So many iPhone Cases!

I am starting to worry that iPhone cases might be my new purse.  You know, I have a few but then I see one that I really love, and it doesn't seem that much of an investment, for something I use every day...  I had been crushing on these now-ubiquitous-but-still-so-purdy Rifle Paper Co cases above.  The top left one is my absolute favourite pattern - I have about 6 notes books with that design on the cover that I bought for gifts, but... well, you know. So I thought I would save my pennies for that one (my usual go-to-store is Winners so anything more than $7.99 seems expensive) but then I saw these lovelies from Leif Shop. Gah, I really adore that bottom left one again (scribbled landscape) and the blue tile is so nice...

Of course Society 6 always has amazing cases to choose from with so much unique artwork to choose from - how awesome is that folded paper number above?  I was also stoked to find Afterimages shop on Etsy which not only has some great choices (love that water one) but will do CUSTOM cases for you too - and all of them are under $20!  I would love to have one with a photo of the boys made, what about you?

Of course, if I were thinking purely practically, I would go for a neon number, like these above from Zazzie (only I wouldn't 'cause they are impossibly expensive - $50!?! WHAT??!).  I need something I can easily see in my big pit of a purse.  I don't know how many times I have looked for my phone in my purse, then torn the house apart trying to find it, only to realize that, in its boring black case, it was in the bottom of the purse the whole time.

So what do you have on your phone?  Do you own more than one case?  Are you an addict like myself?  Or do you have one of those ugly indestructible Otter thingers?  Sorry Otter-owners.

Katia and Marielle Labèque

I love interior design, and I love classical music, and I especially love when they intersect as perfectly as with the Labèque sisters.  Katia and Marielle Labèque are arguably the world's best piano duo - they are incredibly dramatic and regularly astound their audiences with their expressive and imaginative performances.  They are actually performing in Toronto NEXT THURSDAY (not tomorrow - oops) and I am so, so sad to be missing it.  If you can possibly swing it, you should really, really go - I think it is going to be one of those once-in-a-lifetime concerts.  Sigh.

These gals seem so cool.  Besides performing the usual Ravel, Satie, Prokofiev, and Mozart, they have also formed a group called the Minimalist Dream House that explores contemporary music from John Cage and Steve Reich to Sonic Youth and Radiohead. They've played with Sting and Herbie Hancock and Madonna is their buddy.  And they have one of the most beautiful and unique homes and recording studios I have ever seen.

The sisters bought the first two floors of a Renaissance palace in Tuscany and collaborated with Antiques dealer and designer Axel Vervoordt to create this gorgeous home that somehow manages to be sumptuous and minimal at the same time.  That amazing purple sofa came from Vervoordt's Home Collection, and the various treasures are from his antiques and art objects gallery and store.

The faded panels in Marielle's bedroom were found under layers of paint and the ceiling is original as well.  The mood and texture of this room is contrasted by Katia's serene space below, although the railing were made by Vervoordt from metal pieces originally used to hold up the roof of the Louvre.

Other modern amenities are hidden away throughout the house: the kitchen appliances are tucked beneath these 17th-century doors, and the rich green silk curtain in the living room hides a state-of-the-art stereo system.

This home is so up my alley!  If you are wondering where the pianos are (like I was), they are at the world-class recording studio they crafted out of a 1920's nursing-school in Rome.  Here the spare but textured space has a more industrial feel, perfectly suited to all the cables and electronic equipment.  My favourite thing in the space, the huge stone sphere, is not an adornment from an ancient Italian ruin, as I had assumed, but rather one of a set of nine orbs carved by Thai monks that would have surrounded a temple to "absorb and diffuse cosmic power." Amazing.

I love the inlaid panels placed above the pianos in the this space and the one pictured at the beginning - even the acoustic requirement add to the overall aesthetic. Katia has a great quote in the AD article: “Axel is the only person we know who treats space the same way we read a musical score—exploring new areas of feeling while holding on to the rhythm.”

If you are interested, there is a great interview on the Architectural Digest site of the Lebèque's collaboration and friendship with Axel Vervoordt. Below I'll include a mesmerizing Minimalist Dream House performance of Radiohead's Pyramid Song.  (I chose not to include the video of Madonna taking her dancers and crew to visit the Labèques - Madge's patronizing and affected voice makes me crazy.)

Lastly, if you can make it, I implore you to go see them for me next Thursday night, August 1, at Koerner Hall in Toronto (7:30 pm, torontosummermusic.org)!

MINIMALIST DREAM HOUSE _ Radiohead "Pyramid Song" from Meloni Mitchell on Vimeo.

The joys of technology are unending

Hoo boy you guys, I am up to my nostrils in blogging muck, trying to move Wicked & Weird from Blogger to Wordpress.  I am doing it super slowly, mostly because I don't have a clue what I am doing and have to find a youtube tutorial for every step.

However, it feels like a step forward towards having a business of some sort.  I have registered the domain lisamackaydesign.com and am hoping to move the blog to lisamackaydesign.com/wickedandweird.  That leaves the main site for building up a brand, sales pitch, pricing, and um... maybe some sort of a product to sell!

It took me AGES to decide on a wordpress theme (I ended up going with Salient) and now I am trying to get it to look the way I want - which is more or less like my blogger blog.  Anyway, I will give you some warning before I press the red button and officially move everything over (or lose it forever, perish the thought).  Until then, I am heading back into Confusion Land...

I Heart The Latest Covet Garden

 

The latest issue of Covet Garden features Jenn Hannotte, a Toronto designer I have long admired for her pared-down funky interiors.  She recently moved to a new Victorian house and I have been waiting for a glimpse of her newly decorated digs!  Thankfully, Covet Garden provided for me. :)

That rug in her kitchen is gorgeous.  She mixes modern and traditional so well, and every knick knack is chosen and showcased deliberately.  I wish I could do it as easily!  Mind you - this is all styled-up for the magazine, I wonder how it normally looks. :)  As always, Jodi Pudge goes a fantastic job with her light, bright, clean photography.  Someday I would like to see my place through the eyes of such a photographer, wouldn't you?