It was a packed day of clients yesterday and during the course of my google+ chats, one theme became abundantly clear. What you do in your business and your life ultimately boils down to two choices. Yup, just two. You can focus on what you want or, you can focus on what you don’t want. […]

So why do some interior design firms thrive, while others barely survive?  The answer lies in one powerful, little word:  brand. On August 21 & 22nd, join an inspired conversation about branding, visibility and money.  This compelling series of interviews combined with live sessions for interior designers and product makers will bridge the gap between what […]

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery or so the saying goes and I suppose copycats are par for the course when you’re successful in creative business but I’m not going to lie, they bug me. One of my clients recently had her design ripped off by a fellow blogger. Now that design had already […]

The one thing that’s standard among interior design professionals is that pricing their services isn’t. Whether you charge hourly, by the square foot, with markup or without, or as a percentage of the overall budget, every job and every client is unique and coming to consensus can be tricky. You’ve probably heard a lot of […]

I remember interviewing Directors for the first film that I wrote and produced. One in particular argued with such certainty that he knew what my film was about and that it couldn’t work without his bigchanges to the father character, that I almost forgot that I’d written it. Another wanted me to change the relationship […]

When it came out in 2003, filmmaker Nancy Meyers’  Something’s Gotta Give sparked a wave of requests from American renovators wanting a dream kitchen just like the one in the Hampton’s house Diane Keaton’s character owned in the movie. At the opening of West Week in March 2013, Meyers joked that there were definitely kitchens more […]

I’ve never watched BRAVO’s Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills but I have heard about Yolanda’s Fridge. This is the fridge. This is Yolanda. This is Yolanda inside her fridge. Yolanda Foster, wife of composer David Foster, is billed as a “domestic goddess” and her fridge has become a supporting  character  in the popular reality series. It’s likely […]

I kicked off my week at the Design Bloggers Conference 2013with a slew of awesome design folk from across the United States.  POV was a big theme.  In fact, having one is a key component in Charlotte Moss’ “Blogma”… …be original… …be informed… …be selective… …be kind… …be accurate… …be respectful… …be inspiring… …be provocative… …have a […]

I drove down to Laguna Niguel yesterday to hear DwellStudio Founder and Author Christiane Lemieux talk about outdoor design trends and to introduce her gorgeous, new line of outdoor fabrics with Robert Allen for Sunbrella®. NYC based Lemieux was one of the pioneers of online, interior design retail and like me, she was born and […]

I know.  When I say the word brand, you think about toothpaste or window cleaner.  But if you’re a regular reader, then you know that I’ve been waxing on about the power of your personal brand (PB) — brand you — since West Week.  PBs were a huge theme there, as they were at Licensing Expo and […]