I’ve used them for a project in Norway and they are great!

Justin was not that far though by quoting Foscarini as they do have a “similar” design with the difference that Secto Design pendants are made out of wood while the similar kind of looking pendant by Foscarini is in metal and much much more expensive!

Well I’ll definitely give in a little on the fact that most don’t expect much from a Novotel hotel and adjust accordingly.

Granted they may have had a tight budget, who doesn’t these days, there are quite a few things they could have actually left out and a few they could have added or simply changed the proportions of in my opinion.

I do love the arm chairs in the restaurant/lounge area. The colors are fun and the chairs do look comfortable. The curved banquettes are nice as well. The tables though just need to go. They cheapen the look of the room. I would have went with a wooden table of a similiar design though to warm up the space a bit. Those open partition frames were pretty useless, unless they’re load bearing partitions. And the lighting, ugh, it simply does nothing to make the space feel like a place you’d like to lounge around in for any amount of time. Something larger, perhaps the same style, but definitely larger, would have made more of an impact, even on a small budget. Whipping up something like that yourself takes no time and can be done for an amazingly small amount of money all the while being chic and stylish. And lastly I would have left out some of the 100 or more mirrors they have lining the walls in the area. Some artwork and a few longer mirrors would have been the better choice in my opinion, but again, just my opinion. Besides the majority of the furniture, I really do like the color pallete, but it just needed a more of a focal point to pull it all together. I would have liked to have seen the circle above the round dining area with a darker color above it with some simple lighting in it, along with the nice lighting that edges the existing area already.

The business area is fine, nothing wrong there. The check in area is perfectly well done, but the lighting above it is all wrong. Round was not the way to go there. But again… Just my opinion.

The lobby though, while I like the settee well enough, quite nice actually for a budget redo, looks like the last five minutes of Design Star where they just hurl everything they can think of in the room. It just needs some editing, take away some of the lights. I mean it’s just too many when they’re so large to begin with. But the curved bookcases are the biggest eyesore and they honestly do not add anything to the room.

Overall it’s not a bad concept, but as I said, it just needs editing and a slightly more sophisticated twist to it. You can still do very, very nice work on a budget.

But anyone who has ever read any of my opinions know, well hopefully they do, that I make a comment every now and then that might be a tad sweeping and yes even glib. It’s only been two or three times that I’ve ever said anything just to get rise out of someone. But I’m glad Frederick actually asked what we would do different. Yes even with a small budget, I bet the amount of time that the design firm had to complete the work was smaller, so in that sense yes they did a pretty darn good job and I’m sure with a bigger budget and more time they could have done a fabulous job.

But please don’t take too much of what I have to say seriously, save for when I honestly can’t say enough about some of the wonderful designs that Contemporist shows on this great site. Save for my remark about the “The Beautiful Chair”, which was taken waaayyyyyy out of context, it was actually a jab at the Campana brothers and not the maker of the chair displayed in the article, pretty much everything I say on this site is what I believe. But again, it’s just my opinion and I respect that of the other posters here and always welcome a chance to discuss the works we see here in a more adult and serious level.

Have a great day!

Lance

Blacksheep obviously had a tight budget and they have performed exceedingly well.

Jim, Lance. What would you have done differently?

You people need to adjust your expectations accordingly.

I know I’ve seen them somewhere before, but I can’t remember where.