Office Project - Making Slow Progress

I've been making very slow progress on my office remodel over the past two months. Finishing my bedding book and getting my daughter ready for college have take every waking minute of my time and this "quick" face lift, which I thought would take a few weeks, has turned into a never ending project. The progress that I have made has been well worth it. The space is bright and cheerful now and much more user friendly. I cut down the size of my huge desk and changed it's direction which helped with the flow. Here are some before and after photos to show you my slow progress towards a finished room.


So far I've managed to get the cabinets and new woodwork on the fireplace painted. This proved to be a much more complicated process than I could have imagined as my supposedly "legal" painter was arrested and deported mid-way through the job and I was left to do most of the work myself. It's amazing what a crisp new coat of white paint can do for cabinets. The "before" paint was a neutral light tan color that was perfect for my showroom but did not do anything for the cabinets when they were installed in my house.


The ugly china hutch was also painted white and now blends in well with the other cabinetry. I like the way it adds a unique outline to the otherwise plain cabinets. I hate to have everything look the same especially when dealing with lots of built-ins in one room. Nothing is as boring as walls and walls of identical cabinets and shelves. Mix it up a bit!


New can down lights have added a substantial amount of light to the room which was one of my main complaints that needed to be addressed. Two new hanging fixtures will eventually be hung over the desk. I hung one and ran into an electrical problem with the new wiring so I am now waiting for that to be resolved.

After the painting was finally finished the wallpaper was hung. Thankfully, my paper hanger is 100% American and did not have to flee the country mid- job. I love the paper - it is so bright and lively!!


The floor now consists of the chipboard paneling sub-floor until I can afford to put in the wood that I have installed in the rest of the house. My miniature dachshund Marty likes to use it as a scratching post! At least I got rid of the awful tan carpeting! Even ugly plywood is better than that was.

Hopefully I will be able to finish it soon. Window treatments still need to be designed and fabrics chosen. The hanging fixture problem needs to be resolved and the floors need to be completed. I also need to find the perfect upholstered desk chair which seems to be alluding me.

After over 20 years in this business I am still amazed how no project for my own home ever goes smoothly! Ce la Vie.!

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I'm Loving - Bell Jars

Recently I have developed an obsession with bell jars. Although I only own a few of my own I seem to be spotting them everywhere.
These three classic cloche jars are from Barreveld International and DK Living , one of my favorite sources. They are a, "to the trade only", source for glass, garden, and tabletop accessories as well as a myriad of other yummy do-dads. They offer a large variety of shapes and sizes.



Glass artist extraordinaire, Andy Paiko, produces fantastical creations under glass that redefine the lowly bell jar.

Artist Katherine Gray takes a whimsical approach to this classic element using shape and color to great effect.




On a more practical ( or should I say affordable) note, even West Elm has stepped it up a notch with these interestingly shaped cloche jars.



While these beauties are not truly bell jars but cheese or dessert plates they are still in the same vein. (Neiman Marcus)

Doesn't everything look better under glass? (Neiman Marcus)

Even the long reigning queen of chunky wrought iron, Jan Barboglio throws her hat in the glass topped ring with her line of serving dished avaialble at Neimen Marcus.

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San Francisco Bound

Getting my daughter ready to move to college in San Francisco has been fun but it's also been a full time job for the past two months (one of the may reasons my posting has been so lacking ) . Shopping, shopping and more shopping for bedding, clothes, and lots of useless crap she doesn't really need! Did you have a TV and DVD player in your dorm? How about a pink laptop? I know I didn't. Worrying about every little detail and setting up all of the essentials for her new life on her own has been exhausting.

We are finally leaving on Wednesday and we have crammed some of her new belongings into four, very large, packing boxes which had to be pre-shipped, since we are flying, to the hotel where my husband and I are staying ( Thanks UPS) .



She has "severely limited" her collection of clothing to three, large, grotesquely overstuffed suitcases which threaten to explode at any minute. She has enough clothing to outfit the entire dorm and then some.

Thankfully we are flying on Southwest so we don't have to pay extra for her gargantuan luggage! Thank you Southwest - this means a lot to me.


We had to rent a min-van so we can schlep all of her junk from the airport to the hotel and then form the hotel to the dorm. I still have no idea how we are going to get her giant 68 pound boxes up to her room but then again that's my husbands problem! I didn't want to be "those parents" who let their spoiled kid bring way too much stuff, but I think I lost that battle about a month ago.

It is so exciting to see her having so much fun getting ready for school. I only hope she enjoys attending classes half as much. Living in a big city like San Francisco is going to be a big change for her but I think she will take to it. If not - sorry - but tough luck because I am not moving all of this stuff back home!

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Best Book Buys for Fall

Even with high gas prices and a troubled economy I have to find a few bucks to spend on the new crop of design books coming out this fall. Here are a few on my wish list.











I can't decide which one is going to be my favorite, although I love the covers of a few of them. The giant airbrushed glamor shot of Barclay Butera is a bit disturbing - I'd rather look at photos of his two mini-dachshunds or his classic interiors.

Happy Reading!

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Bedding Book - Sneek Peak

I'm working like a dog on my new bedding book and it's finally coming together. Writing and illustrating books like this is a herculean task to say the least with thousands of images and thousands more hours of research and drawing. I constantly wonder what I am trying to prove while I am coloring renderings of bed skirts at 2:00 in the morning! The drawings in this book are much more detailed and complicated than my window treatments book and they each take quite a bit more time to complete. Here is a sneak peak of some of the finished renderings. Hope you like them!





Have a Great Weekend.............................................

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John Robshaw - Beautiful Bedding

I'm loving the Asian inspired bedding collection by John Robshaw. His fabrics are contemporary interpretations of classic motifs and they are stunning! Take a look.





Do these mirrored pillows look familiar? I've been seeing them in interiors everywhere. Love them !!!

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Style Sisters ?

Is it just me or do all of these style icons look alike? I was browsing through my files and was struck by the resemblance.


Charlotte Moss


Nancy Corzine



Miss Martha


Bunny Williams


Carolina Herrera


I wonder if they are all channeling the spirit of the great Elsie de Wolfe? She seems to have started the trend.


Elsie de Wolfe



If I cut my hair short and sweep it back will I miraculously have more design talent? Will the celebrity clients start calling? Of course I'd have to drop a few (more than a few) pounds and buy some embroidered silk kaftans, Tods flats and a strand of vintage pearls. Then I'll get myself down to glamor shots to pose for my designer power photos. Perhaps I'll break out the leopard throw like Elsie did. I'm going to assume she was wearing a red dress in her B&W photo, that vixen! I think I like the Charlotte Moss pose the best. It reeks of power.

They all have that - yes I am perky and smiling but I can take you out in a second with my little pinkie so don't mess with me look.

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