Kristin Drohan Interior Design

Twelve Chairs Boston to Launch Kristin Drohan Collection

I'm very to excited to announce that this fabulous store and interior design studio, Twleve Chairs Boston will be carrying the Kristin Drohan Collection in a month.  I have collaborated with the owners, Miggy Mason, LEED AP and Roisin Giese to provide them with an exclusive, made in the USA, sustainable upholstery program for their customers and interior designers.  You can read about their store here.

I will be flying up Thursday, March 8th for our exclusive launch party from 5-7 pm at the store.  If you live in Boston and would like to attend, please email me kldrohan@yahoo.com or hello@twelvechairsboston.com to be placed on our invite list.  It is going to be a fun party so SAVE THE DATE!!

Please Allow Me My Self Promoting Kardashian Moment

I just received the New York Spaces, The Goods issue today and I'm so excited to have the Kristin Drohan Collection included. I have to thank Andrew Beopple at Strohl and Co. for that. He is awesome!!  If you need a publicist, they are the people to contact.

 

A lot of exciting stuff  happened over the summer and with the move, I just didn't have time to address them.  I'm going to cover most of it in one self-promoting Kardashian moment.  Forgive me.  In addition to this article, I received my first international publication, Mix Magazine, distributed in the UK and Europe.

 

I was also featured in the Wall Street Journal and CNBC news sites.  You can see it all here.  I have Mark Woodman, Mix Magazine North American contributing editor and Gail Doby, Chief Vision Officer, Design Success University to thank for their support.

Is it too Early to Start Thinking About Holiday Decor?

I'm actually already thinking about Christmas decor both in and outside.  This is a record setting first.  After taking a look at the peaks and pitches of the roof-line on my new house, I knew there was no way in "he" "e" double hockey sticks anyone in my household was going to do hang lights on it.  Roof-lines such as mine are de rigueur for the Atlanta area, but a first for me.  Even after living all over the country, I realized this is my first time for this architecture.  So what do you do?  Well there are several companies who install them for you.  I really thought this was something only really wealthy people did. Not so. Well, not in Atlanta anyway.   It is service that is pretty reasonably priced.  After doing some research, I hired, Shawn who owns Alanta Loves Chirstmas.  He has locations in Little Rock, AR; Memphis, TN; Denver, CO; and Salt Lake City, UT.  Here is some of his work.

Gorgeous huh? They do LED and colored lights too. I am not a fan of colored lights though. When I get my house decorated, I'll be sure to post a pic.  Even if you can't afford to have someone install lights for you, these pics can serve as inspiration for the DIYer.  Are you in the holiday spirit yet?
 

Niches - Free Advice Friday

Someday I will get my stuff together on this social media stuff.  In the meantime, I hope you can bear with my extended absences.  Earlier this week I was in High Point for our semi annual market event. I will do a post on what I saw there soon. Today, I'm going to write about niches.  You know, these builder imposed "architectural details" that everyone struggles to decorate.  I had a reader send in a pic of her challenge recently.  The irony in her timing was uncanny. I faced a situation very similar to hers when I moved into my new home.  I am not a fan of these decorating challenges, so it will come as no surprise how I choose to solve this dilema. 

Here is my reader's before:

 The arch adds insult to the injury.  It doesn't look bad, it just adds to the challenge.  Like my own fireplace, the mantle could use a bit of a face lift too.   Here is my solution:

I suggest adding a wood surround to the fireplace and then lean a fabulous piece of art on it.  Just cover the whole thing up.  The arch demands that whatever you put it in, should also follow the lines of the semi circle leaving you with either arch options or something round.  Pretty challenging to say the least.

Here's what I did with mine.  The out-of-scale before:

 

And now:

I was able to have my contractor add a few layers of stone above the mantle, so I could hang my art.  The intent of my niche was to house a TV. This was just way too high for comfortable viewing and that was not how we were going to use the space. We also inherited an uninspired bookcase in this room.  Here is what it looked like before: How do you like the former faux paint job? 

 

And now:

Big improvement, yes?

 By the way, did you notice my color palette?  Well, that teal turquoise peacock blue was every freaking where at market.  Totally ticked me off.  After going in  several showrooms on day one,  my friend turned to me and said, "It's going to be a long day isn't it?" as I was sputtering expletives.  We all know the answer to that don't we?

Anyway, back to the story.  What if you don't want to cover up the niche? Here is an option. I found a really pretty Suzanne Kasler sunburst mirror that has a great shape for the niche. Here is what that would look like:

 I like that too.  I like options.

Interior Designer Boston to Atlanta..the Update

Clearly, I have been MIA for several months.  The move pretty much kicked my arse.  The kid's had their last day in school the end of June in Boston and we were packed and loaded the following week.  We arrived in Atlanta the beginning of July and quickly starting unpacking, remodeling, and getting the kids ready for school, which was starting in 4 short weeks.  To say it was a whirlwind diminishes the "crap hitting the fan" atmosphere that existed in my house.  The kids have now been back to school for a month, I almost have the soccer schedule down, the contractors are out of the house, the new pieces in the furniture line have launched, and I'm finally able to breathe.  How I did this without medication (and really, there should have been, for my familie's sake) is quite unfathomable.  Well, there was wine, but I'm not sure that technically qualifies. Many exciting things happened during the insanity that I haven't shared.  I'll save those for some later posts.  Today, I'm going to share some of the transformations of the house remodel.  First, the Harry Potter sorting hat fireplace is gone and the bar area remodeled. Today I'm sharing the bar before and after pics.  This space in on the terrace level of my house and has 10 ft ceilings. 

Before:

  
 
Scary, huh?  In full disclosure, if I was to have designed this from scratch, it would look very different. Both the pool table and bar were left by the previous owner.  The wood is solid mahogany, so I could not, in good eco friendly conscience get rid of it. I choose to repurpose it instead.  My bar stools (that is a saga for another day) are not finished yet but this is where we are right now.

 
 
Here is what I did.  First, we demo'd that antiquated TV, the excessive gingerbread molding and the carpet in the bar area.  I replaced the flooring with porcelain tile (that is not wood).  We took the back bar apart and reused the end sections but added a sink and built in fridge/freezer in the middle.  The center section of the old bar was the perfect size to be re imagined for the sink in my powder bath (I'll show you that in another post).  We refelted the pool table, added tons of new lighting and replaced the UFO landing gear ceiling fan.  Last, but certainly not least, I designed a custom banquette from the Kristin Drohan Collection to fit in the TV nook. That thing is 11 ft long and almost 7 ft tall.  It took 4 huge strapping guys to get it in place.  The day they installed was very stressful, even the delivery guys were knuckle bumping when they got it in.  Professional pictures will help convey this space a bit better.  I do need to leave all things photography related to the professionals.  My husband, is almost "school girl" giddy over his "Irish bar" which we christened a couple weekends ago with our first party.  He can't wait for all his buds to visit so he can hang out with them.  His brother is coming this week for a quick visit.  Gee, I wonder where I'll find them? 

Sidenote: If you sent me a Free Advice Friday question anytime during the last couple months, it was just too insane for me to contemplate.  Please feel free to resubmit if you still need help.

Brimfield The Good, Bad and the WTF?

 
Last week I finally made it to Brimfield. I'm desperately trying to check off the Boston bucket list before we move. Time is quickly running out. I try not to think about only having four weeks left. I start to have heart palpitations.  In the last couple weeks,  I have been frantically finishing client projects while lining up contractors for the decastlization of the Hogwarts architecture in the house we purchased. So, not my thing. I shall share with you the sorting hat vent less gas fireplace that is going to be demoed out of the basement, as an example. I'm currently afraid to go into the space for fear it will start shouting Huffinpuff or Griffindorf. Sadly, someone paid to put this in the house. Even sadder, I'm paying someone to take it out. I'm pretty sure this is the ugliest flipping fireplace I have ever seen, not to mention the color of the walls.  If you could see the ceiling fan we can add that to the mix of ugh too.  There are 15 of the fans throughout the house.  I'll be paying a small fortune in replacement fans. I think 15 is a little overkill. I guess the four air conditioning systems aren't enough to keep the place cool. Apparently, whoever built this house was going through menopause.

 
Back to Brimfield.  My girlfriend and I started out very early.  She is a veteran, equipped with the cart and all.  The very first booth we landed in, ended up being my score for the day.  I got YSL and Hermes store signs from the NYC locations, and a Chanel fabric swatch book.  The swatch book almost made me pass out.  They told me I missed out on a huge Chanel sign they sold the day before.  Little bummed about that.  You may be wondering what in the "h" "e" double hockey sticks I'm planning on doing with this loot.  You'll have to stay tuned for the future new house reveal.  I definitely have a plan. 

There were some very distinct trends at Brimfield.  The first I noticed was glass. Depression era, milk, jadeite, and even bright Pyrex was everywhere.  One booth even claimed a large vase for $65 was Blenko.  I don't think so.  My FB friend, Damon would know. My veteran friend thought they were definitely more vendors with these booths than usual.

 
 

Linen also continues to be everywhere and I thought this adaptation was excellent.  I especially love the finish they did on this Louis Wing.

 

 

Industrial chic is still popular both here and at High Point market.  Several vendors had reclaimed wood and metal items fashioned into furnishings. This wine table was a popular piece. Check out the sconces on top too.

 

 

There were definitely some very taste specific things there too.  They must have been from Texas.  NO likey!

 

I'm not really sure what one would do with a vintage wheel chair, but my friend took a moment to rest her weary feet.  She is very little, her feet barely touch the foot rest.

 

I found a chair more my style.  However, I'm not looking so good.  Why bother with make up when you start at 6 am?  Thank goodness I have my age defyers (sunglasses) on.

 

This had me cracking up, so I had to take a picture of this vintage ad.

 

Then there was the WTF?  I'm still mystified and creeped out by this.  What would possess someone to make these and furthermore who the heck buys em?  Am I missing something? Gluing doll heads on tin cans has me puzzled,  but attaching feet..... what does one say? That is efffed up, I'm sorry.

 

 It wasn't until the end of the day after 9 hours of shopping that my friend found her score. She had been scouting for a buffet... well for years actually.  It was worth the wait.  Not only did she get a custom painted piece, topped with a slab of carrara marble, she stole it .  Deal of the century. Here it is in her dining room. Check out the marble!

 

 Well this concludes the Brimfield excursion.  Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend. Thanks to all those who serve our country.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design Success University

This week I did a seminar with Gail Doby, the owner of Design Success University. 

 
I have to tell you I'm overwhelmed with all the people who have emailed, and Face-booked messaged me with wonderful feedback.  I want to tell y'all Thank you, thank you, thank you! Of course I want to also thank Gail too.  She provides a much needed service to our industry, and I know those of you who have utilized DSU have experienced the positive results in your business.  When I listened back to the recording, I was soo nervous to hear myself.  I really wanted to be helpful without sounding like an idiot.  With the exception of saying "absolutely" a few thousand too many times, I think I did okay.  My husband said we should  play a drinking game. Every time I said "absolutely" everyone takes a drink.  Unfortunately, everyone would be plastered in that hour.  I'm working on some additional words to add to my vocabulary.  Again, thanks to everyone who personally reached out to me.  I meant what I said in the seminar.  I think it is imperative for us to be helpful in this business.  I hope to meet y'all in person one day.  If you missed the call and would to purchase the recording, DSU has it available for $47.  Here is the link. 

Well, I'm headed off to Brimfield tomorrow.  It is the biggest antique market in the world, with over 6000 exihitors.   I'm sooo excited.  I have been trying to go for the two years I've lived in New England and it never works out.  It looks like it won't be raining either.  Yeah! Thanks again everyone, and keep in touch.

Atlanta Here we Come...Someone get the Martini IV

 

Drum role please...Yes, it official.  The Air Force is moving us to Atlanta. I'm not going to lie, I'm happy to be moving South after this Boston winter, but moving for the 8th time in 17 yrs of marriage, makes me nauseous.  The logistics of moving the business are beyond overwhelming and this past month has been such a gauntlet.  I finally unpacked my suitcase last Wednesday, after being on the road since April 1st.  I was home for a few days between each location, which was just long enough to wash my clothes and repack.  After High Point and the Chicago furniture launch, we were in Florida (trying to relax) and then drove up to Atlanta for a house hunting trip.  Last week, we closed on the sale of our Florida house and had an inspection on the Atlanta house we have a contract on.  To add to the crazy, the house we are renting in Boston, is now on the market so I have to keep it perfectly clean.  I'm telling ya, if I don't go bat crap nutters, it will be a miracle.  I finally made it to the salon yesterday, to get the mess of myself fixed up after being on the road for so long.  By all the disappointing ts-king and clucking, you'd have thought I had a braid growing out of my nose.  Okay, I know I was a mess, is all that necessary? Jeeesh!

The really exciting part of all of this, is the purchase of the new house.  We don't close until the middle of June but I finally, after 6 long years of renting, I will have my own home to decorate.  EEEEEKKKK!! That is the sound of a joyful scream.  The house hunting trip was stressful.  We went with 13 houses on the list, only 6 that were of true interest.  Three went under contract before we even had a chance to look at them.  That was when the first melt down happened.  We actually pulled up to the first one and got out to look at the yard.  It was amazing and the neighborhood was awesome.  I had looked at the interior pics on line and new it had a brand new gorgeous Dacor kitchen with the space plan I love and a great price.  Then our realtor called and said it had gone under contract the night before.  Cue the tears!  The house we ended up putting an offer on was not the first, or even the second choice.  It had some warts, needed more work than the pics showed, and was more than we wanted to spend.  After going back and forth with a few counter offers, the realtors agreed to take a commission cut to get a contract signed. We had the inspection done last week.  Nothing terrible was found, but we have asked the sellers for a few things.  We are waiting on their response.  I'm going to hook up the IV, while I wait.  I'll keep ya posted. 

On another note, last week Gail Doby, owner of Design Sucess University wrote an article for Just Luxe featuring the Kristin Drohan Collection.  You can read it here.  Thanks, Gail I love the article and the way it captured my personality. 

Furniture launch at the Chicago Merchandise Mart

I have so much to post and no time.  I have Kitchen and Bath trends to blog about, Highlights from High Point Market, and some other very big news to announce.  I'm not preggars, that is not the big news.  That ship has sailed from port many many years ago.  I am still living out of my suitcase even though I'm home because I'm leaving again this weekend for Florida and Atlanta.  That sentence contains a hint about the big news.  I'll be back after Easter and will officially make the announcement.  Monday, I met all the awesome personnel in the Design Atelier showrooms, as well as the owner Barbara Pearlman.  The showrooms are gorgeous and the managers are some sharp women.  I will tell you I was in awe looking at my sofa in a grouping with a Victoria Hagan chair.  Seriously, are you kidding me? I'm so excited to see what they do with my line.  I have several new pieces ready for prototype fabrication to add to the collection.  Here are some pics and I look forward to sharing some great posts soon.

 
 
Reed Sofa, Victoria Hagan Wing Chair

 
 
Sydney Sofa

 
Lois Chaise, Anthony Ottoman

 

 

NKBA 2011 Finalists Kitchen Porn

Before I get to the finalists, I'd like to thank a couple bloggers for featuring my work. First is Nan, at Playful Decor, who blogs about all things kids. She has featured my daughter's bedroom (which we are totally redoing right now, oy vey) from our DC house to the Boston house.  You can read it here.  The second is Strictly Homemade whose article is about contemporary art. You can read that post here.  Thanks ladies!

I've been meaning to do this post since last month, but work and life got in the way. In the latest issue of the NKBA mag, they have identified the finalists for their annual contest. Here are some from three of the categories. The first three are in the Small Kitchen category, the next three Medium Kitchen and the last three Open kitchen.

 
Chris Novak Berry, St Louis, MO

 
Rose Maire Carr, Ramsey, NJ

 
Dana Jones, Long Beach, CA

 
Anastasia Rentzos, Mississauga, ON

 

 
James E. Howard, St Louis, MO

 
Elina Katsioula-Beall, Pasadena, CA

 
William Landeros, Denver, CO

 
Chris Novak Berry, St Louis, MO

 
Terri Schmidt, Delafield, WI

So there you have it.  Some interesting choices, don't you think? What is your favorite?

Look for my post on the 2011 NKBA Style report on Monday.  Find out if Granite is still "in" or "out".