Stylish Shopping with Susanna Salk and Miles Redd

Posted on May 2, 2013 by quintessence   •   9 Comments

Stylish Shopping with Susanna Salk and Miles Redd

Miles Redd needs no introduction among design cognoscenti. This expert mix master represents modern glamour at its best. Combining such seemingly disparate elements as  flea market finds with the finest pedigreed antiques, Miles knows how to make spaces sing with an exuberant joie de vivre. We are thrilled to welcome Miles as our latest stylish shopping guest as he walks us through the incredible resource that is Design on a Dime.

Inspired by the elegant chic of the 1920′s and 30′s, Miles has invented his own version of cozy glamour with an unbridled sense of color and whimsy, tempered by an educated eye and unerring knowledge of scale and proportion.…

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Posted in art, design, furniture, interior design, Stylish Shopping | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments  

Housing Works Design on a Dime Continued

Posted on May 1, 2013 by quintessence   •   5 Comments

Housing Works Design on a Dime Continued

For those who haven’t heard, this year’s Housing Works Design on a Dime was a rousing success, raising over one million dollars to support New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. It was a packed house on opening night with a fantastic selection of creative vignettes filled with shopping treats. Today we’ll take a peek at a few more. I was delighted to see much orange this year and one of the more layered spaces was that of designer Patrick Hamilton.
Free form chevron walls set a sort of op art tone for the art filled vignette. By using unified frames, disparate art of varying sizes works together.…

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The Modern Classicism of Thomas Pheasant in Veranda

Posted on April 28, 2013 by quintessence   •   6 Comments

The Modern Classicism of Thomas Pheasant in Veranda

The beautiful project by Thomas Pheasant on the cover of the May/June Veranda, hitting stands later this week, sums up much of what I have been seeing and writing about lately. Having just returned from High Point, I can affirm that the theme of this issue is especially appropriate. Glamour is definitely making a comeback. But it is indeed of a new relaxed sort, infused with a sense of freedom and variety, individualized and eclectic. I also featured last week the trend and appeal of indoor/outdoor living and after a weekend of spectacular spring weather, this issue hits the spot.
Thomas Pheasant is a proponent of modern classicism, of fusing past and present in fresh and elegant ways.…

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Join Me on Tuesday at the D&D Building

Posted on April 27, 2013 by quintessence   •   2 Comments

Join Me on Tuesday at the D&D Building

I realized that, while I made an announcement on Facebook, I never informed you readers who aren’t on social media. Next Tuesday, I am honored to be moderating a terrific panel for one of Architectural Digest’s Design Files lectures at the D&D Building. Agostino Antiques is kindly hosting us in their showroom (Suite 1502) for a talk appropriately entitled “Integrating Antiques into Contemporary Settings.” Designers Amanda Nisbet and Alan Tanksley and Guy Regal, managing director of Newel will be sharing their thoughts on how to seamlessly blend vintage and modern decor. With these guests, it is sure to be a lively, informative and entertaining session!…

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Design on a Dime 2013

Posted on April 26, 2013 by quintessence   •   10 Comments

Design on a Dime 2013

Design on a Dime is one of the interior design community’s most popular events. Yesterday evening was the opening reception, and was, as usual, a wildly well attended venue. Benefiting Housing Works‘ programs for homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, this year’s benefit funds their newest housing development in Brooklyn, The Hull Street Residence. Over 60 top tier designers created rooms with primarily donated merchandise, which is then sold for 50- 70% off retail. It is a shopping opportunity like no other and this year’s rooms are a stellar group of design vignettes featuring fantastic furniture, art and accessories. Let’s take a first quick peek at just a few of the rooms.…

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Posted in design, furniture, interior design | Tagged , , | 10 Comments  

High Point Picks

Posted on April 24, 2013 by quintessence   •   9 Comments

High Point Picks

As many of you know, I have spent the last four days at High Point market, scouting the enormous variety of offerings. As an official style spotter, I have been pinning some of my favorite finds to a special High Point Pinterest board you can find here. As I just returned yesterday evening, I will have a bit of catching up to do, so I leave you in the meantime with this collage of a few of my High Point picks.

Check back soon for more updates!…

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Posted in art, design, furniture, garden, gifts, interior design, learning | Tagged , , | 9 Comments  

House Beautiful Instant Room with Alexandra Champalimaud

Posted on April 21, 2013 by quintessence   •   4 Comments

House Beautiful Instant Room with Alexandra Champalimaud

As the weather has been teasing us with a preview of warmer temperatures to come, the idea of outdoor living is on many of our minds. So I was thrilled to see that the May House Beautiful Instant Room featured a chic outdoor space designed by acclaimed designer Alexandra Chamalimaud. With her signature melding of comfort and sophistication, she has created a space that extends opportunities for living and entertaining stylishly outdoors.
The expansion of our homes to include outdoor spaces is a trend that I think everyone can embrace. With a wider variety of weather friendly furniture and fabrics in the marketplace, it has become easier to design environments that are as comfortable and inviting as those indoors with the additional appeal of fresh air, greenery and open skies.…

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High Point Style Spotting

Posted on April 20, 2013 by quintessence   •   5 Comments

High Point Style Spotting

You may remember from earlier in the year I mentioned I would be style spotting at High Point. Well the time has come and I have just arrived at market. Yesterday evening I attended the opening of the beautiful Traditional Home Junior League of Greensboro Showhouse (a vignette from Suzanne Kasler’s room below) and today will be hitting the showrooms.
As we peruse the showrooms, we each pick and and post our finds on Pinterest pinboards, offering a wide variety of style choices. You’ll be able to see what we all choose and then vote for your favorite style spotter by “liking”(1 point) and repinning (2 points).…

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The New York Tabletop Show | A First Look

Posted on April 18, 2013 by quintessence   •   5 Comments

The New York Tabletop Show | A First Look

The New York Tabletop Show at Forty-One Madison is always a treat. For those of us enchanted by designs for dining, the new product introductions and creative settings provide inspirational entertaining ideas for the upcoming seasons.
The enormous top floor showroom at Wedgwood always offers a plethora of new products. A favorite this season is the new Ashlar collection. A continuation of Wedgwood’s white china legacy, Ashlar takes inspiration from the classical tradition of Robert Adam. In mix and match architectonic shapes, the neoclassic character feels as modern as it does timeless.

The versatile bone china pieces work for both casual and dressier settings and I was delighted to learn, can go in both microwave and dishwasher.…

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Designers Abroad | Inside the Vacation Homes of Top Decorators

Posted on April 17, 2013 by quintessence   •   5 Comments

Designers Abroad | Inside the Vacation Homes of Top Decorators

Who doesn’t love fantasizing about a vacation home in an exotic locale. And even better if designed by a world class decorator. Designers Abroad is the stuff of armchair dreams. From Brazil to Sri Lanka to Mexico, Italy and France, this volume offers a fabulous inside peek at how designers live in and are inspired by the cultures of their adopted countries.

The Novogratz have the additional consideration of seven children so it makes sense to travel to a home where all the stuff of life is ready and waiting. On Brazil’s Bahia Coast, they opted for a new house, where they worked with local craftsmen to create a high/low mix of comfortable indoor/outdoor chic.…

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