Homework Interiors: Color is the buzz!

Homework Interiors: Color is the buzz!www.homeworkinteriors.netwww.facebook.com/homeworkinteriors

Color is the buzz!

Color, we are all in need to break away from the mundane and embrace some life in our lives. A Simple little thing like changing the paint on your wall or making a long term commitmemt and ordering a special piece of furniture that totally reflects you. Look around color abounds and yet so often we stick with white or beige. Embrace your inner feelings and break out...go on try a little color. After all, the color of the year is emerald...not beige!

Home For The Holidays!

Promising to be a much better blogger in the coming year....
For now...
Enjoy your family, friends and homes this holiday season!  May it be a continually bright, warm, festive time of year for all!

Happy Holidays To All

Days of Awe and Wonder

Well, I'm back from High Point. Always feel emotionally and mentally drained after spending a few days, hurriedly running from showroom to showroom, cramming in as much as I can possibly see right down to the last minute. And we saw lots this Market to be happy about, in fact, the mood in general was happy. Colors were happy, vendors were happy, we were all one big giddy bunch- ready to show the world some new colors, ideas and merchandise. That's where all of our clients come in to play and literally, you do have to come in and play. We took lots of pictures, have come up with some wonderful new sources and ideas are overflowing. To paraphrase the song from "Gypsy", all we need is the "client."
Slipcovers were a BIG word this market, almost every upholstery manufacturer had their variation of a slipcover.
This one from Precedent is their Parisian Loft Collection---loved for its' simplicity--

Color is the buzzword-which I love but have never been a huge fan, in fact, most clients know that I hate- orange- but I am softening to it. CR Laine did it right, in fact, their whole showroom was "eye-candy"- so here we go, I may like orange- a "tad".

One of the best finds was a US, in fact, North Carolina company called Lynwood, which had this adorable daybed- trying to figure out who needs this desperately!

Now this little company was interesting, nice little find and though I don't win the lottery, I have won a chest from this company. It should be here in Michigan the next few weeks--can't wait to see what I won, a Bob Timberlake piece, signed by him. Cool!!!

Most favorite showroom this Market, hands down was Hickory White's new extended collection from Lillian August- absolutely gorgeous- every time I turned around, I saw another piece that I loved. My mind was reeling, thinking of my different clients and who this fits. A couple of them will definitely be seeing this collection and falling in love like I did.

So not just a good Market but a great INSPIRATION and MOTIVATION MARKET. See you in the Fall- High Point Furniture Market

High Point AKA The Land of OZ

It is Market time, twice a year, the most wonderful time of the year for an interior designer and store owner. Time to be inspired, wowed and awed by the imagination of the manufacturers.
Market actually starts several weeks ahead of the Fall and Spring schedules with notices to register and the arrival of the Holy Grail of the market, the catalogs. Nothing is better than receiving those 2 volumes of accessories and home furnishings, it gets the juices flowing, the imagination running wild and the thoughts of who could I sell this to.......It is exhilirating, exhausting and giddily fun.
So tomorrow AM, for the first time in a very long time, I am driving to High Point from Detroit. By my side, my business associates and best partner in crime, Sandra.....Thelma and Louise are headed to High Point. Just letting everybody know...beware. Our bags are packed, food supplies stashed (Reeses' peanut butter cups, pretzels, almonds, water and diet Coke).
So much to see, so little time, our lists are recorded, we have dogeared catalog pages, torn them from the catalog and polled our clients for needs and wants. Time to gear up and go at it again.

What will we see?...Be prepared for pictures and comments to follow the next few days........................

http://www.justapinch.com/

http://www.justapinch.com/
Just have to share a great find- Just A Pinch- love the recipes- I have discovered old family favorites, have put in a couple of ingredients from my fridge and found great new evening dinners. What a great site-

Homework Interiors: Preview "Pull Up A Chair"

Homework Interiors: Preview "Pull Up A Chair"

Pull Up A Chair

A few years ago, while I was at High Point Market, I left my husband in charge of our new puppy. He was left with strict instructions to watch for signs of hunger, needs to go out, what I failed to remind him of was the need to watch what he was chewing. We expected to lose a shoe or sock but imagine my surprise when it turned out to be wood, as in our dining room chairs. Home again, watching TV, I glanced through to my dining room and glanced down to see that four out of six chairs had been chewed to an unrecognizable Louis XVI styling. When I screeched to my husband, oh my God, what happened to the chairs, his pronouncement was, what chairs?!?! Big sigh, our table was my grandmother's Kindel dining table with breakfront and the chairs were from Grand Rapids Chair Co. Beautiful! So many other priorities in life, I have pretty much ignored the chair legs for the last

few years. Now we have moved, the movers reminded me that the chairs were damaged like they would have chewed on the legs?!?! So, I have started the hunt for the perfect dining chairs. Have narrowed it down to the top ten chairs that I have coveted over the years which work so well with French and English country- even a nice look with a more contemporized look to soften the edge.
So, in no particular order, theseGrand Rapids Made are a few of my favorite chairs.....don't even get me started on the upholstery.

Mirrors- A Reflection On Life

Quite frankly, I have a love/hatred of mirrors for personal use. Mirrors are meant to reflect, quite often, I don't want to see myself reflected. The hair is wrong, the makeup is not right or worse yet, the body is out of shape. But in a room, mirrors reflect, in most cases, a wonderful view, enlarge a seemingly small room, provide a surprisingly brilliant source of light or just hang there looking lovely. The most important thing to remember when hanging a mirror is to stop, look and think what is this mirror reflecting and is it worthy of that reflection. Nobody wants to look at a blank wall, messy kitchen from the dining room or worse yet, the water closet.
So here are a few of my favorite mirrors of the moment:

[Lorts News] Preview our new collection!

[Lorts News] Preview our new collection!

We're all looking to reinvent ourselves these days. Furniture manufacturers are no different, once a staid English and French country manufacturer of wood furnishings, Lorts is introducing this Vegas market a large departure for them. And I think I like it!

Sherrill Furniture - Search Our Products

Sherrill Furniture - Search Our Products: "Sherrill's exacting standards of workmanship and exceptional attention to detail assure the very finest upholstery available. New product introductions at least twice annually offer Sherrill customers an up-to-date selection of upscale looks and the opportunity to choose from a variety of style preferences."

This is a great little chair that just gives you a big hug when you settle into it. Small scale chairs are not an easy thing to find. There is a plethora of big, hunky, "Edith Ann" can't touch my feet to the ground chairs but demure, comfy chairs are not as plentiful. So when I find them, they are added to my stable of favorites.

This may sound ridiculous but I bought and read this book a couple of years ago and have been surprised how often I have cited the book since then. Just today, a fabric rep came into show me what's new from them. Now this manufacturer has always dealt with many natural fibers like cottons, silks, wools to name a few but my heart leapt when I actually saw a polished cotton. I drooled, the thought of once again being able to show and sell beautiful glazed cotton chintz, came instantly to my mind, The rep said that yes, it appears that glazed cottons might be the next trend to return to the showrooms. Linen is beautiful, I have always used plenty of them but glazed cottons hold such special memories of English and French Country floral prints. Count me in, I will be showing them again. Hopefully soon! Meanwhile enjoy the book above, fascinating history, how a simple little cotton seed has changed history.

Just an FYI

Saw a beautiful blog today from the Bayou Contessa who does unbelievable lighting. She has become my new lighting favorite. Every piece is exquisite! Please check her out.

Swatch showing the color 'Ryegrass'

Swatch showing the color 'Ryegrass'

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/search/?search_terms=sw+6486§ion=

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/search/?search_terms=sw+6486&section=

Spring time is around the corner! I promise!

It's coming, I know it is because I saw a robin in my very snow-filled backyard last weekend. If he is brave enough to come home to Michigan, it has got to be true. With Spring, comes spring-cleaning, I remember that was my grandmother and mom's mission in life come March every year. Walls were washed, windows cleaned, draperies taken down and aired out, carpets cleaned, rugs beaten- do any of us do this anymore? I know that I have never washed a wall except for that time when my daughter was little and painted a mural on her bedroom wall with markers. She is now 26years of age and will undoubtedly be doing that someday for her childrens' masterpieces. Spring for us nowadays usually involves fresh paint or wallpaper to spruce up a space. In my studio, I have just painted a couple of accent walls, one in a bright green from Sherwin Williams SW 6423 ryegrass and bright turqoise from Sherwin Williams SW SW6486 reflecting pool. Both have created a lot of interest here in the studio and definitely a nice bright reflection of Spring to come. What an easy step to making a room feel totally different fresh and new! All for the price of a gallon of paint!

Maison & Objet: Trend Report - Inspired.talk

Maison & Objet: Trend Report - Inspired.talk

Staying Warm in Michigan!!!

Staying warm in Michigan is a feat unto itself at this time of year, the temperature varies between 6 degrees and 40 degrees on any given day. So we tend to look for inside activities unless we are very brave and looking to face the elements such as going up north to ski or snowmobile. My son-in-law with friends has chosen to spend this past week in a cabin in the UP snowmobiling. I must say that I have never ventured further than Boyne Mountain for skiing this time of year. And skiing is usually done with frequent trips in for hot chocolate, white bean chili and later in the day, a good glass of red wine. So what do we do the rest of the time, we look around our homes and decide that we need to make changes. The easiest change, of course, is to rearrange furniture or accessories, getting a bit more adventurous, trying a new shade of paint. Paint is the cheapest way to give a room a totally different look. Listened to a webinar sponsored by Benjamin Moore paints just the other day, talking about color forecasting for 2010. Interesting always to hear their takes on where trends are taking us---they talked about order in our lives- a return to bright primary colors--a look at ethereal spiritual colors represented by tones of white, beiges, grays---and a tribal look, heartening to golds, terracotta, earth-colors that make us feel safe, secure, hugged. These are the same colors that I am seeing expressed in fabrics- a look at introductions by Kravet, F. Schumacher or Vervain reveal that all to quickly. Even in my studio these days, I have taken to color adding from Sherwin-Williams a bold green SW6423 rye grassto accent one wall and to another, Sherwin-Williams, SW6486 reflecting pool. They have proven just the thing to brighten a dreary day- feels good to be thinking of Spring and anticipating an end to winter.