Dumb Interior Design

Ok, listen girls. You are too smart to do Dumb Design. You are a decorating lover, a design watcher, a DIY-er type or a Hire-A-Designer gal. You are a smart cookie in all areas of your Life, so why throw that away in an HGTV-Blog-a-liscious-HOUZZ-delighted stuper? I saY YES to HGTV and I say YES…

Unable to Make Decorating Decisions?

So listen, this post could also have been titled, “’Blank’ or Get Off the Sofa.” I keep hearing people complain about “Taking 6 months to pick out a rug” (it shouldn’t) or “2 years to pick out a sofa” (Holy Cow) or “Staying up at night vacillating over paint colors” (Please no!). I’m here to…

Are People Bothered By Their Homes and Furnishings?

Investing wisely in your home’s design and in the furnishings you purchase for that home should not be negotiable. Design is a gift when done wisely and well, yet the losses are great when it is not. Protecting and guiding design clients and design consumers everywhere is not just a passion for me – it’s…

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…