Best Interior Designer Los Angeles: Cleaning Tips

Out with the old and in with the new. Tis’ the season when accumulation happens at surprisingly accelerated rates. It’s hardly news that the holiday season offers wonderful opportunities to share love and care for friends and family – by giving gifts that express our feelings.

This can also be turned around and cause our own closets and cabinets to swell. A large part of having a beautiful home is making a place for everything and making certain that everything is in its place.

If you have limited space this may mean setting time aside for some clear-headed pre-holiday editing. Here are three ideas to help you find and maximize the space in your home:

1. My first rule of thumb is if I haven’t worn it or used it (not including seasonal clothes or objects) in 6 months, I don’t need it. It is always a pleasant surprise to find things I’d forgot I owned lurking in the back of a closet or cabinet. Clearly I didn’t miss it. Why do I need to keep it? Either it goes back into serious use or it’s time to find a new owner.

2. What I keep, I care for. I treat my belongings with care and they wear well and long. By elevating their importance by the way I store and care for my belongings (sweaters in closed containers with cedar, monogrammed wooden hangers, fabric lined drawers, shoe trees…etc.) things not only look good, but they last.

3. What I care for I organize. A quick inventory (3 black cashmere sweaters, 5 pair khaki slacks, 14 white cotton dress shirts….etc.) can give you a foundation for a organizing system as simple, or as involved, as you need.

Grouping your belongings (clothing, linens, china, crystal..etc.) by color, season, application or need is often a good place to start. Digital photographs and a basic numbering system can make quick work of the cataloguing process. You know what you own and you know where everything is stored. Now it’s time to go shopping!

Best Interior Designer Los Angeles: Holiday Recipe

Pecan Balls

Ingredients

3 Sticks Butter

1⁄2 Cup Powdered Sugar, plus extra for dusting

1⁄2 Cup Sugar

1⁄2 Teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Vanilla

3 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Cup Finely Chopped Toasted Pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Cream butter with both sugars and salt.

Add vanilla and stir into flour.

Add pecans.

Do not over-mix.

Roll dough into walnut-size balls.

Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 20 – 30 minutes, until golden brown.

When cookies are completely cooled, roll in powdered sugar.

Enjoy.

Top LA Interior Designer’s Decorating Pet Peeves

Into every house a guest may wander, and at some point that guest may need to freshen up. Regardless, if you live in a studio walk up in the East Village or a rambling Colonial in the mid-west, you will need to give thought to where you will guide your guests who need to… well, powder their nose!

This may mean they are sharing the same space that you and your curling iron occupied moments ago or it may be that lovely small suite of rooms off the entry hall where guests can powder, primp and linger until they are ready to face the growing crowds in your drawing room; either way, here are some thoughts.

I hate walking into a powder room overrun with daily stuff.

In other words, clean the place up. If I’ve got to go, the last thing I want to see is the collection of concealers, cover-sticks, deodorants and hair products that went into pulling you together for either day or evening.

I love you, but I don’t love you that much. Put your shit away. If you are strapped for space then sweep it all into a basket or plastic storage container and chuck it into the closet in your bedroom, but don’t, I repeat, don’t make me look and/or stare at your errant product collection.

I hate having to guess where things might be.

It’s all about balance, isn’t it? Put your things away? Yes. Hide everything from me? No. Not unless you want me using your drapes as a hand towel. The drill is simple really. Stand outside your powder bath (or bathroom designated for guests) and let your mind wander. Let it wander so far away that you forget where you are.

Now walk through that door and I dare you to find your way through the potty process without having your blood pressure slam through the roof. Let’s start with the paper products. Are they there?

Are they stocked for company (much less politely stated, are there more than three squares left on the TP roll?) with back-stock located in a reasonable and logical location (rolls tossed in a basket on the floor; backup rolls stacked neatly on a shelf or cabinet… etc.).

Please don’t make me rummage through every drawer and cabinet in this room and adjoining rooms trying to find a fresh roll of TP or a new box of tissues. I won’t be happy and neither will you when I’m done rearranging every cabinet that I’m forced to sack.

And please don’t be cute with the location of the waste basket; next to the sink is fine. Tucked behind the WC is reasonable, but please spare me (again) the hunt through cabinets and closets unless you want me to simply chuck my used tissue or finger towel behind your toilet for the next guest to discover.

Top Los Angeles Designer’s Book Selections

I have very clear recollections of my mother attempting to convince my younger sister that the broccoli on her plate was something really delicious. Year after year, the exchange remained the same: mom selling, sister not buying. They both had distinct views of the same thing; views that could not have been more different. As it turns out, neither was completely wrong, but the consumption of broccoli ends up a solely personal decision.

A book that has been on my library shelf for sometime now is Hollywood Style by Diane Dorrans Saeks. I pulled it off the shelf last week as part of a little research project and finally made time earlier today to crack the cover.

The title offers a hint of the pot-luck nature of book’s contents. To some readers, style will be found in the effort behind the successful corralling of shapes and forms, color and textures, periods and details. To others, the invocation of style is through this wide and loosely determined filter of Hollywood. Ultimately I think it’s a bit like broccoli; either you like it or you don’t.

Take a look and share with use all your thoughts on this broad and interesting book.

Happy Holidays from a Top Los Angeles Interior Designer

Giving Thanks

May your holiday week be filled with the blessings of friends and family.

From everyone at James Swan & Co., Inc.

Random Thoughts from a Top Los Angeles Interior Designer

Three things on my mind today: Thanksgiving; Silk Flowers and Authentic People.

It is now six days until we set aside one entire day to be thankful. It seems wonky (I heard this word earlier today and couldn’t wait to use it) to me as there are so many things in my life to be thankful for, that limiting them or channeling them into one 24 hour culinary orgy seems a bit diminishing.

When my memory cells cooperate, as I recall my way to the bath in the morning, I try, try, try to begin being thankful for another day on this ball of twine spinning precisely through the universe.

Breathing usually hits the parade of obvious “high-fives” as does sight, hearing, generally well behaved body functions, smell (both my abilities to distinguish what is good from what is not and even all the “what is nots” which my body tosses at me just for giggles).

For all these, and more, I am thankful. And I do it everyday. I believe that if you don’t use something you loose it and I’m not yet ready to start losing these creaks, cracks, squishes and farts (like you don’t do it too) that announce to the least aware person in the room that we’re still trying to make this body work. Thanks, indeed, for another day well done.

Silk Flowers while sensible, even practical on some rudimentary level are just wrong. Sorry. “Just not feeling it,” as the 20-somethings around the office might offer. No, I’m not. Many lovely, well-executed and actually quiet sublime products are available, but when considering these (and then in sweeping them into some glorious, triumphant explosion of mother natured-ness)… why bother.

You’ve just spent more than some families live on for a year for flowers that need to be dusted daily. No, no ,no. Cut back on the concept. Think simple. Think true. Think authentic and go for what nature herself would bring to your home.

And having mentioned authentic… I wonder if we all gave it a try in the coming week how different our Thanksgiving holiday might be. Be real, be present and be exactly who you are and I’m going to guess that you will enjoy the day as never before.

Let’s banish pretense and invite a warm sense of care of others. Let’s jettison pride and simply state the truth about life, work, the kids and your own thoughts on the wacko world around us. Let’s give away the need for approval from people who we don’t know and spend time learning from people who know who love us for just who we are.

Thank each of you, for all you will do this week that makes the world, and it’s people, more beautiful.

A Top LA Designer with Favorite Holiday Recipes

For chocolate lovers this is a must.

Chocolate Snowballs

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
4 tablespoons butter
½ cup sambuca
1 cup almond flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
3 large eggs
½ cup sugar
Powdered and granulated sugar for dusting

Slowly melt chocolate with butter in double boiler
Add Sambuca and set aside
Sift almond flour, all purpose flour and baking powder together
Set aside
Whip eggs and sugar in a large bowl until light in color
Add chocolate mixture
Fold flour mixture into batter
Refrigerate until cool and set
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Line cookie sheets with parchment paper
Form dough into walnut-size balls
Roll in granulated sugar then in powdered sugar
Place on cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies begin to crack
Makes about 48 cookies.

Enjoy!

A Top LA Interior Designer’s Pet Peeves

I hate not having a mirror close at hand in an entry hall. Wind, rain or just a treacherous seatbelt can put an end to even the best hair days. “My kingdom for a mirror” is my cry, so I can assess the damage. Is it too much to ask for a simply framed, mercury-coated, plate glass panel artfully hung in a friendly way that says “before you walk into the crowd just around the corner you may want to fix that birds-nest of a ‘do’ teetering on your forehead!”

Or the even more intimate suggestion that hints to you, “While we love you dearly we fear the children will be spooked by those false eyelashes masquerading as earrings.” A casual glance in the mirror (that tool of vanity we thank the warlords of Dynastic China for) can either send you scampering directly into the social fray without a worry in the world or cause your fingers to speed-dial a hair and makeup rescue team from the nearest beauty emporium.

And worse yet, I hate having every surface in the room mirrored.

I said a glance. That’s all I need, just a glance. I don’t need endless repetitions of my rumples, wrinkles and wind swept atrocities spun round me like the lame clad cast of A Chorus Line. Remember, just a glance. I hate overly lit entry halls. What’s up with the stadium lighting?

Does no one know the simple joys of “dimming?” Modern magic really, these little boxes with wires, toggles, dials and such that allow you to control the level of light put out by the 40 mercury lamps that you have strapped to your ceiling. Think candlelight, people! Ever wonder why everyone in Merchant Ivory films looks so damn great? It’s the candlelight. Keep it low and your guests will glow!

Top Los Angeles Interior Designer’s Book Review

When you least expect it, things happen. A friend you’ve not seen for years bumps into you. A phone call rockets a business deal to completion and sometimes a simple book can prove so intelligent and instructive that you can’t imagine having not read it years before.

This was my response to reading Adam Lewis’ Van Day Truex, The Man Who Defined Twentieth-Century Taste and Style. Best known for his long reign as design director at Tiffany & Co., but also known and revered for his years of unfaltering leadership at Parsons School of Design, he has developed the tastes of America’s design leaders.

Anyone who enjoys interior design, fashion, architecture and furniture design will find this portrait of Truex a fascinating read. The names, the stories and the interlocking worlds of art and design all come together in the life of a man that Brooke Astor called “one of the most charming men I ever knew.”

From my last read-through of the book (it has become something of an annual ritual), I took this quote from Charles Sevingny, a Paris-based international decorator and former Truex student to heart: “I was at my drawing table looking through some shelter magazines, like House and Garden, you know, and he came by and asked what I was doing. “

“When I said I was getting ideas for an assignment, he was furious: “ ’ Go to the source for ideas, go to the Metropolitan Museum, find your inspiration in nature, to the Museum of Natural History, but never rely on something that someone else has done.’ ”

Shortly after reading this, for the first time, I canceled all my magazine subscriptions. Wise words from a wise and talented man. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Words to live by? No doubt. Words to decorate by well….. yes as a matter of fact, they are.

The last thing I want to see on someone’s face when they walk in my home is a grimace of pain not unlike the one when you pluck that errant eyebrow or (god forbid) nose hair. No matter how you try to mask it, the wrinkle of pain that darts across your face is unmistakable; like a gouge in a newly installed hardwood floor.

The response I’m looking for is more akin to the great “ahh” moment when you ease your tired body into a steaming whirlpool bath. The air escapes from your lips, your body relaxes and your nerve-endings just smile. Yes, this is how I want you to feel when you step into my home.

So here’s my question? In this purportedly God-fearing land why do so many ignore this simple truth? And I’m not speaking about all the anger, distrust, fear-mongering, or war-rampaging which fills most of the information-waves today. (Although I feel certain that most of these would be taken care of if we would just “do unto others”. Right?)

No, I am talking about the visual assault inflicted by so many on the unsuspecting few of us who give a flying-rat’s-ass about the condition of our surroundings. I’m not suggesting that we all live in some version of a financially fueled, glossy-magazine-looking fantasy home where the carpets are never walked on and the linen cocktail napkins are always freshly starched (though it does sound rather appealing).

What I am talking about are real places filled with real people enjoying really lovely surroundings that do not necessarily depend on bank balances or highly paid stylists. Stop the insanity! Stop the hatred! Stop the ugliness! Or just stop inviting me to your home.

For the past number of weeks we’ve looked at the ingredient side of cleaning with great interest. Who knew that so many of the household products we used every day could be so harmful to the environment not to mention the children, pets, as well as the floral and fauna in the general area.

Yikes. We seemed to have addressed many of those concerns with safer and more friendly products, and now that we are all using these on a regular basis we can pat each other on the back for a moment.

Now it’s time to move on to the really tough jobs when it comes to house cleaning (the germs appear to be under control). I’m now concerned about the junk piled high in that space you call a living room (we’ll talk about other rooms of the house next week). For today, let’s give pause and consideration to the room we live in; the Living Room.

Sometimes called the great room, in times past it was called the Great Hall, the Reception Room, the Parlor… etc. You get the point. It is typically the larger of the common spaces within the house and is usually used to entertain guests of important stature which today could be your gaming buddies or the CEO of your husband/wife’s company.

When was the last time you really looked at your “Living Room”? I ask this question fully knowing that most people are lucky if they remember what color the drapery is in their Living Room.

How interesting that two of your children’s school science projects are still stored in the corner next to the failing Fichus tree (yes, the one with the braided trunk!). And whose idea was it to store the fishing tackle boxes behind the sofa? How many issues of National Geographic do you intend to include in that makeshift side table?

I always wonder when, like a house of cards, this world of decorating wonder will slide to its demise?

What’s my point? Let’s start by cleaning things up. You will be amazed at how much more beautiful clean and neat it is. Imagine how great it will look when we actually start making it really beautiful.

Here is a holiday season favorite you are sure to enjoy:

Coconut Cake

Sift together:

3 ¾ cup un-sifted cake flour
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Cream together:

1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
¾ lb. soft unsalted butter
1 stick margarine
2 ¾ cups supreme sugar
¾ cup light brown sugar

Add one at a time

8 large eggs
4 egg yokes

Then add

2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon heavy cream

At low speed add to creamed ingredients the sifted ingredients

When well mixed (slowly) stir (use wooden spoon) 1 1/3 cups sweetened flaked coconut.

Fold into a buttered and floured 10” tube pan

Bake in pre-heated oven at 350’ for 1 hour 40 minutes

A toothpick should come out clean when inserted into heart of cake.

Cool on baking rack.

Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy.

And a few more thoughts from my “pet-peeves” list:

Overly lit rooms:

What’s up with the stadium lighting? Does no one know the simple joys of “dimming”? Modern magic really, these little boxes with wires, toggles, dials and such that allow you to control the level of light put out by the 40 mercury lamps that you have strapped to your ceiling.

Think candle light, people. Ever wonder why everyone in Merchant Ivory films look so damn great. It’s the candle light. Keep it low and your guests will glow!

No mirror in the Entry Hall:

Wind, rain or just a treacherous seatbelt can put an end to even the best hair days. “My kingdom for a mirror,” is my cry, so I can assess the damage. Is it too much to ask for a simply framed, mercury coated, plate glass panel artfully hung in a friendly way that says “before you walk into the crowd just around the corner you may want to fix that birds-nest of a ‘do’ teetering on your forehead!”

Or the even more intimate suggestion that hints to you: “While we love you dearly we fear the children will be spooked by the false eyelashes masquerading as earrings.” A casual glance in the mirror (that tool of vanity we thank the warlords of Dynastic China for) can either send you scampering directly into the social fray without a worry in the world or cause your fingers to speed-dial a hair and makeup rescue team from the nearest beauty emporium.

Worse yet, I hate having every surface in the room mirrored:

I said a glance. That’s all I need, just a glance. I don’t need endless repetitions of my rumples, wrinkles and wind swept atrocities spun round me like the lame clad cast of A Chorus Line.

One of my weekend rituals is to read through parts of the New York Times. I don’t pretend to read it all. I don’t pretend to find some of it remotely interesting. But each week there is something of interest which makes the effort of sifting through all that paper and ink worth while.

Today, the Style Magazine has caught my attention and I’ve gleaned a few articles that strike me as worth exploring. What is of more immediate interest for our conversation today is the wide variety of topics that come under the ever-expanding umbrella of design.

Two of the most fundamental elements of design are shape and color. The former involves dimension, scale, contour and a variety of other components that establish a basis for conversation and understanding. The latter invokes theory books and color wheels and also one of the most fascinating books that I’ve read in a very long time.

Color; A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay. In a sweeping and vivid trek through the colors on an artist’s palette, Ms. Finlay leads us on a journey through the pages of history and around the world sharing with us how the colors we choose to value have determined the history of culture itself.

There are so many captivating stories of how artists and businessmen have harvested from nature the array of colors used to create masterpieces that I would simply be quoting great passages of the book if I were to try and share them with you.

Ms. Finlay literally takes you around the world in search of the source of the most precious shades on earth and, in doing so, weaves a cloth of knowledge and understanding that is unique and singular. Enjoy this book, and the next time you stand in a museum gallery, you will marvel in a new way at the paintings staring down at you from the walls.

Dear Readers,

I owe you a tremendous apology for not responding to your comments sooner. As we have developed our blog, we have had to overcome some technical difficulties. We have the wrinkles nearly ironed out and look forward to responding to your comments shortly. I would like to encourage you to please continue to share your thoughts and questions.

Kindly,
Jim Swan

The Safe Home of the 21st Century

Because Americans spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors, it is crucial to make the home environment as safe as possible. Indoor pollutants have proliferated in recent years, often either because modern construction techniques and furnishing manufacturers utilize hazardous materials or because consumers do not know enough about the products they buy to make informed choices.

But safe, nontoxic alternatives exist for nearly every real need around the home, and the search for them may help consumers distinguish between what they really do need, and what may be “luxuries” that could compromise their families’ health.

Even the furnishings of the typical American home can be harmful. Fabrics that are labeled “wrinkle-resistant” are usually treated with a formaldehyde resin. These include no-iron sheets and bedding, curtains, sleep wear — any woven fabric, but especially polyester/cotton blends, marketed as “permanent press” or “easy care.”

More modern furniture is made of pressed wood products that emit formaldehyde and other chemicals. Carpeting is usually made of synthetic fibers that have been treated with pesticides and fungicide. Many office carpets emit a chemical called 4-phenylcyclohexene, an inadvertent additive to the latex-backing used in more commercial and home carpets, which is thought to be one of the chemicals responsible for “sick” office buildings.

It seems that we must educate ourselves about what we bring into our homes whether to clean or as a finished product. The more we know the better prepared we will be to make choices that will support the health and well-being of our families as well as the health of our planet.