Interiors >> Castello di Vicarello

An abandoned castle from 1100 transformed into the Tuscan destination of your romance-/Italy-/design-loving dreams.  Castello di Vicarello, restored by the Bacchareschi Berti family, opened in 2003.

 If you want to pick up some Italian cooking skills, you can help out Aurora in the kitchen, where she runs an informal cooking school.  That sounds like the best kind of cooking school to me.

[Vicarello website]
[CoolHunter]

Automated >> Board Shorts at the Standard Hotel

The Standard Hotels (New York, Miami, and LA), are bringing back their Quiksilver vending machines for another summer, so if you forget your sunglasses or retro board shorts and are hoping to find some 70's/80's inspired special editions made especially for The Standard, they've got you covered.

Pretty clever idea, no??

[Refinery 29]

It all started with this kitchen...

I love this kitchen.  That sink is what got me first, and then the perfect paint color, marble counter, and molding detail as the backsplash. 

So then I looked up the firm who did it, Roman and Williams, and based on this kitchen, you'd never guess the other stuff they've done. 

First, the Ace Hotel in New York! 

 

I'd wondered when I was there who had designed it, but failed to look it up later, so it felt totally random that I would discover it via hunting more from the designers of that kitchen, which could not be more different in style from this hotel.

I'm sure this hotel design is being hated on as being hipster, and I will say that when I was there, I equally loved everything around me and simultaneously felt like it was going to feel so "over" in just a couple of years.  

However, after seeing this firm's whole portfolio, I can honestly say that I think they are extremely fluent in many styles and all aspects of design and architecture, which makes me think (hope?) they even gave this pretty trendy spot enough legitimate design roots to have some staying power... I guess only time will tell.

  

By the way, around happy hour time, this entire lobby is dimly lit and PACKED with people meeting friends for drinks.  I mean packed.

 

The front desk.

More after the jump...