Castle’s Set Design

When I am not watching Frasier I normally love to watch mystery shows. Castle is one of my favorites from that category. Its a light and funny show that has a cute story line balanced off with murder mysteries that need to be solved on each episode.

 The “Ruggedly Handsome” Richard Castle played by Nathan Fillion, is a famous mystery writer who is brilliant and has a witty sense of humor. When the NYPD asks him to consult in a case where there were a series of murders staged to imitate crime scenes from his books, Castle was more than happy to help find this copycat killer. However while he was consulting them Castle found inspiration in Detective Kate Beckett played by Stana Katic. She was the perfect muse to base his new novels on!.

   Once that initial case was solved, Castle and Beckett continued to investigate crimes in New York, combining Castle’s witty and creative approach to crimes and Beckett’s impressive detective skills. I won’t say more ( don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t watched it yet) besides we are here today to talk about the set design! More specifically Castle’s Manhattan penthouse which he shares with his mother and teenage daughter.

The set is designed by Claire Kaufman SDSA and Alfred Sole. You can check some of their other works in the link… But I must say that Richard Castle’s apartment is their best work.

There are many things in his apartment that might not be to your taste or style, however I think that the layout of the apartment and the layout of the furniture is what makes this design a success!. It is modern and masculine yet its so cozy …It feels like home!

Its a two floor penthouse. This is the layout of the first floor where the main living areas are. Castle’s office and bedroom are on this floor too. His mother and daughter each have their own bedroom on the 2nd floor.

Besides the fact that Castle’s office room is a book lovers dream (with all those books) It has a great flow to the bedroom. The apartment is truly designed for a writer!

 The main focal point of the room of course is the “Lucee Charlemagne Staircase, Down View” I think that its a smart choice from the designer because it added depth to the room especially when you are looking in from the living room.

Here is a view from the opposite direction, looking towards the living room. I love how the spaces open into each other yet each space feels so cozy.

The bedroom feels like a secret room. It is hidden behind the built-in bookcases and a steel door. Very appropriate for our mystery writer don’t you think?

My Favorite feature in Castle’s bedroom is this beautiful photograph of Linus the lion. In an episode Castle said that he bought it from his first paycheck of his first novel and that they have been friends ever since!

7 Beautiful Interiors from the 70s

The 70s interiors have been having a strong comeback lately… I think most people picture those interiors to be crazy and lack sophistication…. however many of those interiors were actually very sophisticated and classy!

Here are 7 interiors from the 70s that I hope will inspire you to add a sophisticated yet an eclectic touch to your home xxx

 

Nocturnal Animals: Part 2 The Movie Set

Set designer Shane Valentino along with the movie director Tom Ford chose a stunning Malibu house designed by Scott Mitchell. The house was used as the home of Susan and her husband, Hutton. “One of the directives we had in terms of Susan’s world was that it wanted to feel very hard and cold,” he says. “A good way to do that is to look for lots of glass, concrete, or hard materials.”

Art was also a major component to the design of Susan’s home. Valentino used a mix of modern and contemporary art throughout the house.

Valentino reworked the interior design of the house to include darker furnishings which you can see in the 2 pictures above.“A lot of it is almost a mirror of some sort of Tom’s life and his world that he lives in,” he says. “The chaise lounge, the settees, and the armchairs that are there are part of his aesthetic. We went to a lot of high-end design places like JF Chen to find particular pieces.” Below I’ve put 2 pictures of the original house before the changes were temporarily made for the movie! It has the complete opposite ambiance of the dark and mysterious movie set… here the house is light and airy which is beautiful but somehow I’m in love with the changes made by Valentino!

Anyways back to the set design

I love this photograph from Richard Misrach’s Desert Cantos series that was hung in the entryway. It’s  from Tom Ford’s private collection. Not sure if I would use or put this photograph in a home, but  I think that this particular movie it was a brilliant choice by Valentino, especially with Susan’s hair colour against it! And most importantly I feel that landscape was the perfect hint for us of what was expected to come in the movie….  and sort of set the mood for us!

Another art piece that caught my eye was that beautiful painting by Mark Bradford that hangs above Susan’s bed. I haven’t seen his work in person before but after I saw this I put him on my lists of artists to check out!… I just love it… In fact, I love everything in this room… Everything chosen complements each other without feeling matchy …like how the black marble table top complements the painting…. I love how all the wood walls complement the black and white in the room… I could go on and on about this room but I’ll stop and instead share a picture of the original bedroom just in case you were wondering about it!.

So what do you think?  Which house do you prefer?  The dark and mysterious one? Or the bright and airy one?

A Holiday Home In Costa Rica

This beautiful 4500 square foot modern holiday home is in Costa Rica …… What a beautiful home!….. With a spectacular view like this, it won’t matter which side of the bed you wake up from!…..I just love the limited color palette of white painted walls, beige travertine flooring, and the gray pavers and columns that were utilized throughout this house….. Actually I love everything in this house!

 Pictures via

House designed by Victor Cañas Arquitecto