The Bag with the Golden Gun

If you want some new accessories or art to look at, take a trip to the SOFA.  The SOFA is the Sculpture Objects and Functional Art Expo and they are showing the latest arts and crafts work from artists around the world.

The SOFA exhibits in several cities - including Chicago, Santa Fe, and currently in New York at the Park Avenue Armory until Sunday, April 19th.  For more information go to their website:  http://www.sofaexpo.com/.

Below is a sculpture by Ted Noten from the Netherlands, called the "Lady K" or what we like to call the The Bag with the Golden Gun.  Check out this sculpture and many others at the SOFA.

New Wedding Blog

Xochitl Gonzalez, the instructor for Sheffield's Complete Course in Wedding and Event Planning, will now be authoring a blog for Real Simple Magazine. The blog is called Simply Stated and she writes under the heading Nearly Wed.

If you follow her own blog at alwaysablogsmaid.com then you're already familar with her fun style and helpful hints. If you don't, please check her out because her tips on design, etiquette and organization are top notch!

Entrance with Pizzazz!

Previously, I discussed about giving life to a humdrum hallway by providing unique furniture. Here’s another way to give that old hallway some pizzazz! At the Kips Bay Designer Show House interior designer extraordinaire, Larry Laslo, showed us his flair for drama.

At the penthouse suite, Mr. Laslo covered the entrance walls in a red and gold velvet animal stripe fabric – called Magnetism, part of his new fabric collection he designed for Robert Allen fabrics. Doesn’t it just mesmerize and pull you in? He then proceeded to add an oversized Jansen sunburst mirror that just radiates “look at me!” in a very elegant way. A simple bench upholstered in a jeweled striped fabric called Aquavite completes the picture.

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Making an Entrance

Whenever I visit one of these home design shows, I’m always on the lookout for the unusual, for the bold design, and for something functional also. After all, when you live in a space-challenged city apartment, you want furniture pieces to multi-task too! I wandered around the recent Architectural Digest Home Design Show with a skeptical mindset. I saw beautiful furniture everywhere but they really belonged to a mansion in Beverly Hills or at a penthouse suite.

I was looking for something to perk up my humdrum hallway when you enter my home – you know the type: a hallway too small to put anything really functional like a desk or a bookcase in it yet big enough that you can’t ignore it. There’s always mirrors and artwork but it’s not very original. Most people entering the hallway barely give it a look.

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