Blooms Make the Room

I’m super excited for this upcoming VIRTUAL flower arranging workshop event that I am co-hosting with my fabulous artist designer friend Annie Damphousse of Housse Studio!

Anyone is welcome to join us – virtually – on Sept. 10th at 1pm!!!

Along with getting bunches of farm fresh flowers from Alice's Table delivered right to your door to create a beautiful sunflower filled floral arrangement AT HOME – I will be teaching this part via a private Zoom link – attendees will also get a SNEAK PEEK inside Annie’s studio where she creates original works of art from paintings to textile designs to custom commissioned home goods (her new designer-inspired pillow collections are gorgeous!)

Join us and YOU can brighten someone’s day ...

Last October, Annie donated her styled bar cart (in photo above) to the annual dining by design Heading Home to Dinner fundraiser held at the Boston Design Center.

This year, she has come up with a creative way to give back to this community that is experiencing a greater need than ever.

A note from Annie ... 

“I am creating a special painting – inspired by the gorgeous colors in the floral arrangement – which will be raffled off after the event. All attendees will be entered into the raffle, PLUS have an opportunity to purchase additional entries into the raffle during the event.

All raffle proceeds and a portion of each ticket price will be donated to Heading Home – a Boston based charity that provides housing and support services to families and individuals in need.”

Grab your tickets by Friday, August 28th to reserve your spot and to receive your fresh flower delivery (from 1-800-flowers) in time for our virtual workshop on Thursday, September 10th! 

Get your Blooms Make the Room event ticket HERE. 

If Money Was No Object: My Vintage Top 10

What would you choose for yourself if your budget was without limit? I was recently asked this question and was happy to shop with abandon for my dream room, selecting gorgeous vintage items from Decaso, Decorative Arts Society.

If you are familiar with the online vintage site Chairish, this new sister site is founded by the same stellar team.

About Decaso: “It is an ultra-curated selection of exceptional antique and designer furniture offered by the world’s most respected dealers.”

As a blogger asked to choose my “Bucket List” favorites, I fell in LOVE with the 10 vintage items above. Details for each item with links to more info are listed below.

My theme? A classically glamorous room to entertain guests, enjoy a cocktail or two, put my feet up and get cozy.

My fantasy budget? Just over $30,000 (without adding in the cost of the original art). Not unreasonable for custom and vintage, but certainly outside of my typical price range. A girl can dream, right? If I had to choose just one of the ten, I would probably take home the bar cart. What would your fantasy room look like?

1 // Still Life With Upright, Oil on Canvas by Anne-Louise Ewen

2 // Leaded White Glass Sphere Pendant

3 // Italian Brass Chiavari Chair in Mongolian Fur

4 // Regency Style Designer Taboret Bench by Randy Esada Designs

5 // Charles Hollis Jones Lucite Faux-Bamboo and Brass Serving Cart

6 // Four Capiz Star-Shaped Pendant Lights

7 // Italian-Inspired Settee by Stripe

8 // Early 20th Century Oushak Carpet

9 // Pair of Fishskin Covered Chairs

10 // Custom Mid-Century Coffee Table

Choose your vintage favorites at Decaso.com

Mad Men Style @ADHomeShow

Designers Rosanne Palazola and Katherine Hawkins

behind the bar at The New Traditionalists space at the

Architectural Digest Home Design Show 2012

The AMC cult classic Mad Men Season 5 premiered this past Sunday night, just as my friends and I were returning home from our road trip to New York to view the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. It appears the design industry is trending nostalgic for the simple lines of unplugged times, as mid-century modern classics were being served up in many a vignette. Below are some Draper-era sightings that I thought were pretty nifty. 

The New Traditionalists:

bed, side table, desk

The New Traditionalists:

modern bar keeping

Herman Miller: dinner party

Wud Furniture Design: sleek bar storage  

USM: the modular office

CF Modern: mid-century made custom 

Jonathan Adler: mad potters print mash-up

Design Within Reach: chair classics

large and small 

Stay tuned for more of my design favorites from the show ...

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!