So if you haven’t heard, Targethas announced, via Twitter, it’s next big design /fashion collaboration will be with Italian luxury brand  Missoni.The 400+ piece (supposedly the largest to date) collection, Missoni for Target, features apparel and accessories for women, men, girls and baby, as well as home goods including bedding, dinnerware, stationery and décor items. Ranging in price from $2.99 to $599.99, with most items less than $40.Missoni for Target will be available Sept. 13 through Oct. 22, 2011 at all Target stores and Target.com.

Angela Missoni working on Fall 2011 collection.

“Our collection for Target embodies Missoni’s values of family, color and quality,” said creative director Angela Missoni. “It has been a fantastic experience translating our aesthetic into an affordable line, one we are eager to share with families across the United States.”

Who knows if the colorful and pattern happy knits and fabrics that Missoni is known for will translate into lower quality materials, but this is no doubt this is another WIN  another  for Target and accessible design.

I see some fabulous Flamestitch in my future! ( I passed on this summer’s launch of Calypso Home.) Mark your calendars.

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I am being swept into the techno world. I am not a full fledged geek yet, but do love me some gadgets and when coupled with design, I’m in. So I was sucker for Microsoft’s  home of the future:

 According to MS, the Microsoft Home is

…a place to explore technology scenarios that could transform the way we live in five to 10 years. Built as a full-scale model home in the company’s Executive Briefing Center, the Home is used to explore practical applications of cutting-edge technical trends, and exhibit futuristic prototype technologies to a variety of industry and government leaders, partners and customers.

While the space is a private testing ground accessible by invitation only, the video below provides a glimpse of what a day in the suburban future could look like in 2025. Among other advances, check out:

• touchscreen, wireless & ‘smart’ charging plates that also read sensors in your products to interpret your personal data, including vital health statistics
• interactive walls consisting of various screens – which are in turn controlled by a simple flip of a light switch
• visual analysis via image-to-image search for each image featured in your home entertainment screen (i.e., ability to search for travel schedules, restaurant information, and backback purchase information for all items featured in a travel show); this is cool – right now, we really just do text-based search
• motion-controlled digital wallpaper capturing your personal digital ecosystem, including real-time texts, Facebook status updates or Twitter feed updates

OK, so we really have to get on the stick when it comes to innovative window coverings to match up to these other elements in the room!. Any ideas?

via Engadget

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Tuesday April 26, 2011                                   

            1:00 – 3:00       Melissa Galt    How to Ignite Demand in YOUR Client Base

            1:00- 2:30        Susan Schultz Fame 101

            3:45 – 5:15       Deb Barrett     Power of Packaging: Bundle Your Services and Build Sales

            3:15 – 5:15       Melissa Galt    Five Marketing Mindsets to Make YOUR Design Business Profitable

            3:45 – 5:15       Vita  Vygovska She Told Two Friends: Developing a Powerful Client Referral Systems

Workshop Descriptions and Details

How to Ignite Demand in YOUR Client Base

©Melissa Galt

Learn the essentials of a strong client relationship that will put you squarely in the driver seat of every project, allowing your talent to shine and your bank account to grow. Explore the keys to taking a budget project and turning it into an investment your clients are thrilled with— and brag to their friends about. (Can you say referral?) Discover how you, your projects and your income can grow by keeping your clients interested, engaged and buying.

v  Dive deep into their lifestyles to uncover not just their needs but their wants.

v  Take every project from a budget to an investment with a return on it.

v  Master the art of reading between the lines and know who the real decision maker is.

v  Get your clients to do homework before you even meet.                                                       

 The Fine Print: Price: $150. This session is 2 hours long .  Maximum 12 per session. Session offered Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 1:00pm– 3:00pm

FAME 101

Susan Schultz

Every industry, in fact, every market, has its own superstars—the broker everyone wants to work with, the chef with the TV show and the book deal, the designer who always has high-value clients waiting. Their professional fame automatically sets them apart from their competition; their name a meaningful brand and their value, implicit. It’s a great position to be—and it can be yours!

We’ll cover:

• Five sure-fire strategies for ramping up your visibility
• The keys to building a compelling image for you and your business
• Transforming hard work into success
• Becoming the “go-to” expert
• Publicity: It’s not a dirty word

By the end of the session you’ll have a your own personal “fame roadmap” laid out—a personal brand to build on, a publicity strategy to implement, elements of new press kit, and tips for avoiding self-imposed momentum-killers.

Preparation: To ensure your best results and personalized approach, you will be asked to fill out and return a questionnaire before the session. There may also be additional contact from Susan prior to the session.

The Fine Print: Price: $125. This session is 1-1/2 hour long .  Maximum 10 per session. Session offered Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 1:00pm– 2:30pm

The Power of Packaging:  Bundle Your Services & Build Your Sales

Deb Barrett

Whether you are a newbie or been in the business for years, how you price your services and charge your customers has changed dramatically with design democracy and the new consumer.

Packaging your products and services is a powerful marketing technique that increases sales, adds value and improves client satisfaction. Plus, if you plan on being in business 10 years from now; how you package your design services will be key to capturing the new markets you’ll need. Developing “design service packages” for your clients allows you to:

• upsell automatically without having to “sell” you clients into it
• provides a higher perceived value to your client
• clarifies and simplifies your marketing
• encourages joint venture opportunities, which benefits both you and your clients

Each attendee will leave with a customized packages suitable for your business plans and your clientele, complete with rough descriptions, pricing, titles and more.

Preparation: To make the most of the scheduled time in this workshop, attendees will be asked to provide in advance your current pricing information, general clientele description and/or preferred clientele description, a list of products and services and, if possible, the profit margins associated with your products and services.

The Fine Print:  Price: $125. This session is 1-1/2 hour long .  Maximum 10 per session. Session offered Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 3:45pm – 5:15pm

Five Marketing Mindsets to Make YOUR Design Business Profitable

©Melissa Galt

Often the greatest difference between a wildly successful designer and one who’s struggling isn’t just talent, or education or background. The difference is mindset and marketing skills. Melissa shares five simple habits that can be quickly and easily learned. When practiced regularly, (the definition of a habit!) these will rocket you to the top. If you want to become a magnetic marketer and THE irresistible design talent in your market, you must have the mindset to take you there.

v  Boost YOUR Confidence and YOUR Value so You Can Charge What You are Really Worth

v  Know How to Clearly and Easily Identify YOUR Preferred Target Market (where to find them)

v  Identify YOUR Key Benefits to Put You Head and Shoulders Above the Competition.

v  Leverage the ROI that YOUR Talent Produces for Each Project

v  Create Lifelong Demand with YOUR Clients 

The Fine Print:  Price: $150. This session is 2 hours long .  Maximum 12 per session. Session offered Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 3:15pm – 5:15pm

She Told Two Friends: Developing a Powerful Client Referral System

 Vita Vygovska

Create a winning referral program that brings new clients every time and is faster and cheaper than any other marketing strategy. Although designers list referrals as a favorite marketing effort, few run a truly successful, consistent, and fully integrated referral program that feeds the pipeline and keeps it full on a consistent basis.

Vita uses a proven referral system as one of the cornerstones of her success. From the moment her first project was underway, she established a system for developing, managing and using referrals that kept her business growing 40% year on year—A strategy that is powerful, cost-effective and extremely easy to implement and maintain. Don’t leave one of your business’ most important sources of new clients and new projects to chance!

In this session, you will learn:

* To ask for a referral even before your first client meeting and train your prospects to give you referrals

* How to easily integrate your referral system into your daily schedule, so that it runs on autopilot, and you’re freed for design and strategic work

* Tips that make asking for the referral easy and authentic, so that you never have to cringe or shy away from it

* Solutions to most common referral “hang-ups” that will increase your comfort level and boost your confidence

You will leave the session with a customized referral game plan that gives you a source of continuous, consistent and profitable revenue.

In the spirit of an interactive workshop, we will conduct role-playing sessions and individual hot-seats, where you can get personal coaching from Vita.  Rest assured, you will know exactly how to ask, cultivate, and nurture a culture of referrals, empowering your customers, prospects, and employees to “always be referring.”

The Fine Print: Price: $125. This session is 1-1/2 hour long .  Maximum 10 per session. Session offered Tuesday, April 26, 2011 at 3:45pm – 5:15pm

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 Anthropologie, bohemian chic sister to Urban Outfitters debuts their Decorator Concept boutiques March 24 in 12 of their stores across the globe. Amping up home décor, the Decorator concept will share the Anthropologie aesthetic, but is dedicated to “delivering a unique experience that helps generate design ideas and support decision making.” The store sees these concept shops as a continuation of their focus on “product rivaling that ordinarily available only to the trade.”

The workshop style boutiques offerings include wallpaper, curtains, lighting, furniture , books and accessories. (Decor8′s new book ,Decorate is part of the selection.) Boutiques will be selling brands like Cole and Son and Tracy Kendall.

Decorator Concept locations will host workshops with design experts and special events  in a range of fields and offer printed information about their selection, from care instructions to creative ideas.

A new online section, “For the Decorator” launched on this past Thursday. Resources available to online shoppers will include wallpaper calculators, swatch request forms, and glossaries.

Decorator concept stores are coming to:

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Beverly Hills, California
• Chicago, Illinois
• Corte Madera, California
• Denver, Colorado
• Houston, Texas
• London, United Kingdom
• Miami, Florida
• Nashville, Tennessee
• New York, New York
• Wayne, Pennsylvania
• Westport, Connecticut

If you thought it was hard to sell to the under 40 crowd; wait till they get a taste of Decorator Concept. You can guess where I’ll be next Thursday.

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I think every designer, at some point, has a hard time making up their mind and an even harder time when it’s their own project. I can design all day for someone else, but when it comes to making a decision for my home I sometimes have a mental block. Whether it’s because I am afraid that if I move forward with the window- the perfect fabric, trim or hardware will come along later and I’ll have designer’s remorse or maybe it is too many choices. I am in that dilemma now and it’s time to make a decision and move on. It’s only windows!

So… In the spirit of crowdsourcing, I thought I’d ask you for help.

Here is the room, my inspiration and top three choices. What would you do? Let me know what you think and vote for what you would do. Help me out. If you get inspired shoot me a note in the comments. I’d love it!  

The guest room has dark espresso walls, white trim and cream carpet. Light is reflected by a chandelier, mirrored tables and crystal lamps. A upholstered headboard with sexy curves and vermicelli quilted coverlet carries out the Hollywood Regency feel. At the foot of the bed is an upholstered bench. There are two windows in the room that need dressing and  I’ll remove the wood blinds for the new treatment.

Shaped Valance – love the curves that mimic headboard, but it’s too basic. I’ll take it up a notch by marrying the shaped valance and the mirrors in the room and do antique mirrored cornices- very Helena Rubenstein. Panels and sheers filter light during the day and give privacy at night. Like the idea of layers.

Finding my tastes changing a bit. I am drawn to graphic repetition; modern looks mixed with classic French design. Wesco’s Crème Brulee in woodland . Metallic and silky cord couched in a vertical stripe 14” apart. JF Fabrics faux bois sheer- Precious.  Bench fabric  with bird is  Pindler and Pindler.

Classic stylings of Italian strung draperies inspired option 2. I’ll hide a roller shade for privacy underneath. High contrast  is the theme in the draperies -coming in two punches of color- honeysuckle and orange. I’ll do a box pleated heading, BUT the first pleat space in from the leading edge  is pieced and sewn on the reverse revealing the tangerine hue and creating a stripe in 6”.

This is where I began and the simplest option- sheers and panels on decorative hardware mounted at the crown.  The sheers are trimmed with espresso velvet ribbon on the leading edge and the treatment is hung from 2 different  rods. A small  brass rod for the sheers and a fluted pole with brass rings playing off the gold finishes in the room. OR a plexi rod for the sheers and silver washed pole for the panels.

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