I used to love shopping for stationery… But I swear the cash registers at Target and Trader Joe’s are the only places I check out in person anymore, mostly due to my 3-foot shopping companion, whose idea of fun is removing absolutely every product from the shelves. Trust me, this type of behavior is not conducive to picking out a belated birthday card. Then a few months ago, my favorite stationery designer Cheree Berry told me about Redstamp.com, an online boutique that truly mimics the go-to neighborhood stationery shop?where the owners source all the best current designers (Cheree, of course, plus Thomas Paul, Snow & Graham, Egg Press, Russell + Hazel, Night Owl Paper Goods and dozens more), and will actually talk to you in person if you have pressing questions (no 1-800 number here).

As busy moms and business women, the owners Erin and Renee understand that service is as important as style, and that’s where Redstamp soars in my book. You just can’t top their “send for you” service, where an anonymous someone with impeccable penmanship will hand-write, hand-address, and mail your cards for you. Definitely worth an extra $5 if that belated birthday card is at risk of hitting way-beyond-belated status. ? Megan K.

Back in February we discussed using dress forms in the home for both practical purposes (sewing of course) and for displaying favorite items as more of a decorative element. I was pleasantly surprised when an email arrived today from decor8 reader Cathe Holden of Home Grown Logos who wanted to share her newly created dress-form-as-decor with us. Yay! DIY done right!


You can view her entire DIY project from start to finish right here, the finished product is shown above. Lovely job, Cathe!

(images from cathe holden)

How cute are these Kravet fabrics - both called Lady Day? I just ran across them and am so enamored I wanted to share.

Kravet fabrics are available to the trade.

I'm still feeling a bit groggy from all the meds I'm on, but I can't stop thinking about you and your many emails and comments that continue to wish me a speedy recovery. Thank you so much for your caring words but it's just a virus, nothing major really! :) I thought that since I'm not up to blogging at my regular Holly speed, I will post a few things today and tomorrow to keep you inspired until I'm back on Monday. Since I have a few more posts from the What To Do When You Don't Know What To Do series, I think I'll start with these...


Today we'll hear from creative lady Paola Thomas who is a Seattle-based mother, wife, blogger, and online shop owner of MirrorMirror. She, alongside Velocity Art & Design, just recently launched a creative meet up in Seattle called The Lab, too. Busy lady! Let's talk to Paola, shall we?

How do you think a person can find their spot in the world of design?

Take a long hard look at yourself and what you can do and what you enjoy doing. What do you really LOVE to do? I guarantee the business you end up doing will not be the one you envisaged, so don?t wait for something fully formed to drop into your lap, start experimenting with something TODAY and then watch it unfurl and grow. Do a new thing to your baby business every day, and grab every opportunity with both hands. You can always stop and change direction if you?ve made a mistake.

Let's say a person found what they love to do, is there more to it than creating pretty things?

Oh yes! Be truly honest with yourself and also focus on what you CAN'T or don't want to do. emember if you want a real money-making business that there's an awful lot of selling and marketing and networking and finance that needs to be done. You can hire people to do some of those things if you've got the money, but you have to at least be able to manage those people. I happen to love that side of things, but if you don't, then I really would think long and hard about whether you want to turn your creative passion into your business. I've seen people end up hating their passions. Instead have a job that pays the bills and develop outlets for your creativity in your spare time.

One thing I've heard a million times over is to see if there's a market for your work. Just how important is this?

One should think seriously about whether there?s a market for what you do. Just doing what you love is not enough. Keep testing and experimenting to see what will get you an audience. If you make stuff, get an Etsy shop; if you take photos, get on Flickr; if you want to write, start a blog. If can get an audience in these challenging environments, then maybe you have the beginnings of a business.

Great advice. Speaking of blogging, I met you in 2005 long before you had a blog. Can you tell us how that came about?

I find my blog tremendously useful for exploring ideas. It started as a marketing tool for my shop, but has now become a way for me to experiment with ideas, practice my writing and photography, and act as a platform for the things I like doing such as cooking, knitting, decorating etc. I doubt very much I?m going to make money out of these things, but having that outlet for my personal creativity is enough. For example when I started my blog I didn?t possess a digital camera. Now photography is a huge part of the blog and of my life.

Do you feel that you've found your 'calling' as a web shop owner and blogger?

I'm definitely going in the right direction but I'm nowhere near where I want to end up. My background is in finance and business development ? I worked for many years as an investment banker and then management consultant, before losing my job at a small Internet company in the dotcom crash. I realised then that I liked cushions and colour more than spreadsheets and legal docs and started combining some freelance journalism with doing a home study course in interior design. I soon realised that I don?t think spatially enough to be a great designer (and I want to be great at what I do) and also really missed the commercial side ? I love marketing and I love the Internet. Which is why I decided to set up a business that's actually primarily all about selling and marketing and the Internet, but focused on a market I really understand (women like me) and brings me into daily contact with beautiful things and creative people. And along the way I've had to write a business plan, get a bank loan, manage the building of a complex e-commerce website, run a customer database and PR list and pay sales tax etc. It?s not all about cushions.

You mentioned you lost your job and launched your web shop, but how can one afford to do that?

The upside for me is that my husband's salary has been enough to support us in this ?experimental? phase ? every penny the business makes gets put straight back in - though we have far less money than we used to. The downside has been that I've been combining it with being at home with a baby/toddler, so am only doing this stuff very part time so far. But I love what I do, I have created myself a ?job? where reading design magazines counts as work, so therefore I'm happy.

Thank you Paola! If anyone has questions to ask Paola about running a web shop, etc. please use this as your opportunity and ask some questions in the comments section below...

Hable Construction has teamed up with Bella-Dura to create a line of vibrant, fashionable, and eco-savvy fabrics suitable for in-doors and out-. Bella-Dura is a by-product of post-industrial waste comprised of synthetic fibers with amazing performance qualities that require no additional chemical treatments. Starring qualities of the fabrics include anti-microbial properties, stain-resistance, and provides 1,500+ hours of lightfastness. Bella-Dura fabrics are also recyclable.


This line is available to the TRADE ONLY and several NEW styles are in the mix. Such pretty, pretty patterns!

Vanessa wrote in to share that she heard India Hicks will host the next season of Bravo's Top Design and Todd Oldham will continue in his role as mentor (minus the host part). Of course our dear Kelly Wearstler, Jonathan Adler and Margaret Russell will still serve as judges. Kelly must stay, we need her advice and her clothes to check out each week. It will be fun to see what India is like (does she have a fabulous British accent, I wonder?) and what she will wear too. I have no clue either way since I've only seen her in photos throughout the years.


Here's a little bit about India that you may not have known that I find quite interesting, "Host India Hicks is the daughter of famed interior decorator David Hicks and Lady Pamela Hicks. Born in London, England, she was named in honor of her grandfather, Lord Mountbatten of Burma the last Viceroy to India. Her godfather, HRH Prince Charles, chose Hicks to be a bridesmaid in his wedding to the late Lady Diana Spencer in 1990." - Bravo TV.

What do you think of adding India to the mix to replace Todd as host?

(image from bravo tv)

Miniature Chairs Set

Dimitra & Bill of Up To You in Toronto sent word of these cute - and tiny - reproductions that they are carrying. There ar four different designer sets (9 chairs in each set,). Designers represented include: Eames, Mackintosh, Mies van der Rohe, Prouve, etc. Each set of nine chairs is $95 and there are a total of 36 chairs available at $12 each.

These are great alternatives to the Vitra chair minis, which I saw at Conrans in Paris a couple of months ago. (I've been waiting for a chance to use these images!)



What is it about tiny things? So cute!

The folks at NBC Uni and Bravo have finally released a little more information on the upcoming season 2 of Top Design. In January, they announced that the show had new producers - Magical Elves - who produce Project Runway and Top Chef. That was a good sign. Season 1 had many, many problems.

One of the first changes they've apparently made is that the show will have a host - model and design enthusiast India Hicks. The rest of the S1 cast will return - Todd Oldham as design mentor, Kelly Wearstler and Margaret Russell as judges and Jonathan Adler as the head just. I'm with Tom & Lorenzo - hopefully JA will have dropped his smarmy "See you later, decorator" line when contestants are sent home.

The show is scheduled to air between July and October 2008.

I don't know what the weather's been like in your neck of the woods, but here in Northern California it was blistering hot this weekend. (Is it global warming? Is the Bay Area the new Palm Springs? I'm busy plotting our move to Vancouver through the sweat over here ... )

Anyway, all this unseasonal heat has me itching to move mealtimes outside, where we can take shelter under the shade of our towering birch tree while praying for a cooling breeze. And what better way to dress the patio table than with these brand-new oilcloths (such as Family Tree, above) from Denmark's Ferm Living, the maker of some of the coolest modern wallpapers around?

Even if it's still chilly in your area or you don't have an outdoor dining space, these are a fun way to dress up your kitchen or dining table -- and are particularly great if you have spill-prone kids.

Take a look:

Branch

Walldots

Bindweed

Berry

Ferm's oilcloth is about $28 per linear meter, which is roughly 39 inches; the oilcloth comes in 55-inch widths, so if you want a tablecloth that's about four and a half feet wide by six and a half feet long, order two meters. It's available through the Scandinavian Design Center -- which also carries beautiful oilcloths from Marimekko, Pappelina, and Susanne Schjerning.

Check them out right here.

I'm just loving these bright new pillows from Henry Road. If you're not already in a summer state of mind, the latest hand-drawn and -printed designs from Henry Road founder Paula Smail will definitely put your there.

Take a look:

Blossom Pillow in Crimson (also available in Sage and Teal), $75

Patch Pillow in Aqua, Tangerine, and Black, $85

Fleur Pillow in Sage (also in Teal and Passion), $75

Leaves Pillow in Teal (also in Sage), $95

In other news, Henry Road has a great new collection of bags as well, and will soon be opening its very own store in Los Angeles.

See all of the offerings in Henry Road's online store.

(Thanks for the tip, Vanessa!)

I've been a huge flickr fan of I Can't Live Without a Poni (aka Brooklyn artist, Parsons grad, and blogger Niki Kelce) for awhile now. So I was thrilled to discover that she recently opened an Etsy shop to sell her mindblowingly intricate and beautiful original drawings. Above: The Seeds Are Thinking, $300

My Frustration, $250

From the Capsules Came a Garden, $400

Floating, framed drawing, $400

Family Portrait 1, $300

Visit Niki Kelce's new Etsy shop right here -- and see more of her amazing work here.

(P.S. For those of us on a tight budget, Kelce promises to add prints to her shop soon. I'll let you know when she does.)

So I learned about this design duo Nickey Kehoe (Todd Nickey & Amy Kehoe) from Domino magazine's "Domino 10". I love that they describe their approach to interior design as avoiding "design diva energy"! I can understand that. While I can appreciate that type of diva energy and design style, it's not exactly something I'd want in my house. I'm sure their portfolio doesn't show their current projects, so I hope they add more images of their warm minimalist style.

John Robshaw's spring 2008 catalog is now available online. Many new handcrafted goodies await -- including fresh linens and pillows -- but for me one of the standout designs is the seriously charming "Noah's Ark" baby bedding.

Currently on view through July 2008 is the V & A's exhibition, China Design Now. The show encompasses fashion, graphics, and the general proliferation of fresh design in China. Poster above by Chen Shaohua, 1992.


And I'm sure you've seen these woven wicker clutches from Vivre in the new Vogue Living (Carolina Irving has exquisite taste). But the art history major in me wants to point out that the brass plated closures are modeled after those found on ancient Ming Dynasty chests.


Tiny Ming chest available through Edgar L. Owen.

Sister Parish loved handicrafts -- needlework, basketry, quilts, hand-printed textiles. Maybe this was because she enjoyed working with her own hands, doing decoupage and other crafts. Or perhaps she had seen her share of grand formal homes and longed to warm them up with homespun touches.


Working intuitively, and in collaboration with partner Albert Hadley, she often upholstered exquisite 18th century French furniture with "primitive" hand-waxed cotton batiks by Alan Campbell. The fresh and inviting bedroom of Brooke Astor, shown above, is one example.


Colorful patchwork quilts appealed to Sister too. She used them conventionally but also commissioned the Freedom Quilting Bee in Alabama to create a patchwork fabric that, according to her protege Bunny Williams, was used in a chic Georgetown dining room. In fact, Parish-Hadley became known for upholstering wing chairs and sofas with quilts.


During her famous refurbishing of the White House, Jackie Kennedy selected Morgantown glassware produced in West Virginia. A political gesture? Probably. But JBK seems to have had a genuine fondness for American crafts. The way she and Sister Parish mixed the ultra-refined with the rustic greatly influenced residential interior decorating in the U.S. for decades.


I couldn't help noticing that both Natalie "Alabama" Chanin and craft artist Nathalie Lete received coverage in the newest Vogue Living. Are arbiters of high style embracing craft again as they did in the 1980s when simple pine furniture was mixed with lavish florals?

Of course, in their own unique ways Jonathan Adler and Lulu de Kwiatkowski have been doing a 21st century mix of sleek with rustic. But it will be interesting to see if more contemporary designers -- those associated with modern glamour -- inject homespun elements into their interiors.


Above, Alan Campbell fabric currently available through Quadrille.

Reminder: Tradition/Innovation: American Masterpieces of Southern Craft and Traditional Art remains on view through May 18.

Photo of Sister Parish shown top is from Margaret Russell's 2001 book, Designing Women: Interiors By Leading Style-Makers; The Astor bedroom is from Albert Hadley: The Story of America's Preeminent Interior Designer; and Sister Parish's Maine bedroom is from Designers on Designers.

This is a good week for Atlanta-based designer Mallory Mathison. Apart from being named one of the domino 10, her traditional-meets-chic Peachtree Road residence is expected to be featured in the AJC's Sunday home and garden section. I think the coverage will inspire anyone who dwells in a small space.


Mathison's style epitomizes that youthful Southern look I've been talking about this month. In her bedroom she liberally used an oh-so-trad Scalamandre linen floral, "Bantry House" in Aqua (if you've seen the latest Vogue Living you know this also very "now") but balanced the feminine print with rich faux lacquered espresso walls inspired by her heroes Billy Baldwin and Miles Redd.


Baldwin was legendary for using deep dark walls in tiny spaces. And this Redd-designed room above, published in Southern Accents, specifically influenced Mathison.

She says, "The bedroom was actually an experiment. I have always loved lacquer, loved the way Billy Baldwin used lacquer on walls, furniture, lamps, lampshades -- anything! I wanted to try it out in my teeny little condo and so I decided to do it in the bedroom, because it was the space with the most natural light and I could off-set the deep espresso-brown with light linens and porcelains."


"I used Farrow and Ball's "Mahogany" paint in full oil gloss to achieve a sort of "faux lacquer" effect -- of course not the same [as the real thing] but it worked and was a fraction of what it would cost to have the walls professionally lacquered."

By the way, her ceiling is a soft aqua. So all of her painted surfaces reflect light.


Mathison does doubt she would ever do such dark walls for her clients. She adds, "More likely in an entry, dining room or library -- very dramatic and rich!"

On blanc de chine (a French term usually reserved for all-white Chinese porcelain) she says she is especially obsessed with white porcelain Asian figures. "I pick them up wherever I can, estate sales, antique shops, etc. I have also started collecting lamps, vases -- anything in white. They are just so pretty and create amazing contrast against dark surfaces -- delightful!"

Be sure to look for editor Katie Leslie's piece this weekend in the AJC!


Related reading: Blanc De Chine: Divine Images in Porcelain

One of the first things to grab my attention in the new April domino was Peter Dunham's choice of Deborah Sharpe Linens. In his own inimitable bohemian-meets-English style, Dunham layered "classic flower" with eclectic bed coverings.


Sharpe also offers many fine embroidered geometrics.




West Elm of course offers more budget-friendly options.

Just popping in to say hello to all of you who are still dropping by. It is so tempting to post as my design radar is still alive and well. I just don't dare go there right now. BUT I want you to know I really miss my blog.

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement for my mother. She is holding her own although it is really one day at a time for her and for us. I am also involved in a huge design project for my oldest son who lives in Mexico and has started a relatively new endeavor there. I have showed you the logo I designed for him but now we are adding a fullscale website and it has been a monumental task.

I hope to finish this project in the next few weeks and then I would hope to be able resume Kstyle. Thank you all for staying with me and know that I really miss participating in the design blogging community. When I can I will be back. Take care and talk soon,k

This fantastic coral covered collection is designed by Alberto Pinto for Raynaud.

: : happy v day : : more kurbits inspiration on my mind. a series of cards called .boda., designed by no one but, .hanna werning. for company lagom. .lagom. is the Swedish word for 'just right', not too much, not too little of anything. I believe it is the only language with a word describing that, and it says a lot about the Swedes themselves. via bowie at .print&pattern.

Dazzling acrylic paintings by Brandy Saturley of Sol Sugar Designs here in Victoria... I showcased some of her colourful, curvaceous pieces from her Toe collection awhile back.
Literally a neighbour of mine (James Bay... yah!!), Brandy's art is incredibly vibrant and full of exquisite detail. She is inspired by the ocean and the colour blue which resonates as a dance of rigorous patterns throughout her pieces. So lively and whimsical... I adore her work.

Soft ambient Japanese lights from Kozai Designs in Vancouver on West 6th Avenue.
Designer Toshiyuki Tani has developed a very contemporary line of gorgeous lights utilizing traditional Japanese woodcraft techniques. His Wappa series of pendant and floor lamps employ bent cedar from Akita in northern Japan. The Mocoro table lamp is a cylinder of soft ambient light nestled within a layered globe of turned Japanese hemlock disks. And his newest light, the very delicate Sen, is hand-built from many hundreds of tiny strips of bamboo by traditional bamboo craftsmen in Shizuoka prefecture.
Top: Sen Table Lamp, Kazaguruma (Pinwheel) Pendant/Floor Lamp, Shuriken (Ninja Star), Hanabi (Fireworks), and Mocoro Table Lamp

I've moved to a new address. It's the same great interior design features and advice, but with a fresh new look. Find me at designholeonline.com. Don't forget to bookmark it! :)


See you there!

If I were (corrected: thanks Adam!) off to college I would…seriously think about where you plan to sit your tush. Although a new desk chair or couch may not be at the top of your “college dorm necessities” list…it could be the one piece of dorm furniture that no one else would think of which could then automatically make your room the preferred social spot. Think about it!

When I got to college our desks were supplied with hard and uber-ugly chairs. Not sure how I endured the couple of years of dorm room living looking at such things…let alone sitting on them. We also had the courage to loft our beds and purchase a $30 grandma looking couch from Goodwill which in hindsight was probably so full of germs or bugs I am surprised my roommate and I didn’t come down with odd diseases.

Granted, the majority of college students are not made of money, but I have a few ideas that can keep you away from pained rumps and a Grandma Mable inspired dorm room while also being something you’d actually want to keep after the school year is over…

#1: A Blu Dot Real Good Chair. Imagine going to school with your chair in a little box (a moving space saver!) and assembling the goods in front of your new found friends. They will be mystified and in awe with the process and even more so by the chair.

#2 and #3: Poofs and cubes. Rather than a desky-desk chair maybe a poof or cube is more your style…

And finally, #4: If your school bans couch burning at the end of the year it may be wise to avoid getting stuck with a massive piece of furniture to have to deal with. How’s about considering making your room into a lounge full of Sitting Bulls and Fatboys instead?

I love sculpture gardens. I realize that Dale Chihuly work in botanical gardens has become rather ubiquitous, but so what? It gives people all over the world to experience his work, and brings in a ton of visitors. The latest exhibition that caught my eye (online, anyway) is the San Diego Fine Arts Society’s exhibition called Urban Trees. You can stroll through the Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas California and see works like these:

“Steeples” by Christine Benisten

“Giraffe” by Dave Ghilarducci

“Voyage” by Terry Kuntz

• all photos from sdfas.org

If I were off to college I would… think to brighten my space with something other than holiday string lights and a mere/sad desk lamp. There is so much more to lighting than simply preventing eye strain while in dark spaces.

There are pieces that can:

Guard your goods..

Create for an awesome visual in a boring 8′x10′ foot dorm space…

Act as a source of modern inspiration (and light) while studying for hours and hours in your favorite chair…

And, the light can be a center piece for “study sessions”…

We know that school has started or will be starting shortly for many of you so perhaps it is time to move on. Hopefully something out of the college bedding, seating, wall art, and lighting dorm room decorating tips will spark an idea beyond what you find at the major stores. You can do it, we know you can.

Best of luck in college…Go learn something!