It's Alissa from The Goods Design here with The Goody Bag, bringing you the best of Los Angeles' interior design events, people, places and things! Last week I had the pleasure of attending LCDQ- LA - an annual get together at the La Cienega Design Quarter, where some of the best design shops in town are located. It was two days filled with design panels, fiestas and gorgeous goodies.
LESSON #1: BE AUTHENTIC
Whether your style is mixing antique pieces with modern furnishings, or simple and edited interiors, be true to yourself. One of my favorite panels was Style Trumps Trend which included amazing designers Jeff Andrews, Brad Ford and Madeline Stuart. The overall vibe of the panel was about staying timeless and avant garde, something we all strive for. While we've all (including me) been cuckoo for ikat and chevron, how do we keep our interiors from looking dated in another 5 years? Madeline Stuart suggests mixing antiques with more modern pieces, so that you can't pinpoint a room to a specific moment in time. But I thought Brad Ford summed it up well "the best design is authentic design."
A look at some of my favorite panelists...
LESSON #2:
LA DESIGNERS ARE WELL DRESSED.
COME PREPARED.
LESSON #3:
LEARN THE RULES. THEN BREAK THEM.
I saw lots of bold design throughout the showrooms...
LEARN THE RULES. THEN BREAK THEM.
Study the masters. At the Style Trumps Trend panel, the amazing designers were constantly referencing the amazing designers who had influenced them. Knowing the history of design can teach you the rules, so you can break them and find a style that's uniquely your own.
Windsor Smith (someone I consider a real design guru) talked about a new Showcase House she's doing with Veranda at the panel Redefining Luxury for Today's Modern Family. She is doing away with the old model for homes and using the showcase house to "reinvent and redefine what we need in a house today." She feels like technology is separating us, so now more than ever we need our homes as a way to keep us connected. No more his/hers master bathrooms. No more prime real estate to formal dining rooms we never use. "The kitchen is our new family room," she says. Her showcase house opens in June 2011 here in LA (cannot WAIT to see it!) and will be featured in the October 2011 issue of Veranda.
I saw lots of bold design throughout the showrooms...
1. Designers were selected to curate different store windows throughout the event - I loved this one by Ruthie Sommers with the bold red stripes and pops of yellow! Totally unexpected and adorable!
2. Gorgeous brass sunburst light fixture from the Nanz Hardware/Remains Lighting showroom. Would be a gorgeous and bold statement fixture in an entry.
3. Loving these geometric cookies served at Mecox Gardens. The bright color combos were lovely (and they were so cute, I didn't dare take a bite.)
4. I am totally obsessed with this vignette I saw at the Szalon showroom. Hanging a beautiful patterned woven rug on the wall, then hanging a portrait over it? Definitely breaking the rules. In the best way.
See you next year LCDQ-LA!
