The love affair betwixt the Whitney and restauranteur Danny Meyer is still apparently a match made in heaven. Following the opening of Meyer’s Untitled on the ground floor of the museum this past spring, the two have announced that they will continue to collaborate when the museum moves to its new Renzo Piano-designed digs in 2015. According to Eater, Meyer’s company, Union Square Hospitality Group, “will run both the ground floor restaurant and top floor cafe (complete with outdoor terrace).” However, while the museum told the site that one of the new restaurants “will be similar to Untitled,” Meyer will not be bringing design star David Rockwell back to create it. Instead, he’s returned to Bentel & Bentel, who made a big splash with the restauranteur’s beloved The Modern at the MoMA.

We’ve already run a post this week about toilet paper, so why should we stop ourselves when considering writing about more bathroom-related material? We can’t think of a single reason, other than perhaps dignity, so here we go. The company Cintas has once again brought back their contest/marketing effort with the annual “America’s Best Restroom,” wherein they let we Americans vote on what public restroom looks the most inviting. It’s design-related, sure, as would be expect, some of these bathrooms look about as nice as the come. However, this year our interest was piqued by the promotional stunt because of the inclusion of two culture-based organizations, The Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and the Field Museum in Chicago. Because we’re sure you’ll find all of this extremely important, you can vote on your favorite until September 19th after reading up on the great short descriptions of each facility in the press release. And as this writer is based out of Chicago and therefore obviously biased toward the Field Museum, here’s that:

With two large family-friendly restrooms on the ground floor, the Field Museum features sufficient stalls and sinks, as well as eco-friendly hand-dryers. The women’s restroom has a special nursing room with a shut door, sink, and small sofa for new mothers. The women’s restroom also has a large “Tot Area” with smaller toilets for our littlest guests.

Bravo’s design-fueled summer programming train rolls on! As Martyn Lawrence-Bullard and Mary McDonald continue their delightful scenery chewing over on Million Dollar Decorators (last night’s episode included a priceless shot of McDonald taking delivery of an Edible Arrangement, which instantly convinced her that the sender/would-be client was not a good match), quiptastic house flipper and interior designer Jeff Lewis returns for a fifth season of Flipping Out. In anticipation of tonight’s premiere, we spoke with Lewis and his trusty assistant Jenni Pulos (who has a second career as a rap artist for the toddler set) about the Jeff Lewis design ethos, what’s in store for the new season, and whether they see a Million Dollar Decorators/Flipping Out crossover special in their future.

This season, the focus of Flipping Out shifts from flipping properties to designing spaces. How would you describe the Jeff Lewis Design aesthetic?
Jeff Lewis: I definitely lean more contemporary and my looks are definitely more streamlined. And I like big open spaces. I don’t really like a ton of furniture. I’m not one of those people that over-accessorizes. That’s a little trick of the trade that designers do which I don’t. I work out a different fee structure, so, I don’t mark up everything that I buy for my client. That’s the reason that you’ll see a lot of homes that are over-accessorized and over-furnished.

[Some designers] hang something on every single wall and they put something in every corner. Well, news flash—they mark up every single thing they buy. They have a vested interest in over-selling furniture and accessories to you. So that’s the problem. I suggest working out a flat fee with a designer or an hourly rate. You don’t want to do the mark ups because then, they—I mean not all of them, but a lot of them, obviously—the more furniture they sell you the more money they make. So that’s why you’re seeing, when you open up these magazines and you say, my god, I can’t even walk around that room!

Jenni, how would you describe Jeff’s style?
Jenni Pulos: Jeff, I would like to say that I think that you possess a warm relaxed modern style. You like that? I just filled in the “relaxed” this morning. What do you think?

Lewis: Well, when I did the kitchen for House Beautiful that’s what it was called. They basically said that what I do is “soft modern.” It’s basically taking a very modern space but warming it up. Because that’s the problem for people that love contemporary design. It does tend to feel chilly, and it’s not always so family-friendly.
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A view of the Essling Bar and a suite at the renovated La Maison Champs Elysées, the first hotel project for Maison Martin Margiela. Below, a hall paneled in aluminum sheets leads to the garden and upper floors. (Photos: Maison Martin Margiela)

Maison Martin Margiela will kick off couture week with a July 4 presentation at La Maison Champs Elysées, the Paris hotel that has just received a stunning makeover by the fashion house. Designed in 1864 by architect Jules Pellechet for the Duchess of Rivoli, Princess D’Essling (grand mistress of fashion maven Empress Eugenie‘s household), the Haussmannian house was completed in 1866. Nearly 150 years (and a few owners and a modern addition) later, Maison Martin Margiela won a competition to redesign the historical part of the 57-room hotel. Team Margiela worked with landscape painters and lighting engineers to deploy materials ranging from wool and paper to Ductal concrete and “gypsum from the Urals” in a new restaurant, smoking room, bar, and reception area, along with 17 jaw-dropping hotel suites. One is papered in black-and-white photographs of the sumptuous salon below, while another drapes everything in Margiela’s signature white cotton covers. Museum fanatics can book the “Closet of Rarities” suite, where the coal black walls and black-stained oak parquet floors are offset by a cabinet of curiosities. “Maison Martin Margiela has created a dramatic world where reality and make-believe seem to blend,” noted the house in a statement. “The decor is like a succession of stage sets where references are mixed so as to create an unusual atmosphere where past and present jostle harmoniously.”

“I’ve frequently had clients ask me to incorporate various meaningful collections into my design for their homes — from California Plein Air landscapes to tabletop cigarette boxes, art books, and even vintage fishing creels. I love to integrate pieces in my design that have personal meaning to the client. Most people are passionate, even gushing, about where and how and when they found something they love. But if you can’t recall an item’s origin, then maybe it doesn’t belong in your world. When your eyes scan your living room, you should be reminded of pleasant experiences, not the feeling of ‘this room is filled with furnishings of unassailable taste. They exist and I own them.’ That’s no accomplishment.”

-Interior design and Million Dollar Decorator Kathryn Ireland on hoarding versus collecting

Although announced a few months back and originally slated to already be open, or at least nearer to it, this week has seen a resurgence in talk about Club Silencio, a new nightclub in Paris designed by director David Lynch and based upon the club of the same name in his film, Mulholland Drive. The space, packed into a building that already houses another popular nightclub, and was a century ago the home of one of France’s most famous newspapers, was set to open this month, but has been pushed back, for reasons unexplained (it likely either wasn’t creepy enough for Lynch’s liking or was too creepy). Instead, the new open date has now be set on September 11th. Here’s the Independent‘s early description of Club Silencio:

Lynch has designed the entire interior of the club, including some striking pieces of furniture. A surreal wooden-speaker stack seems to resemble a nightmarish appropriation of the face of a child’s cuddly toy — the eyes being the two circular speaker cones. He’s also designed several bespoke chairs and an asymmetrical double sofa, footstool and side-table combination.

…The club will also feature a private film screening room. As you might expect from a Lynch project, much is still shrouded in secrecy. Those involved with the club reveal little, saying information will be released nearer to the opening date. But this cloud of obfuscation hasn’t stopped Lynch’s devoted fanbase from excitably posting leaks, titbits and photographs on internet forums and Facebook. Club Silencio, it seems, won’t stay quiet for long.

Pictured from left, Kathryn Ireland, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Mary McDonald, Nathan Turner, and Jeffrey Alan Marks. (All photos courtesy Bravo Media)

Tonight is the premiere of Bravo‘s newest docu-series, Million Dollar Decorators, and if you can make it past the unctuous opening montage and obligatory round of sassy, arms-akimbo introductions (“I don’t follow trends, I set them,” says Jeffrey Alan Marks, smoothing a lushly textured rug and plopping down on a coordinating settee), you’re in for an entertaining peek into the lives of five Los Angeles-based interior designers: Marks, Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, Kathryn Ireland, Mary McDonald, and Nathan Turner. These high-charisma characters offer plenty of reasons to watch, but having previewed the series (thanks, Bravo!), we offer eight additional enticements to tune in.

UnBeige’s Eight Reasons to Watch Million Dollar Decorators

8. The designers’ offices. Not up for watching the beat-the-clock challenge of furnishing Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne’s new apartment? Cut the sound and delight in the glimpses of the designers’ workspaces, including McDonald’s glam/mod aerie and Ireland’s Provence-infused pool house. And while Lawrence-Bullard’s home teems with exotic rugs and Hermès Balcons Du Guadalquivir china, his offices are dominated by white lacquer and inspired accents—fur-covered task chairs, anyone?

7. The seersucker blazers. We’re suckers for seersucker, and the premiere episode doesn’t disappoint. For those inclined to TV-based drinking games, take a sip anytime someone wears a seersucker or a plaid, or says “madness.”

6. The birthday parties. This series runs for eight episodes, and there are about as many elaborate parties. Tonight’s premiere features a birthday bash for Ireland, whose three teenage sons offer to do the cooking (weak-stomached viewers may want to turn away during this portion of the program). The trio gets waylaid by preparing tortilla chips from scratch, so the dinner menu is abridged. No worries, says Ireland. “Give [the guests] enough tequila and we can skip the middle course and go straight to the cake…if there is cake.”

5. The design concepts. “I’m kind of thinking of doing antlers, but in a hip way. There’s nothing ski house about it,” says McDonald of her concept for a new project. Meanwhile, Marks advises, “You should always decorate a room and then put one thing in there that’s an accident.” [Cut to: the wooden rowboat suspended upside-down from the ceiling of his living room.]
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What’s better than profoundly happy homegoods? Profoundly happy homegoods procured at a significant discount, of course. And potter-turned-lifestyle brand Jonathan Adler promises plenty at his upcoming warehouse sale, a three-day savings bonanza featuring brand-new merchandise including furniture (which consistently wows us), rugs, lighting, pillows, and accessories at discounts of up to 70% off retail prices. Beginning Friday morning at 10 a.m., the Jonathan Adler warehouse in Bushwick, Brookyln will welcome bargain hunters to browse what is billed as the “best selection ever.” Come with a truck, plan for a pick-up, or pay cash for furniture delivery. Cross your fingers for a cut-rate Peacock Lollipop Holder (every desk needs one!) and click here for the full scoop on the sale.

Part curated short documentary series, part nice branding effort (because who else would you buy furniture from for your ultra-modern house?), Herman Miller this week has launched POV, a series of films highlighting the work of five California architects from Jim Jennings to James Meyer, all directed by the agency Hello, with additional visual consultation and photography by Julius Shulman‘s former business partner, Juergen Nogai. If you like interesting modern architecture, very attractive pictures, and above all (particularly for those of us here in Chicago, where it is still 40 degrees), sunny skies, we’ve just found a good source to help kill your whole morning. Here’s the trailer:

Pictured from left, Roslyn Cole, Joshua Aidlin, and Adrienne Swiatocha of Aidlin Darling Design and Eng San Kho and Peter Tashjian of Love and War. (Photos: Kent Miller)

The event-soaked month of May rolls on! Last night, an elite mob of foodies descended upon Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall for the annual James Beard Foundation Awards, where chef-trepreneurs Tom Colicchio, Ming Tsai, and Traci Des Jardins served up coveted medals—which we’ve long suspected are chocolate-filled—to top chefs (and Top Chef itself, which won a best television show award for its seventh season), restaurants, and, yes, designers. San Francisco-based Aidlin Darling Design bested the competition in the restaurant design category for its work on Bar Agricole, housed in a dazzling and eco-friendly building that began its life in 1912 as a corrugated-zinc warehouse. Meanwhile, a hometown favorite won in the category of outstanding restaurant graphics, as Love and War took home a James Beard medal for graphic designer Katie Tully‘s swell branding for New York’s The National Bar and Dining Rooms (the project also recently snagged a silver cube from the Art Directors Club). Oh, and some chefs and fine dining establishments also got awards! Here’s the full list of winners.