For me, designing interiors is all about putting down a strong foundation (the cool) and then mixing it with a bit whimsy, irony, and the unexpected (the crazy). I am always on the lookout for a good solid sofa that will lend a strong architectural element so that when I pick out accompanying chairs I can have some fun. Here's one that would work for me:

Elan Sofa System
- Jasper Morrison, 1999
- Upholstered seating units constructed from multi-density polyurethane foam, feather cushions and stainless steel legs, available individually or connected to create larger seating arrangements.
- Produced by ...Read More

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Mike Perry "is a very good drawrah" as my daughter would say and I would add "yip, he's kind of awesome!"
Vané, who works for me, showed this chair to me a while ago and I filled it away in a file labeled "super cool."
Mike Perry lives in Brooklyn and when I asked him how he came about embellishing this eames rocker he explained "Well, I was working on an exhibition that I had at Giant Robot NY and I made a bunch of zines. I wanted people to be able to sit and look at them in the space, so I thought why not provide chairs? I had already been an admirer and collector of the bucket chairs and there is a tradition of art being applied to them."

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Last week was a good week. Our Tribeca townhouse project is really starting to take shape and we are beginning to see the interiors come together. Here is an image of one of the powder rooms with a Jaime Hayon sink and Alpha Workshops custom wallpaper. We have been working on this townhouse for a couple of years, so it's super exciting to get to this point and watch a home come together, especially when it includes sulphur yellow faux bois wallpaper and anything Jaime Hayon. This is just the tip of the iceberg; this house is going to be killer! Thank you to my fabulous clients Paige and JC.

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“Comfort is the only thing our civilization can give us.” - Oscar Wilde

I am a constant inspiration seeker, as I have a big thirst for spice in my life. When traveling, I try to select exotic and unexpected subject matters to share with my readers, all in the hope of blogging better. I cherish subtle and ordinary surroundings as much as I celebrate journeys to dramatic and climactic places. Indeed, inspiration is found everywhere. During a Sunday between business meetings, with no plans typed into my iPhone calendar, I found unexpected inspiration from a seemingly ordinary place: La Jolla, California.



The wealt...Read More

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“The thing is, it’s real hard to be roommates with people if your suitcases are much better than theirs—if yours are really good ones and theirs aren’t. You think if they’re intelligent and all…and have a good sense of humor, that they don’t give a damn whose suitcases are better, but they do.  It’s one of the reasons I roomed with a stupid bastard like Stradlater. At least his suitcases were as good as mine.” - Holden Caulfield, from Chapter 14 of “The Catcher In The Rye”

I was amazed when I read that J.D. Salinger passed away last week at the age of 91. I was amazed, really, that he was still alive. Not that 91 is so old—old JD—but that...Read More

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No, your eyes are not deceiving you—there really is glass in the entry doors as well as the skylights. I think it would be safe to say that the house is actually getting to the stage of being “closed up.” Hallelujah! The big question is whether or not it will be finished before April. If not, I will have to pay the third year of construction insurance. Contractor Mitch thinks we can make it, but if you remember, he also thought I would be in by last year. He’s lost a lot of credibility during these years.

It’s hard to say “I’ve just returned from Paris” without sounding a bit pretentious, but I just returned from Paris yesterday where I was shopping at the flea market with clients. We also did the Ru...Read More

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I made several more visits to the Winter Antique Show last week. Over the days, the sculpture particularly stood out. There are many remarkable examples.

I think there is a dichotomy between people who like sculpture and those who prefer paintings. Many “painting people” tend to disregard sculpture as well as much of the decorative arts. Gillian Wilson pointed out this difference to me when she was curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She once told me, “I know what is in all the paintings galleries, but the curators of paintings never look in mine.” Then she added that I need to know the relationships between all mediums. Her observations made me start asking, “Are you a paintings person ...Read More

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Some very special clients called me a couple of days ago asking me to help them put the finishing touches on their apartment which they are going to be putting on the market. I have worked on the interiors of their penthouse, but styling to sell is a whole other story. The apartment needs to feel cozy and comforting to the masses. Not too provocative, not to playful, not too quirky... just something tasteful that would appeal to a wide range of potential buyers.

So my senior designer Vané and I spent the day shopping. Yes, I have the best job in the world. Shopping with someone else's credit card is kinda great. Granted, I don't get to keep it for myself, and yes, there is always the chance that my clients won't love it, but when you see eye to eye with a client like I do with these lovely people, it makes for a fun day in New York.

I met with them ...Read More

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This week I am being interviewed on my use of color in interior design.  So I'm trying to figure out why I use color and my conclusion is that its just natural. I am just simply drawn to a certain range of colors. While doing some research recently I came across a book called  "The Gentlemen of Bacongo" by Daniele Tamagni.  Immediately, I was drawn to simply everything about the images but mostly the vibrant colors.  I started reading about the men featured in this book and about their fashions.



With the arrival of the French and Belgians to the Congo at the beginning of th...Read More

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What do you do if you have two gigantic bails of rope lying around your workshop? If you are Tom Price, you create this incredible chair. What a talented designer; I'm thinking that studying under Ron Arad and Jurgen Bey probably didn't hurt. It's fascinating to see how he built the chair so watch the video. Also fascinating is that it recently sold at Phillips de Pury and Company for £8,750.

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“We teach people how to remember, we never teach them how to grow.” - Oscar Wilde

Stepping onto those weathered and abused wood planks of the L platforms in Chicago brought me to 1892. I felt as if visiting a historical boardwalk theme park on a field trip. Although I must say those nostalgic but dark and aged representations made L riders be on guard from being mugged or harmed from urban accidents. You might say this is how I most rememberd the public train system while living in Chicago.



Recently I was told that my friend David Cisko was commissioned with a public mur...Read More

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Dona Meilach (1926-2008) was a seemingly indefatigable connoisseur, champion, and chronicler of craftsmanship. All told, she wrote over 40 books and several hundred articles on a broad range of craft topics and techniques. A glimpse at some of the titles—“Creating Art from Fibers and Fabrics,” “Creating With Plaster,” “Papercraft,” “Collage and Assemblage,”—speaks to the encyclopedic breadth of her interests, as well as the depth of her knowledge: she not only studied but also performed the crafts she wrote about. Her tactile, scholarly, and catholic app...Read More

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