Do your interiors need a nudge in the right direction? Kim Armstrong has a one-day solution for you. (Photo: Deanna Boyd)
Award-winning interior designer Kim Armstrong recently launched Day of Design, and it’s a really genius way to fluff up your space.
Let’s say you just need a lil’ help, not a full-on hand-hold, just more of a nudge in the right direction. Day of Design is the perfect solution.
CandysDirt.com and Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove will host a panel discussion on innovation and disruption in the home building industry on March 26.
We talk a lot about disruption and innovation here at CandysDirt.com, largely in the realm of the real estate business. But we also know that the same dynamic takes place in the building and design world as well. Who are the disruptors and innovators in the building world? How do you build change into your business plan? What has changed in the past five years when it comes to energy efficiency and even what customers desire?
We’ll delve into all that and more in a forward-looking panel with some phenomenal builder experts on March 26, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The folks at Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove partnered with CandysDirt to talk about innovation, as well as how their showroom can be an asset for builders, realtors, and designers who want to train staff about the latest appliances, or help clients visualize what their dream kitchen looks like.
Stacy Brotemarkle comes by her passion for homebuilding through a deep family history. Her grandfather and father were builders, her grandmother in real estate, and her uncle an architect.
“My mom has a picture of me at two years old sitting on a stack of plywood on one of my dad’s job sites,” Brotemarkle laughs. “I was 12 when I told my family I wanted to be an interior designer and I stuck with that desire and got my BFA degree from the University of North Texas, along with a minor in engineering technology.”
Stacy Brotemarkle
As vice president and lead interior designer for Bella Custom Homes, Brotemarkle offers a winning combination of knowledge, experience, and perspective to designing, building, and serving her clients. She has worked on over 200 custom luxury homes in the North Texas market, collaborating with future homeowners from day one.
“It’s so beneficial for interior designers to be at the planning stages because we can think far down the line and ask the kind of questions that will avoid future headache — where is furniture going to go? Will the door swing into the wall? Where are those drapery panel going to stack?” she said. “The earlier in the process that you start thinking about these things, the easier the whole process is because we use a building block process and all selections are in a chronological process for our clients.”
Bella Custom Homes’ clients get the benefit of working with a licensed interior designer to assist them throughout the whole process, from designing to building their new dream home. The designer works with the clients from designing the house plans to “specing” the project.
Once construction starts, the real fun begins. The designer is at all the on-site design meetings, takes clients to the showrooms to make decorative selections, and visits the site to make sure everything gets implemented in a way that translates the clients’ vision to reality. The results speak for themselves.
Those purveyors of the best contemporary furnishings in town, Scott & Cooner, have a great present for all of us: a holiday SALE just in time to outfit the house for the holidays. It’s at the warehouse location, 2150 Irving Blvd. 10 am to 4 pm until Friday. We told you all about it last week but here is reminder.
For a handy-dandy map, click here.
What you (and I) will find:
Rugs by Yerra: fabulous hides and stitched hides, by Moooi: bright pallettes and unusual creations, like this Delft round rug whose original art design was hand-painted on a ceramic plate, and by Nanimariquina, a Barcelona rug designer and manufacturer. I’m actually buying a rug now so you might catch me down there. Rugs are impossible, I think, to buy on the internet.
Furnishings: a selection of Giorgetti sofas, Cassina chairs, tables and more, and a variety of Paola Lenti indoor/outdoor and outdoor furniture. I mean, with temperatures this temperate, go ahead and have Christmas dinner outside! (more…)
Wait, did I say a store store? Yes, I did.
Frontgate, that wonderful luxury lifestyle retailer known for its best-in-class furnishings, enhancements, and gadgets, plus the catalogue everyone receives — best patio and outdoor selections hands down, and those signature holiday decorations! — has traditionally been a mail order retailer. With the exception of a few outlets and a bricks and mortar store/outlet in Atlanta, Frontgate has mostly enjoyed catalogue and on-line sales.
Until last Friday. The cash registers are now flying at the new Frontgate store in Legacy West, and I was proudly their first Texas brick and mortar customer. The retailer’s flagship store is striking and huge: 22,000 square feet with 2,500 devoted to vignettes. Naturally I came away with mental plans to entirely redecorate my patio and pool area, but I also found some goodies for serving, entertaining, and some other spots inside my home.
I have long been a Frontgate customer. Go out to my pool and you will find a verdigris pool towel hanger designed for that very purpose. Or check the weather-proof storage boxes for pool toys: Frontgate. I have a couple of their lidded exterior wastebaskets. I have a couple Frontgate ladders and have had several foam floating pool loungers over the years. The Legacy store has all that practical outdoors stuff and much more: lounge chairs, swivel rockers, and patio poufs that look straight from Austin Spa. They call them heirloom pieces updated for today’s lifestyle.
Frontgate prides itself on creating items with a functional purpose — a major engineering feat is buried in every product. Their glassware is not just attractive and for drinking, it’s unbreakable and sturdy, so you can use it outside all night long without having to worry about shattered glass. Or this luxurious outdoor lounger that goes into table mode when company rings the doorbell.
Want to find out what inspires the talented designers of IBB? Read about them below and then meet them in person on June 17!
While we love it when a designer comes in and whip our homes into very stylish shape, sometimes we just want to pick their brains. What’s the method behind it all? And when it comes to interiors, personality is everything. Wouldn’t you want to meet the people you might put in charge of your most personal spaces?
Well, here’s your chance. IBB Design Fine Furnishings is hosting a “Meet the Designers” open house on June 17, where you can see some beautiful vignettes and learn more about these professionals and their inspired design. Wine and beer will be served throughout the day, and food will be available from Easy Slider, with dessert options from Trailercakes, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with hors d’oeuvres from 2 to 6 p.m. The first 250 guests at the event, hosted at IBB’s showroom at 5798 Genesis Court in Frisco, will receive a swag bag.
Today we’re offering you a sneak peek of the talented interior designers and their take on decor, straight from the experts themselves. Read on for four engaging Q&As with the designers of IBB Design Fine Furnishings!
All photos courtesy of Kohler
Great news for design professionals and homeowners alike: Kohler is expanding availability of its bath and kitchen products with the opening of the Kohler Signature Store by Facets of Dallas in the Knox-Henderson neighborhood. Owned and operated by Hajoca Corporation, the new location will be the fourth Signature Store within the company portfolio.
Located at 4640 McKinney Ave., this will be the 19th signature store in the country, and the only signature store in Texas.
“Dallas has a high concentration of our target customer, both home owners and trade professionals, and home owners in the area value good design, American-made products symbolized by good quality,” said Michelle Kilmer, Kohler’s Director of Showrooms. “Knox-Henderson is a regional draw with great shopping, great brands, and great restaurants, all of which appeal to our ideal customer.”
The 3,600-square-foot Kohler Signature Store will offer the full breadth of the Kohler Co. portfolio. In addition, the Kohler Signature Store will feature their exclusive Kohler Surfaces line as well as kitchen cabinets made locally.
Something for everyone at Round Top Antique Show (Photo: Lisa Stewart Photography)
One of the joys of living in an old printing factory is that you never run out of room or projects. When a friend mentioned that it was time for the Round Top Antique Fair this weekend, I decided it was time for this Lifestylist to get down to Round Top and see what all of the buzz was about, and I wasn’t disappointed. I just wondered what took me so long to take advantage of one of the best antique and vintage shows that is an easy road trip from Dallas. It truly was 26 miles of weird, wacky, and wonderful buys that offered something for everyone. (more…)
