For Father’s Day I wrote a story about “man caves” for the Bay Area News Group. Did your father have a man cave? Does the man in your house? My dad had a small home office carved out of the back porch that was lined with book shelves filled with scriptures, Reader’s Digest Book-of-the-Month picks, [...]
The summer movie season began officially for me last weekend when we took in The Great Gatsby at The Grand Lake Theater in Oakland. Built in 1926, just a year after Gatsby was first published, the Grand Lake boasts marvelous Art Deco interiors and some awfully sweet concessionaires. The story fell flat for me but the [...]
Heath Ceramics has made iconic tableware and tile since 1948 and its popularity has seen a real resurgence of late. When my daughter registered for Heath tableware prior to her wedding this past December, a good friend let me know that she had also registered for Heath nearly fifty years ago when she got married. Today [...]
Look for an extensive overview of the San Francisco Decorator Showcase in the Bay Area News Group papers this Saturday, but in the meantime here’s a peak at design elements that felt fresh and noteworthy this year. Contemporary Art as Inspiration Check out the Cy Twombly inspired floors in Catherine Kwong’s living room, above. See those [...]
Like the pairing of a clever black cocktail dress with a custom strand of pearls, the 36th annual San Francisco Decorator Showcase is both sophisticated and provocative. This showcase speaks to those of us who crave less clutter and more meaningful design. After touring the disciplined and compelling rooms this morning, I’m excited to share [...]
Some design pros contend that old things are obsolete. They insist that modern design is where it’s at and that the passion for patina is definitely past its prime. I beg to differ. In a world gone Green, the desire to reuse, repurpose and recycle is really blossoming. Ask designer Joanne Palmisano, author of the [...]
I love going to the movies. Possibly because I grew up in small-town Idaho and didn’t really see that many movies in an actual theater. I remember traveling an hour to see Julie Andrews sing do-re-mi in The Sound of Music at a movie theater in Idaho Falls. I fell in love with Timothy Dalton [...]
After years of interviewing people about the objects they’ve chosen to decorate their homes, I can tell you that beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder. That said, a recent New York Times story says there is a science to good design—or at least design that most of us want to hold close. [...]
Out with the dragon, in with the snake! This past Year of the Dragon was HUGE for me and mine. We sold our family home, moved to a new place, married off both daughters in style and welcomed our son home after two years living abroad. On those charts that measure stress-inducing events, well—we’d be [...]
On a grey February day, stopping by Design San Francisco was as invigorating as a scoop of lemon sorbet. Which, by the way, is also the name of Benjamin Moore’s Color of the Year. Benjamin Moore’s Mary Hoffman shared the news about “emerging pastels” and the “softening of the palette” at the beginning of this three [...]
