Kristin Drohan Interior Design

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?
 

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".

New Phillip Jeffries Wallcoverings

Even though we have had tons of snow this winter, Spring is in the air.  Maybe not in the weather, but in the design world.  This is new product launch time.  I'm so excited to share the new products at PJ with you.  Phillip Jeffries, is another favorite resource of mine.  They have four new collections and I think the Rivets are going to make me pass out.  Without further ado.

Geology: This is actually a micro thin "veneer" of honed slate and it comes in 6 colors. How cool is that?  My head is already spinning with design ideas.

 

Rivets: This is a raised relief pattern of pearlized links created to look like nail heads and is available in 9 colors.  If you don't know by now, I absolutely love nail heads.  This pattern is making me hyperventilate.

 

Grecian Squares: This has four layers of applied color to look like parchment and comes in 7 colors.  I love the red.

 

Trellis Embroidery: This has a diamond pattern embroidered on their Manilla Hemp and has an applied  stain repellent. It comes in 3 colors.

 

These are some great new products!  I'll definitely have to check them out in person at High Point the first week of April. 

 

New Philip Gorrivan for Highland Court and thanks to Design Shuffle!

I'm headed to the airport in a couple of hours for a short little trip to NYC, so I thought I'd quickly finish up this blog post.  Before I share the new PG collection for Highland Court, I would like to thank, Maritha Sears, at Design Shuffle for the awesome article she wrote about me last week.  I shared it with my Facebook friends but here it is if you missed it.  Design Shuffle, emailed a few weeks ago and asked if they could publish some of my work.  When I asked which pictures they wanted to feature, they gave me a list of what all happened to be my house.  Now you can check out my New England digs.

Earlier this week,  my Highland Court rep stopped by my studio to show me the new Philip Gorrivan line.  The past collections have been some of my fav fabrics.  I just used one of them in a project last month.  I took a few pics to show you the collection.  The color palettes were mostly muted, which I found interesting.  There is an Ivory, Gray, Purple, Cocoa, and soft Turquoise.

 

Love the faux bois.  It comes in a couple of the color ways.

  

Purple or Turquoise croc anyone?

 

What do you think? 

Would You Have the Guts to do THIS?

Recently, I started an entire house gut job for a client.  It is an adorable Cape that is getting a complete overhaul.  New kitchen, three new baths, new floors, new configuration...the whole enchilada.  While designing the kitchen,  I came across this amazing range pictured below.  I love it.  I want it.  It's not cheap (but not Wolf-expensive either) and I don't know if I would have the guts to do a colored range.  It inspired me to render my dream kitchen, and now I love it even more. 

 

Could you, would you, do a colored (neutrals don't count) expensive range?  The one I want is red.  The cabinet company I use has red cabinets and they coordinate perfectly.  It's like the sole of a Louboutin.  Remember you gotta pay for it.  Would I get sick of it?  Hmmm, I don't know.  Maybe someday...in the forever house.

 

 

New Year-New Furniture- New England Home Feature

I hope everyone had a great holiday.  I had a nice break in Florida.  I am excited to be launching some new pieces in the Kristin Drohan Collection, one of which was featured in the November/December issue of New England Home.  The collection will also be making its debut in the Design Atelier showroom in the Chicago Merchandise Mart this month.  I have to admit, I have a  hard time tooting my own horn.  Any time I get published or press coverage, I am so grateful. 

 

 

Here are more of the new pieces

Chip Chesterfield

I love the classic style of a Chesterfield, but the heavy large rolled arms limit its use to large spaces.  In this new piece, I  changed the arms to gain flexibility but still retained many of  the other details.



Katie Sectional

This sectional was designed for a client's sleeping porch.  In order to make the large dimensions work I used Fibonacci's golden rectangle to obtain the most aesthicallly pleasing shape possible. 

 
Ryan Table

I love upholstered tables and wanted to design one that could be upholstered in any fabric with a size that could be customized to function as a side table or larger for an entry table.  The base of this was inspired by the Eiffel Tower and a photo of mine. 

 
Francis Modern Wing Chair

I love wing chairs and wanted to create a lower back cocktail version.  This chair has some mid century nuances.  I did this for a very traditional client, which is why we upholstered it in a burn out velvet damask fabric. 

 
Patricia Dining Chair

I have been trying to create a unique dining/desk chair for over a year, that doesn't already exist.  I really love French Art Deco furniture and used that as my inspiration for this chair.  I want these for my own self.

 
 

 

Pantone Color of the 2011: Honeysuckle

Pantone has named Honeysuckle the color for 2011.  Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director for Pantone cites the need for something uplifting as motivation for choosing something so vibrant.  

 

What do you think?  Do you like it?  It is an inherently feminine color so I'm not sure about broad appeal.  Here are some examples of its use.  I prefer it as an accent color but I will say, it would be hard to be depressed in the rooms that are enveloped in it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 Are you sold on it or freaked out?

My Favorite Things: Designers What are Yours?

In the latest issue of House Beautiful, they feature both the Editor, Stephen Drucker and several other renowned designer's favorite things.  You can read their lists here.  I thought that would make a great blog post, so I have borrowed the idea and am using the same categories as HB.  Unlike Oprah, I will not be giving my list away.  

Lamp: Arteriors Home Annabelle Lamp and Visual Comfort's Chandy and Murano Glass Chandys

 

 

 
 

Car color: Black

 
 

Mattress: Therapedic I-Care

 

Coffee Table Books: David Hicks, A life of Design



Flowers: Lilies ( All types)

 



   

Sofa Shape: Camel/Tuxedo Mash up (Coming soon to the Kristin Drohan Collection)

 

 
 Comfort Food: Fajitas, Guac, Salsa, and Chips



Soap: Pecksniff's

 

Towel: Bed Bath and Beyond Elizabeth Arden Towel White and Ivory

 
Chair: Jack Host from Kristin Drohan Collection

 
Vacuum: Dyson

 

Ice Cream: Mint Chocolate Chip (I'm not a big Ice Cream person, I prefer cake)

  
Scented Candle: Archipelago Beramot Tobacco

  

 Wallpaper: Phillip Jeffries Glam Grass

 

 Toothpaste: Sensodyne (My husband has sensitive teeth)

 

Showerhead: Grohe Rainshower

 
Coffee or Tea: Coffee New England Blueberry Cobbler

 

 Workhorse Fabric: Sensuede from Robert Allen ( million colors, washable, indestructible)

 

Kitchen Gadget: Pampered Chef Chopper ( I hate prep work, this makes it a little easier)

 

Color: Black

 

 

Everyday Glassware: Crate and Barrel Charlie Glasses ( Clean and Simple)

 
 
 
Readers, what are your favorite things?  Designers, put your list together on your blogs and Facebook pages. I loved reading the HB designer's list.  I think it is interesting and telling. 

High Point Update Sping 2010

I'm back after a long week launching my furniture line at High Point market while trying to still be a buyer and shop my current accounts. The Kristin Drohan Collection made its debut and far exceeded my expectations.  We had great traffic through the showroom, wrote some orders and have many potential clients to follow up with.  It was exciting!  I already had one interior designer, Vicky Serany from Southern Studio Interior Design, cover it in her Favorite High Point Market Finds blog post.   Here are some pics of the show room. 

 

Isn't the dog Triptych awesome.  My friend and artist, Storey Ellis Robins of SER Studio did those for the showroom.  It is available for sale if anyone is interested.  I had the Sydney lounge chair, Reed faux slip covered sofa (looks like a slip without the hassle of one), Anthony ottoman, Kathryn Barstools, Marie dining chair, the Charles head board.  The head board drew a lot of people into the showroom but I think the lounge chair received the most praise for style and comfort.  

     
 The guy filming was from The Home website.  They do video posts of market finds. 

I'll be officially launching the furniture website soon.  We still have some pieces to shoot this week and some tweaking to do to the website, but we are getting close. 

I was able to hit some of my favorite showrooms while at market and uncovered some interesting  decor info.  Linen, Hemp, limed and cerused wood, re purposed items, and the whole Parisian Flea market look, continues to be strong.   I saw this in several showrooms but Dovetail  seen below, seemed to be one of the best. I especially liked their lighting.  Check out the floor lamps and metal drum chandy over the dining table.
 

 
 
  
  
I'm not so sure what I think about the next emerging trend I encountered.  Like it or not the  whole "lodge" look is getting some play.  Just before market, I received some new Robert Allen fabric books. One whole book contained southwest, lodgey, mountain themed fabrics.  Then I walked into the Hickory Chair showroom and saw this.

What do you think?  It was such a departure for them.  I love the zebra print hair on hide, but since I don't have a mountain retreat, I just don't know about the rest.  Here are some other pics from their showroom. 

Suzanne Kasler did some Pink, which I am really digging right now.  I chatted with her a bit and found out her daughter is a freshman at Miami University (my alma mater) and pledged my sorority, Delta Gamma.  I'd post a pic of us, but sadly,  it isn't that fab of either of us even though we really tried (we did a few takes).  I've blogged in the past about my affliction with taking bad photos, so it isn't any surprise this one isn't great either.  A year ago I posted a not so great photo of both of us at the Safavieh rug launch.  It was flipping hot and humid and we were both melting.  I just don't think we need another not so flattering photo floating around out there.  We'll try next fall, Suzanne.  Here is her Pink room inside the Hickory Chair showroom. 

 
Thomas O'Brien launched his new collection for HC this market and this upholstered bookcase was my favorite piece.  I just loved it.  I gotta find a project for it.  It has flannel and velvet options for the fabric and I died over the Red flannel.  I want it sooo bad!

I'll be honest, I didn't see a dominate new color trend.   The natural neutrals were still very strong and of course Global Views showed some true color.  The featured color in that showroom was the Pantone color of the year, Turquoise.

 

Paired with a bit of Orange or Lime Green it was certainly bright. 

 

The funniest moment at market came at the Howard Miller Ty Pennington party.   They had Ty doing a paint demo in the showroom while filming a promo. 

 

Just to the left of this photo is a window that looks into the hall outside the showroom.  This is what was going on in the hall.

The woman were freaking out over Ty.  It was a crack up.  I know he is great, but it was crazy with them screaming and yelling.  He was egging them on as you can see.  Good thing there was some glass there. 

Thank goodness I didn't have to battle the women for this pic. 

So that is my Reader's Digest post of market.  What did you think? Like? Not like? (don't say my furniture). I'm joining Paula Grace for Timeless Tuesday, hop on over.

 

Hide Rugs... Timeless? Of course!

The other day, I finally received some Angora hides I'd ordered at the fall High Point market.  I initially intended to use them for my Christmas tree skirt.  Clearly, they did not make it in time for that. 

 
I have three of them now.  They look a little like "Cousin It" but they are sooo soft. The source I utilize to obtain my hides uses end-of-life cycle hides.  That means that they are intended for use as a food source or they are animals that have died through natural causes.   It is a responsible and eco-friendly use for these hides which would otherwise be headed for a landfill.  This company also uses a more eco-friendly tanning process and is trying to develop a reduced chromium procedure. I love these funky things but now I don't know what do to with them.  Any thoughts? I love the use of hides in decor.  They are super durable, feel awesome on your feet, and give a room great texture.  The use of hides dates back to ancient civilization when the use was a practical measure of meeting basic food, shelter, and clothing needs.  Zebra rugs were standard in the 1930's Art Deco movement (one of my favs).  However, those were the real Zebra hide.  I prefer a stenciled cow hide.  The African Market people (they sell the real Zebras at High Point) tell us that Zebra's need to be culled like deer which is why they sell them.  I don't buy it.  Am I a hypocrite?  I can handle a cow but there is something about the real zebra with the beautiful mane that I can't be okay with.  Some people feel the same about the cow though. 

Here are some of my favorite hide uses:

The doors in Miles Redd Apt.  I love this in a totally warped obsessive way.

 
 Cowhide ottomans with a zebra stencil

 
Ivory cow hide in the bedroom.

 
Cowhide pillow

Black and White cowhide rug. 

Hide chairs.

I know this isn't for everyone, but it could be.  Some of my husband's peers find this to be waayyyyy out there.  HA!  Oh well, do you like?  Do you have any creative ideas for my Angora hides?  I'll be attending Paula Grace's Timeless Tuesday party tomorrow, so make sure you join us.