Wednesday - New York

I am in NYC for the American Express Open Design Forum (I’ll post more on the event tomorrow).  One benefit to traveling is staying at newly designed hotels.  Many people find hotels as a source of inspiration for their own home design project.

I thought I would share some photos from my hotel here in New York.  The Empire Hotel’s design is based on a gold and brown color concept and incorporates their logo into many of the patterns.  It is interesting to see how a simple concept can create such a huge impact.

The main living room is a play on texture with gold silk draperies, gold velvet sofas and dark stained wood paneling and brown wallpaper.  The stone floor pattern is the hotel’s logo blown up in scale (something that is repeated in various sizes throughout)

My favorite pieces are the small stools made of hammered brass with a chocolate colored chenille seat.  These are sprinkled throughout the main areas and reflect the light beautifully (they look like pieces of jewelry scattered about).  I love these so much that I may use them in my own house.  Also, notice the carpet pattern picks up on the hotel’s logo

The hallways on each floor are wallpapered in brown and white birch tree pattern.  It feels like you’re walking through a forest on the way to your room.  A great example of how design can play with your senses.  You forget you’re in a big city

The wood theme also comes into play in the bathroom’s design.

The bedroom also works into the gold and brown concept.  All walls are wallpapered in a gold grasscloth patterned paper.  A dark brown ribbed vinyl wallcovering used in small strips outlines the corners, chair-rail and headboard.  The effect is very dramatic.  The small pillow is embroidered with the hotel’s logo.

By outlining the inside corners, the room takes on a tailored finished look the way a belt and tie can dress up a pant and shirt.

For the headboard, they applied the strip of ribbed vinyl wallcovering around chair-rail molding (which is nailed directly to the wall) to emphasize the headboard.  The upholstered part of the headboard is also attached directly to the wall.  An easy way to make your own headboard.

Picking up on the wood theme (remember the hallway) the bathroom is tiled in ceramic tile which is printed to look like wood grain.  Tiling all walls in a small bathroom with this pattern creates an optical illusion, making the room seem bigger than it is.  I just wonder how long it will take until this looks dated.  Tile is not cheap to replace, whereas wallpaper is.