Designers and social media ...

Photo credit: Yvonne Blacker

A couple weeks ago I stopped by a friend’s house (Linda Hentschel) to help set her set up a facebook page for her interior design business (Renaissance Interiors). We were going to start with a blog, but figured facebook would be a good place to try out the whole “online sharing” experience.

While we were sitting in her lovely dining room, the black painted sideboard above caught my eye. There was something vaguely familiar about it. I couldn’t put my finger on it but I knew I had seen it somewhere before.

Linda told me she had found this piece at a vintage store and had to have it, even though at the time of purchase it was your standard dated-looking wood finish sideboard. But she could tell it would be the perfect piece on which to set up a buffet station and to store large serving ware until needed for entertaining (which Linda does a lot!)

Turns out, I had been following the transformation of this piece on facebook (and not on my friends page, because she wasn’t even on facebook at the time)! We both follow the work of Linda Holt, a designer in Boxford (she had a decorated space in the Boxford Holiday Homes Tour). She is part of a new business called Chalk It Up established with her friend, artist Susan Siefer (of MadPatter ArtDesign). The piece above was taken from ordinary (but with pretty lines) to one-of-a-kind fabulous with a special chalk-based paint plus hand applied wax finish. See the before – and during – photos below ...

Pretty cool, huh? On February 11th, Chalk It Up will be hosting a hands-on workshop in North Andover featuring how to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Did I mention there is no stripping or priming needed??? Like Chalk It Up on facebook to get the details on this workshop and follow them to see more furniture transformations.

Congrats to Linda Holt and Susan Siefer on their new business, and also to Linda Hentschel for dipping her toe in the social media pool! You will be blogging in no time : )

Maybe you can start by sharing the story of how this peacock from New England Fine Living ended up in your family room??? Or reminisce about our days working together at The Stevens Estate in North Andover? Or share with us some behind-the-scenes at the Steampunk room you are designing with the ModVic team at Audio Concepts?

We always share a lot of laughs and designer secrets when we get together – I can’t wait to read your stories online (and please throw in a couple family recipes, too, while you are at it!)

Nancy Faye Glass, Linda Hentschel and Yvonne Blacker

The Stevens Estate, North Andover, February 2011

Inspired by ... celebrity designers

I love this color combination of a strong red with a grayish blue background (see flower arrangement in my last post). I took this photo at Studio 534 in the Boston Design Center which was host to Kathryn M. Ireland for her book signing on Tuesday, November 3rd.

While some people are fascinated with sports figures or high-profile celebrities, I find myself getting giddy over seeing “design stars” in person. I really respect what it takes to make it as an accomplished designer in this business, whether one is designing for big movie-star type budgets or for homes that are more modest in comparison. For me, being able to design for others is like being commissioned to create a work of art. My client’s home becomes the canvas, and I get to play artist. It is an honor (and pleasure) to be invited to make someone’s house “a home.”

Today at the Boston Design Center, Kathryn M. Ireland spoke on Easy Elegance and Comfortable Living, The Art of Creating a Home. She was there to promote her new book titled Creating a Home, which is also available online. Check it out (and definitely visit her website) to see some of her amazing work with textiles, patterns, color and scale.

Interior design by Kathryn M. Ireland
photographed by Miguel Flores-Vianna
as seen in Veranda magazine, Sept. ’09

Ireland’s visual language is well studied and appeals to the artist in me who loves bold patterns and vivid colors. She is known for her Bohemian chic approach that combines California’s easy living with the grandeur of world-traveled influences. Although she is a huge fan of saturated color combinations, she is also able to achieve the same richly varied look in a more subdued color palette (when asked!).

Fabrics from her newest collections.

Despite the fact that I was just a wee bit jealous of her well traveled life (Ireland used to take her three boys on trips and they would ask, “How many planes is it going to take to get there?” while my husband and I are basically afraid to plan a long – a.k.a. over 20 minute – car ride with our brood of four boys), I did appreciate her take on fearlessly surrounding oneself with color and beauty. Although after just peeking around the corner into my family room, I think we have achieved the same result as my boys apparently had a battle with a purple feather boa from the Halloween costume bin ... and the boa lost.


This pattern Fez Palm in Olive Green from Kathryn Ireland’s newest fabric collection would be right at home in one of my boys rooms, which boldly incorporates all of these colors (some day I will post images from it when it is “photo shoot” clean ...)

I am sure I could probably learn a lot from Ireland on how to live a stylish life while surrounded by a bunch of boys, but I did not have the luxury to sit down and chat with her today. She did share some funny stories, however, about making a huge outdoor trampoline that did not jive with her design aesthetic mysteriously disappear while her boys went to school, and I especially liked how she admitted to offering one of her reluctant sons money to participate in a magazine photo shoot since this is a trick I have been known to use around December 1st for holiday photos.


While my friends and I were waiting to meet with Kathryn, I had the opportunity to say hello to one of my favorite designer-bloggers, Erin Gates from Elements of Style. She was hard to miss as she is model gorgeous and was dressed very stylishly even for the Design Center (sorry, I wasn’t ready with my camera this time, and besides she probably thinks I am stalking her!) Be sure to visit her blog to read her take on today’s lecture since she mentioned that she would be posting about it, too. She has a refreshing take on this business of design that I find laugh-out-loud entertaining. She is also great at spotting design trends, and I predict she will soon be setting them, too.

Below are a couple of pictures of other designers who have inspired me lately ...


Nancy Faye Glass of Glass House Design and Linda Hentschel of Renaissance Interiors who I met through our design collaboration at The Stevens Estate in North Andover. (I had them pose today in front of the New England Design Hall of Fame Allee of Trees – just for luck). They have both been very generous in sharing their design stories and advice with me (plus we have a great time going to events like this together).

Check back tomorrow for my post on last week’s lecture at the BDC presented by Barclay Butera ...

“Barclay and I” at the Kravet showroom
or “I love this job!”

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The Stevens Estate receives a design update

Embroidery by Threads Couture

The first floor inglenook at The Stevens Estate in North Andover has recently received a mini-makeover courtesy of myself and designers: Nancy Faye Glass, Linda Hentschel, Patricia Finn and Linda Diorio. Separately and as a team, we have been consulting and providing decorating updates since the beginning of the year to this stately mansion (owned since 1995 by the town of North Andover) that functions as a special event and conference center.



I found this image online of the Osgood Coat of Arms. I plan to have it reproduced and framed in honor of Charlotte E. Osgood whose family gifted this property to her and new husband Moses T. Stevens in 1853. New fabrics for the inglenook were chosen based on the colors from this coat of arms, along with the colors in the original stained glass featured in the stairway.

The inglenook cushions BEFORE ...

AFTER ... they are newly dressed.

My personal design goal for this project is to create the feeling of a boutique hotel by incorporating a signature look to promote the Stevens Estate brand identity. We received a generous donation of fabrics, one of which – a beautiful gold linen by Kravet – I had monogrammed to add a personalized touch to these public spaces.


The second floor bridal suite is branded with
a smaller scale version of the “S” pillow.

BEFORE ... the hall runners were too narrow and
the colors did not speak to the new, lighter palette.

AFTER ... this custom-sized runner allows
more room for couples to stroll side by side.



BEFORE ... the fireplace in the
banquet room was overlooked.

AFTER ... adding some life and light with a stylish
grouping of bright white birch logs goes a long way.

Be sure to check back for future updates ...

A special thanks goes to ...
Miles River Sewing in Danvers
and Nancy N. of Melrose for
professional workroom services
and fabric donations, and to
Donna Dreher of Threads Couture

for the custom embroidery.