What would my younger self think... hold on to your dreams!

What would my 25 year old self say.....

OMG!!!

FASHION AND COLOR TREND SHOPPING IN EUROPE????!!!! MY GOAL, MY DREAM JOB! and here I find myself packing for 16 days abroad!

I have to say, that as I work with students at FIT University, and wonder where they hope to be in say 10 - 15 years, I know I used to hate that question. Once I graduated, I set my course to work "in fashion", whatever that meant... with hopes to one day travel through Europe, looking at trends, shopping, exploring... a dream I was never sure I could realize. Life moved on and I started my career in fashion, at the "best" place to learn ... a better University that the one I left... Polo Ralph Lauren! Young and inspired I worked my way though the ranks, rather quickly I am told... Met really wonderful people along the way, some I still keep in touch with! Career, marriage, kids, a wonderful life! And here I find myself, kids grown, two of them married and starting their own journey... in a job that I love!

Often we do not look around and appreciate the path, the journey we have taken and where it has led us - closing on 2017, a very interesting year with some very high highs and low lows.... I stopped. I looked around. I looked back and realize I did it! I am doing what I love! Designing, planning, trending, directing, respected for what I do and know how to do .... being part of something bigger than myself!

In a week after the New Year I leave on a "journey" the one I always hoped I would take, one I took last year and now get to do it again - Travel Europe in search of and discovering new ideas, colors and trends!

FRANKFURT is the first stop • a HUGE trade show for Home textiles - where we talk to suppliers, meet new ones, and set plans in place for Home Fashion 2018-2019! There is an entire building with design studios! Some of the most creative, beautiful artwork you will ever see! For someone like me, it is like bringing a kid into a candy shop!

There are 11 buildings consisting of 2-4 floors each, filled with exhibitors from all over the world! I know one thing... I will definitely hit my 10K steps every day, probably by noon and ... I need to wear good shoes, comfortable shoes, as someone once told me... controlled "step management" you want to be sure to walk the floors methodically and not jump from one aisle to the other without a plan.

The next show I attend is about 5 days later, in Europe... so as not to waste time, miles and money I had to find something to do in those days between shows - not too shabby!

My plan this year is to visit a city I have longed to see - LONDON! for the weekend.. what could be bad?!

Really looking forward to a whirlwind tour through every single high end retailer and more, in search of new ideas! Marks & Spencer, Selfridges, Liberty of London, Debenhams, Oxford Street.... the list goes on and on!

Lastly and certainly the highlight of my trip..... PARIS!

My first time there was last year where I had the amazing advantage of having my husband join me on this adventure! We took 5 days vacation time to explore every single museum, in January with no lines! The next half of that trip was spent working; visiting retailers, and uncovering parts of the city including St. Germaine where we found Deco Off Paris, the market launch for all fabric textile houses from around the world! We traveled with amazing friends from Brooklyn; Alex, Danny, thoroughly enjoying the city, the trade show and each others company! Four design minded individuals, together, sharing this experience! This year will be different but exciting none the less! A dear friend, a Professor from FIT, my colleague from work and I will travel the city; explore Deco Off Paris and Maison & Objet - the premier design show for the home and so much more!

So..... looking back, and channeling my inner younger self.... I guess I have arrived! Always keep your goals and dreams in mind - you might look up and realize you achieved them! I did!

Warm Sunsets and Saturated Colors

In the last year, I find that I have traveled more in the course of this year than most. Looking back, and out the airplane windows I often experience the most beautiful sunsets and sunrises. Sometimes both or more in one flight, like on the way to Hong Kong and China. This past week, with my feet firmly on the ground, on the "other" coast... the West Coast, where I spend a lot of time these days... I observed the most beautiful sunset over Venice Beach, a colorful locale on it's own any time of the day or night!

I present to you.... VENICE BEACH SUNSET IN DECEMBER

December for me, is a time of reflection, time to take a deep breath and look forward as you look back, if that makes any sense. To appreciate all you have, all you have done and the direction you are headed. This sunset opened that window for me. ... and then I digress - and look past the experience and into the colors of the night, which now bring me back to my Pantone book, of course, and the new collections we will present for market in March. So I opened my Pantone Cotton fan deck and created my own sunset collection.

On to the New Year with light in my heart and color in my life... and thankful for every day I get to create!

What Inspires You?

As I look back at the year past I realize that I have been remiss in blogging, and here I find it so therapeutic... how could I have forgotten to express myself. I am preparing for a new year, with new adventures and new collections for my employer. Part of my job is to do trend research, create designs, new products and exciting new looks to offer our customers. I love to look in unconventional places for my ideas, hoping that I am searching and finding inspiration in places where my competitors might not be looking. The trade shows I visit are well known for home textiles and definitely a must for any designer in the industry. I wanted to share a few images that I felt were so beautiful and definitely made me want to "create" .... for work and for my home and life - to add spark and color! Hope you enjoy!

A cute little shop down by The Louvre... so many patterns on shirts, socks, ties!

Every single genre covered from cars, tape decks, architecture, donuts, sushi and more! Such fun....

Walking the show at Maison and Objet 2017 - more eye candy - these two stood out to me for their saturation of color and light!

Looking forward to 2018 in Frankfurt, London and Paris... will surely start to write again I love sharing these experiences!

Newcomb Pottery Exhibit Inspired Me!

A good percentage of my blog is about inspiration!

Everywhere I look, I am inspired; to mix colors in a new way, to create a piece of artwork, a new pattern or collection, to re-arrange my home for a new feel. I try not to name every blog post "inspiration" but it is difficult because I walk through the streets of NYC or the sidewalks down at the beach and I am always stopping to capture something that catches my eye, something that "inspires" me!

I went with a friend to the Princeton Art Museum, I got side tracked while there and blogged about this trip and Josef Albers in an earlier post about color. We were actually going to attend a guided tour through the Newcomb Pottery Enterprise exhibit, with a wonderful docent; Allegra! Not only was the pottery and artwork inspiring, but the whole idea behind the exhibit itself intrigued me.

The H.Sophie Newcomb Memorial College for Women, a division of Tulane, which at the time was an all male University offered an education to women to prepare them for work in the arts. After the Civil War in New Orleans an experiment to train women as artists, to create original artwork on pottery, to support themselves, during this difficult time was started. There is a fantastic article, by a friend Ilene Dube, about the exhibit you can read here.

I was fascinated by the exhibit and the article is a wonderful summary of all I learned that day. These women created unique works of art; the style and genre were the same, but each piece was unique unto itself... there were no duplicates created. The look of Japanese artistry mixed with the Southern flora and fauna were so creative and you could see how they developed over time. As the years went on, the art created gained much acclaim and won many awards!

The funniest thing about this trip is that on a walk through the campus, headed to the art museum, there were beautiful daffodils; yellow petals with long green stems reaching for the sun - I had to stop to take a photo....little did I know it was a glimpse into what I was about to see! Magnificent works of art, many with yellow daffodils and lilies, all came to life on vases and plates, all unique, all created so many years ago out of necessity to support themselves. I felt the NEED to go home and create my own pattern, so I could feel part of this movement!

Conversational Patterns everywhere!

Designing can be defined in so many ways

... from actually sitting down pen to paper and illustrating something to pulling elements together to create something new! It has a wide definition!

Art and Design are made up of so many things

• colors

• patterns

• genres of design

• shapes

• textures

• fabrications

One of the most popular genres or styles that seems to be making a huge come back are CONVERSATIONAL PRINTS! There were so many of these back in the day.

Most recognizable would be your French and Japanese Toiles and Fun 50's prints.

With summer here, and watermelon so full of design texture, deep saturated green and pink colors, elliptical shape, and let's not forget the pattern of the seeds in the deep pink fruit or the tiger striping green on the outer rind!

We were down in Long Branch strolling through the stores, taking a break from the beach and look what I found!

Talk about inspiration and art being applied to EVERY SINGLE CATEGORY!!! These are such fun! Makes you want to pick one up and play!

Expand your artistic talents! Paint a chair, a table, a ukulele!

Art and Inspiration is all around us .... on everything we see!

TIP That Every Homeowner Should Do!

Here is a TIP I felt the need to share with everyone who owns a home, or ever has plans to buy something big!

KEEP A HOME DIARY!

I know that I blogged about this before, but that was for colors, decorating and design!

We all go through our day, doing daily routines...

We don't stop to take a breath, to write notes about things that we might need in the future, for reference or to keep track of things we buy... even the big stuff! We get up, get ready for work, gathering what we need, our lunch, our kids, our to do list and off we go. On the (hopefully) rare days, something gets in the our way of our regimen. Sometimes it is that we forgot to bring what we needed for a meeting, for our kids to school or camp. Small incidental things that are easily remedied.

Other days it is the BIG STUFF

The dryer seized, the washing machine is leaking all over the floor, everything in the freezer is thawed and the fridge is not cold - these are the things that throw a wrench into our day, our week... our budget!

Who do you call for these issues? Do you remember where you purchased this appliance? Did you get an extended warranty? Who did you use the last time you had an electrical/ plumbing/ AC problem.... all things we do not ask ourselves until faced with having to know, having to react!

This is where a Home Diary would be your best friend!

• Keeping track of vendors, contractors, suppliers you used and their contact information

• Notes on each and how you liked them, do you feel they were professional, did they charge appropriately, were they reliable?

• Warranties you purchased - this goes for big items like your car as well!

My husband and I were plugging along this week when we realized, GEE, it is awfully hot in here - first heat wave of the year here in the Northeast! For the past three days the house was getting hotter and hotter. Today is got up to 87!! Needless to say, the AC stopped working! After my husband called many Heating and AC companies, most of whom could not come out to help us this weekend, I told him to call the one I like the best and whom I "think" we bought the system from. Not only did they say they can fit us in today, but they ARE the ones who replaced the units ... ten years ago! It always feels like "we just replaced that"! I never would have thought TEN years went by! All anyone ever thinks at this point is "get it fixed", "on no! what is this going to cost me"....

We got lucky this time - our warranty for the units is up in August!

A Home Diary would have cut our worry and we could have spent less time looking for help!

You can use a composition notebook, a file box or folder or a file cabinet... but do yourself a favor and if you do not have a system, start now.

• File receipts, phone numbers, warranties for everything!

• Small and large appliances- everything from the electric knife, blender, coffee maker, a pan you bought because it said Lifetime Warranty on the packaging!

• Major household appliances such as the furnace, AC/Heating unit, new roof, hot water heater

• Swimming goggles you bought your kid for camp!

EVERTHING! You will be thankful later when you need to find these papers and they are all together!

TIP: Start your House Diary today!

Environmentally Friendly Paints

You have heard the buzz words a lot lately about being more "green". For those of you who may not know, this is not a new color trend.

It does not mean that using a green palette in your home suffices for being "green" and environmentally friendly. It would make a nice room color but you need to think deeper into the forest for this to be green.

Being green is much more of a lifestyle choice and a health conscience decision than a color option

Think low-VOC paint!

Without preaching about all the small things you can do to be environmentally conscience, such as re-using your supermarket bags, recycling household items, and shopping at local farmer's markets, I want to give you a brief education about the not so new types of paints on the market.

Low VOC has become a buzz word - VOC as described in an earlier post is Volatile Organic Chemicals - paints with low VOC use less volatile organic chemicals than other paints not specified to be environmentally friendly. They really are the best types of interior paint to use in your home. According to an article in Consumer Reports 2008, VOCs are solvents that get released into the air as the paint dries. They can cause acute symptoms, including headaches and dizziness for some people. The long-term effects are less certain, but according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, some VOCs are suspected carcinogens. Click here to read the full article from Consumer Reports.

There are many companies now that jumped on this trend to keep us all safe, with fresher air. Many sites have written great articles about the benefits of using Low VOC paint. Take a look at Apartment Therapy's 10 Best Non-VOC Low Toxic Interior Paints. I love this article, great summary and makes it easy to choose. In addition, it links you to other articles that are very educational. As a Ben Moore fan, I like the Eco Spec which can be tinted with any color, green or otherwise. I trust the name and love their colors. Mystic is another great brand in this arena.

As you move on to your renovations in your home, think about what will be best for your health and family. The low- VOC paints might be the right choice for you; maybe even in a shade of green!