Top 10 Luxury Interior Design “Must Haves”

There was a great article in the Wall Street Journal recently about the high end London real estate market. Whatever image comes to your mind when I say “high end” – go higher. No, higher. According to the WSJ, there is sales figure history being made in London when it comes to higher-than-high end real…

Design Excitement at the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse

What do you get when you combine a team of tour-de-force designers with a stunning piece of architecture and healthy budgets (and sure…industry pull and relationships to get “the good stuff” shipped in an installed in about 3 hours – OK…7 weeks…). You get a sensational showing for the 2014 Kips Bay Show House! This…

Interior Design Dollars: How Much Is $5,000 Really Worth?

Five grand sounds like a lot of money, doesn’t it? If it fell out of your wallet, you’d sure feel like you’d just lost a lot of money. And you’d be right. But, 5 G’s in interior design doesn’t go as far as most people think it will (or should). Particularly in luxury or high…

Bathroom Design Trends to Bet On in 2014

Listen up interior design lovers and design consumers. If you’ve got an itch that involves updating or gutting a bath in 2014, take a deep breath, find a great team and consider these bathroom room design trends to bet on in 2014. This Tubs For You: The stand-alone tub continues to be strong. Thanks to…

Should an Interior Designer Charge for a First Appointment?

This is a hotly debated question among design clients. It may interest you to know…it is equally charged among professional designers! Let me see if I can break it down for you. To start, interior designers are similar to other knowledge workers, like accountants, lawyers, psychologists, certain consultants and, to some extent doctors. These professions…

Smart Consumer Guide to Natural Kitchen Countertops

Hey, you Houzz crashers and Pinterest pinners, heads up here. Before you lust after another kitchen image while preparing for your upcoming kitchen renovation, here’s a smart consumer countertop primer so you’ll select the right countertop and never again stare blankly at stone samples thinking, “What the #$*&@?” Step one. Think back to that science…

Finding an Interior Designer – Is There Less Choice Than Before?

NO matter where you live, no matter WHO you are, finding the right interior designer is mission critical. An Ideal Designer can save you from the costly ashes of a “textbook bad” design experience or result. But here’s the rub: There are fewer interior designers out there than there used to be. The economic rattle…

Decorating Is Like Sex

You know, recently, I got a lot of fun comments back after a post I did in which I joked that Design is a lot like sex. People had fun with that – but I’ve got to tell you, the more I thought about it afterwards, the more true it really seemed to be to…

The Problem for DIY Decorators

I love DIYers. Most of my friends and family are DIY-ers. A lot of clients come to my design practice after first trying a stint as a DIYer, though I suppose because they threw in the towel and came to us, they’re not technically DIYers. Nonetheless, DIYers are great! They love design. They are interested…

Avoiding Unexpected Charges on Your Renovation Invoice

Beyond finding termites in your walls when you are gutting your kitchen, there is one other headache I want to avoid on your upcoming construction or renovation project: Surprise overage charges at the end of your kitchen renovation, bath remodel or new build. It’s the worst and I’ve been there myself. Years ago, before I…

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