I was doing some cleaning and reorganizing at my office yesterday and came across some photos of old work that had been published in various magazines. I'll share some of them in the next few days, I enjoy taking a trip down memory lane!

This room was one I did for the St. Louis Realtors Designer Showhouse in 2000. Interesting story, I had done many Designer Showhouses in the preceding years and always but a lot of time, planning and thought (and money!) into creating a room but this time I wasn't planning on participating but received a call from one of the organizers saying someone had dropped out and they had this big empty room, could I please do SOMETHING last minute. I quickly got into the room, painted the horizontal stripes on the wall exactly to match my living room banded linen curtains from home and then loaded up a truck of my personal furniture, artwork, accessories and put this room together!

Everything in the room was from my own home, just rearranged and mixed up! I loved the end result and it was published 4 times on both local and national publications. What is especially fun for me today is looking at the photos and seeing what is still with me and what has moved on to new homes. the gorgeous Fornisetti sun prints are now in a dramatic dining room in North Carolina, the 19th century Wedgwood black basalt bowl on the low table was added to a clients collection here in St. Louis, the curved inside leg low table is in a grouping in another home as night stands. But for the most part, what you see is still with me. Actually, the three tier Art Deco table I did sell to a dealer when I moved, regretted selling and when I saw it again 5 years later in a gallery, bought it back!

I feel this room is still very current and chic a decade later and that is the goal of all my design work. Timeless, elegant, simple. Being "current" and "on trend" has it's merit but the trick is to do it without being a cliche that will be dull and dated in 5 to 10 years. I feel I got it right here!

I meet with a young couple in the chic Central West End last night. I've been advising them for a few months on taking their townhouse from young college student to grown up. We are rearranging a long, narrow family room that leads to the kitchen. I flipped around some furniture and freed up a wall that is perfect now for floor to ceiling bookshelves. Every home needs floor to ceiling bookshelves somewhere. First, it encourages reading! But well designed and placed shelves give a room weight and substance and can really add a lot of storage. Besides books, they can hold magazines, baskets for storage of DVDs and CDs, wedding gifts that otherwise might sit in a cabinet or closet waiting for a special occasion. Bookshelves really don't need to be an deeper than 10" and if space is an issue, 8" will hold most books just fine. One of my favorite architects, Hugh Newell Jacobsen, does bookshelves better than anyone. His work almost always features what we refer to as "egg crate" shelves. Very simple, square shelves with no detail. Very simple, elegant and practical. Here is a picture of one of his rooms with bookcases. Look for a space in your home for some!

Here is another offering from my recent project in the Caribbean. This is one of the bedrooms facing the beach and ocean. The pecky cypress headboard was a custom designed and fabricated piece from my firm. I love the warm look of this wood! Instead of traditional nightstands I used a small black lacquer table from Ralph Lauren and a John Rosselli designed faux bamboo desk. I like having a desk in a guest room, everyone seems to travel with laptoops! The gorgeous fabric is a printed linen that has also been embroidered over with multi colored threads. It has amazing color and dimension! The shell pink walls really let the bolder fabrics and art stand out while providing a soothing setting. The four watercolors are by an English artist, John Matthew Moore. I used a lot of his work in this project. the client loves it and had been collecting peices for a while, I just added to the collection! the two wonderful spindle arm chairs and ottoman provide the perfect spot to watch the sunset!

Hi everyone and Happy New Year! It's been very busy over the holidays and into January playing catch up after finishing my project in the Caribbean. It turned out fantastic! I am very happy with the final result after almost 2 years of planning and work. Here is a photo of one end of the living room featuring a seating area. The vintage French travel poster is one that was purchased for the owners previous condo and one of the few items we brought over. It gave me the color palette to work with but i turned up the volume a bit and added some brighter versions of the colors in the poster. This was essential for the bright tropical sunlight. If I had matched the color exactly it would have fallen dull and flat. All of the upholstery is covered with fabrics suitable for the outdoors so bring in the wet swimsuits! I mixed in some antique pieces like the bow front chest with some contemporary pieces like the faux shagreen cocktail table. I love this sort of mix! Hands down, my favorite part of this room are the wonderful blown glass pieces on the wall brackets by MO artist Sam Stang. I love Sam's work and I was thrilled to use these in this room. All in all, I feel this is a warm, relaxed condo that reflects the tropical setting but doesn't fall into any of the cliches one finds in the islands.

Being here in the Caribbean I really enjoy seeing some of local flora and fauna that we just don't get in the Midwest. I hope to make it to the Queen Elizabeth Botanical Gardens located in the central part of the island of Grand Cayman. I visited twice last year and really enjoyed it. It is also home to the Cayman Blue Iguana conservation center. These Iguanas are native only to Cayman and have had dwindling numbers for decades but are successfully being bred and reintroduced at the Garden. Iguanas of all sizes and colors roam, or rather swarm, Grand Cayman. They vary in size from just inches to a few feet. Always fun to see. They remind me of the French Majolica called Palissy after Bernard Palissy. He was a pioneer in glazed pottery in France in the 16Th century eventually becoming the court potter to Catherine de Medici, the mother of three French kings. He, unfortunately, died impoverished and in prison for not renouncing Protestantism and returning to Catholicism. But back to Iguanas and Bernard. Palissy did a form of glazed pottery that featured natural pond creatures he would observe in the wild. Snakes, lizards, snails, frogs, all manner of natural pond life. He did them in high relief decoration and very natural colors. His style was revived in the 19Th century when Majolica, a similar type of pottery, became very fashionable. The studio of Palissy still exists today. 19Th century Palissy items are quite popular in the last fifteen years or so and they are a favorite of mine to add to a room for interest. This piece I am showing is one I just found from a gallery in New York that often has very interesting majolica and Palissy. This square jardiniere features walls that resemble fencing and then river rocks with fish at the base. I am sending this one to a clients lake home in Michigan. It will be perfect in the breakfast room for holding dinner napkins and such. I love these sorts of quirky antiques to really add some style and history to a room and now the homeowner has a great story to share with her guests! Enjoy! If you are interested in more about some great Palissy items contact me at my website, www.sdesigngroup.com

I can't believe it has been over two months since I last posted here! Busy fall, some new projects getting started, finalizing a large project out of town, family time. Anyway, I am heading out of town this weds. to finish the install of the big project, I can;t wait to post some pictures and let everyone see what I have been working on.
I received a welcome phone call the other day from a client I worked with over 10 years ago when they moved from Memphis to St. Louis. We took a lot of the furniture from that house, recovered a few pieces, added some antiques and made a new home for them. I really enjoyed working with them, they let me stretch them to some new things like wallpapering the ceiling in the family room, painting the crown molding in the foyer a gorgeous faux tortoiseshell finish, ect. Her husband was a vary adventurous soul and laid a new marble and granite floor in the foyer himself!
Anyway, they just sold that home and are moving to a glamorous new townhouse! And I get the privilege of assisting them moving the furniture to the new house and creating an updated look. I'll keep you all posted to the progress. Here a few pics of the house just sold and I will share some pics of the new as it comes together.
Check back in about two weeks for pics from out of town!

Wow! I can't belive how this summer has flown by! Here it is September 13th and I haven't posted since August. I've been busy with work and some travels. I was in San Diego last week visiting friends and helping a client do some rearranging in her beach condo. This is a condo I helped her decorate a couple of years ago when she bought it using some very beachy, blue and cream furniture for a light, airy feel. This year, she has made some changes and has decided to bring some of her favorite furniture and artwork form her main residence and spend more time at the beach. So..... change of direction. Everything worked out very well just by re purposing some of the pieces we bought for the condo, moving things around form room to room and then changing a paint color. I love it even more now! I unfortunately forgot to take my camera so pics will have to wait until next visit.

This weekend is the annual St. Louis Art Fair in downtown Clayton. This is always a favorite of mine, I look forward to it all year. I have purchased many wonderful pieces over the years and love to recall the visits with artists when I look around my home. This year there was a new glass artist I hadn't previously seen. He was at the Fair last year but I was not in town. Thomas Maras is a very talented glass blower who works fearlessly in bold color. His pieces have amazing organic shapes that still have a bold, graphic quality I love. I purchased a vase from his Horizon Street series. I am just crazy about this piece! It is starting on a bookshelf in the living room but will probably move around before finding the perfect home. Check out his work at www.marasglass.com. I highly recommend this artist if you are looking for a piece to add some punch to your home.

I also really enjoyed seeing some new paintings by Gary Stretar. His canvases are quite large and have a vast, serene feeling that instantly made me feel calm. His brushwork on the sky is amazing. I am posting a lake scape painting of his. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a comprehensive website but you can find some of his pieces and more info by Googling him. Enjoy!