I'm Back in the Saddle Again!

After what feels like a year since my last post, I am officially BACK! So much has happened in the past few months, I almost don't know where to begin... For starters, I'd like to announce that am now operating my own teeny tiny design studio & retail shop out of a sweet little building in Downtown Chester, CT. That's right, I have taken the great leap into small business ownership! It feels like it happened so quickly, however, this has always been a dream of mine, so I already knew how I wanted certain things to be, and look, and run - everything else is still being figured out! In a mere two months, we designed, renovated, and furnished, what is now ELLE DESIGN STUDIO! 


Here are some shots I took before & after the big change. Professional photos are being taken once once I have everything just right... I need to set a date soon so that my perfectionism can back off : )

before                                                   after

   

before                                                   after

before                                                     after

before                                                   after

Stay tuned for lots of exciting updates on the studio and new product lines!

Susan Weinthaler

As New York City based artist, Susan Weinthaler, casually deconstructed and reconstructed one of her pieces during the AD Home Show, I couldn't help but stop to find out what she was up to. We were invited to pick up, investigate, and rearrange any one of her "BITS" to create a combination all our own. Each one of these little works of art, are covered on 5 sides with an image, or a color, or finish of some kind. On the back (the 6th side) a small magnet adheres the BIT to a magnetic surface. I was expecting the magnets to be fairly strong, and perhaps only being able to move one at a time. Susan showed us that you can literally place your hand on top of 3 or 4, and move them quite easily around the metal canvas. Susan's work is based on the idea that "Life is not rigid... so why should art be?"



AD SHOW 2011 - DIFFA's Dining By Design - Post #2

One of my favorite design stops of the year is the annual Dining By Design event put on by DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS). Design professionals and their sponsors team up to create extravagant and unique dining installations. This was the 13th national tour, and its final stop was in NYC. We visited the exhibit after touring the entire AD Show, so my camera died mid DIFFA walk thru - doh! So half of the photos below are courtesy of my design buddy, Caitlin Ryan :)

Benjamin Moore

Ralph Lauren Home

Donna Karan for Lenox

New York Design Center - designed by Coffinier KU

2Michaels Design

Coca Cola - designed by Stefan Beckman

Scandia Home

Echo

Rockwell Group

D'Apostrophe

 Effen Vodka - designed by Tracy Reese

 Hayneedle - designed by Evette Rios

 FIT Students - mentored by Preston Baily

 Pratt Institute Students - mentored by Alfredo Paredes

 Jeffrey Brooks Interior Design

Whew! If you think that was a lot, stop by next week to check out all of the cool product we saw at the AD Show!     

     

Architectural Digest Home Show 2011 - #1

I have finally compiled all of my images and sources that I collected from the AD Home Show, and am ready to share my findings with all of you! I attended the show with my college friend and fellow designer, Caitlin Ryan, who had already done a run through earlier in the week but was happy to do another with me. The trip itself to NYC was so enjoyable, I've decided to make it a point to go more regularly. 

We started the day off with a "Color in Design" seminar featuring three super talented designers, one of whom I blogged about a few weeks ago, Amy Lau. Then, after a light lunch (and yummy dessert), came the oodles of vendors & product to comb through! As if that alone wasn't enough to fill our day, DIFFA's Dining by Design event AND The Artist Project were right next door. Needless to say we were utterly exhausted by the end, and I will likely need multiple posts in order to recap properly. Today I am going to start with the "Color in Design" seminar. The work by these 3 designers never fails to impress... You will definitely be seeing more from them in upcoming posts.

STAGE SET

JAMES RIXNER

www.jamesrixner.com

      

AMY LAU

www.amylaudesign.com

JAMIE DRAKE

www.drakedesignassociates.com