Design Show 2012 Sneak Peek!

This tile from Tile by Design in Danvers will be

featured in my Modern Family Mudroom.

Today I stopped by the Wenham Museum to begin setting up my space for the North Shore Design Show which opens this weekend. I love watching the other designers assemble their vignettes before my eyes! By Friday, the Museum will be completely transformed into over a dozen “favorite spaces” that represent some of the best design on the North Shore.


I had lots of pieces brought in today, including some fab items from Circle Furniture and a beautiful carpet from Landry & Arcari. Tomorrow I will paint and decorate while I wait on deliveries from Designer Bath and Lucia Lighting. Special thanks goes out to Brian from Howell Custom Building Group who was on-site today to create a wall to define my space. I love having a design team on my side! 


Be sure to order your tickets for the show in advance. Friday night is the Gala event with our honorary chair, Stacy Kunstel from New England Home Magazine (remember her great Dunes & Duchess candelabra in my last vignette?) The show opens to the public on Saturday. On Mother’s Day they will have treats for moms and their dates : )

Another fun event during the week of the show will be on Thursday night from 5pm to 7pm, hosted by Wilson Kelsey Design with Landry & Arcari. This will be a make-over your room type of presentation with time to network with other attendees and designers. Contact the Museum for more info.


Don’t forget the Wenham Tea House is open during the day for a bite to eat after you tour the vignettes. I am looking forward to being there on Saturday with some friends. Until then, I have lots to do to get my space ready for visitors. Let me know if you plan to attend -- I’d love to catch up in real life!

Designfest 2011

Seen in New England Home Magazine May/June 2011:

With Linda Smith and Rosanne Palazola at
First Oriental Rugs Spring Floral Splash
photo credit: John LeJeune

So today I went back to the Wenham Museum to meet friends who were coming to visit. Can I just tell you how nice it was to entertain knowing that my space was going to look exactly the way it did when I left it? Besides watering the topiary rose trees, I did not have to pick up or straighten out or hide the stuff of life which is typically what happens before guests arrive in my house! While I was there, I did pick up a copy of New England Home Magazine in the entry way of the museum. NE Home is the media sponsor of the North Shore Design Show, so each visitor gets a free copy with admission. I had heard rumors that the New England Fine Living girls were somewhere in the party pictures, and I found us on page 124. Fine carpets make the best photographic backdrops, don’t you agree?

The Roman Folly Garden designed by Gallery Della Piana


Happy to see: Dorothy, Marianne, Christine, Shirley and Susan

I had lots of great visitors today! It was so fun to walk through the show with them and share a little background on each of the participating designers. Afterward we went for a hearty lunch at the Wenham Tea House. You would think portions at a tea house would be dainty, but bring your appetite if you go! I brought home half of my meal of chicken kabob over orzo with feta and grilled veggies. Next time, however, I will be going straight for the dessert ... the warm bread pudding was served in a big bowl and was piled high with fresh whipped cream! Yum!





Spending the day with my good friends took away a bit of the sting of not being able to attend Blogfest 2011 in New York. Back in January I had signed up for this design-and-lifestyle blogger behind-the-scenes tour of the New York design world. Even though my usual travel companions weren’t able to attend the event, I still put my name on the list and was able to secure a spot just before admission to the event was closed. At the time, I had not received confirmation of participation in the design show at Wenham, so I figured I would sign up and see what happened. Then when my submission was accepted at Wenham I figured maybe I could still squeeze in a few days in New York during the middle of the show.

A room for an aspiring drama queen by Timeless Interiors

But the truth is, I love every minute of the Wenham show and couldn’t leave it even for the incredible opportunity of meeting some of the best magazine editors in the industry (Veranda, House Beautiful, Town & Country, Architectural Digest) and many incredible design professionals and bloggers who I follow online.

Afternoon Tea: Mary O’Neill Interior Design

So this year I will be enjoying Blogfest vicariously through the posts and tweets of my online friends who are there right now, while I am entertaining IRL friends back home : ) I hope whoever got my relinquished (and coveted) spot is having the best possible time being inspired (and going to some really great industry parties) in New York!

Camille Garro Interiors & Couture
Pretty in Poppy Studio Suite

Maybe when my Boston friends return home from this whirlwind trip, we can sit down and brainstorm some type of Boston Blogfest? There is a lot of great design happening right in our area (especially on the North Shore this week only : )

Mark your calendars!

Click here for a video preview featuring
photos from last year’s gala event.

It is that time of year again for the North Shore Design Show: Favorite Spaces exhibit at the Wenham Musuem. This week I am finishing up some of the designed items that I will be displaying in my vignette, which I will set up early next week. There is a great list of designers participating including a few that were seen in the last two issues of New England Finery Magazine – Wilson Kelsey Design (they designed the contemporary sitting room seen in the photo above), Sebastian Carpenter Design, Gallery Della Piana – plus many other local favorites will be featured.





Design Show Dates:
Saturday, May 14 thru Sunday, May 22
Daily admission to show: in advance $10, at the door $15

Gala Preview Party:
Friday, May 13, 6:30pm to 9:30pm
$75 per ticket; includes week-long admission

Jenny Johnson

The Gala Preview Party, which is always a full house, will be kicked off this year by Honorary Chair Jenny Johnson who hosts NECN’s New England Dream House and the media sponsor for the event is New England Home Magazine. Tickets are available online or by calling the museum at 978-468-2377.



To get a glimpse of what the spaces will look like this year, visit the Wenham Museums facebook page where they will be posting introductions to this year’s designers. The colors of my space are based on the above vintage hope chest that I inherited from my grandparents. I love this mix of orange, turquoise and gold, and have found some special items in these colors that tell the story of living a “farmhouse chic” life. That is all I am sharing for now ; )

So get your tickets and set a date to come visit the North Shore Design Show! And while you are in Wenham, there is a lovely tea house across the street which offers a perfect ending after touring the museum. I was just there yesterday enjoying quiche and scones with my friend, Liz Wertz, and her darling little ones, Maeve and Viola. We went to the museum to see the Dollhouse Exhibit and the Pretty in Pink vintage fashions, something my boys would have had no interest in! I do love a “girl’s day out” and the Wenham Museum is a great spot to have one : )

Modern trends ... graphic patterns

Chris Lee of the Wenham Museum council,
models a fabulous jacket that she found in Paris.

A new trend in both fashion and decorating right now is bold graphic patterns, either in black and white or a mix of preppy colors. I love this new trend that is really a flash back to around the 1970’s (at least that is where I remember it from!) I have used this play on pattern in my vignette at the North Shore Design Show ...

Wallpaper from the 70s: Jupiter
Drawstring Bag in Night and Day from Vera Bradley
Tennis Racquet Cover from Ame & Lulu

Ame & Lulu even has a collection of bold prints for the stylish pup.

And I have seen more of these fun patterns at
Scribe Paper & Gift in Hamilton (right down
the street from the Wenham Museum) ...

70’s inspired designs by Jonathan Adler.

Fun animal prints and exotics.

Trendy lunch totes also seen at Scribe.

I spotted this preppy boat tote with a colorful ribbon-like stripe pattern at the gift shop located in the Wenham Tea House this week. I will actually be back there tomorrow (or this morning as it is after midnight as I write this) after the Designer Tour of the show, which begins at 9am. I better sign off now and get some sleep so that I am rested for our visitors : )

A designer's to-do-list ...

One of my favorite pieces: some days it’s a bar cart ...

Vacation week???

It is Friday, the end of the week, and for some of us the beginning of school vacation (officially starting at 2:37 pm to be exact). I am hoping to get a lot of work done over the next week (interior design projects, graphic design projects, volunteer projects, keeping food in the fridge and laundry off the floor) while squeezing in a 10th birthday celebration and sufficiently entertaining the boys from morning until night (please just let me sleep in a little!) Not too much to ask, huh?


Last year it held a secret garden at the
North Shore Design Show: Tablescapes


Upcoming Design Events ...

I am most excited about pulling the items together for my designer space at the North Shore Design Show: Favorite Spaces which will run from May 14th until May 22nd at the Wenham Museum. This year, the event will be hosted by Kevin O’Connor from This Old House! He will be hosting a wine and cheese reception on Wednesday, May 19th where he will present highlights from the past 30 years of This Old House (he has been the host for around 6 years) and will share what is on the schedule for next season. I have SO many questions I would like to ask him about the renovations that are always underway at our own version of “this old house.” This is one decorator event that my home-building husband is going to really enjoy (of course he will help me install my space, and then he will be my date for the Gala event : )



My tools of the trade ...

Until then, I have a lot of prep work to do, items to find and workroom projects to oversee. I will post updates over the next few weeks to give you an idea of what goes on before “opening night.”

Here is what my checklist is looking like:

• concept designed and approved
• program info delivered for printing
• fabrics/trims chosen; met with workroom
• all furniture pieces are in my possession
• have paint for miscellaneous projects
• need to order wallpaper, choose carpet
• have most decorative objects, but will
have to hunt a few down (the fun part!)
• shameless promotional work to be done : )
(twitter, facebook, email, send invites, etc.!)


Save the date ...

If you are in the area, I would love to see you at the show! I will actually be participating in the Meet the Designers Breakfast which is scheduled for Friday, May 21st from 9am to 11am. We will be giving a private tour of our spaces and will then have time to talk about design over a continental breakfast held across the street at the charming Wenham Tea House. Besides yours truly, there will be a lot of great designers participating in this year’s event. And there will definitely be some great decorating ideas for visitors to take home, so please spread the word!

North Shore Design Show: Tablescapes

North Shore Design Show: Tablescapes
to benefit the Wenham Museum
132 Main Street, Route 1A
Wenham, Massachusetts

Gala Preview Cocktail Party
Friday, May 15, 2009 6:30 pm
Call to reserve your ticket in advance:
$75 per person

Open admission Saturday, May 16th and
Sunday, May 17th from 10 am - 4 pm
Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door

Call 978.468.2377 or email info@wenhammuseum.org

My designed space is inspired by the magic of a child’s imagination ...
come check out the show if you can or be sure to watch my blog next week for photos from the event.

Late this afternoon, I finished setting up my vignette for the North Shore Design Show: Tablescapes being held at the Wenham Museum. There was a lot of great design in the house at this favorite local museum that celebrates the treasures of childhood and life on the North Shore. Now that everything is in place (and I can sleep tonight!), I am so looking forward to the Gala Preview Cocktail Party tomorrow evening – and the weekend show should be just as fun. There is something inspiring about seeing creative visions come to life that makes me love this business of design even more!


Photo from the Wenham Tea House website

If you do make it to the Museum over the weekend, the Wenham Tea House (just across the street) is a nice place to stop for a quick bite (I enjoyed going there for lunch when I used to freelance down the street at Mullen), plus they offer delicious “catering to-go” (hors d'oeuvres, cakes, meals) just as you walk inside the front door.

Photo from the Black Cow website

Or if you have a little more time to relax, take a ride further down the street to the center of Hamilton where you will find the Black Cow Restaurant. My husband and I used to enjoy some great meals (and spirits) there before having children dramatically changed our dining options. I think we should go there (minus the little ones) the week after the show to celebrate ...