“I take my work incredibly seriously; I just don’t take my ego seriously.”
—Amanda Nisbet in Lonny Magazine, March/April 2012

I had the pleasure of meeting the interior designer Amanda Nisbet at the New York International Gift Fair last January and got to visit with her in the Dunes and Duchess booth. There always seems to be a sparkle in her eye in photos of her I had seen in magazines that accurately captured the warmth and sincerity she projects in the flesh. In the article by Robert Leleux in Lonny magazine she talks about her office and office style, which lead to this particular quote. It’s such a good reminder and such a pleasantry to see that in someone we most admire and who has had much success (her Kip’s Bay room will likely remain my all-time favorite). She must have been raised right.

Amanda Nisbet at NYIGF

It feels like summer and summer’s not even here yet! So many events, activities, opportunities! Here’s a glimpse of my week!

1. Brimfield was a blast! It wasn’t the antiques and flea market finds that made it such a treat though, it was my hosts—Cynthia Bogart (The Daily Basics) and Gretchen Aubuchon (Fashion+Decor) and the amazing group of people they assembled in their tent for the Brimfield Tweet Up. A few of my favorite people that I got to catch up with last Saturday include Raina Kattelson (A Stylist’s Life), Gretchen, Cynthia, and Tamara Matthews-Stephenson (Nest Nest Nest).

2. Last night at New England Home’s networking event at the Antique & Artisan Center in Stamford I met one of my favorite interior designers, Matthew Patrick Smyth, and received a first edition copy of his new book Living Traditions. Matthew talked about how he got started in the business (he worked his tail off, living at the YMCA and then working for David Easton) and what he loves about what he does. Completed inspired now. FYI, the aforementioned Raina Kattelson was the stylist for the book!

3. Last Friday night I was the Honorary Chair at the Wenham Museum’s North Shore Design Show, featuring installations by a few dozen interior designers. The event is open through the weekend and I highly recommend that you go for some amazing interior inspiration! One of my favorites was the living room by Wilson Kelsey Design. Here I am with John Kelsey and Sally Wilson.

4. Last week I got to give a talk at Wakefield Design in Stamford about how I go about styling a room. I had a ton of before and after photos that I showed side-by-side so people could see what goes into creating those perfect pictures you see in magazines. I look like I’m really seriously explaining how I’m going to attack this kitchen in this photo.

5. People tend to think that magazine photo shoots are glamourous. That may be the case if you’re with Bruce Weber shooting fashion in some exotic (and catered) locale, but in my world you sometimes end up on the floor, backed into a corner, providing support for a piece of artwork that just happened to be hung in the wrong place. This was my only down time during the Traditional Home photo shoot I did last week!

There were some amazing tables to be seen at this year’s Red and White Ball benefiting the American Red Cross last week by some top Connecticut designers. See my post on the New England Home blog for the full set of photos.

Interior designer Carey Karlan with her red-and-white themed table.

Friday night kicks off the 4th annual North Shore Design Show at the Wenham Musuem. This year I was thrilled to be asked to be the honorary chair for this important museum fundraising event.

If you’d like a preview of the vignettes put together by top Boston area designers there are tickets still available for the preview gala on Friday night. The design show will be open to the public Saturday May 12 through Sunday May 20.

Some of the designers contributing their time and talents this year include Wilson Kelsey Design, Yvonne Blacker Interiors, Honey Collins Interiors, Sacris Design, Carpenter & MacNeille, and Camille Garro Interiors to name a few. I’ve had the pleasure to work with a number of these designers and feature their work in New England Home and Better Homes & Gardens.

Here are some scenes from last year’s design event. This one is by Wilson Kelsey Design.

Photo courtesy of Eric Roth

This vignette by Yvonne Blacker Interiors was featured on the blog The Buzz—Diane James Home last year.

One of the ways I find inspiration is in the past and the Wenham Museum has been preserving and displaying the articles of life found on the North Shore for almost 90 years. If you’re not familiar with the North Shore area of Boston, it has a rich architectural and cultural history completely unique to Massachusetts. We regard the North Shore as those famed towns with names like Gloucester, Marblehead, Wenham, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Hamilton. I hope that you’ll have the opportunity to visit the museum and to attend the North Shore Design Show before its close on the 20th.

Stuck on finding just the right furnishings for a kids room that will take them from kindergarten to college? A new section at Lillian August in Norwalk, Connecticut, shows an amazing line of furniture fit for all ages. Check it out in my post on the New England Home blog today.

It was difficult to tell who was more excited by the magic of Universal Studios and Disney this week—the adults or the kids. It was so nice to take a few days off and just be a kid again. Here are the five best things from this week.

1. Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and Hogsmeade at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. Snow covered the rooftops causing me to shiver in 85-degree heat and the site of Hogwarts in the distance gave me chills. The ride is amazing, taking you flying through the school’s grounds. For more photos check out the post I did on the New England Home blog.

2. The fireworks show at Disney has added a whole new dimension with a 3-D show projected onto the castle prior to the fireworks. It reminded me of the show Saks Fifth Avenue did last Christmas that I listed as a 5 Best Things and I wonder if it was done by the same company Iris Reveal.

3. Legoland Florida just opened last October. It’s geared more to the 7-10 year-olds, but was worth the drive. In one section more than 30 million Legos were used to craft miniature cities, including our nation’s capital, New York City and South Beach in Miami.

4. Have you ever seen anything like this? It’s a waterski lake with no boats. The ropes are attached to a cable system that takes you around a course that includes buoys and jumps. Best workout ever.

5. This really should have been first, but I’ve saved the best for last. In the May issue of Better Homes & Gardens I have a beautiful feature I styled and that Michael Partenio photographed.

I loved the design by Michele Kolb and it was so much fun to add punches of color with pillows from my favorite style maven Michelle Hatch. Her pillows are made in the USA and come in all sorts of gorgeous colorways embroidered or blinged.

Please check out my post on the magically designed world of Harry Potter on the New England Home blog from this week!

1. I remember meeting photographer Tria Giovan at a Southern Accents showhouse a dozen years ago and thinking that she was probably the coolest woman on the planet. Since then I’ve had the pleasure of shooting with her and creating a number of gorgeous feature stories for Traditional Home, New England Home and Better Homes & Gardens. Tria’s just released a beautiful tabletop book called Sand Sea Sky: The Beaches of Sagaponack filled with the most ethereal images.

2. Second only to Tria for coolest woman on the planet status would have to be author and style maven Susanna Salk who has also just come out with a new book titled Be Your Own Decorator: Taking Inspiration and Cues From Today’s Top Designers, which she describes not as a how-to book, but a why not? That’s just so Diana Vreeland to me! Besides loving the ballsy title and the yumlicious images (there’s even something in there that I styled!) I love the concept. This is a book that really shows the home as a personality, something some magazines are missing.

3. Also making the cool girl list has to be artist and fabric designer Lulu deKwiatkowski, who I met this week at the Boston Design Center along with Susan North, the creative director for Schumacher. I was asked to interview the two of them about Lulu’s new line of children’s fabrics in front of a crowd of about 150 interior designers. Look for more on the fabrics on the blog next week.

4. This week Facebook acquired Instagram for a billion dollars. I started posting there after I learned about it at the Design Bloggers Conference in L.A. and have been addicted to it ever since. I love the instant sharing, the photo filters and seeing what my friends and style gurus are up to. Here’s a photo I’ve shared.

5. I am beginning to think that decorating for Easter trumps Christmas. There’s just too much fun to be had with those eggs. We incorporated nail polish this year, which seams to be a hit.

“Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity.”

—Coco Chanel

There’s a reason we struggle for authenticity—it’s worth it. When all else fails us, authenticity makes a sturdy backbone to straighten us. Keep it real this week and have a great one!

It’s spring! For some that means tulips and daffodils. For me it means photo shoots and scouting. It was definitely a good week!

1. While shooting a kitchen by interior designer Molly Hirsch this week for the magazine Kitchen & Bath Ideas this week we were thrilled to be introduced to The Cake Box in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Molly brought us the most delicious mini cupcakes!

2. Found the best table ever at my favorite flea market. I love the tulip shape, but the real kicker is that it’s covered in aluminum with tiny nailheads!

3. I had a chance to stop in Hudson in the South End to congratulate owner Jill Goldberg about being named a Benjamin Moore Emerging Designer. Jill has this amazing talent of spotting something wonderful and giving it her own twist. Besides one-of-a-kind furniture pieces she’s producing, I spotted this great sign that she blew up and framed from postcard size. Pay heed!

4. The current Barneys NYC window with these creepy kitties proves that repetition as a design motif works almost every time.

5. Lillian August’s designer extraordinaire Skye Kirby Westcott (she’s the style maven who’s put together the glam rooms at the Hamptons Showhouses for the store), has put together half a dozen kids’ rooms vignettes in a new showroom area in the Norwalk location featuring Duc Duc furnishings. From cribs to teens it’s a treat to shop to see how kid style has evolved.