End of Market report!

I'm not sure what happened....late nights, early mornings and little time in between, I suppose. I always look forward to my market reports, as you do!

We had a particularly busy schedule and design load with current projects. Torrential rain hindered our progress one day, keeping us in one building for the most part of the day. Pink, coral in all shades, navy, white...all current trends and everywhere. Modernism still dominates design, but with fine taste and style.

As I travel home with a very late night arrival, I will post one photo that sums up the color of the market. And really, trust me when I say I have a blogging goal of more regular posts! I have so much to catch up on...weddings, parties, projects, design ideas and more! Have faith.

Coral, coral, coral...it's all about coral.

To Market, to martket, to buy a new...

Tomorrow is the unofficial opening day of the High Point Furniture Market, and we're off and running! 

Armed with two rolling carts, bags of fabric memos for multiple interior projects, lipstick assortments, shoe options, cameras, phones and open to buy budgets- we are ready to hit the streets to find both old friends and new resources.

Here are a few of the things on our list;

sofas

chairs

rugs

tables

mirrors

lamps

art

chandeliers

unique accents

style style style

Our list is long. With a little encouragement and a chocolate treat here and there, we should be able to return with some fine offerings for retail and interior clients alike! 

Stay tuned for my daily report...and I promise photos in the next post.

Annual July Birthday Celebration!

For the past 18 years, Linda and I have celebrated her birthday together while in Atlanta at the July Market! Only one year in all those was spent apart, and that was when she went to Italy with her husband...I was both sad and glad. 

She spends her day with me, working the day away...not with family. I always appreciate her sacrifice and try to plan some kind of a special day that makes a bit of a celebration while we continue the trek.

 

Today, we started our day with a good breakfast at our favorite Corner Bakery. Today was the opening of the Cash and Carry Jewelry Show. As I have mentioned in previous posts, it's a true frenzy. We hit our favorite vendors and tried to spec several new ones for variety. It's a full day of fighting the masses, standing in lines and overusing the debit card. Today, it resulted in a freeze on my debit card from the bank. I expect that suspected fowl play in an out of state location. Good and bad.

We found these "texting" gloves! Basically, fingerless gloves that keep you a little warm,but allow you to text with ease.

We came back with great finds and a heavy load we were anxious to set down. 

We turned in for the day a wee bit early and headed to Buckhead, a beautiful suburb of Atlanta, for a birthday celebration dinner.

Our choice was Bistro Niko. It was a recommendation from one of our sales reps. We were unaware that it was a French Restaurant! I took a few photos of the night to share.

 

Cute French bistro chairs to set the stage...

 

 This is the guest of honor! Happy Birthday, Linda. My dear friend of 25 years. Here's to 25 more.

 

 We loved the long aprons worn by all the waiters and serving staff!

We sat outside and enjoyed a very breezy dinner. It started to rain and it cooled down dramatically, but we were safe under the canvas awning.

 

Water was served in this ice cold carafe.No ice, typical French style.

 ,

I was thrilled that we were served butter on this tiny butter plate. (I guess it's safe to say you can see that we ate all of our butter...) How many WW points is that?...Those of you who know me well, know that I have a penchant for butter pats. This was not a fancy one, but a butter pat non the less! We left the fries in exchange for the butter on our baguette.

 

Linda chose a skirt steak and I choose flank steak. We had a dessert to share and called it a fun celebration!

Tomorrow is day 4. Lots to accomplish on our list. It will be all about accessories, art and finding things to inspire my Black-eyed Susan shoppers. 

Such friends are not common. Linda is a treasure and a icon of style in every way. I am blessed to spend each Birthday with her and I am happy for the eternal nature of our friendship.

The "Wow!" Room !

Linda and I hosted our room, The Dining Room, at the Bucks County Designer House Gala tonight.
"Wow!" was the exclamation of the night. I can say, that it was extremely  well received by all. We were so pleased that there was a particularly large number of men who exclaimed their approval. High Gloss Benjamin Moore Crushed Velvet was the backdrop color. White accents added contrast. 

 

 

Patrons commented most on the room color, the porcelain cherries (scattered on the tabletop), the totally lifelike succulents, table finish, rhinestone appointed tufted chairs, rug...chandelier...mantle stallion...oh. dear. I guess the whole package!

We snapped a few photos during times when the room wasn't filled to capacity...

Metallic veneered side chests with glamorous mirrors... (and I love the warm stone colored lidded urns flanking the fireplace). I do love the drapery panels...

Many times during the evening, the size of our room could not hold the interested patrons. We greeted everyone personally and answered questions about the design process, what's and whys, and gave each visitor a photo of the room with an enticing coupon to visit Black-eyed Susan. Many of our guests identified themselves as Besusan blog followers (!) and reminisced about past designer room favorites.

One darling visitor who introduced himself as Bill exclaimed, "If you can't have fun in a room like this, then there's just something wrong!" We had a lively conversation with him about his take on the room (all good!) and thought we should have had him give us an endorsement for an ad! He came back by and we told him that we had quoted him several times over.

The food was delicious. New and old familiar faces greeted us enthusiastically. We received many promises for first time visits and many more for return visits from our regular supporters. The weather cooperated! Not a single raindrop until we arrived home. 

All in all, a good time was had by all and we felt satisfied with the delivery of our high gloss, lipstick pink dining room!

Here's to another successful year at the Bucks County Designer House 2012. 

Come see the magic.

High Point Style Report Day 5

5 days of style sightings is a long time. A. Long. Time. As we head into day 6, my team of four is  wearing weary! Shoes are all hurting...rain is getting old...wind is irritating...early morning showers are not rewarding...Market snacks are getting boring...rolling carts are getting too heavy...shivering is making us cranky...note taking is a drag. All in all, we're about ready to call it a trip. Just one more day. Out of the 33 vendors we hoped to see today, we saw 5. Oh. My. Tomorrow, our plan is to split into two groups and make haste! 

I have a good bit of work to do tonight, so I'm only going to show you a few things from today. This new Blogger format is stretching my patience with the learning curve. We're going to help our friend Jan stamp 600 wedding invitations , make a wreath for her, download all the photos, review the new resources and record client accomplishments before turning in.

 Look at this creative display at our first stop, an ever favorite, Suyra Rugs. Giant balls of colorful yarns! So appropriate for a 26,000 square foot rug showroom.

This colorful find cheered us all! Vivid chrome yellow leather with charcoal accents. Wow.

Best bold contrast! Lime and charcoal bedroom. (Check out the bedside tables with circular opening).

This looks like a sepia photos, but actually it was in all neutrals of greys and creams! I loved this oval glass table. Great style. Great price! Watch for this as a new addition.

Couldn't agree more!

Cool modern headboard, but where are the lamps?! Sorry about the feeling of sepia...

At the end of the day, we saw this cool prop mantle with an insert of mirror!!! I'm going to get Sneelock right on that.

 

 

 

On the ride home, we took inventory of the square feet of showrooms we walked. 

GRAND TOTAL OF WALKED SHOW ROOM SPACE: 147,000. That was just today! We paled at the thought of the additional walking about town from center to center. 

No wonder our feet hurt. 

Style really takes a tole.

High Point Trend Report Day 2

Back from another long day! Here are just a few of the things that caught my eye.

 

I love this very "anthropology-esque" wall arrangement-all bird themed! The grey walls were the perfect backdrop for this very french bed dressed in taupes and robin egg blues. Ahhhhh,

Another day of color!

Darling new slipper chair options!

I ordered this cool desk for one of my staff...,and maybe a client! 

At the end of the day, we have two rolling carts to edit and organize for another long day tomorrow.

More style to follow.

Happy Mother's Day!

There is nothing more fashionable, chic, or en vogue and stylish than being a good mother. Sometimes it takes becoming a mother ourselves to appreciate fully what our mothers did for us.

My darling mother continues to inspire me to do better, even in death. She is the supreme example of unconditional love and support. Service was second nature to her by choice. Entertaining in everyday life, she found joy in motherhood. I always felt her admiration and pride in my accomplishments. I, along with my sister Denise, have many moments when I need a "moment with mom" for advice on relationships, a recipe,or a fashion inspiration. I'm happy I know for sure that those times will come again.

One of many fine cakes baked for my birthday by Charlotte Jane, my mother!

A favorite of mine, lemon merange pie. Again, baked by my sweet mother. Yum!

Mother, preparing to cut the last birthday cake she baked for me. It was yellow cake with lemon curd filling and white mountain frosting. Fine baking was her talent and fine living was her accomplishment in life. She really learned the lessons of life and motherhood.

I remember this tender time when I took mother wig shopping and indulged her by trying one on! It was her recipe for simplified living! (Well, she was legally blind, after all. Hair styling was difficult for her with this disability.) I think she would be happy to see my natural color is just about like this now!

So many of the finest women I know are fine mothers. The women I work with- Connie , Carol, and Shannon. My daughters, Michelle and Jessie. My dear friend and co-designer kindred spirit-Linda. My sister Denise. I think motherhood brings out the best in us and refines us due to service, sacrifice and age.

Happy Mother's Day to all.

All Lined Up!

We're moving right along with the dining room Restyle!

Next in line, the chairs. I can't believe what a new, fresh look these chairs have! SW Warm Stone is a keeper, for sure. (I think I might like kitchen cabinets in this color...)

We are in the process of selecting fabric for the chair seats. You may recall they were a beautiful (but totally traditional) red and gold repetitive print. So far, we're considering an animal print with taupe and soft blue; soft aqua patent leather; or, warm stone urban graphic print. We've already selected the new drapery.I'll try to photograph it tomorrow and for a preview.

One small mistake was made...the chairs were to be a slightly lighter shade of warm stone. Not.
Check out the lineup of chairs- all, SW Warm Stone. Well, maybe we'll make a change in the color of the table! Some contrast would be interesting.

Here's Terry using the spray bottle gadget I mentioned in the kickoff post. Pretty cool.

...a pretty sight! (Especially when the work is being done by our friend, Terry!

There they are-painted and ready for the final fabric selection and recovering. Nice change.

Our friend has headed home to Utah now, and the rest of the painting will be up to my client. We'll see how the table progresses. From the frustrated phone call I got today, my guess is...not so good!

Keep following for more tips and excitement!

Don't forget to comment in order to be eligible for the Restyle giveaway.

Out of the gate!

I thought you might like to see the beginning of progress being made in the Redesign project (dining room from former post).

Painting furniture makes a big statement of style and can really change a room, but it really is a project!

The garage was set up as the "shop"! Our painter opted to spray paint the furniture. Did you know that you can purchase a pump bottle that can turn any can of paint into a spray paint?! Sherwin Williams offers this dandy contraption.

...work in progress

Terry started with the top of the china cupboard. As you can see, the back is taped to prevent the spray from hitting the mirror.

Closeup of china cabinet. We are using several of my favorite colors for the furniture and walls-SW Tony Taupe and SW Warm Stone. I fell upon these colors several years ago when we did the Bucks County Designer House living room, and have been a lover of them ever since.
It's amazing the change already in the look of this furniture! When I first considered the design of the room, I really was lobbying for new furniture. The painted finish makes an enormous difference in the style of the room, taking a true traditional dark stained cabinet into a cleaner, slightly urban feel-all due to paint! The color of paint is important in the process, but just leave that up to me!

Review of these colors used in the Bucks County Designer House living room

SW Warm Stone on chest, SW Warm stone and SW Brainstorm Bronze for stripes

I loved this room, and expect that the Redesign for the new dining room will be a favorite soon!

(Just to remind you what it looked like prior to beginning the painting!)


Yes, this is definitely progress...out with the old and in with the new!

Stay tuned for more progress. And, don't forget to comment to be entered into the drawing for the next Redesign project by Susan and her team. Good luck!

Restyle Kickoff!

There's lots of exciting things coming up this spring!

My new service, Redesign, is getting a lot of attention and being well received! I have about three Redesign projects going on at present, and I'm going to document each one of them so you can begin to relate to the process.

First launched by Oprah and her friend, Nate, Redesign offers solutions to your rooms that need a special vision and touch to bring the personality to the room and breath fresh life and love into it. The price is affordable and the rewards are great. More information to come about the offerings!

For now, I'm Redesigning my dear friend, Linda's dining room. While in Charlotte last weekend to consult on her new kitchen, we did the one day plan for the new dining room Redesign as well.
That is what is so cool about the Redesign---it's almost instant!

So, here are the before pictures. I have to admit that I quite like the before pictures! This room was done quite a few years ago, soon after I designed one of my favorite rooms for The Jr. League of Greater Princeton show house---a delightful butler's pantry.

Take a look at the before shots of the room:

Brick red walls and ceiling-soon to be gone. We have plans to replace the existing chandelier.
Lots of painted furniture everywhere!

Some of my favorite coll aged plates in empty vintage frames-most likely will be replaced. *sigh*

When this fabric was originally selected, it was cutting edge style! Really. My new idea is to hang the drapery panels high, just under the crown molding and on the outside of the bay.

While this traditional furniture it not our favorite style, we will breath new life into it with a current paint color (wait to see it!). Table, chairs, and china hutch will all be part of the re-invention with a little paint magic.

Just one other wall of collectibles that probably will not make the cut. I can still remember the hours of collecting for the original design!

This unique vintage cabinet will also be reinvented with paint! I have chosen several colors of similar tones-warm stone, taupe-y colors. Not tired of that color yet!

Some of this will be used, but fresh new art and some accents will be necessary to carry off the restyle.

There is modernism in every design project today. It is that modernism that keeps the design fresh and current. I'm not talking over-the-edge contemporary! Modernism is way more classic than that! Cutting edge cool. But not sensational. Just right!

Linda is excited for the change and so am I! Hopefully, the painting is going on as we speak. The details and completion should be done the few days prior to High Point Market in early April.

I have decided to have a contest for a complimentary Redesign where I would offer all of the design fees as a complimentary service. All you have to do is comment on this project as you follow it! It's easy to comment. If you have a google account, you're set. If not, you can sign in as "anonymous" super easy. Anyone who comments will be eligible for the random drawing.
Follow the project and comment as many times as you like!

Let's get started.

To Market, To Market to Buy a....

Ice storms aside, I spent the last few days in NYC completing the January market selections for the new inventory that will flood the back door soon at Black-eyed Susan!

New York Market it always on the heels of The Atlanta Market, and I always wish there were just a few more weeks between...That being said, 4:30 a.m. comes awfully early in the morning when preparing to catch the train into the city for the day.

We always try to find new resources, the cutest and the most stylish. I think I did it.

Probably my favorite find of the trip...these fabulous tea towels in every single favorite color! 100% linen and user friendly+style! What more could you ask?!

Just another portion of the same collection...

Additional coordinating graphic prints. So perfect.

Reusable green bag for shopping...complete with inside key pocket and more!

You know that new jewelry is always on my radar! What do you think about these new selections?! I'll take one of each,thank you.

Layering + glitz. Yes.

Cutest new dining chair...pure style.

Yet another favorite, and both are very well priced! You can ask me more about these!

One of my favorite designer/vendors is David. He scouts all over France and England for cool finds to add to his collection. I've noticed that many of my personal favorites throughout my home are from his collections over the years. We had a fun conversation about this quadrant of framed pieces. You can't see the background, by they have old ledgers behind the inkblots! (Emily, I think this could be the first piece of art for your future office!)

Again, I'll talk all 9. All the ledgers are original vintage pages! Be still my heart.

Will I ever get enough of this style of pillows? Bring them on, please!

Coolest bedding collection; sharp lime and gray...duvet and coordinating pillows. Once again, pure style.


These are just a few of my favorite things soon to be appearing. Stop in for a look!