Or So It Seemed

When ever I hear Petula Clark singing I think of my once upon a time friend Mary Riggin . I met her in Junior High. Hell they don't even have Junior High any more, but they did then . One minit I didn't know her and the next we were best friends and would remain so for several years.  I don't know what happened to her, but she was my entree into a very different world.  Her parents seemed to love me ,they drove big luxury cars and gave cocktail parties and catered dinners some of which I attended, even as a teenager. They lived in a sprawling  modern house on a private lake designed by Thelma Blow it was the most beautiful place I'd ever been. The first time I ever saw Petula Clark was at Marys house on  the first color TV I'd ever seen, it was huge and wonderful as was the entire room ,and I felt wonderful in that room . I hope some, just a few people have felt wonderful in some of the rooms I've decorated. I have been back to that house only one time it wasn't as sprawling as it seemed and of course all the Thelma Blow decor was long gone ,but I felt wonderful.......

" I Love Music It's My World "

Are they kidding...Or am I just to critical...I have just finished watching the Britney Spears concert on GMA I cannot belive that this was allowed to be broadcast, didn't anyone preview this? Did no one realize she is too old looking and to thick to be in those costumes in front of all those skinny in shape dancers. Iwatched her crawl out of that box and actually felt sorry for her:  she almost looked arthritic next to the young dancers. Her moves appeared slow and labored .The entire production must have made Lady GaGa's people roar with laughter and Madonna must have been applauding as well... I was going to write about something else but there is always tomorrow.........

What, Moi Opinionated ???

Last night I was watching my favorite channel, HGTV and was once again puzzled at the networks choice of host as well as her weird way of interviewing a prospective client. She had the couple try on hats and make choices from a weird collection of unrelated " junque" she had arranged on a table. In my wildest dream I cannot imagine asking any one of my clients past or current to try on goofy hats so I could determine their decorating style. In my ever so humble opinion Interior Design is a serious profession : often large sums of money are involved. Where do these designers come from?  What kind of design school trains these people to be so goofy?  The weird collection of furniture this person put together was a mess. It looked like she had shopped resale and garage sale bargain corners for the stuff NO one wanted. There is a jargon spoken by designers : we know the difference between a buffet and a console,or sofa table .They are not the same things. Anyway I hate to see this profession made into a silly bunch of people doing crazy things on TV with there spellbound clients oohing and aahing over what they have just created....Thank goodness for Mary Laham..............

Elizabeth Taylor

I would love to see photos of Elizabeth Taylor’s home both inside and out. I have often wondered what it must be like. I would suppose lots of purple and white: did she have a kitchen do you suppose she knew how to cook? I wonder what her living room looks like and what kind of artworks she owned, besides jewelry that is. Do you suppose she sat in a favorite chair and watched T V or read a book? I hope the family will publish a book of the interiors as well as talk about her everyday life . I’m sure she didn’t visit the Safeway very often but there must have been a few things in her everyday life we can all relate to…She maintained a mystery , glamour right to the end …yep she was a class act……………

The Last Movie Star

I don't quite know where to start on the subject of Elizabeth Taylor. For my whole life, as far back as I can remember, she was a real movie star. (not like what we have today:  the kind where we have to be told who they are and reminded they are STARS in case we have forgotten) . Just the mention of her name, Elizabeth Taylor made you think of  National Velvet or Cat On A Hot Tin Roof . The kind who always presented herself as a star, she was never seen in run down shoes and shabby jeans. Elizabeth Taylor presented herself as glamourous  and mysterious. No matter what she was never one of us. She was always out there doing something we all wanted to be able to do, if it was marrying someone else's husband or taking on the fight for AIDS she seemed never afraid and somehow she always landed on top...She will be missed.......

just a short note

I will be out of town for the next few days and will not be able to write regularly if at all .I still do most of my work in the Metro D C area and so travel is a big part of my life.I love going back and forth . This way I get the best of both and everyone is always so glad to see me when I'm in D C . I am involved in some really good projects and will keep up the posts as soon as I can.....

Room With A View

A few years ago I was lucky enough to have been asked to help renovate a house on the bay in an eastern port city. I had been working with the clients for many years. The project, although plagued with many surprises  proved to be an especially good one. I was able to work on the project with my good friend Rebecca, who has been a designer for almost as long as me.  We have very different styles of working  : she's a note keeper, and I'm a mind keeper. However, as years go by I'm learning that her way is the preferred, especially when one has hundreds of small details to remember .

I am very thankful to have the notes she showed me how to keep, especially when I have to look  back a year or so later to replace a one of a kind object.

 The room in the photo is the main living area. As you can see the area is quite large and what you don't see is the view to the river. The river is spectacular and goes on for miles and miles .The color scheme is blue and hot pink, a favorite of  Thelma Blow, the glamoruous decorator from Michigan. The very first house I was ever in that she had decorated was blue and hot pink and overlooked a lake . I waited years to be able to pull that out of my hat and was finally able to so. In all the years I've done interiors, I have never been able to use the color scheme befor or since, it just never seemed right. But this time both the setting and the client were perfect . Another thing I used from her bag of tricks  in this room are two reclinig chairs, she loved them and even had them in her own home. The colors in this room are more intense than the ones she used and the overall look updated but a little bit of what I learned from her is right there...can you see it?

Thelma Blow A I D / Part 2

I think that I remember the very first time I actually spoke to Mrs. Blow, although we often think things happened a certain way and they did not. It really doesn’t matter. I spoke to her one day when I was about 12, and finally got the nerve to get off the bus and walked into the Vogue Shoppe.  I was thrilled to be amongst all these incredibly beautiful things that I never dreamed existed: toss pillows shaped like tootsie rolls costing $12.00 and could only imagine the kind of women who would buy them. There were several people in the Shoppe and everyone seemed busy and excited. I wanted to someday be part of that excitement. Suddenly out of nowhere a blonde woman with a black dress, high heels, and chandelier earrings (right in the middle of the day!), appeared and scared me right out of the shop. I knew that she could see right through me and quickly left the shop with the self awareness that the little boy from Hazel Street didn’t belong in that place.  I left knowing that someday I’d be back, with the knowledge of what a decorator was supposed to look like. Mrs. Blow’s style and glamour were timeless and impressive. Even today I use it as one of my yardsticks:          

What Would Thelma Blow Do?

Thelma Blow A I D

I am very new to this blogging thing and probably will ramble on and on for a while until I get my entire back story, or at least the part I’m thinking about at the moment written. Like I’ve said I cannot remember not wanting to be a decorator, even before I knew what a decorator was I was one.

I was always wanting to go downtown to look at furniture stores and have lunch with my mom, at the local Chinese restaurant. I loved egg food young and in Kalamazoo that was about as Chinese as we got at Lum’s. I remember the most glamorous store in town was the Vogue Shoppe a beautiful interior decorating shop owned by none other than Thelma Blow, AID I would walk by there when ever I could and look in those windows knowing that it wasn’t for people like me, but knowing that some day I’d not only know, but work for the wonderful Thelma Blow AID, and boy did I ever!