Gushing Over Green!

While I normally don't care what the " in" color is for any given year,  I must admit to being quite smitten, once again, with emerald green. I'm sure there has already been a deluge of posts done about the "color of the year", but since life and work has kept me away from blogging, I just couldn't resist.  If for no other reason than to be able to refer back to these gorgeous images often!

When I was about 8 years old I was given an emerald green long robe that looked like velvet, though I am quite certain  wasn't. It had a row of gold buttons with green satin loop fasteners that went half way down the front- much like the buttons often found on the back of a wedding dress. It was a total pain to pull the robe over my head and fasten each button, and the static electricity that ensued was a sight to behold on my very long hair, but I loved that robe. It was the first time I can recall feeling glamorous.

This dress  by Ralph Lauren and is very similar in style to a dress I wore to a high school Winter Ball.  Of course the neckline was not plunging and it was definitely not satin! Mine had a matching shrug (only it wasn't called that in the 70's?) with bell sleeves with a little lettuce ruffle. This would be the glamorous grown-up version.



These earrings, from Christies, are among the most beautiful earrings I have ever seen!
 I would wear these with the Ralph Lauren dress.

Occasionally I will meet someone who says they don't like green! It always takes me by surprise that anyone can dislike a color so prominent in nature? I think so often it's more about a particular shade of green. But if it so happens you're having a little emerald envy, like me,  here's a sampling of my fantasy shopping!


Jump in,  it's going to be a beautiful ride...


I'm not a big sports car enthusiest, but the color could persuade me otherwise. However, a green SUV would make me dance a little jig- putting it on the list for my next one!

I'm am obsessed with green barns now and could devote an entire post to them!

E-bay find-  OZ for your tabletop!

Williams-Sonoma Home. The little green faux shagreen box now sits on a table at my house!



Actress Kate Bosworth. Dress designer unknown.

An emerald cut emerald, doesn't every woman want one?



Kelly Wearstler. In real life I could only handle one wall of this tile.

I've had this saved for so long- anyone know who to give design credit?

Not exactly in the emerald category, but I think I could make it work!

Tory Burch. I think I will always be in love with her living room, especially the upholstered walls!



Beacon Hill

Frank Webb

I really, really want this console.  More than the Porsche-way more!


Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's Day too!

Autumn Leaves

On this third day of autumn, I woke up to a very chilly house and would have loved to spend another hour in bed:


I love the cozy, yet elegant feel of this room. Anyone know who designed it?


But....

certain members of the houshold were having none of that!

Happy Autumn!

What Are Your Design Pet Peeves?

We all have them. Yesterday I picked up a copy of Domino's special edition Spring/Summer 2012 issue. Inside was a section titled " The Catty Corner" listing things decorators do that drive other decorators nuts! This made me laugh, because we all have a list! 

10 bed pillows and no bench at the end of the bed to even pile them on each night!


Here's what they said:

• Too many pillows on a bed.
• Absurd quantities of flowers-a little goes a long way
• Antique sofas-sofas are for sitting.
• Themed rooms-they belong in amusement parks.

Over the years I've collected snippets of what other designers had to say, here's a sampling:

• Candlesticks: "A single one, maybe, or groups of three or more can be nice. But two perfectly placed side by side simply drives me up the wall"-Albert Hadley, NYC
• "Bare lightbulbs" Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, NYC"
• All-white or all-beige rooms. Who lives in them? Obviously someone who never reads a newspaper" David H. Mitchell, Washington, D.C.
• "Collections of small objects on every surface"Charles Spada, Boston

  

  This is suppose to double as a dining table, seriously.  It looks like a shop display!

I thought this topic would make for a fun and lively discussion! So here's 10 of my design pet peeves:

• Too many pillows on beds and sofa's.
• Too many accessories, especially the discount and/or retail variety. 
• Too much faux fur.
•  Inadequate lighting. 
• Chairs that don't have a table close by to set a drink.
• Fake flowers and plants. And dead plants!
• Tall, dark, heavy pieces of furniture that are poorly placed.
• Kitchen counter clutter.
• Plastic or painted switch plates.
• Decorating with items that are off season or are off geographically. For example: if you don't live at the beach, seashells shouldn't be on display in January and if you do live at the beach, while I don't think you need to decorate "beachy" I wouldn't want to see a room decorated with antlers and fur!

I guess you're suppose to sit on the chairs and just admire the 9 sofa pillows! Too bad they're unattractive.
 Especially the Chewbacca pillow, it looks dirty. At least the rug is stunning.

Designer's and homeowners, time to get catty and chatty, what are your design pet peeves?

Autumn, Oh Joy!!!

I don't know about you, but this has been one summer that I am all too happy to see come to an end. It  truly was the long, hot summer. Of late, there has just been rain. An insane amount of rain. It's going to rain again this weekend. But, I refuse to let it dampen my spirits because I know my favorite season and all the beauty it has to offer has finally arrived. And not a moment too soon!

When I think of fall, I think of crimson, green, gold, brown and most of all orange. All the tones of orange from the color of pumpkins to the deepest russest tones. If you ever wished you could do your whole house in autumn's most showy color, here's a little tour to welcome the season!

Welcome! Simple natural items are the best way to greet guests.



May I take your coat? A series of nature's art pop against this color!



Doesn't grandma's sofa look so fresh? Make yourself comfortable, pour a drink while....



I put the finishing touches on dinner.



The seasons bounty, hope you're hungry!



Shall we take a walk after dinner?



I enjoyed the pleasure of your company, but it's off to bed for me. After I read my book of course!

                             Happy first day of Autumn everyone!!! 

                                     Images courtesy of Martha Stewart Living, House Beautiful, Southern Living, Metropolitan Home, Google. 

Million Dollar Decorators: My Favorite Scenes!

I am so glad you all enjoyed my last post of my little recap of the MDD. Just for the record, like many of you, my favorite is Kathryn. I would love to spend a day with her chatting about design, difficult clients, projects never completed, teenagers, dealing with being a D cup and how in the hell she came to know the fabulous Jacqueline. Although, I'd  probably be afraid to meet for cocktails knowing she'd drink me right under the table and I'd be the one asleep on some random chaise lounge or possibly the ground!

Even though the shows intro was a nauseating grand stand from each designer, and first impressions not the greatest, the series ended up being an entertaining home-run for me. That's a lot coming from someone who generally does not like reality tv.  The stars personalities were as varied as their decorating styles and they did seem to grow on you as the weeks went by...some more than others.

Overall I liked something about each designer.  KI's house had the most inviting atmosphere, MM is a pro at glamorous decorating. I'd like to see more of her style that is reflected in her book as well as something other than just the living room and office shots of her house. I loved the design and decorating in the upscale beach house JAM, Ross and dog, Chessie call home. MLB has such a devilish grin it would be almost impossible not to like him, besides I love his breathy Brit accent and want him to call me dahling!  NT we just didn't see enough of him and I really hope they show his house next season.

That said, before I deleted the series from my DVR, I snapped some pics of my favorite scenes that I thought would be fun to share with readers!

Martyn:

As a fellow chocoholic, this scene made me laugh, out loud!



Martyn shared exactly one chocolate with design assistant, Leura.
 She seemed to have second thoughts about finishing the chocolate.
Or at least until she was alone.




Close-up. Some things are just meant to be done in private.

Martyn dahling, can we just clarify that your client, JT,  is not a celebrity by any measure.
This is a creepy guy who made a fortune taking video of girls on the beach,
 mostly too drunk to realize they were half naked and being filmed.
He is however,  "famous" from too many lawsuits to list...but hey, Google does!

Mary McDonald: 

Being MM's client can result in bodily harm as she explains in this scene.

MM's associate Nancy. She loves to disagree with MM and annoy her by not following instructions.
 Not to mention, she has quite the repertoire of expressions too. Remember this scene when she had the movers
place the furniture how she wanted it....completely opposite of what MM said? Crazy.



Sometimes MM gets steamed at her staff and clients.  Is that a horn on the right side of her head?



Whew, it's just a flyaway.



But, it was enough to make these two stop and listen. Anyone, know who the girl in red is?



Was anyone else surprised to see that her staff worked in a black, windowless room?
 Thank god for the monogram on the floor, otherwise on a bad day they might think they landed in hell.

JAM: 

Sometimes JAM is just a bit like dry toast. Two modes: whining and body obsessed. 



 Cute boys taking a shower. AKA 2 golden pats of butter for JAM's dry toast.



But Mr. Torso obsessed can surprise you....with a bang on Will Ferrell impersonation. Minus the funny.



Or a cute baby bonding moment. Did you catch that full on smile that did not involve admiring his physique?

  NATHAN:

Mr. Nice Guy.
Seriously, how many of your best girlfriends would go to the trouble of making you a boob cake based on a favorite fabric design! I can not wait to see what Nathan does for BF Mary's birthday!!!  Let's hope he gets more camera time in season 2.  Check out Jacqueline in the background.  I wish I could rent her for one week  just to up my cool factor.

Not that she deserves a present from her BF!!! After all the times he has been called upon to stroke her ego, she didn't think to name one stinking lamp after him???!!! Well, let it be known that his favorite lamp is also my favorite
lamp. So if I end up buying it from her new line for Robert Abbey, I most definitely will call it Nathan.

KATHRYN:

Kathryn in her sexy black birthday dress. I wore a similar dress for my birthday earlier this month and my cleavage was on full display too. However, it wasn't nearly as glam or expensive as this YSL dress. I needed a sale and a coupon! I think one of the most appealing things about KI is despite her design notoriety,
she seems quite normal...and interesting....and fun!



Ross liked Kathryn in her dress. JAM too. Secretly I bet he thinks he has better breasts.
 See him intuitively checking?  I feel confident he'll let us know next season. Although no one
made this gesture to express their excitement about my dress/breasts,  I still felt sexy and was able to enjoy my birthday.
Just saying.



KI's client Shannon in her signature glasses and outfit. It was perplexing and interesting, other than red lipstick, this spouse to the heir of Max Factor cosmetics, wore almost no make-up. However, she did wear plenty of black, which obviously qualifies her as a designer thus explaining why she no longer needs Kathryn's help. I wonder what the color scheme is for her baby nursery???



Shannon's "overflow" room. I called it the OMG room and wished more than anything,
 the moment I saw it, I wished that she was my client or that I was Kathryn's design assistant.



When clients say, I want to work with things I have,  it's not like this!



I just wanted to whip out my check book and start shopping!!!



Truck day. I literally gasped when I saw the other "stuff" she had. But, fav Kathryn was less than excited. Even though most designers don't like working with all the items/mistakes clients have purchased, this would be the exception!
KI saw it as a jumping off point to re-do an old beach house SF just purchased.  And just when we were all so excited to see the completion,  SF has absurdly blamed KI for structural issues and fired her. Denying us of seeing KI's work. Dammit!