Los Angeles Interior Designer: Is the Grass Always Greener?

Early this week as I walked to my car under the warmth of a February ’08 day in Los Angeles I heard a young voice singing Cher’s classic “If I Could Turn Back Time.” This energetic 8–year-old, with head tossed back, was belting this number like a lounge act in a velvet-lined back room far off the Vegas strip.

With all the mimicked emotion possible, the lyrics and inflections poured. How could you not smile? I caught his mother’s eye as I passed and as she bobbed to the surface after loading the trunk with the bounty of the day. She smiled, shrugged and gave me a look that said, “If only!”

Right up there with “The Grass is Always Greener,’ there are phrases in our culture which are about escape from a current situation or condition. Music, media and theatre find these threads consistently woven through their unique snapshots of the world. How nice is the thought of escape.

How pleasant is the idea of that “things” will somehow be better “over there.” Most religious experiences leverage this idea in a manner, which brings hope where it might not otherwise exist.

My thought today has to do with self-empowerment and the idea that instead of looking longingly backwards, across the fence, over the hill or into your neighbors’ bay window, understand the power within which can bring change right where you stand. Looking around your living room today, are you not happy with what you see?

Stop looking longingly through glossy periodicals. Set a goal (nothing in this world happens without a goal or an objective). Write down three steps you need to take to realize your goal (paint the fireplace, buy a new area rug, sew new pillows for sofa). Get to work. Sooner than you think, the grass that you were admiring on the other side of the fence will have crept under the fence and will surround you.

Interior Designers in the OC: 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 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.

Interior Designers Beverly Hills: Free Online Book Review

If one blindly believed the messages delivered from the advertising world we might be convinced that we lived in Label Land. Branding of products from the most lofty to the most mundane is clearly big business and the only bigger business involves the purchasing of all this Label-eze. Labels, however, are not new.

History is full of lessons that speak to the power of the visual symbol around which movements, armies and entire nations rally. Symbols of Power: Napoleon and the Art of the Empire Style, 1800-1815 by Odile Nouvel-Kammerer (Abrams) undertakes a viewing of the multiple visual cues consciously utilized by Napoleon in his conquests.

Once crowned Emperor he needed a symbol. Maybe an eagle, lion or an elephant he asked his political advisers. They suggested the symbol of France during the revolution; the cock. Napoleon replied, “The cock is nothing but poultry” and decided on the eagle with thunderbolts in its claws, a symbol of the Roman legions and Charlemagne.

Eagles appeared everywhere. In a design vernacular rich with masculinity (eagles on swords, eagles on thrones, thrones made of swords…etc.), a most interesting swath of imagery is decidedly feminine. One section of the book explores the decorative imagery of Psyche, the nymph who became the symbol of willful, inconstant femininity.

Psyche gave her name to the first full-length mirrors; it was the first time in history, we are told, that women could see themselves naked from head to toe. Psyche was also represented by the butterfly so we see insects of all sorts alight on beds, bowls and porcelains of all sorts, so much so that the Serves manufactory acquired its own collection of specimens.

A particularly beautiful butterfly settled on a bronze cup cast from a mould of the breast of Paolina Bonaparte, Napoleon’s favorite sister.

It seems that the imagery of Napoleon holds its power to captivate even today. There is something about label that does linger. For a more detailed look at the wide range of his influence on design and imagery, this is a very good read.

Los Angeles Interior Designer: Environmentally Safe Cleaning

Here’s a fresh list of environmentally friendly cleaning products that get the job done while impacting our environment as little as possible.

All Purpose Cleaner. Solay Simple (www.solaywellness.com) is made completely from ingredients found in coconut trees and cornfields. Nothing artificial at all.

Laundry Detergent. Shaklee (www.shaklee.com) This remarkable product uses enzymes, not phosphates or harsh solvents, to get garments clean, and the formula is so concentrated that it replaces three bottles of lesser products.

Glass Cleaner. Biokleen (www.biokleenhome.com) The strong arm of vinegar replaces scary ammonia in this fast working product.

Furniture Polish. Timothy Corrigan Home (www.timothy-corrigan.com) Using vegetable-based moisturizing properties, this product developed by Interior Designer Timothy Corrigan will return a warm healthy shine to any wood piece.

Tools of the Trade. Casabella (www.casabella.com) offers a wide range of cleaning products for every preference. Microfiber or old-school sponge you will find the tools you need to do the job.

Interior Designers Beverly Hills: Small Kitchens

I hate kitchens that have no counter or storage space. To all Dwellers of The City I tip my hat. Forced by the facts of city life, which read like a Lilliputian Manifesto, they make miracles happen from kitchens no larger than closets.

They rise to the occasion in the most creative ways imaginable. They divide and conquer, divide again, only to have to conquer this time partially in the coat closet and partially in the guest bath’s claw-foot bathtub… but dammit they conquer.

Recently, while hovering near the “terrace” (i.e. fire-escape) in a dear friend’s mid-town masterpiece (i.e. Jr. Studio awash with mirrors) I was dumb struck (and that, Kittens of Copious Consumption, doesn’t happen often) by the contortions going on in the kitchen/guest closet/wrapping room.

Teetering on a killer Manolo heel (yes, one), my hostess was balancing a tray of recently toasted brioche in one hand, while scanning a text message on her mobile, which was commandingly perched on top of her teeny-tiny-but-definitely-not-under-the-counter refrigerator (think eyelash-level), while reaching for the freshly-topped Olive and Anchovy Topinad with the other hand.

Her lone free and fabulously shod foot had just kicked closed the oven door (from whence the brioche came) and was flying toward me at an alarming speed in an attempt to prevent the empty tumbler (launched from the lecherous paws of a party “crasher” as he reached for the fetchingly fit fanny of some Upper West Side ad-executive) from shattering on the stone entry floor (one 12 x 12 tile really doesn’t an entry hall make).

However, after that nifty save, this hostess has a buy from me for just about anything. Remarkably the Tumbler (Grannies Baccarat) and the free flying Manolo both survived without a dint, ding or chip. Praise be!

Interior Designers in the OC: Book Review

It appears that size does matter, though, in this instance, not the way you might expect. In Flann O’Brien’s absurdist novel The Third Policeman, Officer MacCruiskeen occupies his time by creating miniature chests similar to one that a military officer might use to store his valuables.

Within this chest is found another chest completely identical except for the fact that it fits inside the larger. Within this chest is found another and so on with each growing slightly smaller with each revelation. By the 32nd chest the officer’s work is so small as to be invisible as are the tools that he requires to craft the objects of his obsession.

The object of this week’s review is John Mack’s The Art of Small Things (British Museum Press) and it seems that the fantasy world of O’Brien’s officer is not that far from reality. Within its pages you will find miniature paintings executed with a single hair from a squirrel’s tail, Marcel Duchamp’s Boiten-en-Valise (a miniature suitcase containing tiny versions of his own works) as well as a work by Willard Wigan, who carved a tiny Statue of Liberty within the eye of a needle.

The book has been published by The British Museum and its contents are mainly taken from their collections. The craftsmanship, artistry and imagination, not to mention the skill and precision, depicted in this fascinating book make it an important addition to a library that embraces all the world’s wonders both large and small.

Best Interior Designer: Hospitable Knowledge

Imagine with me, my Dear Harvester of Hospitable Knowledge, the sensation a guest in your humble manner encounters when seated at your dining table. First, let us not forget the honor that such seating and the preceding invitation carries. To be a guest in a home is a weighty matter and carries with it rights and responsibilities.

Despite volumes written on the subject, many can’t fathom, and most likely never will, the subtle nuances attached to their role as a guest. Suffice it to say that you have bestowed on this mere mortal the high honor of suffering through your blossoming efforts at hospitality.

They have navigated the minefield of a cocktail hour, managed to neither offend nor be offended by the random cast and crew you have gathered for this high and holy event. And now, Oh High Priest (or Priestess) of this temple Baucus (sp?) is the moment, which all moments anticipate.

Now is the time when all masterful maneuvering must pay tribute to the impending sacrifice. Now is the time when said guest is delivered to the High Alter of Entertaining; The Dining Table.

Set with ceremonial precision by temple Virgins, the table itself is a feast for the senses. But this feast may as well be Jenny Craig’s if the table is set up in a manner that does not encourage conversation. Death and doldrums are in store for any dinner event when you can’t make eye contact, let alone civil conversation, with the other guests at the table.

Think round table Dear Kittens. Do the math my geometrically challenged hosts and hostesses. Even I know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Lines dashing across a round dining table scream connection, communication, festivities and memorable moments at this, your high alter of hospitality. Priceless!

Interior Designers in the OC: Book Review

Ralph Lauren by Ralph Lauren (Rizzoli) should not be missed. Rather than go on and on about this 500 page visual feast, I simply recommend that you run, don’t walk, to your nearest book dealer and secure a copy. Plan on days of quiet uninterrupted time to explore the range of his vision and the lifestyle he has so successfully packaged and delivered to a style-hungry world. You will not be disappointed.

Interior Designers Beverly Hills: Cleaning Tips

Systems fascinate me. Institutional systems, political systems, mechanical systems each bring to mind cogs and wheels, cause and effect, power and movement, and ultimately results. Systems offer basic framework to a group or cause which allows for common objectives to be reached. If we are interested in systems that support our desire for a clean home here are 4 suggestions to move that objective along:

1. Consistency. Set aside the same time each week for specific cleaning tasks. Systematizing this helps set up internal support for this external effort. Soon it becomes a habit.

2. Ritual. Important to establishing a habit is the repetition associated with the task itself. Put on the same “uniform.” Go to the same cabinet and gather the same tray of supplies. Start at the same end of the room… etc. Ritual brings a heightened sense of importance and sense of satisfaction to any task.

3. Celebration. Find ways to bring new energy and joy to the task, however mundane it may feel. Music is my favorite method. I-Pod in hand and suddenly you can create your own soundtrack. Suddenly, you are smiling. Go with it and have fun.

4. Support. Sometimes there are tasks which we just struggle to accomplish. Maybe you really don’t like to iron. If you ask around I’ll bet you can find a friend who loves to iron. but hates to vacuum. Swap tasks. Do what you love and let someone else cover an area where you need support. And if you’re swapping tasks it won’t cost you anything.

Best Interior Designer: Entertaining Under Pressure

Dear Ferreter of the Fashionable, oh Lady/Lad of Luxury tell me truly, when last did you make a really great entrance at a very important function (Brava) followed by a skillful stroll thought the crowd only to arrive at the center of the room and begin stripping off your over-priced yet highly-prized couture?

Heels, handbag, hose and more…. all slung on the floor exposed for the world to see; the minor “helpers” used to pull your great look together (duck tape, under wire, support tops, metal mesh, nylon wire, optical mirrors, etc.). “Well I never,” would be the correct response to this crazy suggestion.

However think about this: Doesn’t the same thing happen when you entertain in your home and you toss open the heart of the house (fount of all secrets and surprises), otherwise known as the kitchen, for all the world to see.

Yes salmon swim up stream, and I am certain a svelte figure is a happy by-product of their lone individual determination, which is much how I feel when voicing thoughts on this subject (pray to the Gods of Thunder that I’m cursed with that svelte problem, too).

The wide laborious stream of populous opinion seems poised to deposit the kitchen of today into the middle of the entry hall. If I want to greet my guests from a perch at my Hans Grohe accented sink I could just as easily ask them to use the back door and be done with the formalities. I could also ask them to bring their own folding lawn chair and a box of their favorite wine. Odds are these things won’t happen.

I am well aware that the role of host/hostess is often synonymous with that of the overachiever. The lines blur and we strain for the super-powers that may allow us to deal with the contractors, gardeners, decorator (like buttah), pool boy (I said nothing), school cross-walk attendant, parking attendant, receptionist, assistant, boss, client, florist, manicurist, hairstylist, boutique clerk, shoe repairman (save my Blanik’s, please), DJ, parking staff, housekeeper, kids and your spouse all the day of your dinner party.

And did I mention cooking, serving and cleaning as you go while 12 of your nearest and dearest float through your front door smelling of slow gin and an even slower luncheon, which they finished just in time to slip into their new Zac Pozen and through your front door?

In my world, the last thing I want at that moment is the heat of the oven, over which I am hovering, to melt the last hint of glue on my eyelashes and send my upswept “do” cascading down my neck like wet spaghetti.

My limit is stretched when I must be charming, entertaining, smart and sexy while stirring a vat of boiling water, pouring drinks, basting a dish in a sweltering oven while hawking freshly coiffed nibbles from trays of woven new-growth bamboo. I want to hide, be shielded, buffered, or (at bare minimum) to know that my escape is just through that door. Boys, put a door where a door wants to be!

Interior Designers Beverly Hills: Book Review

The English House by Hermann Muthesius explores a moment early in the 20th Century when British Architecture became of international importance. It was during the early years of 1900’s that Hermann Muthesius, a former cultural attaché’ to the German embassy in London, compiled his lengthy description of contemporary British domestic design.

The book, first published in German, was bound in three beautiful volumes by the great Berlin art publisher Wasmuth. The volumes quickly became a pivotal publication in establishing of the British Arts and Crafts movement. In general, the book focused on the new country houses of the middle and upper middle-class families and was written in a very detailed and unsentimental manner.

Muthesius shed light on the importance given by the British to owning a comfortable and private house in deference to most of Europe where apartment rental was the norm. This must-read book is populated with new homes designed by Norma Shaw, Philip Webb, William Lethaby, Edwin Lutyens, Charles Voysey and Charles Rnnie Mackintosh, each remarkably responsive to the needs of an evolving new class.

For the first time since its initial printing, the book is fully available in English and offers readers a peak at what architects and designers have drawn inspiration from for over a century.