Inspiration from Travel: Californian Boutique Hotels

This time last year we were preparing for an amazing USA West Coast Road Trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas. 

I was extremely excited as we decided to splash out on the hotels which allowed hours of perusing beautiful hotel websites. Here are the best of where we stayed:

Hotel Zetta San Francisco

A world of quirky cool fun complete with a metallic dogs (and you know I love a dog), a giant Plinko* Wall, graffiti décor and huge chandeliers made from coloured reading glasses.

*For anyone not familiar (which includes me) Plinko seems to be like a penny arcade machine but with a basketball instead of a coin… fun though!

I loved this hotel, warm natural wood tones and leather contrasted with bright pops of colour. In the bedrooms urber cool bedside table lamps, luxurious bed head and amazing book shelf wall paper in the ensuite made it feel like we were staying in a cool city loft- which I suppose we were.

  

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BROKEN GLASS DECORATIVE CEILING IN THE LIFT LOBBY

YES THAT IS A CHANDELIER MADE FROM COLOURFUL READING GLASSES

THE BEST BOOK WALLPAPER OF ALL TIME

 Monterey- Portola Hotel and Spa
Monterey is the only other place I would want to live, it is truly idyllic and we saw more amazing wildlife on our morning walk than you would see on an average trip to a British zoo.

Monterey may be the best place in the world or I may have been swayed by the WARM chocolate chip cookie presented to us on arrival.

It was a shame we only stayed here for one night and didn’t have time to explore the spa which is connected to the hotel via a large covered courtyard illuminated by fairy light decorated tress but we did partake in the Micro-brewery bar (with its fire pit tables) and I really enjoyed the décor of the rooms.

They were simple with gorgeous white sheets bold nautical prints and beautiful white wooden shutters with views to tree lined streets. The show stopper for me was the en-suite and when we redo our bathroom I will be stealing more than a few details from this design.

OTTER CUDDLY TOY A BARGAIN AT ONLY $20- I WASN'T ALLOWED

THE OTTER STEALER! 

MOSAIC FLOOR TILES AND WHITE SUBWAY TILES COMBINED WITH SLEEK GLASS SHOWER SCREEN

MARBLE TOPS, OAK UNITS AND A DEEP OCEAN BLUE WITH LIME/OLIVE HIGHLIGHTS- I JUST LOVE IT

 LA- SIXTY, Beverly Hills

This hotel was pure cool, dark and luxurious.

En-suites

We all know ensuites in hotels are wonderful but the three in the hotels I've shared about were examplary- everything was exactly where you wanted it before you even know that you needed it- and that is the best design compliment ever.

Watch this space for California Chic influeneces coming soon.

[Your] Place: Rise of the Feature Ceiling

Recently a couple of images have really caught my eye with feature wallpapered ceilings...

I want to declare it a 'new trend' but a glance into any European cathedral or stately home would point out otherwise.

The most famous decorated ceiling - The Sistine Chapel

Instead I think its a rarely seen trend in the modern home which I hope to see more of because; with a wallpapered ceiling you can keep the walls light and focus the attention up which would be very beneficial in a small space, its a more designer take on the feature wall and would allow you to make a bold paint and bold pattern choice if you so desired and finally its an extra platform to play with the dimensions of your space.

STADSHEM

The image above is the perfect example of how a carefully selected wall paper paired with light walls can make a room look bigger. This paper not only reflects the light it emulates the sky- effectively making the ceiling disappear- well almost. This would also be a great idea for a nursery, bedroom or any other room in which you spend a lot of time -ehem- looking up.

JENNA MCLAUGHLIN

The image above is from a fantastic virtual tour of fantastic Edinburgh Apartment on Houzz- full of retro glamour and subtle geometric pattern contrasted with bold bright blocks of colour- please check it out! This wallpaper is striking contrast to the all white bathroom tiles and fixtures, this takes a standard bathroom to a 'stand out' bathroom.   

  

GREG NATALE

I've just discovered Greg Natale and I'm a little bit in love. This geometric pattern is probably my favourite uses of wall paper on a ceiling I've seen, this would be particularly good to balance the proportions of a long narrow room. By keeping the walls light the room seems larger and by focusing the colour and pattern on the ceiling it seems lower.

Is this a trend you'll be trying?