I'm not here.

I mean, not at home, that is.

I am with JJ and 3 other girls at a lovely little home in the Russian River Valley in northern CA. My fiance's dad bought the place 6 years ago and he completely rebuilt it. Wrap-around porch, view of vineyards, lovely outside desck and patio with fireplace, salvaged wood floors that he put in upstairs, gorgeous ebonized hardwoods downstairs. Ugh. He's so industrious it makes me weep at what little we have done at our home. He's amazing. He even made a bunch of the furniture in here. Crazy.

I'll try to upload photos when I am back. Have a good weekend everyone. I'll be sure to have a glass of wine for each any every one of you.

Home Ec

I'm 31. I am about to get married to a guy who has a son who is 13. I have been with the man who is my fiance for 6 years (7? I can't even keep track now.)

I was having dinner recently with my friend Tracy and she asked, innocently, if I got along with the kid. (Yes.) She asked if that was always the case (yes and no).

I took that as my opening to do what I do, which is spread the gospel of realism as it relates to 30-something relationships.

It was never easy. I met someone who already had a life, had already had a wife. Someone who already had a kid.

I supposed not really wanting a child of my own (so far) helped in some way. At least there wasn't that weird jealousy like "let have our OWN family" which can, I find, be both a genuine want for some people entering into a blended family, and also, at times, a desperate strategy for laying down some kind of territorialism in the new relationship. At any rate, it's not a dynamic we had to fight.

But we had other battles.

The most sitcom-like part is that he was still best friends with the twin sister of his ex-wife (did you catch that?) and her husband. So when it started to get serious, I had not only the pleasure of meeting his really beautiful blond, gregarious, smart, high-achieving ex-wife, I got to become friends with her IDENTICAL TWIN. Yes, twin. Staring at the ex. Even when she's not there. Totally awesome.

The worst part about that kind of situation is that is that you anticipate the natural order of adversity guiding your emotions, actions, biases. You think you get to have an enemy. But then, in my case, you realize: the enemy is not so bad. You don't learn this in school; it's not the chapter after "hemming pants" in Home Ec, although maybe it should be.

Let me tell you: that really fucks with how you think you're going to function in a step-world.

There were bumps. No need to go into that here. But the amazing part is how not bumpy it is now.

We have his son half the time. The ex-wife lives just about 5 blocks away. The twin sister of the ex-wife lives 2 blocks away. All the cousins are friends. I love all the kids. I love the adults, too. We host the kids for movie nights. I like to laugh with the ex-wife about my soon-to-be husband. We share inside jokes about him. I was desperate for paint thinner one night and she was the second call I made (after her twin). It didn't really hit me until the next morning that it's all so normal now that she's become the neighbor I will borrow a cup of sugar from.

I never wanted this. There were a good 3 years where I actively told friends, "Don't get involved with someone who has been married before." I meant it. I look back at my 27 year old self and I know I meant it. But you don't give that kind of advice once you have folded the weirdness of family into your own experience. These years are what I know now, and they are good. We just cleared the table from a dinner where I got to enjoy the company of this kid who isn't even mine. That's a gift. A true gift.

Love conquers biology, I think is what I am trying to tell you. It's funny the people who become part of your tribe, if you are around them enough. I don't just love the fiance and the kid. I love the ex-wife and her husband (even though he wears socks with Tevas). I love the ex-wife's twin sister and her husband, our good friends. I love their children and the sarcasm they inherited. I love the fiance's kid - his kindness and his deep sensitivity and his now-ripened sense of irony and adult reactions to the world around him. And I love the man, this man who gave me this fucked up sitcom-worthy family, because he waited around long enough for me to figure out that it was all going to be ok.


Photo by Ethan Hill.

What is this?

What is this? It's replacing the Wing Dome hot wings outlet in Capitol Hill... half a block from Dinette. Not open quite yet.

Looks a little like Portland's Cielo Home. If the merchandise is similar, I will be in heaven.

Shop Cielo Home HERE.

Dear AD

Hey, AD. It's me. Decorno.

Yeah, I know you're never going to read this. You're too busy driving your aging wife to her Botox appointment. I can't believe you guys are still married. You're always in New York and she's always at the Palm Beach house. Sad.

Anyhoo....

Hey, I wanted to let you know that I was thinking about you. There are a few things that bug the living shit out of me about you.

First - halogen lights. Halo-fucking-gen lights. In *every* issue. Uplights. Downlights. Spotlights. Recessed lights. Light-lickity-lights. It makes me DIZZY just to think about it. Who can eat under those? That's not a dining room, it's an interrogation chamber at Guantanamo. With lights like that, you could get me to confess to pretty much anything.


Second - Your covers. Who are these people? I mean, I like John Travolta as an actor, but he's not a compelling personality outside of his roles. And I don't think he's a style icon, exactly. So why is he here?


And this one. David Copperfield? I don't even think this one is real, to tell you the truth. You can't always trust those crazy Google image search results. But then again, you have Travolta on the cover, so why not DAVID COOPERFIELD. Crazier things have happened.


Third - Jennifer Post. I am not even going to explain myself here. You know why AD. You know why.


Fourth - There isn't much architecture in your digest. I know you remind us by telling us that you're a magazine about interiors, but come on now. Try to be good at something. Interiors or architecture. Pick one and apply yourself.

When it's doctor's office time and I am scanning the dingy magazines before me and my options are a Newsweek circa 2006, Highlights, that hard-cover Jesus book for kids*, or AD, the choice is clear (and it's not you). You're soulless and you make those big, expensive, decorated homes look incredibly lonely.

And any publication about homes - where we eat and laugh and make babies and raise them and feed them and care for the ones we love and live out our good days and bad... any magazine that makes a home - of all places - feel lonely, well, that's a digest of interiors I just don't need to see.

24 Karat Vintage Interiors in Georgetown, Seattle

Look certain shop owners in Seattle. I am on to you. I see you shopping at Pacific Galleries, Antika, and 24 Karat for excellent finds, and then I know you simply recover and charge another $2000 for these treasures.

But that's ok. Because I shop at the source. And for many in Seattle, the best kept secret (until now) is 24 Karat Vintage Interiors in Georgetown, a neighborhood known better for its drinking outposts and its tough urban/industrial terrain.

Brigh's treasures come from here and abroad (Paris, specifically) and he's not at all catholic about his tastes. In his store you will find vintage chrome chairs (ready to plop in an LA home) right next to a $4000 pair of antique chairs. It's all about the mix.

You can see this great collection for yourself at:

1226 South Bailey Street
Seattle, WA
206-618-3731


Ok... I am slowly wrapping up my series on great shops in Seattle.

In your city, what are those shops that you think are the underground sources for the best finds?

Great Stuff, in Seattle's Georgetown

Kirk Albert is the only game in town.

That is, he is the only one hunting down and acquiring incredibly unique vintage items and then offering them up for your retail consumption. What makes his buying so unique is the risk involved.

Kirk goes big. A giant gilded shoe (formerly a display item?). A time-worn stack of vintage wedding cake molds. A huge "MEAT MARKET" sign. You won't see this kind of stuff in your regular store, but Kirk isn't operating your regular shop.

Kirk specializes in lighting and offers his own designs crafted from vintage parts. He used to sell at Seattle's large Pacific Galleries, but recently moved to the still-seedy but on-the-verge neighborhood of Georgetown, just south of the downtown Seattle core.

My friend JJ and I visited him yesterday, chatted him up, and took these snapshots for you. WE LOVE KIRK. Not just because he is the best display merchandiser in Seattle, not just because he has a keen eye for cool product, not just because he's addicted to reality TV and is a fucking crack up. No. We love him because as soon as we walked out of his store and hopped back into the big rig, we decided that Kirk has the best head of hair on any man we have ever seen.

So, go see for yourself and pick up a MEAT MARKET sign while you are at it.

Georgetown, Seattle shopping: 24 Karat, Revival Home & Garden, and Great Stuff

This is the store called Great Stuff. Kirk, the owner, is a masterful merchandiser.


Big shopping day in Georgetown, Seattle, a neighborhood that is on the verge.

Here's a preview. I will be posting more after I go get my haircut by Isabella at Gene Juarez. (After a 5 year search, I found the BEST haircut from the most adorable stylist in all the land. Go there.)


Incredible finds at 24 Karat Antiques.


More great stuff from Great Stuff.



Revival Home & Garden.

Casting Call

I am working on a few projects and I need some help:

1) Do you have (or know of) a Seattle-based home, design, gardening, or otherwise fabulous personal blog? If so, please email or leave a comment with a link.

2) Are you a budding interior designer or shop owner and want people to know about you and your fabulous work? If so, please email me with photos and information.

3) Do you make or manufacture a cool product and want help finding distribution? Maybe you make letterpress cards, have a cool lighting line, produce soy candles that cure cancer, make hand-stamped organic cotton fabric... anything you think Decorno people might love. I would love to hear about it and help you get your product in front of small retailers.

4) I am looking for guest bloggers on these topics:
- Landscaping & Garden
- Ask a Designer (would like a small stable of established designers to help with design questions)

Neece's vintage chic.

I recently bought a chair via Craigslist from a cool chick named Neece (read about it HERE.) I was so smitten with her place and her murals that I begged her to send photos so I could share them. Her place gives me vintage envy and makes me want to run out and scoop up pieces from the 60s and 70s immediately.

Neece is a working artist and takes commissions for murals like the lovely ones you see in her kitchen and entry. You can contact here HERE.

What are the things you bought that you've never regretted?

We all buy mistakes and they are so easy to dwell on. When I moved into my house, with it's lovely bones and its shit interiors, we made mistakes we are still living with (like putting lame carpet in upstairs...).

But I was thinking today about homes and why it all matters. Actually, I was thinking, "What an interesting day... a blog I started as a lark is getting a lot of traffic now."

And then I was also thinking, "My fiance must think this is all really stupid. I mean - who the hell wastes time writing about decor?"

And then I was thinking about Deborah Needleman and the Domino dustup. And what I settled on was this: we love the same thing. We love the idea that home and identity (for a certain class) is tied together. That it really does matter, for better or worse. It's some kind of expression. And when we get it right, it's happiness.

My favorite room is a jumble of wreckage and castoffs. I like this room most, I realized today, because it never mattered. it's a personal room; it's not meant for guests to hang out in. In it I have a fake-Saarinen low-table I found for $75 at a flea market. A $25 chippy dresser that I prop a mirror on and use every morning as I put on my war paint (lipgloss and mascara) to face the day. A $20 aluminum garden chair that serves as a dumping ground for dirty clothes and piles of magazines I plan to get through. A funny teal French bergere that I bought from a nice artist off Craigslist that I hope to recover, but know will sit untouched for 6 months before I have the time to fix it.

These are things I don't regret buying. I could spend my time worrying about decorating mistakes, but I grow more sure and stubborn about the things I like every year. I like the cheap stuff the most. The vintage paintings, the wobbly wooden table we use to prop up flowers in the lonely staircase landing; I love the photography, like the one up top (by Chad States) because it's the kind of thing that keeps a Tudor from feeling like and uptight BBC devotee. Despite all the things we need to fix here, there is good stuff. Stuff that makes it feel like home. Good things we scored that we will just never part with.

What are the things you don't regret buying? Do you have an impulse or a splurge-y thing you acquired that has stood by you and made you happy ever since? I want to hear about it.

Decorno mentioned in Washington Post.

Ah, yes. Blog Watch. Terri Sapienza does a fun weekly round-up of interesting home and design blogs each week. Decorno's Domino posts resulted in today's mention.

The post would not have been even remotely newsworthy without the really excellent comments from all of you. Thanks again for making Decorno more than Ikat and "Pretty!" Your comments are always hugely entertaining and thoughtful.


Click HERE to read Bloglines on washingtonpost.com.

I also enjoyed Linda's comments on her Cameleon Interiors blog, wondering if we're all becoming shills for the magazines. Then again, I offer up thrilling content like THIS commentary on fish-shaped laundry hampers to balance out magazine related posts, so I do feel like I am a little bit off the hook when it comes to posting things from magazines. :)

And lastly, everyone gets spanked HERE by one of my very favorite blogs, Isuwanee, for ruining Domino by posting things in advance. I invoke a Sinead-like "Fight the real enemy!" response in her comments section.

Paul Costello wants you to take better photos.

Remember THIS post about photographer Paul Costello? If you love Domino magazine, chances are you've drooled over his amazing work.

I emailed Paul recently to ask him for advice on interior photography, especially since so many of us are blogging and sharing photos of our homes on the web. Paul had great advice:


From Paul:

Don't ever use an on camera flash.


Turn off the flash. It's his #1 rule, you know.

Get a tripod and bracket the exposures. In otherwords if the lightmeter tells your camera to expose for 2 seconds, start there then do 4 seconds, then 8 seconds until it is obviously too bright.

Sometimes the best light is really low light... Don't be afraid of 30 second exposures.

Turn off your lamps and overhead lights... Not just in the room your shooting but in nearby rooms as well.

If the room and the styling are ugly, it's likely your pictures will be ugly too.

Even most point and shoot cameras have manual settings. People would be well served to get familiar with their cameras... They'll be suprised how many functions even cheap cameras have.

If you're scouting for magazines (this is good advice for anyone) remember that editors want to see the whole room... Avoid tons of middle distance vignettes. Also try to show how rooms flow to each other.

Frame up shots with things in the foreground and middleground. Sometimes it's cool to let a chair close to the camera go all blurry.

Try things that are contrary to the obvious way you look at the room... Like get really low or get up high. Don't think you need to always be super graphic and at right angles.


Take a shot from a better angle of view. Be willing to move yourself - or your furniture - around.

In otherwords, experiment while you're shooting... The best pictures are often surprises.

Lastly, the way a room looks best when you're standing in it is often not the best way to shoot it... Get ready to move furniture around.

P



Get to know your camera. Play with depth of field and aperture settings. You can then focus on points of interest and the background sort of fades away.


Sometimes details matter. Get close.


Natural light. It worked for the masters. It can work for you.


Thank you, Paul Costello, for your advice.

Revival Home & Garden opens in Georgetown, Seattle

I got an email today from Leah who *just* opened a store in the so-cool-it-hurts neighborhood of Georgetown in Seattle. (Ahem, she did not invite Decorno to her opening... I just would like to point that out right here... but I'm not bitter... seriously).

Now with 24 Karat dealing antiques there, with Kirk having opened Great Stuff, and with Revival cutting the ribbon, I would say for Georgetown (finally):

Game on.




Just this morning I was telling two young associates at my company... buy a house in Georgetown. It's gritty, it's cheap, it's fabulous... it will only get better. Good things are happening there, but so far it's been a chop shop, a Vespa store, Fantagraphics (gotta love that... can you say Ghost World?), and All City Coffee. But real retail has been tough. Revival finally puts Georgetown over the hump when Seattle-ites decide which far flung and blocked-by-water neighborhood it wants to journey to for a weekend outing.

So... visit Revival and check out the whole neighborhood. And buy a house while you are at it. You can't lose. Things are happening here.


Revival Home and Garden
Great Stuff
Fantagraphics
Nine Pound Hammer bar

This totally made my day.

Remember THIS post?

Well, reader Tara left this comment:

I've never left a comment on any blog of a person I don't know, but I've got to say that I've used that fabric (titled "Wranglers")! I made hot pads and a dish towel for a couple of cowboy lovin' ladies I know and they loved them (see them HERE). One has them on display, the other doesn't and both of those choices are fine by me. I've used the same company's shirtless construction worker print ("Heavy Equipment") for boxer shorts and hot pads too and all were big hits. Are they stylish? No. Classy? Uh-uh. Fun and cheer-enducing? You bet!

I am trying to picture Tara trying NOT to laugh as she sews these fabulous hot pads up.
I love Tara already.


Maison 21 - - watch out, because you KNOW you are getting these for your birthday.

Reader Decorating Dilemma: Carrie's Entry

Carrie likes this photo of RON MARVIN's place. So do I.

Carrie H recently wrote in with photos of her place, asking for help from you all:


Decorno -

Pictures of my entry in need of help. I have other problem areas but I'd love to start here. The owl is from my husbands parents and can be placed elsewhere in our house, the accessories/are ordinary/nothing special. I do like the lamp but would like something with more punch like the yellow lamps in the Ron Marvin photo. The tile/carpet will be replaced by wood (hopefully in '08).

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Carrie





Carrie - first, you're going to paint the walls. I am terrible with color, so someone else will get to boss you around and tell you what color exactly you should paint the entry. You look like you have some kind of sponge-painted business going on in there and we are going to liberate you from that.

Ron Marvin is probably the reason I am so excited about decor. He was a finalist in Met Home's reader contest years ago and I remembered thinking, "Wow... you can really live with vintge/flea finds in an elegant way?" I grew up with Levitz. It was a revelation. He has great taste, yet it's still accessible. You've picked a great role model here.

Deconophiles - - what say you? Help this woman out. You did a great job with Linds, I know you will be so kind and helpful to Carrie.



Gratuitous entry porn.

Fierce Interiors.

Gina Merulla, 27 year old merchandisder for Polo, shows off her digs in Time Out New York.

Read more about it HERE.

Photos by Patrik Rytikangas.

SF Girl By Bay: Inside look at this blogger's home

So maybe it's old news, but I just can't get over this fresh, happy room by blogger sfgirlbybay.

LOVE the light fixture and the white hotness of the place. Yum.

You can read more about it HERE.

It's almost here, I can feel it...

I am sure my mail guy is flipping through it right now...

Fabric I will never use, but I am glad to know exists:

This is not a joke.
You can buy it HERE..

Maison Luxe, Seattle Fremont Market, and Burnt Sugar

It was a shopping day for me, and I thought I would take some photos of favorite Sunday haunts.



Maison Luxe. Yum.



I loved this silver-y Schumacher wallpaper called "Lace"


Burnt Sugar, in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood:





Fremont Market. Every Sunday a few thousand people come here to find their treasure.

Where can I find this lamp?

UPDATE:

Found it here: HERE. Lamp is by Jamie Young and the style is called "Lafitte." I have seen it priced anywhere from $165 for the smaller 14" version to over $600 for the taller version. This site offers it at $295.

Buenos Aires

Did you see THIS article?

Oh, Argentina.

If our depressed dollar is making it impossible for you to justify the expense of a vacation to Rome or Paris, go now to Expedia and book your tickets to Buenos Aires. I went for 6 days last summer. Tickets were $900 round trip, I paid about $350 for my hotel for 5 nights, and I probably didn't spend more than $450 for the whole week on everything else.

A meal that would cost you $150 in NY is about $35 in Buenos Aires.

The city used to be one of the most expensive, but their own financial crisis several years ago means the city is a bargain now, and artists, developers, and travelers are flocking to BA now.

I tell people that if Paris, New York, and the blighted cities of the 3rd world had a baby, it would be Buenos Aires. It's beautiful like Paris, run down in other parts, and mind blowingly chic in the newer neighborhoods like Palermo Viejo and Palermo SoHo.

Don't speak Spanish? Neither do I. And I went alone, so if I can do it, you can do it. But it would be better to go with friends, especially design-loving friends who want to see the best of what's new in this city. I will tell you this: you don't have to do the things everyone tells you to do. I didn't see any tango. I focused my time on the San Telmo Flea Market (click HERE to read all about it), the restaurants, the food, and the shopping. The Wallpaper guide to BA plus a DK guide to the city are all you need. And a map. Get a map with street numbers, that's very important in BA. Everything else is pretty easy. And cheap.


Links:

Home Hotel
Home hotel.
Bar 6
MALBA
Buquebus, the ferry you need to take to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay



Color in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, just 1 hour from Buenos Aires


Cobblestone in Colonia, a UNECO World Heritage site.


Posada Plaza Mayor, great place to stay in Colonia, in the heart of the historic town.


The tough neighborhood of Boca. This is also the soccer team you will want to root for.


I gave up looking for Eva Peron's grave. But it's right around here... somewhere.






Coffee and lunch at Matt's. Everyone goes to Matt's.


Get your shop on in the Palermo neighborhoods.


The shopping is as good as that of NYC. Photos courtesy of gaysofourlives.com




The boys of Gays of Our Lives , hanging out at Home hotel.

Reader Decorating Dilemma: Linds B's Brownstone Apt

Hi Decorno!

First let me say that I guess I'm joining a long line of "Decorno Stalkers" (again not to sound creepy). I love your taste and your sense of humor, everything you write makes me laugh out loud or it could have totally been something I said. (Aw shucks... thanks Linds! - Decorno)

So, here is my dilemma- my family room. I am in an apartment, so I can't do much about the color of the walls as much as I would like to. Although, I have thought on occasion about painting but not sure how the landlord would feel about it. The main pieces in the room (couch, leather chair, tv stand) are staying for now, so I need some help on how to work with them. Some color choices, accessories, fabric, etc. One thing that sticks out to me are the curtains. I live on the first floor of a brownstone type building so I need some privacy, but also want to let light in. The windows are all curved and have large crown mouldings at the top making it hard for curtain rods. Should I keep these, or invest some time into making new ones? Any suggestions? I can handle it :)

Thank you for your answers or any help anyone could suggest.

Thanks,

LindsB

Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.

Remember THESE? Well that crazy lady SOLD them. I cannot even tell you how annoyed I was. All this listening to her cat's bladder problems and how she had to go to the caucus, and I was like, hey no problem, when can I call you back to come get them? And she said, tomorrow at 11. Cool. So I call her the next day and she announced that she sold them and acted like she was surprised to hear from me. Cat Lady, I *told* you I would call you. Oy.

Anyhoo, look at those chairs in that old post! I didn't need 'em. They are not nearly as fab as what I have really wanted all along, which is some kind of low-rider bergere-ish chair to recover in some magnificent fabric.

Neece (say: knee-see) to the rescue. I found her and her excellent little Frenchy chair you see above today on Craigslist.

Neece and I got to chatting and she's a painter/muralist, and likes good music, as you can see HERE.

I am so glad I get to adopt her excellent chair. Thanks Neece!

Ah, yes.

I don't even know where to start.

Seriously.

I LOVE it. At first glance, it was so over the top, I thought, "The woman who lives here is the kind of woman who snorts cocaine off her pool boy's ass."

But upon further inspection, it's not "Donatella" enough, you know? There is too much humor here. For one - the black bust with the white turban. Yep - - look for it - - now you see it, huh? I mean, is it a vase? Does it have a flower popping out of it? (My grandmother had lamps like that dude and she was really serious about them. All the way to 1995, which was a little embarassing then.)

And then, of course, is the crazy collection of fabrics and patterns and colors and art. They eye can't stop on anything because it's a dizzy zoo with no focus. I think it might actually be a skill to create a room like that.

But the best part? The snake on the floor. Real? Fake? Either way, you win, oh decorator lady. Because if it's real, then you MIGHT actually be Donatella, all tanned up & bleached out, snorting cocaine off some hot guy's ass. And if it's fake - well, then you're the kind of person who walks around this hot mess of a room thinking, "Hmmm... what little something extra does this room need? Ah, yes. A funny plastic snake."

Ah yes, my friends. Ah, yes.

Email from Domino's editor Deborah Needleman

Drew Barrymore in April's issue of Domino. Photo by Stewart Shining. Design by Ruthie Sommers.


A few weeks ago I posted my "Open Letter to Domino," , and a 2nd, related post, which combined have resulted in about 130 comments. Clearly, many of us had the same thoughts about Domino's "green" issue and a lot of people voiced criticism and also suggestions.

Deborah Needleman then contacted me inviting some sort of dialogue. About a week letter, I sent her the email below with a number of questions which I thought represented reader comments as well as my own.

Deborah was kind enough to respond recently, and to let me know that I should feel free to post the response, so I offer to you both of them.

Now - if you're totally tired of the Domino saga, I apologize in advance. I think a few of you basically said, "Get on with it and start posting more home porn!" which I can certainly appreciate. But because I have this weird tick that requires closure on all issues - and because many of you have emailed or posted asking if she had responded, I do owe it to many of you to close the loop.

So, here I hope to close it. Sort of.

Not all questions were answered (at least not yet), as you will see below, so maybe we will simply have to wait and see if/how the direction of the magazine changes. DN seems to think we will like the April issue much more than the March green issue. It's going to feature this year's crop of hot young designers, plus style from Redd, Dunham, and Sommers - - people we tend to get worked up about.


**************************************

Hi Deborah,

I owed you a response DAYS ago and got swamped with work, so my apologies.

So - first I want to say that as a representative of Conde Nast, I would imagine that it's your job to be somewhat guarded in your responses to me. I understand that, and don't expect too much. But I would like to assure you that I won't post anything you write to me without your consent. That's just not my style.

Second, here are a few things I was wondering, as promised, and if you have time to respond to any, I would certainly love to hear your thoughts:

The day in the life features... lots of Decorno reader comments suggested that this feature is kind of smug, unreal, and frivolous. Did you read the criticism of this day-in-the-life feature in the blog comments? Did that register or do you think the criticism was overheated? I guess I am hoping someone at Domino thought it read as a little smug and over-the-top. But maybe Domino staffers just saw it as playful. Either way, I am interested in your point of view.

Does Domino plan to continue to feature more on beauty and fashion? Do you want to? Do you think the blogger comments about this stem from people truly not wanting to see fashion and beauty mixed with their design/decor features or do you think the resistance is about execution - - that if done in a certain way and with new information, it would be welcome? Is there pressure from Conde Nast to drive more ad revenue in Domino and more coverage of these topics is a way to let those advertisers know they have a home in Domino?

Have you read all the reader comments on those two Decorno posts about Domino, and if so, did you like any? While some, I am sure, were hard to read, were any of them inspiring? If so, I am curious which ones. I guess I am hoping for a silver lining in all of this since when I asked readers for constructive comments, they really went to town, which again confirms how much they love Domino. I loved suggestions like featuring "furniture I inherited" and more "how-to" features (but not in a ghetto HGTV kind of way).

Why doesn't Domino have a letters to the editor page? In some magazines,"letters" pages are poorly edited and self-congratulating, so when I am feeling generous, I try to assume that Domino just doesn't want to pat itself on the back. Other times, it's hard not to read the absence of the letters page as a magazine just not wanting to have a conversation with readers. I am wondering your point of view on this and why Domino chooses not to publish letters.

Lastly (for now), how do you want Domino to evolve? I ask this because a lot of readers posted comments that suggested they wanted more of what they got in the first year of the magazine. Those issues were so fabulous that I can hardly think this is a bad wish to have. But it occurred to me that you might see this as an audience that doesn't want to evolve with you and your editorial direction. And to that end, that's where I wonder, "How much editorial feedback does an editor want?" When you wrote me saying you were "sad," I was thinking "Crap. I do not like to make people feel sad." I also then thought, "sad" is a weird response if you think about the magazine as a product (which it is). If I blogged about my new Saturn with broken
cupholders and the manufacturer read about it, the response wouldn't be sadness. The response would have been more about broken engineering and how quickly it could be fixed.

So... with that in mind, I am wondering above all... how connected do you feel to readers? How do you know what they are thinking? Do you do focus groups and such? Or do you get a lot of letters (despite no letters page)? Do you want influence from your readership, or do you feel like you need to be more directional and take them to new places rather than edit for their tastes? (And do you edit for their tastes?) I imagine this is a tough spot to be in since you created quite a phenomenon, and now you have a small(ish) mutiny of people wanting you to be true to something they experienced a year ago.

Again - you have one hell of a magazine. I can't think of anything else to which I subscribe that I would bother giving this much thought. Thanks for being open to these questions.


**********************************

Hi,

This dialogue about domino-as painful as it is-is why the web is so damn great! That we can find out instantly what our readers are thinking about the magazine is brilliant. Of course, we are making this magazine for YOU! As one post said, this thread is like a focus group. It's really better actually, because the thing with a regular focus group is it all depends on the 'screen'. Are the participants just in it for the $75 or whatever it is they get as a fee, and have no real connection to the magazine? You are our readers-design-obsessed, smart, passionate-and demanding!! The reason I've never run a letters to the editor page in the magazine is because of my desire to make every page deliver something useful to our readers-something they can be inspired by or act upon. As we all know, with glossy magazines these pages mostly contain bland compliments and benign criticism. They are for the most part static pages, not able to convey a vibrant debate or a communal rant the way a web dialogue can. So thank you all for your comments-even you super snarky posters!

All my top editors have read these posts-and we have spent the past few weeks thinking about and discussing the issues raised. And we will continue to meet about them in the coming weeks. There is a vibrancy and energy to something when it is new and fresh, and while we still bust our asses every month to create the best magazine we can for you, I think stopping to assess where we've come from, where we've gone, and where we're going, is essential. Much of what you and others have said and written to us resonates. Part of what I love about our staff is that they are super committed to making a great magazine, and really nimble about being able to change and adapt. You have afforded us this information and an opportunity in real time. Again the genius of the web! We can respond while you still love the magazine, as opposed to a year from now when we mysteriously see some drop off in renewals, and shake our heads in wonderment.

The deep connection you all have with the magazine, and the connection we feel with you is truly and absolutely what fuels our workday. This is the beginning of our conversation....

**********************************


You can print my email to you if you'd like.
Best,
Deborah


**********************************


Hi Deborah,

Thank you for letting me know, and thanks for your response.

My only hesitation in posting it at the moment is that I asked several other
questions in my email and am wondering if I should wait for additional
response from you?

Thanks

**********************************

I don't feel comfortable being any more specific now. But maybe after I make some decisions/changes I will.

Also I think/hope your readers will like april much better. Great decorating stories from miles redd, sharon simonaire, peter dunham, ruthie sommer's design for drew barrymore's cozy office, and our domino 10 list which is our 10 favorite young decorator discoveries.


And I will report back later. Whatever I write to you I assume to be on the record. Thanks. D


******************


Ok, thanks. I will post your response then. Many people have asked about it. Hopefully you can share more sooner, because, well, my blog readers might call you out on not responding to more of their suggestions, etc (they're feisty, no? I love it!)... but if they do, I suppose you can just jump into the comment section and let them know to stay tuned, that any changes will be reflected in the pages of the magazine.

Dunham, Redd, and Sommers are crowd pleasers, so I am sure people will love April. I keep looking for it on the newsstand, somehow magically hoping it will appear sooner than I know it should. Irrational behavior, for sure.

Keep me posted.



*******************

Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark.

Rita Konig gets FAN MAIL.. Second reader comment is, well... just read it.

I love gentrification. I am just going to say it. That doesn't mean that being for a little upgrade in the 'hood means that all tenants should be foreced out. Smart developers will keep interesting people, artists, shops around otherwise it will just become mall-ified city neighborhoods. Nevertheless, Pearl District in Portland is a good example. Some auto-body shops were forced to move due to high rents. Honestly, so what. They probably moved to the eastside, which is fine. Homes weren't razed. But then there are douchebaggy versions of gentrification like Pike/Pine in the Seattle neighborhood of Capitol Hill. Cool bars and dive-y hipster institutions like the Cha Cha lounge are gone and being replaced by ugly condos. They very "coolness" these developers sold the buyers on are the things those streets are starting to lose. Lame.

Georgetown in Seattle... that is where MY money is.


Anyhoo... gentrification...

Discuss.



Thanks you-know-who for sending the link to me.

Reader Decorating Dilemma: Heather's groovy pieces

I recently posted asking for people to send in their dilemmas. I've received a few and plan to post them all.

Today, we will start with Heather, who writes in to say:

Dear Decorno,

I've been whining to my friends about this fan-light issue for months.  It was with great relief, therefore, that one of these kind people took pity on me,  pointed me in the direction of your blog and barked, "Take some photos and ask HER."

This is my home office/ guest room.  It is, obviously, still very much a work in progress but most of the big pieces are in place.  The sofabed is at least 30 years old and was recovered by my late parents in 1991.  The Saarinen 'desk' was our kitchen table while I was growing up.  The cumbersome wooden desk must go to someone via Craigslist who will cherish it but it belonged to my grandpa's fiesty sister and so I am having a hard time letting go of it.  I bought the brown leather club chair for about $300 at a musty highway-side junk store in the Loire Valley.  The sconces belonged to my grandparents in the 1930s.  So ask your delightfully spirited readers to please not be too cruel in their critiques of my stuff since it's more than mere stuff to me.  And all but the big brown desk are here to stay.



Facing south, this room receives more than its fair share of sunlight, which makes for fabulous toastiness in the winter but a thorough poaching during the summer.  There are some pot lights in the room but the last owners also had a cieling-light-with-fan mounted in the centre of the room. At the time of purchase, I scoffed.  It was a cumbersome, faux anglo-indian thing that offended my sensibilities.  Now, however, I see the wisdom of increased ventilation.  My design dilemma is:  Where can I  find a light-with-cieling-fan combo that works with my space, my stuff, and my wallet?  Almost everything I see out there is, for lack of a better word, gross.



Thanks for any answers you and your readers could offer with this question, or even with just general (but gentle) ideas on how to start pulling the room together a bit better.

Thanks,

Heather S.



Decorno says:

Well now... good news. You've got really good stuff.

I love the leather chair. I love the table, I love the big windows. I love the sofa (I would take off the arm-rest condoms, unless it's hiding cat scratchiness).

Ok, I just woke up, time to go get coffee and get ready for the real job (why can't I get paid for blogging??? Why god?). I will let our gentle readers get started on this one. I will join in progress with my ideas once the caffeine hits the blood stream.

Amy's Ebay chic.

One of the pleasures of having a blog is receiving unsolicited mail with happy little surprises... like this email, from a Decorno reader named Amy:

Hi,

Hope this doesn't sound creepy but I am one of your
stalkers. I love your blog and think you are
hysterical, especially when you are a little bitchy.
Anyway, I have decorated my house almost entirely via
ebay and consignment stores and really want to share
the photos. Hope you like them...

-Amy

Well how nice is that? And how much do you love this place? There are like 9 things I want to go in there and steal, as a matter of fact.

Amy - lock your doors. Maybe YOU have the stalker, now.






The chairs, the art, that amazing grey-ish color on the wall there... this shit is BADASS. I love it.



Confidential to Brother Parish: You love those paintings, huh? Thought you would.

How does my garden grow?

My Felco shears. I am in love.

I spent my long weekend deciding what to do with my backyard. I can't for the life of me find the true "before" photos... when I find them, I will post them. Suffice it to say that they are profoundly worse than the "before" photos you see here. How can that be possible? It is, trust me. If you're joining this blog in progress, let me catch you up: We bought a fucking shithole of a house; there are SO many things that need to be done with it that I can actually spend (waste?) a three day weekend just deciding which tragic room I can tackle next.

Even though the kitchen needs more love than almost any room, I am choosing to ignore it for now because I love summertime, and having a happy little backyard to relax in is pretty much priority one this year. Plus, I want to throw big barbecue parties this summer with "Bring Your Own Meat" as the theme (because it's both naughty and fun to say) and I can't really host people with my yard in its current state.

So, today, the (almost) mother-in-law came to visit, we made a plan, and the fun will start in a few weeks.

A few weeks ago, I had a landscape designer come give me a quote, but decided that for $3,000 for just a plan, I could use that to make it nice and pleasant for at least a few years. I mean, $3,000 is a hell of a lot of money to tell me what my yard needs, and what it needs is this:

Quit looking so ghetto.


This is before we had a fence installed. (Duh.) And this isn't even the true "before" photo. Seriously. It was worse.

See? $3k saved right there. Now I can spend it on 3 tons of bluestone, some cheap Craigslist labor, and enough hydrangeas, lilies, lavender, hellebores, & lilacs to make the bee-allergic run in fear.

With all this work ahead of me, and with rowdy shrubs needing to be tamed after 30 years of neglect, I splurged today on the Cadillac of hand shears. I felt like Mr. Miyage, snipping off all the useless little branches and turning my fat lilac bush into a regal lilac tree (of sorts).


Yes, this is the "after" photo. Or at least the "in progress" photo of the lilac. Trust me, it was in much worse shape before I hacked away. It's about 2 months from blooming, I am very excited.




I am not really a "pots" person, as a rule... this is just a mess of them until I get the yard finished and can arrange groups of these, spread out. The baby bath is not going to house plants (they're just kickin' it until they get planted in the beds). The baby bath will be the ice bucket for all of the summer BBQs I intend to host. I am hoping we can do one with fried chicken from Ezell's, and 40s and tall boys of Pabst shoved in the baby bath/ice bucket. Sweet.

Back to business... see that nasty grey cement-ish business on the side of my house, under the brick? What's going on there? Did they run out of bricks? What am I supposed to do to pretty that up? Any advice would be appreciated.


In Seattle gardening news:
If you live in Seattle and haven't been, I recommend Swanson's nursery on 15th past Greenwood/Ballard. I got the best service there and the plants are pretty dreamy. Not to mention, there is ample signage (when did that become a word, exactly?) so that a novice can really shop it unaided and still get great info on everything from soil prep to choosing the right plants/trees, etc. And when I did need help, the staff was super friendly and competent.

Found, via (InSide) The Loop

Oh my, THIS is my kind of store. Spotted on THIS fun blog.

Do you have a decorating dilemma?

...Readers of Decorno can help.

This is an open casting call for a future post. Please email Decorno photos of the rooms/projects that ail you, and we will help.

It was too early in the morning to be subjected to this.

Just clicking around the ol' internets, I saw this anthropomorphic laundry hamper. Yeah. It's a fish. I saw it HERE, a site to which the NYTimes linked recently.

Where does everyone out the unsightly stuff? If you have only one bathroom (say in a NY apartment) does everything go in a medicine cabinet? Does the toothbrush stay on the counter? Is the dirty laundry tossed into the closet? Does anyone really buy a tissue box cover and use it? And does anyone really leave one of those in, say, a living room (I think this is very odd...).

Today, let's talk about how we hide the ugly but necessary stuff of daily living.

More before & after porn.

Designer (and kickass DJ, if you didn't know) Vanessa De Vargas has a great show & tell post on Decor8 featuring chairs she's redone.

I know how you people love this stuff.

Check it out here.

That's V on the right. She gives good pose. Oh, and she always looks good in photos. But I'm not jealous...

Menacing and awesome at the same time.

Don't you love it? I love it. LOVE it.

I like Barack a lot. But if you were going to pick someone for your dodgeball team, seriously... you know you would pick Hillary. She's a tough motherfucker, man. I love it. In fact, I want Martha Stewart as VP. And Tina Fey as White House Press Secretary. My head would explode with pure joy. Health care would be fixed in like 4 months, and Martha would implement tax credits for, like, re-landscaping your yard.

She's back.

I really enjoy the blog J'Adore Decor, but Marissa hadn't been updating too much recently because she was busy traveling (a good reason, for sure...).

But, she's back and has a great post about this lovely Florida home, designed by our hero, Miles Redd.

Sonoma & Napa

Man, I need a little getaway.

Lucky for me, at the end of this month, I head to San Francisco, Sonoma, and Napa for a little 4-day mini excursion with the lovely and talented JJ. There we will meet up with my fiance's brother's girlfriend (did you get that?) and her friend. My fiance's dad just renovated an old house in Sonoma and has turned it into a B&B and we have the run of the house for a long weekend. Very, very excited to see his big project now completed. (Now maybe he can come to Seattle and renovate our home?)

Other than, um, drinking wine, does anyone have any specific recommendations for us? I imagine we will largely just loaf around and talk about botox, our fat thighs, and why Katie Holmes is a robot (we are girls, so this is how conversations go), but if you know if any must-see or must-do things in this part of California, please let me know.


Photo above is LA last weekend... not exactly where we are headed, but enough to make me cross my finders for good weather and some sunshine, sans palm trees.

Can't say I'm cryin'.

Photo by Elaine Thompson/AP


I might have fantasies of watching them burn, but not for noble eco-reasons. Just because McMansions offend my Decorno sensibilities.


'Street of Dreams' houses torched
By DEBERA CARLTON HARRELL, AUBREY COHEN AND PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I REPORTERS

ECHO LAKE -- As arson investigators sift through the charred remains of multimillion-dollar "dream" homes in a wooded subdivision near here, some builders are wondering if their luxury homes could be the next target of eco-terrorists.

"I'm really concerned about building, when I see this," said a Snohomish County developer, who didn't want his name used for fear of drawing attention to his project.

"I don't want anyone from ELF to see it," he said, referring to the Earth Liberation Front, an amorphous collection of radical environmentalists, which claimed responsibility for Monday's blaze on a scornful sign found nearby.

Striking before dawn, the arsonists tried to burn down all five homes showcased in last year's "Street of Dreams," but succeeded in destroying only three, federal authorities said. The homes were unoccupied and no injuries were reported, but damage was estimated at $7 million.

The FBI said the fires are being investigated as potential acts of domestic terrorism. Agents from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and regional Joint Terrorism Task Force were assisting local authorities.

While the spectacular blaze raged, the only apparent clue was a white bedsheet found on the property's edge. On it was a message, sloppily spray-painted in red letters: "Built Green? Nope BLACK!"

For wary developers it was an alarming flashback. Several other upscale developments in Snohomish County and Camano Island have been torched in recent years with ELF claming responsibility.

"We've seen this grow over the years and it's very scary," said Brian Minnich, director of legislative affairs for the Building Industry Association of Washington, which is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonists.


Read full article HERE.

Before and After porn on Dominomag.com

Hmm... I had never noticed this gallery at Dominomag.com - until today.

Click here to see more.

Interview: John Tusher of influential design store, Velocity Art & Design

Photo by Michael Foster

As promised ages ago (and the delay was mine, not his, I assure to you) I present to you, faithful Decorno readers, my interview with John Tusher of the influential online and storefront design showroom, Velocity Art & Design.

I am not a fan of brief profiles, so I present to you a TON of information, so if you are short of attention span, let me tell you what to look forward to:

- His thoughts on the Kelly Wearstler phenomenon

- If there is anything he has in his own home that he would edit out of his store because it's not in keeping with his store's aesthetic

- How he started his business in a unique way - - online first, and then opened a retail storefront
- His thoughts on Mayer Rus and the demise of House & Garden

All that, plus so much more.

Enjoy.


Decorno: I vaguely recall reading somewhere that you were a teacher before you started your business... true? What inspired you to get started? What inspires your love of design?

John: You are correct. I was a public elementary school teacher for almost 10 years before starting Velocity with my wife. I had always had a bizarre passion/addiction to moving around furniture and redesigning my spaces. This started when I was quite young. My parents thought I was very odd child. I simply had to rearrange the furniture in my room as frequently as I could. I have also always loved painting, art and art history. Couple that with a desire to run the show, be in business for myself as well as to remove the barriers between the consumer and art and design and you have the recipe for Velocity. I am inspired by products that are beautiful, often humorous but not whimsical, well designed, replete with texture, colorful and patterns. I am consistently inspired by creativity and the urge to create. I wanted to be surrounded by these people, as well as the people that appreciate such creativity. I am also inspired by travel, food, music and literature. So much to learn and experience, so little time.


Decorno: How did you fund getting started? You started online only... were you selling on Ebay before you had your online store? Tell me about that evolution.

John: In the summer of 1999, my wife and I started to visit garage sales in our spare time, picking up odd items to sell on Ebay. In those days you could promote your website in your listings, so it became a perfect marketing tool. We would find products that we could sell on Ebay, listing them with direct links to our website. We used Ebay quite a bit in the first couple of years of Velocity as a selling tool for brand new merchandise. Once we saw that our sales from our website were strong enough on their own, we no longer needed to use Ebay for these types of sales.



Decorno: Were you surprised by early success, or have your sales been more gradual?

John: I don’t think that I have ever been really surprised by the success of Velocity, and part of that is due to the slow and steady growth of the company. It all felt like a very natural progression that didn’t feel forced, or before it was supposed to happen. It was only last year, with the build out and moving to our new store, redesign and launch of our new website, relocating our offices, and hiring more staff did we feel like things moved along very quickly and all at once. Now that that phase of growth has been completed, we are back on track to achieve the next level of growth.

Decorno: How long did it take you to grow your business to such a degree that opening a storefront made sense for you? Did you self-finance or get business loans?

John: We self financed the entire operation through what little money we had, and credit cards and small business lines of credit. Remember, I was a school teacher, and my wife was a nurse. If that’s not two underpaid professions, I don’t know what are. We went from having really nothing, to less than nothing when we started. We are still 100% privately owned. The storefront actually happened much faster than I thought it would. Because I had the criteria that I wouldn’t open a storefront until the website could 100% fund it, I was surprised that this happened in less than 2 years from opening, instead of 5 or 6. We had a small, upstairs location from 2001-2003,and then opened our street level retail store in 2003. We just moved to a gorgeous new store last year, and will be there for quite a while. We look forward to opening other Velocity locations in new cities in the next 5 years.



Decorno: Did you have early supporters (family, friends, vendors who were particularly encouraging?) Tell us more about that.

John: My biggest supporters, continue to be there for me every day. My wife is number one. I used to tell many people about my dream to run a company such as this, only to be met with looks like I was simply out of my mind. My wife (we were not married at the time), upon hearing me describe this dream on our 4th date (literally drawing it on a napkin at breakfast) looked across the table at me and said… do it. I guess those were the two magic words I had been waiting for. Aside from “I love you”, those words were truly life changing. I have a best friend from college, who also started his own business that year, on the east coast. We see each other maybe once a year, or once every other year, but talk weekly. He has been my other biggest supporter. We are both happily still in business for ourselves! The vendors that I chose to work with, along with some of the reps, have become great friends. We have been working together for so long, that we really do find that they are encouraging of Velocity’s success. I am always excited to see how these relationships evolve over the years, and to make new friends and relationships with new designers and artists.

Decorno: When did you really know you could be successful doing this. Was there a turning point or a moment when you just knew you could safely quit the old job?

John: It sounds like I’m bragging, but I knew that if I decided to do this, then I would be successful. My fear was when to jump in the pool. Once in the pool, I knew that I could swim like the best of them, it was just the writing down the plans and goals and taking the plunge. I knew within 6 months that this is what I wanted to do with myself, and walked into my principal’s office and told him that I would be leaving teaching at the end of the year. They were very puzzled by this decision to leave such a safe career. They also didn’t want to lose me as a teacher, but I was really excited about leaving. I knew that I was only going to teach for a certain amount of time and then do something new, I just had to wait until someone invented the internet!

Decorno: Your design point of view (as expressed through the product you carry) is pretty specific. Do you ever have moments where your own personal taste is evolving but you see yourself buying to maintain a point of view for the store? More specifically, do you have anything at home that you love but would just never make it into your store (like a really fussy old sofa or over the top mirror, or something to that effect)?

John: That’s a great question and one that I take seriously. I really have not found that the store and my taste have diverged. They have stayed quite consistent with each other. I pick lines that I personally find interesting at that moment, and that I would have in my own home. Often, I’m presented with a line that could probably bring in large sales, but that I don’t like or doesn’t fit our criteria. I will inevitably pass on this line in order to keep our vision true. My store is like my second home, so I really get to play with products and lines in that environment. If my taste evolves, or I get interested in something new, the chances are you will see that reflected in the offerings at velocity. I had a moment of excitement for Hollywood Regency about 3-4 years ago, but as you can see, we have very little of that look left on the site. My own home has constantly evolved. Lara and I used to live in a condo that was very cool, and slick, and polished. Since the birth of our son, and our move into a great 1962 mid century rambler a few years back, everything at our house has gone very natural. From colors, to textures, to materials. I have seen my love of nature and nature imagery injected into the site as soon as I found vendors that were tapping into the same aesthetic. Sometimes my vendors will help move forward a certain theme if that is what they are currently creating, but often I have this idea in mind before even seeing what they are offering, and it just clicks. As for something in my house that wouldn’t make it in to the store, at this time I can honestly say that I don’t. We have pared down our possessions over the years and try to keep items around that we truly love. Since Velocity is such a reflection on myself personally, they really do connect well together. I can’t wait to start filling my kitchen with Heath Ceramics though. We have some older dishes from our last home which just don’t fit our house. I guess the two things in my house that might not make it into the store are the pink and yellow toilets that came with the house. We have learned to work around them (and the pink tub and yellow shower) to make them cheery, but they are pretty awful. I’d love an over the top mirror though. Something like the burl slice that we carry, but huge! That would be great.

Decorno: What retailers here in Seattle and elsewhere do you admire? What do you like about what they are doing?

John: Locally, I have always enjoyed visiting The Palm Room in Ballard. Brandon is fantastic (he helped us landscape the front of our house), and he has a great eye for plants that you wouldn’t expect to see, as well as planters. His store is always different when I visit, and I always enjoy the quick visual punch of dreaming about planting those amazing plants. I love the BDDW store in Soho. That is so inspiring for the workmanship and quality that they always have on display. While in New York I can’t miss Moss. For pure design theater, Murray is the best. You simply never know what you are going to see there, and often times it’s a very limited production piece, which makes it like a gallery/store/museum all rolled into one. They have perfected their brand, and it is so very consistent upon every visit. Often times, it’s more the people that work at the store, then just the store itself. In San Francisco, I always visit Zinc Details, in Atlanta it’s Retro Modern. I really look forward to visiting the new Rare Device store because Rena and Lisa are so very nice. I tend to gravitate towards stores where I feel very welcomed and wanted. I also love the Trina Turk stores in Palm Springs or Los Angeles for the Wearstler designs.

Decorno: What's your reaction to the Kelly Wearstler worship we have seen the last few years. It's definitely a fussier design sensibility than that of Velocity.

John: That’s very very funny. I honestly hadn’t read this question when I answered the last one. I remember reading about Kelly Wearstler in Elle Décor ages ago. I don’t remember the year, but I tore out the article back then as “someone to watch” and put it in my notebook (this was long before Velocity). It was her very simple apartment that she had designed, but it was really quirky and very well done. We all know what she has done since then, and I am always surprised by what she is going to do next. She has become quite the celebrity herself, which doesn’t surprise me, but I really only care about what she’s designing at the moment, not her personality per se. I have enjoyed staying at many of her hotels. They have always been very inspiring, even in a different way than what we do. I really appreciate her use of color, scale, and historical elements in her work. She has broken so far away from her first really successful projects on the surface, but truly her approach is the same to all of her projects. Perhaps her new work is infused with a ton more cash (did you see that bathroom of hers in her last book???) , but it’s still seems very authentic. I don’t feel like she is mining designers of the past to see what to do next. She’s blazing her own trail at all times.

Decorno: What do you think is the next big trend in home furnishings and design?

John: My goodness, that’s a huge question. I have some thoughts, but am going to hold mum on that one. You will have to just wait and see what we come up with.



Decorno: What trend are you so over that you would put the bullet in its head if I gave you the gun?

John: That’s a little drastic don’t you think? I guess I don’t really follow the trends that closely in terms of shopping for our store. I simply buy what I like. I often get the opinions of our staff as well before a line is added. I was never really crazy about the skull trend that popped up over the last few years. I thought it seemed kind of silly. That said, I love that bronze skull lamp. So, really, as you see, everything has its place and time.



Decorno: What design publications are your favorites & why?

John: I have always been a magazine junkie, even as a kid. I remember that around our house, growing up, home magazines were in abundance. The earliest version of Met Home, I think it was called Apartment Living?, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful etc. One of my favorites is no longer, I’m sorry to say, and that was House and Garden. I really loved their approach to design and interiors. I looked forward to the editor’s letter and to Mayer Rus' column at the end of the issue. Lately, I’m really enjoying Sunset and Western Interiors. For some reason, they both are feeling very authentic at the moment. I have always loved Atomic Ranch, probably because we live in one, and the people who run that magazine are very kind. I’m always excited to get the latest Metropolitan Home..still..after all of these years. I have a love/indifference relationship with Dwell. Some months are spot on, and others just aren’t interesting to me. I really miss House and Garden the most though. Sigh.

Decorno: Where do you look/shop for inspiration?

John: “Everywhere” is a trite answer I guess, but it’s true. Living in Seattle, we really get to see some amazing weather patterns and nature. I am always inspired by the sky and the water that surrounds us here. I don’t really shop for inspiration, rather I filter through everything that I see and read. I’m drawn to being very much in the present moment, and to appreciating these moments. I love looking at my son, who is 19 months old, to see what he sees for the first time. When he is excited about a color, or texture, or image it’s really thrilling. I love to bring him into our store to watch his eyes light up.

Decorno: Are you a blog reader? If so, which ones are you checking out most frequently?

John: I am a blog reader. I use Google Reader, and have it set to mix and mash all of them together. When I find a new blog I simply add it to the list, and any new updates appear in the list. Many times I have no idea whose blog I’m reading at the time, and I just scroll through until something catches my eye. I really like SF Girl By Bay, Décor8, Oh Joy, and so many more..and yours of course!

Decorno: What Seattle neighborhood is on the verge?

John: South Lake Union is truly on the verge, and not just because I have a store there. (Decorno notes... SLU is a neighborhood in which Paul Allen, one of the Microsoft superrich has invested in... a new streetcar was just finished there... like Portland's Pearl District, the good money is on this neighborhood being super hot now, and for the next 20 years.) There are going to be so many places for new retail in this neighborhood in the upcoming years. With the movement of Amazon to SLU as well as other companies, I feel like it is really becoming a very well rounded neighborhood. What we really need though are some clothing boutiques to move it. That will really help.

Decorno: What else should we know about you, your story, and your store?

John: Velocity is constantly evolving, and we look forward to bringing interesting products, designers, and artists to our customers. We look forward to adding new ventures to the Velocity brand, but you will have to stay tuned to see what those turn out to be. I truly thank all of our customers and those have enjoyed visiting Velocity through the years. I am always so inspired by those that come to us and share with us their stories of their homes and how they live. Thank you as well for offering me this chance for this interview, and if anyone has any questions, I’m more than happy to field them. It’s hard to summarize an entire life of being inspired as well as 8+ years of running a business into a short interview, but it’s a start!


Decorno says: A huge thanks to John for completing what probably felt like the essay portion of the SATs. I loved reading his responses and hope you do, too. If you have questions for John not covered here, feel free to leave them in the comments section and I will be sure he sees them.

For further reading, Decornophiles, you might enjoy THIS ARTICLE from the NY Times which ponders who might be the heir apparent to Murray Moss and his groundbreaking design shop, Moss. John Tusher is quoted in the article.

Recommendations for dining room chairs?

Oh, this is a truly craptacular photo... out of focus and not current... the walls are now white. And then there is my crazy pug running through the frame...

Anyway, I need suggestions for dining room chairs.

The table is soooo heavy so I don't want chairs with too much visual weight or that seem, you know, uncomfortable (duh). I also do not want Ghost chairs or anything Kartell-ish like that. Something more rad than trad, but I would be happy with something in between.

Suggestions?

My better half and I are thinking we should do benches or something similar on the window side of the table.

I think this sofa idea is brilliant (courtesy of Absolutely Beautiful Things):


Maybe something like that in a cool fabric, with chairs at the ends and the other side of the table. Suggestions?

We hit up a big old antiques warehouse yesterday hoping to find some diamond-in-the-rough chairs and they were all pretty dowdy.

Help.

San Juan Island.

Off the coast of northwestern Washington state are 4 islands that make up the San Juans. San Juan Island is the largest. It's one of the best places I have ever been. You can even day trip it from Seattle... just drive to Anacortes, take the hour-long ferry trip past all the tiny uninhabited islands that dot around the 4 bigger islands, and you arrive in lovely Friday Harbor, the township.

Drive to the other side of San Juan with a picnic and sit here (photo above) at this public park, on these craggy rocks, spread a few blankets out and watch the sunset. A million-dollar day for about $60 bucks total. Can't beat that. Even better? Cell phone and blackberry reception is total crap on many parts of the island (and most of Orcas Island) so it's an easy way to let the boss know you TRULY cannot respond to anything over the weekend. So if you live in the NW and need an easy getaway, this is it.

Everything books up quickly for summer, so consider booking now:

Roche Harbor
Canvas cabins at Lakedale Resort
Friday Harbor House
Windermere Vacation Rentals
Homestead Orcas Island








Convict and domestic diva, Martha Stewart, has a boyfriend in Seattle, so it's no wonder she visits frequently. She spent Thanksgiving here and posted about it on her blog. You can see her photos of the San Juans HERE, plus more info on the islands.


Martha at Roche Harbor resort (link above).