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Earlier this month, we featured the 5,000-square-foot darkly glamorous studio of San Francisco interior designer Nicole Hollis, a member of the Remodelista Architect/Designer Directory. (See A Noirish Studio for a San Francisco Design Star.) We were especially taken by the kitchen, which Hollis outfitted almost entirely in shades of black (white walls and a touch of white marble notwithstanding). Let’s take a closer look. Photography by Laure Joliet, courtesy of Nicole Hollis. Above: In the studio’s communal staff kitchen, floors are custom dark gray concrete and walls are painted in Benjamin Moore’s Decorator’s White—the same finishes used throughout the rest of the studio. Above: The kitchen has two handmade backsplashes: a row of hand-glazed, glossy black Moroccan Clé tile, and a “bleached metal” steel wall surround—an effect Hollis developed with Oakland’s Chris French Metal “to add depth, interest, and contrast to the space,” she says. Above: Two white accents—a petite planter and a salt grinder from Hudson Grace—in a sea of black: a budget-friendly dish rack Hollis found on Amazon, Cutting Boards by Blackcreek Mercantile & Trading Co. from March in San Francisco, and a pair of black Rubber-Coated Soap Pumps and black Rubber Cups from CB2.
Above: A custom steel kitchen island with Calacatta marble top (from CoorItalia) is one of the few non-black surfaces in the room. The requisite microwave (it’s a staff kitchen, after all) is hidden in the cabinet just to the left of the sink. Above: Direct light reveals how complex the black shades really are, including a Belgian bluestone countertop from Cooritalia. “There is not just one shade of black here, but many,” said Hollis, “as well as a variety of textures. That’s key when you are working with a restrictive palette.” Above: Glass jars from Fort Standard hold a variety of loose-leaf teas, perched over a Viking electric range. Above: The sink and faucet are both matte black from Blanco. To incentivize plant-watering, Hollis stocked the kitchen with a polished brass watering can by Lee West for Carl Auböck, from the Future Perfect. Above: The staff sits at a James Perse dining table surrounded by a mix of designer chairs: Panton, Thonet Era, Tolix Marais A, and Eames Eiffel, plus Prouvé Standard and DWR’s Salt Chair (not pictured).
Meals are served on Heath Ceramics tableware. The glassware shown here is Flaskware by Adam Reineck and Yvonne Mouser from Front SF. The loft windows look out over a cityscape toward the Twin Peaks hills of San Francisco. Above: The dramatic wall light above the dining table is from Dimore Studio. Browse more of Remodelista’s Kitchen of the Week series, including: The Curtained Kitchen, Dutch Modern Edition A Striking Before/After in Venice, California A Communal Kitchen/Library at the Jennings HotelThis must be the most glamorous redecorating job in the world - making the Oval Office fit for a new president. When Barack Obama moves into his new office on Tuesday, he'll have plenty of big decisions to mull over: what to do about Gaza; what to do about the economy; what to do about healthcare.But there'll be one more: what to do about the bland hotel lobby-style colour scheme that George W. Bush imposed on the Oval Office shortly after arriving in 2000. The office was built in 1909 for President William Howard Taft.
The shape recalls two rooms in George Washington's original 'President's House' with their bowed ends. Obama will keep certain fixtures in the Oval Office but others are likely to go - to reflect the incoming President's personal taste (click to enlarge) At receptions, it is said that the President liked his guests to form a circle around him, so that no one was marginalised to a corner of the room.
outhouses shower curtain and bath accessory sets by avantiEach new president is given $100,000 (£68,000) with which to decorate the room and his private residential quarters.
linden streettm thermal grommet-top drapery panelHe can bring in his own carpet, curtains, paintings, sculptures and furniture.
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Bill Clinton's office was deep blue with crimson striped sofas, George Bush Senior's was pale blue - and, 75 years ago, Franklin D. Roosevelt went for turquoise, grey and green. There isn't total freedom, however: tradition dictates that some fixtures must stay. Obama's team have refused to say what their colour scheme will be - but here we reveal which features will remain and which will go . . .
acaulis curtains1. The carpet changes with every president.
lorry curtains hoddesdonGeorge W. Bush's 'yellow sunburst' affair - which wouldn't look out of place in a hotel lobby - was designed by his wife Laura to make the office 'open and optimistic'.
vassiliadis curtainsIt was made by rug company Edward Fields in New York and Laura watched it being produced.
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And a few days ago, when Bill Clinton visited the White House, he was heard to say: 'I just love this rug.' Clinton's rug was blue. But Obama's team say the president-elect has not yet decided on his - though it is believed he will continue using Mr Bush's until the new one arrives. 2. The President has total freedom over the design of his Oval Office rug - as long as it features the presidential seal at its centre.
ikea stockholm blad curtains ukThe three major constituents of the seal - a bald eagle representing America, arrows and an olive branch - date back to 1782, though there are rare changes to the design.
tesco eyelet blackout curtainsThe last president to tamper with the seal was Harry S. Truman in 1945.
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The bird had been staring at the arrows, which represent military might, but with World War II fresh in his mind, Truman wanted the eagle to peer at the olive branches, so that America is looking at peace not war. Nine presidents later, George W. Bush said ruefully of Truman's change: 'It's always important to make sure that we've got enough arrows in the talon to keep the peace.' Officials are seen here rehearsing for Obama's inauguration at the Capitol Building in Washington on Tuesday 3.
curtain pole brackets 28mm homebaseThe Resolute desk' arrived in the White House with Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880, and only three - Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford - have not used it.
harrison drape curtain track stockistsThe desk is made from an abandoned British ship, HMS Resolute, which was found by American sailors and returned to Queen Victoria as a token of friendship.
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At the end of the ship's working life, the Queen had the desk made and gave it to the President. There have been just two alterations since 1880. Roosevelt attached a door between the front legs to hide the leg braces he wore because of polio. And 6ft 2in Ronald Reagan had the desk made two inches higher. 4. The small box contains a buzzer which summons the presidential valet. 5. The first transcontinental phone call from here was made by Woodrow Wilson on January 25, 1915.6.
pshs curtainsThis orthopaedic-style chair, in maple, cherry wood and leather, was designed by the Gunlocke company for John F. Kennedy, who had back trouble, and has been used by all his successors.
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7. Framing three 11ft 6in windows, these golden drapes - made by The Drapery House in New York - were chosen by the Bushes. Obama is likely to change them. Only Jimmy Carter and Dwight Eisenhower left the curtains untouched. 8. This picture of a hatless cowboy on horseback, by 19th-century German painter W. H. D. Koerner, is likely to go - it belongs to one of Bush's childhood friends.
kim's curtains waxhawThough it is untitled, Bush refers to it as A Charge To Keep I Have, after Charles Wesley's hymn.
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argos lima ring top curtainsIn fact, Koerner painted it to illustrate a magazine story about a horse thief.
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14. . . . nor the presidential flag. There has been no change to the design of the U.S. president's flag since the basic design was adopted in 1945 - apart from extra stars being added after Alaska and Hawaii joined the union in 1959. This flag, the rug and a seal on the ceiling are the only three prominent eagles in the room; in Nixon's day there were said to be 15 eagles around the office.
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eclipsetm fresno rod-pocket/back-tab blackout curtain panelFor 20 years until the Eighties, the floor was covered in cheap-looking lino.16.
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When a foreign head of state visits the White House, they sit on one of these beige and blue striped chairs, and the President sits on the other. Accompanying civil servants and advisers get a comfier deal, on the two couches. The armchairs date back to 1902 when the West Wing of the White House was built. 17. These rosewood chairs face out of the room, but into the President's gaze. They have been in the West Wing since 1902.
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ikea dagny curtains greenThese couches, made by Scalamandre, whom Jackie Kennedy first employed in the White House, were the Bushes's choice.
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