Or should I say block? A titillating tidbit popped up in my Inbox today with the first report of Halloween Block Party, an hour-long special I taped last month for HGTV. The show premieres on Sunday, October 18th at 8 p.m. ET/PT. For the full report, including plenty of inspider insights and devilish details, click here.
Jaithan and I are knee deep in pencil shavings and paint chips in preparation for the decorating workshop I'm doing at Calico Home in Westport tomorrow night. At the moment, our desks look like something out of the Doubleday Book of Interior Decorating circa 1960. Minus the scary razor blade. From what I hear, it's going to be a full…
Do you remember the table setting and flower workshops I did at the Creative Candles factory this summer? Spaces, the premiere design magazine for Kansas City, published a great recap in this month's issue. A huge thank you to Editor Zim Loy and her talented staff for including me! (Click twice to enlarge.) Based on the feedback from everyone…
If there's one thing I learned doing set design and prop styling for the Food Network years ago, it's that people eat with their eyes. Say, for example, Mario Batali was going to be doing a segment on pork chops. It was my job not only to find a beautiful antique cutting board but the butcher paper to go along…
Two things I think we all could use a little more of these days: time and money. If you're a collectahollic like me, that rings true even more. But even if you're short on change, a little creativity goes a long way. Enter the Faker, a quirky, super fun column in the Chicago Tribune from writer Judy Hevrdejs, together with…
Transformation & Inspiration Join me at Calico Home for a fun, informative workshop on decorating. There'll be plenty of wine, hors d'oeuvres, and clever ideas on how I'd make over real rooms. WESTPORT, CT Wednesday, September 16 — 7:00 pmFor details, click here.
Do you remember the talented and generous Debra Phillips of Scentimental Gardens? Last June, after the fantastic shopping trip to Kane County Flea Market in St. Charles, she and her sister Diane hosted a super fun cocktail party for Jaithan and me at their gorgeous store, a 1905 Queen Anne home on State Street in Geneva. Debra, I must tell…
Speaking of fall decorating, join me at the newly renovated Calico Home store in Westport, Connecticut for a fun, informative presentation called "Transformation & Inspiration." There'll be plenty of wine, hors d'oeuvres, and clever ideas on how I'd make over real rooms! RSVP to (203) 254-7904 by September 10th. Hope to see you there, everyone!
For Christmas last year, my partner Jaithan gave me one of these lovely Jadite candy dishes he'd found at an antique mall in Milwaukee. Even though I have quite a large collection of Fire King Jadite, I'd actually never seen this particular piece. Instantly, I loved everything about the dish! Its size and shape...the pretty scallop along its edge. As…
It's high summer here in New York City, but mark your calendars for September when Top Design 2 airs on BRAVO! Check out the promo shot just released. The show premieres on Wednesday, September 3rd at 10/9c. Meanwhile, I'm going to be out + about for the rest of the summer and all throughout the show, conjuring up lots of…
It's finally here! This fall, watch me on Bravo's second season of TOP DESIGN as I take on 12 other designers in what promises to be a fierce competition. Check out the promo shot. That's me in the center with the vest! The show airs September 3rd, so...WATCH WHAT HAPPENS! (Sorry, I couldn't resisit). In the meantime, tune in to…
Recently, while antiquing in Trenton, I stumbled upon these adorable embroidered linen cocktail napkins. Wouldn't they be perfect for summer cocktails by the pool? Or how about dinner for six in the garden? They're whimsical and fun but still oh-so-chic. I was so inspired by the delicate sticthing that I wanted to make a drink that was elegant but easy.…
I found so much great stuff antiquing in Trenton last week, including this gorgeous pair of ironstone urns. Can you believe they're made from the same clay as toilets used to be? The next day was so sunny and beautiful here in the city (after all that rain we've been having!) that I had to go to the flower booth…
Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of visiting my friend Maryanne in leafy Princeton, New Jersey, not too far from the state's capital Trenton.
