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

Master bedroom preview, part 1

As I pulled in to my driveway early this week, I came upon this mesmerizing sight. There is nothing like a huge boom truck delivering a bunch of blue board to bring a smile to this decorator’s face! I will now show you a series of before and after pics from this project ...



Master phase 1: new floor boards are put down over newly insulated and framed floors. What I don’t have a picture of is the true before, when there was a chimney surrounding this black vent pipe and the access to this space was a pull-down ladder that was situated in a 2nd floor bedroom closet! My I’ll-never-forget-memories from the day the chimney came down is a story for another post!



Master phase 2: framing of the new room has begun! What happened next was Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we did not get back to this project till the new year (and the day I created our at-home-projects timeline calendar!)

Master phase 3: insulation! We are now fully insulated. Doesn’t this space just look warmer?? A crew showed up last week and created this sci-fi like scene. Spray foam insulation is the latest energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly technique used to achieve a completely air-tight insulation application. Here is a close up of under the eaves (which will be a great area for long-term storage) ...



The difference in the overall temperature in our house was noticeable right away. Before, heat was going through the slate roof which would cause landslides of snow to come crashing off the roof during the winter months. When my kids would go out to play, I used to fear that they would be caught in a mini-avalanche if they walked too close to the sides of the house! Now, the snow stays on the roof like a blanket. With the added insulation, it is also a lot quieter in the space. Bonus: we are expecting to cut our heating bill almost in half which is something to look forward to!




Master phase 4: the walls are up! Yesterday the boarders did their magic. A dream is starting to look like a reality! This dormer will soon be my mini-office. There is actually room for a good-sized desk and file cabinet in this little nook (see my sketch below). Now all we need is an energy-efficient double pane window to replace the ancient single-pane ... the only window in the main house that was never changed by the previous owner (we will replace this in the spring).

I used a neat online tool, icovia to sketch out the plan for our new room. I first discovered this resource while reading the blog of Linda Merrill. I asked her about it, and she walked me through a couple of her projects (virtually). The software offers a lot of options, although the monthly fee certainly will add up. The offset value to the monthly fee is that program updates are received automatically (without having to purchase a new version). Plus, if I were to sign up I could cancel at any time. I have already tried it out for a couple of spaces, however I cannot save my project work until I become a member.



What you can’t see in the above drawing is the future master bath (just framed for now) and the walk-in closet. Both of these will be just outside of the room and to the right. I will be very happy to finally have space to hang all of my clothes in the same spot instead of stashing them in various closets like I am doing now (old homes like this one are notorious for their lack of closet space!) I also like the idea of having our clothing storage located outside of our room – it will be much more serene. To check out some inspiring walk-in closets, visit Heather Clawson at Habitually Chic who recently posted some enviable spaces!



Come back next week to see the completely plastered room along with my color and fabric choices. I am off now to make some final decisions on the flooring ...

Dressing and interiors ...

A side table vignette from the shop at
the Peabody Essex Museum.

Last night I attended the The Irreverent Iris Apfel: Rare Bird of Fashion exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum. It included a special Iris inspired fashion show presented by the Salem vintage clothing boutique Modern Millie. I met some very stylish attendees after the event, who I will post about early next week. In the meantime, check out these behind-the-scenes images from the Modern Millie blog.

And if you are looking for something fun to do today with a girlfriend-daughter-or-mother, the museum is hosting Atrium Alive: the Art of Fashion
(December 5th from 11am to 5pm).


Holiday window dressing at PEM.

If you can’t make it to the North Shore, here is a great example of over-the-top dressing of the interior kind as posted by New York designer Heather Clawson, of the design blog Habitually Chic. Today she posted images from Holiday House 2009 featuring designer table settings inspired by a year of holidays (not just those in December). Plumage in many forms seemed to be a recurring design theme ... see how many birds-of-a-feather you can spot. Enjoy!

Habitually Chic™: Holiday House 2009


A small feathery vignette of my own currently on
display at the Studio. Felted acorns by TruLuxe.