Not-So-Extreme Holiday Makeover

So, you've decided to host the perfect Holiday soirée. The Tree is trimmed, the halls are decked and the table is set with your finest china. Everything is just as you had envisioned until you take a look at that dingy old sofa or chair with the threadbare, dirty upholstery. Can your party really be the success you are sure it can be when you are overcome with fear that your guests will notice that your furniture hasn't been updated since 1980? Will someone sit on the chair that Uncle Larry spilled red wine on last Thanksgiving? What about the ottoman that serves as your dogs chew toy!

Have no fear - you still have time to pull off an instant makeover with slipcovers.

These great slips from Before-n-After could be hiding all sorts of sins but you'd never know it.


Whether you go with a ready made or semi-custom slip cover companies now offer many options that give your furniture a custom high-end look. These are not your grandma's sofa throws with chain fringe trim.


Stretch and Cover is a company that has pioneered a new type of stretch fabric that is made specifically for slip covers. The weave is multi-directional and is formulated to rebound and keep its shape.


Each product comes with retainer bars and straps that are designed to help keep the covers in place even with daily use.


For a more casual look try these styles from Conterelle, one of the companies that modernized ready to buy slip cover design.


Found these chenille covers on Overstock.com. They are well priced and available in rich colors.
Another Overstock.com find.




For a brighter and more varied selections of fabrics try The Slipcover Company. They have a large selection and very good pricing.

These dining chair covers are my favorite. I love that they come in short and long skirt styles.



Finally, how about these winter whites? These would look beautiful in any holiday dining room and they only cost $10.99 !!!!!!

Here's hoping your Holiday Parties are smashingly successful. That no one gets food poisoning or drinks too much eggnog and that most of all, no one looks under the slipcovers to see what lies underneath!

New Design Crush!

You've been warned. There is a new design crush in town and you're going to love him and his new book! David Oliver is the is the Design Director of The Paint and Paper Library in London and is master of colour and light. He trained at the National Art School in Sydney he developed an authority for twentieth century art and visual cultures. I had the opportunity to meet David and listen to him speak about his design philosophy and new book Paint and Paper: In Decoration and he really knows his stuff. Oh, and the Aussie accent doesn't hurt either!

Paint and wallpaper are usually the least expensive element in interior design, yet they are often the most difficult to get right. David offers advice on how to simplify the process and overcome what he likes to call “the modern phenomenon of paint analysis paralysis,” with his straightforward and extremely helpful approach in his new book. It's a "how to" book that doesn't look like a "how to" book. The photos are stunning and it really is a beautiful book perfect for giving this holiday season.

David is also well known for his Architectural Colours of paint, a tonal colour by number system for ceilings, cornices, walls and woodwork that will hopefully be sold in the US soon. His wallpaper collection is available through Stark in New York. Definitely check out his website and his new book and I guarantee you'll have a crush on David Oliver too!

Happy Hanukkah!

I want to wish a Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends and readers! For those who don't know, the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, commemorates the triumph of the Jews over their oppressors in ancient Israel. According to legend, when the Jews reclaimed their temple, they found only enough oil to create light for one day, but the oil lasted for eight days. The lighting of Hanukkah candles symbolizes that miracle.

Sitting down to a Hanukkah meal with family and friends is as significant a part of the celebration as lighting the menorah candles. Like the candles, the oil used to fry potato latkes and cook the traditional jam-filled doughnuts, called sufganiyot, recalls the miracle in the temple. After dinner, the children play dreidel, a game that uses a four-sided top with a Hebrew letter on each side. The letters are the initials of the words that together mean "a great miracle happened there."

The latkes alone make me wish I was Jewish and Martha Stewart has a great recipe. I always think it's a nice and thoughtful gesture to learn about and experience the traditions of another. Enjoy!

Sleeping in Style

Somehow to me bedrooms seem so much more inviting in the winter. I think it's because they represent warmth and comfort. I find that during the fall and winter I tend to spend more time in my bedroom. Maybe it's due to the fewer hours of daylight but I think I just like the way it makes me feel.

I've been working on my new book The Design Directory of Bedding and thought I would share a sneak peek of some of the beds and bedding styles that will be featured. I would happily curl up and take a mid-winters nap in any of these.

Panel beds


Ornate four poster beds and carved wooden classics.


Fully upholstered beds.


Wicker and rattan


Canopy Beds


Draped beds


Iron Beds

No matter what type of bed you choose for your room I hope you enjoy the winter months cozying up under the covers.

Elliott Puckette and Hugo Guinness

I would be immensely thankful if someone gave me a painting by Elliott Puckette or Hugo Guinness for Christmas. I think either would make an excellent gift but since I don't see that actually happening this year, I thought the least I could do is write about them.

First, Ms. Puckette is Southern, adheres to a strict schedule everyday and creates the most beautiful abstract paintings using gesso and washes of colored inks, on which she scores elaborate flowing lines using a razor blade. There is something poetic and lyrical about her work. It's at the same time calming but yet full of movement. I love her paintings and many other people do too. She has had a sellout show at Paul Kasmin Gallery and her work keeps popping up in magazines as seen below.



Her husband Hugo Guinness on the other hand is British, from the famous family of brewers, paints when the mood strikes and creates whimsical lino cut prints that can be found exclusively at John Derian. The dogs are my favorites and even though the prices have risen in the last few years, they still make the perfect gift and also come in vintage frames.

Even though their artist styles are different they somehow compliment each other and look great together in their home in Brooklyn which you can check out in the new Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People book. Not quite as fun as finding a painting under the tree but we can all dream. Isn't that what holiday wish lists are all about?

Josie Natori's Apartment from Elle Decor October 2007

Mark Cunningham's home from Elle Decor May 2007

Lucy and James Danzinger home from May 2007 Domino

Pen and Ink Drawing from Domino September 2006

Christmas at the Townhouse

It's beginning to look like Christmas everywhere including the fabulous Charlotte Moss Townhouse! I had the opportunity to photograph the wonderful decorations last week and I know you will be just as impressed as I was. I especially loved the use of blue and white Chinese pottery that I don't think most people would ever think to do themselves but they definitely should because it looks so beautiful against the greenery and red accents. I also loved the amaryllis in the silver pots and I know I will be copying them in my home this holiday! If you happen to be in New York, you should definitely stop by and pick up some gifts or to just be inspired!

Wendy Goodman + Tony Duquette = Perfection!

On December 1st, the new Tony Duquette book by Wendy Goodman and Hutton Wilkinson will finally be released! I know I for one can't wait! Recently, a friend of Ms. Goodman's was sweet enough to email me with Wendy's contact information so I could get her take on all the hoopla. Ronda at All the Best already conducted a wonderfully in depth interview with her so I just asked her a few questions and she couldn't have been nicer!

I'd love to know about your first meeting with Tony Duquette and what you thought about Dawnridge. I hear it was unbelievably amazing!

I met Tony while on assignment for House & Garden magazine (HG then)when I was originally there in early '90s doing a story on guestrooms and spied this wild, totally original piece of furniture in Hutton and Ruth Wilkinson's Los Angeles house. I hadn't ever heard of Tony Duquette, but asked Hutton, who was his business partner, if I could meet him on that trip. I ended up staying to produce a story on Tony's extraordinary Malibu ranch and that launched the odyssey of my working with him and Hutton to start imagining this book.

I know it took you 10 years to complete this book and I would love to know how you kept going! In this age of ADD and everyone moving on the next big thing it must have taken some serious discipline and patience!

Yes, it takes discipline and conviction to keep at a project that is so complex as there was so much archival material to unearth and edit...especially challenging for me as I had to go out to the west coast for research in between my deadlines for all the magazines I work with here in New York. What kept me going was my passion for Tony's work and the conviction that his story was unique and had to be told.

I was also wondering if you were involved with the planning of the windows at Bergdorf's. They are also amazing have been really well received in the city and online.

The incredible event of the Bergdorf Goodman Christmas windows is a dream come true! Linda Fargo and her amazing team headed up by David Hoey, produced the most extraordinary tribute to Tony's genius! I had nothing to do with the windows what so ever except to be dazzled and awed that they are beyond magical!

Wendy also mentioned that they have already sold out of the luxury edition at Bergdorf's and the regular book is being rushed into a second printing! Better get your copy today!