the novogratz in brasil

When did you first visit South America?
We heard Brasil was a beautiful place with beautiful people, so we always wanted to visit. Our first trip was 10 years ago after our friend Alex told us it was the next cool place—he was right!

What were your first impressions?
Brasil is a huge and beautiful country with great cities and amazing natural elements—not to mention the fantastic Samba music we listened to a lot.

Why did you choose Brasil for a second home—quite a distance from New York?
We wanted to expose our kids to other cultures and we have always loved to travel. With our big gang it gets expensive to stay in hotels, spend a day at a theme park—so the Trancoso house made a lot of economic sense. The bonus is that it allows us to have a lot of quality time together free from appointments, lessons, science projects.

Do you have a routine for visiting—planning the dates, packing, etc?
Everyone enjoys the journey but it is a long flight—thank goodness for in-flight movies. In general we’re able to pack light since it’s all about t-shirts, bathing suits, and bare feet.

Are there “must do’s” while you’re there?
Yes! Swimming, surfing, dune buggy rides, the Qadrado at night and all the great restaurants.

The house is very relaxing so it’s easy to just enjoy the views and never leave—but we’re always tempted by a day trip to check out more of the country.

What do your children love about Brasil?
They love the energy of New York City and Brasil is quite different—the opposite extreme—relaxed, casual, beaches vs calendars, homework, skyscrapers. We have high-speed web access at the house so everyone has the choice to escape or check-in.

We have great memories every trip we take, but we especially love lazy days on the beach, sunrises with great big cups of coffee, or just hanging with our crazy gang.

all photos by: Tim Gleaney

'home by novogratz' book signing events

Join us in select CB2 stores to celebrate the arrival of Home by Novogratz—the latest book from Robert and Cortney Novogratz.

Meet Robert and Cortney, get unique design ideas and inspiration for your space, and see the complete Novogratz Collection.

Most events are 6-8pm—Queen West Toronto is 5-7pm—and attendance is limited so RSVP as soon as possible!

CB2 Eastside New York, October 9
CB2 Queen West Toronto, October 11
CB2 Lincoln Park Chicago, October 16
CB2 South Beach Miami, October 17
CB2 Georgetown, October 23
CB2 West Hollywood, October 25

sneak peek: novogratz furniture collection

The new furniture collection from Robert and Cortney Novogratz is almost here—we can’t wait for October! Until then, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the partnership and collection.

CB2+Novogratz: Collection from CB2 on Vimeo.

the making of: the family rug

First, recipes are prepared which will dye the natural wool to match specified colors.

Bunches of spun yarn are then loaded into a dyeing cabinet—boiling water is added along with the dye coloring—for 3-4 hours of dyeing time. Yarns are ready for tufting after drying in both a machine and warm sunlight.

Next, heavy cotton canvas—which will be the back of the rug—is stretched and nailed to an iron frame.

The pattern design is then transferred to the stretched cotton with the use of stencils—which leave outline markings for tufters to follow.

Since the pattern of the family rug is fairly graphic—using a lot of straight lines and blocks of colors—tufting is much like coloring in the lines while kneeling on the floor…or balancing on a scaffold for the larger 8x10’ version.

Tufting is the process of punching the yarns with a hand-tool through the canvas and back to create the pile—much like blades grass which stand up through soil.

When the entire rug is completely tufted, liquid latex is painted onto the backing which will help hold the weavings in place. Once dried in natural sunlight, the rug is removed from the iron frame, the edges are cut, rolled and stitched under.

And even though the pile is trimmed to an even length by a machine, well trained eyes ‘knit pick’ loose yarns with scissors and skilled hands. Finally, each rug is inspected, rolled and packed for shipping.

CB2 windows: novogratz faves

Union Square San Francisco

Georgetown

Berkeley

South Beach Miami

Lincoln Park Chicago

Santa Monica

Soho

Toronto

Vancouver

West Hollywood

Eastside New York