V+P is all abuzz in anticipation of next week’s Masquerade Ball at the New York Design Center, where the design community comes together in spectacular costumes to raise money for The Alpha Workshops. It’s absolutely one of my favorite nights of the year. And while I’m sworn to secrecy regarding our costumes (I signed a pretty official-looking contract) I am able to leak one thing: I’ll be wearing a moustache. Specifically, this moustache: Hint: It’s neither Burt Reynolds nor Tom Selleck. (Did you guess “Frida Kahlo?” You’re getting warmer!) I’m totally hands-in-the-air loving into the idea of sporting the ‘stache…and…

As a mom, my entire world view is seen through the lens of what the world will be for the next generations, from the way we impact the environment to our educational systems. This week I was tickled by two very inspiring thoughts on a topic that I feel compelled to share. And I hope these inspire you to help change the world as well -even if it is with baby steps. The first was learning the air-date November 14th, for ABC-TV’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s makeover of the Lighthouse Preschool in Nashville TN. You might remember this school –…

This week was a doozy, with Esther and I running around FortyOne Madison for The New York Tabletop Market. The show was a huge success and we saw lots of excited press and retailers going wild for gorgeous gifts, china, flatware and crystal. BUT, we saw something else very, very important right in the building’s lobby after hours…. … John Slattery of AMC’s Mad Men was on his way upstairs for a script reading. We managed to get a quick chat in, and let me tell you, it was glorious. Also marvelous? Earlier that afternoon we attended the launch of…

When I was little, I used to make my younger brother Kyle (begrudgingly) perform skits with me.  “It’s called theatre, Kyle,” I used to say as I rolled my eyes with cultural superiority.  “Hello.”  Of course, I wrote the script, was the star, and always brought down the house (read: the living room couch lined with stuffed animals).  Anyway, one of my recurring characters was a fortune teller with a crystal ball who predicted the future in incredible detail. I bring this up because today I’d like to play “fortune teller” once again; my prediction is that my college friend…

Neither torrential downpours or the threat of tornadoes could stop the V+P crew from celebrating the one-year anniversary of Designer Pages IDNY Meet up group last month. Of course, our client, Allsteel Inc. was hosting the gig at their ultra-hip Resource Center in Union Square, but we would have been there anyway — you know we’re regulars on the Meetup scene! The September 16 bash featured some truly inspiring speakers (per the usual at IDNY), including the creative minds behind Rich, Brilliant and Willing: Theo Richardson, Charles Brill and Alex Williams, along with renowned architectural designer Winka Dubbeldam, founder of…

I love (love love) design blogs, and their fresh, uncensored views of the industry I love so much. But as the community grows, it’s easy to get confused by some of the cutesy names and strangely similar craft projects. So I’m happy to see the new Curbed National, which offers Curbed’s to-the-point and sometimes snarky commentary on interior design and architecture, a departure from the popular blog’s fantastic real estate coverage.  There’s nothing cutesy here, except for the inspiration for this post: an ingenious random design blog name generator. My favorites so far? L’-curated-thing.com, Hello-delicious-housewife.typepad.com and This-shiny-martha.blogspot.com While you’re over…

Last week was marked by two seemingly unrelated, but similarly interesting and inspiring, events in our V+P and EQ (EventQuest) world. The first was a visit to LaGrange, Georgia, headquarters of our new client InterfaceFLOR, one of the most progressive companies in the industry in respect to green issues and corporate culture.  You’ll be hearing much more about the company and the voices within it because theirs is a story that needs to be told much more widely! Not only does InterfaceFLOR have some of the smartest designs in the carpeting world, but their entire design and manufacturing process is…

Earlier this week, I saw a Huffington Post article on The Dollar ReDe$ign Project, another fine example of how to “cash in” on crowdsourcing. The thought behind the project is that the American dollar is lagging behind its rival, the Euro, and that  a money makeover would help stimulate an economy that is a little more “George Washington” than “Benjamin Franklin,” if you know what I mean. Some of the designs really are impressive, and totally make me want to go crazy at the mall. The most popular design, according to the article, was submitted by British duo Dowling Duncan:…

Recently, the V+P crew was privy to Showtime’s Showhouse opening night event at the Cassa Hotel and Residences. The event brought together outstanding designers who transformed three penthouse apartments at Cassa into rooms themed from the cable network’s hit TV shows: Dexter, Californication, The Big “C”, Nurse Jackie, The Borgias, The United States of Tara and Weeds. V+P was excited to attend after spending weeks working the designers, some of whom incorporated Karastan, a luxury manufacturer of carpeting and rugs (and our client), into their design. Karastan was one of the event’s many sponsors. Take a look at some of…

Bonjour! I was fortunate enough to visit Paris around Labor Day for the Maison et Objet Show, and to do a little trend spotting with our wonderful client at Benjamin Moore. Not only was the weather gorgeous, the Euro was down a bit, and the city was not too full since the Parisians were just returning from their summer vacances. Let’s get this out of the way. Yes, I ate a lot of macarons. I hit Pierre Herme, Laduree, Angelina, and everything in between. I am still not tired of them, and would really like another Pierre Herme olive oil…