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Point of View

Change the way you look at things & the things you look at change

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April 6, 2013
Design, Point of View
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Design On A Dime

Annual Interior Design Shopping Spree Benefitting Housing Works

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There is an upcoming event that is a major fundraiser within the interior design community.  It is one of my favorite industry soirees.  Design on a Dime which benefits the Housing Works Thrift Shops began 9 years ago at the East 23 Street shop with only a handful of interior designers.

With founding Chair James ‘Ford’ Huniford at the helm, the event has grown to an astounding magnitude, and generates such a great spirit of giving.  This year 60 interior designers and retail sponsors will create room vignettes with everything for sale from the moment the doors open. Attendees literally scoff up amazing finds and treasures and begin to dismantle those vignettes which have taken designers countless hours to conceive of, secure donations for, and assemble for presentation.  The vibe is high-spirited and lively.  I can’t recall having a better time as I have had attending 7 of the 8 previously held events and participating in 6.
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I thought it would be interesting to chat with a few designers and artist friends who are participating to ask them about their involvement with Design on a Dime and how it impacts them.
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March 30, 2013
Design, Point of View
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‘See And Be Seen’ March 2013

Bailey House Celebrates 30 Years With A Bang

Bailey HouseHarlan Bratcher, CEO of A/X Armani Exchange, Gina Quattrochi, Wendy Williams & Alan Cumming Photo courtesy Patrick McMullan

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Bailey House celebrated their 30th Anniversary Thursday evening with quite the shindig.  For the first time ever, they hosted an awards dinner where they honored a number of organizations and individuals who were there at the beginning of the crusade against AIDS, and the discrimination/fear that ensued.  The night was a splendid and star-studded tribute to these heroes.  I was proud to be in attendance and to share in the revelry.

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March 26, 2013
Design, Point of View
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High Style Is What You Make It

Tony Duquette, John Pawson and Cy Twombly - Disparate Yet Comparable

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DeBeistegui Paris apartment

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There once was a trinity of high style, Le Corbusier, Emilio Terry and Charles De Beistegui, who created one of the most unusual and surreal collaborations in design history with the Parisian apartment for De Beistegui.

I ask how would anyone top that today?  Or why would anyone even attempt to?  That being said, it is one of the great moments in the annals of decorative arts.  The melding of the flamboyant taste of De Beistegui with the stark, sculptural architecture of Le Corbusier, and the whimsically garish furnishings designed by Emilio Terry all explode onto the serene and stately 8th arrondissement of Paris.   It must have been viewed as shocking at the time.

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March 17, 2013
Design, Point of View
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Business & Design: Coffee Table Books

The retro home accessory of the future?

837Rizzoli on West 57th Street

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When Amazon introduced the first Kindle in 2007, the idea of reading changed forever.  I remember seeing folks on the NYC subway carrying them, and wondering if the concept of an e-reader would catch on.  Needless to say it did.  What’s more of an anomaly these days is to find someone riding mass transit with a real book.

Times change.

In reading the news over the last few days I came across 3 articles that prompted me to ask the question.  Will books be considered retro by the interior design community of the future?

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March 13, 2013
Design, Point of View
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Design: An Evolution Of Style

Are We Destined To Decorate By Numbers?

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When it comes to the topic of decorating there is no beginning and, certainly, there is no end.

I ask your permission to indulge myself in some observations about interior design, a topic about which I have become well versed in these past thirty-five years.  In these days of phone app floor plans, computer generated renderings, and formulated color schemes, the BIG question for me is where do we go from here?

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March 8, 2013
Point of View
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Business & Design: We’re Celebrating!

It's our 1st Anniversary

1st Birthday Cupcake…………………………

Today, March 8th, marks our 1 year anniversary here on the blog.  Over the past year we’ve brought you stories about interior design resources, business posts (we hope) have helped guide your success, technology information as it relates to design, and fashion dispatches – because we believe that fashion informs interior design, and vice versa.

Earlier this week the Design Bloggers Conference took place in Los Angelos.   It was an amazing honor to be nominated as one of the 5 best new design blogs of the year.  In the months since the nominations were announced, folks have asked me why I started a blog.  I have the answer.

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February 27, 2013
Point of View, Technology
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Technology & Design

Do bad email habits interfere with your work?

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Email is an indispensable tool in business, speeding communication and providing a handy archive of our correspondence and contacts.  While email may be invaluable, however, it’s hardly a perfect system.  In fact, because most of us formed email routines without formal instruction, there are many bad habits that stymie effective communication and foster disorganization.

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February 26, 2013
Point of View
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The ‘Art’ of Collecting Art

The Gallery vs The Consultant

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Often times, I have been engaged to assist in the procurement of art for a client.  It would appear to be a natural progression for a designer to bring the final flourishes to the projects they design.  Yet, to tackle this task it is necessary to have some basic knowledge and experience in dealing with the art market.

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February 26, 2013
Point of View
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Editor’s Choice

Tuesday picks for the best in business, design, tech & fashion

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This week CJ shares a newly updated version of a book that every business owner needs to read if Social Media is part of their marketing strategy.  I got an advanced copy, and so far I’m finding it easily accessible and straightforward with implementation strategies.  Carl Lana spotlights a new hand painted and gilded fabric from Fromental (legendary for their silk embroidered wallpapers), James White has a simple and effective web application to help you stay organized, and Anthony Costa serves up shoes that are the perfect antidote to Winter’s dour palette.

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February 24, 2013
Point of View
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About Face

Change the way you look at things & the things you look at change

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The 2013 Kips Bay Showhouse is a mere 2 months away, which reminds me of the first time I attended the event in 1985.  It was an experience I’ll never forget.  I had one of my first great New York moments that afternoon – Mary McFadden was in the que in front of me, and as such I was privy (while eavesdropping I admit) to her comments as I followed her regimentally from room to room, and up flights of stairs.

So in reminiscing about the Kips Bay Showhouse‘s of yesteryear, I’ve been musing over the current state of affairs in interior design.  What happened to the uber-creativity, the risk-taking rooms, and the habitat laboratory KB once was?

I think I’ve got the answer.

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