Senin, 30 April 2012

ABC Award of Excellence Winner!

Elzinga & Volkers Construction Professionals and Visbeen Associates took home an Award of Excellence for StoneWater Country Club's Restaurant and Banquet Facility as part of the 2011 Associated Builders & Contractors (ABC) of Western Michigan Chapter Awards.  That makes two-for-two on this project, since we were awarded a 2010 Award of Excellence for StoneWater Country Club's Clubhouse & Pool Facility.

Here is a little tour of the completed project...

 
 
 
  


Congratulations to all players involved in this award-winning Restaurant & Banquet Facility!

Designed by Visbeen Associates, Inc.
Construction by Elzinga & Volkers Construction Professionals
Interior Design by Lorene Roskamp of Lauren James Studio

To view more photos of this project, visit the gallery of our website:
www.visbeen.biz > gallery > master planning > country clubs > StoneWater CC 

artist // kristy gammill

it's monday, kids! here's a little help getting perked up:




images via kristy gammill

don't worry. i peed a little when i saw them, too.

Jumat, 27 April 2012

happy friday + izola giveaway winners

happy friday, all! is it just me or are the weeks flying by lately? i can't believe may is already upon us!

without further ado:


congrats to kecia, abbie and korin! please shoot me an email at tobe(at)becauseitsawesomeblog(dot)com with your shipping address so we can get these babies to you! for everyone else, izola is offering 20% off your next purchase through their website, so go snag the items on your wishlist! who knows how long that deal will last? big thanks to them again for sponsoring this giveaway, and for generally being awesome.

i also have to give a shoutout to the sweet louise of table tonic for mentioning me in this round of (always fabulous) 14 bookmark-worthy sites! i'm hoping for some time this weekend to check all of her recommendations out.

enjoy your weekend! ox


Kamis, 26 April 2012

Brooklyn Museum Shop Tour

As your learned from our blog post two weeks ago, the Brooklyn Museum Shop is open for business and people are talking!  Now we have the pleasure of giving you a pictorial tour of this rehabilitated and renovated space.  With local artisan pieces like the chandelier and wooden toys by David Weeks, and Keith Haring paintings displayed behind the cash wrap, the shop brings the beauty of the museum's exhibits inside.



For more photos of this retail space, please visit our website:
www.visbeen.biz > gallery > commercial projects > retail > brooklyn museum shop


Interior Merchandising by David Hopkins
Photography by Evan Sung

artist // ekaterina koroleva

wowed by artist ekaterina koroleva's style and range. her brights are easily some of my faves.






see more of her gorgeous work here. (her black and white, and zodiac series are particularly lovely as well.)

also, today is the last day to enter the izola giveaway. go get you some (before 5 CST)!

Rabu, 25 April 2012

house guest // the vault files

today's house guest is none other than gaby from the vault files! i seriously cannot put into words how much i adore this girl's style. she's going to make me go broke with all of her beautiful fashion finds and stellar advice! she's also the super talent i'm sharing the apartment 34 where/wear column with, and i couldn't enjoy collaborating with her more.

take it away, gaby!

. . . . . . .

Hi everyone, Gaby from The Vault Files here, thrilled and honored to be a house guest on Because it's Awesome! I was very excited when Tobe contacted me to take part in this great series, and because I'm moving back home in a couple of months (I've been living in a very VERY remote island for the past 15 months) I couldn't find a topic more fitting than redecorating.

Do you ever feel like you want to throw everything out the window and start from zero? I often do, but, before actually doing that, I like to keep in mind some small (and not so expensive) changes that can go a long way:


And just as in Fashion, try to identify what can stay as is, what has the potential to be reinvented, and what needs to be tossed/donated/sold ;)

Do you have any tips on redecorating? I would love to hear!

Images credits: Pinterest / Dan Duchars via Desire to Inspire / Crate & Barrel Colette Bench / Caitlin Wilson Textiles Pillows / PopOColor Duralee red Ikat pillow / PopOColor Reversible Blue & White Ikat pillow / Ikea Hemnes Drawer Chest / Molly Madfis Campaign style chest

Selasa, 24 April 2012

contributing column // where/wear

psst! gaby and i are over at apartment 34 again today with the 2nd installment of our where/wear column.
come peep it. we're classy this week.


type tuesday // le buro

i was too busy pimping izola's goods to tell you that i was over at the peak of tres chic yesterday, talking about my ideal monday. which i actually had yesterday! well, aside from bed at a decent hour . . . baby steps. big thanks to sam for having me.

getting back to my roots today with bold black and white type.





the poster series doesn't disappoint either



project by montreal firm inventaire // via behance

don't forget to enter to win a set of awesome handkerchiefs in the izola giveaway!

Senin, 23 April 2012

Fallingwater by Frank Lloyd Wright

Ryan in our office recently took a tour of one of the most famous homes designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright called Fallingwater, located in rural southwestern Pennsylvania.  The home was designed by Wright in 1935 for the Edgar Kaufmann family, president of Kaufmann's Department Store in Pittsburgh.  This unique home is on the Smithsonian's Life List of "28 Places to visit before you die," it was designated as a National Landmark in 1966, and in 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) named it the "best all-time work of American architecture."

The most recognizable vantage point of this famous residence
Cantilever Balcony and staircase going down to the water below the home.
One of the most unique aspects of this home is the fact that it was actually built into the rock surrounding it, on top of an active waterfall
A modern marvel at the time, a cantilever staircase
Unique interiors with furnishings designed by Wright as well.  The floor is made up of the rock the home is built upon and to the left of the fireplace is a globe that can be filled with water and swiveled in front of the open fire to heat.  There is a spigot at the bottom to distribute the hot water.  
This glassed-in area is retractable to reveal the cantilever stairs to the stream below.
Interesting angles everywhere you look.
Notice the built-in desk has a special notch to allow the glass door to the left to swing open, hearing the natural sounds of the moving water below.
These windows were another engineering marvel of the time with both sides of the corner opening out and the screens opening in, leaving the corner with no structure obstructing the view.
Guest house with unique staircase.
Every view displays another dimension of the design of this masterpiece.
Covered staircase connecting the main home to the guest and servant quarters.
The home was constructed using upside down T-shaped beams integrated into concrete slab.  Some sources say that the contractor was doubtful that there was enough reinforcement and quietly doubled the reinforcing steel specified by Wright.

Stay tuned next month for our "little inspiration" series focusing on Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the greatest American architects of all time.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallingwater

new sponsor + a giveaway

good morning, all! hope this monday morning finds you well-rested and ready to tackle a new week. i know i sure overindulged in some down time after last week's deadlines. if you're dragging today, i might have a little something to perk you up. nothing like kicking off the week with some good news, right? and, man, do i have a serious treat for you guys today -- a sweet giveaway!

some of you might remember a post on some very fine candle packaging back in february? well, it turns out, candles aren't the only thing the fine gentlemen behind that brand have going on. the company, better known as izola, has a vast array of well-designed products worth checking out. in fact, being that i came across their site right before eric's birthday, i was eyeballing a few items that seemed up his alley. honestly --- you guys know i'm a sucker for nice packaging --- i had a hard time sticking to gifts for him. i wanted a few for myself! case in point:

images via izola

when izola and i started talking (god bless twitter), they very generously offered to send me a few items (birthday gift? check!). i was nothing short of ecstatic both to give eric something he was bound to love as well as get to see these fine products in person! they definitely didn't disappoint. we've had a few items in constant use since their arrival, and the packages they came in went straight to my office for inspiration. double bonus!



the candle we eric received is their most popular scent, and i have to say, it's amazing. and even though we didn't really need a soap dish, i knew ours his would make a perfect ring catcher for us. but the gift that i'm really excited about is the set of natural cotton handkerchiefs that will eventually be framed and displayed in all of their glorious splendor! well-designed with clever phrases, they'll make a very fine wall statement. i'm thinking of balancing the graphic, masculine nature of them with ornate gilded frames, perhaps in the powder room.

but i'm not the only lucky one here. i'm thrilled to tell you that the fine gentlemen at izola have offered to give not one, but three lucky BIA readers a set of these newly-released handkerchief sets! simply enter by leaving a comment letting us know if you would like to receive the stars, pioneer, or forest collection (be sure to check out the phrases. they're unique to each set!)

"it's written in the stars"  //  "lost time is never found"  //  "peace and prosperity"


"pioneers! o, pioneers!"  //  "courage"  //  "sticks and stones"


"the forest for the trees"  //  "wild beasts"  //  "weather the storm"

they're such unique, classy pieces for the menfolk. of course, i highly recommend checking out the rest of their line while you're at it. i'm telling you, those flasks and martini shakers are begging to be gifted to the man in your life! had i known about izola when we got married, i think a few items would definitely have made the wedding party gift list. but i have a second chance . . . my brother's 30th is coming up, and I have a few of their items in mind :)

you have until thursday, april 26, 2012 at 5pm CST to enter. sorry, US residents only. good luck!

the fine print: winners will be chosen via random.org, and will be announced within 24 hours of being chosen. after being announced, winners are responsible for claiming prize within 7 days, at which time they will forfeit their prize. limit one entry per person. no purchase or payment necessary. in exchange for running this giveaway, i was gifted the products stated above. void where prohibited. giveaway sponsored by izola.

*though this is a sponsored post, all opinions are my own.