Raised in Florence, Italy by a shoe designer and a lapidary artisan, Alexia Rossetti was surrounded by art and design since childhood. Her first clear memory as a child was a trip to the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, the famous shoe designer’s museum. A self-professed chocolate snob, Alexia refuses to eat anything but the best chocolate. Led by her nose, she went traveling in her early 20s in search of the perfect chocolate, staying in Belgium, Switzerland, France, and Brazil. While on her chocolate forays there, she also took in the sights and visited some antique stores and famous architectural buildings. Slowly she grew more interested in architecture and interior design than the chocolate. Throughout the years, Alexia dabbled in jewelry design, furniture design, and sculpture before concentrating on interior design. Nowadays Alexia has parked herself in New York, where she designs for foreigners who are snapping up the real estate. On the side, she still has time to consult with chocolatiers in creating unique artisan chocolate.
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Office To Go
By alexia rossetti
Posted in Furniture on 27 August 2010
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The Mayfair steamer trunk has a secret - it hides a complete office!  Furniture maker Timothy Oulton of London redesigned this antique steamer into a secretary - displaying a desk, file cabinets, bookshelves, and cubbyholes.  And when you’re tired of looking at your office, roll one of the sides and close it, and voila! it [...]

Launch!
By alexia rossetti
Posted in Craft, Events, Jewelry on 11 August 2010
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The Sheffield School is proud to announce the launch of our 4th Course today. Say hello to Jewelry Design: Beading & Wire Working.
We are excited to bring you this new course, which we have been working on for the last year. It’s a great course that was put together with the help of some of [...]

Chilling at Designer Monthly
By alexia rossetti
Posted in General Posts, Jewelry on 10 August 2010
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The hot and hazy summer days may have sapped your strength but at Designer Monthly, we’ve found several ways to chill and relax. In our Little Things column, you’ll want to kick off your shoes and rest on these colorful poufs. Through feng shui, you can energize your ch’i with wind chimes.  With all this [...]

Divide and Conquer
By alexia rossetti
Posted in Interior Design/Decorate on 19 July 2010
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In a city cramped for space, New Yorkers have always been inventive in finding ways to “create” more room.  One way was to add temporary walls and thereby creating another bedroom to an apartment.  These temporary partitions helped many young adults get a toehold into an expensive Manhattan real estate market. Unfortunately, they’re also illegal.
After [...]

Magic Gardens of Philly
By alexia rossetti
Posted in Art/Museums, Green Design on 1 July 2010
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Barcelona can have their Gaudi, Philadelphia has Zagar!  Isaiah Zagar is a mosaic artist with a single-minded obsession - covering every surface with his ceramic tile and glass designs.  Zagar began tiling the grounds and walls of the property next to his studio in 1994.  Several tunnels, grottoes, and years later, we have the Magic [...]

Designer Monthly Al Fresco
By alexia rossetti
Posted in General Posts on 17 June 2010
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Our latest Designer Monthly is exploring the outdoors in the Green/Gardens edition.  This month, we’re designing our backyards and balconies, lighting it all up, and celebrating garden weddings.
Then we bring all the green indoors and apply feng shui through various indoor plants.  And to make our homes truly green, we check out eco-friendly paints to [...]

Eye on Fornasetti
By alexia rossetti
Posted in Bath/Kitchen Design, Interior Design/Decorate on 10 June 2010
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The very popular graphics of Italian artist, Piero Fornasetti, is now appearing on ceramic tiles produced by Hastings Tile & Bath.  Despite his death in 1988, Fornasetti’s tongue-in-cheek designs remain highly sought after.
Fornasetti illustrated designs for tableware, scarves, ties, and furniture.  His favorite muse was a nineteenth century opera singer, Lina Cavalieri.  Her face and [...]

Parrot Talk
By alexia rossetti
Posted in Design - General, Lifestyle on 3 June 2010
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Parrot collaborated with uber-designer, Philippe Starck, to create sleek wireless speakers for the ultra modern home called the Zikmu Parrot.  Philippe Starck, better known as a furniture designer, applied his design flair and transformed the old speaker box into a sculptural sound system.  And at 100 watts power, the sound delivers too!
The Zikmu comes in [...]

Blooming All Over
By alexia rossetti
Posted in Industry Shows/Expos, Interior Design/Decorate on 18 May 2010
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The ICFF, or International Contemporary Furniture Fair, blew into New York this past week, and brought along all kinds of the latest furniture and accessories from around the world.  The Bloom chair designed by Kenneth Cobonpue sprouted from the Philippines.
Bloom’s petals are made of microfiber and draped over a resin seat with a steel base.  [...]

Green and PreFab-ulous Homes!
By alexia rossetti
Posted in Architecture, Green Design on 4 May 2010
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If you’re interested in a new eco-friendly green house but were afraid of the costs, take a look at these prefabricated models. New World Home has designed several house models using historically-inspired styles but built them with an eye on environmentally-friendly and efficient practices. And to make them affordable, they used the modular [...]