Posted by Caren – January 11, 2008 5:06 PM
Tags: fun, game, hgtv
And now, a blast from the HGTV.com past. The critics say:
"Quite possibly one of the most addictive games HGTV.com has ever created."
"It curbs my inner desire to be on the Price Is Right and play Plinko!"
Wait, that was actually me. Anyway, I found this cute game on our site when I was perusing the archives.
It's amazing what you can find once you start digging around on HGTV.com. I'm on the site all day (of course) and I still find new things that we've published. I was just talking with Monica, aka The Happy Zombie, about this, and how a lot of people don't know about all we offer.
So, in case you're new to the site, here are some of the many "must-visit" places in the HGTV.com community, no matter your interest. We'll return to our regularly scheduled design talk on Monday.
Posted by Caren – January 10, 2008 5:44 PM
Tags: hgtv hosts, on-air, steve watson
The following is a reenactment of an actual conversation that took place yesterday between Steve Watson, host of HGTV's Don't Sweat It and myself.
Me: Hi Steve! Great jacket. I remember you from back when you used to hammer plans (awkward hand motions) onto the walls of Monster House. My brother loved that show. In fact, I think he watched every single episode. (secretly hiding the fact that she loved the show too, so as to appear calm and collected)
Steve: (laughing in his very cool, very distinctive voice) They handed me a hammer on the set of Don't Sweat It but I didn't want to be known for only one thing. So while you won't see that again, you will find awesome projects that get bigger and better each episode.
Me: I've watched your show and you make everything look so incredibly easy. It makes me want to go out and make my own screened-in porch even though I have absolutely no expertise.
Steve: Well, the third project on my show is a "Steve Project." Something only I can do! [He's totally not joking, even though he laughed.] There's one project anyone can do, like you...
Me: Awesome!
Steve: ...one that would take two weeks with the right tools to do, and then mine.
Me: So, your hometown is Chattanooga, Tennessee which is just an hour and a half from where we are right now. What part of town are you from?
Steve: Well, I'm actually from Cleveland, Tennessee, north of Chattanooga, but nobody knows where that is so my bio always says Chattanooga.
Me: I see... uh, can you sign this for my brother?
In all seriousness, Steve is one laid-back guy who really knows his way around power tools. Did you know he used to be a stand-up comedian and model before going into TV hosting?
Catch Steve's Don't Sweat It home improvement show Saturdays at 10am e/p. His show is the only one of HGTV's shows that allows you to get his project step-by-steps delivered straight to your mobile phone, which he is totally stoked about.
Posted by Caren – January 9, 2008 11:03 AM
Tags: art, shop
My days as a decorating editor for HGTV.com are spent thinking about what you — yes, you, the HGTV viewer and design enthusiast — would like to see on our website. This is no small order, seeing as there's so many of you! But one thing we all could use more of is help finding the shops that fit our style and make us dive for our wallets.
About the shop:
"A great many things can be resolved with kindness, even more with laughter, but there are some things that just require cake." Leigh's witty, empowering phrases on greeting cards and prints are just the pick-up I need when I have the doldrums. Plus, her mixed media art is a definite excuse to buy some elaborate, girly frames and create an inspiration wall for the new year.
I'd place her prints in the bathroom and closet — not to hide them, but to be inspired in the most unlikely of places. Plus, they'd make great gifts for Mother's Day or for your best girlfriends on Valentine's Day. I was happy to learn that Curly Girl Design sells in nearly all the 50 states, as well as overseas, so getting your hands on handmade inspiration is incredibly easy. And you can feel good about buying, because Curly Girl Design prints with soy-based inks on post-consumer recycled paper.
Have a unique shop to share? Post it in the comments, and see if it makes the blog!
Posted by Caren – January 8, 2008 9:30 AM
Tags: fabric
I found fabric designer and all-around sweet lady, Tanya Whelan (or rather, she found me!), after she posted this image to the HGTV.com Decorating group on Flickr.
Of course, this led to some serious ogling of the rest of her photos, which in turn led me to her blog and her very own Flickr group, featuring pretty things others have made with her fabric collection, Barefoot Roses.
Turns out we were thinking the same thing, because I shortly heard from her and snatched up the opportunity to interview her about fabric style and inspiration. Lovers of Shabby Chic and Romantic style are sure to fall in love with her fabrics, just as I did.
Psst, she's also got several patterns (some of them free!) available on her blog, like these super-simple Happy Balls that even I can sew.
Name three things that influence your fabric design.
Whelan: The simple and light-filled feeling of unpretentious Scandinavian interiors is always on my mind as I design fabric. Vintage artifacts and historic architecture and interiors like those I saw on field trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art as a kid still influence my design work.
When it comes to fabric: form or function?
Whelan: Oh boy, I love this question. The thing I really love about designing fabric is that it's so imminently useful. A beautiful piece of fabric is of course great to look at, but I love that, with very few tools, you can make so many practical things from it. You can make clothing, a back pack or hand bag, a quilt or even a temporary shelter with fabric if you had to. I'm laughing thinking of myself marooned on an island with my little rose strewn sun shelter.
How do you curb your inner perfectionist?
Whelan: I've struggled with the perfectionist thing over the years. Having 3 kids and being a limited sort of person who can't "do it all," and who must get 8 hours of sleep to feel sane, has forced me to prioritize any perfectionist tendencies. I only aim for my version of "perfect" when it comes to my design work because it wouldn't be worth doing for me any other way. I'm not a perfectionist in other areas of my life (laundry and housework for example) and just try to simplify things as much as possible so that I have time to spend with my family. For me, trying to be perfect in all areas of life just doesn't pay off or make me happy.
What advice would you give a beginner sewer who wants to tackle one of your patterns? (aka me :)
Whelan: My advice (and I must admit that I don't always do it) is to read through and try to visualize all instructions before cutting anything.
Some fabric collections you're itching to get your hands on this year.
Whelan: I love pretty much every pattern from Joel Dewberry's collections and have lots of fantasy projects in my head that use his fabrics.
The sites or blogs you frequent most for crafty inspiration.
Whelan: There are so many inspirational sites that I visit but here are a few that I come back to again and again.
Sis Boom Day Dreams. Blog of my friend and colleague designer Jennifer Paganelli. Jennifer is an amazing and prolific paper artist and fabric and paper designer and every post is filled with her beautiful and inspirational work.
Posie Gets Cozy. I often get lost in Alicia Paulson's gorgeous photography of her home, life and current craft projects and her really, and I mean really, moving, funny and beautiful writing.
Angry Chicken. Amy Karol's blog always inspires me and makes me smile with great ideas for hand made gifts and recipes and just her overall simple, elegant aesthetic.
Anna Maria Horner. Anna Maria is such a great writer. Each post tells a story that you want to read through to the end. I just love her photography of her life, design work and family and especially her amazing sewing projects.
Sew Mama Sew. For seemingly endless sewing project ideas and tutorials you can't beat this blog.
The most expensive fabric you've ever purchased, and what you made from it.
Whelan: I once bought a yard of fabric from Britex in San Francisco for $100. It was this beautiful silk with hand embroidery all over it. At the time, I was making these sort of luxe baby blankets and hats for boutiques and had planned to use it for a baby cloche. As it turned out I couldn't bring myself to cut the stuff so it's still sitting in one of my fabric bins.
What are your upcoming projects/fabric collection releases we should know about?
Whelan: My next fabric collection for Free Spirit, Ava Rose named for my girl, will be released in the spring. Like my current fabric collection, Barefoot Roses, it's rosy and vintage but uses fresh, crisp, modern colors and includes a lot more red, which I'm excited about. At the same time, I'll be releasing a line of modern hand bag and apron sewing patterns which will be available through fabric stores. Later in the year I'll have a collection of very romantic turn-of-the-century French inspired fabrics that will be printed on home dec or quilting weight fabric (I haven't decided which yet).
Visit Tanya's blog, stock up on her fabrics or see what others have made with her collection.
All photos courtesy of Tanya Whelan.
Posted by Caren – January 7, 2008 5:26 PM
Tags: craft room, readers, room design
One of my New Year's resolutions is to nurture my creativity. What better way to start than by touring rooms from some of our most creative readers?
Take a tour of all the craft rooms, or: Do you have a stylishly organized room to share? Post it to Rate My Space, and I may add it to this slideshow!
While you're there, check out our new Get Organized Guide which debuted today. You'll find these craft rooms, plus lots of practical, everyday organizing tips. The best part? You can even share your own tips with others right on the page for never-ending organization advice. So while you may not get magically organized overnight, at least you'll be thinking about it — which might be a little more productive than drooling over the above craft room all day.
Posted by Caren – January 2, 2008 2:56 PM
Tags: dream home, new year
The New Year began quietly for Design Happens and me. Last week I was on holiday break, resting up for a whole new year filled with dear friends (some of whom I've made through this blog!), design and a fresh look on life. For the rest of HGTV.com, the New Year meant launching one of our biggest projects to date: pulling together the online tour and photos of the 2008 HGTV Dream Home.
I'm continually amazed by the amount of work that goes into constructing and designing the home, and 2008's HGTV Dream Home was no exception. The HGTV Dream Home craze started in 1997, and ventured online with one article and five photos of the house. Now fast forward to 2008 and check out 360-degree tours, articles about each room in the home, videos, floor plans and an HGTV Dream Home blog!
But while our coverage has changed as technology evolves, there's one thing you can always count on with the HGTV Dream Home – classic design. Linda Woodrum is the mastermind behind the design, and always takes cues from the landscape and environment of the HGTV Dream Home to decorate its interiors.
This year's home is a bit more edgy and bright, but what home shouldn't take chances when it's located in the Florida Keys? Some of my favorite ideas in this home include a demilune table for a nightstand, dessert-like stripes that frame corners of a home, and groupings of five, seen in the above images.
All of this could be yours, but you have to enter to win!
Posted by Caren – December 25, 2007 9:00 AM
Tags: designer 8
When designer Caroline Vesey designs a room, she puts the whole world into it. That's because the Londoner has spent time designing commercial spaces in Asia — Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong — and Dublin, Ireland, besides those in her hometown. An architecture and interior design grad, Caroline is no stranger to residential design, either, with her firm, Caroline Vesey Design International. She's also no stranger to HGTV, having appeared on Curb Appeal.
Vesey's answers to the Designer 8, my hard-hitting designer interview, show her playful nature and adaptability as a designer (as if you couldn't tell from her rooms!). Here's what she has to say about feng shui, the color she can't stand and who she'd let decorate her home.
1. What design element can you not live without?
Vesey: Sufficient and varied lighting — even when I'm in my friend's homes, I so often find myself adjusting the lighting levels.
2. Would you let someone else decorate your house? And if so, would you be able to completely give up control?
Vesey: I would ONLY let a designer whose I work I admire and love decorate my house, of course. Hmmm... give up control completely? Actually — yes! But not every room!
3. How does your interior design style reflect in your wardrobe?
Vesey: I would say that it is reflected in the "textures" of my wardrobe. I love furs and suede, cashmere and leather, and of course color — some of the choices of color are the same. Although, I probably use more color in my interior designs that in my wardrobe.
4. What's your home "secret shame"? (a single messy closet, a habit for pushing shoes under sofas, etc.)
Vesey: My secret shame… definitely a couple of 'unresolved' corners. And having studied a lot of feng shui, probably the ones that hit the spots right where I am questioning things like my huge fortune — where is it? Better clear out these corners… now!
5. If your house was burning down, but you could save one room, which would it be and why?
Vesey: Gosh, bedroom or living room… living room — that is where most of my most expensive and irreplaceable pieces are!
6. In your opinion, the ugliest decade for the design world, and why?
Vesey: Taste changes, unbelievably. What was once hated was once loved, and then hated all over again. I honestly like them all because it is always a reflection of what is going on with people [and] the world, at that time.
7. What color do you find yourself personally staying away from?
Vesey: A particular Royal Blue — the color of my school uniform.
8. Who should never be allowed to decorate?
Vesey: Control freaks with no sense of proportion, scale or color!
(All photos courtesy of Caroline Vesey and Caroline Vesey Design International.)
Posted by Caren – December 24, 2007 9:00 AM
Tags: designer, kim myles, vlog
What's the life of a Design Star winner really like? The lovable Kim Myles, Design Star 2 victor and host of the new makeover show, Myles of Style (premiering March 18), is prepared to tell all in her upcoming video diaries, exclusively on HGTV.com. Now's your chance to ask her about being an HGTV host and get answers to some of your most pressing design dilemmas.
Post your question in the comments below and she may answer it!
Question Example:
Hi, Kim, remember me? I'm the crazy fan who bumped into you at Starbucks! What's your favorite latte? How do I accessorize with orange? Should I even try?
– Caren from Knoxville, TN
Please include your first name and your city, state and check back in the coming months for the inside dish from Kim. I'll be selecting the questions for Kim, so give us your best!
Posted by Caren – December 21, 2007 9:45 AM
Tags: chairs, fashion, philippe starck
Guest Blogger: Chelsey Bowen, decorating editor, HGTV.com
Remember my recent discovery of Dolce & Gabbana's collaboration with Kartell? Lucky for us, Kartell didn't stop with D&G.;
Italian Design 360 has a gallery of Philippe Starck's Mademoiselle chairs that have been interpreted by various fashion designers. Valentino's would go perfectly in the bedroom, while I picture Burberry's in a formal living room. Of course, I could always get one for every room of my home, but that's excessive, right?
Which is your favorite? Post it in the comments!
Posted by Caren – December 20, 2007 9:00 AM
Tags: designer 8
The owner of design firm re:place, Amanda Moore, designs spaces you can live and feel good in. The NYC firm's practical interiors use natural elements and Eastern design principles to yield modern, eclectic style in residential and commercial spaces. This year re:place also launched first:place, specializing in nursery design, which is every bit as gorgeous as the rooms she designs for grown-ups.
Moore sent me these rooms from her portfolio, featuring designs she's done for urban dwellers and single-family suburban homes. And although these rooms are for her clients, I can certainly imagine Moore living in these spaces herself, judging by her answers to the Designer 8 — eight probing questions more difficult than the most demanding client!
I'm thrilled to feature her here, because after finding her online several months ago (via this ingenious photo), I've been wanting an excuse to e-mail her. Here's what she had to say about her wardrobe, the ugliest decade for design and which people should never be allowed to decorate.
1. What design element can you not live without?
Moore: The design element I can't live without: great fabrics, and the more natural and textural, the better. Synthetic fabrics have their specific applications but not in my clients homes!
2. Would you let someone else decorate your house? And if so, would you be able to completely give up control?
Moore: I would definitely let someone else decorate my home; I would love to pass on all the tedious follow-up and execution work to someone else!! But I would certainly be a hands-on client, involved in every decision. My firm, re:place, designs in the style of our clients, bringing out their personal flair and a look that supports their lifestyle; I would need a designer that does this too, not just someone to put their own design stamp on my home.
3. How does your interior design style reflect in your wardrobe?
Moore: My interior design style and wardrobe are quite related: I have a closet full of practical clothes, sustainable and/or natural fabrics, neutral tones with bold accents, all attributes of a successful interior design plan, too.
4. What's your home "secret shame"? (a single messy closet, a habit for pushing shoes under sofas, etc.)
Moore: My secret shames are my "piles" (one in the bedroom and one in the living room — comprised mostly of magazines waiting to be read and recycled). I keep them in pretty baskets to minimize the shame, though. My second taboo is one hallway closet that is my "out" pile, full of items my son has outgrown but I'm unable to part with, clothes and accessories that need to be donated, and so on. It's pretty organized, but the closed door makes me forget the purpose of the closet: that the items need to go OUT.
5. If your house was burning down, but you could save one room, which would it be and why?
Moore: This is a tough question, but I guess I would save the master bedroom, because inside it is a bookshelf that is full of photo albums and other memories as well as all the books I've read throughout the years that have changed and shaped my life. My son and I could start over with everything else as long as we had these foundation pieces.
6. In your opinion, the ugliest decade for the design world, and why?
Moore: I love all decades of design and pull from multiple time periods at once in almost every project I do. I despise period rooms reflective of any one decade; it's all about the mix.
7. What color do you find yourself personally staying away from?
Moore: I personally find myself staying away from yellow walls for our urban clients; it's very hard to make yellow feel chic and sophisticated. It works beautifully in utilitarian spaces (kitchens, pantries, etc) in suburban homes though. Within first:place, our nursery design specialty, we ironically don't ever use pastel blue or pink. We are creating more gender-neutral, vibrant, modern spaces for our clients' children these days.
8. Who should never be allowed to decorate?
Moore: Everyone should be allowed to decorate!! The most important thing about the design process is that you create a home you love. There are a lot of people who have no business using a decorator though! If you can't trust your decorator, think you can do a better job yourself, or shop exclusively online for your home, then you're better off decorating yourself.
(All photos courtesy of Amanda Moore (nursery shots) and photographed by Chadwick Lukaszewski for re:place.)
Don't let bad design happen to your home! Caren Baginski, HGTV.com's decorating editor, discovers surprising designs and inspiration to help you on your way to design victory. Design Happens everywhere — here's your daily fix.
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