Naïve and Romantic sees the application of soft pastel colors. Coral and salmon shades freshen up  simple patterns  such as polka dots and stripes. Turquoise and lilac are combined in hand drawn checks, and hand painted patterns. Text, postcards, stamp motifs evoke memories Trees and tree trunks are used as decoration.

Dreamlike florals and blossoms are the most important subjects, in all possible variations, but especially watercolor looks and hand painted florals. Old-fashioned roses and birds are applied in new ways with a touch of golden details. Flowers of importance are roses and orchids. Oriental influences are present in blossoms, birds and flower patterns Old cupboards recycled and decorated with Japanese blossoms and 3-D branches add for a fairytale effect. Florals  and botanical motifs can also take on a refined effect. We see huge wallpaper with a flower photo print. Flowers, birds, butterflies, branches and botanical subjects like mushrooms. We see a 3-D flower motifs for pillows.

Shine, metallics and a touch of silver and gold are indispensable. Glass tiles,  Swarovski crystal effect and materials with the iridescent effects are  found in small details. F homey atmosphere is evoked by recycling and patchwork effects in the carpet. Multicolor effects are visible in stripes, and the fresh retro inspired combinations of pink and turquoise. Colorful patterns are mixed freely for a bohemian effect . Also here gold is important. Home accessories are pleated and folded for 3-D effects. Different shades of blue  are combined. We see how handcrafted designs play an important role in the prints. We see blots, spots and stains, but also ikat prints. Ombres, degrade looks, chipped paint add to the romance.

Milou Ket – Trend Forecasts, Home Colors, Product Development

Amanda McCalvour

“I am interested in the vulnerability of thread, its ability to unravel, and its strength when it is sewn together. I am interested in the connections between process and materials and the way that they relate to images and spaces.”

I am blown away with these embroidery installations.  Toronto textile artist, Amanda McCavour moved from drawing fibers and cloth, to actually using them to make her work. Thinking that it would be even more interesting to make a drawing out of thread that might exist in air, she started to experiment with water soluable fabric. It turned out to be the perfect tool.

Drawing on her memories of  an old apartment, the life size installation, Stand in For Home allowed her to re-visit, remember and re-create a space that was once called home.

Amanda draws out her images on the fabric before sewing; drawing the outline and then blocking  in areas that will be different colors of thread.  She treats the embroidery like a drawing, moving from light to dark, like shading with thread.  McCavour sews with a sewing machine on the water soluable fabric.  Sewing so close together so that the thread image begins to hold itself together; she dissolves the base, leaving just the thread image behind.

Daniel Kornrumpf

Massachusetts artist Daniel Kornrumpf uses embroidery as a medium for his portraits. Making it even more out-of-the box, he does portraits of people he doesn’t know, but have posted photos of themselves online.

Michelle Ann Mathews

Photographer, artist and graphic designer Michelle Ann Matthews is clearly multi-talented. A photographer that has become intrigued by the mundane and anonymous spaces in the landscape she started photographing the “negative utopia” of the urban landscape- the  in between places, that beckon to the past and the future.

Recently, she became equally enamored with embroidery and its relationship to photography which has resulted in an embroidery series of her photos she titles Urban Fabric.

“ I am intrigued by embroidery’s relationship to human culture, while also looking at a way to change our reading of photography by rendering a photograph into a tactile object.”

Works in the embroidery series feature snapshots of night construction, a stack of crates at a building site, , a park by the  freeway and an abandoned Kmart.

At first from a distance these works read as photographs. It is only when you look closely do you see the thread. The Urban Fabric   materialize in tens of thousands of stitches, and the thread replaces the photographic pixel.

Cayce Zavaglia

Cayce’s work is a nod to the tradition of tapestry and her love of craft. Using wool yarn instead of oils, Zavaglia creates a dialogue between portraiture and process as well as proposing a new definition for the word “painting”.  Although the medium is crewel embroidery wool, the technique borrows more from the worlds of drawing and painting.

Cayce explains her technique: “Initially, working with an established range of wool colors proved frustrating. Unlike painting, I was unable to mix the colors by hand. Progressively, I created a system of sewing the threads in a sequence that would ultimately give the allusion of a certain color or tone. The direction in which the threads were sewn had to mimic the way lines are layered in a drawing to give the allusion of depth, volume, and form. Over time the stitches have become tighter and more complex, but ultimately more evocative of flesh, hair, and cloth.”

1.

Live, Love and Decorateby Martyn Lawrence Bullard

With the release timed with the launch of Bullard’s fabric collection for Schumacher and his design center speaking tour, get a copy and have it signed as a gift for a fellow design pro. The book  shows off the author’s mastery of the dramatic and balance between contemporary and traditional.

2.

Celia Birtwell

Considered one of the most influential textile designer of  this generation, muse to David Hicks and friend of the Beatles, Jagger and Picasso this book , British print designer, Celia Birtwell, is celebrated in this new publication. Her beautiful hand painted prints have appeared on apparel for former husband, Ossie Clark, as well as on new collections for Topshop and John Lewis. This book is a wonderful addition to any surface designer’s bookshelf.

3.

The Impossible Collection of Fashion by Valerie Steele. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book!

From Poiret to Pucci, Doucet to Dior, Vionnet to Valentino, Valerie Steele,  chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (MFIT), selects the one hundred most iconic dresses of the twentieth century. This magnificent collection, while certainly subjective, is sure to receive gasps of pleasure as well as of surprise. Steele’s selection, hand-picked for this luxury volume presented in a linen clamshell case with a cutout metal plate, astounds in every regard. 
 

4.

Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel

Having always  admired the legendary “High Priestess of Fashion,” Diana Vreeland’s impact on fashion and style was legendary. I am looking forward to getting a peek inside her rich life. With more than 350 illustrations, including original magazine spreads and many famous photographs, this intensely visual book shows fashion as it was being invented, and how Vreeland shaped American taste through her superb vision.

5.

For my Francophile fix- In The New French Interior by Penny Drue Baird, authority on all things French, moves beyond the traditional historic styles to explore the design elements that make up the fresh, clean look. To illustrate the style, Baird draws on ten of her own recent projects, apartment and house installations, and presents French precedents and influences through specially commissioned photography of Parisian interiors.

6.

My Midwestern roots draw me to Chicago Spaces published by Chicago Home and Garden and hopes to vanquish the notion that we only design conservatively. The book showcases spaces that the editors loved or spoke to them representing a broad range of styles.

7.

Sister Parish, American Style  by Martin Wood revisits her sumptuous and quirky interiors. Her trompe l’oeil sawgs and cascades come to mind.

8.

Katie Ridder: Rooms by Heather MacIssac is the designer’s first book showcasing her  eclectic cool  interiors.

9.

The New Bespokeby Frank Roop lets the reader into his head as he works through the entire creative process- from inspiration to installation.

10.

Influential design blogger Grace Bonney penned  Design*Sponge at Home,the ultimate design manual for her fans. This says it best- “ Thank you,” wrote a reader to Design*Sponge creator Grace Bonney, “for teaching me that houses don’t have to be frumpy and formal. They don’t have to be matchy-matchy or rigidly modern.”

OK… 2 more I can’t seem to do without…

11.

Patina Styleby the Giannettis

12.

The Way Homeby Jeffery Bihuber

Up three flights on a spiral staircase,  we discovered thousands of floral blossoms being nutured for haute couture. The atelier is on the premise and a peek through the doorway, you’ll see petals being shaped by hand, feathers being dyed and one-of-a-kind headpieces being fashioned.

The coral rose on the corner of the table is part of my purchase. Se it and  the others on my samples in the coming months.

Way too many choices for me!

Much to my delight after returning home I found Nicholas Kniel , purveyor of ribbons, buttons and  If you can’t get to Paris, check out his store, online shop or classes.

A small peek at what he is offering this Spring:

During our Paris Decor Tour in September our group had the great pleasure of visiting the Creation Baumann showroom.  Creation Baumann is one of the most innovative fabric companies in the world. I am always in awe of their inspirational designs. The showroom visit was no exception. Sophie  gave us a tour of the showroom and then presented the new Fall 2010 fabric collection. We saw the new line before the European sales force did!

Everyone in the group counted seeing Gecko and having Sophie demonstrate it for us as a highlight. Susan and I first saw in in 2007 at imm Cologne and have followed the product since-  most recently at NeoCon.  The silicon coated self adhering textile  caused a small sensation as it can be applied  again and again directly to glass and other  surfaces. Think colorforms of your youth.

Introduced last year, GECKO IN THE BOX – a box with pre cut components for decorative window styling- offers an equally beguiling demonstration of how GECKO can be used as a creative style element in interior design.

Gecko in a Box Grafitio

GECKO DISCO is  mix of sharp and blurred colorful circles that evokes reminiscences of the bright lights of a metropolis which, with the right angle of incoming light, look amazingly real.

 GECKO LISTRA beguiles with an array of gaily colored ribbons that look as if they were fluttering in a breeze. The elegant, haphazard arrangement of overlapping strips in differing widths can be displayed vertically or horizontally. Multi coloring makes combination with other colors easy.

GECKO ILLUSION has the wow factor. The coulisse like motifs from everyday objects such as bowls, vases and books that look amazingly realistic. This is the first time that the textile experts from  Creation Baumann have used images.

Sophie also told us they would be introducing a kids line based on their successful Think Forward competition and inspired by last year’s winner- here’s a sneak peek.

Have you always dreamed of traveling to Paris?

* to experience the culture (and the food!)

* see the fabulous design shows

* inspire yourself and your clients

 Here’s your chance to experience the ultimate “city of dreams” with a group of like-minded designers, lead by experienced Paris habitués Deb Barrett and Susan Schultz. After 10+ years of visiting Paris regularly for the famed Maison&Objet show, they have compiled an impressive “little black book” of designer resources, information and contacts. Over the course of seven days, you’ll experience Paris like a design insider, with exclusive visits to artisan ateliers, VIP show access and more.

The “special visits” gave us an up close and personal look at the other side of the design world.   

 Here’s a partial peek at what you get in the tour package:

  *Airfare to/from JFK -Overnight flight arriving in Paris Wednesday, January 19,2011. *Hotel d’ Aubusson, Four-star, double-occupancy in the heart of St. Germain (Super-convenient location and we’ve stayed in this hotel and love it!) Five minute walk to the subway, direct line to the show. Walking distance of the Louvre, Orsay, Notre Dame, Sorbonne; surrounded by art galleries, restaurants and shops. )

 *Daily Breakfast at the hotel.  Value of $250.00

*Airport transfers. Value of $225.00

*5 day all zone metro pass.  Value of  $95.00

*Admission to Maison&Objet and Designers Lounge.  Value of  $90.00

*Design destinations and insider access to showrooms and ateliers across Paris. This is worth the price of the trip!

*As-you-wish meet-ups for cocktails or dinner to review the day, compare notes, share stories, etc.

*Pre-travel web session with Deb and Susan to preview locations, M&O planning, travel details, our Paris faves and more

*Cruise on the river Seine.  Value of $30.00

*Free entrance to the Louvre or Orsay.  Value of $30.00

My top takeaway from the trip was that I want to go back…

 

Download our itinerary HERE

More Details HERE

Register HERE