Fall is here!

I don't know where you are, but here in Jacksonville Beach, the weather is absolutely perfect. Sunny, a slight cool breeze it's gorgeous. Fall here feels almost like spring. I always want to clean and freshen up the house. It only takes a few pieces to get a whole new look. Change your pillows, move your accessories around, buy something that makes you happy and display it in a focal point, buy a new mirror or piece of art and actually set your table. We are about to enter the holiday season and a fresh look will inspire you to have friends and family over, prepare a new recipe and enjoy the most important things in life. Open a bottle and make a toast to the things you are grateful for, maybe this year, before Thanksgiving dinner! Cheers!!!

What's HOT and what's NOT!

So here is a little top ten teaser list of what is hot and what is not....I will update after market in April.

HOT....

1. Natural Products - stone, marble, plaster, bamboo, silk, metals.
2. Monochromatic Neutrals - this has never gone out of style..always classic and calming.
3. Being frugal - not cheap, but spending your money on those great impact pieces.
4. Blues - rich and deep with lots of depth.
5. Mixing - especially traditional and contemporary design elements.
6. Family photos - I love a family wall framed in different moldings.
7. Function over form - this coming from a designer...It can still be amazing!
8. Dining Rooms - entertaining is back or try using it on a Tuesday with your family!
9. Uplights - use them behind plants, screens, or sculptures to create interesting shadows.
10. Hiring a designer - what could be cooler that saying, "Hold on, my designer is calling!"

NOT....
1. "Jetson" contemporary - too cold, too uncomfortable.
2. Flame stitch - is wasn't even good in the 80's!
3. Faux in every room - it is overkill and doesn't make the one room special.
4. Builder beige walls - add some color already!
5. Huge speakers - I will admit, my husband brought them home too. I am trying to figure out a way to camoflauge them. No luck yet!
6. Corian counters - So many great alternatives on the market now.
7. Animals with clothes on - this has always been one of my pet peeves. It's just not right to
put clothes on a monkey.
8. Poster art - go to your local gallery or art's festival and support an artist and you never know,
it may even be worth something someday.
9. Clutter - Order in your house will equal more order in your life!
10. HGTV - I don't mean stop watching, I mean stop thinking you can do it all yourself! Great
for ideas, but know your limits, don't make costly mistakes, hire a professional!

Music and Design...what's the connection?

So anyone that knows me at all, knows that I am a huge U2 fan. I actually got into a concert, back in my college days, pretending with the mind set and attitude that I was a reporter from Rolling Stone. My friends and I ended up meeting them that night, long story, and even going to the same club as them. AWESOME night! Then, many years later, I was back in Atlanta and we got wind that Bono and a few other celebrities were in town. Well, we were already headed to a bar/restaurant named One, which happens to be one of my all time favorite U2 songs. (Another long story.) Low and behold, he was there. Now my attraction to the group is nothing but pure love of their music, the Christian beliefs and even the struggle they have with their faith and the amazing things they (mostly Bono) have done socially in Africa etc. (Well , if I am being honest, I always had a major crush on Larry!) Well, I got a chance to talk to Bono that night, one on one for just a few minutes and it really touched me, the dialogue I was able to have with him was amazing. Truly in the pressence of a great man.

So what does this have to do with design? My father always use to tell me that if you run with the turkeys you can't soar with the eagles. I have always tried to surround myself with like-minded people, those with high ideals and principles, (even if they don't agree with mine) ambition, and creativity in some manner. It is a strange thing connection, but I have always felt a deep one with this group. I recently auditioned for a TV Design show and a question we had to be prepared to answer is who would you most like to be a client. Immediately I thought of Bono and Simon Cowell. Simon because I so appreciate his honesty, it's refreshing. And Bono because I always thought he would be kind and would allow me to push the envelope and even make mistakes. I have read about the tourtured process of them making an albulm and can relate to this in designing.

I just finished U2 by U2, a great book of just dialogue between the band mates. As it turns out our connection is real. They often start a song, just with a few guitar rifts or drum beats, work on it, sometimes it becomes a song, sometimes it goes in the vault for "later". Throughout the book they comment on how they would love to go back and work on this or that song. Even a song that the public loved and was even a hit. But in their mind, it would be better if they only did this or changed that. I believe this is the anthem of any artist. I am always wanting to change something or think to myself, if I only changed that fabric or used a different color etc., it would be so much better, even though it maybe even great as it is. The point here in using U2 is to be inspired in all that you do and surround yourself with greatness. Whether it be the music you listen to, the TV that you watch, the books that you read, the people you surround yourself with...you never know what dreams may come or how these things or poeple will influence you. Make it count!

Do the right thing!

You don't have to break the bank to have a great looking room. Of course, you can't do it for the miracle of HGTV and do a total transformation for $1000 either. What you don't get to see behind the scenes on these types of shows is that there is a whole team that the homeowner doesn't seem to have to pay; the fees for the carpenters, the seamstresses, the designers time and mark-up (because I swear we don't just do this for fun!), the electricians, the plumbers, the cabinetmaker, etc., etc. (More on this later!)



However, in this economy, I like so many other professionals have had to re-think the way we do business. I just presented to a client who has a second home in the Bahamas. Originally, I had selected beautiful, higher end furniture etc. The more I thought about it and the closer I got to presentation, I felt like I was doing the client an injustice. I scrapped the entire design, and changed everything to more affordable lines, cutting the cost in half. Now, a lucrative business person may say, "Why would you do that, waste all that time and higher margins?" To be honest with you, I sometimes ask myself the same thing! But at the end of the day, I know I did the right thing for this client. She loved everything and was so appreciative that I saved her this money, that she is flying my husband and I down and will soon give me the green light to do her personal living room, where I do get to use my higher end lines!



So listen to that little voice inside that speaks to you. do the right thing, and be creative. It always pays off!

Trust the professionals...

So when you go to the doctor, after his diagonsis, do you ask the nurse, the receptionist, the other patients in the waiting room, what they think? Of course not! You may get a second opinion, but you would seek out another professional not people whom have no earthly idea and frankly don't care.

I once had a client, and I am not making this up, that hired me to select their lighting, paint colors, hardware, granite, furniture etc. When it came time to test the main paint color, I showed up on the job site to see the two choices I/we had narrowed it down to. When I got there, to my surprise, there were honestly 9 colors on the wall...non of which I had selected. To add insult to injury, the builders assistant (who btw could care less and just did it to appease the clients) selected the colors. When the homeowners showed up, they proceeded to look at each of the colors and ask what was wrong with every single one of them. That led to a brief explanation of each ...i.e. one was flesh tone and they said they HATED flesh tones, one was green and the wife hated green, 3 of them didn't match the floors at all and the rest didn't match any of the fabrics we had painfully selected to go throughout the home. However, even after this, they proceeded to ask everyone, the painter, the builder, the builders assisitant, the builders assistant's assistant, Rico the drywall guy, the electrician, the landscaper etc...you get the picture. They finally painted the walls teh one I had selected and loved it. I could have taken all of this personally but the builder told me in confidence that this was the way it had been with every single painstaking decision.

The moral of this story is if you hire a professional, you have to trust them to do their job or hire someone you do trust so everyone's time, energy and money are not wasted, including yours! (Did I mention they paid me by the hour, so the only thing that was lost was my pride!)

The WOW factor!

I have a "rule" that I keep in mind whenever I design a room. Don't place too many "wows" in one space. When I think of the Palace of Versailles, is it just me, or is it way over the top? Don't get me wrong, it is genious, decadent, beautiful, glamorous, way ahead of it's time, but everywhere you look there is another "wow"! I just can't process them all, and can't remember any detail except for maybe the "The Hall of Mirrors." Now the Sistine Chapel on the other hand, got it right. Clearly, the ceiling was it's "wow factor". You don't even really notice the pews, the flooing etc, (and everything is beautiful) but you are immediately captured by the masterpiece and even get lost in the story, and for me, I wonder "How in the world did Michelangelo paint that on his back?"

I believe you should love every single detail that you choose, but in context. Do you have to make the same impact in the crown molding as your chandelier? What is going to be the first thing you see, or more importantly, what is the first thing you want everyone to see? If the fabrics on your window treatments are out of this world, then go easy on the sofa fabric. Your eye has to rest and re-charge for the next amazing thing, maybe the paint finish, or area rug, or fabulous painting. Learn restraint, but don't go safe either. If everything is spectacular, then nothing is special.

What inspires you?

What do you love? Is it nature, the beach, photography, fashion? Whatever it is, let that be reflected in your living spaces. Part of my job is to get to know the homeowners taste, personality, interest, the way they live day to day and translate that in their homes. For example, I had a client that just loved Las Vegas. He very timidly showed me a slot machine he had acquired and half heartedly asked if I could find a place for it, positive I was going to tell him it had to go. Absolutely not!!! It is front and center in an amazing penthouse and some how, some way, it looks great and like it belongs.

The strangest request was from one of my favorite clients. The husband is passionate about hunting. I went into their office headquarters one day and there were two huge ctates. I foolishly asked what they were and he said, wait a few minutes and I'll show you. Low and behold, out came two giant black bears. I said, "What are you going to do with them?" Dumb question. He replied, "No....what are you going to do with them? They are going in the house!"
So one of the bears is in the kitchen with a Gator hat on, and the other is in the family room, along with some deer heads, hides etc. and the new addition coming soon, a buffalo head over the marble fireplace. Believe it or not, it looks amazing.

So if you love surfing, hunting, fishing, shoes, wine, traveling....let a professional help you incorporate it tastefully in your abode.