Checkered Floors

onbluepoolroad.com

Remember my post about two-toned walls? I freak out over checkered floors for pretty much the same reasons I do over those walls. They're casual, playful and encompass all the shared awesomeness from Mediterranean Europe, North Africa and Latin America.

I'd love to have a dining room, kitchen or bathrooms in my hotelito with some of this sweet floor action.

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Two-Toned Walls

Photo from Robin Talks Cooks Travels

I love two-toned walls. It's like rural France, Italy, Spain and all of Latin America summed up in one simple detail. If you can spot a two-toned wall, you know you're somewhere good.

These walls are all over Los Angeles. Lest you forget that we are part of Latin America, I dare you to find a Mexican-owned market that isn't painted in two tones. (Okay, fine, you'll probably find one or two but I was trying to make a point.)

My hotelito will have these kinds of interior walls, fo sho. How dreamy will that be when paired with tiles floors and geometric rugs?

p.s. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the two-toned kitchen of Beatrice Valenzuela on HBT's L.A. In Bloom. Damn, girl!

Photo from Geninne

Photo from French by Design

Photo from Solid Frog

Photo from French by Design

Photo from Madame Chacha

Thank you Remodelista for compiling most of these interiors.

Secret Passage

The cumulative result of reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at an impressionable age, seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade at least 100 times in junior high, and watching way too many episodes of Webster, is a deep love of secret passageways.

I was reminded of my feelings for secret doors and rooms when I saw Laure Joliet's photos in the New York Times' Home and Garden section last week. Hello secret playrooms!

How cool would it be to have a secret door or room in a guest house?

Photos from scoutingny.com.

Apparently these guys specialize in custom secret passageways and hidden doors. Check out their gallery. I'm very impressed, indeed.

The Bathroom

In my humble opinion, at least 60% of a great hotel room is defined by the quality of the bathroom. You know the drill? The moment the bellhop closes the door (or you drop your bags), a bathroom assessment is in order. How's the tub? What are the free products? Oh, there's a candle!

In my hotelito, the bathroom would feel like a big cozy exhale. Here are the requirements for any bathroom I'd put my name on.

1. A clawfoot tub. Perfect for togetherness and very indulgent aloneness. Why is soaking old-fashioned style so romantic?

2. A real rug instead of a bathmat. Makes you feel like a bajillionaire.

3. A real chair or couch. (I stayed at a friend's place in Brooklyn with an ottoman in her bathroom. You have no idea what kind of impression it left on me. Imagine cutting your toenails on something other than your toilet!)

4. Bonus points for a bathroom with a separate closed off toilet.

Thank you Interior Porn for doing all the hard work.

Mosque Inspiration

Nasir-ol-Molk Mosque, Shiraz, Iran. Photo from Jim and Sim out on a Limb blog.

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco. Photo from www.friendlyplanet.com.

I have oft said that if I were to choose my faith based on religious edifices, I would be a Muslim.

Walking into a mosque, particularly in a crowded, dirty, loud city like Cairo or Casablanca can be a profound experience. When traveling in a mosque-filled city, I like to find a quiet corner on a rug to read a Lonely Planet, take a breath, and plan for the next move/meal. Sitting down on the cool tile, worn rugs, and listening to the soft fountain trickle fixes nearly everything.

Aesthetics dictated by various interpretations of Islam - no human imagery, decoration only above eye line (not to distract from prayer focus), water for ritual washings - have led to some of my favorite design elements. In lieu of human imagery, Muslim artists designed mosques with geometric and floral designs on tiles and rugs. They often feature central fountains for ritual ablutions and clean, simple walls with only Arabic calligraphy lining the tops.

Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey. Photo from www.BeautifulMosques.com.

The Great Mosque of Aleppo, Syria. Photo from www.BeautifulMosques.com.

So what, you may ask, does this have to do with Los Angeles? Well, luckily for Californians, the aggressive course of history has found us surrounded by mosque details. After a long brutal journey from Saudi Arabia to Syria to Morocco to Spain to Mexico to California, we have been awarded with the very long end of the design stick. A stick that is decorated with Persian rugs, lush enclosed courtyards, elaborately painted geometric ceilings (been to UCLA's Powell Library lately?), and tiles. Oh my God, tiles galore.

What impresses me about most mosques is how they are simultaneously ornate and sparse. The effect is deeply calming. It is no surprise why these structures have often welcomed weary travelers crossing literal and metaphorical deserts and why it seems like a no-brainer to incorporate mosque details into my Los Angeles hotelito.

UCLA's Powell Library. The Best Days blog.

Los Angeles Public Library. Photo by Candice Montgomery.

Vignette

I saw this photo on Operation Simplicity. I like it very much.

A Collective Table

Back in 2009, my homie Tannaz and I went on a short trip to Panama. One of the many highlights was spending a few nights at the isolated island hotel, Al Natural Resort in Bocas del Toro.


Each night, at 7pm, a bell rang signaling all 20 or so guests to gather at the main hut.


The space was transformed from a sandy hut into a proper dining room with candles, music and a beautifully set table. After an island cocktail at the bar, everyone sat down to a 3-course meal made by the resort's owner/chef.

All these strangers sitting down to a meal together was at first awkward, but soon the wine was flowing, and everyone was chatting away. The first night, Tannaz and I mostly talked to a German couple with very impressive travel street cred. The next night we bonded with a young French couple on their honeymoon. When the man learned Tannaz works at Dreamworks, he got so excited, he started quoting in a thick French accent all of his favorite Shrek lines. Sound super annoying? It was not. He had us both cackling with laughter.

I can blabber on about rugs and plants and bathroom products for my dream hotel, but the most important thing to me is experience. Making guests feel welcome and at ease socially is everything a small hotel should aspire to do. Really, it's everything. Was my bed at Al Natural the most comfortable I've ever slept in? Probably not. But who cares when the whole place felt like a warm hug.



So here's the idea. My LA hotelito will have a weekly guest dinner.

The reality is that it's different to travel to a sleepy island resort than it is to travel to Los Angeles. Visitors here have people and places to see. But what if the weekly guest dinner actually made the hotel a destination? Every Thursday night (or whatever) we could have a rotating local chef feature food made from Silver Lake gardens. With a few spots reserved for locals, this silly notion that LA is an isolated, lonely city would be thrown out the window.

As with any dinner party, you're always at risk of getting stuck next to some annoying whiner who brings down the whole vibe. But often a kind of magic is born around a collective table of strangers sharing food and wine.

p.s. I will be dressed like this.

Kevin Appel Art

LA artist, Kevin Appel, is a recent discovery to me. His work is right in line with my current geometric crush.

Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree

Marion House

I know these trees are about as trendy as any plant can be, but still, I love them. In the version of my guest house fantasy that is a take on your community college art teacher's hippie Topanga Canyon cabin, these guys would work perfectly.

Marion House

The Marion House

Yes, Marion House, I would love to come over and take a nap in your bed. Thank you so much for asking.

Geometric Art

Alexander Kori Girard

One of the things I love most about California Modernism is the art. I've been really into geometric designs lately and would love for my hotelito to feature both classic and contemporary pieces by Cali artists.

Karl Benjamin

Helen Lundeberg


Victor Maldonado

This terrible, glarey photograph is from our living room. It's by one of Jared's best friends, who is an artist and art professor now living in Portland, OR. (This piece was done in Berkeley so it still counts as Cali art, right?) This is one of the many sweet bonuses I got when we moved in together.

This yet-to-be-hung piece was done by Jared's dad in the 1970's. Another score!

Dream Decor

Remember how much detail I went into describing how I would layer different design elements into creating my perfect Los Angeles hotel style?

Well, turns out my dream layered aesthetic already exists and it's all over the internet.

A while ago, House Beautiful featured the house of Roman Alonso, the creative director of Los Angeles design firm Commune.

I'm freaking out. This house has fallen out of my dreams and into reality. Seriously Roman, just design my dream hotelito and let's get on with it.