Webster’s Dictionary defines joy as “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying.” The kind folk at Webster’s are, however, no help to us as we ponder the size or scale of a thing which might be considered “good or satisfying” and thus could stir in us the emotion of joy. So left to our own devices we must decide. What’s the tipping point in a things scale or size that allows us to celebrate the defined emotion? (more…)

If you follow political and economic headlines there is a reoccurring theme that cannot be ignored. It appears that vast quantities of resources are, by the nature of the crisis, being focused on cleaning up the past before we can hope for success in re-calibrating our vision of the future. And this makes sense. (more…)

Lately, when contemplating the decoration of homes, I have found myself feeling a bit hollow. People everywhere, in every walk of life, are impacted daily by these troubling times. Jobs have been lost; homes have been foreclosed upon and lifetimes of savings have evaporated before panicked eyes. And I sit at my desk contemplating the esoteric merits of revivalist decorative styles.

Hmmm…what part of this doesn’t feel right? Is it the violin playing while Rome smolders or maybe it’s that great big piece of cake being served to the masses, far beyond the palace walls, which makes me uncomfortable? Maybe it’s both and maybe I need to recalibrate my thinking.

Mankind’s impulse to nest, I believe, is cellular; rooted in our primal desire for safety. Having the basic needs of shelter, warmth and food addressed we have been at liberty, over these many hundreds of years, to elevate the aesthetics of our “nests” to dizzying heights. As with other soaring factors in our society today it appears that gravity is taking its inevitable reward. Not to say that we will not weather the storm and come out stronger for the struggle but in the meantime, for many, practical concerns wrestle for attention on a daily basis.

So this decorator has decided to be part of today’s solution, rather than remain stuck in yesterday’s expectations. Nothing is the same so let’s not pretend it is. What does that mean to the work of design? I’m certain it will mean many things, and maybe together we can build an appropriate response. For me, today, I am focusing on priorities.

Commitment to making your home more beautiful is not out of step with the times. In fact it may be more important now than ever. If you are like me and are spending more time ‘in’ than ‘out’ we need our homes to step-up to the plate in ways we may never have imagined. I am going to spend the next few weeks sharing with you ideas that can make our homes more beautiful that:

1) Cost nothing but our time and energy
2) can be realized with minimal cash outlay

Hopefully along the way we’ll have some fun too.

I would love to hear from you with ideas and comments as we explore the Joy of Living in our Own Homes.

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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.

Top Interior Designer: Random Thoughts

Some moments take your breath away. Coming off the chair-lift, turning slightly and seeing valleys of white laid out as far as the eye can see takes my breath away. Cresting a sand dune and catching a first glimpse of whitecaps crashing on the shore takes my breath away.

Picking up a squirming, wiggling little ball of a puppy; holding them to your face and feeling the sweet warmth of puppy-breath takes my breath way. Watching one I love move across a crowded room takes my breath away. Hearing someone speak the truth in a difficult moment takes my breath away.

The soprano’s high note at the end of the first act can take my breath away. A beautifully crafted chapter in a skillfully written book can take my breath away. Things big and small have this effect. I find that I can’t predict the response. I can’t always guess when it will happen and I think that the surprise is what makes these moments so delicious.

I never expected the view from the top of that ski run to be so beautiful. I am surprised by this truth and my breath is suspended for a split second. The candy coated sweetness of the puppy’s breath was not planned so my genuine delight causes the breath to pause and that moment to be elevated to a special place. Breathless Moments.

Being instrumental in crafting moments like these breathless moments is part of what being a great host/hostess is all about. Taking what you have (which includes your imagination) and crafting special surprises for your friends and family is what will set you apart from other hosts or homeowners.

Give the gift of beauty to your guests in the form of something surprising. Take their breath away. Enjoy the moment together. That is a beautiful thing.

Best Los Angeles Interior Designer on Facing Fears

“What are you afraid of?” was the question lobbed to me by a fellow guest at a recent dinner party. Initially my mind was blank. I had spent the day with lacquered boards strapped to by feet, hurling myself down the shear face of a mountain and for a split second I actually considered the possibility that, with 46 years of experience safely tucked behind me, I was fearless.

My delusion did not last long. Slowly the list began to trickle through my brain. Never a torrent, but definitely not a drop or two; I would say comfortably a trickle. And not the big earth moving, live altering, boogey-man-in-the-closet type of things; no my list was a trickle of the mundane.

But it was my list and they were my fears and in an interesting way I was proud of them. I don’t believe pride can swell when there is no sense of ownership. These were my fears. I’ve worked to pare the list down to the mundane trickle passing before me. Who wouldn’t be proud? Right?

Aside from the fear, which I’m guessing will always be with me, I’m thinking today about a sense of ownership. Consider the things in our lives, which if pushed, you would rank of significant value (implying a cost to you which could be understood as ownership) to warrant additional energy to maintain. Friends? Family? Job? Home? Relationships?

My Grandfather told me many years ago that we are defined by the decisions we make. What do you own today? What are you placing value on and deciding to do about it? Understanding clearly the answers to these questions may help each of us shape our day, week, month and year into something of which we are proud.

A Top Los Angeles Designer’s Thoughts on the Holidays

Early morning and I am seated at my desk. The clock is running slow this morning, not in a mechanically challenged sense, but in the way that water boils when it’s watched; my Christmas holiday it poised to begin later today. The list of things to accomplish before that magical moment swells and shrinks, and then swells again as I add and edit the tedious tasks still ahead.

The dogs have been walked, luggage is packed, breakfast is over and I’m leafing through a small reference book that I keep on my desk. On a page filled with philosophical quotations, Benedict Spinoza’s words find a landing spot in my head. “All noble things are as difficult as they are rare.”

Friendship is rare. Friendship is noble. Friendships are difficult. Spinoza was right.

Family (that delicious familiar emotional scent that says you are safe and whole) is rare. Family is noble. Family is difficult. Spinoza was right.

Festivities which have meaning are rare. After the 9th holiday party this December, I stopped counting; shortly after I stopped counting, I just stopped going. A party for a parties’ sake feels hollow to me. Help me understand that you care; give me a reason to care and now we have a starting point. Otherwise I may just stay home….. I think Spinoza was right again.

The sense of Home is rare. The sense of Home is noble. Creating a sense of Home is difficult. Spinoza was right.

Wherever you are during this holiday season and whatever rare, noble and difficult idea you are enjoying (or being challenged by) may I wish you all the possible joy and peace that this world (and Spinoza) can offer.

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.

“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.

Thinking big intrigues me. It always has. I’ve always been fascinated with a wide stretch of ocean, a sweeping expanse of mountain range, and the sharp edges of a coral reef. So when presented with the idea of establishing a consistent voice that would explore the world of design, and sharing opinions, ideas, resources, and particulars that make a beautiful home, all I saw was the vast enterprise. And it overwhelmed me. Much like the time tested question “How do you eat an elephant?” and its thought provoking response, “One bite at a time,” initially I saw just the giant task. It wasn’t until I broke down the challenge into more manageable increments that I felt more optimistic about my chance for success.

So each day I share with you thoughts and ideas. These focus on our ongoing learning and education: decorating tips, entertaining ideas, cleaning suggestions, and random thoughts about beauty in our world.

Like any young life this one may stumble as it finds its place in the world, but we will not stumble aimlessly. Our reason for being is to explore how we can make the world a more beautiful place. I am enjoying this new adventure.

And that’s something beautiful!

I was reminded this morning of the strength of silence. It was Teddy Roosevelt who said “speak softly and carry a big stick” (he borrowed the concept from an African proverb) and I wonder what the equivalent of the “soft word” might be in the world of design and decoration?

Might it be the zero-lot-lined-faux-finished-plastic column clad McMansions that torture the neighborhoods near our offices (and, if my travels teach me anything, of neighborhoods around the country)?

Could it be the poorly scaled (there is a difference between boldly and poorly scaled) furniture littering the display windows and showrooms of far too many of today’s furniture purveyors?

Or will the “soft word” be found in yet another “reality” television show where a premium is placed on the speed and drama with which a project comes skidding to a conclusion, giving little consideration to the integrity of the product.

I suggest to you today (with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek) that the answer to these questions is NO. There is nothing soft, quiet or subtle to be found in these illustrations. Rather just noise and pretense; bad taste and poor design.

I saw a fisherman’s cottage in a village on Cape Cod this morning. It was simple and pleasant. Most of all it was appropriate to the setting and to the needs of it’s inhabitants. It whispered its intentions and did not disappoint. It completely captured my attention as surely as if it had hit me over the head with a great big stick.

I will be riding my bike to that cottage later today, with my sketch pad, and I can already taste the silence.

I’m writing tonight from Warrenton, Virginia. I’m participating in a retreat this weekend for the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund at The Airlie Conference Center about an hour outside of Washington, DC.

900 gently-rolling acres; the color of ink on a dollar bill; ponds filled with wide mount base, turtles and swans with their contorting necks and dominant strut. The air is heavy tonight with rain that’s not yet fallen and the clouds are back-lit by flashes as big as half the sky.

They are dancing their stormy dance far, far away so I watch in silence. The quiet has warmth to it, far more penetrating than the temperature of the air. In the night, the birds are quiet. There are no crickets which I find interesting. I imagined there would be crickets but there are none.

Fireflies flicker above the meadows; here and there at once. Busy, but quiet. I remember the fireflies from my childhood visits to Disneyland and the Pirates of the Caribbean, all big and clumsy not floating like these.

Nature never disappoints. Whether it’s the top-heavy peonies spreading their color on the ground like smears of artist oils or the Bridal Veils with their vividly sweet aroma and cascades of white flowers tumbling to the ground, its colors are alive.

I wrote a few weeks ago about finding inspiration for colors in the home from nature. Wherever you are, find time to take a walk in a garden; through a field; near a creek or across the beach to the waters edge, and just make note of the colors you see and allow inspiration to float to the surface like those fireflies in the Virginia night.

Everywhere I go I see beautiful things. Nature delivers amazing beautiful moments. Artists create beautiful moments that enliven and enrich our daily experiences. Craftsmen deliver beautiful handmade objects for our homes or offices. But how do we define the larger concept?

The definition has dodged great thinkers and, I’m sorry to say, will continue to elude minds long after you have read these words. I have little to add to the definitive conversation on this concept except to say that I know it when I see it.

This position may be the sign of a weak or lazy mind; one not willing to dig, research and unearth the truth. Be that as it may, I respond to beauty. I know the mental, physical and emotional signs that indicate (to me) when I’m experiencing something “beautiful.”

That’s what I want to ask you about today. Are you aware when you see beauty? With whatever parameters you have established during your time on this earth which help you delineate this special element; do you take the time to acknowledge the moment and, by extension, the beauty?

Life seems to fly past us at an ever increasing velocity. The days become weeks that become months then years and suddenly entire chunks of our life have evaporated. Fine, if that is the way it must be, but that shouldn’t prevent us from noticing and relishing beauty when and where we find it.

My job is to challenge those around me to fill their lives with beauty. My challenge to you is simple. Notice and then gather, around you, things of beauty.

Write me and tell me your experience in gathering beautiful objects into your home.

What makes a house a home? What qualities elevate our nests from wood and sheetrock boxes to warm and inviting retreats that we want to share with our friends?

In observing homes of all types for most of my life, I find the answer to this question to be both simple and complex. As with most things in life, the concepts can be simply stated (appropriateness and authenticity), but it’s in the execution that the challenges arise.

I believe that successful homes don’t just happen. They are the result of a lifetime of effort and awareness. Often the most difficult thing to comprehend in this world is who we are as individuals and what our real needs and desires are. Without this knowledge (in full or in part), we judge our lives (and our home) against our friends or neighbors.

Given the constantly changing landscape of our lives, this presents us with the challenge of a moving target. How do we evaluate our lives against those around us without repeatedly perceiving ourselves as failures?

As we gain clarity about ourselves, we can monitor our progress against the personal goals we have set. Success is more likely with our own yardstick rather than the yardstick of others.

I believe that, as we gain clarity about ourselves, the application of appropriate and authentic decisions about our home become easier. Soon, our friends accurately see our individual character in every room of our home.

And that’s beautiful.

A More Beautiful World

There is an art to making people feel comfortable. As with most art forms, natural abilities will only take you so far. Study, practice and, ultimately, a sharply honed skill-set tend to rule the day. So why then, when it is within the grasp of anyone to make others around them comfortable, do we find so few moments that illustrate this point?

I like to watch people. I always have. As children growing up, we traveled quite a bit, so my sister Judy and I played a game. I would pick someone from the crowd and she would “tell” me their life story.

All we knew of this person was what we could learn from observing them at that moment. Our tales were remarkably entertaining and, I am certain, not related to the individual’s actual life what-so-ever. The point was to observe.

So when I travel today I observe and I learn (or am reminded) that there are many lives on this planet. Our only hope for civilized relations begins with the manner in which I relate to the person standing next to me.

If I act in a thoughtful manner, I have sewn a seed of thoughtfulness. If I act in kindness, gentleness or grace that seeks to make my fellow human more comfortable then I have sewn seeds that one day may produce more of their own kind.

It doesn’t take a mathematician to realize the impact of an action by one repeated by two; then by four; then eight and on and on. How beautiful might this world be (by a small degree or large) if we included those around us as we make choices about how we move through this world.

Shopping for Perfection

These are the ramblings of a shopper on the road. I am writing tonight from New York City. I arrived yesterday afternoon, and have set today and tomorrow aside to shop for specific projects. How many times have I heard from friends or clients (before they know better) how much fun these expeditions must be?

Immediately they envision…..well, I’m not certain what they envision, but I gather from the glimmer in their eye and the wistful tone in their voice that they are reading from a very different script than the one in front of me. Not that I would trade places or give my job away, for I love what I do far too much, but I wonder how many would care to keep up with this designer on a mission.

First the broad parameters: I am shopping for four projects on this trip. I have furniture plans with design concepts in my briefcase and lists of needed items filed in my memory. Antique furniture (the backbone of most rooms) fill these lists, along with lighting (new or old), accessories and art.

I know the size and scale of the pieces I’m hoping to find (the plans are my backup in case of a brain freeze) and I’ve got two days (14 hours as most dealers open at 10 and close at 5) to locate two or three options (I always give clients choices) for just over 40 pieces.

The numbers breakdown, today, like this: 4 shops in Tribeca (were I am staying on this trip) and then to the Upper East Side where I visit over 25 dealers. I had power bars for lunch (and a Diet Coke or two) walked and cab’d (Lexington and 43nd up to 3rd and 62nd) and ended my day with images of about 30 interesting pieces in my shoulder bag or emailed to the office.

The dealers I saw are wonderful people, many of whom I could spend hours with, but there isn’t enough time so we chat while I shop, then I dash. We know we will see each other again, soon.

Tomorrow is another day.

Write and tell me about your favorite shopping expedition or ideas for shopping trip success?

Design Beginnings

Like mammals everywhere, we learn from our environment. We experience the world through our five senses. We gather information. We store, sort and select for use the information which seems best-suited for our survival. Our experiences, however monumental or mundane, are the fuel which feeds the learning process. Much as “we are what we eat,” we are, to a great extent, what we experience.

When we have the luxury of time to give consideration to our living environment, a phenomenon which appears to be growing in our culture as evidenced by the proliferation of shelter magazines and reality lifestyle and design television shows, we draw on what we have experienced. Our experiences shape the range of responses that we are able to produce when faced with a question, challenge or wish to set in motion a series of actions leading to a new goal.

Something as simple as “I need new pillows for my sofa” offers us an opportunity to draw on our life experience (travel, reading, movies, art, conversation, etc.) and form an idea about these pillows.

As a boy growing up in Sacramento, California I made a discovery one day which would affect my life to this day. I picked up a copy of a beautifully colored, glossy shelter magazine that opened the doors of my mind and imagination.

Through the consistent eyes of the publication’s photographers, my experience of what a home might look like underwent a quantum shift. My boundaries of experience expanded and I wanted more. Each month my appetite was fed and I learned.

Photo-by-photo, word-by-word, page-by-page I was taken into a world I did not know existed. And I absorbed what these pages had to offer. Today, whether in book or periodical form, I continue to absorb and learn. As an adult, I have added travel to my favorite tools in the learning process.

The process continues, and will, as long as I’m drawing breath on this planet. Where is this process leading me? I do not know. But if the trip is any indication, it will be a beautiful place.

A challenge to you today is to be an active participant in your environment. Experience something new today (pick up a book or a magazine; walk or drive somewhere new). Learn a lesson from your new experience. Act on what you have learned and, together, let’s make our world more beautiful.

Write and share with me a lesson you have learned and how it has made your home a more beautiful place.