‘Mr. Ken Fulk’s Magical World’ (Abrams) is published this week, with parties to celebrate and Champagne corks popping. Come with me for a close read—and to listen in to my surprising and revealing recent chat with Ken. The book covers a decade of accomplishments. It’s part picaresque novel, part ‘Adventures with Ken’, with a dashing dollop of gusto and fresh paint, and flea market finds, naughty bits, pals like Dita von Teese and Denise Hale, animalia, decorating, objets-trouvés, bi-coastal thrills, and legendary bacchanalia and bonhomie. From the book, I’ve selected ‘Ken’s Greatest Hits’, twelve of my favorite rooms and vignettes and collections he and his team have composed. “Ken happens to be one of my most favorite men friends. I always say he is the Ziegfeld of our time. Traveling with Ken or going out, we always have the best time” —Denise Hale Above, Ken’s new book, shimmering in my library. iPhone image by The Style Saloniste. I’ve been writing about Ken for over a dozen years. Ken’s fan base goes far beyond the digerati, with dazzling and diverse clients around the world including leading philanthropists, art collectors, Kamala Harris, a biz whizz or three, financial stars, restaurateurs, real estate developers. He loves social animals, families, dog lovers, Provincetown authors, vintners, and his pals include Trevor and Alexis Traina, Hearst Design Group Editorial Director Newell Turner, C magazine founder and director Jennifer Smith Hale, Dede Wilsey, Vanessa Getty, Vanity Fair editors, Elle Décor editor-in-chief Michael Boodro, House Beautiful editor-in-chief Sophie Donelson, The Facinator, David Downton, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Martha Stewart, Cornelia Guest, Dior designers, Kevin and Nicole Systrom, Jony and Heather Ive, Malin Giddings, Carmen Dell’Orefice, and glitterati and drag divas and snake-charmers too fabulous and divine to mention. Scroll down for ‘Inside the Brain of Ken Fulk’— a chat with the great Ken, as we discussed his favorite rooms, best paints, and his fervent belief that decorating should be fun, uplifting, and personal. He is decorating in Aspen and Provincetown and from Pacific Heights, to the Dordogne and Provence, Paris, Palm Springs, Cabo San Lucas, and London and all points north, south, east and west. Ken’s new book photographed in the library of The Style Saloniste. “I always say if everyone loves my décor, it is probably boring, and I haven't done a very good job.”—Ken Fulk Ken’s Greatest Hits: Images from ‘Mr. Ken Fulk’s Magical World’ “Design should inspire and make you smile and it should never be a bore. While décor has an essential practical purpose, it should also lift our spirits, make us feel happy to walk into a room.”—Ken Fulk “I have always felt very self-confident about design. I was never afraid to learn, but afraid to be taught in a conventional sense. I feared I might lose something in the translation. Like a singer afraid to take voice lessons, I was scared that an innate gift might be lost.”—Ken Fulk Ken in New York, antiques galore. Photo by Deirdre Schoo, the New York Times. “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative” — Oscar Wilde Architecture by Ken Linstead Inside the Brain of Ken Fulk Diane Dorrans Saeks sat down recently for a chat with her longtime friend. Ken in his San Francisco loft, 2005. Photo by Phil Harvey. DDS: What was the moment you decided to become a designer? KF: Like many things in my life I believe it wasn’t a choice but somehow pre-ordained or unavoidable. It’s the lyric from that Leonard Cohen song? I am not the one who loves - it’s love that seizes me. I feel seized by design. It’s part of who I am and not simply some vocation I chose. DDS: You have avoided a ‘signature’ style. KF: It’s simply a factor of how we approach a project. Each residence is always deeply personal and expressly oriented to the client who is going to inhabit a space. We are creating an individualized environment not looking to put our stamp on it. DDS: Inspirations? KF: The strongest inspirations in my life have perhaps been geographical. I’m a southerner by birth, and have been strongly imprinted with it’s since of place, far beyond the clichés of southern life. Day to day life in the South I carry with me, and it is truly ingrained as the importance of a life well lived. DDS: Favorite designers? KF: I don’t really pay enough attention to other designers’ work. We are, thankfully, so busy doing our own thing that there isn’t time to study and appreciate the great design being done by others. I did have quite a crush on Christian Liaigre’s designs for the longest time. I think of all contemporary designers his work is amongst the most timeless and his furniture the most likely to be collected in the future. The majority of good design I’m surrounded by is in other fields. I have had an obsession with the menswear designer Thom Browne. His clothes are a thoroughly modern interpretation of the traditional gentlemen’s wardrobe with impeccable attention to detail. His suits are a ridiculously expensive addiction. I think I’m so attracted to his work because while classically tailored they can be fearlessly modern. That is something I strive for in our own work. DDS: Architect? KF: I grew up near Charlottesville, Virginia, where Mr. Jefferson loomed large. To me, he was the first and greatest of American designers among a few other accomplishments! He took a traditional European sensibility and created something uniquely American. DDS: Favorite rooms? KF: Room 107 at the Chateau Marmont feels glamorous but understated. It’s old Hollywood glamour at its best. Originally a one-bedroom apartment, it has a terrace that overlooks the lush courtyard, and LA is spread out beyond. The Fishing Cabin at Manka’s Inverness Lodge in Inverness, Point Reyes is an idyllic rustic retreat. The main lodge burned a few years back, but this jewel thankfully survived. The Apartment at L’Hotel in Paris. This is famously where Oscar Wilde died. It was restored several years ago by Jacques Garcia and is opulent Left Bank Paris at it’s best. Filled with luxurious fabrics and antiques, it has a terrace overlooking the church of St. Germain-des-Pres. DDS: Your dream dinner guests? KF: Oscar Wilde for witty conversation, Julia Child to help prepare, Chet Baker to serenade us, and a young Paul Newman just to look at. DDS: Antiques? KF: I could move into my friend Stéphane Olivier’s shop on the Left Bank in Paris. Everything he collects is a thing of beauty. In Europe, I always visit the Vervoordts in Antwerp – undoubtedly the finest collectors in the world. DDS: The five most versatile paint colors? KF: Picket Fence white by Ralph Lauren is a true classic white. Not cold, but not too cream either. I painted every surface at my ranch with it, inside and out. Fairview Taupe by Benjamin Moore is a wonderful “non” color. It is the perfect warm brown/grey/green. I love it in a dining room or bedroom. Everyone seems to always be searching for the perfect chocolate brown. I found it in Ralph Lauren’s Mahogany. It is magnificent with crisp white trim in an entry. Perhaps an unusual choice — but one of the most versatile of colors is Pumpkin Pie by Phillip’s Perfect Colors. It can look smashing (pun intended) in a traditional setting and equally good in a modern space. Stout by C2. I am crazy about this color. I especially like to use it on trim and doors. It is indeed the color of good Irish Stout! DDS. Favorite fabric? KF: Salt, a super-heavy, beautiful linen by Christian Liaigre for Great Plains. It is literally the color of salt - and like salt, it’s pure and simple and is good on just about everything. DDS: What do you love most about being a designer? KF: Nearly everything (except perhaps the billing!) I always say it’s as if God made a job for me. DDS: What advice would you give to aspiring designers? KF: Be fearless and listen to those voices in your head (the good ones at least). DDS: Best advice you ever received regarding design. KF: Lighten up, you’re not curing cancer, for goodness sake. The Dancer with the Albino Snake It’s not every day that you arrive at a party, midnight hour, to be greeted by a Chinese dancer, petite, covered in palest makeup and graceful tattoos, lingerie-clad, framed in gold and elegantly lit—caressing what seemed to be an albino boa constrictor. Perhaps it was a snake, but albino. Hers was an exquisite performance. Ken plans the best parties. Another vignette Ken pulled off at an earlier fund-raiser—Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Snow White, lace gown, sleeping on a bed of flowers, delicately made up and rather coy, was a handsome chap. Ken had transported the men who played the roles of 7 costumed dwarfs from Los Angeles in a luxury van, he told me later. Surreal and daring. I’ve attended most of the parties, ranging from intimate book-signings, birthdays, the Peepshow launch, a major ball honoring Denise Hale, and a Cuban band in honor of ‘Orlando Diaz-Azcuy’ (my book with Rizzoli), and a gala for Jean-Paul Gaultier, a dinner for Madeline Weinrib, a party for top fashion illustrator David Downton, and a dinner for Dita von Teese, fund-raisers, and a ‘chat’ with Carmen, and many balls and festivities and private dinners and no-good-reason cocktail parties, and wingdings too numerous and hyper-crazed and hallucinatory to mention. CREDITS: Images here from ‘Mr. Ken Fulk’s Magical World’ published this month by Abrams, used here with expression permission. Images of book covers and book pages by Diane Dorrans Saeks, using Apple iPhone and iPad. “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” — Oscar Wilde

The shock of the hue, industrial elegance, and a dash of daring San Francisco interior designer Ken Fulk is creating buzz and delight, shock and awe, with bold, iconoclastic and witty décor. His loft in San Francisco’s gritty South of Market district offers jolts of color, playful wit and a spirited view of modern design. It’s the scene of private client consultations—along with bacchanals, chic cocktail parties, sold-out fundraiser dinners for city museums, and scenes of generous and witty hospitality. Come with me for a visit. “I always say if everyone loves my décor, it is probably boring, and I haven't done a very good job.”—Ken Fulk “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative” states the Oscar Wilde quote adorning the front window of Ken Fulk’s South of Market design studio and loft. The quip tells everything you need to know before heading upstairs to meet the witty and design-fearless Fulk, who is currently one of the brightest sparks in San Francisco’s design arena. “I will never be accused of being boring,” said Fulk, originally from Jefferson country in Virginia. “Design should inspire and make you smile. And it should never be a bore.” A pair of ten foot-long vintage Edward Wormley tufted sofas were restored and reupholstered in Bergamo sapphire blue velvet. Acquired from 20th Century/John Meaney, San Francisco. The tall French industrial glass lamps, c 1900, were originally made to carry electrical cable. Purchased from Stephane Olivier, Paris. On festive evenings, the studded steel 1920s French industrial table, also acquired from Stephane Olivier, often substitutes as a dance floor. He founded Ken Fulk Design twelve years ago, after testing the waters by designing for handpicked clients. Fulk by-passed design school and a classic apprenticeship with a design firm. He has always stayed under the radar, taking on new clients by referral only. His 20-person firm is currently working on projects from Aspen to Provincetown and from Pacific Heights, to the Dordogne in South-west France. “My biggest complaint about most rooms I see is that they look too 'decorator-y', said the designer. “I tend to shy away from most things 'designer'. I find it to be chatter that might cloud my instincts. I always want to mix things up and relish the imperfection. Even impromptu has to feel definitive. It sounds easy, but it's not.” “I always want to mix things up. I relish imperfection.”—Ken Fulk Take a right turn on a deserted street in a hidden corner of SoMa, and the handsome brick building that houses Ken Fulk’s design studio and loft hovers into view. With its grand arched windows, sculpted escutcheons, and elegant demeanor, the four-story edifice is more Grand Canal than industrial warehouse. It was this Quattrocento-style fantasy that inspired Fulk to acquire the building five years ago. “I always wanted to live above the shop, though this loft is admittedly a bit more Bruce Wayne than corner grocer,” Fulk said. The warehouse includes his loft and a roof deck on the top floor, and Fulk’s design studio on the third floor. On the first two levels he warehouses an ever-expanding inventory of furniture and accessories he uses in design projects. The building, built in the 1920's, has a Moorish/Venetian exterior but the interior when Fulk acquired it was pure warehouse, with brick walls and worn fir floors. “From the moment I walked in the door, I knew I was going to buy the building,” said Fulk. “I saw the old spiral staircase and the soaring 16-foot ceilings, and there was no turning back. I left the meeting and wrote an offer. Three weeks later I owned it.” Ken Fulk refashioned the vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings table and topped it with a dramatic new reverse-painted glass top in Hermes orange. From 20th Century/John Meaney. Glass fabricated by Paige Glass. Vintage Tommi Parzinger chairs, upholstered in Clarence House Greek key cut velvet, were from 20th Century/John Meaney in San Francisco. Fulk planned a restaurant-style kitchen with a marble-topped island for working and another one for socializing. The work counter is a vintage French printer’s table, purchased from Chelsea Antiques in Petaluma. The skeleton-pattern glass plates are by John Derian. French cafe stools, said to be similar to those used by the French navy, were from the Sundance catalog. Fulk shares the loft with his partner of 20 years, Kurt Wootton, an accomplished pianist. When they purchased the building, the interior brick walls had been sandblasted, most interior walls removed, and the old fir floors sanded. “Basically it was a perfect shell. It took on an almost spiritual quality. It was this purity that moved me,” said the designer. “My motto in undertaking the project was 'don't screw it up'. I did not want to lose the feeling and character that so moved me about the space.” Ken Fulk works on design projects from his office on the second level of the building. The giant skull image was de-accessioned from the Oakland Museum. The sitting area has a patchwork rug made from old oriental carpets at Stark Carpet, French leather club chairs, and a pair of rope chairs by Audoux-Mine from Habite. Fulk and his team added all-new systems to the entire 14,000 sq. ft of the building, new plumbing, electric, HVAC but keeping them simple and industrial in appearance and leaving most systems exposed. “For the loft I wanted to resist the trend to condo-ize the space by cutting it up into a traditional series of rooms,” said Fulk. “ I literally banished walls and doors with few exceptions.” Fulk, a passionate and knowledgeable collector, had only to take a trip to Paris to check in with his favorite French antiques dealer, Stephane Olivier to find an 18th century portrait of a dandy for the bathroom, a 10-foot square industrial steel table for the living room, as well as gilded chairs and a series of vitrines for the bedroom and dressing room. “I wanted the space to function as a huge grand salon with quiet moments throughout,” said Fulk “Despite my love of color I resisted the urge and kept all of the walls white.” Furnishings provide the bling. Against a graphic backdrop of black and white (zebra prints, houndstooth and Greek key patterns) colors pop. Two super-size Edward Wormley tufted sofas were covered in sapphire blue velvet. A vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings dining table top was recreated in reverse- painted glass in vivid Hermes orange. A pair of giant wing chairs is covered in an iridescent purple fabric from Etro. Fulk’s large-scale draped bed divides the dressing room from the open loft. “I've always wanted a sort of Elizabethan curtained bed to crawl into and shut off the world,” said Fulk. “I got one on steroids! The curtains open and close easily. They are made of black satin cotton banded with white grosgrain ribbon.” “I have always felt very self-confident about design, “ said Fulk. “I was never afraid to learn, but afraid to be taught in a conventional sense. I feared I might lose something in the translation. Like a singer afraid to take voice lessons, I was scared that an innate gift might be lost.” So he toys with scale. His 15-foot tall draped four-posted bed towering over the dressing room and adjacent bathroom, and an Hermes-orange dining table shimmering beside the industrial marble-topped counter in the kitchen. To avoid other walls he designed the headboard of the bed to obscure the closets hidden on the other side. The shower floats in the space and encloses the bathroom. “I take things of great disparity—spaces, furnishings, art, accessories—and find a way for them to live in harmony or at least live together in an off-hand way,” said the designer. The sunny bathroom has a French vibe. The sink is 1920's French by Porcher. The tub is from Waterworks. “The arm is one of my absolute favorite things,” said Fulk. He found it at March long ago. “I swore I would someday use it as a towel rack,” he said. The nineteenth-century French oil portrait was acquired from antiques dealer Stephane Olivier at the Clignancourt flea market in Paris. With bare windows on four sides of the loft—and the gilded dome of a Ukrainian Orthodox church looming outside the living room—the loft is consistently engaging. He experiences the full spectrum of the day, with sunrise over the city; sunset behind Twin Peaks, and all-day light playing off the spectral Federal Building just blocks away. “With all of the skylights we are never in the dark,” said Fulk, still entranced. “The full moon traces it's way across the room, so bright I can almost read in bed by it. Waking up just as the sun is about to rise is magical. The space is cathedral like at that moment. In the meantime, his design studio is becoming the think tank he hoped for. “I work with incredibly talented people who challenge and support one another to do better and better work,” said Fulk. The 18th century Russian candle chandelier with oxidized bronze Hermes. The grand piano is a vintage 1920's Steinway once owned by pianist Alfred Cortot, and signed by him. Timorous Beasties design company made the ‘Iguanas’ wallpaper. And the loft has become the grand salon he hoped for. He and his team have countless dinners, fund-raisers, birthday parties, a masked ball or two, a dinner for Jean-Paul Gaultier, piano recitals, movie nights and even more fundraisers. “Now I am essentially looking for any excuse to throw a party.” FULK’S FOLLY “I needed some way to shut the living space off from the studio down below connected by the industrial steel spiral staircase. My first instinct was a glass-walled enclosure, a sort of poor man's Louvre entrance. However that turned out to be a rich man's concept. Instead I settled for a floating library. Essentially it is a sky lit conservatory at the top of the stairs. It is an ideal spot to house my growing book and sculpture collection. The steel and glass doors to the library were salvaged from the Napa State Mental Hospital.” “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” –Oscar Wilde CREDITS: Interior design: Ken Fulk www.kenfulk.com email [email protected] Photography: Philip Harvey, San Francisco www.philipharvey.com email [email protected]. Philip Harvey’s work was also recently featured in my profiles on designer David Oldroyd, as well as the feature on Darin Geise/ Coup d’Etat, San Francisco (both in THE STYLE SALONISTE archive). Phil specializes in interiors, life-style and product photography, and is technically first-class and he’s extremely pleasant and congenial to work with. Highly recommended.

A Modern Perth Warehouse Wedding at Localy Crafted. This wedding blends cultural tradition- games, a lion dance with the personalities of two in love newlyweds.

The shock of the hue, industrial elegance, and a dash of daring San Francisco interior designer Ken Fulk is creating buzz and delight, shock and awe, with bold, iconoclastic and witty décor. His loft in San Francisco’s gritty South of Market district offers jolts of color, playful wit and a spirited view of modern design. It’s the scene of private client consultations—along with bacchanals, chic cocktail parties, sold-out fundraiser dinners for city museums, and scenes of generous and witty hospitality. Come with me for a visit. “I always say if everyone loves my décor, it is probably boring, and I haven't done a very good job.”—Ken Fulk “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative” states the Oscar Wilde quote adorning the front window of Ken Fulk’s South of Market design studio and loft. The quip tells everything you need to know before heading upstairs to meet the witty and design-fearless Fulk, who is currently one of the brightest sparks in San Francisco’s design arena. “I will never be accused of being boring,” said Fulk, originally from Jefferson country in Virginia. “Design should inspire and make you smile. And it should never be a bore.” A pair of ten foot-long vintage Edward Wormley tufted sofas were restored and reupholstered in Bergamo sapphire blue velvet. Acquired from 20th Century/John Meaney, San Francisco. The tall French industrial glass lamps, c 1900, were originally made to carry electrical cable. Purchased from Stephane Olivier, Paris. On festive evenings, the studded steel 1920s French industrial table, also acquired from Stephane Olivier, often substitutes as a dance floor. He founded Ken Fulk Design twelve years ago, after testing the waters by designing for handpicked clients. Fulk by-passed design school and a classic apprenticeship with a design firm. He has always stayed under the radar, taking on new clients by referral only. His 20-person firm is currently working on projects from Aspen to Provincetown and from Pacific Heights, to the Dordogne in South-west France. “My biggest complaint about most rooms I see is that they look too 'decorator-y', said the designer. “I tend to shy away from most things 'designer'. I find it to be chatter that might cloud my instincts. I always want to mix things up and relish the imperfection. Even impromptu has to feel definitive. It sounds easy, but it's not.” “I always want to mix things up. I relish imperfection.”—Ken Fulk Take a right turn on a deserted street in a hidden corner of SoMa, and the handsome brick building that houses Ken Fulk’s design studio and loft hovers into view. With its grand arched windows, sculpted escutcheons, and elegant demeanor, the four-story edifice is more Grand Canal than industrial warehouse. It was this Quattrocento-style fantasy that inspired Fulk to acquire the building five years ago. “I always wanted to live above the shop, though this loft is admittedly a bit more Bruce Wayne than corner grocer,” Fulk said. The warehouse includes his loft and a roof deck on the top floor, and Fulk’s design studio on the third floor. On the first two levels he warehouses an ever-expanding inventory of furniture and accessories he uses in design projects. The building, built in the 1920's, has a Moorish/Venetian exterior but the interior when Fulk acquired it was pure warehouse, with brick walls and worn fir floors. “From the moment I walked in the door, I knew I was going to buy the building,” said Fulk. “I saw the old spiral staircase and the soaring 16-foot ceilings, and there was no turning back. I left the meeting and wrote an offer. Three weeks later I owned it.” Ken Fulk refashioned the vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings table and topped it with a dramatic new reverse-painted glass top in Hermes orange. From 20th Century/John Meaney. Glass fabricated by Paige Glass. Vintage Tommi Parzinger chairs, upholstered in Clarence House Greek key cut velvet, were from 20th Century/John Meaney in San Francisco. Fulk planned a restaurant-style kitchen with a marble-topped island for working and another one for socializing. The work counter is a vintage French printer’s table, purchased from Chelsea Antiques in Petaluma. The skeleton-pattern glass plates are by John Derian. French cafe stools, said to be similar to those used by the French navy, were from the Sundance catalog. Fulk shares the loft with his partner of 20 years, Kurt Wootton, an accomplished pianist. When they purchased the building, the interior brick walls had been sandblasted, most interior walls removed, and the old fir floors sanded. “Basically it was a perfect shell. It took on an almost spiritual quality. It was this purity that moved me,” said the designer. “My motto in undertaking the project was 'don't screw it up'. I did not want to lose the feeling and character that so moved me about the space.” Ken Fulk works on design projects from his office on the second level of the building. The giant skull image was de-accessioned from the Oakland Museum. The sitting area has a patchwork rug made from old oriental carpets at Stark Carpet, French leather club chairs, and a pair of rope chairs by Audoux-Mine from Habite. Fulk and his team added all-new systems to the entire 14,000 sq. ft of the building, new plumbing, electric, HVAC but keeping them simple and industrial in appearance and leaving most systems exposed. “For the loft I wanted to resist the trend to condo-ize the space by cutting it up into a traditional series of rooms,” said Fulk. “ I literally banished walls and doors with few exceptions.” Fulk, a passionate and knowledgeable collector, had only to take a trip to Paris to check in with his favorite French antiques dealer, Stephane Olivier to find an 18th century portrait of a dandy for the bathroom, a 10-foot square industrial steel table for the living room, as well as gilded chairs and a series of vitrines for the bedroom and dressing room. “I wanted the space to function as a huge grand salon with quiet moments throughout,” said Fulk “Despite my love of color I resisted the urge and kept all of the walls white.” Furnishings provide the bling. Against a graphic backdrop of black and white (zebra prints, houndstooth and Greek key patterns) colors pop. Two super-size Edward Wormley tufted sofas were covered in sapphire blue velvet. A vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings dining table top was recreated in reverse- painted glass in vivid Hermes orange. A pair of giant wing chairs is covered in an iridescent purple fabric from Etro. Fulk’s large-scale draped bed divides the dressing room from the open loft. “I've always wanted a sort of Elizabethan curtained bed to crawl into and shut off the world,” said Fulk. “I got one on steroids! The curtains open and close easily. They are made of black satin cotton banded with white grosgrain ribbon.” “I have always felt very self-confident about design, “ said Fulk. “I was never afraid to learn, but afraid to be taught in a conventional sense. I feared I might lose something in the translation. Like a singer afraid to take voice lessons, I was scared that an innate gift might be lost.” So he toys with scale. His 15-foot tall draped four-posted bed towering over the dressing room and adjacent bathroom, and an Hermes-orange dining table shimmering beside the industrial marble-topped counter in the kitchen. To avoid other walls he designed the headboard of the bed to obscure the closets hidden on the other side. The shower floats in the space and encloses the bathroom. “I take things of great disparity—spaces, furnishings, art, accessories—and find a way for them to live in harmony or at least live together in an off-hand way,” said the designer. The sunny bathroom has a French vibe. The sink is 1920's French by Porcher. The tub is from Waterworks. “The arm is one of my absolute favorite things,” said Fulk. He found it at March long ago. “I swore I would someday use it as a towel rack,” he said. The nineteenth-century French oil portrait was acquired from antiques dealer Stephane Olivier at the Clignancourt flea market in Paris. With bare windows on four sides of the loft—and the gilded dome of a Ukrainian Orthodox church looming outside the living room—the loft is consistently engaging. He experiences the full spectrum of the day, with sunrise over the city; sunset behind Twin Peaks, and all-day light playing off the spectral Federal Building just blocks away. “With all of the skylights we are never in the dark,” said Fulk, still entranced. “The full moon traces it's way across the room, so bright I can almost read in bed by it. Waking up just as the sun is about to rise is magical. The space is cathedral like at that moment. In the meantime, his design studio is becoming the think tank he hoped for. “I work with incredibly talented people who challenge and support one another to do better and better work,” said Fulk. The 18th century Russian candle chandelier with oxidized bronze Hermes. The grand piano is a vintage 1920's Steinway once owned by pianist Alfred Cortot, and signed by him. Timorous Beasties design company made the ‘Iguanas’ wallpaper. And the loft has become the grand salon he hoped for. He and his team have countless dinners, fund-raisers, birthday parties, a masked ball or two, a dinner for Jean-Paul Gaultier, piano recitals, movie nights and even more fundraisers. “Now I am essentially looking for any excuse to throw a party.” FULK’S FOLLY “I needed some way to shut the living space off from the studio down below connected by the industrial steel spiral staircase. My first instinct was a glass-walled enclosure, a sort of poor man's Louvre entrance. However that turned out to be a rich man's concept. Instead I settled for a floating library. Essentially it is a sky lit conservatory at the top of the stairs. It is an ideal spot to house my growing book and sculpture collection. The steel and glass doors to the library were salvaged from the Napa State Mental Hospital.” “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” –Oscar Wilde CREDITS: Interior design: Ken Fulk www.kenfulk.com email [email protected] Photography: Philip Harvey, San Francisco www.philipharvey.com email [email protected]. Philip Harvey’s work was also recently featured in my profiles on designer David Oldroyd, as well as the feature on Darin Geise/ Coup d’Etat, San Francisco (both in THE STYLE SALONISTE archive). Phil specializes in interiors, life-style and product photography, and is technically first-class and he’s extremely pleasant and congenial to work with. Highly recommended.

A Modern Perth Warehouse Wedding at Localy Crafted. This wedding blends cultural tradition- games, a lion dance with the personalities of two in love newlyweds.

“#龍宮寺堅誕生祭2023 #ドラケン誕生祭2023 #東卍FA ドラケンくんお誕生日おめでとう！🎉 平和な世界戦で「マイキー被害者の会」をずっとやっててください🥹”

The shock of the hue, industrial elegance, and a dash of daring San Francisco interior designer Ken Fulk is creating buzz and delight, shock and awe, with bold, iconoclastic and witty décor. His loft in San Francisco’s gritty South of Market district offers jolts of color, playful wit and a spirited view of modern design. It’s the scene of private client consultations—along with bacchanals, chic cocktail parties, sold-out fundraiser dinners for city museums, and scenes of generous and witty hospitality. Come with me for a visit. “I always say if everyone loves my décor, it is probably boring, and I haven't done a very good job.”—Ken Fulk “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative” states the Oscar Wilde quote adorning the front window of Ken Fulk’s South of Market design studio and loft. The quip tells everything you need to know before heading upstairs to meet the witty and design-fearless Fulk, who is currently one of the brightest sparks in San Francisco’s design arena. “I will never be accused of being boring,” said Fulk, originally from Jefferson country in Virginia. “Design should inspire and make you smile. And it should never be a bore.” A pair of ten foot-long vintage Edward Wormley tufted sofas were restored and reupholstered in Bergamo sapphire blue velvet. Acquired from 20th Century/John Meaney, San Francisco. The tall French industrial glass lamps, c 1900, were originally made to carry electrical cable. Purchased from Stephane Olivier, Paris. On festive evenings, the studded steel 1920s French industrial table, also acquired from Stephane Olivier, often substitutes as a dance floor. He founded Ken Fulk Design twelve years ago, after testing the waters by designing for handpicked clients. Fulk by-passed design school and a classic apprenticeship with a design firm. He has always stayed under the radar, taking on new clients by referral only. His 20-person firm is currently working on projects from Aspen to Provincetown and from Pacific Heights, to the Dordogne in South-west France. “My biggest complaint about most rooms I see is that they look too 'decorator-y', said the designer. “I tend to shy away from most things 'designer'. I find it to be chatter that might cloud my instincts. I always want to mix things up and relish the imperfection. Even impromptu has to feel definitive. It sounds easy, but it's not.” “I always want to mix things up. I relish imperfection.”—Ken Fulk Take a right turn on a deserted street in a hidden corner of SoMa, and the handsome brick building that houses Ken Fulk’s design studio and loft hovers into view. With its grand arched windows, sculpted escutcheons, and elegant demeanor, the four-story edifice is more Grand Canal than industrial warehouse. It was this Quattrocento-style fantasy that inspired Fulk to acquire the building five years ago. “I always wanted to live above the shop, though this loft is admittedly a bit more Bruce Wayne than corner grocer,” Fulk said. The warehouse includes his loft and a roof deck on the top floor, and Fulk’s design studio on the third floor. On the first two levels he warehouses an ever-expanding inventory of furniture and accessories he uses in design projects. The building, built in the 1920's, has a Moorish/Venetian exterior but the interior when Fulk acquired it was pure warehouse, with brick walls and worn fir floors. “From the moment I walked in the door, I knew I was going to buy the building,” said Fulk. “I saw the old spiral staircase and the soaring 16-foot ceilings, and there was no turning back. I left the meeting and wrote an offer. Three weeks later I owned it.” Ken Fulk refashioned the vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings table and topped it with a dramatic new reverse-painted glass top in Hermes orange. From 20th Century/John Meaney. Glass fabricated by Paige Glass. Vintage Tommi Parzinger chairs, upholstered in Clarence House Greek key cut velvet, were from 20th Century/John Meaney in San Francisco. Fulk planned a restaurant-style kitchen with a marble-topped island for working and another one for socializing. The work counter is a vintage French printer’s table, purchased from Chelsea Antiques in Petaluma. The skeleton-pattern glass plates are by John Derian. French cafe stools, said to be similar to those used by the French navy, were from the Sundance catalog. Fulk shares the loft with his partner of 20 years, Kurt Wootton, an accomplished pianist. When they purchased the building, the interior brick walls had been sandblasted, most interior walls removed, and the old fir floors sanded. “Basically it was a perfect shell. It took on an almost spiritual quality. It was this purity that moved me,” said the designer. “My motto in undertaking the project was 'don't screw it up'. I did not want to lose the feeling and character that so moved me about the space.” Ken Fulk works on design projects from his office on the second level of the building. The giant skull image was de-accessioned from the Oakland Museum. The sitting area has a patchwork rug made from old oriental carpets at Stark Carpet, French leather club chairs, and a pair of rope chairs by Audoux-Mine from Habite. Fulk and his team added all-new systems to the entire 14,000 sq. ft of the building, new plumbing, electric, HVAC but keeping them simple and industrial in appearance and leaving most systems exposed. “For the loft I wanted to resist the trend to condo-ize the space by cutting it up into a traditional series of rooms,” said Fulk. “ I literally banished walls and doors with few exceptions.” Fulk, a passionate and knowledgeable collector, had only to take a trip to Paris to check in with his favorite French antiques dealer, Stephane Olivier to find an 18th century portrait of a dandy for the bathroom, a 10-foot square industrial steel table for the living room, as well as gilded chairs and a series of vitrines for the bedroom and dressing room. “I wanted the space to function as a huge grand salon with quiet moments throughout,” said Fulk “Despite my love of color I resisted the urge and kept all of the walls white.” Furnishings provide the bling. Against a graphic backdrop of black and white (zebra prints, houndstooth and Greek key patterns) colors pop. Two super-size Edward Wormley tufted sofas were covered in sapphire blue velvet. A vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings dining table top was recreated in reverse- painted glass in vivid Hermes orange. A pair of giant wing chairs is covered in an iridescent purple fabric from Etro. Fulk’s large-scale draped bed divides the dressing room from the open loft. “I've always wanted a sort of Elizabethan curtained bed to crawl into and shut off the world,” said Fulk. “I got one on steroids! The curtains open and close easily. They are made of black satin cotton banded with white grosgrain ribbon.” “I have always felt very self-confident about design, “ said Fulk. “I was never afraid to learn, but afraid to be taught in a conventional sense. I feared I might lose something in the translation. Like a singer afraid to take voice lessons, I was scared that an innate gift might be lost.” So he toys with scale. His 15-foot tall draped four-posted bed towering over the dressing room and adjacent bathroom, and an Hermes-orange dining table shimmering beside the industrial marble-topped counter in the kitchen. To avoid other walls he designed the headboard of the bed to obscure the closets hidden on the other side. The shower floats in the space and encloses the bathroom. “I take things of great disparity—spaces, furnishings, art, accessories—and find a way for them to live in harmony or at least live together in an off-hand way,” said the designer. The sunny bathroom has a French vibe. The sink is 1920's French by Porcher. The tub is from Waterworks. “The arm is one of my absolute favorite things,” said Fulk. He found it at March long ago. “I swore I would someday use it as a towel rack,” he said. The nineteenth-century French oil portrait was acquired from antiques dealer Stephane Olivier at the Clignancourt flea market in Paris. With bare windows on four sides of the loft—and the gilded dome of a Ukrainian Orthodox church looming outside the living room—the loft is consistently engaging. He experiences the full spectrum of the day, with sunrise over the city; sunset behind Twin Peaks, and all-day light playing off the spectral Federal Building just blocks away. “With all of the skylights we are never in the dark,” said Fulk, still entranced. “The full moon traces it's way across the room, so bright I can almost read in bed by it. Waking up just as the sun is about to rise is magical. The space is cathedral like at that moment. In the meantime, his design studio is becoming the think tank he hoped for. “I work with incredibly talented people who challenge and support one another to do better and better work,” said Fulk. The 18th century Russian candle chandelier with oxidized bronze Hermes. The grand piano is a vintage 1920's Steinway once owned by pianist Alfred Cortot, and signed by him. Timorous Beasties design company made the ‘Iguanas’ wallpaper. And the loft has become the grand salon he hoped for. He and his team have countless dinners, fund-raisers, birthday parties, a masked ball or two, a dinner for Jean-Paul Gaultier, piano recitals, movie nights and even more fundraisers. “Now I am essentially looking for any excuse to throw a party.” FULK’S FOLLY “I needed some way to shut the living space off from the studio down below connected by the industrial steel spiral staircase. My first instinct was a glass-walled enclosure, a sort of poor man's Louvre entrance. However that turned out to be a rich man's concept. Instead I settled for a floating library. Essentially it is a sky lit conservatory at the top of the stairs. It is an ideal spot to house my growing book and sculpture collection. The steel and glass doors to the library were salvaged from the Napa State Mental Hospital.” “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” –Oscar Wilde CREDITS: Interior design: Ken Fulk www.kenfulk.com email [email protected] Photography: Philip Harvey, San Francisco www.philipharvey.com email [email protected]. Philip Harvey’s work was also recently featured in my profiles on designer David Oldroyd, as well as the feature on Darin Geise/ Coup d’Etat, San Francisco (both in THE STYLE SALONISTE archive). Phil specializes in interiors, life-style and product photography, and is technically first-class and he’s extremely pleasant and congenial to work with. Highly recommended.

The shock of the hue, industrial elegance, and a dash of daring San Francisco interior designer Ken Fulk is creating buzz and delight, shock and awe, with bold, iconoclastic and witty décor. His loft in San Francisco’s gritty South of Market district offers jolts of color, playful wit and a spirited view of modern design. It’s the scene of private client consultations—along with bacchanals, chic cocktail parties, sold-out fundraiser dinners for city museums, and scenes of generous and witty hospitality. Come with me for a visit. “I always say if everyone loves my décor, it is probably boring, and I haven't done a very good job.”—Ken Fulk “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative” states the Oscar Wilde quote adorning the front window of Ken Fulk’s South of Market design studio and loft. The quip tells everything you need to know before heading upstairs to meet the witty and design-fearless Fulk, who is currently one of the brightest sparks in San Francisco’s design arena. “I will never be accused of being boring,” said Fulk, originally from Jefferson country in Virginia. “Design should inspire and make you smile. And it should never be a bore.” A pair of ten foot-long vintage Edward Wormley tufted sofas were restored and reupholstered in Bergamo sapphire blue velvet. Acquired from 20th Century/John Meaney, San Francisco. The tall French industrial glass lamps, c 1900, were originally made to carry electrical cable. Purchased from Stephane Olivier, Paris. On festive evenings, the studded steel 1920s French industrial table, also acquired from Stephane Olivier, often substitutes as a dance floor. He founded Ken Fulk Design twelve years ago, after testing the waters by designing for handpicked clients. Fulk by-passed design school and a classic apprenticeship with a design firm. He has always stayed under the radar, taking on new clients by referral only. His 20-person firm is currently working on projects from Aspen to Provincetown and from Pacific Heights, to the Dordogne in South-west France. “My biggest complaint about most rooms I see is that they look too 'decorator-y', said the designer. “I tend to shy away from most things 'designer'. I find it to be chatter that might cloud my instincts. I always want to mix things up and relish the imperfection. Even impromptu has to feel definitive. It sounds easy, but it's not.” “I always want to mix things up. I relish imperfection.”—Ken Fulk Take a right turn on a deserted street in a hidden corner of SoMa, and the handsome brick building that houses Ken Fulk’s design studio and loft hovers into view. With its grand arched windows, sculpted escutcheons, and elegant demeanor, the four-story edifice is more Grand Canal than industrial warehouse. It was this Quattrocento-style fantasy that inspired Fulk to acquire the building five years ago. “I always wanted to live above the shop, though this loft is admittedly a bit more Bruce Wayne than corner grocer,” Fulk said. The warehouse includes his loft and a roof deck on the top floor, and Fulk’s design studio on the third floor. On the first two levels he warehouses an ever-expanding inventory of furniture and accessories he uses in design projects. The building, built in the 1920's, has a Moorish/Venetian exterior but the interior when Fulk acquired it was pure warehouse, with brick walls and worn fir floors. “From the moment I walked in the door, I knew I was going to buy the building,” said Fulk. “I saw the old spiral staircase and the soaring 16-foot ceilings, and there was no turning back. I left the meeting and wrote an offer. Three weeks later I owned it.” Ken Fulk refashioned the vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings table and topped it with a dramatic new reverse-painted glass top in Hermes orange. From 20th Century/John Meaney. Glass fabricated by Paige Glass. Vintage Tommi Parzinger chairs, upholstered in Clarence House Greek key cut velvet, were from 20th Century/John Meaney in San Francisco. Fulk planned a restaurant-style kitchen with a marble-topped island for working and another one for socializing. The work counter is a vintage French printer’s table, purchased from Chelsea Antiques in Petaluma. The skeleton-pattern glass plates are by John Derian. French cafe stools, said to be similar to those used by the French navy, were from the Sundance catalog. Fulk shares the loft with his partner of 20 years, Kurt Wootton, an accomplished pianist. When they purchased the building, the interior brick walls had been sandblasted, most interior walls removed, and the old fir floors sanded. “Basically it was a perfect shell. It took on an almost spiritual quality. It was this purity that moved me,” said the designer. “My motto in undertaking the project was 'don't screw it up'. I did not want to lose the feeling and character that so moved me about the space.” Ken Fulk works on design projects from his office on the second level of the building. The giant skull image was de-accessioned from the Oakland Museum. The sitting area has a patchwork rug made from old oriental carpets at Stark Carpet, French leather club chairs, and a pair of rope chairs by Audoux-Mine from Habite. Fulk and his team added all-new systems to the entire 14,000 sq. ft of the building, new plumbing, electric, HVAC but keeping them simple and industrial in appearance and leaving most systems exposed. “For the loft I wanted to resist the trend to condo-ize the space by cutting it up into a traditional series of rooms,” said Fulk. “ I literally banished walls and doors with few exceptions.” Fulk, a passionate and knowledgeable collector, had only to take a trip to Paris to check in with his favorite French antiques dealer, Stephane Olivier to find an 18th century portrait of a dandy for the bathroom, a 10-foot square industrial steel table for the living room, as well as gilded chairs and a series of vitrines for the bedroom and dressing room. “I wanted the space to function as a huge grand salon with quiet moments throughout,” said Fulk “Despite my love of color I resisted the urge and kept all of the walls white.” Furnishings provide the bling. Against a graphic backdrop of black and white (zebra prints, houndstooth and Greek key patterns) colors pop. Two super-size Edward Wormley tufted sofas were covered in sapphire blue velvet. A vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings dining table top was recreated in reverse- painted glass in vivid Hermes orange. A pair of giant wing chairs is covered in an iridescent purple fabric from Etro. Fulk’s large-scale draped bed divides the dressing room from the open loft. “I've always wanted a sort of Elizabethan curtained bed to crawl into and shut off the world,” said Fulk. “I got one on steroids! The curtains open and close easily. They are made of black satin cotton banded with white grosgrain ribbon.” “I have always felt very self-confident about design, “ said Fulk. “I was never afraid to learn, but afraid to be taught in a conventional sense. I feared I might lose something in the translation. Like a singer afraid to take voice lessons, I was scared that an innate gift might be lost.” So he toys with scale. His 15-foot tall draped four-posted bed towering over the dressing room and adjacent bathroom, and an Hermes-orange dining table shimmering beside the industrial marble-topped counter in the kitchen. To avoid other walls he designed the headboard of the bed to obscure the closets hidden on the other side. The shower floats in the space and encloses the bathroom. “I take things of great disparity—spaces, furnishings, art, accessories—and find a way for them to live in harmony or at least live together in an off-hand way,” said the designer. The sunny bathroom has a French vibe. The sink is 1920's French by Porcher. The tub is from Waterworks. “The arm is one of my absolute favorite things,” said Fulk. He found it at March long ago. “I swore I would someday use it as a towel rack,” he said. The nineteenth-century French oil portrait was acquired from antiques dealer Stephane Olivier at the Clignancourt flea market in Paris. With bare windows on four sides of the loft—and the gilded dome of a Ukrainian Orthodox church looming outside the living room—the loft is consistently engaging. He experiences the full spectrum of the day, with sunrise over the city; sunset behind Twin Peaks, and all-day light playing off the spectral Federal Building just blocks away. “With all of the skylights we are never in the dark,” said Fulk, still entranced. “The full moon traces it's way across the room, so bright I can almost read in bed by it. Waking up just as the sun is about to rise is magical. The space is cathedral like at that moment. In the meantime, his design studio is becoming the think tank he hoped for. “I work with incredibly talented people who challenge and support one another to do better and better work,” said Fulk. The 18th century Russian candle chandelier with oxidized bronze Hermes. The grand piano is a vintage 1920's Steinway once owned by pianist Alfred Cortot, and signed by him. Timorous Beasties design company made the ‘Iguanas’ wallpaper. And the loft has become the grand salon he hoped for. He and his team have countless dinners, fund-raisers, birthday parties, a masked ball or two, a dinner for Jean-Paul Gaultier, piano recitals, movie nights and even more fundraisers. “Now I am essentially looking for any excuse to throw a party.” FULK’S FOLLY “I needed some way to shut the living space off from the studio down below connected by the industrial steel spiral staircase. My first instinct was a glass-walled enclosure, a sort of poor man's Louvre entrance. However that turned out to be a rich man's concept. Instead I settled for a floating library. Essentially it is a sky lit conservatory at the top of the stairs. It is an ideal spot to house my growing book and sculpture collection. The steel and glass doors to the library were salvaged from the Napa State Mental Hospital.” “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” –Oscar Wilde CREDITS: Interior design: Ken Fulk www.kenfulk.com email [email protected] Photography: Philip Harvey, San Francisco www.philipharvey.com email [email protected]. Philip Harvey’s work was also recently featured in my profiles on designer David Oldroyd, as well as the feature on Darin Geise/ Coup d’Etat, San Francisco (both in THE STYLE SALONISTE archive). Phil specializes in interiors, life-style and product photography, and is technically first-class and he’s extremely pleasant and congenial to work with. Highly recommended.

Driving maestro Ken Block has opened up the doors to his new headquarters for his Hoonigan Racing

When going to a Japanese supermarket, you might be surprised by the many different types of rice on sale. “Japonica rice” is well-known for its stickiness and sweetness. The Tohoku region has long been a popular rice-producing area and is famous for its delicious, high-quality varieties.

Old Liverpool warehouse in North St, built 1882

The shock of the hue, industrial elegance, and a dash of daring San Francisco interior designer Ken Fulk is creating buzz and delight, shock and awe, with bold, iconoclastic and witty décor. His loft in San Francisco’s gritty South of Market district offers jolts of color, playful wit and a spirited view of modern design. It’s the scene of private client consultations—along with bacchanals, chic cocktail parties, sold-out fundraiser dinners for city museums, and scenes of generous and witty hospitality. Come with me for a visit. “I always say if everyone loves my décor, it is probably boring, and I haven't done a very good job.”—Ken Fulk “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative” states the Oscar Wilde quote adorning the front window of Ken Fulk’s South of Market design studio and loft. The quip tells everything you need to know before heading upstairs to meet the witty and design-fearless Fulk, who is currently one of the brightest sparks in San Francisco’s design arena. “I will never be accused of being boring,” said Fulk, originally from Jefferson country in Virginia. “Design should inspire and make you smile. And it should never be a bore.” A pair of ten foot-long vintage Edward Wormley tufted sofas were restored and reupholstered in Bergamo sapphire blue velvet. Acquired from 20th Century/John Meaney, San Francisco. The tall French industrial glass lamps, c 1900, were originally made to carry electrical cable. Purchased from Stephane Olivier, Paris. On festive evenings, the studded steel 1920s French industrial table, also acquired from Stephane Olivier, often substitutes as a dance floor. He founded Ken Fulk Design twelve years ago, after testing the waters by designing for handpicked clients. Fulk by-passed design school and a classic apprenticeship with a design firm. He has always stayed under the radar, taking on new clients by referral only. His 20-person firm is currently working on projects from Aspen to Provincetown and from Pacific Heights, to the Dordogne in South-west France. “My biggest complaint about most rooms I see is that they look too 'decorator-y', said the designer. “I tend to shy away from most things 'designer'. I find it to be chatter that might cloud my instincts. I always want to mix things up and relish the imperfection. Even impromptu has to feel definitive. It sounds easy, but it's not.” “I always want to mix things up. I relish imperfection.”—Ken Fulk Take a right turn on a deserted street in a hidden corner of SoMa, and the handsome brick building that houses Ken Fulk’s design studio and loft hovers into view. With its grand arched windows, sculpted escutcheons, and elegant demeanor, the four-story edifice is more Grand Canal than industrial warehouse. It was this Quattrocento-style fantasy that inspired Fulk to acquire the building five years ago. “I always wanted to live above the shop, though this loft is admittedly a bit more Bruce Wayne than corner grocer,” Fulk said. The warehouse includes his loft and a roof deck on the top floor, and Fulk’s design studio on the third floor. On the first two levels he warehouses an ever-expanding inventory of furniture and accessories he uses in design projects. The building, built in the 1920's, has a Moorish/Venetian exterior but the interior when Fulk acquired it was pure warehouse, with brick walls and worn fir floors. “From the moment I walked in the door, I knew I was going to buy the building,” said Fulk. “I saw the old spiral staircase and the soaring 16-foot ceilings, and there was no turning back. I left the meeting and wrote an offer. Three weeks later I owned it.” Ken Fulk refashioned the vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings table and topped it with a dramatic new reverse-painted glass top in Hermes orange. From 20th Century/John Meaney. Glass fabricated by Paige Glass. Vintage Tommi Parzinger chairs, upholstered in Clarence House Greek key cut velvet, were from 20th Century/John Meaney in San Francisco. Fulk planned a restaurant-style kitchen with a marble-topped island for working and another one for socializing. The work counter is a vintage French printer’s table, purchased from Chelsea Antiques in Petaluma. The skeleton-pattern glass plates are by John Derian. French cafe stools, said to be similar to those used by the French navy, were from the Sundance catalog. Fulk shares the loft with his partner of 20 years, Kurt Wootton, an accomplished pianist. When they purchased the building, the interior brick walls had been sandblasted, most interior walls removed, and the old fir floors sanded. “Basically it was a perfect shell. It took on an almost spiritual quality. It was this purity that moved me,” said the designer. “My motto in undertaking the project was 'don't screw it up'. I did not want to lose the feeling and character that so moved me about the space.” Ken Fulk works on design projects from his office on the second level of the building. The giant skull image was de-accessioned from the Oakland Museum. The sitting area has a patchwork rug made from old oriental carpets at Stark Carpet, French leather club chairs, and a pair of rope chairs by Audoux-Mine from Habite. Fulk and his team added all-new systems to the entire 14,000 sq. ft of the building, new plumbing, electric, HVAC but keeping them simple and industrial in appearance and leaving most systems exposed. “For the loft I wanted to resist the trend to condo-ize the space by cutting it up into a traditional series of rooms,” said Fulk. “ I literally banished walls and doors with few exceptions.” Fulk, a passionate and knowledgeable collector, had only to take a trip to Paris to check in with his favorite French antiques dealer, Stephane Olivier to find an 18th century portrait of a dandy for the bathroom, a 10-foot square industrial steel table for the living room, as well as gilded chairs and a series of vitrines for the bedroom and dressing room. “I wanted the space to function as a huge grand salon with quiet moments throughout,” said Fulk “Despite my love of color I resisted the urge and kept all of the walls white.” Furnishings provide the bling. Against a graphic backdrop of black and white (zebra prints, houndstooth and Greek key patterns) colors pop. Two super-size Edward Wormley tufted sofas were covered in sapphire blue velvet. A vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings dining table top was recreated in reverse- painted glass in vivid Hermes orange. A pair of giant wing chairs is covered in an iridescent purple fabric from Etro. Fulk’s large-scale draped bed divides the dressing room from the open loft. “I've always wanted a sort of Elizabethan curtained bed to crawl into and shut off the world,” said Fulk. “I got one on steroids! The curtains open and close easily. They are made of black satin cotton banded with white grosgrain ribbon.” “I have always felt very self-confident about design, “ said Fulk. “I was never afraid to learn, but afraid to be taught in a conventional sense. I feared I might lose something in the translation. Like a singer afraid to take voice lessons, I was scared that an innate gift might be lost.” So he toys with scale. His 15-foot tall draped four-posted bed towering over the dressing room and adjacent bathroom, and an Hermes-orange dining table shimmering beside the industrial marble-topped counter in the kitchen. To avoid other walls he designed the headboard of the bed to obscure the closets hidden on the other side. The shower floats in the space and encloses the bathroom. “I take things of great disparity—spaces, furnishings, art, accessories—and find a way for them to live in harmony or at least live together in an off-hand way,” said the designer. The sunny bathroom has a French vibe. The sink is 1920's French by Porcher. The tub is from Waterworks. “The arm is one of my absolute favorite things,” said Fulk. He found it at March long ago. “I swore I would someday use it as a towel rack,” he said. The nineteenth-century French oil portrait was acquired from antiques dealer Stephane Olivier at the Clignancourt flea market in Paris. With bare windows on four sides of the loft—and the gilded dome of a Ukrainian Orthodox church looming outside the living room—the loft is consistently engaging. He experiences the full spectrum of the day, with sunrise over the city; sunset behind Twin Peaks, and all-day light playing off the spectral Federal Building just blocks away. “With all of the skylights we are never in the dark,” said Fulk, still entranced. “The full moon traces it's way across the room, so bright I can almost read in bed by it. Waking up just as the sun is about to rise is magical. The space is cathedral like at that moment. In the meantime, his design studio is becoming the think tank he hoped for. “I work with incredibly talented people who challenge and support one another to do better and better work,” said Fulk. The 18th century Russian candle chandelier with oxidized bronze Hermes. The grand piano is a vintage 1920's Steinway once owned by pianist Alfred Cortot, and signed by him. Timorous Beasties design company made the ‘Iguanas’ wallpaper. And the loft has become the grand salon he hoped for. He and his team have countless dinners, fund-raisers, birthday parties, a masked ball or two, a dinner for Jean-Paul Gaultier, piano recitals, movie nights and even more fundraisers. “Now I am essentially looking for any excuse to throw a party.” FULK’S FOLLY “I needed some way to shut the living space off from the studio down below connected by the industrial steel spiral staircase. My first instinct was a glass-walled enclosure, a sort of poor man's Louvre entrance. However that turned out to be a rich man's concept. Instead I settled for a floating library. Essentially it is a sky lit conservatory at the top of the stairs. It is an ideal spot to house my growing book and sculpture collection. The steel and glass doors to the library were salvaged from the Napa State Mental Hospital.” “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” –Oscar Wilde CREDITS: Interior design: Ken Fulk www.kenfulk.com email [email protected] Photography: Philip Harvey, San Francisco www.philipharvey.com email [email protected]. Philip Harvey’s work was also recently featured in my profiles on designer David Oldroyd, as well as the feature on Darin Geise/ Coup d’Etat, San Francisco (both in THE STYLE SALONISTE archive). Phil specializes in interiors, life-style and product photography, and is technically first-class and he’s extremely pleasant and congenial to work with. Highly recommended.

Ken Kutaragi has a track record of solving difficult technical and business problems. He started his career at Sony in the 70s, working on some of the electronics giants most successful projects including liquid crystal displays and digital cameras.

“ドラケン君お誕生日おめでとう!!🎊🍰 #龍宮寺堅生誕祭2023 #龍宮寺堅誕生祭2023 #東卍FA”

If you've got a ken doll, you need these outfits and accessories. Ken will be beach ready once you snag this warehouse find. It includes: 1 Ken Glitter Beach Fashions outfit, 1 Ken Fashion Favorites outfit, and Coca Cola Summer Fun Accessories set.

[...] half a century later, Ken Kesey's psychedelic bus, with its quixotic name "Furthur,"...

The shock of the hue, industrial elegance, and a dash of daring San Francisco interior designer Ken Fulk is creating buzz and delight, shock and awe, with bold, iconoclastic and witty décor. His loft in San Francisco’s gritty South of Market district offers jolts of color, playful wit and a spirited view of modern design. It’s the scene of private client consultations—along with bacchanals, chic cocktail parties, sold-out fundraiser dinners for city museums, and scenes of generous and witty hospitality. Come with me for a visit. “I always say if everyone loves my décor, it is probably boring, and I haven't done a very good job.”—Ken Fulk “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative” states the Oscar Wilde quote adorning the front window of Ken Fulk’s South of Market design studio and loft. The quip tells everything you need to know before heading upstairs to meet the witty and design-fearless Fulk, who is currently one of the brightest sparks in San Francisco’s design arena. “I will never be accused of being boring,” said Fulk, originally from Jefferson country in Virginia. “Design should inspire and make you smile. And it should never be a bore.” A pair of ten foot-long vintage Edward Wormley tufted sofas were restored and reupholstered in Bergamo sapphire blue velvet. Acquired from 20th Century/John Meaney, San Francisco. The tall French industrial glass lamps, c 1900, were originally made to carry electrical cable. Purchased from Stephane Olivier, Paris. On festive evenings, the studded steel 1920s French industrial table, also acquired from Stephane Olivier, often substitutes as a dance floor. He founded Ken Fulk Design twelve years ago, after testing the waters by designing for handpicked clients. Fulk by-passed design school and a classic apprenticeship with a design firm. He has always stayed under the radar, taking on new clients by referral only. His 20-person firm is currently working on projects from Aspen to Provincetown and from Pacific Heights, to the Dordogne in South-west France. “My biggest complaint about most rooms I see is that they look too 'decorator-y', said the designer. “I tend to shy away from most things 'designer'. I find it to be chatter that might cloud my instincts. I always want to mix things up and relish the imperfection. Even impromptu has to feel definitive. It sounds easy, but it's not.” “I always want to mix things up. I relish imperfection.”—Ken Fulk Take a right turn on a deserted street in a hidden corner of SoMa, and the handsome brick building that houses Ken Fulk’s design studio and loft hovers into view. With its grand arched windows, sculpted escutcheons, and elegant demeanor, the four-story edifice is more Grand Canal than industrial warehouse. It was this Quattrocento-style fantasy that inspired Fulk to acquire the building five years ago. “I always wanted to live above the shop, though this loft is admittedly a bit more Bruce Wayne than corner grocer,” Fulk said. The warehouse includes his loft and a roof deck on the top floor, and Fulk’s design studio on the third floor. On the first two levels he warehouses an ever-expanding inventory of furniture and accessories he uses in design projects. The building, built in the 1920's, has a Moorish/Venetian exterior but the interior when Fulk acquired it was pure warehouse, with brick walls and worn fir floors. “From the moment I walked in the door, I knew I was going to buy the building,” said Fulk. “I saw the old spiral staircase and the soaring 16-foot ceilings, and there was no turning back. I left the meeting and wrote an offer. Three weeks later I owned it.” Ken Fulk refashioned the vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings table and topped it with a dramatic new reverse-painted glass top in Hermes orange. From 20th Century/John Meaney. Glass fabricated by Paige Glass. Vintage Tommi Parzinger chairs, upholstered in Clarence House Greek key cut velvet, were from 20th Century/John Meaney in San Francisco. Fulk planned a restaurant-style kitchen with a marble-topped island for working and another one for socializing. The work counter is a vintage French printer’s table, purchased from Chelsea Antiques in Petaluma. The skeleton-pattern glass plates are by John Derian. French cafe stools, said to be similar to those used by the French navy, were from the Sundance catalog. Fulk shares the loft with his partner of 20 years, Kurt Wootton, an accomplished pianist. When they purchased the building, the interior brick walls had been sandblasted, most interior walls removed, and the old fir floors sanded. “Basically it was a perfect shell. It took on an almost spiritual quality. It was this purity that moved me,” said the designer. “My motto in undertaking the project was 'don't screw it up'. I did not want to lose the feeling and character that so moved me about the space.” Ken Fulk works on design projects from his office on the second level of the building. The giant skull image was de-accessioned from the Oakland Museum. The sitting area has a patchwork rug made from old oriental carpets at Stark Carpet, French leather club chairs, and a pair of rope chairs by Audoux-Mine from Habite. Fulk and his team added all-new systems to the entire 14,000 sq. ft of the building, new plumbing, electric, HVAC but keeping them simple and industrial in appearance and leaving most systems exposed. “For the loft I wanted to resist the trend to condo-ize the space by cutting it up into a traditional series of rooms,” said Fulk. “ I literally banished walls and doors with few exceptions.” Fulk, a passionate and knowledgeable collector, had only to take a trip to Paris to check in with his favorite French antiques dealer, Stephane Olivier to find an 18th century portrait of a dandy for the bathroom, a 10-foot square industrial steel table for the living room, as well as gilded chairs and a series of vitrines for the bedroom and dressing room. “I wanted the space to function as a huge grand salon with quiet moments throughout,” said Fulk “Despite my love of color I resisted the urge and kept all of the walls white.” Furnishings provide the bling. Against a graphic backdrop of black and white (zebra prints, houndstooth and Greek key patterns) colors pop. Two super-size Edward Wormley tufted sofas were covered in sapphire blue velvet. A vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings dining table top was recreated in reverse- painted glass in vivid Hermes orange. A pair of giant wing chairs is covered in an iridescent purple fabric from Etro. Fulk’s large-scale draped bed divides the dressing room from the open loft. “I've always wanted a sort of Elizabethan curtained bed to crawl into and shut off the world,” said Fulk. “I got one on steroids! The curtains open and close easily. They are made of black satin cotton banded with white grosgrain ribbon.” “I have always felt very self-confident about design, “ said Fulk. “I was never afraid to learn, but afraid to be taught in a conventional sense. I feared I might lose something in the translation. Like a singer afraid to take voice lessons, I was scared that an innate gift might be lost.” So he toys with scale. His 15-foot tall draped four-posted bed towering over the dressing room and adjacent bathroom, and an Hermes-orange dining table shimmering beside the industrial marble-topped counter in the kitchen. To avoid other walls he designed the headboard of the bed to obscure the closets hidden on the other side. The shower floats in the space and encloses the bathroom. “I take things of great disparity—spaces, furnishings, art, accessories—and find a way for them to live in harmony or at least live together in an off-hand way,” said the designer. The sunny bathroom has a French vibe. The sink is 1920's French by Porcher. The tub is from Waterworks. “The arm is one of my absolute favorite things,” said Fulk. He found it at March long ago. “I swore I would someday use it as a towel rack,” he said. The nineteenth-century French oil portrait was acquired from antiques dealer Stephane Olivier at the Clignancourt flea market in Paris. With bare windows on four sides of the loft—and the gilded dome of a Ukrainian Orthodox church looming outside the living room—the loft is consistently engaging. He experiences the full spectrum of the day, with sunrise over the city; sunset behind Twin Peaks, and all-day light playing off the spectral Federal Building just blocks away. “With all of the skylights we are never in the dark,” said Fulk, still entranced. “The full moon traces it's way across the room, so bright I can almost read in bed by it. Waking up just as the sun is about to rise is magical. The space is cathedral like at that moment. In the meantime, his design studio is becoming the think tank he hoped for. “I work with incredibly talented people who challenge and support one another to do better and better work,” said Fulk. The 18th century Russian candle chandelier with oxidized bronze Hermes. The grand piano is a vintage 1920's Steinway once owned by pianist Alfred Cortot, and signed by him. Timorous Beasties design company made the ‘Iguanas’ wallpaper. And the loft has become the grand salon he hoped for. He and his team have countless dinners, fund-raisers, birthday parties, a masked ball or two, a dinner for Jean-Paul Gaultier, piano recitals, movie nights and even more fundraisers. “Now I am essentially looking for any excuse to throw a party.” FULK’S FOLLY “I needed some way to shut the living space off from the studio down below connected by the industrial steel spiral staircase. My first instinct was a glass-walled enclosure, a sort of poor man's Louvre entrance. However that turned out to be a rich man's concept. Instead I settled for a floating library. Essentially it is a sky lit conservatory at the top of the stairs. It is an ideal spot to house my growing book and sculpture collection. The steel and glass doors to the library were salvaged from the Napa State Mental Hospital.” “Illusion is the first of all pleasures.” –Oscar Wilde CREDITS: Interior design: Ken Fulk www.kenfulk.com email [email protected] Photography: Philip Harvey, San Francisco www.philipharvey.com email [email protected]. Philip Harvey’s work was also recently featured in my profiles on designer David Oldroyd, as well as the feature on Darin Geise/ Coup d’Etat, San Francisco (both in THE STYLE SALONISTE archive). Phil specializes in interiors, life-style and product photography, and is technically first-class and he’s extremely pleasant and congenial to work with. Highly recommended.

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