Tuesday, April 20, 2010

9 by Design


Since Jersey Shore ended, there's hardly any t.v. worth watching anymore (haha) but lately I've stumbled upon Bravo's newest docu-series called 9 by Design. I not only like it, I set-my-Dvr-to-record-love it! It features the crazy life and creative genius of a husband/ wife team of designers based in New York City.

Robert and Cortney Novogratz started renovating run down urban facilities in New York City in the early 90's. With little funds, they renovated a space in the up and coming "Chelsea" neighborhood. When (then) big-time Musician Suzanne Vega offered to rent the space at three times the mortgage, they of course obliged, and the rest is history! Since then they have popped out 7 kids and 8 renovated homes, all of which appear to have turned out pretty nicely (despite being named Five, as their fifth child was... which I think is unique but just sayin')

What I love about what they do, is first off the fact that they're self taught and insanely creative. They've used nontraditional and usually abandoned spaces and turned them into spacious homes, mostly by using recycled or reclaimed materials from the original fixture. Here is a before picture of one of their projects:
And After:
I especially love how instead of a standard rooftop garden, they opted for something their kids would use, a basketball court! But this one mimics the design of an adjacent church dome... I also love the eclectic mix of antique and modern accessories they use inside:
And their use of texture to add warmth to white walls, like these graphic curtains in the twins room: Here they used a garage door in leu of standard windows and/or french doors to open up the kitchen space and enjoy the view of the city:
For more images & info on their book, go to their official website Sixx Design
Or just watch on Bravo Tuesday night's, which I am going to do right now!

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