From Inspiration to Reality - Wedding and Event Styling

Recently, I wrote a blog post on the new trend in weddings and events, the Styling aspect. Above is a great video on transforming your inspiration into a reality.

The Barn at Walnut Hill is a post and beam barn with attached farm house, built in 1887 and restored in 2009 to serve as a wonderful wedding location nestled in Maine.

Film by Meg Simone Wedding Films - megsimone.com

Style Me Pretty's "From Inspiration to Reality Challenge." (This board is all about that picture perfect, Farm-inspired wedding that is full of super-chic details.) 
Meagan Gilpatrick of Maine Seasons Event Planning - maineseasonsevents.com 
Sara Fitzgerald O’Brien of Griffin-vites Stationery - griffin-vites.com 
Photography by Brea McDonald Photography - breamcdonald.com 
Flowers by Dawn Kelly of Soiree Floral - soireefloral.com 
Barn located at: 655 Walnut Hill Road - North Yarmouth, Maine, 04097

Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Our Favorite Creative Christmas Videos

A time of music, family gatherings, decking the halls of your home, gift wrapping and opening, and a little time off from the daily routine - Christmas means all that and more to each of us. However you observe today and tomorrow - sledding down hills, caroling in the neighborhood, volunteering at a homeless shelter, attending midnight church services, or baking cookies and pies - we hope you have a wonderful holiday. We've selected a few fun holiday videos, some of our favorites this year, and all with a slant towards the creative - after all, our audience is creative people. Happy holidays!

 Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Wedding Videos: The Worst of TV's My Fair Wedding Unveiled

I love to watch real-life drama on reality television; you know that show producers are encouraging all adults to behave badly and act out to make their shows interesting and watchable. I fall for it every time. And that's why I'm a fan of My Fair Wedding Unveiled, a wedding planning reality show following the daily activities of planner David Tutera (the show's tagline: David, Divas, and Disasters). He's seldom at a loss for words, but when he is, you know he's witnessing a human train wreck, like the 10 worst bridal gowns in our first video clip.

And here's a wrap-up reel of the "craziest of the crazy" brides and grooms David's had to work with on the show, followed by his statements of how much he really loves being a wedding planner - despite the divas and disasters!

 Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

This Dutch Designer is Greener than Grass!

I love the take on design presented in today's featured video. Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma espouses "documentary design," meaning she covers the entire lifecycle of the products she designs and produces, straight to the source. Examples of her work include the popular Urchin Pouf (top photo), Oak Inside console (bottom photo), individual wool sweaters made from a single sheep that you get to know a lot about, or a range of flax products from one of her Dutch flax fields.

As the LEED certification requirements for green building and design change in the coming year, everyone will become (hopefully) more aware of where their home goods and building materials came from, how they were manufactured, and what processes were used to the original elements every step of the way, from origin to your doorstep. The goal is to see consumers and homeowners making more informed, conscious decisions that are environmentally conscious and respectful. <thunderous applause>

 Sheffield School began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Interior Design Trend: Tricked-Out IKEA Interiors

Stunning tricked-out IKEA kitchen cabinets (Apartment Therapy / House Beautiful)

When Apartment Therapy and House Beautiful start to include design details that feature modified or "tricked-out" IKEA fixtures and furnishings, then you know you have a serious trend on your hands. Modifying the clean design of IKEA's furniture, cabinetry, and other home goods has become a global pasttime as do-it-yourselfers and home designers make modifications to create custom looks from basic pieces. The kitchen cabinets in the photo above, for instance, never looked like that in the showroom or catalog; they were custom detailed and finished to elevate the look. Saving money on the basics is what IKEA is all about, but elevating and tricking-out the basics to create a one-of-a-kind end result is what interior designers and DIY homeowners are all about.

The Gallant wall storage shelves were tricked out to create a new media console (IKEA Hackers) 

This trend has become so hot that there's even a popular website documenting a wide array of tricked-out projects: IKEA Hackers. Here are a few tricked-out projects that really caught our eye. Click on each photo for more information.

High gloss red tabletops become a backlit headboard (IKEA Hackers)

Regolit lamp covered with paper muffin liners (IKEA Hackers)

Click to read more ...