To Market to Market

I just returned from Market, which is my favorite working vacation. It is like Disney World for shoppers. We have been is a new trend cycle now for the last six months and you can see what is going to hang around for awhile and what is beginning to fade. Metallic and Glitz in home and fashion is still huge and better than ever. The color trends are centered on pretty. Softer color palettes, but with more pattern and fun. Metallics have really taken hold and is showing up everywhere, accessories, fabrics, paint and wallpaper.

Every time I go to Market I find the cutest jewelry and shoes. Everyone want to know "Where did you get that?" So this time I brought several things back to the shop. We found this cute line of CZ watches with colorful rubber bands. Every color you can think of, I bought about a dozen! They are only $22 and at that price you can have a color for every outfit, I do!

Bring on the Bling!

Metallic influences started popping up in home decor fabric about two years ago. At first glance I thought this will not go far as my customers were staunchly "Tuscan", Red and Gold. But, along came Candice Olson with her new fabric collection and
everything changed! Main Street America has embraced the bling. They are shedding their tuscan decor for light and fabulous. Now I'm finding many fabrics and wallpapers with that metallic flare in every price range. This is a bandwagon you will just love jumping on! It is fun, romantic and creative.

You can mix metallic pieces with other fun textures like animal prints, chenilles, and sheers. There are several great choices on my website MyDesignerFabric.com. Just use you imagination and start with something as small as a pillow in blinged out fabric. You will find your inner Diva emerging in no time!

New Year! New Colors! New Trends!

Don't you just love the promise of a New Year poised before you. A renewed since of adventure, a fresh perspective, and best of all renewed inspiration! I just returned from the Home Decor Market in Dallas and it was just the boost I needed to get the creative juices flowing. The bright shining showrooms were resplendent with color. Turquoise has been chosen as the "Color of the Year" by Panatone, so you should start seeing fabulous accessories and fabrics awash in shades of Turquoise, in your favorite magazines and stores soon. Buy a new vase or cover a chair it is amazing what a simple new splash or color can do to brighten your surroundings, and your mood. Turquoise is a great accent with Lime Green, Golden Straw, or bright Corals. Like visiting a gorgeous Caribbean Island, with bright punches of color, let your imagination go wild!

Savor The Moment

We've decorated the tree, the mantle, the dining table, and the landscape outside. We're hustling to find those last minute gifts and stocking stuffers. Soon our homes will be filled with family and friends, and hopefully fun and laughter. Take time to savor it, live in the moment, and realize that it is all too fleeting. It is not the gifts that we give that endure the test of time, it is the memories that we give. Think about that as you gather together. What do you want your family to remember about you, and you them?

The greatest gift you can give to anyone is letting them know that they make a difference in your life. A gift of the heart is one they will always cherish.

Merry Christmas

Get Organized with TeuxDeux.com

I found this new innovation TeuxDeux.com thru Seth Godin's blog and it is FABULOUS! So easy, uncomplicated, versatile, and quick. As a small business owner I wear many hats, as my Mom would say, "You are the chief cook and bottle washer." I am a habitual note writer. My desk and drawers are littered with 4x4 notes some legible, some not, of phone numbers, measurements, and names. I don't throw even the most cryptic note away for fear that I will need it "someday." (I live in fear that Oprah will show up with a camera crew for her next hoarding show.)

I realize this is a departure from my usual information about Interior Design, but I like to think of this little tidbit as my way of helping you design your time more effectively so that you will have more time to devote to the "fun" things, like decorating!

Are You A "Right or Right Now" Client?

In the course of a design project you may be faced with a dilemma that is going to force you into making a choice. A choice to either delay the project or make a new selection. I call this the "Right or Right Now" decision. If the delay is based on a crucial element of the project, you have to decide what you are willing to sacrifice for the eventual outcome.

Many of the projects that I begin for clients are "event" projects. The client has put off purchasing draperies for the home they moved into three years ago because they just couldn't decide what they wanted to do. But now, they have agreed to host their best friends bridal shower in four weeks and it has to be done by then. As a Designer I love these life events, it spurs people into action! (And I work well under pressure) But, invariably, some element of our choices will be "backordered" until the week after the event.

Now, in most cases this is not a crisis because we can find a suitable substitute. But what if there isn't a better substitute? What if this is the best choice for the project. I have to ask my client "Do you want it right or right now?" Only they can make that decision because they have to live with the choice.

Design projects are expensive, time consuming, emotional, and aggravating. But they can also, more importantly, be fabulous and worth the effort if your willing to make the sacrifices needed for a beautiful result that you will enjoy for years to come.

Candice Olson, "The Queen of Bling" in Home Decor

We don't usually think of "Bling" as being a home decor element, but we do now! Candice Olson has introduced a gorgeous line of designer fabrics chocked full of metallic threads, rhinestones and shiny patent leather. Her own unique style of "Contemporary" is not the sparse, often cold hard-edge styling that has in the past been associated with that genre.

Candice has perfected the fusion between the clean lines of contemporary and the soft and warm touch of traditional and a smattering of bling, to create a style that is now coveted around the world by thousands of Divine Design junkies.

If you are a fan of her show you have no doubt begun to see her new fabrics, that she developed with the help of world renown textile giant Kravet Fabrics, on the latest episodes. As these fabrics have been introduced, sales have skyrocketed sending many patterns into "backordered" status overnight. Never before has a single collection had such an impact on the home decor fabric industry. Now anyone can have Candice Olson styling right in their own home by covering a chair or adding window treatments with fabric from her gorgeous collection.

If you have not had the pleasure of seeing the Candice Olson Collection you can go to Kravet.com to see the entire line or you can log on the MyDesignerFabric.com to order fabrics and swatches from the collection. And, just let me say, you must order at least a swatch of the fabric in order to appreciate its true beauty, the computer screen does not do them justice!