I'm heading down to Soho today to continue my carpet search but where I would really like to be is gallivanting around a pretty garden like Jennifer Garner. I'd also like to wearing the same pretty dresses while the pool boy brings me a glass of lemonade! What's your weekend fantasy???
Photos by Patrick Demarchelier
I love myself a good fashion documentary and so of course I am dying to see Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston. It is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival Friday night and you know there will be just as many stars and fashionistas in the crowd as there will be in the film. As Halston once exclaimed, "you're only as good as the people you dress," and he dressed all the best in the 1970's including Bianca Jagger, Liza Minelli, Elizabeth Taylor, and even Jackie Kennedy Onassis! I don't know how he managed to design anything with all the time he spent at Studio 54 but as he also said, "party hard, live hard, and have the best life." Unfortunately, all that hard partying caught up to him and cut short his reign as the Emperor of Style. Luckily, it looks like his legacy will live on in Ultrasuede. Bon Weekend!
I'm off looking for carpets (that don't cost a million dollars) and running around for my clients today so you're going to have to wait until later for a proper post. Don't miss me too much! XOXO!
I’m thrilled to be hosting an all day New Media event at this years VISION 10"’, International Window Coverings Expo in Atlanta, on Friday, May 14th. The days activities focus on the explosive growth in the world of social media and it’s effect on the interior design industry today and in the future.
I will be starting off the day at 8:00 am with a seminar on the basics of social media: GET CONNECTED: Grow Your Business with Social Media
I’ll be talking about the basics of Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, you Tube, etc. and how to adopt them for your design business success.
The highlight of the day is the Design Perspectives Panel at 4:00pm. We are so happy to have a great group of influential bloggers representing designers, manufacturers, and vendors on our panel.
Brian Patrick Flynn is an interior designer and founder of the online decorating magazine, decordemon.com. He gained attention for his bold, glamorous spaces created almost entirely with garage sale items and flea market finds. Formally educated in television production, Brian made the leap to interior design after working as a producer on various hit home makeover programs. Décor Demon was created as an online outlet for Brian to produce original editorial lifestyle content from a witty and practical male point-of-view. From modern home renovations to the latest baby toy craze, Décor Demon’s features aim to be both inspiring and entertaining.
Valorie Hart of Visual Vamp is a vivacious personality, experienced designer, writer, and tango dancer and teacher among other things. Her blog is a lively reflection of her fascinating life in New Orleans. Valories work and her own eclectic home is a favorite among other bloggers and online publications.
Skyla Freeman, author of the home and style blog Sanity Fair (sfair.blogspot.com), learned to love design from an early age. Her mother, a former decorator, and her father, a self-taught architect, raised their family in a Southern home filled with art and Asian antiquities. After working at the White House for nearly four years, she left in 2009 to write full-time at SkylaFreeman.com and founded Sanity Fair. Since then, the blog has grown a steady following, received several blogging awards, and been featured in the January/February 2010 issue of Atlantan Magazine as a "Fab Five" design blog. An entryway to stylish living for all budgets and lifestyles, Sanity Fair provides everyone from renters to professional designers with fresh decoration and fashion inspiration. From Parisian couture to the local Target, Sanity Fair is about discovering the lovely things in life - wherever they are found.
Debbie Green from Minutes Matter - In The Loop Blog, is an industry innovator and educator who has spearheaded the inclusion of technology and social media in the window covering industry. Debbie’s company Minutes Matter Solutions Inc. produces Studio software, a graphic design software program for the interior design industry.
Jay Helser of the Why Helser blog is one half of the fabulous Helser Brothers team of drapery hardware manufacturing fame. Widely recognized and acclaimed for their fabulous customer service and beautiful and innovative product line, the Brothers Helser are forging new ground in the world of social media through dream giveaways and raffles to their customers via their blog. They even gave away a trip to Paris last year!
This promises to be an eye opening and inspiring event so please sign up early and don’t miss it. The panel discussion will be followed by a networking event for all attendees.
Sign in for the TweetUp HERE
See You in Atlanta!
Jackie
I love how in New York the art isn't always confined to the museums and galleries. Tod’s commissioned the famed photographer Elliott Erwitt to shoot 22 prominent families for its new exhibition called Icons by an Icon. It's also another example of what I like to call stealth marketing. Each photo contains a pair of Tods shoes or a bag but the photos are more about presenting a lifestyle than hitting you over the head with the product which I quite prefer. No word yet if they will be bound into a book like the Italian's photographed for Italian Touch but you can view them at the Tod's boutique on Madison right now. Enjoy!
Award winning and much lauded Los Angeles designer Kerry Joyce has launched a new fabric line at West Week that has a universal appeal and classic resonance. I’m loving it! Every pattern has a classic base but exudes a casual elegance for which Joyce is noted.
He is quoted as saying “ I reject trend or fad. Creating a timeless enduring interior is very important to me” I think this philosophy is evident in his collection.
The colors are soft and muted giving the fabrics a sense of age.
This pattern is my favorite – Delicious!
I had a reader email me today asking about durable white fabrics that will stand up to dogs. She wants to decorate her home in white with blue accents which made me think of this beautiful home on Nantucket designed by Victoria Hagan. While white looks great, it can be difficult to keep clean in summer homes and those with pets and sticky fingered children so if you absolutely have to have white upholstery, try outdoor fabrics. They are designed to repel stains, water and mildew. This usually makes them feel like sandpaper but Rogers & Goffigan makes a really lovely line of softer feeling outdoor fabrics under their line DeLany & Long. I'm not a fan of slip covers but I do love zip off cushion covers that can be removed for cleaning and advise my clients to order extra sets. If one set is dirty, you can easily zip on a new set. It's also nice to have extra seat cushion covers since they take the most wear and tear on chairs and sofas. Too bad it's not warm enough for Nantucket yet. This house looks very inviting!
I am going to have to hurry up and get all my work done early so I can sneak over to The Metropolitan Museum of Art and take in the new Picasso (1881-1973) exhibition that opens today. This "landmark exhibition"
I recently had the pleasure of being asked to style a bar for a cocktail party celebrating the new collections of The The New Traditionalists. You might know them better by one of their lines Mason Gray or for their children's furniture line Duc Duc. Luckily there were no children at the party last week! Just lots of fabulous friends and designers like Jonathan Rosen, Harry Heissmann, Kevin Isbell, Nick Olsen, Ron Marvin, Bruce Shostak, and Laurie Reynolds who is now working with Bruce! 
Since I live uptown and The New Traditionalists showroom is in Soho, I tried to use as many accessories they had on site as possible. This is something that I often so at my client's homes so it actually worked out well.
All of the furniture names are actually numbers that are meaningful to the company. The credenza that I used for my bar/entry table is Credenza No. Two Twenty Five. Not sure if you can tell by the photo but the gray finish was applied over a dark blue finish that can be seen around all the edges. It looked really beautiful in person and perfectly complemented my blue and orange color scheme. You can only see a glimpse of one of their chairs in this photo but you should definitely check out their upholstered pieces. The applied leather trimmings and details are like nothing I've ever seen!
The accessories did include a few pieces from my own apartment including my gold boxes, Eiffel Tower, candle and monogrammed match boxes. I also don't advocate smoking but the multi-colored Nat Sherman cigarettes in the silver cup were a nod to A Single Man and added more color.
While my styling project was like something I would do in a client's home, it couldn't compare with the work of real stylist Frances Bailey! She styled the Armoire No. Five Sixty Four with an orange lacquered interior that I loved! You can have the interiors lacquered any color and it's a fun surprise to find when you open a door or drawer!
I love the Domino magazine quality to the styling of this bar by Frances. I definitely think I need to have her give me some lessons!
Brady Wilcox the Chief Creative Officer of The New Traditionalists styled this simple bar on the Dresser No. Nine. I love how the white lacquer drawer fronts look with the darker wood finish. You can play with the color combinations to your heart's content! The furniture is all made American as well!
Monogrammed cocktail napkins are a nice touch to any home bar! I think that might also be a vintage trophy that was used as an ice bucket! 
