorn from Switzerland 

Let's all agree that you can’t go wrong with clean modern, bright design whether you prefer the old world of the Alps, or the champagne powder in Aspen.  

Every month we’ll be recommending our favorite, fabulous, rare, big and beautiful books from the KD Design Library. Put these babies on your coffee table and your guests won’t be able to put them down (or sometimes so heavy they won’t be able to pick them up!)

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September: “Back to School” Essentials:

Girl talk in Greece aboard the M.Y. "Illyris" (1970) 

1.  Sayn-Wittgenstein Collection Photographs by Princess Marianne Sayn-Wittgenstein (2006) 

Marianne, Dowager Princess zu Sayn-Wittgenstein is a 97-year-old Princess who really lived la dolce vita, (or whatever the German translation of that is). A talented photographer she is something of the Slim Aarons of the European aristocratic set, except an actual Princess, not that the Sayn-Wittgensteins are the Bourbons, but still pretty glamorous. Anyway, this book is like getting invited onto the chicest yacht in the Mediterranean – one last gasp of summer before its time for fall jackets. Speaking of ... there are also some wonderful Alps skiing photos to get you excited for winter.

St. Moritz 1972: Wolfgang Bierlein and Teresa Sayn-Wittgenstein

Sir Sean Connery on the beach 1980

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2. Miss Piggy’s Guide to Life by Miss Piggy, as told to Henry Beard (1981)

If you have kids heading off into the world for the first time, this book has tons of great advice. For example:

• On Kissing on the First Date: Here is my little rule: If he picks up the check, give him a peck; if it was Dutch, no such luck.
• On Traveling: Never begin a trip of any kind before noon.
• On Being the Perfect Party Guest: Never offer to bring anything, it implies the hosts are too incompetent to shop or cook for themselves.  Never bring a “gift”. A small gift will be graciously accepted and then tossed in the garbage. A lavish gift could be awkward because they might mistake you for a delivery person and tip you. On the other hand, it is very acceptable to receive a gift, also to ask where it’s from and how much it costs. 

Also there is an entire chapter called: How to Avoid Weight Loss in the Lean Years

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3. London Birth of a Cult: Hedi Slimane (2005)

There’s nothing like those fresh fall concerts at which you sweat your @#@#@ off. Hedi Slimane has been a “/slash photographer” for almost as long as he has been the darling of the fashion world (Dior then YSL) and never was he more in his element than in the early aughts following around British rocker Pete Doherty of the Libertines and then Baby Shambles. (This is right before he started dating Kate Moss.) This gorgeously designed photo book captures the band, its fans, London and perhaps the very essence of “cool” itself, which appears to smell really, really bad. Happy Fall!

Decorating tips when letting animals into the house

While animal trophies (usually of the taxidermy variety) tend to conjure images of hunting lodges or man caves, antlers and skulls can be an elegant, contemporary and totally ick-free accent to a room.  

Whether they are real or fake, new or antique, there is something both aesthetically striking, and something oddly comforting about these abstracted pieces of nature in your midst. Skulls, of course, can be a little more of a statement, but interesting nonetheless. At the Columbine store on Durant Street, you can find everything from T-rex skulls to cave bear skeletons to a woolly mammoth skeleton replica. Not for everyone, granted, but if you are looking for a dramatic statement in the foyer ... 

Whether as a lamp or a chandelier, a single statement or a full wall, the right piece can be positively bonafide. Except for ivory. No ivory ever!  

Mid-century antler 

Traditional European trophy wall 

These antlers give the room a touch of life 

A more contemporary version of a trophy wall

Book ends 

Golden antler table lamp 

The gorgeous twirl of these horns makes the room 

This Friday, August 25th, we're very excited to unveil our custom designed ping-pong table. Made entirely from the Carrara marble, this elegant, made-to-order show-piece will be a beautiful addition to any room. Come this Friday and test your skills with our tournament and plenty of free cocktails. 

If you're having a hard time imagining Ping-pong tables anywhere but the basement, you may be surprised to learn that the game was actually born in the tony smoking rooms of English country houses.  

Victorian England marked high tide for the British Empire and with that world domination came lots of big houses, big parties and a robust class of idle rich. The legend goes that British soldiers on leave from India came home with a fun new parlor game that required only a flat surface, some books and a golf ball. A modified champagne cork would do in a pinch. And so it came to be, table tennis, whiff-whaff, or Ping-pong which an industrious British manufacturer packaged, trademarked and later sold to Parker Brothers. 

By the 1920s, Ping-pong had become a bona fide thing, with the founding of the International Table Tennis Federation and first official world championship in 1926. Today Ping-pong is enjoying a Millennial resurgence at social clubs like SPiN, which has branches across the country and of course soon to be the Birkin Bag of your Aspen home. 

P.S. In addition to the Ping-pong table, we also have a line of custom marble sink, side tables and sculptures. 

It says a lot about marble that one cannot name a single fact about where it comes from, how hard it is to mine and move, its historical significance, and yet when in its presence, you know it’s something very special. In a recent piece in the New York Times, The Majestic Marble Quarries of Northern Italy, they observe, “Like gold, marble is a special form of embedded wealth, visually striking and deeply impractical.”

I just got back from a trip to the Apuan Alps in Carrera, Italy and couldn’t believe the staggering beauty of these remote and other-worldly white mountains where primordial creatures compressed and petrified into interlocking white crystals to make marmo, or marble as we Americans like to call it. After about one terrifying hour’s drive from Florence (boy are Italians bad drivers!) we toured the steep hillsides where our marble (ours until it is yours) gets cut with a diamond-edged saw, loaded onto huge trucks and slowly begins its 5,000 mile journey to a hillside here in Aspen. The colors of these quarries are hard to describe–the subtle, swirling blues and grays and blinding white … I’ll never see my bathroom in quite the same way.

Perhaps it’s crazy to import marble from so far away when one of America’s most famous marble quarries is not even 30 miles away as the crow flies in Marble, Colorado, but there is nothing like the intricate coloring and beauty of Italian marble. Not to mention bathing amongst stones from the same quarry that clad the colosseum in Rome, that still clads the Taj Mahal, and that Michelangelo used to carve his David … Worth it.

In November we completed the interior design of a four-story, five-bedroom house on Aspen's Red Mountain. While its spectacular views rule in terms of what catches the eye, inside the marble and barnwood layering throughout almost every room of the house turned out to be beautiful too. (CVLux magazine out of California thought so too, and featured us this month.)

Where white walls were once the decor de rigueur, now textured accents have stepped in. We used barnwood in bedrooms, community spaces and an entertainment room with a bar area, pictured below. It softens the feel of the space and is also a gesture to the surrounding forested landscape. 

In the bedrooms and living spaces, we used the linear texture of the barnwood to complement a series of insets. Used for books, photos and even lighting, these nooks and crannies help to create natural dimension and give the walls their own personality. 

Another natural material that's a must is marble. For the kitchens and bathrooms we used the classic white stone. When paired with wood, as seen below, the contrast works as a complement. Elegant with alpine style. (And who can resist that tub with a view?) Overall the natural elements and tones work together and we are proud to be the start of turning this house into a home. 

After a nail-biting start to winter, with barren mountains just days before the lifts were scheduled to open, Aspen Skiing Co.'s four resorts are all humming. Snowmass opened, barely, on Thanksgiving and a couple of storm shots allowed Aspen Mountain to open a few days later. This past weekend, both Aspen Highlands and Buttermilk started spinning their lifts, as scheduled. 

Photo courtesy: Jesse Hoffman, Aspen Skiing Co.

Smiles across the four resorts were ubiquitous this weekend, after mountains received more than a foot of snow in the past week. Skiers can already hike to parts of Highland Bowl, and new terrain is being accessed each day as patrol works hard to ensure it's safe. 

That all means winter is officially here. As the holiday break quickly approaches, skiers and snowboarders should get their gear necessities -- new gloves and an equipment tune -- before the crowds descend on the Roaring Fork Valley. We're happy to see all the snow, and all the visitors will be too!

The High Point Market is one of our favorite times of the year. For interior designers, it's like Christmas morning, as we and 75,000 other furniture-philes, get to check out all the newest trends in the design world. We traveled to North Carolina in October to scope out the scene, and walked away with a few new favorites: 

Four Hands is a furniture company that curates contemporary styles from around the world, and also produces its own line. Their signature materials include warm woods and cool concrete along with rugged iron and sumptuous upholstery. Can we you tell why we love it? 

From table lamps to incredible modern wall sconces, Arteriors specializes in using materials like leather, iron, brass, bronze, nickel, wood, glass, ceramic and porcelain in collaboration with artisan crafts-people from around the world. The result is living in luxury and we like it. 

We've mentioned Interlude Home before, but seeing the company action was a delight. They focus on fashion-inspired design, so everything has a sophisticated flair. That was evident in the Weiman upholstery they debuted at High Point -- and served along with bellinis and champagne. 

Global Views is just enough sleek design with a cosmopolitan touch. Their showroom style is that of a savvy veteran traveler, and we're fans of the way they incorporate worldly ideas into small rooms. Be on the lookout for more from this company in our work. 

When you've held senior positions at Women's Wear Daily and W Magazine, and then discover you also have a love of interior design, it only seems logical to marry the two. And that's just what Wendy King Philips did. She and her partner, Carl Philips, launched Interlude Home, a fashion-meets-furniture-and-decor company, curating fashion-inspired pieces and design ideas into one place. 

"Fashion is our language," says Philips on her site. Her careful eye in the fashion world parlays into special finds. For example, she recently traveled to Europe and reignited her passion for leather in the nooks of Parisian shops. And while it's a pleasure to wear, she notes that it's also seen in everything from foot stools to baskets this season. 

Another company noticing the fashion-with-function trend is Salt & Water. After New York Fashion Week, the design studio noted that modular clothes -- wrap-arounds, layered shirts and jumpers -- can be repurposed each season and furniture mimics that with its own version of stacking and reorganizing, allowing interiors to be upgraded without always replacing everything. 

Salt & Water Design

Both Interlude and Salt & Water are doing something we admire, by mirroring design with fashion. If copying is the highest form of flattery, then don't be surprised if we take a note from them. 

As the seasons change, we spend more time indoors. Warm afternoons give way to cool nights, and we're finding ourselves lingering in bed just a little bit longer. That got us thinking about how important the bedroom is when it comes to personal happiness in the house. It's a refuge, and should be stress-free, inducing calm instead of a storm. 

There are a lot of ways to achieve this state. The first and least expensive — although sometimes the hardest — is to get rid of the clutter. Chests of drawers covered in books, photos and jewelry might seem like a personal touch, but they're also the first thing you see when you go to bed and wake up — reminding you of all the things in your life. Clear off the countertops and nightstands to simplify. 

Adding a place to sit rounds out the room. The bed is for sleeping (and other things) so make space to be in the room, but not horizontal. Adding chairs in a corner gives you a spot to curl up and read or chat on the phone, and still offers that sense of calm without putting you to sleep.

Breathe some life into the bedroom with green. Fresh-cut flowers or plants add a freshness to the space which offers a sense of rejuvenation. Small touches like this may seem mundane, but you'll be amazed at how quickly they can transform your bedroom into a sanctuary. There's no need to sleep on that. 

Gone are the days of Lazy Boy recliners and staid seating. Instead, the act of sitting is now playful and fun, thanks to new lines introduced by several designers this fall. And don't expect anything plain; what makes these chairs enjoyable is the color, design and texture. 

Take, for example, the modernized ottoman. Called the "fig seat," Yellow Goat Designs put a high-pressure laminate top on each of them -- in bright colors like pink, yellow and spring green -- making it a fun addition to any kid's room, or a bright splash in a neutral room for adults too. 

Los Angeles-based Bend goods released this rainbow-inspired line of stacking chairs. They obviously pop against an outdoor, yellow wall (pictured here), but imagine them around a marble or wood  table. We love the idea of mixing modern with classic, and these chairs coupled with a timeless piece can make that happen. Plus, with summers so short in Aspen, why limit yourself to using these chairs for just a couple of months? Bring them indoors and put a smile on your face all year long.

While we like to stick to neutral palettes with pops of color when it comes to interiors, we don't mind when there's a bright explosion outside. And while the vivid tones of summer are on their way out, every day more leaves are turning shades of gold, canary yellow and butterscotch with the welcome of fall. 

Prime time for leaf-peeping is expected to peak in the coming week, and the comfortable fall weather makes it one of the best weeks of the whole year. That's when the hillsides turn to glorious shades of warm colors, like red, orange and yellow. Here are two striking places to see it yourself: 

The historic Ashcroft Ghost Town has nearly a dozen restored buildings on site and signage which helps to tell the history of this once-bustling mining city. Today, there's a different sort of gold in the hills, and that's the kind found on the enormous stands of aspens enshrouding the town. Stop by for a guided tour from the Aspen Historical Society on Friday through Monday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., or check it out any time on your own. 

The "most photographed mountains in North America" shine their brightest in the fall. That's when a stand of aspens at their base turns bright yellow blanketing their feet. Get up there now. But beware, it's also the most popular time to visit the Maroon Bells. Either ride your bike or take the shuttle, which runs from Aspen Highlands from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, for $8. After hours, guests can drive their own vehicles up as well. 

New York City's Times Square public art installation will make you lie down. Literally, and that's the point for the "XXX Time Square With Love." Three X-shaped loungers are situated in the middle of what's arguably the busiest public square in the country, and they're there to invite people to take a seat. 

Designed by Jurgen Mayer H., the bright pink Xs are supposed to encourage people to see Times Square from a different perspective: either by looking up to the frenetic media that encloses it, or by simply slowing down and staying static to experience the area in an altered pace. 

And, staying true to today's trends, everyone is of course encouraged to take a selfie on the installation, using the hashtag #tsqxxx. People can also capture their surroundings and post those too. 

The project was unveiled on Wednesday. Besides being interactive, Mayer's work is also a nod to the Times Square's storied past. Before it was revitalized -- or "Disney-fied" to some people -- the area was more sinister and included an criminal activity and an adult entertainment industry. Gotta love that. XXX.

It's been an exciting few months around the Kristin Dittmar Design offices, mostly because Kristin and longtime boyfriend Ryan Doremus got engaged! While on vacation in one of Kristin's favorite places, St. Barth's, he popped the question. They've been celebrating ever since, and threw a party at Smuggler Mine in Aspen to toast with all their local friends at the end of July.

Hosting the party at the historic mine fell completely in line with Kristin's Aspen roots. She grew up in town, so celebrating at the old mine that overlooks the city was a perfect way to spend a summer evening. Guests were invited to dress in cowboy-theme style, and both the bride-to-be and groom wore leather boots -- it would be tough to get away with anything else on the mine's rocky and rustic grounds.

Party-goers took heed of the dress code, donning Stetson hats and Frye boots. The weather was perfect and the rose was flowing. The two, surrounded by family and friends, are well-prepared to tie the knot in style. And if the Smuggler Mine engagement party was any indication, their wedding will be one helluva of an event!

When ceramist Paul Soldner gathered a group of artists for summer workshops on a small ranch in Snowmass in 1966, he likely didn't imagine it would become one of the valley's preeminent institutions, drawing artists of international renown to the picturesque campus 50 years later. But that's exactly how Anderson Ranch Arts Center evolved. 

Today the nonprofit, still perched on five acres in Snowmass Village outside of Aspen, runs a year-round program featuring everything from week-long camps and workshops for children and adults, intensive residency programs, visiting artist lectures and ongoing exhibitions. ARAC offers instruction in eight disciplines by on-site faculty, including photography, woodworking, ceramics and painting. It's a place for continued exploration of the creative spirit.

The Ranch celebrated its 50th anniversary in mid-July with a week-long celebration that culminated in a free concert on Snowmass' Fanny Hill featuring Jamestown Revival. The organization recognized Carrie Mae Weems with its National Artist Award and Eleanore and Domenico De Sole with its Service to the Arts Award. In between, events included a lecture by Fred Tomaselli and open studio hours with Tom Sachs. 

But the fun isn't over. On Saturday, Aug. 6, ARAC hosts its annual Art Auction and Community Picnic. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., guests can tour the grounds, enjoy a lunch buffet ($15/adults, kids 12 and under eat free), and bid on more than 200 works in silent and live auctions.  

As interior designers, we are always looking to the art world for inspiration. We plan to be at the celebration to honor this great organization and toast to another 50 years!

More than 1.5 million people got their chance to walk on water last month. That's because the artist Christo constructed golden floating piers on Italy's Lake Iseo, between Milan and Venice. The collaboration with his late wife, Jeanne-Claude, was a massive artistic endeavor involving more than 100,000 square meters of shimmering yellow fabric, hoisted by a modular floating dock system of 220,000 high-density polyethylene cubes. The piers undulated with the water. 

The public installation was open to the public for free for 16 days, June 18 through July 3. It allowed visitors the opportunity to walk from Sulzano to Monte Isola and the island of San Paolo -- a trip of about 3 kilometers. Christo and Jeanne-Claude had envisioned the project more than 25 years ago. It was paid for entirely by the sale of Christo's artwork, offering attendees an authentic experience rather than one infiltrated by sponsorship or grants. 

Photo: Wolfgang Volz

Closer to home,  Christo has a proposed project in Colorado. "Over the River" is a temporary work of art in which he plans to suspend 5.9 miles of silvery, luminous fabric panels high above the Arkansas River along a 42-mile stretch of the river between Salida and Cañon City in south-central Colorado. It's slated for 2017, but currently pending because of litigation. Either way, we love the way he brings art into the natural elements and makes it accessible for everyone. That's a design aesthetic we can stand on. 

 

Modernity meets functionality in Scandinavian design. The movement developed in the 1950s around the Nordic countries of Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Denmark and focuses on form-pressed wood, plastics, anodized or enameled aluminum and pressed steel. If you think of Ikea, that's an overused example of what we're talking about. 

But, we do like the look, especially when it comes to the bedroom. We have recently been working on an interior design project for a renovated home in Aspen's West End on Francis Street. And we channeled those Scandinavian countries for this retreat in the mountains. Stark white walls and a matching bed are complemented by muted shades of grey and beige. Simple canopy chairs offer a place to sit, and the sliding door between master bedroom and en suite is minimalist in every way. Hanging glass lights add depth to the spacious room, and natural light floods in from the windows and ceiling. 

Bedrooms should be a place of respite and relaxation. Bright colors and patterns are fun to look at, but not necessarily conducive to a good night's sleep. By instituting sparseness in sacred spaces, we can leave the fun stuff for other parts of the house. That's simplicity we can sleep on. 

Lanyards with plastic credentials aren't the newest international fashion statement just arriving late to Aspen, but it might seem that way this weekend. The Food & Wine Classic returns for its 34th year, bringing three official days of industry seminars, celebrity chefs, private parties and a solid wine buzz to our Rocky Mountain town. To gain access to the weekend's most coveted event, the Grand Tastings, it will require tracking down one of said lanyards from someone who had the foresight to purchase passes to the sold-out Classic months ago. Or, play like a local and snag one from a guest who's willing to part ways with with theirs for an afternoon. 

But sometimes the weekend's best events take place outside of the tent. Restaurateurs, craft distilleries and specialty food brands will often host public drop-in events throughout the weekend. The easiest way to figure what these are is to literally walk down the street. Pop-up events take place in galleries, stores and restaurants throughout town. We've even seen an impromptu party in a park, hosted by The Little Nell, to cure everyone's hangover on Monday. 

We're going to be ditching our interior design duties to partake in the fun (though we're always looking for inspiration from well-heeled visitors). If you plan to head out too, make sure to walk or ride a bike, because wine buzz; wear wedges or flats as heels aren't great for grass; and hide that lanyard unless you're actually using it!