Orblogdo – Page 11 – Orlando Soria

Nov / 15 / 2013Nov / 16 / 2013

Did I Learn Anything From Surviving the LAX Shootings?

Photo By Jill Ulicney [This post is centered on the recent LAX shooting incident. If you don’t know that story check out the LA Times Coverage] Dear Reader, I had a weird experience a two weeks ago. I showed up at LAX, for my flight to New York. I was a bit late. It turns out I’m getting increasingly bad at showing up sufficiently early to the airport. Like I show up just in time to run through security and run directly onto the plane after my boarding group has been called and I’m sweating and annoyed because I’m dressed…

Nov / 14 / 2013Nov / 20 / 2013

Meeting Glamourdesigner Robert Stilin

Photographs by Joshua McHugh, Portrait by Richard Phibbs ROBERT STILIN Dear My Friend Faris That I Met In Grad School and Am Still BFFs With, I had a crazy day on Sunday, running all over New York, from Williamsburg to SoHo to Chelsea to the Upper West side. So by the end of the day when I was trying to meet up with you back in SoHo, I was a mess. I was just getting over the stomach virus I got (from nuzzling a baby), my phone was dead, I was sweating, and I had no idea where I was going….

Nov / 13 / 2013Nov / 13 / 2013

Whut Glamour: New Branding, New Business Cards

Dear Reader, As you may have noticed, I’ve done a little bit of restyling to Hommemaker.com. The changes include: ▲ Wider pictures (formerly 500 pixels wide, now 700 wide). ▲ Simpler, cleaner navigation featuring four main categories: Art, Decor, Life, Style. ▲ No ads. Although this is going to change. I’m working on incorporating ads for products and services I actually like and use. When they come back they’ll be hand-selected and more thoughtfully worked in to the site’s layout. All of these changes were made possible by my awesome web designer Forster Rudolph. The whole redesign is a sort of mini-rebranding for…

Nov / 12 / 2013Nov / 12 / 2013

New York Pop-Up Fashion Installation by Boffo + Michael Bastian + Bittertang

Photographs by Evan Joseph Dear Boffo, I enjoyed stopping by your installation at the Superpier (15th at the Hudson River) while I was in New York. This was part of the Building Fashion series, a series of collaborations between architects and fashion designers. Each year, thousands of architects and designers compete for the chance to work with Boffo to create an innovative, groundbreaking space. For the fashion designer, it’s an opportunity to showcase their work in a space customized to the concept/aesthetic of their line. For the architect, it’s a chance to design an outlandish, exciting space. The first in…

Nov / 11 / 2013

Homme/Maker: Richard Haines

Photography by Jill Ulicney Dear Travel Diary, I came to New York with one goal in mind. To meet people I find inspiring. And I really lucked out. One of my favorite artists is an illustrator named Richard Haines and he agreed to meet with me. I discovered his work a few years ago in the New York Times style section. I quickly became obsessed with his fashion illustrations. The beauty of his work comes in its gesture, how a few simple lines create movement, weight. He’s collaborated with all the biggest names in fashion from Prada to J.Crew and…

Oct / 26 / 2013Oct / 26 / 2013

My Week in Instagramz

Dear Moving Boxes, The above photograph, my childhood home in boxes, sort of encapsulates the feeling of this week. Remember that girl with too many emotions from Mean Girls? The one who made Damien yell “She doesn’t even go here!” And then she’s like “I just have a lot of feelings.” Sometimes I feel like I’m turing into that girl. What is the matter with me? Like my parents moved and I acted like it was the most devastating thing that ever happened to anyone ever. When really it’s a totally normal part of life. And part of being a…

Oct / 25 / 2013

You Better Work, Dish!

Dear Self, I opened up the cupboard yesterday and noticed something. All my dishes are white. Or clear. Which surprised me. I love color. And I’ve never been one of those people who runs around yelling about how all dishes should be white. Until now. Looking at my collection made me realize having all white dishes is a really easy way for everything to always look good together. So that when you wake up in the morning you can gaze upon your beloved dishes and admire how well they all play together. In other news, I don’t know when this…

Oct / 23 / 2013

Take Me to Haverland: Part 4

Photographs by Stephen Smith and Kristi Stiff Dear Michael Haverland, I’ve been jealous of you for a while now. I love all the delightful architectural projects in your portfolio. I love the way you combine mid-century with contemporary in a non-gross way. I love the way your hair whips about in the wind, tossing back and forth when you laugh in that warm, hearty way only you can laugh. Just kidding I have no idea what you look or sound like. I have never wanted to be an architect. Mainly because I know too many of them and it involves wearing…

Oct / 22 / 2013

Homme/Maker: Ben Medansky

Dear Los Angeles, One of my favorite things about you is that whenever I get sick of living here, I can always venture out and discover something new that makes me like you again. This summer, I realized West Hollywood was starting to make my skin crawl. I mean, believe me, I love me some waxed gays in bright tank tops, with perfect Ken Doll hair, flapping in the wind while they ride in their BMW 3 Series convertible, laughing whilst drinking lattes, talking about boys. In fact, I am often one of those gays. But sometimes I need a…

Oct / 21 / 2013Oct / 21 / 2013

Saying Goodbye To Home

Dear Diary, Before college, I’d never heard the question before. It just didn’t come up. But when I showed up in Ithaca, New York for college, in August, the hottest, grossest place on the planet, I began hearing the question more and more. At first it didn’t bother me, but then it got old. It got old real fast. A question that was both necessary and annoying, mainly because the answer took so long and involved too many follow-up questions. Where are you FROM? The reason I’ve always hated this question is that it makes me feel like a weirdo….

Oct / 19 / 2013Oct / 19 / 2013

My Week In Instagramz

Dear Real Diary, There is little I love more in life than being pleasantly surprised. I’ve taken this so far as to plan fake surprise birthday parties for myself, just so that I can pretend to be shocked when I walk in the door. Just kidding I’ve never done this. But I have totally wanted to every year for the past ten years. As you can imagine, I was very pleasantly surprised when I showed up to Minnesota (to help out on a project with Emily and Curbly) and it turned out to be awesome and inviting. The people were…

Oct / 18 / 2013Oct / 19 / 2013

Weekend Glamourtimez in Santa Barbara

Dear Diary, I woke up on Sunday with ants in my pants and the sense that I needed to do something with my day. I knew I needed to go to the plant nursery to get plant potted in the glamourpot my friend Matthew gave me, I knew I wanted to drink a coffee, and I knew I wanted to stare at the ocean. So I decided to hop in the car and drive up to Santa Barbara because, why not? You only have one life. And if you spend it waddling around Los Angeles like a bozo, eventually you’ll…

Oct / 17 / 2013Oct / 19 / 2013

Five Fun Things For the Homme

Dear My Apartment, Are you ever scared, that someday, maybe even someday soon, I will fill you with so much garbagetreasure that you will look like the home of a deranged collector, forced to live alone forever because no one could ever love someone who buried himself in so many objects? I do. But sometimes I see something pretty and my eyes turn into spirals like the snake in “The Jungle Book” and I just have to have it. Regardless of whether it fits in my place or not. Luckily I have been finding a lot of tiny, apartment-size treasures…

Oct / 15 / 2013Oct / 22 / 2013

Whazup With My New Design Client Kelly Oxford

Dear Reader, You know, this summer brought about a lot of change for me. The love of my life ran out the door, screaming and crying about hating my ugly face (lie, mostly), my sister got married (truth), and I started working exclusively with my own clients, after years of working with Emily Henderson (truth). This summer was crazy and tumultuous and sad and gross, but now autumn is arriving and everything is falling into place and all of the sudden my life is glamorous again. I’ve started working with a great company that pairs designers with clients. The company…

Oct / 14 / 2013Oct / 22 / 2013

Why You Should Ogle Other People’s Homes

Photography by Alexander Evans Dear Diary, Los Angeles. It’s not really a walking city. But if you force yourself to get out of your car and wander around, there are plenty of things to ogle and admire. I came across a lovely building on Harper Avenue recently and decided to snoop around. While I enjoy where I live, one of my favorite weekend activities is to walk around and fantasize about living somewhere else, whether it be a glamourhouse up the street from me or this gorgeous Spanish Revival apartment building. Or is it a condo building? Also, what’s the…

Oct / 2 / 2013Oct / 22 / 2013

The Glamourest of Glamourtimez: Anjelica Huston & I Design A Space Together

Dear Diary, Last Friday I found myself standing on a deck in Venice with flashbulbs going off. How did I get here, you ask? Well, I was part of a glamourous marketing campaign organized by Airbnb. Five different designers paired up with five different celebrities to design pop-up Kithauses all over LA. I was lucky enough to be paired with Anjelica Huston. Which was clearly a dream come true. Everyone keeps asking me how it was to work with her and all I can say is that she was the most pleasant person ever and that her voice is so…

Sep / 18 / 2013Oct / 22 / 2013

Let Them Wear Cake!

Dear Cake, I became aware of your awesome fashion line recently and I just had to share it. In addition to your glamorously simple logo, you have a line of clothing that is just edgy enough to be classic while not screaming so loud that it’s annoying. Flag, $120 I want to hang this awesome flag in my apartment, so I can pretend I am the president of my own country where geometry rules and everything is in glamourous black and white. I need the following hats for my fall look. My “fall look” is that I don’t have the…

Sep / 17 / 2013Oct / 22 / 2013

My Most Exciting Design Project Ever

Dear World, Careers. They’re like “yay” and then they’re like “nay.” And they’re like “fun” and then they’re like “done.” And then they’re like “wheeeee!” and then they’re like “whyyyyyyyy?” Basically what I’m saying is that in any career, as in any normal life, there are ups and downs. I’ve definitely just entered into an up phase, as I just procured one of the most exciting collaborations ever. I’m designing a space in conjunction with, wait for it. Pause. Dramatic silence. Anjelica Huston. Right! What? I know. Anyone who knows me that I totally don’t care about celebrities. My stock…

Sep / 16 / 2013Oct / 22 / 2013

Glamourtimez: My Sister’s Wedding

Photography by Stephanie Secrest Dear My Sister, In order to explain your wedding, I must first explain where we grew up. We grew up in the middle of the woods in Yosemite National Park. I don’t think anyone who grew up there really appreciated what we had until we left for college. When you grow up surrounded by some of the most beautiful vistas on the planet (outside my bedroom window was Yosemite Falls, through the living room window you see Half Dome), it doesn’t phase you. And you act bratty, and whine about how there’s nothing to do because…

Aug / 30 / 2013Oct / 22 / 2013

This Week in Instagramz

Dear Reader, You know, sometimes the week gets away from you and then it’s next week already? That’s kind of what happened in the last few weeks. A huge wildfire raged near my hometown (don’t worry, my parents are fine and the fire is far away from where they live), some big job prospects (which I can’t talk about just yet) arose, and I continued working with my design clients and meeting new ones. Because I have codependent relationships with all of my friends, I tend to make plans to hang out with them almost every night. Last week, I…

Aug / 30 / 2013Oct / 22 / 2013

Take Me to Haverland: Part 3

Dear Michael Haverland Architects, One of my favorite houses ever is the house from Beetlejuice after Delia Deetz (Played by WORLD TREASURE Catherine O’Hara) revamps it completely. It’s the perfect combination of old timey East Coast glamour and 80s ridiculousness. I know that we’re supposed to hate that house because it represents O’Hara’s crazy character but I have always loved it and wanted to live there. The Beetlejuice House Michael Haverland’s Shelter Island House Below photographs by Laurie Lembrecht Being that I love that Beetlejuice house so much, it should come as no surprise to you that I love this…

Aug / 29 / 2013Oct / 22 / 2013

D.I.Why? How To Stretch A Canvas

Dear Aspiring Artists, As someone who went to art school, I’m often approached with people asking about how to make art. So I’ve decided to do a little mini-series documenting how to make a giant painting. First, if you’re doing a custom size, you have to stretch your canvas. Of course, they sell pre-stretched canvases, but those don’t come in every size. So, if you love making giant paintings like I do, you must stretch it yourself. Now, a few caveats. Firstly, this is an easy way to stretch your own canvas at home. There are certain shortcuts I use…

Aug / 22 / 2013

Whut Glamour: Emily & I Makeover A Luxurious Los Feliz Home!

Dear Homelovers, Ever wonder what it’s like when Emily and I install at a house we designed? Check out this video of us installing, pillow-fighting, and dancing. The video even has a SHOCKING surprise ending where you find out that Emily and I are in love and that I am the real father of her upcoming baby. YAY! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1WgmqqcivE&feature=youtu.be] Thanks to JBL for sponsoring this video series! Love, Orlando

Aug / 16 / 2013Aug / 16 / 2013

Fashion Fridays: Catsweatshirttimez with Landon from Fashion Goggled

Dear Landon from Fashion Goggled, Things I’m entranced by: 1. Your cat sweatshirt: 2. Your cat sweatshirt: 3. Your tattoo. I have been blabbing to everyone for over a year about how I want a tattoo that is a perfect circle 1 pixel wide on my inner-forearm but no one knew what I was talking about until I showed them your tattoo and said “This, but a circle.” Now everyone knows what I want and I have you to thank you for it. Bless ye. Photos by Tan Camera and Kristen Read more about Landon’s uberluxurious cat sweatshirt and glamourgeometry tattoo…