My sister found an old book, Ladies Home Journal Book of Decorating, last published in 1959. She thought I would enjoy it and sent it to me. When I first thumbed through the pages a few months ago, I thought it amusing as I looked at the images of what appeared to be outdated room design. Yet, today, as I carefully read the pages, I realized that classic design never becomes outdated. Indeed, if I compared images in the book with any of the current design magazines filling my shelves, I could easily find similar rooms. 

The advice in the book still holds true as well, start with the flooring, have fun with textiles, don’t be afraid of bold and exciting color, and the right lighting is essential. But, one bit of advice that I did not find relevant! “…the glass ash tray in your casual room will be quite different from the one in your formal room.” Too funny!!

I submitted my first set of drawings to a building department and they were approved on the first round. This seems like a small thing to those seasoned designers, but I was excited. I guess it is just one of those rights of passage that you cross. Just in case you don’t know what a building permit is - a permit is required in most jurisdictions for new construction, or adding on to pre-existing structures, and for major renovations.  

This made me wonder about the history of building permits and did a little research. It is believed the first building code was in the Code of Hammurabi  (really old, like 1750 BC). And it was serious stuff.

·         If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.

·         If it kills the son of the owner, the son of that builder shall be put to death.

·         If it kills a slave of the owner, then he shall pay, slave for slave, to the owner of the house.

·         If it ruins goods, he shall make compensation for all that has been ruined, and inasmuch as he did not construct properly this house which he built and it fell, he shall re-erect the house from his own means.

·         If a builder builds a house for someone, even though he has not yet completed it; if then the walls seem toppling, the builder must make the walls solid from his own means.

Luckily, although the current rules are quite stringent, I won’t be put to death…………

Busts

My Collection

I have to admit I have a thing for busts, no not that kind, a sculpture depicting a person's head. I have a small collection of them on my bookshelf. I generally can't pass one in a thrift shop or flea market without buying it. I think it started with my Mom, she does the same thing. So I was really excited when I saw this new Jonathan Adler table lamp. The Dora Maar bust and blue lampshade are desirous.

Place de la Republique

On my bicycle tour around Paris, I am pretty sure we peddled around the Place de la Republique. I was really trying not to get run over or hit a pedestrian.  Heather Stimmler-Hall points out in her "Secrets of Paris" Newsletter that the large and noisy Place de la Republique has never been a place to linger. It’s a nightmare for pedestrians, a confusing intersection for drivers, and usually full of protest marchers at the foot of the Statue de la République or drunks passed out on the patches of grass at the center. But you may want to take one last peek (and a “before” photo) before a major facelift project gets underway this winter to modernize this square which hasn’t changed since 1883. Strategically located at the cross roads of the 3rd, 10th, and 11th arrondissements, in January 2012 the square and its surrounding streets will be ripped up and replaced with a pedestrian esplanade of over 2 hectares (about 5 acres), a tree-lined square set up for public events like concerts, and rerouting of the street traffic around one side (instead of all around). This should make the square more welcoming for cyclists, public transportation users, and pedestrians. It will supposedly be done by Spring 2013. I think the proposed "facelift" will be spectacular and on my next visit to Paris, I will definitely make a point to check it out. http://www.placedelarepublique.paris.fr

The Front Door

During my recent trip to England, we stopped in the village of Lacock on our way to Stonehenge.  Lacock is a village in Wiltshire, England and is owned almost in its entirety by the National Trust. It attracts many visitors by virtue of its unspoiled appearance and is the setting for many movies such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Harry Potter. Most of the homes were built in the 18^th century or earlier.

The village is absolutely adorable and is one of the highlights of my trip. Because it is owned by the National Trust, the structures of the Village remain in their heritage condition. But what fascinated me about them were the front doors.

The cottages are almost identical, but each front door is unique and special. I wondered what story it could tell about the occupants, past and present. Not only are the elements of each door different, giving each cottage its own personality, but the faded jewel colors are fantastic.

Nurseries

I love designing baby rooms. But I hate the typical pink/butterflies or blue/trains. There are so many other motifs and color options, - but what to do with the baby furniture? First of all it is expensive and secondly after a few years the practical usage of it diminishes greatly. So when I visited the Stokke booth at Dwell on Design Convention last week I was so excited by their line of furniture because each piece is designed in way to literally last a child’s whole life. That is definitely a great example of sustainable design. For instance their Tripp Trapp high chair is adjustable to fit a child at each stage of their life. It is also very stylish and slender. The same conversion is available for the Sleepi (crib) and Care (changing table).



Some of my other favorite baby furniture manufacturers are:


Room & Board


Land of Nod

Conventions, Conferences and Seminars - Oh My!!!



Sasaki adding my heartbeat to his mural.

 Mention conference, convention or seminar and most people’s eyes glaze over, however, Photoshop CS5 Power User Tour Seminar, PCBC Convention, and Dwell on Design Conference were all fun times for this interior designer!
 The Photoshop CS5 Seminar, presented by Dave Cross, was an interesting and informative seminar where I learned many comprehensive tips and tricks. The Content Aware fill feature is going to save me so much time over manually cloning and painting. Did you know if you drag a file from the Desktop onto the tab area the file will open? Another timesaver! I don’t know if I’ll ever use Puppet Warp; although, it is fun to say.

PCBC is one of the largest homebuilding tradeshows in the U.S. and the ideal setting to collect facts about today's market from homebuilding industry professionals. PCBC displayed a lot of new products for accessible bathrooms and showers for the aging in place population and I got plenty of new ideas and literature on these products. The best part of the show, however, was keynote speaker Guy Kawasaki, author of Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. He presented innovative ideas about marketing and I can’t wait to read his book.

Mosconi Center, San Francisco

Dwell on Design is a home and design expo centered on modern designs ranging from food, prefab, and crafts to products and architecture. Besides seeing and touching many fantastic modern designs, I had my heartbeat painted by Japanese artist Sasaki. Yes! Sasaki painted attendee’s heartbeats by attaching an electronic monitor to their finger and relaying the heartbeat over a speaker which he interprets and then paints onto a canvas using red paint. Sasaki was collecting donations for tsunami victims in Japan.


The Seed System designed by David Trubridge

 One of my favorite lighting displays was this Mini-Coral Kitset by David Trubridge. Lightweight and minimalist, but a big impact, this light is stunning.