Snob-less Decorating

Chinese New Year 2012 - Year of the Water Dragon

2012-01-18T10:39:00.005-05:00

I might have mentioned before that in order to start my Interior Design practice, I have studied at the Sheffield School of Feng Shui Interior Design, in Manhattan. Feng Shui has helped me tremendously on my way to understanding who I am and why I am at this point in my existence. What it has also given me in abundance, is the confidence that when I design people homes, they will not only look picture-ready, but support the owner's growth and their immediate well being. Short introduction to why I am borrowing from Sheffield's website part of an article written by Jennifer Ellen Frank, the school's Feng Shui Advisor, to share with you:

"CHINESE NEW YEAR lands on the new moon of January 23, 2012 in the U.S. It is the Year of the Black Water Dragon. The Chinese New Year is a time to welcome longevity, wealth and prosperity and to eliminate negative chi from the past. This year will be marked by excitement, unpredictability, exhilaration and intensity. The year of the dragon is traditionally associated with new beginnings and good fortune. Those with entrepreneurial spirit are particularly favored to see much success in the coming year. Generally, it's predicted that any new venture may benefit from the outstanding luck often associated with the dragon. Therefore, 2012 will be a very good year to get married, have children, and/or start a new business.

The water dragon is a less imperious type of Dragon who favors optimum growth and expansion. He can put aside his ego for the good of all and is less selfish and opinionated. He can assume a wait and see attitude, and his wits are as formidable as his strength of will. The water dragon lives by the “do unto others” philosophy.

Since 2012 is the year of the Water Dragon, the liquid element is predicted to calm the dragon's usually tempestuous nature, and will give a thoughtful perspective to the plight of the less fortunate. Water is calming and beneficial to this lunar sign, enabling him to know how to act wisely and do what is essential for his progress. He is quick and reliable and is capable of marketing his ideas with untiring devotion. He is likely to be successful as a negotiator; He must learn to make difficult choices and relinquish whatever is unfeasible or unnecessary. This way, he will be able to devote his energies to fewer but more rewarding endeavors. As the world suffers through one of the worst economic calamities in recent memory, bold new leadership will help ease the circumstances of those suffering most from recent financial setbacks.

Dragons who can pursue their own passionate ambitions while meeting the needs of others are best suited to navigating the year ahead. Those compatible with the Dragon — the Rat and the Snake in particular — will also find 2012's circumstances inspiring them to greater personal happiness and professional success."

My daughter is a Water Dragon and I a Snake so, needless to say, I am very excited about the year ahead :)

Saladino: The Villa Whisperer

2011-06-15T08:33:00.012-04:00

This morning my children decided they wanted school food for lunch (I won't elaborate on that, it's reserved for my rant pages), so at 7:20 am I found myself with 15 minutes of really free time. For me, this translated into quickly plopping myself, coffee cup in hand, into a chair bathed in the warmth of the eastern Sun and grabbing from the pile next to the fireplace a magazine that came out months ago and never got read.

It happened to be the May issue of HouseBeautiful with a perky but otherwise not that inspiring breakfast room on its cover. Maybe that's why it had ended in The Pile. I went straight for Mr Newell Turner's piece on how he's a design junkie (believable), seguing into how "recent natural disasters around the world tend to make decorating seem more of a luxury than a necessity". Decorating any living space is a necessity as long as it involves a place to sit on, eat at, and three flowers from the garden in a water glass. Luxury decorating will always be a luxury, the same way disasters around the world, natural or created by man, have always been happening. This fact will never stop the new super-rich to spend obscene amounts on whatever gives them more perceived status and legitimacy (the Falcones, anyone?), and the decent to find a balance between getting and giving. And while I was still thinking about Lisa Maria's continued attempts to infiltrate old-money circles, I turned the page to pure, serene beauty: a John Saladino-created house.

Deep breath, aware of the Sun's massaging heat on the back of my head. Good-to-the core fabulous architecture and design can do this, and Mr. Saladino is THE MASTER, taking the shout out and instead making houses whisper their sophisticated story. There's no "nouveau"-riche or any other kind in here. Dreamy, painterly (think Vermeer light), happy, and am I coining the term "restrained opulence"?, or "minimalist sensual Romanticism? (OK, this is really pushing it) - all of these can describe his work, with one of my very favorites being the landscape architecture of his (former) home, Villa di Lemma in Montecito, CA. I highly recommend purchasing his 2009 book documenting the creation of this masterpiece. "Villa", written by Mr. Saladino, also includes a DVD with a film by Ethan Boehme and, in addition to Debussy's "Syrinx" for flute, original music by Daniel Lentz. There is just no other book like this one and I hope that by now it is required reading in any design program and, thinking about it, in architecture schools too, and not just because of its author being one of the the most distinguished alumni of the Yale School of Art and Architecture.

Back to the article that took my mind away from greed and pettiness. It depicts Mr. Saladino weaving his art into a Spanish-style Florida house. Yes, the spirit of '20s Mizner is there, but the rest is pure Saladino magic. Above are the pictures that took me away to design Nirvana. Hope they'll do the same for you.

Father's Day - going back to Switzerland

2011-06-13T19:00:00.003-04:00

Thanks to our friends at 1stdibs, I finally found something to be excited about in my search for the perfect gift for the fathers in my life (one to me, the other to my children). The fact that it comes from home-sweet-home is event better, and the shine is just so, well, Swiss bank-appropriate. The price is reasonable enough that I'm starting to wonder what to put inside:

1920's Swiss Bank Safety Deposit Box

Switzerland
circa 1920's
Safety deposit boxes from a bank in Zurich, Switzerland, boxes are chrome-plated with brass handles and number plaques - all have been highly polished. Twelve are available, price listed is for each.

Price
$395

Condition*
Appropriate ageing and wear

Measurements
height: 1 3/4
depth: 10 1/2

Specifications
Number of items: 12
Materials/Techniques: Metal, Brass
Creator: Unknown

Photography
provided by 1stdibs

SICIS Next Art: the beautiful and the delightfully kitschy

2011-05-31T22:14:00.007-04:00

The beautiful is the Two Collection (Collezione Theodora), designed by Mr. Lacroix. It takes the exuberance of color and shape and unbridled designed happiness SICIS has been famous for since 1988 and gives them a bit more gravitas through a line of incredibly elegant and trendy upholstered pieces and (almost) Victorian lamps. Not restrained by any means, the shapes and colors are sultrily sensuous. Anastase could have been preppy in a previous life, while the back of Belisaire could be used as a giant puzzle piece. Jeanne is a perfect perch for a modern Mme de Recamier, with Julien Largentier (see above) by far my favorite. Theodora is pure Lacroix, a dainty Spanish infanta reincarnated as a bergère and its ottoman.

If you loved Audrey, the shoe-shaped bathtub designed by Massimiliano Della Monaca for SICIS, and consider having one custom-designed for your palatial "hers" bathroom, you should probably also check out their One furniture collection, designed by Carla Tolomeo. Sexy, rococo, surreal, exotic, glamorous, seductive and, well yes, delightfully kitschy, her mosaic-encrusted pieces are like nothing else on the market. They look like Haziza sculptures padded in the world's most luxurious fabrics. Better yet, like SICIS mosaics you sink in.

"a perfectly kept house is the sign of a misspent life"

2011-05-25T08:27:00.005-04:00

I was looking at this picture of Mrs. Carter's desk at Ralph Lauren thinking "I could never get any work done with all this stuff around", which made me look around and surprisingly realize that it IS my office (except I have my stuff on a black table and there's also a fish tank in the mix). Yet for me it's not clutter - I know what each little paper means and when it has to be dealt with, and the pictures and photographs all have positive energy, reminding me of good times. Interestingly, even before I had Feng Shui-ed the space, I had already purged all my mom's paintings (she remains the most amazing influence in my life, but even after 20 years since she was killed, I still cannot look at her paintings without a shadow of sadness dulling her vibrant colors).

I am unapologetically a creative type, and Mrs. Carter's book united me on a purely intellectual level with all these wonderful people who are not afraid to put their lives on display. Because that's what you do when you decide to "go personal" with your decor. You give anyone who enters your home a very direct channel into who you've been, what you like now and who you are about to become in your present journey. It takes a lot of self-knowledge, acceptance and maturity to go there. And because there is no end result (we continue changing and therefore our environments will too), the journey is what matters and what's to be embraced, cherished, relished and offered to the ones we care about.

Her book is incredibly beautiful, with the title somewhat misleading. In their soulful richness, each one of the homes she introduces - from Oberto Gili's studio in Manhattan to her own farmhouse in Dutchess County, NY - is a perfect home, made even more so by the reflection of the very rich lives of their inhabitants in each memento displayed.

I bought the book not only because it was written by Mrs. Carter, but also because of its clever title, and was not disappointed. Even took it to a couple of meetings with clients, whose only complaint was that it has more to do with displaying collections creatively than making clutter work for you. Well, I see their point, because in my experience as a Feng Shui interior designer, clutter doesn't work. Period. What Mrs. Carter refers to as clutter is for her, as opposed to mess, interesting stuff that has an emotional value, without which life would seem emptier (i.e. the book of poems left open in the cozy and sunny reading nook). For quite a few of my clients, clutter is the stuff that they have kept accumulating for half their lives and they have no idea what to do with (hint: many charities pick up, too).

The pictures are beautiful in an artsy, boho way, the book is well written and the kind that I would leave open on my old green velvet sofa that's turning yellow because of the sunny windows behind it.

Anthropologie's TABLEAUX

2011-03-04T09:33:00.007-05:00

For years now I have been purchasing most of my clothing from Anthropologie, not in small measure because I just love spending time in their stores. Love the whimsy of their merchandisers and the one-of-a-kind treasures casually displayed on seriously distressed floors and in dressing rooms (18th century French mirror, anyone?); I can get lost looking through translucent hand painted coffee cups, and isn't it even more quaint that nobody would ever use 1 oz delicate porcelain confections for seriously diluted American coffee?

But today it is not about the Anthropologie stores that I am excited. Over my seriously diluted American coffee (served in an appropriate 8 oz silver and white striped sturdy mug) this morning, I started looking at their March catalogue, whose very romantic cover depicting an ethereal model walking from a light-filled verdant garden into a moody, high-ceiling-ed manse with many layers of peeling paint turning its walls into a canvas of old, cool colors in stark contrast with the promise of life luxuriating outside, was a winner from the moment I saw it in my mailbox. It's pages are seriously sexy, in a Wuthering Heights kind of way, despite the occasional tropical hints of vegetation. And then at page 48 start the "tableaux".

I had blogged once, about 2 years ago, about Deborah Buck's book TABLEAU and how I found it so appealing because that's how my artist mom taught me to look at images around me, as possible vignettes, still-lives of our surroundings. For 20 pages in their catalogue, Anthropologie delights with perfect tableaux marrying their leather, glass or metal accessories with fabrics, fruits and vegetables, brightly colored scarabs and feathers, in a symphony of jewel tones and painterly light. How very elegant and aesthetically delighting and, have to admit, unexpected to find such quality waiting in one's mailbox (unless you had previously ordered it by mail as a prized book).

The last pages of the catalogue deal with their furnishings, and I already have a favorite in the Le Versha chairs, which I can imagine scattered in all their array of colors under a grove of trees and a must-have, the Gilded Glow Floor Lamp, simple, understated but with clear sculptural presence.

Kitchens, etc.

2011-02-14T10:44:00.007-05:00

Expanding on the truism that the kitchen is the heart of the house, I have to admit that this is something I hate. On the first floor of my house I have a beautiful dining room where two Picassos (and a portrait my son made when 3) make funny faces at you, a family room where you can get toasty by the fireplace enveloped by the plumpness of the sofa's down-filled cushions, a media room with a semi-circular sectional so huge several people could lounge/sleep/live on and a sunny living room that's elegant, comfortable and inviting. There's also my cozy (read "really small") eggplant-colored office, and the original contractor's kitchen.

The kitchen - not the one pictured above, obviously - was the only thing my husband and I both agreed that it needed to be gutted when we bought the house; it has no redeeming features apart for the sun pouring through the boring over-the-sink window and undersized French doors. I have been working on the remodeling plans for 3 years now, never finding the "right time" to have Bob, my wonderful contractor, start the gutting job. We had it repainted, however, added recessed lights and a decent chandelier and replaced all the appliances. Until we rip the cabinetry and laminate countertops out, however, and have the floors refinished to a decent color, it is still going to be the only space in my home on the ugly side. And the place where everybody, at every party or get-together, is going to congregate. I tried putting the food platters everywhere BUT in the kitchen - people will fill their plates and set them on the island around which they now crowd, the drinks on three different consoles as far away from the "heart of the home" as possible - yet they'll soon start their natural migration in order to reappear on this same petty island fighting for space with, by now, the plates, silverware, wine and water glasses, napkins, unwrapped hostess gifts and a huge pot of coffee.

This past holiday season, with my family visiting from Switzerland (have ALL pictures been taken in the kitchen ?!?!), must have been the breaking point because I finally set the date for work to begin. And hopefully, by the time we come back from our European vacation this Summer, work will also be finished. Of course, I will obsess over every little detail before we leave and never relax while away, afraid Bob might have misunderstood a drawing, or the mason gotten the length of the half-wall wrong, or the floor people will mismatch the stain color, the marble island will crack (if not crack, then the double-bullnose edge will be a single one instead when delivered). Letting go of control is not something I'm good at. On the flip side, I'm an eternal optimist convinced that, in the end, the natural order of the Universe will bring a little bit of harmony into each of my projects, too - and that's no laughing matter.

We Have Come a Long Way (Thank God!)

2010-06-09T12:00:00.008-04:00

Do you believe in reincarnation? I always did, namely that I was the energy of my 19th century great-great grandmother, Princess Aline wearing a modern, albeit darker bodily suit. I can wholeheartedly embrace the wigs and corsets, gossip and intrigue. Where I start having doubts, though is when it comes to bathrooms: could I really, in a previous life, have allowed my body to go unwashed for extended periods of time, only to summarily have it soaked in a little zinc tub-thing when the itching became unbearable? Am I an interior designer in this life to atone for my lack of vision and innovation a couple of hundred years ago? My other personal conundrum is: "How could our civilization debacle from Roman Baths to outhouses, only in the last century rediscovering cleanliness?" And the biggest question for my contemporaries, still unanswered: "How come upper-middle-class American kids can come home from school with little unnameable creatures crawling on their scalps?" Which brings me to the last for today: "How far have we arrived?"

Did I Ever Mention I Was In Love With Mr. Vervoordt (part 2)?

2010-04-29T11:39:00.008-04:00

Last Sunday, I went with (most of) my family to Red Bank, a little town we had not visited yet since moving to NJ. Very charming and shopper-friendly, they manage to avoid the big-box retailers in favor of variety and originality (and yes, high-end shops like Coco Pari, which carries the only pair of stilettos - Jimmy Choos - that are actually comfortable to walk in). There is however and Urban Outfitters (without their furniture line, though) and, my all-time favorite furniture store, Restoration Hardware.

Which brings me back to Mr. Vervoordt, because knowingly (for sure) or not, RH carries a lot of pieces that sport some of the trademarks of his look: driftwood-color furniture, reclaimed wood, linen-covered sofas, superb stone planters, elegantly understated lighting, light beige, medium beige, dark beige, blackened metal and Palladian balance. Their French Casement Bathroom Collection (with the perfectly complementary Dutch Industrial tower) makes me consider redesigning my own master bathroom. This is the only store where, when I enter it, I feel I could buy every single piece displayed on the floor (or shelf) and they would all work together in the same home magnificently.

Did I Ever Mention I Was In Love With Mr. Vervoordt?

2010-04-29T10:38:00.006-04:00

That would be Mr. Axel Vervoordt, famous antiques and art dealer and interior designer extraordinaire. I have not met him yet, so my love is of the aesthetic kind, a boundless admiration for his artistic genius and encyclopedic knowledge, for his ability to sublimate material possessions into romantic ideals. Of course he's a hopeless romantic - how else could one take priceless artifacts and one-of-a-kind furnishings and turn them into love stories that not once hint at the fact that they're merely accessories to living at the higher end?

While I was still living in Switzerland, my Baron friend invited me on a visit to Kasteel van 's-Gravenwezel, Mr. Vervoordt's 14th-century castle outside of Antwerp, Belgium. However, my 20-something years old persona of the time had something better to do - so I declined, something that I obviously still regret to this day when, as a working mother, any time away from my young kids is laced with guilt.

On the brighter side, my job as a designer gives me all excuses to escape with one of his books in a sunny corner of my family room, pouring over the images and dreaming in off-whites and sienna and old gold and gilt and grey shale, dreaming of furniture the color of driftwood, of rounded stone, softened-by-age linen and blues that can never turn cold, just very, very romantic.

In my Heaven, the Universal Interior Designer is Mr. Vervoordt - and I'm his assistant.

SOMA

2009-11-12T20:17:00.007-05:00

"When I discovered Soma it was like coming back home."
Ayala Serfaty, 2005

I am fascinated by Mrs. Serfaty's creations in general, and have been a constant fan of her work's since my first visit at 200 Lex. On exhibit at Museum Beelden Aan Zee, in Den Haag, Netherlands for a period of three months, is her newest artwork from the SOMA series (Soma is Greek for "body", but Hebrew reference for "blindness"). The lighted "body" has been created by the Aqua Creations team out of woven and entwined filaments of glass encased in a skin-like polymer membrane.

Whether interpreted as primordial light, or the metaphorical light inside our own bodies, SOMA structures are, like all of Mrs. Serfaty's works, highly organic and their symbolism can be further "dissected' in a number of ways, but underneath and above it all is the pure, unadulterated beauty of the finished product.

One Man's Trash...

2009-11-09T17:25:00.005-05:00

True story:

I am 9 1/2 months pregnant with my first kid and walking the dog on the little streets from New Rochelle to Pelham (Westchester, NY), when we spot a huge amount of trash piled up for removal next to a house that's being gutted. Of course my dog begs me to go check it, and since there's nothing more interesting to do on a sleepy Sunday morning, I indulge her.

The first to catch my eye (obviously) is a 6' x 10' oil painting (Hudson River School?) of a ship on the stormy waters - magnificent, but impossible to carry in my condition. There's a medley of small pieces of furniture obstructed by my belly, and I decide not to check them out so that I don't ruin my (already precariously off) center of gravity. However, sitting pretty on its four legs there's a mid-century coffee table I just have to have, and that I just might be able to carry back home, provided my dog agrees to walk by my side unleashed (I don't give birth clutching it, if that's what you're wondering right now).

For the next ten years, the coffee table followed us from home to home and state to state until last week when, for its latest re-positioning (in the upstairs sitting room of my home), I give it another cleaning. And there, glued underneath the tabletop, there's the (previously covered by old paint) little tag: R Jens Risom Design Inc.

The Return of the Sink-In Sofa

2009-10-21T16:24:00.004-04:00

It is being explained as a direct corellation between the depressed economy and the need to uber-cocoon (take Faith Popcorn's "cocooning" from 2001 and remove cashmere, gold and brocade from your holiday shopping list): the tougher the times, the deeper and cuddlier the sofa. And so it comes that Mrs. Ashwell's barely deceased stores were resurrected within a matter of months, with a twist: the oversized sofa in her Shabby Chic Couture line (with a price tag so that it can be easily differentiated from the Target offerings) is even larger and squishier than before.

I succumbed to the uber-cocooning need early this year, when I purchased a humongous Regency House sofa that came with 4 equally oversized pillows (and one which is just dainty). If my mini dog wants to climb on it next to me we have to get a pillow out of the way to prevent suffocation. Its enveloping quality became an instant favorite of the family's and a magnet to anybody entering the family room, my old tufted velvet recamier for now being totally overlooked as a seating option.

I am knowingly smiling as my clients request chairs that are big and comfy, tactile fabrics and moody rooms. Yes, Yes and Yes!

Venting about The Housepainting Artist

2009-09-23T11:03:00.009-04:00

I have been working over the past couple of months on a gorgeous condo on the 39th floor of Philly's new Murano building and was away for 10 days during the painting phase. My directions to the painter my client had insisted on were clear, complete with pictures, measurements and paint chips; I even traced on the walls of one room the outline of the circles to be painted. What I couldn't have known at the time was the fact that my client's painter was a true Artist (not a good one, though), bursting at the seams with creativity and willfully unwilling to bend under the confining directions of a designer.

A few days into my vacation, my client called to let me know that he was less than thrilled with the way the walls came out in three of the rooms, and once back at the condo I realized why: those rooms looked nothing like what I had specified. My client's Artist House Painter had convinced him to go the "creative" way, with particleboard circles covered in an Asian-inspired silver fabric, hand painted canvases glued to the walls vertically instead of horizontally and a mustard library instead of a chocolate brown one. Deep breath. Another one. We are now being delayed for weeks. It is of course a lesson for me too, about saying "no" when I just know better (and having my own painters on my job).

After years of doing mostly traditional interiors in NY and NJ McMansions I am looking forward though to finalize the creation of an utterly modern interior. I was so thrilled to even find, at Roche Bobois, a very aptly named Murano sofa table, although their Marco Polo is still the perfect one for the glass-enclosed Living Room.

New York International Gift Fair

2009-08-07T15:36:00.005-04:00

Collectionneurs rejoice: between August 15 and 20, Manhattan will host again the best in home, gift and lifestyle resources under one roof in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The target audience of the Fair is resellers, but don't let that discourage you from embarking on a visual Odyssey of accessory excess. From design-led merchandise and over-the top cookery to sophisticated furnishings and garden statuary, anything that can be made will be made and desplayed there for you to be tempted with, whether your passion is to-die-for tchotchkes, Design House Stockholm's seriously edited designs, or anything in-between. In any case, I promise you it's worth it - see you there!

Outdoor Spaces - it's time to Buy-Buy Baby!

2009-08-03T13:37:00.005-04:00

My inbox is filled these days with emails from manufacturers and resellers of outdoor furnishings alike, while my brain, bombarded with images of luxurious loungers and high-end outdoor kitchens and still sorting through the visual overload of Italian outdoor furniture from the gorgeous pool settings visited during last month's vacation to Mexico, has a hard time getting back into indoors mode. I have daydreams about my little acre re-landscaped as a Palladian garden, complete with an octagonal central blue mosaic fountain set in a circle of pure white marble pebbles and bordered by soaring deep green cypresses. My eyes are set on a a pretty little orangerie greenhouse for the back of the property, which will house my most delicate plants and my Brown Jordan dining set, freeing up the patio for a shaded white double daybed, secure in the knowledge that thanks to global warming, I'll have extra time to enjoy my share of terrestrial paradise before another snow-deprived winter arrives. So it's time to Buy-Buy Baby!

Art for Your FLOR

2009-07-08T18:23:00.009-04:00

I've never hidden my admiration for all things Swiss, which I've got to experience for quite a few years first-hand as a former resident of said country (Switzerland). The ghost of Le Corbusier was ever-present (a dear family-friend was an enthusiastic follower) but then there are, pelle-melle the Giacometti brothers, Mario Botta, Paul Klee, Herzog & de Meuron, H.R. Giger, Frisch and Dürrenmatt, Rosset and Federer, and let's not forget Louis Chevrolet, whose car has provided happy memories to generations of American teenagers. Which brings me to the Robert brothers, François and Jean, and their happy faces found in objects like mops, electrical outlets and door handles.

FLOR, the company responsible for manufacturing "green" carpets years before it was so hip to do so (I'm proud to have been an outspoken fan of theirs since 2002) has brought to floors the whimsical photographs of François Robert in their newest (and by far the best until now) carpet tile collection, Find A Face. Just in time for my newest project, a condo in Philadelphia's Murano building!

Shop talk - Wallpaper Murals

2009-06-19T12:00:00.009-04:00

I have just looked on 1stdibs at a fabulous 19th century wallpaper panel "Vues d'Italie" (above) and for once I didn't wish I had this particular fabulous offering. I could do with a reproduction (top) - I'd rather have a reproduction, something that I wouldn't mourn over if my kids' games damaged it or if my cleaning lady decided to wash the dust off it.

Pet peeve: while hand-painted wallpaper panels 100 - 200 years old are still being celebrated as the artisanal artworks that they are, their mass-produced modern counterparts, good-looking and inexpensive by any standards, are yet to be accepted in American homes as the fabulous decorating tools they are.

And we're not talking that gaudy, flowery wallpaper from your grandparents' home which would come off only with part of the wall attached to it. From rustic to trompe l'oeil to the oversized painted image of a harbour, these wallpapers are not only easy to install but can be peeled off by hand once you're ready to change your decor. And until then, you'd have had have instant drama in a space devoid of any architectural merit, with badly placed windows and low doors (guess I've been in too many houses built at the beginning of this century).

Not only kids' rooms but also windowless powder rooms, tiny dining rooms, two-story tall but narrow foyers, boring bedrooms, scarily bland finished basements - they can all be personalised, dignified or just jazzed-up with the right wallpaper mural. As a trained faux-finisher (studied with Pierre Finkelstein), I've been painting some pretty interesting walls for a few select clients, but it breaks my heart to think that all my work will be gone once it's time to redecorate or sell.

So this is my call to action for today: Use Wallpaper Murals!

GLAMOUR!

2009-06-17T15:55:00.007-04:00

During the last few years, designers and their clients have rediscovered (and reinterpreted in many ways) the luminous opulence of the Hollywood Regency style. Crystal and lacquer, velvet, silk, sculpted carpets contrast with the daintiness of elegant little chairs almost fading into the background.

And while any pieces from the great Dorothy Draper or William Haines are a wonderful to live with investment, pretty much anybody can recreate the look on a budget (think spray-painting a Queen Anne chair in high gloss creamy white). The beauty of it is that you can go in any direction: eclectic, modern, rustic - your imagination is the limit, proven by the new book from Metropolitan Home's Michael Lassell, aptly named GLAMOUR. A suspended Corian fireplace acts as a wall, Christian Liaigre furniture floats in a room were the chocolate brown walls recede into the shadows, a staircase of intertwined circles becomes the statement in an all-white foyer. Not rooms on a (regular) budget, but what inspiration...

Not immune to the trends, I have just redone my study in a glossy aubergine wall color, with my limed oak italianate dining table taking center stage as an oversized desk, a black & white print of Vienna's Belvedere Castle breaking up the darkness of the wall behind it and gauzy white panels framing the view of flower beds in my front yard - with the furniture repurposed from other areas, it is instant glamour for the price of a gallon of paint and a roll of masking tape!

Deborah Buck's TABLEAU

2009-03-04T14:28:00.008-05:00

Because my mom has been painting them all her life, I have always been fascinated by what Mrs. Buck calls "tableaux", complex still lives of pure decorative beauty. As an adult, I've been creating them myself in my homes and in my clients', and this book elevates them to art form. As you turn the pages from one amazing "tableau" to the next, you might eventually feel the urge to grab your kid's pastels or look for a long dried out box of water based paints and add bright spots of color to the back of your latest fax. It's that inspiring.

If I managed to pique your curiosity, you might be interested to know that you can join Madeline Weinrib to celebrate Deborah Buck's "Tableau" at her Atelier at ABC Carpet & Home in NYC on March 9, 2009 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Please RSVP first at madelineweinribevents@abchome.com 212.828.3123. See you there!

Valentina: American Couture and the Cult of Celebrity

2009-02-12T19:04:00.008-05:00

What a woman! Her story has everything: rags to riches, love triangles, rich and famous, exotic locales and accents and the missing link in American couture. How come nobody's been talking about her for all these years? Beautiful, talented, outrageously independent and opinionated, makes me wish I were her, today. Who still has the aplomb (elegant for "balls") to say things like: "My house and my shop are like a clinic where I treat my patients for bad taste" - my favorite, or "Mink is for football" and then the famous: "You ask price for dress that change your whole life?!"? I cannot wait for the book to arrive.

The exhibition will start on Valentine's Day (of course) at the Museum of the City of New York, where I'll be savoring each display right before we go see Jane Fonda on Broadway. Hmmm... another woman to look up to.

Home, Dream Home

2009-01-04T19:22:00.006-05:00

Who wouldn't want a second home in Napa Valley or Sonoma? I can't imagine, unless it's somebody who already owns one there :) So I've been seriously instructed by my 9 years old son to participate in HGTV's sweepstakes after he saw the Dream Home's kids' room on TV, which prompted me to check out the decor online. I was also looking for a blow-your-mind beautiful picture to put on this blog.

I probably went through quite a few tens of cautiously chic images, the Ethan Allen furniture carefully selected to appeal to the largest number of viewers. Where's the "Wow"?!?! It was like going through the pages of any Ballard Designs or Pottery Barn catalogue, pretty but oh-so-boring, so aseptically safe. When something sparkles, it almost does so apologetically, even the emboldened red of the dining room tempered by tons of cream. The master bedroom is definitely not boring, but I personally believe it's not a place for crisp, cool colors. It should be more akin to a boudoir, inspiring thoughts I cannot talk about here.

Which doesn't mean that I will not enter the sweepstakes. The house is beautiful, the appliances top of the line and, most importantly, I don't have a second home in either Napa or Sonoma.

Happy Dreaming and A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Botanist - No Ornamentation

2008-12-01T21:03:00.006-05:00

As proven by Botanist, whose eco-friendly furniture brings together amazing designers (think Karim Rashid, Milton Glaser, Dario Antonioni, Yves Behar etc.) in a collaborative effort to create socially responsible products that raise funds and awareness for charitable organizations worldwide, design has the power to make the world a better place.

On Botanist's home page, Sir Richard Branson's quote sums up beutifully their philosophy:

"There is such a thing as enlightened self-interest, and we should encourage it. It is possible to turn a profit while making the world a better place."

Speaking of designers, I have to admit I'm quite partial to Claude Zellweger: he's extremely talented, generous, Swiss and well, really good-looking. And his amazingly cool tables for Botanist are this month 20% off their quite hefty price. What's not to like?

Light in Motion: Aqua Creations

2008-11-22T20:22:00.005-05:00

I have been a long time admirer of Aqua Creations' creations. It is the stuff decorating dreams are made of: incredibly beautiful, of impeccable quality, wildly creative and useful, too. I didn't make the trip home to Switzerland to see this exhibit, but I enjoyed the pictures and the YouTube segment (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPHF59JLIhM) as much as I'm certain you will.

"On 8-9 November 2008 Designers' Saturday took place in Langenthal, Switzerland for the twelfth time. Aiming to provide an inspiration for top performance, Aqua Creations in collaboration with its Swiss distributor Sphinx Lichttechnik, chose to exhibit at Creation Baumann's warehouse.

Having the designs return to their place of origin– the factory– or as Le Corbusier envisioned "the birthplace of cultural renewal", an extraordinary and magnificent event took form. Given the dramatic, unconventional, and challenging exhibition space of an entryway and two 1.8 meters/ 5.9" wide, 40 meters / 131.23" long, and 25 meters/ 82" high aisles, Aqua Creations and renowned designer Michael Azulay were prompted to create a total environment that included movement, sound, and light, thus providing visitors with an unforgettable visit alluding to a deep sea dive. The music, the movement, and the rich display of timeless Aqua favorites installed in the darkened corridors provided a view of the splendor, exoticism and delicate craftsmanship which stand at the core of Ayala Serfaty's designs."

Opulence

2008-10-01T18:30:00.009-04:00

1stdibs and Van Cleef & Arpels sponsor the Opening Night Gala Preview Party for the International Art+ Design Fair, Thursday, October 2nd, 2008, to benefit the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture.

And while decorating is threatening to become an esoteric notion these days, when a financial crisis is threatening to become a full-blown economic one, I cannot but encourage you to visit the Loan Exhibition, 2008: Knoll Textiles: The Designer's Vision - Installation by Proenza Schouler.

It is my firm belief that window shopping (not unlike taking in just the aroma of patisseries) never hurt anyone, instead refining the aesthetic sensibilities of a few. Enjoy!

Ballard and Oprah team up for charity project

2008-09-22T11:01:00.007-04:00

One of my favorite decorating catalogs, Ballard Designs, teamed up with the Oprah Winfrey Show to furnish a Katrina victim's home, and we can all see the results (and really cute designer Nate the Great) today in Oprah's show.

Right now though, you should check Ballard's website for their sale on outdoor items. My personal favorite is the Outdoor Garden Stripe Fabric, for only $7.99/yard. They also sell chair and bench cushions in this fabric, but they're made to fit their furniture, so the cut fabric is ideal for recovering your own cushions at the end of the season. To make your patio umbrella tie in, just add a pretty ruffled valance of the fabric around its perimeter, and Voila! an (almost) brand new patio set come Spring for minimal investment.

Julian Chichester - Fall Elle Decor Ad Campaign‏

2008-09-18T10:17:00.011-04:00

There are few tricks in a decorator's bag as useful as using mirrors to glamorize a space, and that's why I was thrilled when Julian Chichester (JC) came to the US. Not only does he create beautiful mirrors, but his mirrored furniture (cabinets, chests of drawers, side and vanity tables) is the most stylish on the market.

JC is high end, typically only selling to the trade, but some pieces are sold at Mecox Gardens (http://www.mecoxgardens.com/default.asp) . I also found some of his pieces at Hinson & Co. in the D&D Building, if you happened to be in Manhattan.

I had been thinking about different themes for a guest bedroom I'm doing, and this ad in Elle Decor (October issue) gave me the perfect starting point. The wallpaper is masculine and so are the table lamps, but the mirror is all soft curves and the cabinet is pure glamor. I'm going to my sketching pad right now.

Lalanne Sheep in My Living Room

2008-09-14T21:22:00.003-04:00

François-Xavier (FX) Lalanne's sheep have a following that reads as a "Who's Who of the World's Most Famous", starting with Coco Chanel, who had a flock of them grazing in her living room. Obviously, the prices the artist's art commands these days are not something people in most zip codes could realistically afford.

Even the 1997 book about the Lalannes (FX and Claude), published by avid Lalanne collector Reed Krakoff, sells (used) on Amazon for $522 (+ shipping)...

So when my dad sent me this week $1,000 "to buy something I liked", I immediately thought about the Lalanne-inspired ewes that Source Perrier sells (see picture). With my designer discount, I could get two of them for the money!!!

My friends were a bit taken aback by the idea of woolly overpriced creatures as (stylish?) decor, but I fully endorse Frank Lloyd Wright's statement that we should "take care of life's luxuries, because the necessities will take care of themselves" (the quote might not be exact, but that's the gist of it). Which means that pretty soon I might have two adorable sheep grazing in my living room, too.

Alex Iordachescu - L'Enfance d'Icare

2008-09-14T18:52:00.004-04:00

This is a picture of the set where my incredibly talented Swiss brother (Alex Iordachescu, left) and his equally amazing wife (Ruxandra Zenide, next to him) started shooting this month my brother's new movie, "L'Enfance d'Icare", starring Guillaume Depardieu (son of Gerard), and Alison Paradis (sister of Vanessa, Johnny Depp's partner).

I've never done any set decors, but I wish I had apprenticed on this one... As more pictures from the shooting are coming in every week, I cannot help but be amazed by the melancholic richness of the sets. I have translated the script from French into its English version and it's a beautifully harrowing story - not sure I'm allowed to say more (unless I wanted my brother to show up with a scythe at my front door, or just repudiate me for the rest of my breathing days).

Anyway, at this point I'm living vicariously his very exciting life through the pictures he posts on facebook, looking forward to the movie's premiere at Cannes - and the perfect excuse to get a new Armani gown...

Ralph Lauren's New Home Collections

2008-09-11T13:08:00.003-04:00

Who wouldn't love a properly upholstered cello (we're not consulting cello players, of course, or their conductors, etc)?

Ralph Lauren does it again, with three new collections ready to swipe off their feet and plop them into cozy cocoons nouveaux riches and old money, with classical tastes, alike.

Heavily taking his cues from sources as disparate as Louis XV, Biedermeier, Regence and... China's Ming Dynasty, few of the pieces inspire "love it or hate it" feelings (Duke's Host chair, anyone?).

While pieces in the Hudson Valley collection are a bit too "Americana" for me, the Rue Royale with its gorgeous side table and desk (check the website for the dainty Noble Estate settee), or Bedford Manor's Hayden sofa (a sister of which I happily own in a gorgeous bottle green velvet) reawaken the francophile in me and make me want to do a "Park Avenue meets Place Vendome" living room RIGHT NOW!

Kitchen Envy

2008-09-10T21:19:00.005-04:00

With unexpected time on my hands while recuperating after my accident, I found myself reading a lot of decorating magazines and books ("Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors" is a must), perusing other designers' work. And every once in a while, finding something that leaves me yearning for it.

This is the kitchen of my dreams, designed by Dave Stimmel for a family in neighboring Princeton. I can hardly wait re-creating it for a client, just to get it out of my system. Oh, those floor-to-ceiling glass-fronted cabinets...

One of my friends was commenting on the fact that it must be hard to keep it clean, but this is why Merry Maids is franchising so successfully.

Designer's Decorating Purgatory - Decorating with/for Pets

2008-09-09T18:52:00.005-04:00

When I started my blog, I thought I would write an entry every day. And then the dog came along.

SHE is an adorable Maltese-Poodle mutt, rescued from a puppy mill. Although she's only 11 months old, she already had a litter of 3 pups. Obviously, she spent her whole life in a cage, outdoors (read: "no social skills, human or animal, zero house-training"). Since we got her, my whole concept of what an interior decorator/designer's house should look like had to go back to that littlest common denominator: a place to sustain family life.

I now have to budget into my family's life the fact that carpets will have to be replaced in the very near future (OK, I always wanted some "green" bamboo flooring), that anything the kids leave on the floor will have to be replaced right after it got chewed, and that visits to the vet to x-ray her stomach for potentially life-threatening, embedded sharp objects that cannot pass through are just a fact of life.

Very much like the way you'd do it for a toddler, the house has to be doggie-proofed: some doors forever closed, nothing valuable within her reach, organic cleaners readily available. But I cannot help thinking about what a friend told me after her dalmatian pup chewed a leg off the armoire in her bedroom (happily, when the armoire toppled over, my friend was not in bed): "My life was a lot simpler before Cali, but so much less exciting".

Not So Snob Decorating

2008-08-13T18:16:00.009-04:00

I recently had to defend myself against accusations of snobbery - which could mean that deep inside there is still some of my juvenile inner snob left.

Anyway, 2 weeks ago I surprised myself by purchasing a patio set (for my brand-new patio) from Walmart, and actually REALLY liking it. Of course, I had to Rustoleum every single piece (3 days after purchase it had started to rust). Calling the manufacturer (BJI) for some of the original paint, though, brought the biggest surprise: my Walmart cheapo was a BROWN JORDAN DESIGN !!!

Inner snob appeased (I had my AHA! moment, like in"Aha! So that's why I had liked it, my fine-tuned aestheticism sensed the design's pedigree").

There's obviously a moral: if you like something and it's affordable, go for it, irrespective of its (lack of) provenance. A little elbow grease might be all it needs to morph into a gem.