**I just realized my journal is 1 year old this week and I look forward to another year providing insight into the Design World. Thank you for all of your continued support.

Saturday - San Francisco

Western Interiors & Design Magazine hosted a Home Show this weekend in San Francisco.  I was honored to be the Keynote Speaker tonight and enjoyed sharing my story.  For those who were unable to attend, the hot topic was about green design and the important role Designer’s play in educating our clients.  While recycled products are great for the environment, we must also look at the energy it takes to create each item.  For example, a recycled wood table shipped from overseas is not good for the environment when you look at the energy used in shipping.  In addition to this, manufacturers unveiled their new collections.  These are of few of my favorites: 

Gary Hutton’s Facet Table in bronze features a Swarovski crystal top.  I love how the sculptural metal base is paired with an unexpected sparkling top.  www.garyhutton.com

Philip Nimmo’s Ironworks unveiled his new collection of fireplace screens and tools.  What a beautiful way to accent your home’s fireplace.  I especially like Philip’s use of stained glass in this design.  www.philipnimmoironworks.com

Another favorite from the show are these Captain Mirrors from www.bddw.com They are leather framed & lined in wood while hanging from a cast bronze puck.

Williams Switzer’s console mixes traditional design styling with modern materials.

Beautiful lines and attention to detail are trademarks of Madeline Stuart’s Furniture Collection.  See more of her product line at www.madelinestuart.com

Thanks for checking in - I hope you enjoyed this entry ~Kenneth

Thursday

The power of paint can give dramatic results to any room.  About a year ago I designed an outdated bathroom for an employee (check journal archives for December 2006).  When you work on a tight budget your best friend is paint.

I was cleaning out my desk today and came across this photo of the bathroom in my first house here in Los Angeles.  There must have been a surplus of pink tile back when the house was built because I still encounter the same bathroom in many homes today.  The home was a rental that I shared with 3 friends near the beach and my rent was $340 a month.  What a bargain it seems now, although at the time I would dream of having extra money to paint the pink tiled bathroom.

To keep my design skills in check I spent a few hours today toying with ways I could have improved the bathroom.  It’s a fun exercise to re-visit the rooms of my past and apply different looks to them.   

When I moved to Los Angeles 12 years ago, this was the bathroom in a house I shared with 3 friends.  I wonder if it still looks the same

A little paint can go a long way - I played with the idea of glazing over the pink tile with a neutral color and created a contrasting band of color that acts as a chair-rail and crown moulding.  Going with a softer look, I thought an old fashioned school house lantern and simple roman shade would complete the look. 

As many of you know, I like to push the envelope. In this scenario I opted for dramatic black, red and grey color scheme.  Again, changing out the window treatment, mirror and light fixture help to complete the look.  I also thought the painted boarder on the wall added a punch of the unexpected.  It’s good to play on paper -  hope you enjoyed- KB

Tuesday

Check out my latest design advice on MSN.com to see what I’ve listed as 7 Design Dos and Don’ts….  Check out the link

http://shopping.msn.com/content/shp/?ctid=4259,ptnrid=164,ptnrdata=302257>1=10536

I’ll be posting more in my journal later this week.  I’ve been under the weather (allergies from the Malibu fires) and catching up on rest so I can make it to San Francisco this weekend for Western Interiors’ Design Show.  I will be the Key Note Speaker on Saturday.  For more information and tickets go to www.westerninteriorshomeshow.com

Thursday

The $500 / square foot tile has arrived. 

Yesterday was the opening of the Bisazza’s Los Angeles Flagship Showroom.  Best known for beautiful mosaic tile in large patterns, this tile is popular in commercial installations like restaurants and retail stores.  However, my guess is that we will start to see it used in master bathrooms and kitchens soon. While not all of it is priced at $500 per sq. ft. (a standard bathroom floor is 49 sq. ft - do the math - that would be a $24,500 floor) they do have other tiles that are reasonably priced.  Of course they wouldn’t be made of real Gold.

Bisazza’s new showroom located on Melrose Avenue

These mosaics made of real Gold are stunning in person.  While few people have the budget to do an entire wall,  I would suggest tiling a small table top.  A little bling can go a long way. 

Thursday - New York

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was selected by American Express Open to share my success story along with Michael Graves, Cecil Hayes and Barbara Barry.  As part of this campaign, we taped a segment last night in New York moderated by Seth Godin .  We all shared our personal stories about how we ended up as designers and architects.  I don’t want to give it all away, so once the footage is edited and a time and place for broadcast is announced, I will let you know (should be November 7th).

Barbara Barry with me at the after party last night.  Not only is she super talented, but she is so funny that I could not stop laughing backstage.

Wednesday - New York

I am in NYC for the American Express Open Design Forum (I’ll post more on the event tomorrow).  One benefit to traveling is staying at newly designed hotels.  Many people find hotels as a source of inspiration for their own home design project.

I thought I would share some photos from my hotel here in New York.  The Empire Hotel’s design is based on a gold and brown color concept and incorporates their logo into many of the patterns.  It is interesting to see how a simple concept can create such a huge impact.

The main living room is a play on texture with gold silk draperies, gold velvet sofas and dark stained wood paneling and brown wallpaper.  The stone floor pattern is the hotel’s logo blown up in scale (something that is repeated in various sizes throughout)

My favorite pieces are the small stools made of hammered brass with a chocolate colored chenille seat.  These are sprinkled throughout the main areas and reflect the light beautifully (they look like pieces of jewelry scattered about).  I love these so much that I may use them in my own house.  Also, notice the carpet pattern picks up on the hotel’s logo

  The hallways on each floor are wallpapered in brown and white birch tree pattern.  It feels like you’re walking through a forest on the way to your room.  A great example of how design can play with your senses.  You forget you’re in a big city

The wood theme also comes into play in the bathroom’s design.

The bedroom also works into the gold and brown concept.  All walls are wallpapered in a gold grasscloth patterned paper.  A dark brown ribbed vinyl wallcovering used in small strips outlines the corners, chair-rail and headboard.  The effect is very dramatic.  The small pillow is embroidered with the hotel’s logo.

By outlining the inside corners, the room takes on a tailored finished look the way a belt and tie can dress up a pant and shirt.

For the headboard, they applied the strip of ribbed vinyl wallcovering around chair-rail molding (which is nailed directly to the wall) to emphasize the headboard.  The upholstered part of the headboard is also attached directly to the wall.  An easy way to make your own headboard.

Picking up on the wood theme (remember the hallway) the bathroom is tiled in ceramic tile which is printed to look like wood grain.  Tiling all walls in a small bathroom with this pattern creates an optical illusion, making the room seem bigger than it is.  I just wonder how long it will take until this looks dated.  Tile is not cheap to replace, whereas wallpaper is.

Wednesday - High Point, North Carolina

The Fall Furniture Market is in full swing here in NC.  It is a one stop shop for designers to see what’s new in home decor.  The International Home Furnishings Center invited me to hold a seminar this afternoon to a sold out group of designers.  It was long due for me to turn the camera on them as my topic was finding your own internal design celebrity.  We had a great time sharing stories about clients and all the fun challenges they present us with.  In the end, the point I wanted to make was that everyone deserves to be treated like a celebrity, especially our clients.  No matter what the size of the budget, if you treat all your clients like they’re the celebrity, you will achieve your goal of providing a home in which they can live comfortably and graciously.

A great group…we had a lot of fun

I visited one of my favorite showrooms, Hickory Chair (I’m pictured here with the President of Hickory Chair, Jay Reardon).  He started a new program which allows you to personalize all collections.  You can change the size of any piece in inch increments.  So if you need that 8’-3” sofa, no problem.  He also started a program that allows you to mix any knob on any piece of furniture.  These little details can change the look of a piece allowing you to fit it into any design style.

A new trend with beds…headboards that extend behind the nightstands…you may remember I did this on my show last year.  I think it creates a clean tailored look.

I met with design students from High Point University and Kendall College of Art and Design.

I’m now heading to Philidelphia to discuss a line of home accessories…stay tuned -