Lifestyles and Interiors by Lisa

Happy Fifth Anniversary to the What’s New, What’s Next trade event at 200 Lex., (the oldest “to the trade” building in the US).

What an exciting night last Thursday was! Music, food, feasts for the eyes in every showroom. And to be among so many style and tastemakers!

Bunny Williams, Mario Buatta, Alexa Hampton and
Vicente Wolf (my all time fave!). The list of who’s who goes on and on!

So what did the tastemakers have to say?
They are continuing to be in love with color. We haven’t seen so much color since the 60’s,
which is interesting as we are also enjoying mid-century modern pieces once again to go with all this color.

Colorful panel discussions by the tastemakers had varying opinions about which colors they (and we) would be surrounding ourselves with over the next few seasons….
bright bold colors with a historical reference like red and strong yellow. Or would the soft whisper of a color like lavender be more popular?
The take away is – anything goes, just surround yourself with what you love.

It seems funny enough, that what’s new and what’s next is really a lot about what’s old and what was, maybe a new kind of old, with each of us putting our individual stamp on what we nostalgically remember from the good old days.

Following a historical timeline, we seem to be shifting away a bit from the industrial age of machinery on to a more organic hand-crafted period.

As we seem to want less and less around us, what we do want has to be more gentle in a sophisticated kind of way. We understand the beauty in the hand of craftsmanship coming through in a piece.
With travels and our broader vision of the world around us, we continue to want to surround ourselves with pieces from far-reaching places in the world.
Some amazing craftsmanship in Odegard..lanterns..sinks and tables cast in gold.

I ended my magical evening at Global Views….surrounded by beauty….

decisions, decisions…will I be able to pick just a few? Our story will continue….

With summer comes much to look forward to; a mojito (or two) by the pool, a hike in the cool woods, amazing sunsets. But for me, another highlight every August is the NY gift show, recently renamed NY Now. Of course, I’m only one of the over 35,000 designers, buyers or lifestyle editors roaming up and down the aisles of over 2800 exhibitors at the Javits Center, but that only adds to the excitement.

Each show, I can’t wait to see what’s new from my favorite vendors, what’s trending color and style wise, and even more importantly, to simply get inspired by all the displays that are so creatively put together by the design world.

This, I can only imagine, is to an interior designer, what Fashion Week must be to a fashion designer! One difference is that walking shoes, more than stylish shoes,

are a must as you are literally walking for miles and miles while being completely absorbed in all there is to see in every aisle.

As you may know, Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2013 is Emerald Green, and while it had a very strong presence at the High Point Furniture Market as shown below, it was not as visible at the NY show.

Highpoint Furniture Show

What did have a noticeable presence at NY NOW were actual minerals…some emeralds for sure, but also many other gems and crystals to use as accessory and accent pieces.

As for other colors seen, I loved Indigo Blue displayed by Two’s Company.

Indigo Blue

and thought it interesting they included background info on the color…

Julian Chichester and Mr Brown highlighted vintagey blue lamps, along with other blue accents, that worked surprisingly well amongst a colorful array of other interesting pieces.

And while speaking about color, blackboards were, or still are, popular..many with words of wisdom painted right on them. That same matte chalkboard black was very visible for mirror frames, globes and backgrounds as wall displays, giving a bit of a vintage vibe.

Getting back to emeralds and crystals, many other nature inspired themes abound. Roost has both sides of the organic theme covered in both the rock crystals and plant life, especially succulents.

photo-14

Metals were also popular, and we just couldn’t help ourselves from ordering some beautiful copper pots and trays for the shop.

Two’s Company had another twist on all things from nature, as I thought their black and white animal display was quite captivating, Of course animals are found in nature too.