Holiday table

Instead of the traditional red & green, why not celebrate winter and the holidays? The table setting Elisia and I have designed for this weekend's Holiday Open House at Ethan Allen celebrates water and fire and the beauty of natural elements found on the Earth and in the Sea.
Our supply list included beautiful curly branches from the yard, seashells, glass, a candle, and a variety of shells.

Without presenting a literal interpretation of a particular holiday, we chose cool colors  to create a centerpiece water vignette of silver, blue, white and coral tones on a very rugged and sturdy "California style" Gilchrist Table.

Dream, imagine, enjoy.

Starting with Paper...

Starting with a scaled sketch cements the "fixed" elements of a space and lets me know exactly how much real estate the new pieces take up. The layout is determined not just by the architectural features of this room, but by the lifestyle of its owners. The textures, colors and patterns if any are also determined by the client's wants and needs. Adding sketches of the furniture, fabric swatches and photos helps tell a story and makes the transformation more "real" for the client. My job is to help them "see it" in their lifestyle!

A New Leaf

BEFORE & AFTER:
My clients Mary & Mike gave me a vision (and a visual on paper- that helps!) of the new lifestyle they wanted. I am thankful they placed their trust in my ability to listen, interpret and to stand back and let me make it happen without presenting objections to where this could take us. We emptied the room and our minds and opened up to the lifestyle change. This room is quiet now. The arwork sings.

They are thrilled. I knocked their socks off and gave them a little more than they had hoped for. I found the cigar box in their office, crammed between paperbacks. Putting it together and getting the hug- This makes the smoking brain and blistered feet feel a little better!

Keep on Sketching

Like Taylor Swift says,
"Eyes Wide Open." Look for the inspiration all around you. Whatever it is that you do, make sure you stay passionate about it. If you lose steam, get inspired! I hope I never lose the ability to sketch, paint, create. 
Anyone can draw with a computer, insert coordinates, make toolbar choices. Not everyone can sketch. Thank you God for my talent. I will use it, not waste it. 

Impulsive Sketching

Sometimes before I meet with a client, I have an inspirational moment which requires a quick sketch . You can say alot with a sketch- like this one- in spite of the fact that I've pasted the image backwards, it conveys a casual room arrangement. If the client imagines another possibility, I can quickly sketch it. This is the collaboration I enjoy the most. You talk, I sketch. Together we revise and get to the best solution for your lifestyle. I'm not sure how I could get through an entire week without sketching. It's relaxing, and it's useful. Sometimes I see a potential problem that I didn't consider in the floorplan. Think in 3D- it's how we experience the world around us! 

Windows - Make it Elegant!

I recently presented my clients with sketch ideas for 3 rooms in their home. I did this after visiting their home, interviewing them and taking some cues from their existing design style and personal taste.
Wow! They are wordly, open minded and they LOVE non-representational art- aka- contemporary, free form, strong. We decided together that their tastes in art and furnishings should carry over to their windows in all 3 rooms- Dining, Den and Family.
Back at my drawing board, I always begin with an inspirational sketch and then fine tune it. I let the concept come freely without overthinking the design. My pen and I are simply the vehicles for the creative energy which fuels the design.

I'm posting the "messy" first sketch as well as the final sketch. As I've always said, just be yourself and the room will follow.

COLOR!

I'm asked all the time 'What color should this room be?' The answer to this question can be found in your closet. Yes I said closet!! We all tend to wear colors that we are comfortable surrounding ourselves in. If you are like me, I wear a lot of black, and we all know an entire room cannot be painted black unless you want to live in a cave. Taking a closer look, I actually can find solid, textures with a pizzaz of color in my accessories. See how this transfers to Interior Design:

A Work in Progress

Every home is a work in progress. Our tastes may change, and our travels may take us places which influence our perspective.

This room I have designed for my client and friend Anne is almost complete. A window treatment and additional lighting will make this space feel like home for her and her family.

To reach this level of completion, I "interviewed" Anne to find out how she and her family use this space and how they wanted to feel as well as look. They "tried on" the furniture to ensure a comfortable fit, and Anne asked that we use coastal palette as the inspiration for the theme, without being overly "beachy". If I could transform Ann into a home space, this room would be her- young, sophisticated, dressy casual. I know that this family is very happy with this room and my inspiration came directly from them. It's important for me to know that this space reflects them and their tastes!

Now You See It!

I created this quick sketch for my new friend Susan so she can picture how her favorite room will look when I add window treatments, and a few pieces of furniture. She just moved to Cincinnati and lives in a fairly empty house. My job is to make this house feel like home for her.

Sketches convey what I see in my head when I look at a space. I also drew a floor plan, but Susan is not a bird or a spider so she cannot appreciate the "big picture" by looking down at the room from overhead. I sketch because I can and now she and I are on the same page!

WHY Accept Professional Advice?- Part II

A good designer can use some intuition and the powers of observation about your own style. He or she can help you streamline what enters your front and back door. It's ok to like everything, but it doesn't mean you should purchase it. If you love design, then you most likely love fashion, the arts and music. If you are serious about it, you follow the Style Sections of the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal because unlike some of the HGTV programs, they don't have to appeal to the lowest common denominator. In most cases, the writing is intelligent and thoughtful. Check out these recent fashion photos from the Journal. The idea behind the article is just how the thread of design and style is floating through the current trends of popular culture- apparel, movies and books. I would add one more area- Interiors! Does art follow life? I think so. Does life follow art? Definitely. I've paired wearable fashions with Lifestyle interiors- what do you think? The rooms, just like the outfits can be "tweaked" with small accents to keep it fresh, but the idea is that the interior designer should help you distill your personality or vibe so the overall look in your home or office is consistent IF WHAT YOU WANT is an interior that's consistent and well designed. Art history teaches us the provenance of certain design styles- how they were influenced, what was going on at that point in time which influenced popular culture- who was wearing what and creating design trends. Nothing is really new, just reimagined in new materials and new combinations. If you LOVE design, then you get it.

Designed Clutter

We all have it....stuff. Each individual item is precious to us, but 1+1=2, etc. Before you know it your home is full of multiple things everywhere. The question is how do we keep it organized, easily accesibly and still not over take our living environments. With the ever popular movement of one room blending into another room, it is exeptionally hard to keep all areas clean and tidy at the same time.

Here are a few images that will hopefully inspire you to store and display your cherished pieces in a well designed fashion.

Houseplans and More

Decor Pad

Decor Pad

Why Accept Professional Advice?- Part I

When looking through "design" magazines, I can't help but notice that some interiors look more professional than others. I recently picked up a publication called "Elegant Homes. " I was impressed by the number of projects in this magazine which were created by professional designers. Every one of these homes is WOW! Classic traditional, transitional and contemporary- there's something for everyone in this collection. There's no comparison to projects published in magazines like Better Homes and Gardens. The do-it-yourselfer most likely has a spouse who says "this looks great". A professional looks at your home with an objective eye and gives you an unbiased diagnosis. It's a difficult thing to teach and most of the shows on TV make it look easy because they need to appeal to the lowest common denominator. In my opinion, you're either an artist or you're not. It's not a science, it's an art.

To give you an analogy- I used to try and dress myself and thought I was doing a great job until I met Nanci Glendenning at Ann Taylor in Kenwood. She's a professional like me who gives polite advice with an objective eye because she can and because she's good at it. She has a nice way of saying "that's a great jacket on someone else- now, take it off and hang it up." She doesn't charge for this service- she's paid by Ann Taylor to make sure clients make wise choices because work clothes are an investment. If her clients are happy with the results, they will return for more. The designers at Ethan Allen provide the same service. If my clients receive compliments on their home, which they do, they return for more and sometimes for Phase 2 which involves adjacent rooms. (Yes, I have to keep reminding them to pass my name along because this is how I make a living!) Here's a quick sketch I recently made for clients who wanted to envision their new space as "dressy casual." Sometimes a floor plan only tells part of the story, so I sketch in 3-D to help people see the possibilities. I love what I do and hopefully the work conveys this passion.

Tim Gunn at The Aronoff!

Did you know that Tim Gunn, the host of "Project Runway" is going to speak at The Aronoff Center this Saturday? It's true! Check this out:

The local Ethan Allen Design Team of Heidi Thorn, Brenda Dowling and Angela Costello have designed the set for the January 14th Smart Talk event at The Aronoff Center.

Tim Gunn, host of Project Runway and Chief Creative Officer of Liz Claiborne, Inc. will be the first of several speakers at the Smart Talk “Connected Conversations” Series.

This is the second year the Ethan Allen designers have been chosen to create the sets for this speaker series. The January 14th on-stage vignettes by the Ethan Allen team include several new pieces from the Ethan Allen collections as well as a few "surprises" which personalize the set specifically for Tim Gunn who serves as a style icon for loyal fans of fashion and design both locally and internationally.

The design brainstorm came while the design team was standing in front of the local men’s shop, “Salem’s”. Instead of displaying the usual books, magazines and china in the new Ethan Allen “Oskar” cabinet, we will fill the glass shelves in this piece with colorful mens’ top hats, bowling hats and wingtip shoes. Because this piece is lit internally, the audience at this Aronoff event will be able to appreciate the humor and out of the box quirkiness of this set.

Besides, this new piece- made of elm and oak, is quite heavy as it is when empty. They don’t call it “the widowmaker” for nothing;)! For tickets call 513-621-2787.

January Decor

As I take down my Christmas decorations, its amazing how bear my home feels. From the mantel to the front door. Thats how I got the wild idea to create a 'winter' wreath for my front door. There's nothing like a wreath to say WELCOME. I came across some beautiful ones online, but in the end decided to create my own and share the process with you.

To get started you will need the following supplies:   

-Newspaper

-Foam 12" ring

-Scissors

-Scotch Tape

-Ribbon

-Beads/Crystals

-Hot Glue Gun 

At times I had a clear vision and at others I was just letting my creativity take over. So when making this for your own front door, remember each is unique so let your inner creativity take charge and it will be more beautiful than you could have enivisioned.

Mixing it Up

For the immediate future, high end furniture manufacturers will follow a shift in American culture by moving away from complete room “collections.” Extensive lifestyle research supports the fact that we don’t live within the “matched set” theory any longer. Unlike my parents’ generation which did purchase entire rooms of matching collections (bed/nightstands/chests/lamps/mirrors), we now travel the globe or watch programs which bring the most remote corners of our world right into our “great rooms”. This means we are very aware of our global society and want exotic or different pieces which may include exotic woods, eclectic conversation items and personality pieces.

In this quick sketch I made of a room interior, my clients were interested in an eclectic mix of comfortable. I recommended non-matching end tables, as well as a combination of tapestry, leather, chenille and nailhead trims to reflect their global tastes and lifestyle.