On the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan searches the world for the best design related events and activities.

DesignFind™ helps you find Smart-Design-Daily by searching the globe for design related events and activities.

It’s Christmas Eve and I am reminded that miracles still happen in our world when we “Never, Never, Never, Never give up”! (thanks to Winston Churchill for a life that demonstrated this resolve and the accompanying miracles). Merry Christmas.

A Holiday favorite; The Dining Room at The Biltmore

Mark your calendars for this great event coming in January.

Antiques at The Armory

January 22-23-24, 2010

69th Regiment Armory, Lexington Avenue @ 26th Street, New York City.

Launched in 1995, Antiques at the (Other) Armory has become a mainstay of Americana Week in New York. Featuring 100 select exhibits of fine and affordable American & European antiques, period furniture, Americana, folk art, garden & architectural artifacts, fine art and prints, and the list goes on…

Complimentary Shuttle
Shuttles depart Antiques at the Armory (26th Street) on the hour and go to The Winter Antiques Show (67th Street) and Americana & Antiques at the Pier Saturday & Sunday. Shuttles depart those locations to return to the 26th Street Armory on the HALF hour.

Always searching the world for Smart-Design-Daily

On the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan searches the world for the best design related events and activities.

DesignFind™ helps you find Smart-Design-Daily by searching the globe for design related events and activities.

I’m not Catholic but this bit from Jerusalem caught my eye; particularly given the season…..Nice to see the Israelis and Palestinians cooperating even if it’s just for 24 December.

Bethlehem's Christmas mass to be broadcast worldwide

Featured upcoming DesignFind™ Event:

The 56th Annual Winter Antiques Show

22-31 January 2010
Park Avenue Armory
67th Street and Park Avenue
New York City, New York
718 292 7392

As America’s top vetted show this is the one not to miss if you are looking for beauty and inspiration. Brace yourself for high tickets on these items of beauty (you are correct, beauty does not come cheap) but what a dream to be so inundated by fine and decorative arts from ancient times through 1960’s. There’s a special exhibition: Colonial to Modern: A Century of Collecting at Historic New England.

Opening Night Party 21 January 2010

All this and more for a great cause; The East Side House Settlement

For more than fifty years the Winter Antiques Show has provided crucial financial support for East Side House Settlement, which offers a variety of social services and educational programs to those living in the Mott Haven section of the South Bronx, one of the poorest congressional districts in America.

Recognizing that education is the key to opportunity, East Side House—in partnership with New York City’s Department of Education—founded two new schools in the community: Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School and Bronx Haven High School.

The Winter Antiques Show Education Fund was established to provide college readiness and other programs for these students as they strive toward obtaining a high school diploma and college education. The schools’ initial enrollment of seventy will soon reach seven hundred students, with impressive graduation and college acceptance rates.

East Side House Settlement Students, with Arie Kopelman, Brian Brille, Lucinda Ballard, David Whitehosue, Michael Lynch, and Peter Standish

Always searching for Smart-Design-Daily

Each Monday on the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan answers readers’ questions. Post your design dilemma today.

DesignCoach™ helps you discover your own Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holidays Real with another Perfect Holiday Gift

With Christmas just days away thoughts, either calm or panicked, turn to the gifts still on our list. Okay, maybe we’re just a little panicked. Allow me to share with you an alternate gifting idea (thank you to Charles Schultz) that offers a “real” approach to giving a priceless gift; the gift of caring.

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz,
the creator of the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip.

You don’t have to actually answer the questions. Just
ponder on them. Just read straight through, and you’ll
get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best
actor and actress…
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is: None of us remember the headliners of yesterday.
These are no second-rate achievers…
They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies.
Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special!
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the
ones with the most credentials….the most money…or the most awards.
They simply are the ones who care the most!

Always searching for Smart-Design-Daily

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Design Find is your Global Guide to upcoming home shows, furniture, art & antique fairs, and designer show houses. (more…)

On the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan searches the world for the best design related events and activities.

DesignFind™ helps you find Smart-Design-Daily by searching the globe for design related events and activities.

This week on the DesignCoach: Real Winter Wonder Around the World

Harbin Ice & Snow Festival 2010

A Chinese winter wonderland trip to the extraordinary Ice Lantern Festival in Harbin in North East China. Ice and snow sculpture is taken to new heights in what has to be the world’s largest ice festival. Still relatively unknown outside of China this festival is becoming increasingly popular and booking well in advance is necessary. On display across several locations are intricate ice sculptures, vast snow sculptures and the stunningly lit main festival area containing enormous ice constructions from laughing buddhas to slightly scaled down landmark buildings from around the world – all made entirely of ice! See the suggested itinerary below for the 2010 festival running from early January to the middle of February.

Christmas Decorations in New England

Christmas Tree 2009

With temperatures dipping to single digits last night I completed work on my Christmas tree. Overall I’m pleased with my results. I understood early the resources I had on-hand, decided my budget in advance and did well adhering to my budget as I developed new resources in my local community (and made new friends along the way). I followed our 5 Steps to Beautiful-Holiday-Design:

My Christmas Mouse

1. What resources are at your disposal?
2. Create a “decoration map”. Put on paper the areas of your home which you want to decorate. WRITE IT DOWN.
3. Pick your theme.
4. Allocate your resources. Knowing what you have tells you what you need.
5. Make your schedule and stick to it.

Always searching for Smart-Design-Daily

On the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan searches the world for the best design related events and activities.

DesignFind™ helps you find Smart-Design-Daily by searching the globe for design related events and activities.

This week on the DesignCoach: Real Winter Wonder Around the World

Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival in Bruges

Bruge's Kerstmarkt

Where: On the Station Square – Bruges. The first indoor Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival in Europe was held in Bruges, Belgium. Thanks to state-of-the-art refrigeration and isolation technology, it was possible to keep a specially-built 1,350 m2 ice tent at a constant temperature of -5° C.
When: The Snow & Ice Sculpture Festival opened its…ice gates on Friday, 23 November ‘07 and continued till Sunday 13 January ‘08.
The websites covering this event paints a picture of the ultimate ice and snow fantasy. Diversity of talent typically focused on a common theme delivers dazzling effects that do not fail to impress and inspire.

New England Christmas

Back at home the Christmas decorations are nearing completion.
My favorite part of decorating for the holidays is putting up the tree which I save for last. The tree this year is a Balsam Fir (the Douglas Firs I love so much don’t grow in New England) and is about 7 feet tall. Lights are on; most of the ornaments too. I’ve set tonight aside to place the old-fashioned tinsel (a slow process). The end result, however is always magical and well worth the effort.

Always searching for Smart-Design-Daily

On the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan searches the world for the best design related events and activities.

DesignFind™ helps you find Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Real Winter Wonder Around the World

Carnaval de Quebec

Our neighbors to the north have the market cornered on winter festivities. Check out the Largest Winter Carnival in the World and mark your calendars 29 January through 14 February 2010.

Bonhomme and The Ice Palace

Since the beginning of our French colony, the habitants of New France created a rowdy tradition of getting together just before Lent to eat, drink and be merry. At this time, this intense period of revelry was already designated as the Carnival – a word of Italian origin meaning Mardi Gras. The custom of celebrating from the end of January until mid-February has long been popular.

The first large winter Carnival in Québec City, the world’s snow capital, took place in 1894. Often faced with winter’s hardships, the city’s population reinvented this popular tradition with a winter celebration that warmed up the hearts of all of it revellers. Interrupted by two wars, then the economic crisis of 1929, the Carnival was held sporadically until the second half of the century. In 1954, in the context of the economic development of the Old Capital, a group of business people re-launched the festivities. That year, Bonhomme was born and elected the event’s representative. The first official edition of the Québec Winter Carnival took place in 1955. The Carnival snowballed into an undeniable manifestation for the entire Québec City population, and was an important vehicle for tourism and economical activity in the city.

From one winter to the next, the Carnival enriched its activity program. We have since added even more popular activities, such as winter sports, snow sculptures, and activities based on the traditional Québec lifestyle, such as canoe races and dogsled races. The Québec Winter Carnival is the largest winter carnival in the world today, and is third on the List of Top Carnivals after the famous carnivals in Rio and New Orleans.

Always looking for Smart-Design-Daily

Each Monday on the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan answers readers’ questions. Post your design dilemma today.

DesignCoach™ can help you find Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holidays Real with The Perfect Gift

Q. Christmas is here and I need a gift idea for my Mother-in-Law. She’s a designer; her home is perfect and filled with every imaginable beautiful thing. She’s the most difficult person on my list to buy for. I need the perfect gift.

A. With all the holiday spirit I can muster let me be the first to tell you; there is no such thing as the perfect gift. Perfection, while something we strive for at times in our lives, is fleeting at best. What is ideal today will be tarnished tomorrow. Such is reality here on earth. Deal with it.

My suggestion to you, Dear Reader (whose heart is clearly in the right place) is to transcend what is expected and give a Gift of Relationship, instead. I’m not anti-gift giving (pick a collection of your Mother-in-Laws and add to it; cashmere anything; a first edition of Edith Wharton’s “The Decoration of Houses”…etc.) but I’m coming to believe that there are more important things we can offer those around us, both at Christmas, and through-out the year, which will strengthen the bond of family or friendship. I find that to be a rather smart gift giving idea.

From our dear friend Deah in Los Angeles comes this list of 8 Priceless Gifts to give this Holiday Season

These are eight important ways we can contribute toward whole and healthy relationships. They cost nothing, yet they may well be the most valuable gifts
we can ever offer another. This simple checklist can help measure how you are nurturing your relationships. The author of these thoughts is unknown but deeply appreciated.

The Gift of Listening
But you must really listen. Don’t interrupt, don’t daydream, and don’t plan your response. Just listen.

The Gift of Affection
Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds.
Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends.

The Gift of Laughter
Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say,
“I love to laugh with you.”

The Gift of Solitude
There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone.
Be sensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.

The Gift of a Favor
Every day go out of your way to do something kind.

The Gift of a Written Note
It can be a simple “Thanks for the help” note or a full sonnet.
A brief, handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime.

The Gift of a Compliment
A simple and sincere, “You look great in red,” “You did a super job,”
or “That was a wonderful meal” can make someone’s day.

The Gift of a Cheerful Disposition
The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone.

Always looking for Smart-Design-Daily

Design Find is your Global Guide to upcoming home shows, furniture, art & antique fairs, and designer show houses. (more…)

DesignCoach™ helps you find Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holiday Decorating Real
(more…)

DesignCoach™ helps you find Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holiday Decorating Real
(more…)

On the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan answers readers’ questions. Post your design dilemma today.

DesignCoach™ can help you find Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holiday Real Around the World

While I ponder and research all manner of decorations around the world I continue chipping away at those that grace my home. Notable destinations around the world, decorated for the holidays, continue to come into my awareness and these I share with you.

Headed to England? Make time for a Holiday Tour of Blenheim Palace. Blenheim Palace is home to the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. Set in 2100 acres of beautiful parkland landscaped by ‘Capability’ Brown, the magnificent Palace is surrounded by sweeping lawns, award-winning formal gardens and the great Lake, offering a unforgettable day out for all.

Blenheim Palace is a unique example of English Baroque architecture. Inside, the scale of the Palace is beautifully balanced by the intricate detail and delicacy of the carvings, the hand painted ceilings and the amazing porcelain collections, tapestries and paintings displayed in each room. On the first floor ‘Blenheim Palace: The Untold Story’ brings to life enticing tales from the last 300 years.
Situated in Woodstock, just 8 miles from Oxford, the Palace was created a World Heritage site in 1987.
Enjoy these pictures of the palace decorated for the holidays.

Closer to my home the decorating project is moving along nicely. Before we look at some of yesterday’s progresss I’ve been asked to review the Here are 5 Steps to Beautiful-Holiday-Design:

1. What resources are at your disposal? Look through the attic, basement and spar closets and gather an accurate inventory of holiday decorations on hand.
2. Create a “decoration map”. Put on paper the areas of your home which you want to decorate. WRITE IT DOWN.
3. Pick your theme. You can use one theme throughout the house or on a room-by-room basis. What inspires you? What makes you smile? What family traditions would you like to feature?
4. Allocate your resources. Knowing what you have tells you what you need. Make your lists and then take a serious look at your budget. Realize that holiday decorations, like holiday traditions, roll-over from year to year.
5. Make your schedule. As we’ve said there are 24 days ahead which are filled with great demands on our time. Set reasonable goals and get everyone in the family involved. Time spent together is always time well spent.

Yesterday I became a cream velvet bow-making machine! It took some practice as the weatherproof ribbon I purchased was more difficult to work with than I had anticipated. Practice does make perfect. The greens and pinecones collected last week before our first snow fall joined in the process of creating sprays to resolve the swags on the stair-railing. A bit of florist wiring, a favorite holiday CD and a few hours of time resulted in a completed stair-railing of which I am pleased; simple, elegant and completely without fuss.

Always looking for Smart-Design-Daily

Each Monday on the DesignQuotient™ blog, DesignCoach™ Los Angeles Designer James Swan answers readers’ questions. Post your design dilemma today.

DesignCoach™ can help you find Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holidays Real

As our readers know we are always looking for Smart-Design-Daily; design that has a point of view that we can learn from or be inspired by. I’ve been thinking about and working on decorations for my home (see below) and this prompted a bit of research. I was interested in learning how our new First Family have approached decorating their new home. I’ve included two of my favorite photographs and a link for you to seem more. “Reflect, Rejoice, Renew” is the theme announced by President Obama for the White House Decorations. Nice.

Portrait of President Kennedy

The Red Room

“Do what you can, when you can with what you have…..” seemed to be my marching orders when it came to my holiday decorations. After ordering the cream velvet ribbon I set about sorting ornaments for two specialty trees. The first tree (I use a three foot tall artificial for this location in the house) is a fun, food tree that I place in the kitchen. I’ve collected food ornaments and though my inventory told me that I probably do not have enough food themed ornaments I can augment the food with a very pretty group of stained-glass ornaments. I’m pleased with the results.

My Kitchen Christmas Tree

Stained glass and Gingerbread Ornaments

Cream ribbons are the order of the day today….the ribbon is water-resistant (for use outdoors as well) which makes it more challenging to work with. I believe I’ve got a good formula for making the bows I want for pine-cone sprays to be used on the staircase. I’ll work on making these up today and post the results tomorrow.

Always looking for Smart-Design-Daily

Design Find is your global guide to upcoming home shows, furniture, art & antique fairs, and designer show houses. (more…)

DesignCoach™ helps you find Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holiday Decorating Real
(more…)

DesignCoach™ can help you find Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holidays Real
(more…)

DesignCoach™ can help you find Smart-Design-Daily.

This week on the DesignCoach: Keeping Your Holidays Real
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