Eat. Sleep. Breathe. Interior Design

Happy Birthday Mom!  What does one do when it’s the Birthday of the most important woman in your life? You reflect on how amazing they are and how they impacted your life. Mom is the most thoughtful, loving, selfless person I have ever met. Thank you for:

1. Being the most amazing support system on earth.
2. Putting up with endless hours of listening to me sift through bins of lego’s in endless pursuit of the perfect ‘house’ design.
3. For buying me all those lego’s. (Even though I never got the tram, really .. I’m ok with it …. )
4. For letting me fill the driveway with every tool imaginable from the garage to layout ‘paths’ with a blanket fort in the middle …. those orange cones really came in handy!
5. Fostering my interest in art.
6. Keeping everything, even though I said I didn’t want it … but knowing maybe someday I would change my mind.
7. Being my wingman on meandering road trips in search of God-knows-what.
8. Listening … and listening .. and then more listening.
9. Being a good sport driving (really .. those are cows out there, not a giant cliff … really mom! …. )
10. Welcoming Kirby into the family and treating him like a son.

Love you so very much – Happy Birthday!

Wow!  What a trip Kristina and I had to LA – difficult to leave all that sunshine and happiness behind and return to a snowstorm.  We hope everyone fared well!  In reflecting on the massive amount of information from the conference, we want to share a few of our top take-away quotes from three iconic American designers that we had the pleasure of listening to.

Who doesn’t love Windsor Smith??  I know I absolutely adore her and to top it off Windsor was lovely to listen to – she was so down to earth and a bit on the quirky side…in a good way!

1.  “When you’re a designer you’re like an anthropologist.  You’re always watching people.”
2.  “Black is the queen of all colors…it IS a color.”
3.  “Modern multi-tasking is changing design.”  So true, multi-tasking has changed how we interact with each other and therefore everything from seating arrangements to the inter-connectedness of our rooms have had to change as well!  Good point, Windsor!

Photo Credits: Windsor Smith  //  The Peak of Chic

Charlotte Moss was amazing!  Incredibly intimidating and humbling to listen to a top American design icon.  The room was silent and we all sat there like sponges, soaking up whatever thoughts and advice she had to throw our way!

1.  “I didn’t go to church one Sunday morning…I went to see the antiques dealer!” – I think many of us can relate to this, designers and non-designers alike!
2.  “Facebook – we all know about that.  Move On.”
3.  “Be Inspiring.  Be provocative.”  She said this in the context of blogging, specifically, but I also want to take this out of context and make sure to apply it to life in general!

Photo Credits: Facebook // Charlotte MossOn our last day of the conference, our first speaker was the ever-engaging and inspiring Barbara Barry.  Listening to Barbara speak is like listening to a humming bird at sunrise – it’s a mesmerizing experience.

1.  “Our emotions don’t need an education.”
2.  “Even a cursory glance at beauty can give you energy for the day!”
3.  “Design is not what you do for others, it’s what you do for yourself.”

Photo Credits: Barbara Barry