So Much Design, So Little Time...

Wow, what a week this has been!  Design bloggers, design shows, design lectures...my head is spinning!

Tuesday was the infamous trip to NYC to see the taping of the Nate Berkus show!  Yvonne and I survived the bus trip down by talking about the upcoming events of the day and trying to memorize the faces of the bloggers we were going to meet.  Well, Yvonne was memorizing...I gave up!  Too many faces!  We made it to NYC in record time, if you didn't count the traffic jam that made us an hour late!  Once on line, it was a virtual sea of bloggers!  We met people from all over the country and as far away as Canada!

Yvonne, Sara and Harold

Sara and Harold were two design students from the midwest who ditched school to come to the taping!  Real life experiences always add to your education! (Hope their  professors feel the same way!)

Me and Yvonne on line

Moggitgirls

No mention of Nate Day would be complete without mentioning Janet and Joy, the Moggitgirls from Canada who were instrumental in getting this whole blogger audience process off the ground!

Once inside, we were taken from waiting room to studio, all under the watchful guard of the studio pages.  Not quite sure if we were the "crown jewels" or "dead men walking".

The process of shooting a TV show is fascinating!  Our "handler", Dina, kept us entertained during the segment changes and made sure we all knew how to clap until our hands fell off!  Cameras were poised inches away from audience members trying to catch the right expression for the right moment.  Many times our view of Nate and the guests were blocked by burly cameramen trying to get the perfect angle.  But no fear, monitors were strategically placed so we didn't miss a second of the action!

Nate was introduced.  Our hands were stinging from applause!  Emily Henderson, recent winner of  Design Star, was part of the first segment in which an Army wife and her husband had their home restyled using items they already owned.  The wife needed a serious lesson in the school of  "Less is more."  Purple bunnies in boxes on the sofa....serious design faux pas!

The next segment featured Christian Siriano, winner of  Project Runway, who restyled a woman with some wardrobe issues.  One dress, three pairs of shoes, and three purses later, the woman was ready for a day at the office, night on the town, or weekend hanging around.  Why can't my wardrobe do that??

But the star of the day was Nate Berkus.  I saw his debut show, and I have to say, he was a little stiff and awkward.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and he was much more comfortable on camera interviewing his guests.  Conversation flowed...no awkward moments....practice makes perfect or at least you can learn from your mistakes!  He took a few moments after the taping to stay and answer our questions.

His one mistake of the day - if you are going to have an audience full of bloggers, do a segment on the bloggers!! Or at least mention them on camera! The blogosphere was abuzz the next day with a lot of "Nate negativity".  Give the guy a break! We realize the show is new and the guests were probably scheduled long before we were invited to be audience members.  Lesson learned - don't piss off the people who are going to write about you on the internet.  And bloggers, don't pass judgment until you see the final aired show!

The rest of the week was filled with design seminars at the Boston Design Center.  Lillian August, famed furniture and fabric designer, spoke about "Exploring the Individual Style of Today's Design Client.  Beth Lowenfeld of Hue Home and Colour, Inc., gave a fabulous seminar on " Color Trends for 2011."  "Aquatics" - beachy colors of aqua, light mint, sandy beige and "Urban Decay" - steely colors of cement and charcoal with pops of lime green and sunshine yellow are all the rage for the upcoming  year!

During lunch, I got a chance to speak with New England Home Magazine Editor in Chief Kyle Hoepner and Stacy Kunstel, the magazine's Home Editor. It's my favorite design magazine because they present many different styles, but all done with great taste and very attainable for the average human! They have a lot of great ideas for upcoming issues, so if you don't subscribe, what are you waiting for!!

Julieann Covino, Amy from Maison Decor, Kyle Hoepner, Stacy Kunstel, me, Katherine Hawkins

It was a whirlwind week filled with great design, style and inspiration.  I'm glad I got to be a part of it all!

Heard at one of the design seminars..."Leave the diva at the door"!

Berkus and Bloggers

Sunday night...in two days, I will board a bus at 7 am with my friend and fellow blogger, Yvonne, to go to a taping of the Nate Berkus Show in New York City.  It all started innocently enough.  Yvonne sent an email asking if I liked Nate Berkus from the Oprah Winfrey Show.  To be honest, I've seen Nate on Oprah, but that was years ago when my work schedule allowed time for afternoon TV viewing.  My friend Tina recently purchased a condo in Manhattan.  On a visit this summer, she went on and on about how Nate lived in the neighborhood.  She is a total fan!  But, a Nate sighting still hadn't happened.  On our last day in New York, on the way back from a flea market, who did we see standing on a street corner???  (three guesses...the first two don't count!)  NATE!  She asked if we could take a picture of him and in 100 degree Manhattan heat, he graciously said "sure".

Nate - so cool on a hot summer's day!

Back to my friend Yvonne.  She said the Nate show was doing a special taping for design bloggers and would I be interested in going.  After some debate with myself on the practicality of going to NYC and back in the same day,  I said "sure".  So I watched an episode of the Nate Berkus Show which debuted this week.  He is warm, engaging and I LOVE the way he picks up flea market finds and turns them into treasures!  Recycle, reuse, repurpose!!!  He's got my vote!

A Blogger who was invited to the show,  got a list of the email addresses of all the audience attendees.  (I heard Twitter was abuzz with tweets about the show.    I don't tweet, so I was semi out of the loop.)   Within two days, we had everyone's email and blog address, a directory of attendees complete with headshots  (Thanks Chanee!), organized get-togethers before and after the taping (thanks, Camila), and invitations to an HGTV luncheon and a launch party for Rue Magazine!  Emails were being sent fast and furious - "Anyone need a ride?  A hotel room?  Anyone want to hang out Monday night?"  Connections were being made...friendships started.  Had we known all this at the beginning, we would have planned on three days in the city!!!  Oh well...no use crying over missed parties!  We will attend the "before" event and the taping.

All this got me to thinking...design shows...HGTV...I don't watch them!  A designer who doesn't watch design shows??  I tuned in years ago and caught a show where this designer hung half a bicycle on a wall and called it "art".  Everyone around him oohhed and aahhed and called it "genius"!   For me, not so much.   Actually, for me...NOT AT ALL!!  Another show I watched glued all kinds of fabric and trim to a wall.  THEY HAD CHILDREN for goodness sake!!  That would have lasted about five minutes before one of the little ones realized that all they had to do was grab a corner and pull!   Not based on reality and everyday living so I stopped watching.   Well, now I decided to see what the new generation of design shows bring to the table.

In my next series of posts, I will first tell you all about "Nate Day" in NY.  (Can't wait to meet these other bloggers!)  Then I will review some of the current shows on HGTV.  Let's see if they offer some practical design ideas or just more "genius"!

"I didn't know this was going to be my calling, I just knew I was sensitive to surroundings."   Nate Berkus