Hit the Nail on the Head

A definite High Point Fall Market trend was nail heads. We saw them used every which way and so creatively. I wish I had thought to start snapping pictures sooner in my trip, but these are some images from just our last day.

The upholstered wall above was in the Swaim showroom (always one of my personal fav stops) as you stepped down into a part of their upholstery division. The wall was upholstered in leather and I love how the nail heads were over-scaled and spaced apart.

I fell in love with this little detail. What a simple and inexpensive way to dress up a chair. Nail heads can usually be added to existing pieces, so consider that before buying new or re-upholstering to give yourself a new look.

This sofa arm is stunning all on its own, but the nail head is the punctuation!

This image is a little dark, but I loved the double row of nail heads on the top of the Campaign style chest.

Similar to the upholstered wall in the beginning, but the diamonds are smaller and the nail heads closer together.

This embossed leather is even more beautiful on doors of this chest accented by the nail heads. Note that they used larger sized nail heads for where the points meet in the pattern than used for the lines. Subtle, but effective.

Another diamond pattern over top of an accent paint color. It is a great way to delineate color changes.

Nail heads were everywhere and come in so many different shapes, sizes, finishes, and textures. It is such a simple way to really change the feel of a piece of furniture whether your a looking at getting something new or updating something you already have.

One of my favorite ways I saw nail heads used at Market was sewn on to pillows. The nail heads had a lot of detail and they were stitched on to accentuate the fabric pattern. So clever. We asked how they were attached and the rep said they simply hammered the posts flat and cut the sharp tips off. Then they used the flattened posts to stitch them to the pillow. Creative!

Do you have any pieces of furniture with unusual nail head? Or have you used nail head creatively in your home?

Cheers,

BBS

All images were taken by me on my blackberry. Please excuse the quality.

Trends, Trends, Trends

I have returned from the High Point Furniture Market recharged, re-inspired, and excited about what I saw on our whirl wind jaunt to North Carolina. I will do many posts from my trip, but I thought it would be fun to do a quick re-cap of the obvious trends I saw.

First of all...French Country is back. It is not the marigold, cornflower blue, and red French Country you may be remembering, but the love of all things french abounds. I heard the term, "European Cottage" which I loved, but the look is full of grey toned, crusty finishes and linen fabrics. We saw the look at all of our major furniture vendors. I snapped the picture above at Gabby Home, who I have blogged about before. We made a nice purchase from them, so we will have product coming in over the next few months in this look.

Everyone, I mean everyone, had a blue and white grouping. Some did it classic like Bernhardt above. Others like Century Furniture paired it with lime and aqua. Cool, crisp, and classic.

Animal prints never go out of fashion in design or clothing, but this market they seemed to have more of a presence. I loved this chair from Chelsea House. It had a cinnabar finish with two different scaled animal prints on velvet. A smaller print on the inside and a larger one on the outside back. Take note of the swirl to the arm of the chair. Perfection.

There is a real nod to the "Ralph Lauren" Thoroughbred look. It seems to be a little cleaner and brighter than Ralph's, but it was everywhere.

Ikat, Ikat, Ikat everywhere. Every color. Every scale. Every way. Love it.

Houndstooth became the fabric of market. We saw it on chairs, sofas, back of chairs, pillows, walls, drapes. We saw it in black, navy, hot pink, red, even multi-colored. We saw it mini all the way to very over scaled. We even saw a dozen or so women wearing houndstooth skirts. It was really all around us.

It was truly hard to pick a "Market Color Scheme" this year. Usually it is very evident, but if I had to pick it would be grey with gold. We saw it at Hickory White (shown above) looking very modern and we saw the combo at Century Furniture in a very traditional nod with a floral chintz and lots of trims.

There is more to come with pictures of what we saw and the fun we had, but now I have to catch up on the stacks of paperwork on my desk. Ahhh, back to reality.

Cheers,

BBS

all images were taken by me on my blackberry, so quality is not the best

Two days down...

image from GoogleImage

Well I have two days in the books at the High Point Furniture Market and I am exhausted. I have seen so many great trends and exciting new items which I will share with all of you, but for now I am too tired.

Until I can blog properly, I thought I would share some great color trends I have seen....

There is purple everywhere. Every shade and matched with every color.

Grey is being paired with golds, browns, and camels. It has a warm and more traditional feel.

Lime and Paprika, Teal with Cinnabar, and bright yellow with linen.

My two fav unexpected color combos were at Century Furniture:

Emerald Green with lime, turquoise, and black. Incredible!

And Canary Yellow with Silver, Bright Teal, and Black.

So much fun the past few days, but I am off to bed. More to see tomorrow.

Cheers,

BBS

Dwell Studio for Robert Allen

image from Robert Allen

I have loved Dwell Studio for quite some time now. Their patterns have a freshness to them. The fabrics have a wonderful nod to the past, but they are cleverly up to date and affordable.

Dwell Studio has partnered with fabric house Robert Allen this fall and I got a chance to see the fabrics in person last week. Impressed! Great patterns, great color combos, and once again, really well priced.

Check out the entire collection at http://www.robertallendesign.com/. It is sold to the trade only, so I would be happy to get you a price if you are interested.

Dwell Studio has a great blog I have followed for a bit called The Studio Blog. You can connect to it through their website http://www.dwellstudio.com/

Enjoy. They have lots of adorable and fun bedding for adults (and kiddies) on their site.

Cheers,

BBS

Why Hire A Designer????

I have been a little consumed this week with work, so I have been a neglectful blogger.

On top of my normal work load, I have been prepping to give a presentation on Friday. Asleigh, another designer at Lee Meier Interiors, and I will be giving a lecture at The Ohio Design Centre on the topic of "Why Hire An Interior Designer When Building or Remodeling Your Home" this Friday, Spet. 10th at noon.

We sort of inherited the topic, so we were tossing around ideas of how to keep our talk light hearted and fun. It is a pretty heavy title, so we decided it would be fun to create a "Client" and we would walk through how we would help said "Client" build her new home. That way we could involve lots of images and details.

Our client's name is Holly.

Holly Golightly, if you must know, and she is leaving her pad in the city and headed to the 'burbs. She has many special quirks we must accommodate like tiara storage and a place for a nameless cat, but we guide her easily through her building process. Come see how Holly's new house turns out....

If you are in the Cleveland area and would like to come see our presentation on Friday, please go to www.ohiodesigncentre.com and click on events or you may call Angela at 216-831-3767 to purchase your $10.00 ticket.

If you are interested in the topic and are not able to make the presentation on Friday, send me a message in the comment section. We will be doing it again in February at the Home and Flower Show at the IX Center. I will also be doing my lecture on Color: Be Not Afraid, so I will keep you posted once I get our dates and times.

Cheers,

BBS

image from Paramount Pictures

Live Like a Rock Star

You often hear the saying, "live like a rock star" and I thought it would be fun to take a peek into what that means in honor of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 15th Anniversary which is this weekend.



I am on the host committee for their big anniversary bash, The Rock Hall Ball, which is being held this Friday, Sept. 3rd, so I am all about Rock and Roll this week.

No photo credit given

What do you think of when you imagine a rock star's home? Crazy colors? Black leather furniture? Zebra carpeting? Naked women everywhere????

Well try to visualize the Material Girl singing away in the pedestal tub above, because this was Madonna's apartment in NYC designed by her brother before their infamous falling out.

interior design: Dilger Gibson photo:Scott Francis

This isn't exactly a "Little Pink House", but it is the home of John Mellencamp and his wife in Indiana. I love that grand window.

Kravitz Design

Now this is what I think of when I think of where a Rock Star lives. This is the epitome of Rock. Because this is the ultimate Rock Star, Lenny Kravitz's New Orleans home that he designed himself. When not writing, singing, touring, or acting, Lenny likes to dabble in interior design. He even started a firm called Kravitz Design.

photo:mhpbooks

Keith Richards fancies himself more of a librarian than a rocker, so this picture is perfect. Not what I imagined for a man who is famous for once joking that he, "snorted his deceased father's ashes", and most everyone took him literally.

interiors:David Dalton, ASID photo:Christopher Dow

You may never guess to whom this stunning home belongs, but it is none other than Meatloaf. I was blown away when I first saw it published in Architectural Digest.

interiors: Alain Mertens photo: Christopher Simon Sykes for Architectural Digest

Any guesses??? "An Englishman in NY"??? This is Sting's abode in England. What an amazing place to rock out and write new songs.

image taken from real estate agents photos on swamplot.com

How about ZZ Top band member Dusty Hill's home in Texas? Pretty subtle and elegant for a long bearded musician with a passion for exotic paint jobs on his cars.

So did these stars live like you thought they would???? Surprised???

image from picoday, no name given

Here is the ultimate house that Rock built. Above is a view from inside the beautiful Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum that was designed by the architect, I.M. Pei.

They party is going to be a blast. I hope to see you there!

If you would like to join me at the party there are still tickets left and it is going to be a fun night. Foxy Shazam, Eli "Paperboy" Reed and DJ Tommie Sunshine are playing and the museum is open for wandering. Go to www.rockhall.com/event/rock-hall-ball/ for more info and to purchase tickets. Use code AMVIP to get a discount off of the $ 65.00 ticket price and come "Rock" with us.

Cheers,

BBS




all images found on google image. Photo credits were given when they were provided.

Oval Office Redux

And here it is.... President Obama's Oval Office....Ta Da......(Yawn), Zzzzzz......

I would like to start by saying this is not, and will never be, a political forum or post. My opinions, take them for what they are worth, are not politically driven and I am not inviting a political battle.

I am underwhelmed and disappointed with the unveiling of the Obama Oval Office. While I respect and appreciate Michael S. Smith's, the Obama's White House designer, talents, I am unimpressed with his redesign of the President's office.

Bark colored solid sofas, leather occasional chairs, tone on tone neutral striped walls, an understated, plain rug....Did Pottery Barn do the Oval Office?????

This is the President of the United State's office. This is where he meets with International Diplomats, Presidents, Kings, and the Pope. This is where he runs our country. It should not look like a Family Room in any suburban town in the Midwest. It should not look like it came from the pages of a catalog.

As W. and Clinton are the other Presidents in recent history who did renovations to their office it seems natural to compare the spaces. ( Again, this is not a political comment....)

Now that is an Oval Office. Stunning. Perfection. I need a little pomp and circumstance. A dash of understated glitz. I expect it to look nicer than anything I might have in my own home.

Look at those lamps, that rug. It should feel sophisticated and grand with a nod to the past. (Please note that in this image President Bush is meeting with the Pope) This is a museum after all.

Here is President Clinton's office as pictured in Life magazine. I love the strength of the colors in his Oval Office and that powerful navy rug. It is regal. This feels like the office of a President.

What do you think of the redecoration of the Obama's Oval Office????

Cheers,

BBS

all images borrowed from Google image and belong to Life Magazine, The White House Museum, and others.