Red Cross Designer Showcase House

This weekend I had the opportunity to view our local showcase house. Showcase houses are so much fun. Of course it is a wonderful way to see what other designers are doing as well as get ideas that I can apply to projects or for others can use in their own homes. This house was inspiring. Though there were some rooms that did not quite measure up for one reason or another, for the most part I really loved it. I think because the rooms that were incredible were really incredible.

My favorite was the living room. This was a 2 story room which in itself is a challenge. The pictures I took do not do it justice. The fireplace wall was hung with round antique mirrors from
Africa surrounded by tin ceiling tiles all antiqued to blend with the aged mirrors. The curved shutters that flanked the entrance to the room were so amazing. I have never seen them before. This room was not large but the designer used dark colors on the walls but a brilliant citron fabric on the sofa. Even with the lofty ceiling the room felt intimate. The pattern play on the drapery, pillows and floor lamps is just wonderful.

Tall antique painted wood doors and carvings hung over the sofa add to the drama of the ceiling height. Antique accents give character and personalize a space. They lend a "acquired" feeling to an otherwise brand new room.

So, your husband wants you to become a decorator!

Yesterday I saw a segment on a morning show about turning a hobby into a business. One woman said she enjoyed helping her friends decorate their homes and also loved decorating her own home. Her husband said, "You are so good at decorating, why don't you start a business?" I must say that is frequently how some women embark on their decorating career.

Whether you are a man or woman this is a business that springs from a passion. But I had to laugh. After being in the profession for over 30 years it is not a simple matter to just become a decorator.....for profit. It is in deed a business and it comes with it's share of stress as well as joy. Oh sure there are days of hanging out in beautiful showrooms, wrapping ourselves is luxurious fabrics, running our hands over incredible furniture, and digging around in antique shops. We sketch and visualize and root out the best resources to help make our ideas come to life. But there is also alot of lifting, lugging, climbing, and moving. There are days I feel like a "bag lady", toting bags of fabrics and samples to and fro. I honestly do not know how my dear shoulders can bear up. There are tedious scheduling, coordinating duties, supervising and micro-managing. And let's not forget the nailbiting and indigestion, and my personal favorite...bookkeeping. Sometimes I can be found cleaning, vacuuming, ironing and polishing so that everything looks perfect when my client arrives for the big reveal.

The reward, however, is totally worth it. We decorators can literally make dreams come true. We get to create a home that a real live person or family will enjoy coming home to for years to come. If we design a commercial space it may have a profound effect on large numbers of people too. One of my favorite experiences is returning to the home of a client years after the project is completed and seeing how wonderful everything looks. The memory of all the time and energy we....my team, my client and myself and partners spent to achieve our goal comes flooding back. How many designers spend as much or more time in their clients home than their own? How many hours do we spend with our clients and their families? We become friends. It is quite an incredible business. So to anyone looking to turn their passion for design into a business, welcome to our crazy-amazing world.

Ralph Lauren Powder Room

What are these baskets doing in a blog about a powder room? They are our inspiration. Or rather they express the feeling that we want to have in our new project.

Yes, it's another bathroom project. This time it is a powder room and it is the 4th bathroom we are doing for our client. This is another collaboration with Ellie from Caimano Interiors. Our client has given us some great ideas about what she likes, including Ralph Lauren. What is not to like about Ralph Lauren? But we need to create a feeling that has a bit of a Florida touch.....or as we say not too northern. So far we have a color scheme and an inspiration. I will keep you posted...literally....as the job progresses.

We are just at the very beginning. Our next step is to decide if we want wallpaper or a faux finish. Faux finishing allows us to get the exact color we want and the exact look we are going for but we will explore both options.

But who knows where we will end up. Sometimes we just have to go with the flow and see where we end up. Stay tuned!

Hip and Fresh Designs from Across the Pond

There is a new showroom at DCOTA called Andrew Martin. It is so exciting and fresh. Their designs are new and eclectic....but wait....I can also say some of their furnishings have a recycled or reclaimed feeling. I tried to get some background information on the company and was directed to http://www.andrewmartin.co.uk/ which was great but only showcased the line of furniture, fabrics, accessories etc. It did not tell me much about the company itself. My efforts at research did find that the company has an international presence with stores in many countries. The Andrew Martin Interior Design Review is the interior design world's bible and the Andrew Martin International Designer of the Year Awards are like the Oscars of the interiors world. I did have a chance to see some incredible interiors designed by Andrew Martin designers and others that use their line for their projects. Many celebrities' homes are filled with Andrew Martin.

But what attracts me to the line is the total "new" feeling I get when I go into their showroom. There was a chair that was made from beaded fabric, walls in tin roofing, images of The Beatles, sofas covered in handwoven rugs, mixed with chrome and stainless steel and glass and reclaimed wood. Fabrics from prints to wovens to silks are also part of their line.

As designer I am always delighted to see something new in the world of design. But I can say not everything at Andrew Martin is new....or is it? Or is it the way they combine the old and new. It is very hard for me to put into words. You just gotta see it yourself.

You know it is not simply the specific pieces of furniture or accessories that give a room style, but the way they are used, combined with others or repurposed with a twist. That is what makes this line so ab fab......absolutely fabulous. Check them out! Let me know what you think.

DCOTA Beauty, Elegance and Inspiration

As a member of the design community in South Florida, The Design Center of the Americas, otherwise known as DCOTA is a major resource for just about everything I need to take my design projects from inspiration to installation.

There are showrooms for many manufacturers of furniture, fabrics, lighting, flooring, art and accessories, stone, kitchens and baths, window treatment et al. The resources are from all over the world. There are 3 buildings of 4 floors each. It can be overwhelming, (not to mention exhausting) not just for my clients but even sometimes for me!

Yesterday I attended their Winter Market. There were presentations in showrooms, keynote programs and even a gala opening of the new showcase house based on The Golden Age of Hollywood. We even went to High Tea in the new exciting Andrew Martin showroom. It is so much fun to participate in these events with my designer friends. By the end of the day our heads are literally swimming with new ideas, inspirations and resources. It is a great way to stay current on the upcoming trends and new introductions to the lines the showrooms carry.

Powderoom Project Finale

Well, you have seen the orchid sink that inspired this project. Then you followed us as we paired it with a beautiful bamboo faucet and then we found a lovely tropical floral paper with a dramatic chocolate background. The exquisite Harbin Ice marble counter top was the perfect solution to surround our sink. But what has happened since?

As the design unfolded we wanted the feeling to express an Oriental Chippendale Garden style but where would we find such a vanity to reflect that? I decided in order to get what we wanted I would have to design it myself and have our cabinet maker fabricate it. So that's precisely what we did. I sketched several options to show our client and she made the ultimate decision. We found bamboo hardware for the doors as well as the custom mirrored bifold doors that conceal a washer and dryer. We framed them to look like just a pair of doors and accented the corners of the molding with the same motif as the base of the vanity.

Our final decision was the mirror. This was tricky. Many of them were either too big or small or in an inappropriate color. But then we came upon a mirror that was totally different than the original concept. The color was great and tied in with the gold in the floral wallpaper. It was just the right thing to break away from the matchy- matchy look that sometimes feels contrived. This elegant mirror reminds me of a great antique discovered in the attic.

This project was a collaboration with my partner Ellie and Caimano Interiors. We had wonderful contractors who made us look really good and terrific clents who were such a pleasure to work for. It was truely a team effort. It is so important for the successful outcome of any design project to have a team of professionals who can help see the project through from concept to completion.

I wish were able to take a photo of the whole room but photographing bathrooms is difficult, especially with all those mirrors! Any tips for me? What kind of renovation projects have you been challenged with? Did you have a team to work with? How did it turn out?

More Fashion Inspired Design

I had the pleasure of discovering a great new fashion item yesterday. Shoes! Of course shoes are not new but these are a new twist on an old shoe...the sandal. Check out http://www.junoshoegirl.com/ These look like an ordinary sandal....but wait there's more! Created by an artist the devine decorations that accessorize these sandals are interchangeable. Snap them on and you have a totally new look.

Two things come to mind when I think of these fun fashion items. First the designs of the snap on doo dads are fabulous and could easily inspire the interior design of any room. There are turtles, starfish, bows, sailboats, flowers and bejeweled designs. A seaside cottage or hip garden room or elagant dining room could all be inspired by these beautiful shoe ornaments. The flowers could be enlarged and used as a pattern on pillows or rugs or on drapery hardware or as wall art. There is no end to it!

The next thing that I think about is why not make interchangeable decorating accessories. Of course you can always change out accessories or art but what about taking it a step further. Why not a removable skirt on a sofa or chair or changeable fringe on draperies or pillows. What about ...... You fill in the blank.

If you are old enough you may remember changing decor with the seasons, especially summer. White or floral slip covers on upholstery offered a welcome lighter look. We took down heavy drapes and left the sheers. We rolled up rugs and left the bare wood floors or put down sisal area rugs. You could take it a step further. Change the lampshades, change accessories, even artwork. I can see living in warmer climates a lighter cooler feeling interior would certainly be welcome in the dog days of summer.

But I am going to think about taking the idea of snap on ornamentation of Juno Shoe Girl a step further.....no pun intended.

What do you think?