BNO Design Blog

Laura Esquivel

I spoke last night with Laura Esquivel who is in town working on the last stages of the Broadway musical based on her acclaimed book Like Water For Chocolate, with my dear friend Stephen Lytle. We designed two very different apartments for Laura here in New York,  but with similar feeling. Here is a picture of the first one on St. Mark’s Place, just off Cooper Union (early 90′s)

Black and White

In this fabulous picture by Antoine Bootz you can see that by using just black and white an interior can be as dramatic and interesting as when you use color. Take a close look at the way a simple orange cord stands out within this environment. It really is like having a black and white movie still in which color has been added… The table and chair are BNOdesign exclusives for the location. The chandelier on the left is from www.abyulighting.com 

Contemporary modern living

I don’t know anyone that walks around in Victorian clothing but I have seen people wearing period accessories mixed with their Armani suit. Nowadays when design has become a common word thanks to television, this comparison shows me that there is no reason to reproduce historical interiors in our homes.

 When talking about contemporary modern living, we really talk about the way we live today, the way we are living while reading this article. I am at home sitting on a comfortable white leather-like covered chaise with my laptop on a pillow over my legs. I have a plasma screen on 24 hours cable news and a newspaper next to me. My coffee is on a small drum that I use as a side table. I look out my window over a white-painted Queen Anne chair with Mongolian lamb fur seat and I see the Empire State Building thru our terrace which in turn has a four-post outdoor bed, table and chairs, lots of plants and a BBQ. This is our country house, a split-second away from our New York apartment.

 August 25, 2006

Not much has changed, right? Only, that now I write in my iPad , the TV is LED and I “Facetime” with my nephews…

11-11-11