No Evan! You can not hang that on your wall....

I am sure everyone is dying to hear more about this new guy in my life.....so I won't make you wait for too long. Evan is his name is we have known each other for a long time.  We went to high school together and in fact, our lockers were next to each other (I can almost hear your "aww" all of the way here in Texas :)  Evan moved to Houston about 3 years ago and he was one of the only people I knew in Houston after moving down here myself a year and a half ago.  After relentlessly telling Evan I didn't want a boyfriend...I finally gave in and have been happily attached ever since!

One of the best things about Evan is that he is the opposite of me - the engineer has met the artist!  Don't get any ideas that we are going to be moving in together...because just recently Evan asked me if it would be ok for him to hang this poster on the wall of his bedroom! .....I don't think so :)

If need any more info for your seal of approval...here it is: Every time I head over to Adrienne and Greg's, Brenner's first words for me are "Evan coming? Evan be here in a minute." That's right...step aside Auntie E....

Happy Father's Day!

I have a lot to be thankful for....health, happiness, a great job, an awesome new apartment + roommate (we'll talk about that later), a new amazingly adorable little niece and of course...

a fabulous father!

As you have probably all noticed, it's been awhile since I have blogged.  Life came at me fast, tied itself around my ankle and has been dragging me along for a very awesome but very exhausting ride.  Blogging about my life kept getting lower and lower on my priority list until I just had to stop and focus on some other things.

But, for this Father's Day, I am giving my dad something I know he has been begging for...some more of E's good ole' blogging!

So, Happy Father's day to an amazing, caring, passionate dad!

I thought my mom had a lot of Nutcrackers!

Now, I thought my mom had a lot of Nutcrackers, but it turns out, I found someone who has way more!  A friend and client of Cindy's has been collecting Nutcrackers since her children were little boys (now they're all grown up with kids of their own).  We had her Christmas wonderland.....aka her home....professionally photographed and are currently writing a story about her collection.  But here's a sneak peak of her collection....

"Not Off the Production Line"

Here's a third blog post Cindy and I wrote together.  With how accessible and inexpensive items are, we have lost some of the value of something handmade.  

"Today, we live in a heavily manufactured society. Millions of identical products are stamped out to look and function exactly the same as the product before it and the product after it.

In several respects, its great- millions of decently priced items are right at our fingertips. However, we have lost a sense of uniqueness and the value of the handmade item.

This particular dining table is made over seas and every layer of finish is applied by hand- no wonder it takes several months to get!  But the customization options and handmade qualities make this a one-of-a-kind piece you won't find in any ordinary furniture store.

Because my team and I design specially for each individual client, every job is unique, every day is different and every end result is special. But one-of-a-kind design means that there is a lot of human elements involved:

*A faux finisher hand painting a finish on a wall
*A piece of furniture made by a single person
*Hand painted art, blown glass, or handmade baskets
*Tile patterns that are designed to look like art
*Upholstery finished by a specialist with custom fabric and trim selections
*Window treatments sewn by hand

All of these human elements add their own character that will never be created exactly the same again. By selecting these items and using artists and expert craftsman, products don’t look like they’ve rolled out of the manufacturer’s warehouse- there are some degrees of human quality.

When an item is handmade, an unusual corner here or a splotch of paint there doesn’t necessarily mean it is damaged. In Chinese calligraphy, the painter purposefully adds an error to remind everyone that a human created it. It most handmade products, there are human ‘errors’ involved but many times, it’s those characteristics that make something so special."

"My Litmus Test"

Here's another blog Cindy and I wrote together about how we select items for a client, how we narrow down thousands of possibilities to just 3.

"If you have ever stepped foot into the By Design Interiors studio, you would see hundreds of fabric books, catalogues, tile samples, rug squares, wall paper books and much more. But, when I have a meeting with a client, I usually only have a handful of products to show them. Up to and not exceeding three of each selection is my magic formula.

My job for each project is to sift through thousands of items and ideas and only select the perfect possibilities for each space- including quality, price point, lead-time and design aspects.

So my litmus test for selecting products is pretty simple actually, my team and I handle every project as if it were our own homes. Would I pay this much for this product? Is it in budget? Would I put it in my own home? Is the quality good? Does it work with the rest of the design? Would I be happy with this?

These are all questions I ask myself about each and every piece of furniture, art, lighting, or tile I select for a client. It I can’t honestly answer ‘yes’ to those questions, I won’t even show it to a client.

Because what I do is so personal, I will never steer a client wrong; I do everything I can to properly set expectations. And well, you should trust me because I know stuff."

Making it Right

Here's a recent blog post Cindy and I wrote together about some of the difficulties that arise during out job.  "Making it Right" talks about how problems arise and how we fix them.

"I hate to admit it, but more often than I would like, something goes wrong in this profession:

*A fabric is back-ordered for months
*A moving person drops and breaks a brand new piece of furniture
*A manufacturer is slow to respond
*Not enough tile is ordered
*A product is stuck in customs after its month long voyage at sea
*The list could go on and on…….

While I am admitting to things, sometimes the cause of a problem is my fault (I have a beautiful sideboard in my house that I did not mean to order for a client and could not return!) but many times things (like receiving a fabric with an error in it) are beyond my control.

This bathroom is an instance where the originally selected light fixtures didn't fit right into the space.  But instead of trying to convince myself and the client that they were ok- we reselected the fixtures to make sure the bathroom was perfect.

Whether it is beyond my control or not, I will always do my best to keep my client informed and always strive to create a happy ending for everyone involved. If plan A falls through, there is always a plan B, and C in my back pocket. I only work with trusted vendors, contractors, and craftspeople to ensure that the end result is as perfect and smoothly executed as possible.

Remodeling a home can be a frustrating ordeal and the last thing you want is for something to go wrong. But when something does, I always admit an error and apologize, fix the problem, and create a beautiful design for your space to give you a great reason to keep working with me."

Jan/Feb Edition of Texas Home and Living

Check out the recent edition of Texas Home and Living (January/February 2011 issue) to see a bathroom project I worked on with Cindy - "Sensuous Master Bath Retreat!"

The master bathroom was featured as one of the 2011 Bathroom Designs, a spread by Jack Frink and was even featured on the 'Contents' page of the magazine!

Click here to read the entire article! Or if you're in Texas, you can pick up a copy of the magazine at any local bookstore or grocer.