Do you want to be a Design Star?

photo from HGTV Design Star website

Have you been watching season 6 of Design Star? Do you still follow past winners like Emily, Antonio and David? Do you think, “Hey, that looks like fun! I could totally see myself creating amazing designs, entertaining a mass audience, enjoying hair/makeup/wardrobe, and getting paid for it!” Well if you live in the Boston area, then you are that much closer to achieving this entertaining-others-with-design dream!

I recently found out through the social media grapevine that HGTV will be casting for Design Star Season 7 in Boston at the Lenox Hotel on September 24th! While this is not a position I would consider for myself (although I would certainly enjoy the hair/makeup/wardrobe part) I do know a lot of fabulous designers with larger than life personalities around the Boston area who could pull this off. Are you one of them??

And while we are on the subject, who do you think will win this season’s Design Star? I like to watch the show to see how fast these designers can come up with unique design plans and how well they execute them. Because if you can’t “make it work” then you’re out (or is that another one of my favorite design/reality shows?) Either way, good design is always entertaining : )

I love that the Design Show judges require the contestants to sell their design concepts on camera after each challenge. Being able to sell your work with confidence and enthusiasm is so important, even if you aren’t taping a segment for a design show.

So if you think you have what it takes, then what do you have to do to apply? First of all show up! I think it would be fun to go to the casting call just to see who thinks a network design show could be in their future.

But before you go, there are some required items that you will have to bring along with your designer smile:

1. A COMPLETED application (click here)
2. Two recent photos labeled with your name on the back
3. Portfolio of your work
4. Resume

If you don’t live in the Boston area, they are still casting in other major cities (Austin, Charlotte, Miami, and New York City) so click here to get the open casting call information. And if you can’t make it in person to a casting call, you can submit a video of yourself ... check out this link for more information.

If you have ever wanted to see your name in lights, now is the time to act! How often does an opportunity like this knock in your neighborhood?!

And for research purposes, be sure to watch tonight’s episode at 9pm on HGTV. Nate Berkus is the guest host and they will be showing segments that the remaining four designers taped on his show which just aired this morning. They were challenged to come up with a quick and easy do-it-yourself project and one walked away the winner (I won’t tell you which one – tune in to find out!)

What I loved at the NYIGF

Two-talented: Stacy Kunstel (aka Duchess) and
Michael Partenio (otherwise known as Dunes)

at their nautically-inspired booth at this week’s
New York International Gift Fair

Last night I returned home from a weekend trip to New York to scope out the New York International Gift Fair. This was my first time attending and I am so glad I went! My traveling companion (and guide) was Rosanne Palazola who pens Focus On Design, shares retail space with me and others at New England Fine Living, tends design clients of her own, and has been to the gift fair a number of times while working with Tuttle and Co.

Roomates Rosanne and Tina

Snacks-to-go: Blueberry muffins
wrapped in swan-shaped tinfoil

We arrived in New York just before noon on Saturday and quickly hailed a cab to the NY apartment of Rosanne’s friend, Tina. The apartment was a delightful pied-a-terre with plenty of room to entertain overnight guests, and blessed with its own courtyard garden that looked charming even while blanketed beneath a white-winter snow.

The three of us headed over to the Pier section of the gift fair on our first day and then visited the Javitz center on day two. Aisle after aisle of gorgeous home decor products and gift merchandise greeted us upon entering each section of the NYIGF. While I did not take photos of everything I saw (honestly, it would have considerably decreased the amount of goodness we could squeeze in if we stopped to photograph every booth) I did collect the cards of my favorite exhibitors for future reference (and journalistic posts!)

Find the Dunes and Duchess at this well-styled space at the NYIGF

While there, we made sure to visit our Boston design friend, Stacy Kunstel at the Dunes & Duchess booth located at Pier 94, Booth #41059.

On display were new products like cool mirrors and elegant sconces that were added to this stylish line of accessories that includes lamps, candelabras, and giant hurricanes.

I finally got a chance to meet the talented and gracious Michael/Dunes in person, and he showed me a new free-standing pedestal that I know would look fabulous in the next design show that I’m working on : )

I would love to see the eco-friendly design-conscious lighting
by Artecnica offered at New England Fine Living

The energized crowds in the exhibit halls were just as stylish as the products being displayed. It was quite the fashion show! When I called home to check in with my family, one of my sons inquired whether I had seen anyone famous. No, I did not see Nate Berkus this time, but I did meet Lisa from the design blog Hamptontoes who had a House Proud segment on his show early in the fall. I have somewhat of a photographic memory and rarely forget a face, so I noticed her right away when she was visiting the Dunes & Duchess (plus I had seen her on Stacy’s blog after Stacy saw the Nate Show last August, so it was easy to put two-and-two together.)


More designer sightings ...

While we were admiring a gorgeous room decked out in lavender and linen designed by Oly Studio, I noticed a woman strategically shooting best-angle photos of the space. I figured she must be with the press since many exhibitors prefer that photos are not taken. When she turned around I immediately recognized her as Heather Clawson of Habitually Chic. I introduced myself as a fan of her design blog, but I could tell she was just like us, trying to see and record as much of the show as possible, so we didn’t chat long.

Designer eye-candy: Little Nest by Karen Alweil Studio

Going to the gift fair can be much like visiting an amusement park for design lovers, but it is also a work-related field trip that involves research and analysis. Designers are thinking “What does my client need?” Store owners are wondering “What would my customer like?” Writers are looking for products to engage their audience, and many of us are wishing we could take home all of our show favorites and not just order slips, catalogs and memories!

When the weekend was over we were like little kids wishing we had time for one more ride on the merry-go-round. But we knew our time was up, and to be honest, all the pretty-shiny-colorful objects had left our senses overindulged (in the best way, of course!)

As I notice posts about the show this week (it goes through February 3rd) I will add them to this list. If you post about the show, please leave your blog address with the post link in the comments. I would love to see what you loved about the NYIGF.


• Habitually Chic: Gift Show Guide

• Habitually Chic: Jonathan Adler

• Habitually Chic: Favorite Things

• Habitually Chic: Oxbow Decor

• Habitually Chic: For the Birds

• Habitually Chic: Trends Report

• Ishka Designs: NYIGF part 1

• Hamptontoes: Tour of the NYIGF

• Hamptontoes: NYIGF part II

• Frugal Farmhouse Design: Gift Show Observations

• Pretty Little Green Things: NYIGF Pier 94

• Pretty Little Green Things: NYIGF Javitz Center

• ShelterPop: Roost at NYIGF

• Shelter Pop: NYIGF – Favorite Booths

• The Itsy Factor: NYIGF Baby & Child Review

• My Mom Shops: NYIGF – Best new baby & child

• My Mom Shops: NYIGF – Melissa & Doug

• IVillage Home & Garden: NYIGF – Favorite Finds

• IVillage Home & Garden: Best Kid Friendly Designs

• IVillage Home & Garden: Amazing Finds for Pets

• Pretty Pink Tulips: My First NYIGF

• The Zhush: NYIGF A Newbie’s Perspective

• Fifth Joy: The Best of NYIGF

• Maison de Ballard: Dolan Geiman Art at NYIGF

• Design Sponge: Morihata International

• The Lonny Blog: Nina’s Finds from the Gift Fair

• Design Milk: New York International Gift Fair


And from my traveling companion ...

• Focus on Design: Road Trip

• Focus on Design: Road Trip, day 2

Where do you look for inspiration?

My jar of inspired objects includes green glass
knobs, paint samples, pretty threads, gold keys,
a silhouette of a little boy on a rocking horse,
and a celebratory cork from a bottle of bubbly
opened in honor of my first design show.

Last week I mentioned that I was chosen as one of the top 100 entries for the Design Sherpa “What Inspires You?”contest based on my submission of a chosen photo accompanied by a 100 word post explaining how the image inspires me. My photo? Glinda the good witch from the Wizard of Oz. What does Glinda have to do with interior decorating and good design? When we base our choices on what we love, and surround ourselves with the people and memories that are important to us, we are being authentic – and good design always comes out of authenticity.

Well this entry qualified me to move on to the second round of judging! Phase Two required a 350 word post “on an interior or architectural design topic that communicates both your unique passion for design and writing style.” And guess what? The judges (who include talented design-industry professionals Diane Carroll, Tobi Fairley, Michael Fink, Elaine Griffin, Marcia Sherrill and Clinton Smith) liked my post enough to qualify me to be one of the top 10 entries! I am not sure if they plan to share the 350-word posts we submitted or not, but I will
let you know if they do. In the meantime, this week
on the Design Sherpa blog, our 3-minute video submissions required for Phase Three are
up for *everyone* to see!



We were asked to provide a video that was “both entertaining and informative about some element of home design.” It is harder than it looks to be both entertaining and informative in a mere 3 minutes (all without the aid of a teleprompter or video crew -- I give those Design Star contestants a lot of credit!)
Plus we were required to condense our .mpeg video to less than 10 MB in size so the end result of the submitted versions appears pretty grainy. When I was “filming” this video, shortly after my trip to see The Nate Berkus Show and just a day before New England Fine Living opened, I had no idea my video would actually make it online. But here it is.

So far, six videos have been shown and the remainder will be aired in the next couple of days (I am guessing). The winner will be announced on or around November 7th so I am thinking it may be as early as this Friday!

{Photo from the Hotel Recamier website}

Did I mention what the winner of this social media driven contest will receive? Just a 10-day trip to PARIS, hotel accommodations at Hotel Recamier, and a 4-day VIP pass to the Maison & Object trade show, PLUS $10,000 (!!!!!) and the opportunity to blog as part of the Design Sherpa site!

(click here for all the fine print)

{Image from the Maison & Objet website}

If you know me at all, you know I am good at keeping a secret. All I am going to say for now is that I would love to put the six years of French that I took to good use, and would love even more to discover the amazing home fashions that will be on display at Maison & Objet. Just to walk the streets of Paris would be a dream! And who couldn’t use an unexpected 10 grand these days? “Hello” unfinished design projects!




And speaking of winners, I would like to properly introduce you to the winning eco-friendly chair from Project UDesign: the Alifair designed by Savannah College of Art and Design student Ryland Quillen. Even though my posts featured the Kona chair by Emily Carpenter, I thought each of the designs had style and merit. The well-tailored Alifair almost
looks a little French to me ...

Congratulations, Ryland, and to everyone who participated in and organized this inspiring competition. A little competition certainly goes
a long way in raising the bar on good design!