Fireside Chat Podcast

John McCulley founded McCulley Design Lab in Solana Beach in 1988 with the vision to merge the disciplines of Interiors, Architecture and Graphic Design into an integrated creative studio for progressive clients. Janet McCulley has two decades of experience in brand development, experiential retail, hospitality and commercial design projects. With a passion for immersive travel and cultural observation, Janet fuses those experiences with her academic and theoretical background in the arts to create meaningful design solutions and relevant visual narratives. Together, Janet and John lead their team of interior designers, architects, graphic designers and artists united by the same goal: bring their clients’ creative vision to life through a holistic approach to design and branding.In this episode of The Fireside Chat™, Janet and John share their respective journeys with Ryan Bloom. They discuss how they came together and blended their specialties to present their clients with the realm of possibilities of design, architecture and experiences,, both indoors and out. They share an anecdote of how they’ve transformed their property into “Camp McCulley” during the past year, and have activated it into a beautiful outdoor room for gathering with friends and family. They explain how they gather inspiration from travel, art, nature, but also meaningful discussions with creators, innovators and thinkers. Finally, they weigh in on their business values and the unique and quirky traits that attract customers to their company. This episode of The Fireside Chat podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit www.urbanbonfire.com.McCulley Design Lab – https://mcculleydesign.com/ #UrbanBonfire #YourKitchenOutdoors #McCulleyDesignLab

As the founder and principal of Wade Weissmann Architecture, Wade has spent the last twenty-five years designing classically inspired estates of many genres around the world. His firm’s work has been highly praised for its fine attention to craftsmanship and design detail, and for lending homeowners a feeling of resort living, right at home. On all projects, Wade believes wholeheartedly that a collaborative approach to design always yields the greatest results. Wade Weissmann Architecture has a central office in Wade’s hometown of Milwaukee, as well as offices on the East and West Coasts to best service projects throughout the United States and beyond.In this episode of The Fireside Chat™ podcast, Wade shares what drives him and his firm and how the outdoors has been a guiding principle in his work throughout much of his career. He discusses the core value of environmental stewardship and what it means to create healthy spaces that are built to last. Wade doesn’t shy away from sharing the nitty gritty behind a project, and he discusses how this dynamic approach to architecture is at the heart of his work. Finally, he elaborates on crafting indoor and outdoor spaces that serve as platforms for rich experiences and treasured memories that help tell the story of the homes’ inhabitants.This episode of The Fireside Chat podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit www.urbanbonfire.com.

Wade Weissmann Architecture – https://wadeweissmannarchitecture.com/

#UrbanBonfire #YourKitchenOutdoors #WadeWeissmannArchitecture

Upon establishing KW Designs in 2007, Kristianne Watts quickly became one of the most highly sought-after interior designers in Southern California, working with the region’s most respected architects and contractors. KW Designs promises to turn its clients’ inspired spaces into a reality, and Kristianne does this with grace and professionalism to offer her clientele more than they could have imagined.

In this episode of The Fireside Chat™ podcast, Ryan Bloom speaks with Kristianne Watts about growing up in Alabama, receiving her interior design degree from Samford University, and the early years of KW Designs. She shares how her southern roots shaped her resourceful and creative design approach to creating beautiful and functional spaces without compromising on quality. She discusses the evolution of her role in the recent years as her clientele has increasingly requested her expertise in the activation of outdoor spaces.

Since winning first prize at the highly-esteemed American Society of Interior Designers at just 28 years of age, Kristianne has perfected her ability to realize, even enhance her clients’ dreams for their remodel or new structure, whether a home or commercial building. She discusses with Ryan how she strives to create a cohesive design that reflects her clients personality and yet, challenges them with her creative and refreshing ideas and inspires them to bring spaces to life with a wow-factor.

This episode of The Fireside Chat podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit www.urbanbonfire.com.

KW Designs – https://www.kwdesigns.com/

 

#UrbanBonfire #YourKitchenOutdoors #KristianneWatts #KWDesigns #California #IndoorOutdoorLiving

Born into a family of talented craftsmen and home builders, John McClain spent his childhood immersed in the world of design and construction. As a teenager, he converted his parents’ garage into a living suite, and later bought and remodelled his first home at the age of 20. Before long, John began remodelling and designing home after home, combining his family’s trade with his natural aesthetic ability. Shortly after his career launch, John appeared on HGTV; and through this experience, his personality and design perspective were visible to a larger audience, and he was soon designing homes across the country. 

 

Today, John is a speaker, writer, entrepreneur, and principal designer of the award-winning firm, John McClain Design, with offices in Los Angeles, California and Orlando, Florida. John’s work has been featured in numerous publications including Elle Décor and Traditional Home; and John is a contributor to outlets such as Martha Stewart Living, Interior Design magazine, Apartment Therapy, the Wall Street Journal, and most recently Us Weekly magazine. John and his team pride themselves on establishing a partnership with their clients to bring their vision to life with expertise, knowledge, transparency and authenticity.

In this episode of The Fireside Chat™ podcast, John shares his journey of making a career out of his passion for design. He sheds light on the process behind designing his own collection of products, John McClain Home, and the challenges presented by the commercialization of a product line. He discusses the rise in demand for outdoor spaces and in turn, how this has prompted him and his team to embrace the outdoors, and position themselves as an all-inclusive design firm, rather than limiting themselves to the interior.

This episode of The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit www.urbanbonfire.com.

John McClain Design – https://www.johnmcclaindesign.com/

This week on The Fireside Chat™ podcast, Ryan Bloom welcomes President and Founding Partner Monika Haefelfinger and Principal Scott Utterstrom of XTEN Architecture, an award-winning international architecture firm based in Los Angeles, California, and Sissach, Switzerland. Born in Basel, Switzerland, Monika Haefelfinger’s interest in art and design deepened during an apprenticeship with her father’s architecture firm in Sissach. At the age of 21, Monika moved to the United States with the intention of spending a year there with her mother, a California native, and fell in love with California living. Following her studies at the University of Southern California and Columbia University, she worked for architectural firms in Switzerland and in the US. In 2000, XTEN Architecture was born in partnership with her partner and late husband Austin Kelly. Scott Utterstrom was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and graduated with a Bachelor of Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2003. During this time, he spent a year abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, and traveled throughout Europe to visit prominent architectural works. After working for the Los Angeles office of AGPS Architecture, he continued his studies at UCLA, before joining XTEN Architecture in 2007. He was named Principal in 2015, and has played a key role in the firm’s many award-winning projects.In this dynamic conversation, Monika and Scott discuss the architect’s role in articulating their client’s vision, even in smaller spaces in densely populated urban areas, the commonality between Californian, European and Middle Eastern clients in their wish to create a comfortable and welcoming home for their families, where they seek inspiration, and how they bring the progressive and experimental spirit of Los Angeles into their projects.

This episode of The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.

XTEN Architecture – http://xtenarchitecture.com/

This week on The Fireside Chat™ podcast, we’re thrilled to welcome Michael McGowan, Landscape Architect and Associate of the KAA Design Group, a Los Angeles-based design studio dedicated to advancing the California lifestyle through contemporary architecture for over 30 years.Michael McGowan joined KAA in 2011, and has been overseeing the design and implementation of a broad range of custom residential, commercial and institutional landscapes. In addition to his design work on numerous estate residential landscapes, some of Michael’s notable projects include: The Eastern Columbia Building, TreePeople Center for Community Forestry, Santa Monica Village and One Santa Fe.In this conversation, Michael shares how his connection with nature started in his early childhood in Maryland, and how this informed his career choice many years later. He discusses the fundamental shift he is witnessing in client requests and trends as it relates to the outdoors, and how he articulates ideas into plans, and eventually creates ever-evolving outdoor spaces for his clients.The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe on Apple podcasts, Spotify or Google podcasts. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.

Brian David Roberts was determined to become an architect from the age of 12. But after a year of studying architecture at university he realized it was not what he thought it was. He transferred to the field of Industrial Design, specializing in Furniture and Product Design at Brigham Young University in Utah, where he was designing for use and creating products that, when utilized, delighted the end user. A few years later, while working for a design firm on the east coast, a mentor introduced him to space planning, functional design and proper consulting… and this is where he found his true calling. Brian morphed his love of space and structure, which originally led him to architecture, into an unprecedented design process and philosophy that profoundly improves the lives of his clients within their homes.In this episode of The Fireside Chat™ podcast, Brian shares his journey from architecture to space planning, and what it’s like to live, work and design in the Pacific Northwest with his life and business partner, Virginia. He discusses his wonderfully unique and inventive philosophy on space planning and functional design, and his approach to incorporating lighting into the homes he designs, both indoors and out. Finally, he elaborates on the kitchen as the modern family room, and what this entails for proper space planning. The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.

This week’s episode begins with a memorable evening in January 2012 at the M.B. Post restaurant in Manhattan Beach, California. From the inviting and familiar atmosphere of the former post office, to the food by Michelin-starred chef David LeFevre, to the playfully rustic decor… the experience was so meaningful to our host, Ryan Bloom, that he kept his menu as a souvenir of this evening. Fast-forward 9 years, and Ryan welcomes the architect behind this unforgettable space, Stephen Francis Jones, on The Fireside Chat™ podcast.As in-house architect for the Wolfgang Puck Food Company, Stephen Francis Jones established one of Southern California’s most iconic brands. When he founded his own firm, SFJones Architects in 1996, Puck immediately hired Jones to help develop the fine dining experience at Spago Beverly Hills. This project led Jones to designing Wolfgang Puck restaurants worldwide—and, most recently, the renovation of the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland, site of the Academy Awards’ Governors Ball. Among his best-known projects is Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood. Working with CEO Steven Foster, Jones created a wildly popular hipster hybrid—restaurant, bar and bowling alley—that resulted in a flurry of spin-off projects.In his conversation with Ryan Bloom, Stephen Francis Jones shares memories of his youth spent in Bogota, Columbia, and his travels through Europe before completing his Master’s degree in Architecture at UCLA. This immersion in urban European life shaped his fresh perspective on what makes a social space a memorable experience. Ryan and Stephen exchange on what it means to create inviting settings, and how restaurants are one of the great connectors of our world. Stephen ends with his thoughts on how Covid will shake out the restaurant industry for the better, transforming dining spaces into communal and outdoor spaces for authentic and meaningful experiences.The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.SFJones Architects – https://sfjones.com/ M.B. Post Project: https://sfjones.com/mb-post/bsg6cb2j978qm1x3zp86xx7rd0obbu

This week on The Fireside Chat™ Podcast, we’re thrilled to share Ryan Bloom’s conversation with landscape designer Melissa Gerstle, live from the gardens of the Kips Bay Dallas Show House. Trained as a landscape architect and inspired by the restorative properties of nature, Melissa’s design approach is based on the principle that a beautiful and functional outdoor space can change the way we live and connect. Her passion for creating peaceful and visually inspiring gardens stems from her belief that exquisite outdoor spaces that foster connections and conversations is essential to allowing us to perform in all other parts of our lives. Her landscape design studio, based in Dallas, and serving clients across the country, offers a full range of design services, from landscape consulting and planting designs, to full-scale outdoor living environments, including pools, fountains, fire features and furnishings.Melissa shared her unconventional journey to landscape design, and what it means to work in the ever-changing playing field of nature. She described her unique approach to design, specifically as it relates to the current context of the pandemic, as the backyard becomes our sanctuary. She discussed the Kips Bay Dallas Show House, where she alongside 26 of the nation’s top designers have come together to reimagine Texas-style in one beautiful home. She spoke with Ryan Bloom from the “Magari Garden,” which she designed. Inspired by the Italian word magari, meaning a strong wish or desire, Melissa designed the grounds to showcase all that is possible and dream-worthy in an outdoor space.The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.Melissa Gerstle Design – https://www.melissagerstledesign.com/ #UrbanBonfire #YourKitchenOutdoors #MelissaGerstle #LandscapeArchitecture #KipsBayDallas

Ashley Moore always had a love for interior design, but it wasn’t until that spark reignited later in her life that she realized she could turn her passion into a career. After retiring from teaching to raise her family, Ashley remodeled her own home. Inspired by her mother’s ability to create warm and welcoming spaces, Ashley dreamed of creating a home for her own family just like the one she had grown up in. Not long after, friends and family started reaching out for advice with their own projects and remodels, and Ashley quickly realized that design was her true calling. Moore House Interiors was founded in 2015, and Ashley and her team have since worked on an array of projects, varying in size and scale in the Greater Houston area, Texas Hill Country, and beyond. Ashley is known and beloved for her signature take on the modern farmhouse style, which integrates a mix of vintage and new, high and low pieces, with a focus on timeless over trend.In this episode of the Fireside Chat™, Ashley Moore shares her story of growing up in Texas and how design was a creative outlet throughout her childhood. She expresses her commitment to creating well-loved, intentional spaces for real life, where family and friends are always welcome, while striking the perfect balance between comfort and style. Finally, she shares her thoughts on the pandemic’s impact on the design industry, and her vision for the future of indoor and outdoor design.The Fireside Chat™ podcast is hosted by Ryan Bloom, Co-Founder and President of Urban Bonfire. If you enjoyed it and love great design as much as we do, please subscribe. Follow us on Instagram @UrbanBonfire or join the conversation on Linked In. To find out more, please visit https://urbanbonfire.com.Moore House Interiors – https://www.moorehouseinteriors.com/ #UrbanBonfire #YourKitchenOutdoors #MooreHouseInteriors #Design #Texas #ModernFarmhouse