Cherokee Studios Rock N Platinum Showcase

Lori — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:40:56 +0000

Alcie Cooper Lyrics

: Platinum records for the Platinum loft

Thursday night, across the street from Genghis Cohen and behind a secretive, black curtain Rethink Development unveiled the rock n’ roll lofts at the Cherokee Recording Studios LEED Platinum Lofts Showcase benefitting Habitat for Humanity. We (Lori Dennis and Brook Casey of the Dennis Design Group) were in charge of the Alice Cooper pad and took our assignment very seriously, literally dressing the part.

Dennis Design Group gettin' down in bed?

Our shock rock loft never could have been possible without the generous donations of our many vendors and time from our interns, Sara, Rob and Natasha. Plus it’s not really a party if Tony of Francois and Roy from the SoCal Contractor aren’t in tow. In the bedroom Heritage Draperies fabricated and installed our padded, chained window treatment and Mike Ragan of Rags put together this amazing patchwork, padded wall with fabric from Jason Asch of Diamond Foam. The stars were out in LA on Thursday night and two showed up at our event: Jodie Sweetin , who we all know and love as the old Stephanie Tanner from Full House and Calico Cooper, Alice’s daughter and former co-star of his stage show.

Calico Cooper representin' for Papa

Looking at these pictures you would never know that a mere 24 hours before the event we had no stairs and were finishing up our super style in a deadly, construction zone! Sparks from the welding were hitting us, the wall, the furniture and Sara even got smacked on the noggin’ pretty good by a wayward steel beam. It’s a good thing she has a better work ethic than that witch who hit her head on the Apprentice and wasted the team’s time going to a hospital. No, not Sara… she just kept on hot glueing those recycled, reclaimed water bottles that we used as wall art in the guest bath. Through it all Brook and I just kept hammering the boxes and boxes of nails into our wall eating snake. Jason Asch over at Diamond also donated this massive amount of rocker, (faux) snake skin fabric.

Lori and Brook Nailing

Still nailing...

and finally it was done.

I was afraid Brook was going to hang himself. But he stuck it out and we even finished the lyrics on the bathroom wall so Tony from Francois could learn them and sing along.

Don't do it Brook!!

When the doors opened at 7PM we all took a shot of Skull Vodka and welcomed our guests to Alice’s Lair. Francois provided the Gothic mantel in the living room, serving as the perfect backdrop to the snake skin bench from Bausman and Co. and upholstered chairs from Cisco Brothers. All the kitchy 60s, 70s and 80s accessories from Retropia and the original props from Alice Cooper’s show gave our loft an authenticity rarely seen in staged showcase homes. Big Red Sun even landscaped our balcony in a true, desert decor representative of the golf courses in Phoenix that Alice so dearly loves.

Alice's Lair

You'll never guess what these balls are for!

Cooper Gang in the Loft

The most shocking thing about our shock rock loft was the dirty, little secret in our turquoise blue, laundry room. Really, how could you not go there in this loft?! Pleasure Chest hooked us up for the event and I’m not going to reveal we did or didn’t use before hanging it on the walls.

Green bondage-stay in and save gas!

All in all the showcase was an event to help the developers sell property in a really tough market. Habitat got more than a few bucks, we had a blast and I heard someone is making an offer on our loft today!

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Eco-Friendly Parking

Lori — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:52:32 +0000

I’ve driven by the Santa Monica Civic Center about a million times on the way to our design studio. This weekend, walking around while waiting for my car to be serviced, I got a closer look at what is arguably the hardest to miss piece of architecture this side of the 405. It will be the country’s first LEED-certified parking structure, a rating based on a green point system given by the US Green Building Council.

You’ve never parked so eco-friendly until now, even in a Prius. If you’re wondering what could make a parking structure “green”, read on. For one, the structure’s roof is clad with Photovoltaic (solar) panels to generate electricity. These panels, in turn, provide shade for the vehicles parked beneath, reducing the amount of air conditioning a driver might use when they leave for their next destination. The steel used to build the structure is made of 68% recycled material. Electrical charging outlets are provided in 14 of the spaces for electric vehicles. The list goes on….

The only thing that could make this structure greener is to require locals to ride their bikes rather than drive to the Civic Center! In fact, the facility actually provides “mini garages” for bicycles to encourage a fuel-free ride to the center.

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Cherokee Studios Rock N Platinum Showcase

Eco-Friendly Parking