Modern architecture is determinably minimalist, with open, light-filled living areas, and bold angles.
With a philosophy of form following function, modern architecture expresses itself through simplicity. Often using elements of wood, glass, and steel, the contemporary style of architecture emphasizes the structure and materials used in the building as opposed to embellishing them up with ornate designs. You will often see vaulted ceilings, exposed structural elements, and unique linear elements.
Take a look at some extraordinary designs in our selection!
Oceanside Living. Blissful, salty breezes blowing continually, rich breaths of humid air, the rushing resonance of waves crashing, and endless horizons full of sun-kissed pigments.
Designing your modern home alongside the oceanfront with ensure you pave your way to a blissful existence. Amidst peaceful elements, you are creating a lifestyle of tranquility and simplicity. Away from the noise of urban zones, you will embrace the sounds, smells, and sensations of nature.
Explore with us these exquisite modern homes, designed to welcome all of the natural beauty of the surrounding seascapes.
Chandigarh, India is a time capsule of Mid-Century Modern architecture nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas.
In 2016, the Capitol Complex in Chandigarh was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, making these incredible modern buildings an unmissable wonder. In Chandigarh, India, you won’t find an ancient city, or any British colonial buildings. Chandigarh was one of India’s first planned cities, created by the Chandigarh Capital Project Team, and led by Swiss architect, Charles Edouard Corbusier (Le Corbusier). As a marvelous result, Chandigarh is a urban zone that feels both futuristic and retro. The flawless geometrical outline mirrors the engineering virtuoso of the organizers of the city, Albert Mayer and Mathew Novicki. Chandigarh is a vacation destination with a modern business focus.
In India, most of the cities are planned and created solely for automobiles, so a sidewalk is an immense luxury. In Chandigarh, there are plentiful pedestrian walkways where you may safely stroll, a perfect means to pleasantly meander local streets by foot. Take a quick walk with us through this modernist haven!
In the vast and mystical Chihuahuan desert, Marfa, Texas is an oasis of alluring mystery and transcendental experience.
Located between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park, Marfa was originally founded as a railroad water stop. Now one of the minimalist art and design meccas of the nation, Marfa attracts creatives and adventurers from far and wide.
During the 1920s, the community in Marfa began to grow. By the 1950s, it was nationally famous for its mysterious Ghost Lights. The source of the Fata Mortgana has long been rumored to be anything from UFOs, to wandering spirits. This mysterious phenomena has also been attributed to atmospheric reflections of campfires and headlights, although the first recorded sighting was in 1883, before automobiles were on the market. In modern times, atmospheric scientists hypothesize that the lights are a sort of mirage caused by sharp temperature gradients between cold and warm layers of air.
Marfa Army Airfield was the training grounds for several thousand pilots during World War II. In the 1970s, the army base lands were bought by Donald Judd, an acclaimed visual artist from New York City. In 1979, Judd began transforming the fort’s buildings into art spaces with a vision to house large collections of individual artists’ work on permanent display. Though Judd birthed the contemporary art movement in Marfa, when he died in 1994, Marfa quite literally became a ghost town. Tumbleweeds the size of shopping carts could be seen blowing down the road, and storefronts were completely baron and overlaid with dust. In the early 2000s, Marfa was resurrected, and thus began a kind of renaissance. Artists and Artisans opened new galleries and chic hotels, and the Texas government decided to make a roadside viewing post for the Marfa Mystery Lights.
Today in Marfa, you can expect to find modern art galleries, bohemian boutique hotels and restaurants, eclectic campgrounds, funky bars, and far-out festivals with the ever-ethereal backdrops of reverent desert tones. Take a dive with us through the dreamy high desert..
Upcycling, or creative repurposing, is the process of transforming used and discarded materials into products or projects for better environmental use and better quality.
By upcycling, you prevent wasting potentially useful materials, therefore reducing the consumption of new raw materials when creating new products. Reducing the use of new raw materials can result in a reduction of energy usage, air pollution, water pollution and even greenhouse gas emissions. The major environmental impact of glass production is the atmospheric emissions from melting activities. The combustion of natural gas or fuel oil, and the decomposition of raw materials during the melting, lead to the emission of carbon dioxide.
Glass bottles are already a brilliantly constructed work of art. Both their smooth, oblong shape, and array of colors make them a prime candidate for upcycling in your own home. When they go in the recycling bin, or often the trash, it is common for them to shatter and become useless for anything other than being melted down. It’s a shame to let such a beautiful sculpture go to waste! Imagine the possibilities of using beautiful blue hues of glass, or serene greens to create a privacy wall, outdoor shower, garden bed, or simple a lantern to hang a candle.
Check out these immensely creative and extraordinay applications of glass upcycling. Some are more complex and require a bit more knowledge of construction, and some that can be simply constructed in a weekend!
Just in time for summer, our luxurious Poolside Collection was inspired by long, lavish days spent by the pool at the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
The dreamy “Pink Palace” is the ultimate beacon of timeless allure in Los Angeles, and has been the place to see and be seen for over a century. With an unforgettable fusion of vintage glamour and modern luxury, we hope to sweep you away with the same soft hues. Adorn your outdoor spaces with elegance and style, make every area of your environment inviting. Surround yourself with fresh fruit and flowers, modern bohemian patterns, and a dreamy summer color palette. Setting your table and outdoor spaces with intention will ensure you’re sent into the season with panache.
Enjoy taking a tour through our new summer collection, and feel inspired to create your outdoor oasis this summer!
Austin has an international reputation for its rich and vibrant culture. With hundreds of live music venues, thousands of restaurants, and endless adventure destinations in the outdoors, you will never have a day in Austin without excitement and activity!
Ranked as one of the fittest cities in the United States, and with 300+ days of sunshine and an average temperature of 68 degrees, being active in Austin comes naturally. Austin offers an abundance of outdoor activities from cycling, stand-up paddle boarding, hiking, yoga, kayaking, rock climbing, and more!
Austin is known for its creativity and freedom of expression. Home some world-class museums like the Blanton, with the nation’s largest University-owned collection on exhibit, Austin attracts an international appetite for the arts. Austin is a place to explore the work of designers, painters, sculptors, writers, photographers, filmmakers, dancers and musicians, year round, in a variety of venues.
Modern design and decor are now a part of the aesthetic culture in Austin, and there are an array of cafes, restaurants, hotels, and bars so beautiful, that they are a place to see, and be seen. If you have an eye for unique architecture and interior design, you will enjoy these eclectically modern hotels!
Trees are a vital ingredient for supporting life on our planet. They are crucial to our environment as humans, producing oxygen and absorbing climate change-causing carbon dioxide. People cut down 15 billion trees each year, excluding the undocumented millions illegally logged, and the global tree count has fallen by 46% since the beginning of human civilization.
Logging is the greatest determinant of whether trees will survive in a given area. The most dramatic losses to forests are in tropical regions where land is being cleared for agriculture and other commercial purposes. Logging involves the cutting and processing of trees to produce timber and pulp to supply the world’s markets for furniture, construction, paper, and other products. If not managed properly, logging greatly contributes to deforestation and forest degradation. Habitat loss is one of the biggest threats to biodiversity, especially in tropical rainforests where over half of all of the planet’s documented flora and fauna are found. Logging also directly impacts soil and hydrological cycles, as reducing in tree coverage leads to the increase in water runoff and soil erosion.
It is imperative to our survival as a species to preserve our planet’s forests. A way to immensely impact the conservation of trees is to utilize reclaimed timber for the construction of your home, and your home improvement projects. The vast majority of repurposed wood comes from timbers and decking rescued from old barns, factories and warehouses, though some use wood from structures such as pallets, boxcars, coal mines, and wine barrels.
Here are some amazing projects using pallets that we hope inspire you to utilize reclaimed wood for your future home projects!
Austin, the capital of Texas since 1839, is the fasted growing city in the United States. An urban zone immersed in natural beauty, Austin sits amidst lush rolling hills, and numerous lakes and rivers. The culture is thriving with a diverse range of music, performing arts, film, technology, fine foods, and athleticism.
Despite widespread stereotypes of Texas, Austin is in the heart of the hill country, with rich landscapes of forests and waterways. Downtown Austin is perched alongside Lady Bird Lake, a reservoir on the Colorado River that runs through Central Texas. There is a 15 mile hike and bike trail that traces the lengths of the reservoir and some adjacent roads and parks, inspiring an athletically abundant culture of jogging, biking, and dog walking throughout each day. With delightful weather most of the year, you will not often see Lady Bird lake empty of kayakers, paddle boarders, and the local rowing club. You can even catch local bands playing a concert atop the water from rafts, canoes, or tubes for the Midsummer Serenade Series.
You will find natural monuments such as the renowned Barton Springs Pool, an enclosed bit of natural spring that attracts thousands each week. The 3-acre lake is spring fed, and the water averages 68 degrees Fahrenheit year round. There is an 8 mile stretch of protected land along Barton Creek with hiking trails, waterfalls, swimming holes, rock climbing routes, and pristine wilderness that begins in Zilker Park near downtown, heading into Westlake Hills.
Austin is home to a large population of musicians, some known around the world. With an international reputation for being the “Live Music Capital of the World,” there wont be a day or night in Austin without a vast number concerts in an array of genres. Most restaurants and nearly all the bars in Austin have the capacity to be a live music venue at some capacity.
There are now a good number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in Austin, and since the influx of technology and developmental companies in the 1990s, this high-tech town has been recently nicknamed the “Silicon Hills.” Conventions and festivals such as South by Southwest bring millions of techies to Austin for events and seminars each year.
There is a rapidly growing foodie culture in Austin that has made it a hotspot for innovative and delectable selections of cuisine. Chefs from every corner of the world have created their dream kitchens that attract appetites from far and wide.
A long standing local motto, “Keep Austin Weird,” refers to the movement and desire to protect small, unique, and local businesses from being overrun by large corporations. The eclectic aesthetic of Austin manifests in its restaurants, cafes, and hotels. From the classically eccentric old-Austin flavor, to the newer sleek and modern tastes, you wont find a corner of Austin that doesn’t catch your eye.
Check out some of our favorite selections of places to stay, and spots to eat!
Located in the Northern area of Thailand along the Ping River, breathtaking Chiang Mai is situated amongst the highest mountains in the country, surrounded by lush forests. Dubbed the cultural capital of Thailand, Chiang Mai has been awarded the title of Creative City by The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and repeatedly received recognition as one of the top destinations in the world.
The climate of Chiang Mai is that of the tropical savanna; with low latitude and relatively high elevation, the weather is warm to hot year-round. With over 300 Buddhist temples to visit, you will have no shortage of stunning architecture to marvel over. Chiang Mai also has its fair amount of museums, botanical gardens, and street markets full of exquisite local treasures and foods. The surrounding areas are verdant and mountainous, with national parks for trekking, Hill Tribes to visit for cultural immersion, and elephant reserves that you may visit for opportunities to volunteer.
WHAT TO PACK
Lightweight pants and skirts, sundresses, shorts, yoga pants, tunics
Baby wipes, it’s very humid and you might want to keep your face clean!
Lightweight scarf or shawl to cover your shoulders inside temples
Swimsuit, hiking shoes, comfortable sandals, and water shoes
Comfortable sandals and sneakers for walking around the city
Lightweight hiking pants and shirts with long sleeves for mosquito protection
Waterproof phone case and waterproof backpack or bag
