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Laurie March of HGTV to Speak at Design Bloggers Conference

January 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 

As the host and creative force behind The House Counselor on HGTVRemodels.com, Laurie March is known for her approach to remodeling, which focuses on managing both the emotional and the tactical parts of a project.

A third generation remodeler, Laurie’s own passion for home improvement and remodeling was unearthed while remodeling her own 1920’s Spanish style home. In 2005 Laurie founded Improvemental, a project management and design firm that has become a recognized fixture in the Los Angeles remodeling scene – completing over 50 homes for a highly discerning who’s who of writers, producers, and executives in LA.

She has been acknowledged as ‘40 under 40’ in Residential Remodeling by Professional Remodeler Magazine, and has been featured on Wake Up With Al Roker and in Lucky Magazine, Design*Sponge and USA Today.

Laurie is also a Maryland native, former NFL mascot for the Baltimore Ravens, Wheel of Fortune winner and more recently, host of “Good to Know” forCookingChanneltv.com.

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Barbara Barry to Speak at Design Bloggers Conference

January 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Barbara Barry is among the world’s most prominent and talented designers. Her name stands for a unique blend of sophistication and livability; her designs are classic, timeless and fluid. Hers is a look that speaks to the grace of form and simplicity of line.  Her designs range from elegant interiors to an extensive portfolio of home furnishings.

Praise from her peers and the press has earned Barbara Barry a distinctive place in design. Her honors include Interior Design “Hall of Fame,” Architectural Digest list of “World’s 100 Best Designers,” House Beautiful “Giants of Design,” and “Designer of the Year” from Elle Décor International Design. Additionally, she has been awarded the ASID “Designer of Distinction,” “Designer of the Year” by Traditional Home and “Best in Residential Design” by Interiors Magazine.

This award-winning interior designer has created homes for many prominent American families. Her designs for commercial and private spaces are international in their scope and sophisticated in their mood.  Her prestigious commissions range from restaurants and retail spaces to private estates, offices and yachts.

Barbara’s passion for beauty finds expression in many forms through partnerships with internationally renowned companies. Her signature designs for Ann Sacks Tile & Stone, Baker Furniture, Boyd Lighting, Hartmann Luggage, HBF Furniture, Henredon, Kallista, Kravet Fabrics, McGuire Furniture, Tufenkian Carpets, Visual Comfort and Wedgwood, as well as her signature bed and bath line Barbara Barry Dream, have been received with high acclaim. Barbara Barry collections are sold in fine stores throughout the world as well as Barbara Barry galleries in Bangkok, Singapore and Moscow.  Barbara’s first book, Around Beauty (Rizzoli New York, 2012), debuts October 2012.

With a vision of infusing simple luxuries in the every day, Barbara Barry creates refined interiors, timeless furnishings and luxury products that inspire a life of beauty.

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Tobi Fairley to Host Design Bloggers Hall of Fame Awards

December 14, 2012 By 1 Comment

We are excited to announce that Tobi Fairley will be hosting this year’s Design Bloggers Hall of Fame Awards. Tobi is already a Hall of Fame member, having won the award last year for Best Overall Design Blog.

Tobi Fairley creates interiors that are bright, bold and tailored. She works on the forefront of the New Traditional movement in residential design, and her vision for a given space is always grounded in an ethic of problem solving, the results of which are always beautiful as well as functional. This signature aesthetic earned her recognition as one of Traditional Home’s Top 20 Young Designers of 2009.

Tobi founded her design firm more than a decade ago, and her exquisite interiors span the US, from New York City and the Hamptons to Charleston and Los Angeles. Her award-winning designs for high-profile and celebrity clients have been featured on HGTV, and her work has been published on the cover of House Beautiful and showcased in the pages of Traditional Home, Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living.

Tobi’s educational background combines foundational degrees in Interior Design and Accounting with an MBA from the prestigious Sam M. Walton College of Business, where she was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year for 2009.  This blend of expertise uniquely qualifies her as an industry leader in the business of Interior Design. Tobi shares the benefits of her knowledge and experience with other design professionals through an array of consulting services, information products, and on-site courses through Tobi Fairley Academy.

Always ready to embrace the latest in social media and internet technologies, Tobi emerged as a national presence by fully utilizing the capabilities of social media. Tobi’s Blog commands a sizeable online audience; currently read in more than 124 countries worldwide, it has been recognized by HGTV and by the Design Bloggers Conference as a key source for daily design inspiration. Tobi also writes a monthly design column, “Tobi’s Tips,” for AY magazine, a blog column for At Home in Arkansas magazine called “Color Confidential,” and she is a regular contributor to Williams Sonoma’s “Designer Marketplace.” Also spurred by her innovative spirit, Tobi’s e-design service—InBox Interiors—allows D.I.Y. clients to achieve the “Tobi look” for a fraction of the cost of her full-service designs.

Tobi Fairley Home, a collection of fabrics, pillows and lighting designed by Tobi, debuted as part of Hickory Chair’s Centennial Furniture Collection in the Fall of 2011. Her furnishings and fabric designs are every bit as bold and fresh as the spaces for which she has been acclaimed. As with all of her ventures, she infuses the merchandising market with a new and vibrant energy; and, as always, Tobi is driven to find the needs of her customers and provide them with optimum design solutions.

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Leslie Carothers Speaking at Design Bloggers Conference

December 13, 2012 By 3 Comments

Leslie Carothers (known on Twitter as @tkpleslie) is the founder and CEO of The Kaleidoscope Partnership , an 11 year old international social media agency for furniture and interior design brands. Leslie has over 31 years of experience in the furniture and design industry and spent the first 20 years of her career as an interior designer. Some of her past social media clients have included Cargill Corporation’s BioH Polyols division, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, World Market Center Las Vegas, The New Traditionalists, Better Homes and Gardens magazine and current clients include the corporate headquarters of The Curtain Exchange – a national luxury window treatment franchise and Olioboard –a fast growing global social commerce site with 2D and 3D visualization tools. She micro-blogs as @tkpleslie and founded the Twitter chat, #GetPublished which brings together design editors, authors and the design community to create dialogue and opportunities. For the past 11 years , she has been a frequent national and international speaker at major furniture and design industry trade shows and events and keynoted the first Social Media Symposium held at High Point University.

She’s been widely interviewed and is also a guest author for many industry publications including Furniture Today magazine, Retailer NOW magazine and for the past 9 years has been the writer of the *Retail Ideas* blog for Furniture Today.com –publishers of the leading international furniture industry trade news magazine.

Leslie served a 3 year term as a volunteer on the board of Women In The Home Industries –WITHIT – where she twice chaired the major yearly fundraiser –WITHIT’s Leadership Development Conference – and served as VP of National Membership.

In 2009, Leslie was awarded WITHIT’s President’s Award for her service to the organization and to the furniture and interior design industry.

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Patti Austin, Dawn Carroll to Speak at Design Bloggers Conference

December 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Grammy winner Patti Austin crosses all musical genres, has made 17 solo albums, and has performed her award-nominated hit songs on the GRAMMYS® and the Oscars. As a performer, songwriter and vocalist she has had a star-studded career that began at the age of four, making her one of the most beloved artists the world over and a mainstay on the Billboard Jazz Albums charts. Patti’s extraordinary career continues to cross over boundaries and reach new heights.

Patti has had a life-long interest in design. Patti Austin is currently being mentored by Boston’s prestigious design community as she realizes one of her dreams of becoming an interior designer. Patti attributes much of her musical success to her mentors, most notably the close guidance of her godparents Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington. Because of how important mentoring has been to Patti throughout her life, she co-founded the Over My Shoulder Foundation.

The Over My Shoulder Foundation (OMSF) is a non-profit organization founded by Patti Austin and Dawn Carroll to promote mentoring and Mentorology through music and design. The Over My Shoulder Foundation hails Mentorology, the art and science of mentoring, as the number-one priority as they move forward producing live events which bring together industry leaders in order to pay tribute to great mentors and put the spotlight on the importance of mentoring.

Think of “Mentoring”, “Music” and “Design” together. Now envision the Over My Shoulder Foundation uniting those worlds with the guidance of the non-profit’s two award-winning co-founders.

Dawn Carroll has dedicated a large part of the past 4 years to starting the Over My Shoulder Foundation (OMSF) and promoting the idea of Mentorology – the art and science of mentoring. In fact, her passion for Designing the Next Generation has driven Dawn to draw on all her resources to create the dynamic media-driven non-profit organization that exists to further the concept and application of mentoring.

Dawn has carved out OMSF’s niche in the mentoring world while managing an award worthy design career at CUMAR Marble & Granite, which is currently in its 8th generation of leadership in stone sourcing and fabrication in Everett, MA. Dawn writes, “What do you see that I can be” when considering the similarities of an empty room and an individual who needs a mentor in her article about “Designing the Next Generation”.

OMSF accomplishments keep Mentorology, the art and science of mentoring, as the number-one priority. As OMSF grows as a non-profit organization they will keep producing live events which bring together industry leaders in order to pay tribute to great mentors and put the spotlight on the importance of mentoring.

OMSF partnered with CUMAR Marble & Granite to create and inspire The Boston Globe’s Design New England Magazine MIDDIE (Mentors in Design) awards. The MIDDIES salute design professionals in interior design, architecture, building, landscape design, and related fields, who share their time, expertise, and wisdom with the next generation.

OMSF launched the inaugural “Designing the Next Generation” event in 2012 with Cumar Marble & Granite to expand the mentoring conversation nationally. It was an Inspirational Evening of Mentoring Story and Songs at the Liberty Hotel in Boston featuring speakers Stephen Powell (Executive Director, Mentoring USA), Ted Fujimoto (Founder, The Right to Succeed Foundation) and keynote speaker Attorney Richard Dyer who was introduced by Attorney Gary Greenberg of Greenberg Truarig.

Rick Dyer presented former Presidential Candidate, Governor Michael Dukakis, with a stunning award designed by Cumar Inc. thanking him for the mentoring that allowed him to turn his life around. The audience was graced with beautiful musical performances by Patti Austin, Charlie Farren, Robin Lane, Hal Lebeaux and Julie Silver.

OMSF partnered with well-known brands like the prestigious Poggenpohl kitchen design studios and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Furniture showrooms. The events are just a hint of what is to come nationally as individuals from the worlds of mentoring, music and design are gathering to recognize the importance of Mentorology and help OMSF spread the concept for future generations.

The premier of the Over My Shoulder song with Lianna Gutierrez took place at the 2009 PowerGirls Global Summit with Dr. Johnetta B. Cole’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute. The song is based on Dawn’s belief in hope, courage and transformation. It was written by Dawn Carroll, Charlie Farren, Brynn Arens and Barry Orms.

For more information about the Over My Shoulder Foundation, visit overmyshoulderfoundation.org or contact Dawn Carroll, Co-Founder and Executive Director, by calling (617) 510-2620 or emailing carrollco2@comcast.net.

 

 

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Susanna Salk To Speak at the Design Bloggers Conference

December 6, 2012 By 1 Comment

We are excited to announce that Susanna will be a featured speaker at the Design Bloggers Conference.

Susanna Salk grew up in Essex, Massachusetts and got her B.A. in English at Vassar College and then moved to Manhattan where she helped launch Elle Decor as Interior Design Manager. She later became a Contributing Editor.

In 2003, she joined House and Garden Magazine, where she was, until its closing, Special Projects Editor.

Today, Salk appears regularly on NBC’s “Today Show” to discuss design style for the home. She is also a Contributing Editor to 1stdibs.com, and ivillage.com.

Salk is the author of Assouline’s “A Privileged Life, Celebrating WASP Style,” as well as “Weekend Retreats” and the bestselling “Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play,” (both by Rizzoli.) Her book “Home Sweet Home” (Rizzoli, Fall 2011) celebrates the international interiors shot by renowned photographer Oberto Gili.

Her latest book is, “Be Your Own Decorator: Taking Cues and Confidence from Today’s Leading Designers” (Rizzoli) a design book aiming to inspire and inform via her favorite rooms from the world’s top designers and tastemakers.

Salk’s next book (out April 2013 from Rizzoli) is the first pictorial book celebrating the iconic style of CZ Guest, the American author, columnist, horsewoman, fashion designer, muse and socialite. It will celebrate her iconic style in her homes, garden and fashion with insightful memories by many of the people who loved her and knew her best.

Salk lives in Connecticut with her husband and two boys.

 

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Dwell With Dignity: Giving Back to the Community

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Lisa Robison is an Interior Designer who’s desire to give back to her community and to pursue her passion for design culminated in the concept of Dwell with Dignity. Her strong belief that good design improves ones quality of life resulted in the incorporation of this non-profit foundation in April of 2009. Dwell with Dignity’s mission is to help families escape poverty and homelessness through design, one household at a time. The goal of every project is to bring good design to those less fortunate inspiring them to maintain a standard of living they can be proud of and thrive in. The Dwell with Dignity aesthetic has been labeled “cottage contemporary”. Very upbeat, warm, inviting interiors where you can’t help but be happy and hopeful.

In the short history of Dwell with Dignity, Lisa and her staff have garnered recognition and coverage from all of the local Dallas TV affiliates, national design and lifestyle bloggers and an entire episode devoted to Dwell with Dignity on the Nate Berkus show. Dwell with Dignity’s signature blog continues to be their strongest connection with volunteers, supporters, and design aficionados.

Vice President & Director of Dwell with Dignity, Kim Turner, is a practicing designer in Dallas Texas. She has earned a solid reputation in the Dallas area for her ability to work across a variety of styles and create interiors that reflect her clients’ unique personalities and lifestyles.  When she first heard of Lisa Robison’s foundation, almost 14 years to the day of their first encounter in design school, she knew this was something, and someone, she wanted to get involved with.  She shares with Lisa the belief that lives can truly be inspired by design and that “dwelling with dignity” is something that can be possible for all.

Kim is credited with building awareness of Dwell with Dignity throughout the design community which has resulted in amazing support from luxury brands such as Neiman Marcus, Peacock Alley and Duxiana, to name a few.

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Hardy Wallace: Living The Dream

November 17, 2011 By 1 Comment

When you attend this year’s Design Bloggers conference, you’ll have a chance to meet one of the most amazing success stories in the world of blogging – the incredible Hardy Wallace. Hardy will share with you how he used video to realize his dreams, and how you can use video in your own blog to realize yours.

Five years ago, Hardy Wallace started an Atlanta based wine blog – Dirty South Wine. With no goals or direction besides to just enjoy writing and shooting videos about wine, Dirty South Wine’s out of left field tone gained a loyal following of consumers and wine professionals.

In early 2009, Hardy was laid off from his Tech career, and decided to fully focus on wine. “I had no idea what the hell I was going to do, but I wasn’t going back to tech”. Two months later, Murphy-Goode Winery launched their search for “A Really Goode Job” aka the best wine job in the world – a six month stint living in Sonoma County, and being paid $10k a month to blog about life at Murphy-Goode. Out of thousands of applicants, Hardy was chosen as the winner and helped launch the era of social media in the often antiquated wine industry.

At the end of the six month period, Hardy left Murphy-Goode to help grow a fledgling winery in Sonoma called “The Natural Process Alliance” or “The NPA”. With his help in marketing and social media, Wallace helped grow and take the almost unknown winery and gained massive attention nationwide with stories on NPR, CBS, the Washington Post, AP, and winning the 2010 Green Winery Award, and being named the 6th Hottest Brand by Wine Business.Com.

While at The NPA, Hardy found a love for winemaking and began making his own wines with a former blogging buddy (Rowdy Food) under the label “Dirty and Rowdy Wine Co.” Hardy had found his calling –  ”I fell in love with winemaking- The process of taking something from vine to glass is something that transcends anything I could have imagined… It was in this process where if I found exactly what I was meant to do.”

After a year and a half at The NPA, Hardy left to gain more education. His next stop was to learn the farming side of the wine industry, where he spent a summer farming his own block on Shake Ridge Vineyard in Amador County (a source he uses in Dirty and Rowdy), and then to gain more winemaking and cellar experience with the legendary Ehren Jordan at Failla Wines. His first release of Dirty and Rowdy Wines will be early 2012.

Hardy’s journey is one from daydreamer, to dream job, to a job you dream about.

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Ronda Carman to Speak at Design Bloggers Conference

November 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Ronda Carman is the founder of All the Best Blog, brand ambassador for SFERRA, designer liaison for SAVIOR BEDS and a contributing writer for the Huffington Post. Her first book will be published by Rizzoli in Spring 2013.

Ronda spent 15 years in the world of marketing and nonprofits prior to founding All the Best Blog—A Passport to Stylish Living in 2007. All the Best Blog is read in over 105 countries and has garnered press from around the globe, including Fox News (named one of the top ten design blogs in 2010), ELLE Decor, House Beautiful, domino, Southern Living, Home Plus Scotland and numerous regional, national and international newspapers.

All the Best is renowned for it’s insightful interviews and profiles with industry icons, entrepreneurs and global tastemakers. Through creative use of social media Ronda has built a recognized brand, has developed relationships with respected editors and industry icons and has earned the trust of loyal readers.

A Texan by birth, Ronda divides her time between the United Kingdom, the United States and the window seat of an airplane.

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Bunny Williams to Speak at the Design Bloggers Conference

November 9, 2011 By 1 Comment

We are excited to announce that Bunny Williams will be a featured speaker at the Design Bloggers Conference, kicking off the second day of the conference program.

Bunny Williams is a designer with a modern vision, a sense of history, and the confidence to take the unexpected path. Both a trailblazer and a tastemaker, Williams’ style is classic, but never predictable.

A native of Charlottesville, VA, Williams began her career at Stair & Co., the prestigious English antiques dealer, followed by 22 years with the venerable firm, Parish-Hadley Associates. She formed her own firm, Bunny Williams Inc. in 1988. Today she not only runs her design firm, but with her husband John Rosselli, owns Treillage Ltd., two shops selling garden objects, antiques, and decorative accessories, based in New York City. In 2008 she introduced a celebrated home furnishings collection, BeeLine Home, which continues to expand and introduce new pieces at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, NC. Williams’ fourth book, “Scrapbook for Living” was published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang in November 2010.

William’s work has been published around the world both in print and online. She has received numerous honors and awards including: the Interior Design Hall of Fame, House Beautiful Giants of Design, Elle Décor’s A List, Timeless Design Award from the Royal Oak Society, Living Landmarks from the NY Landmarks Conservancy, and the Etoile award from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

Williams is a fast adapter to new technology and stays in touch with her expanding fan base through her website bunnywilliams.com, Facebook: facebook.com/beelinehome, facebook.com/treillage, and Twitter: Bunny Williams

Bunny Williams Inc. 306 E 61st St. NY , NY 10065 212-207-4040

PR: Carolyn Sollis carolynsollis@me.com, 917-648-6200

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