Design Vitamin # 10--a break from Me! Enjoy!

Before & After - Chateau Chic

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Eddie Ross is one of my favorite blogs that I enjoy. I am one of his followers! He was on the design show on Bravo " Top Design" He was also one of the finalists. He is such a creative person and hilarious! Eddie also worked for another one of my favorite "icons" Martha Stewart. Yes. I love Martha! I have never left her side. She gave all of us the shot in the arm that we needed----to be creative and be perfect while you are doing it! Smile. I met Martha at Furniture Market--I was in awe, but we will save that for another blog! of course Eddie worked for Martha--he is just as neurotic and creative as she is----watch for him--he will have his own empire one day! Enjoy!

Design Vitamin #9

Don't be in a rush. That is when bad things happen. Research,research,research! I hope the person whom I am speaking about knows I am talking to them. Trust me--we have all been there! I do not care if the painter is standing at the front door and he showed up a day early because his "Tuesday" cancelled--do not make a rash decision and choose a paint color nonchalantly to make the painters life happy. You have to live with the color--he does not. When making major decisions such as remodeling I am always about bringing in the "experts" If you are re-doing a kitchen ie:tearing out cabinets reconfiguring please use a certified kitchen designer NKBA. You will save yourself lots of heartache,headache and money. I have allot of clients that bring me in as the "band-aid" designer. They want me to fix the mess that was made previously by them because they tried to take short cuts. Please take your time--make your lists--research and get quotes and opinions. The web is a perfectly place to start!

Lonny Magazine « The Cultivated Home

Lonny Magazine « The Cultivated Home

Design Vitamin #8

If are interested in design--or are totally confused about it--you must subscribe to shelter magazine. Each page holds a wealth of information. One page could be a paint color, the next a piece of furniture that appeals to you. Tear the page out! Put it in a file labeled appropriately for future reference. When the times is right and you do have that meeting with a designer you will be prepared,she will not have to read your mind,and you will get some much more bang for your buck within that hour because you are not flipping through magazines!My faves hands down---Veranda, Southern Accents, Coastal Living ,Traditional Home and House Beautiful. Soooo sad that Domino is no longer--it was so cool. There is a new magazine on line called Lonny--check it out. I just like touching and feeling glossy pages--very old fashioned.

Great GRAY PUMPKIN!

Design Vitamin #7 I am so excited to find gray pumpkins! Tonight at our local Boy Scout lot--I was in shock---these boys are right on the pulse with the color trend! For those of you local to Lake Norman---I hate to give this tip away--because they will be gone tomorrow! You will find theses shades of gray exquisite jack-o-lanterns located next to Brusters Ice Cream on Catawba Ave they have always had the very best Pumpkins! The boy scout pack has been in operation 7 years now and receive truck-loads from New Mexico! I cannot wait to display these tomorrow along with an arrangement of smaller ones sprayed Benjamin Moore Decorator's White for an arrangement that is going to blend in perfectly with my existing color scheme! Crazy---I know--- was starting to worry how I was going to work the orange in! Life of a neurotic designer!

THE GREAT PUMPKIN

DESIGN VITAMIN # 6 Make sure you at least set a pumpkin out on your front porch--tis the season. What! I never said my blogs were going to be "earth-shattering" or "deep"at every post. This is a simple one that everyone can do--plus my brain is mush today! As I type I can hear my senior coughing like crazy---she woke up with a sore throat and has a full day of filling out college apps! I just hope it is not the dreaded "oink-oink'-(h1n1) That is going to set my world upside down. My son,who is sophomore has a huge AP psychology project on "The Brain" to do today--so we are all camped out---working on a Saturday! YUK! Oh and hubby is hiding in the basement filing out late tax forms due on October 15---hence--no design tips! Oh and I also forgot my lovely college junior just left after brunch of scrambled eggs,goat cheese spinach wraps, pumpkin bread and raspberries to go back to school. We scrambled around this morning to spray her really groovy desk chair we picked up at Habitat for Humanity for a cool $10.00! It looks like a Chippendale/Tori Burch lattice Pattern back. I decided to have her leave it here so I could fabricate the seat fro her--and bring it to her next weekend--Parents Weekend with the Sigma Kappa's. Okay---for someone who was going to be short and sweet! UGH! Pics of chair to come!

If it speaks to you buy it!

Design Vitamin #5 Please do not be one of those buyers "where am I going to put it"? I have so many clients who have "passed" on something that they fell in love with---because they did not know exactly where it was going to go! If it is something that you just absolutely fall in love with--trust me you will find a place for the little jewel! I am not just talking about furniture here either---everything---art, tables all the way down to a small oddity that you picked up at a flea market--! Purchasing items like these are the beginnings of making your house a "home" and giving it personality.