Furniture

Homeowner Leaves Town:Eichler Gets New Decor

Friday, July 2nd, 2010
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Be honest. How many of you would trust a friend to completely redo your home decor while you’re out of town for three weeks, especially when that friend plans to do most of her shopping at thrift shops and consignment stores?

Well, Stephanie Peters did when she invited Linda Marx, an independent-minded bargain-hunting maven, to have at it.

4657894782_ba323b8410_b“I wanted the challenge to do it as inexpensively as I could,” said Marx, who loves nothing better than finding a cast-off sofa here or discarded end table there. “They’re little orphans. I like giving them a home.”

Peters, a Sunnyvale marketing consultant, wanted a home makeover that “shows my personality,” emphasizes comfort and reflects her penchant for all things Asian.

She lives in an Eichler, the 1950s-era, one-story homes with open floor plans, atriums and courtyards. Mid-century modern furnishings are experiencing a resurgence of popularity these days, but Marx was reluctant to shop in that direction: “I lived through that” era of design, Marx said, “and I didn’t particularly like it then.”

And with popularity often comes a big price tag, and that simply is not Marx’s style. Marx promised she could completely swap the decor of the living, dining and family rooms for a grand total of $4,000, which included everything from furniture delivery to moving lighting fixtures. (That would buy mid-century purists one Eames lounge chair and ottoman, thank you very much.)

4657274101_fd417abb06_bThe last time the house had a makeover was in the early 1990s, a few years after Peters bought it. As was the style at the time, she decorated with a palette of black, white and chrome, including white marble flooring in the living and dining rooms. But over the years, the space had grown tired and cold. And Peters had little time to pay attention to it. She made brief attempts at repainting the interior, but when her artwork came down, including her collection of Asian masks, she never put it back up. In her entry hall, all she had was a plant.

“All right, enough,” Peters told herself. “I entertain a lot. I’m sick and tired of people coming over and I’m embarrassed.”

She called Marx, who calls her fledgling redecorating business “Shoestring Design.” The women became friends through Marx’s son, who worked with Peters years ago. Peters had been to parties at Marx’s house and while there, couldn’t help but admire her home. She asked for help on hers.

“I said I wanted modern and Asian,” Peters said.

“I wanted the house to feel warm and nice,” Marx said.

“I wanted chrome bar stools,” Peters said.

“I didn’t bother with it,” Marx said.

“Never mind,” Peters conceded. “Do it.”

4657893570_5c3ed01637_bWith that, Peters cleared out the entire living, dining and family rooms of furniture, handed Marx the key to the front door, and took off for three weeks.

“I had never done Asian before,” Marx confessed.

She began her thrift store circuit up and down the Peninsula, stopping in the Salvation Army on Winchester Boulevard in San Jose, where she found a dining room table and chairs for $149; to the Consignment Store in Westgate Mall in Saratoga, where she landed a living room sofa, and the Goodwill on Almaden Expressway in San Jose for the Asian bar for $89. She bought a bamboo wall hanging at Cost Plus World Market for $49, Asian coin wall hooks for $3 from Savers in Redwood City for the entryway, a coffee table from Not Too Shabby in San Jose for $49. A large Persian rug ($120) that covers the cold marble floor came from D.G.W. Auctioneers and Appraisers in Sunnyvale.

4657891864_02b7972476_bMarx mined Peters’ garage for lost treasures, pulling out her old trunk and a collection of masks. She hung Peters’ prints and some Chinese silk panels she had bought at auction and arranged everything just so. For finishing touches, she displayed martini glasses on the bar and filled a glass vase in the kitchen with fortune cookies.

Then she waited. “I was sweating bullets when she came home,” Marx said.

“I stood in awe in the entryway for 30 seconds,” Peters said. She barely recognized the place. “I walked back in three or four times. There was so much and it had changed so drastically.”

Peters loves her new decor and “everyone who comes to my house is flabbergasted. I’ve had wonderful feedback.”

Now on to the bedrooms! As soon as Peters leaves town, Marx will be ready.Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

If you like bargains and didn’t see the story Desiree and I wrote about the Asian fretwork chairs we bought for a bargain price at Not Too Shabby, read this:

Smackdown:Lookiloos-style

 http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/

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Hanchett Park Home Tour Ticket Give-Away!

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

mediterranean revival

Prairie style. Tudor Revival. American Four-square. Mediterranean Revival. You name it, the Hanchett Park Historic Home Tour in one of San Jose’s most charming and eclectic neighborhoods has it. They’ll be open for your indulgent pleasure this Saturday, May 22.

Lookiloos has just given away two tickets to two of our fans. I drew names from a bowl! Barb B. and Nancy M. were the lucky winners who each get to take a friend to five fabulous homes, plus a backyard boutique.

 And I’m telling you, as a voyeur from the next neighborhood over, these homes are Lookiloos-worthy! Two in particular resonate with me: one is the one-story Mediterranean revival (pictured above) with an interior courtyard that has always been the style for my fantasy home.

 1299_Yosemite_2010

The other is this Prairie style look that feeds my clean-lined-architect’s-daughter sensibility. And wouldn’t you know an architectural designer, Steve Hinderberger of Hindesign, owns it and has filled it with modern furnishings? Here are just a few of the famous pieces you’ll see: a 1928  le Corbusier lounge chair; 1925 Marcel Breuer Wassily chairs, a 1929 Eileen Gray breakfast tabl, a 1944 Noguchi coffee table  and two mid-century classics, an Eames lounge chair and ottoman and a Beroia diamond chair. The art collection is also a must-see, including an Alexander Calder.

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 This is another gem — a 1920 American Four-square completely remodeled down to the studs in 2008, with new landscaping last year. The home is decorated with luxurious, contemporary furnishings. 

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 This is another special home, built in 1924 for the owner of the old Pomeroy’s clothing store in downtown San Jose. Gilt wall sconces, crystal doorknobs, windows and floors are all original. Enjoy the batchelder tile fireplace and a gorgeous sun room

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And if you love a storybook cottage, here’s a charming Tudor Revival owned by artist Margaret Washington and her husband, Austin. It’s loaded with original details, including exposed beams and hardware — and even the original stove!

Hanchett Park Historic Homes Tour is one day only, Saturday, May 22, from 10 to 4.  You can purchase tickets for $20 in advance at Green Design, 1341 The Alameda, and at Willow Glen Home & Garden, 1123 Lincoln Ave. On May 22 tickets are $25 and will be sold on the corner of Hanchett and Sequoia avenues.

Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

From Tudor and Art Deco to Zen, Willow Glen Home Tour Inspires

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

IMG_9067When four girlfriends and I escaped our kids for the afternoon, piled into my mini-van, and headed out for the Willow Glen Lifestyles Home Tour, we made a pact that we wouldn’t get green with envy by getting a glimpse into others’ beautiful living spaces. We’d be inspired.

There were many things to love about these homes, opened up by generous owners to benefit the San Jose Day Nursery. All were very different from each other ranging in style from Tudor to Art Deco to Southwestern Zen, and I walked away with several ideas. Some I can implement now, with not too much time and money, and some for later requiring more resources.

For my immediate inspiration, it turns out décor doesn’t have to be highbrow.  In more than one home, family photos were artistically photographed, framed and placed.  And in the wine cellar of Erin and Michael Craig’s 1929 home hung a shadow box containing a German 9mm Luger.

We all really loved Anna and Chris Pizzo’s Tudor, which I think had less to do with square footage and more to do with all the little details–like the faded IMG_9102stenciling in the hallway–and eclectic accessories, many of which came from the Vintage Flea Market in Alameda.

With a little more planning and money, I’d copy the Pizzo’s outdoor dining room exactly—an impressive arbor with a chandelier hanging from it. I’d add a concrete couch decorated with colorful pillows like the Hermosa home along with concrete raised garden beds painted bright colors. I’d turn myTV into art , and if I ever purchase bunk beds for my boys, I’ll wire a light switch high on the wall so you can reach it without getting out of bed.

With a much bigger budget, I’d add on to the front of my house and not worry about the fact that I just remodeled my kitchen with a corner sink overlooking the yard. Because in Stephanie Angeli’s home, such a kitchen sink overlooks the family room that was an add-on and it turned out uniquely great.

IMG_9249If I had a bigger lot, I’d consider a swimming pool with different lounging levels and contrasting materials like Kris and David Gambelin’s home. If couldn’t get such a lot and wanted to get really creative (or crazy), I’d move next to my sister, tear down the fence between us, and create one big, shared, drought resistant landscape like the Gilliand home. This was the home gave me the case of the envies. I’m not sure if it was the Japanese soaking tub, the utility room bigger than my bedroom, or the calmness that permeated the air, but I didn’t want to leave that space.

I guess for now, I’ll pull up a cushion in some quiet corner of the house and dream. Thanks to the tour, I have some images to reference.

Kim Koooyers is a freelance writer in San Jose and blogs at gratitude365.

Also, keep coming back for more indepth stories and slideshows of the six homes on the tour!

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Smackdown! Lookiloos Style

Friday, April 30th, 2010

Amazing Fretwork Iron Chair

Amazing Fretwork Iron Chair

Are you ready for a Lookiloos smackdown? We’d love you to weigh in on this good-natured competition between two Lookiloos founders, Julia Prodis Sulek and Desiree Northend, who had a Lucy-and-Ethel tug-of-war over a set of very hip, very vintage chairs. The coolest part? They each paid under $40 per chair, but spotted a nearly identical reproduction at a chic Carmel shop for $625. Using their own sense of style and bargain shopping, Julia and Desiree made their chairs their own. Which do you like best? (You won’t hurt their feelings, really.)

By Julia Prodis Sulek

When Desiree told me she had just purchased four Asian fretwork chairs, I was happy for her. Really. It didn’t matter to me — that much — that I IMG_8153considered myself the fretwork girl. I so adored the geometric, intersecting lines of the Asian style, whether on the back of a chair or along a balcony railing, that I made a file of fretwork photos just to gaze at longingly. Trendy interior designer Kelly Whearstler was making wallpaper with the motif. Surely, Desiree must have known my inner obsession! And now, with one grand purchase, she would luxuriate in … well … what should have been mine, mine, all mine?

My mouth went dry as she described the 1960s-era high-backed chairs. They were made of sturdy iron for the outdoors and rolled on casters. I felt faint when she told me she got them for the bargain price of $39 each at Not Too Shabby, a home and garden shop on South Bascom Avenue. It’s one of those places you just never know what treasure you might find. Desiree bought four chairs. Three were left. I desperately wanted IMG_8164them. But would I be breaking some friendship code by adorning my backyard with the same spectacular chairs? I flashed back to an episode of I Love Lucy, where Lucy and Ethel fell in love with the same dress to wear to their “show,” and each promised the other that neither would buy it. Well, they both did, and while singing “Friendship” in the identical dresses on stage, they began plucking each other’s dresses apart! Well, call me Ethel to Desiree’s Lucy.
In our case, with Desiree’s gracious permission, I bought the remaining three. Since one of them had lost a caster and the odd-number of three remained, I bargained with Not Too Shabby owner Vikki Graham and purchased each for $29 a piece — a $30 savings compared to Desiree’s bargain.IMG_8176
Not only did a Carmel shop called Partington Ridge sell a reproduction for $625 a piece, but Val Perez-Ibardolasa, who owns Retro At Home in Emeryville, a chic mid-century modern shop, figured that a vintage set like the one we bought could fetch upwards of $5,000!
The only problem with our chairs? They needed cushions, the somewhat unusual size of 19 inches square. I priced custom cushions at an upholstery shop at $100 — and that didn’t even count the fabric. Determined to find a cheaper solution, I was amazed to find fabulous, retro-style cushions in orange and brown floral at JC Penny for a sale price of $19.99 a piece! I bought a second set to keep in reserve. I kept the chairs in their bronze-green patina, set them under my orange tree and admired the scene. Perfect for a spring afternoon with a glass or lemonade or an evening glass with a glass of wine.
Well, Desiree, you’ve seen mine. Now show me yours! And let our readers decide whose they like best. Don’t worry. We can handle it. Like Lucy and Ethel, they remained great friends, no matter what.

Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

**********

By Desiree Northend

IMG_8453The gauntlet has been thrown–a challenge.  Well, this girl never backs down from a challenge.  Slightly competitive–you betcha! (Please no Sarah Palin references). It’s a family trait I’ve passed down for better or worse. Just ask any kid of mine.
Now, Julia — my wonderful partner in crime at Looikiloos — seems to think she is the only one who can appreciate fretwork.  I didn’t realize I had broken the cardinal rule “Thou shalt not admire fretwork, if your Lookiloos partner has already claimed it.”  That was my faux pas. Besides, as you can see, there was plenty of fretwork to go around and I was only too happy to share in the bounty. Take a deep cleansing breath, Julia.
As soon as I saw the chairs, I knew I had to have them.  I have wanted outdoor iron furniture since my boys IMG_8446were in their fort-building phase and demolished those old, nylon folding lawn chairs. I wanted something substantial, something that could really take a beating and still look fabulous when not in use as the corners of a castle. What really drew me to these particular chairs was the high wing back shape as well as that fretwork. But I wasn’t wild about the color — a muddy bronze. And they needed cushions. I consider myself a crafty type, so to complement the wrought iron fence in my backyard, I pulled out a can of gloss black spray paint and went for it. I first considered sewing my own cushions, top and bottom, with fabric I purchased years ago from reprodepot.com. But when Julia told me she found the perfect size bottom cushions in a variety of colors at JC Penny, that was too good to pass up. I bought the last four poppy-colored ones. (I hated to tell her that when I went,  the cushions were on close-out and I got them for 40 percent less than what she paid. But, she did get the chairs at a cheaper price, so we’re even right?) I made my own top cushions with my own favorite IMG_8467fabric, fluffed them up a bit, and now admire the whole set from my kitchen window.  At the end of the day, I think we both did pretty darn well. Don’t you? Please leave a comment and let us know your opinion.

Desiree Looking Left - Lookiloos

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Inside Pioneer Woman’s Lodge

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

Pioneer Woman front porch.jpg

Last week I had the honor of getting to stay at guest lodge of New York Time’s Best Selling Author’s Ree Drummond aka The Pioneer Woman herself in gorgeous Oklahoma. I was filming a webisode of Putting it All Togethloralee ree and sheila.jpger Series produced by BlogHer and sponsored by Macy’s. Loralee Choate, Ree and I chatted mostly about fashion for real gals. (though they looked like models!)  While we coulda chatted for days, I have to admit to being distracted by the pure gorgeous-ness of Ree’s Lodge.

Luckily, you can find the full back story on how she and her husband, Marlboro Man renovated the place in 2009 from choosing the countertops to building the deck. As a home renovation junkie, I have loved reading all about it. I am sure you will too!

My pictures did not do this place justice. I was too busy and floored by the whole experience that I didn’t remember to ask her anything about what vendors she used or where she bought things.  Aack. (Bad blogger!)  But you can find all that on her site, where she chronicled the Lodge transformation.   Some of my favorite parts included:

  • Entertainer’s Paradise: The four bedroom, five bath Lodge is where guests stay. I expect it is where Ree and Marlboro Man, throw a pretty mean BBQ!  The deck is gorgeous and has simply an amazing view.  The whole lay out is open and yet comfortable – a perfect setting for a family dinner or a party for the entire ‘hood.   The palette was simple, modern, and distinctly cowboy.  I loved their wet bar, casual so you felt you could pour your own glass of wine.  Yet, modern enough to have both a wine fridge, ice maker and soda chiller all built in and at your fingertips.

bar

  • Kitchen Nirvana: PW has a best selling book, so you can guess here kitchen is picture perfect. It is state of the art with an ample pantry complete with an HUGE sub-zero freezer for storing meat in the winter and prepping food for parties. There was a mix of granite, and stainless steel. Ree said, she “got the best of both worlds!”  The kitchen had a multitude of great little touches from the huge amount of counter space that could double as buffet stations to bar stools set up so you could pull up for a chat with the chef and help with cooking.

living room flowers

  • A Cozy Fireplace: Imagine a cold winter night with a raging fire going on in the middle of this space.  No matter where you are you are sure to feel its warmth.  Perfect.

fireplace

  • Intelligent Seating: I also was impressed by her mix of sofas and chairs ranging from a pair of zebra printed chairs to deep chenille sofas placed near the kitchen, positioned to survey the delicious cooking and feel the warmth of the fireplace.   Every piece of furniture was easy, set up for guests to relax and all moveable so it would be a snap to host game night for a large crowd or a cozy conversation for two. Notice the animal print floor covering?  They were all over the Lodge unifying the look throughout.

chairs

  • The best reminder that you are on a working ranch: There was a wall of more than a dozen pairs of boots. Enuf said.

boots

As a city girl, I have to admit, this place made me want to pack my bags and head to OK, ’cause if this is what it is like to live in the MidWest, I am ready to go.

Photos by Loralee Choate and Sheila Dowd.

Sheila Looking Left - Lookiloos

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Asian End Table Purchased: Can you spot the Changes?

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

 

After: Here's my new Asian bamboo motif end table: Can you spot the other changes I've made in the living room?

After: Here's my new Asian bamboo motif end table: Can you spot the other changes I've made in the living room?

Before: This retro bar cart was deemed too lightweight for the space. What else is different in this room from the top photo?

Before: This retro bar cart was deemed too lightweight for the space. What else is different in this room from the top photo?

It took three tries, but I finally found an end table that’s a keeper. I was drawn to it the minute I saw it at Move It Elsewhere in San Jose: gold metal frame with a bamboo motif and glass topped.  It replaced the retro bar cart that I loved but seemed too flimsy on plastic wheels for the heavy lamp. The nesting tables still have a lightness in my smaller living room with the heavy leather sofa. And I’m a sucker for the bamboo look. Thanks for all your comments and suggestions on my dilemma. I hope you like it. There is actually a third, smaller nesting table I put in my den. (and that’s another upcoming story once that is complete!) Just for fun, take a close look at my before and after photos. Can you spot the changes I’ve made in the living room since I had the bar cart as an end table?

Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

Crypton Super Fabrics

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Sharon Sectional in Charisma Aloe

Like many of you, I have a busy household – the kind where kids are in and out, dirty soccer shoes seem to be strewn about no matter how often I threaten beheadings and grubby fingers find the walls attractive.  Sigh.  I have often thought, I have three choices – 1.) get rid of the kids, 2.) resign myself to not buying new furniture till they are both in college or 3.) bring back the clear plastic coverings my aunt had on her furniture back in the 70’s. (Seriously, she did!)

But the folks at Crypton seem to have come up with a fabric that may change things.  They have just launched a new furniture line featuring modern designs by Debbie Wiener, designer and author of Slob-Proof: Real-Life Home Decorating Solutions.

The furniture can withstand muddy paws, wine, ketchup and can stand up to whatever your family throws at it, thanks to an eco-friendly treatment that makes Crypton Super Fabrics fend off stains, eliminate odors and repel germs.

Seems perfect for household with pets, kids or the occasional spiller!  Check out the the Life on Crypton blog and read about the new furniture line. Imagine this gorgeous couch ($2799)  and having kids and pets?  Can they really co-exist together? Crypton and Debbie say YES!  The line is completely bleach-cleanable and nice to touch. (Read, not like my aunt’s clear plastic!)  To test it out, the manufacturers are sending me some fabric to cover my dining room chairs.  Stay tuned to see how that project turns out and if Crypton can really handle dinner at my house.

We are featuring some of Debbbie Wiener’s slob proof decorating tips in our Q&A section, along with giving away 5 copies of her book.  Check it out and enter the contest today.

Sheila Looking Left - Lookiloos

Zem Joaquin’s House is Ecofabulous — Take a Green Tour with Us

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Green ChairsLookiloos and Scene Magazine,  produced by the San Jose Mercury News, teamed up to profile Ecofabulous founder Zem Joaquin. Here’s  the story of Zem’s fascinating life  written by Julia Prodis Sulek, and photos and slideshow of her own sexy, sustainable house by Desiree Northend:

She was born in 1970 with a name that means “earth” in Czech on a commune in Palo Alto called “The Land.”
Zem Joaquin was a dark-haired pixie with patchwork pants who played with chickens, danced in the central longhouse and sang with Joan Baez in the squatters camp off Page Mill Road.
The darling of the draft resisters back then, she became the subject of their illustrated fairy tale about  “Zem, the little queen” who unites a strife-torn world. Even Baez, who founded the commune and lived there for a time, included “Zem Zem” in her 1975 song, “Children and All That Jazz.”
Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that she was destined to make a name for herself in the environmental movement. Unlike her parents’ generation that reveled in the counterculture fringe, though, she is helping create a modern movement in the mainstream.
And she’s doing so with her own sense of rebellion: She’s making green glamorous.Blue Dining Chair
Founder of Ecofabulous, she created a Web site that gives readers eco-friendly lifestyle options, from modular furniture made from recycled paper to chic throws made of hemp and flax. Going green needs to be less about sacrifice, she realized, and more about motivation. (The site’s motto: “sexy.sustainable.style.”) After all, she muses, “People weren’t too interested when organic cotton looked like oatmeal and felt like a burlap sack.”
Step inside the 1960s-era home in Marin County that she remodeled for her family and you’ll see what she means.
At 39 years old and just 5 feet tall, she opens the front door with bare feet and a big smile. Behind her, vintage black-and-white curtains she found at the Alameda Point Antiques Faire frame a pair of chairs she recovered in remnant lime green silk. Sleek kitchen counters are made from newspaper wood pulp and fly ash. Her vintage Laszlo dining room chairs are refilled with natural rubber.
“Being fabulous is feeling like you’re getting what you really want,” she says. “At the same time, you’re not taking more than you need and you’re giving back.”
Hall ArtSo how did this commune kid become such a design diva?
She may have been raised on granola, but she came of age living in London for two-and-a-half years in her early 20s with her godmother – a stylish critic for the Evening Standard who took her to theaters, boutiques and Paris for weekends and “taught me everything I know about design.” Joaquin (then Spire, her maiden name) finished her degree in organizational communications at Pepperdine, where she started a recycling program. And after a stint managing male models in Italy (she followed a boyfriend there), she returned to San Francisco in the late 1990s to help her best friend, Gina Pell, start Pell’s fledgling fashion and beauty Web site, Splendora.
“She was my VP of business development because she’s so good with people. She has a way of developing and nurturing connections,” Pell says. “I always told her that if she was a superhero, that would be her superpower – the ultimate connector.”
It was Pell, though, who connected Zem with her husband, tech entrepreneur James Joaquin.
They met at a cocktail party in 1999 in San Francisco, married and had two children. She was volunteering for homeless causes and political campaigns when her children were diagnosed with severe asthma. The family was living in an old Craftsman in San Francisco at the time, spending many a night in the emergency room when she decided she had to “save my children and create a healthy home.”Girl's Dressing Area
The Marin County house, tucked among blackberry bushes and towering trees, became her eco-incubator. Old painted beams were stripped with beeswax, wall-to-wall carpeting was replaced with recycled wine-cork flooring and solar panels were added to the roof.
But finding sustainable products, and stylish ones at that, wasn’t easy. “I realized there was this enormous gap,” she says. “There were no resources for eco-design and people interested in design.”
It was her husband who handed her a copy of “Cradle to Cradle,” the environmental manifesto of architect William McDonough, whom James Joaquin had heard speak at the 2004 TED conference for technology, entertainment and design in Monterey.
“This is what you’ve been talking about,” he said at the time to his wife, “what you’ve been spiraling in towards.”
She was so enthralled by the book, which professes ecologically intelligent design, that she invited McDonough to lunch with “some of my friends that I think can change the world.”
The guest list included her husband’s good friend, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar; Segway inventor Dean Kamen, whom she had met at a dinner party; and inventor, entrepreneur and Disney “imagineer” Danny Hillis.
This time, it was McDonough’s turn to be impressed. He invited her to attend his annual eco-summit in Iceland the following year with some 20 “thought leaders” and activists.
ZemUnlike some in the environmental movement who preach doom and gloom, he says, Joaquin takes a positive approach.
“It’s a big dark world out there, and we need brightness,” he says in a phone interview from Abu Dhabi where he was talking to real estate developers about green design. “Zem is a sparkle.”
And she knows how to throw a party. Over the past several years, she has raised nearly $1 million dollars for Global Green, an L.A.-based nonprofit that activates its Hollywood base to bring attention to green issues, including the sustainable rebuilding of New Orleans and Haiti. At her first party she threw at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco several years ago, Leonardo DiCaprio showed up. Salma Hayek and Orlando Bloom came to the second.
“She actually seduces people into doing the right thing,” Ariana Huffington of the Huffington Post said when she presented Joaquin with Global Green’s Founder’s Award last year. “She always makes people feel that the right thing is the fun thing.”
Plus, she added, “she’s adorable.”
While Joaquin founded Ecofabulous in 2006 to chronicle her environmentally friendly remodeling resources, she has since expanded it to include organic beauty, fashion and lifestyle choices. She consults with such companies as eBay and Safeway and has been a frequent “green” guest on radio and TV shows. She raises chickens in her side yard, grows tomatoes and herbs, and even has her 6-year-old daughter weighing in with her opinion about kids’ green products. And over the past few years, she’s convinced every one of her closest friends to drive a hybrid.
So what’s next?
“I never thought in a million years I would want to have a commune,” she says.
But lately, she’s thinking about it, maybe bringing her closest friends together, living sustainably off the grid. She doesn’t have the details worked out yet, but one thing is certain: Unlike the A-frames and outhouses she grew up with, she says, “this commune would be stylized.”

Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

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Warmenhovens Share Mediterranean Estate, Tea Garden with Charities

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Pool and ViewBy Julia Prodis Sulek for Lookiloos and Scene Magazine, photos by Lookiloos photographer Desiree Northend

Charmaine Warmenhoven was in high school in 1964 when news of the notorious murder of Kitty Genovese on the streets of New York spread across the country, a shocking story because even though many heard her screams, apparently no one did a thing to help.
Charmaine was fascinated, though, less about the bystanders who did nothing and more about the idea of those who “try to do something.”
With a strong foundation as a woman of faith and a psychology degree from Princeton, reaching out to others in need has become a guiding principle of her life as a philanthropist and educator of special needs children.Living
“It’s part of our value system,” she says. “You are meant to provide service to others. I’ve been doing so ever since I can remember.”
From the graceful Monte Sereno home surrounded by acres of gardens that she shares with her husband, Network Appliance board chairman Dan Warmenhoven, the couple open their doors to fundraisers benefiting causes ranging from cancer research to local arts groups to Catholic charities. In June, she is hosting the Silicon Valley Heart Gala for 250 to raise money for the American Heart Association. With Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz chairing the event, the nonprofit is expecting the guest list to include some of the valley’s tech luminaries. If all goes well, the charity hopes to raise more than half a million dollars (maybe a million, dare they hope) at this single event.
“Dan and I feel we’ve been given a lot, and we need to give and to share,” she says. “It’s more than a habit. It’s a lifestyle.”
And Keri  Janssen, CEO of the Silicon Valley American Heart Association, couldn’t be more grateful.
“They are very down to earth and very dedicated to making a difference in the community,” Janssen says. “Opening your home to an event is totally different than giving money. They are dedicated to the mission and the cause and have been for over 10 years.”
Hosting the fundraiser at a home rather than a hotel is much more intimate, she says. Besides, “who wouldn’t want to see the Warmenhoven home?”
Kitchen WindowA winding driveway leads you past oak trees and a sunken Japanese tea garden to the grand estate atop a hill. A 17th-century wishing well and a stone gazebo adorn the front garden that overlooks the lights of the valley below.
The back yard, with terraces surrounding a pool and cabana house, will be the setting for the June party. A saxophonist will play during cocktail hour from the balcony, and tables will be set up around the pool. Each guest will be given a candle to light, representing heart disease survivors, and float them in the pool.
“It will be the feel of a romantic, starry night,” Janssen says.
The causes Warmenhoven supports are close to her heart. As a child, her mother was a concert pianist, and she was a dancer. As an adult, she has served on the boards of Ballet San Jose and the Montalvo Arts Center.
With her father in the military, her family moved around a lot, she says, and going to Catholic church on Sundays wherever they happened to live “felt like family and it gave me a sense of stability and belonging.”
After teaching disabled children for a number of years, she went on to work for  the Catholic Diocese in Santa Clara County, helping people with disabilities feel included in church life. Just last year, the Warmenhovens hosted a garden party for the Knights of St. John, an organization ounded to take care of wounded soldiers but that now donates frequently to children’s hospitals.
Charmaine’s father died of cancer when she was 13, and the Warmenhovens have been supporters of the American Cancer Society’s Cattle Barons’ Ball each year.
“I do a variety of different things,” she says, “but they all make sense to me.”Rear View of Home
She and her husband met sitting next to each other on a plane on their way back to Princeton from the West Coast when she was a junior and he was a senior.
“He asked me to dinner,” she says, “and we were married two years later.”
After moving around the East Coast with his jobs for IBM and HP and hers in teaching, they arrived in Santa Clara Valley in the early 1980s. In the mid-1990s, Dan Warmenhoven became president and CEO of Network Appliance, employing 45 people at the time. It has since grown to 8,000 employees worldwide.
The Warmenhovens moved from their house in Saratoga, which their son and daughter-in-law now own, to the Monte Sereno estate three years ago. Even though the house is grand, the rooms feel intimate. And she loves the indoor/outdoor flow of the house, which is perfect for entertaining.
She enjoys planning gatherings for her family and close friends, but she leaves the big parties to the pros. She has her list of favorite local party planners, florists and caterers.
“I just sit back and applaud,” she says, “and open the door.”Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

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Growing Family Downsizing with Style

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
Desk in Breakfast nook

Desk in Breakfast nook

Meg Picanco has quite a home decor pedigree. For years, she and her  late mother, Nancy Biagini, owned and ran the highly-regarded Casa Casa store on San Jose’s Lincoln Avenue. And until last fall, she was a  partner in Willow Glen Home and Garden just down the street.

So you would expect the home she shares with her husband and two young children to be well appointed. But several life-changing events over the past few years have forced her to rethink the importance of belongings and what it truly means to make a house a home.
The top of a bookcase serves as a spot for special things

The top of a bookcase serves as a spot for special things

Like many families in these tough economic times, the growing Picanco family has downsized to half the space they were used to. And leave it to 41-year-old Picanco to do it with style.
She has turned the 1,400 square-foot cottage she rents in Willow Glen into a charming oasis filled — sparingly — with carefully chosen, quality furnishings from her retail days as well as the family heirlooms she cherishes most.
From her grandmother’s spice cabinet with a needlepoint inset to her mother’s glass-topped coffee table, the house has a feeling of warmth and deep roots no matter how temporary the rental may be.
“Bringing things into your home that have history give it a special aura,” Picanco said.
4414854286_145d8f0942_bHer journey to the rental house has taken a circuitous path. Picanco, her husband, Mario, and their two young children, Gabrielle and Giancarlo, were living in a 2,800 square-foot home in Boise, Idaho — “in search of a calmer life where we could live on one income.” But less than a year into their lives there, she was confronted at the same time with two frightening realities: her mother was diagnosed with colon cancer and her 19-month-old son was confirmed deaf.
Not only did she want to be close to her mother in San Jose as she fought the disease, but Picanco and her husband discovered that a top preschool for the deaf was located just up the peninsula in Redwood City.
“We knew we had to return to California,” she said. San Jose is where she studied interior design from San Jose State University and when she was 23, opened Casa Casa with her mother. Her sister joined later. When children came along for the sisters, the trio decided to sell the business. Picanco stayed on as a buyer for the new owners for a year before moving to Idaho in 2006.
They had been homeowners in San Jose before they moved and her husband holds a solid job in high tech, “but we could not afford to buy back into the market when we returned.”
So what did she do? She did what any woman would do: she held a garage sale. And she was compelled to sell “all the things that were wonderful, beautiful things I loved.”
But she kept a painted chest that her grandmother had left to her (and had tucked a note addressed to her inside for posterity,) a pair of her mother’s table lamps, a set of nesting tables her aunt brought back from Florence, and a delicate, bamboo-style chandelier that has stayed with the family through their moves and is decorated with holly berries at Christmas and streamers for birthdays.
4414024163_5f71b43c5d_oAfter a stint in one Willow Glen rental distinguished by a pink tile kitchen with a butterfly motif, she found the house her family now calls home, a place she hopes to stay in for at least the next several years.
It is the simplest of floorplans: small living and dining rooms, a newly-remodeled kitchen with a tiny breakfast nook, and three small bedrooms and one bath off the back hallway. No family room. No walk-in closets. The only extra is a quarter-basement that is just big enough for the washer and dryer and Picanco’s hanging clothes, folded sweaters, and neatly stacked shoes.
She maximizes every inch with function and style. She has turned the breakfast nook, that was practically too small for a table and chairs, into an office with one elegant, oversized desk topped with a computer. When the kids come home with backbacks and school papers, “everything gets filed immediately,” she said.
clock collection

clock collection

Perhaps the most surprising personal touch is her decision to invest in shutters for the dining room and bathroom. “I knew when we rented it , we would be here for at least several years, so why not make it our own home?” she said, “and I couldn’t live with metal mini blinds.”

She painted every room a separate color — coating the master bedroom with the same heathery hue she has used for her bedroom in every house. She filled her dining room hutch with her sterling silver and blue and white china as well as a pair of rhinestone-studded starfish. One had been her mother’s, and when she died in 2008, Picanco nestled it in a bowl with her own.
The Picanco family has lived in this house for just a year and in that time, their daughter has adjusted beautifully to her new school and their son has excelled at his. With cochlear implants, he can carry on conversations. “Every five minutes is a miracle,” Picanco said.
Their neighbors have become some of their best friends.
“I can’t deny I wouldn’t love to own my own house,” she said, “but we’re so happy here.”Julia Looking Left - Lookiloos

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