The “American Party” at Maison et Objet in Paris this January was held at the Hôtel de Ville, the city hall of the City of Light. It was a treat for so many designers and manufacturers to have the chance to swan through this stunningly beautiful building, which has seen its fair share of executions, fires…
I look for color and fabric combinations, materials and surfaces, furniture arrangements, creative solutions to design problems.” This is verbatim from one of you, dear readers, in our latest survey about what you are thinking and planning these days. ■ The results from the December 2013 CTC&G Readership Survey show how much you continue to…
There are 1,600 homes in the magical community called Silvermine, which is made up of a portion of the three towns of New Canaan, Norwalk and Wilton. In the 18th century, 12 or 13 mills thrived along this steep fall of the Silvermine River. My own home is on one of those mill sites with…
“Where are you?” wailed my friend, standing in the lobby of the Bow Tie theater in Norwalk, with tickets and popcorn in hand. “The movie has started!” ■ It was last Sunday afternoon, and I was on a conference call that ran late. There was nothing to do but see the next movie, whatever it…
“If you are going to San Francisco next spring, be sure to pick up a copy of SFC&G — San Francisco Cottages & Gardens.” I made this announcement at the sold-out NYC&G Innovation in Design Awards in New York City just a few weeks ago, to cheers and applause from the captains of the design…
The latest Cottages & Gardens Interior Designer survey is in! We wanted to conduct a survey to gather information and understand designer’s preferences, priorities, use of resources, social media and their design project activity. However, many of you work with designers, so we thought it was important to let you know what they think about…
Waving to my neighbors as they breakfasted on their Juliet balcony on the edge of the gurgling Silvermine River, wearing comfortable robes and contentedly reading their newspapers at a beautifully set table, I remembered the main reason I love my home: the double balconies that run the length of my house and hang over the…
Design is always on our minds at CTC&G but never more than during the summer months after the Innovation in Design Awards gala, when we spend two months putting together this bumper design issue. So it was in this heady atmosphere, and for a change of pace, that I was thrilled to be invited to…
In the fall of 2011, CTC&G completed the redecoration of the 100-year-old Connecticut Governor’s Residence in Hartford. Seventeen public spaces were decorated and furnished by the area’s best designers and manufacturers at no cost to the taxpayer (Connecticut Cottages & Gardens, November 2011). We called it The People’s Project. ■ It was a job that…
Walking (or should I say hobbling) to dinner on the cobbled streets of the Brera Design District in Milan last month, there was no doubt that the official figure of 324,093 visitors was true! We were all attending the Salone Internazionale del Mobile—the annual furniture fair referred to as the Saloni—which has become the largest…
Spring is such fun in Connecticut if you are interested in great design and good causes. At CTC&G, our sponsorship season kicks off with the Near & Far Aid Designer Power Breakfast. On May 3, head to the Patterson Club in Fairfield to meet Bravo TV’s Million Dollar Decorator Mary McDonald, who is the honored…
I stopped by an open house in New Canaan recently that was hosted by Ileana Barns-Slavin of William Raveis. The lovely stone-front Colonial in Silvermine was buzzing as a steady stream of people came and went. “It’s been like this all day,” said Ileana, “and I am running out of materials.” ■ What is the…
Blue has long been my favorite color because it complements my coloring. So I was delighted when Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, announced that Pantone’s spring 2013 colors include a range of blues and greens—from Monaco Blue to Emerald (Pantone’s color of the year). ■ The magnificent jewelry portfolio featuring blue…
I love my kitchen in January. On the twelfth day of Christmas, the holiday decorations come down and, as much as I love them, I am delighted by the simplicity and clean look that has returned. There is always a new item or two acquired during the season’s festivities or pulled from a closet that…
Today is the first sunny day since Hurricane Sandy and the subsequent nor’easter wreaked havoc along the East Coast over an area the size of Europe. Everyone in the office has a story to tell about friends and relatives who lost their homes and in some cases their entire towns! We were fortunate to have…
Meg Wendy has been in the design show business since she was three, eventually running shows with her mother, Diane. I remember spending many hours at the “Wendy” shows at the New York Armory. And it was a thrill to meet her when she was planning a venue outside of New York—a smaller design fair…
What’s in a name? Very little when you’ve fulfilled expectations. The greatest compliment we could have received was that our readers, when asked, thought that we had always had our new logo! This is a testament to the iconic stature of the magazine. Its size and layout and appearance are all so unique to our…
Über designer Cindy Rinfret is hosting CTC&G’s eighth- anniversary party at her beautiful home this September. Cindy was featured in the “Meet the Designer” column in the very first issue of Connecticut Cottages & Gardens in September 2004. So it will be wonderful to be in her home eight years later to celebrate both of…
A June article in The New York Times titled “In Defense of the Decorator,” chronicled the mixed fortunes in reputation, as well as earnings, of the decorating profession. Along with mourning the shift to DIY, much was made of the armies of artisans and vendors the industry employs. Missing from the discourse however was what…
