This will be the tenth year of the CTC&G Innovation in Design Awards (IDAs), and it is only fitting that such an anniversary should honor one of the greatest architects of our time, Robert A.M. Stern, as the recipient of the 2016 Innovator Award. Stern is a practicing architect, professor and academic writer. Stern’s early…

There’s now muchmore to love at cottagesgardens.com. You will notice a new design this month enabling our online community to engage with our content like never before! It is important that our readers can get the information that they love in a larger-than-life format in the pages of our magazines but still be able to…

Lately I have been struck by the realization that travelling really isn’t what it used to be. I know, I know, we have all been saying this for years, but it really isn’t! And countless hours spent acquiring credentials such as Global Entry and TSA Pre only magnify the horror of it all. So I…

I have just returned from the Design Leadership Summit in Los Angeles where the crème de la crème of the design industry met to share ideas, learn and network. Designers in attendance came from across the country—from New York’s Ken Gemes, whose room at the Designer Showhouse on the Green in Fairfield graced the cover…

In our case, a lot. Recently, as we surveyed our group of media products, we decided it would be easier to group them under one umbrella: C&G Media Group. Apart from the C&G in all of our magazine titles—HC&G (Hamptons Cottages & Gardens), CTC&G (Connecticut Cottages & Gardens), NYC&G (New York Cottages & Gardens) and…

Last December in CTC&G (“Holiday Spruce 2.0”), I wrote that technology is reshaping our behavior and, in turn, reshaping retailing. Specifically, I discussed the myriad ways we can shop for our homes. In the fall of 2014, I attended the launch of Decorist (decorist.com) in San Francisco. Gretchen Hansen, CEO and founder of Decorist, had…

On the eighteenth of this month, the CTC&G-sponsored Connecticut Designer Showhouse on the Green opens with a gala on the grounds and your chance to be the first to see the results of months of work by dedicated volunteers, fabulous designers and sponsoring manufacturers. St. Paul’s rectory in Fairfield has been “done-up to the nines,”…

In the late ’70s, something started to happen in the design world: A new kind of bathroom arrived. Builders and architects were embracing a new company called Waterworks. For a long time, I thought it was British and that the products came from there. The aesthetic looked just like my favorite hotel bathrooms—the Hyde Park Hotel…

“Never yet was a springtime, when the buds forgot to bloom,” wrote American poet and author Margaret Elizabeth Sangster. That observation on the inevitability of nature’s cycle had me thinking about our own cycle at Cottages & Gardens Publications. In May, we are 10 issues into our annual count of 31, with the big bloom…

It’s Innovation in Design Awards (IDA) season again and big changes are taking place. We are accepting all of our entries in digital format and have a new online entry system that will make it easier for everyone to enter and allow us to conserve our use of paper. Interior designers Anthony Baratta, Thomas Balsley,…

Mark your calendars for Connecticut’s first designer showhouse in recent memory! On September 18, a kick-off gala will herald the opening of the CTC&G sponsored Showhouse on the Green in Fairfield to benefit St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Operation Hope. The showhouse will be open for five weeks, from Saturday, September 19, through Sunday, October…

What’s trending in interior design? Interior designers! According to the latest Unity Marketing survey (“Cocooning in New Luxury Style”) on affluent consumers and the home furnishings market, affluent consumers’ collaboration with interior designers for home furnishings, lighting, carpets and floor coverings purchases has grown more than 90 percent since 2008! Independent professional interior designers are…

At this time of year, many of us are frantically putting the finishing touches on a redecoration or sprucing things up for the holiday season. These days, whether it is a full-on redesign or last-minute accessories, how we acquire our new look has changed dramatically. Technology is reshaping our behavior and, in turn, reshaping retailing….

  It’s November, when everyone’s mind turns to holiday gifts of the large and small variety. Jewelry is one of the most popular gifts that our readers receive during the holidays. And since I always find a couple of things to buy myself while shopping for family and friends, I thought I would look around…

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and we are thrilled to be continuing our partnership with Mitchells and Pink Aid. The fourth annual sold-out Pink Aid extravaganza will take place in Westport on Friday, October 3, featuring fabulous chairs, ottomans and benches created by our industry’s design stars. After lining the runway for the Michael…

They would like help reorganizing the soup kitchen,” said Christopher Peacock, referring to the Open Door Shelter in Norwalk, which provides more than 500 meals a day to the growing number of needy in the community. He and his wife, Jayne, had just visited the location. “But it doesn’t need reorganizing; it needs to be…

The CTC&G Innovation  in Design Awards were even bigger and better this year! Celebrated for eight of the 10 years of CTC&G’s existence, we were delighted that the entries hit a higher level than ever before and that the recipient of our 2014 Innovator Award is a giant in the industry. I am not referring…

A range like this? You will recall that last year at the CTC&G Innovation in Design Awards, we announced the formation of IC&G (Iconic Cottages & Gardens)—an initiative where we would spotlight buildings and gardens in our state that needed help with their preservation and restoration. We identified the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk as our…

Two outstanding and high-profile designers will appear this month at two of our most prestigious charity events. As design chair of the CTC&G– and NYC&G-sponsored American Red Cross Red & White Ball, Mary McDonald will be the bright star among stellar decorators who have designed the fantastic tabletops for the evening. Forty-two tables, each one more…

We have just received the first issue of CTC&G’s sister publication, SFC&G (San Francisco Cottages & Gardens), debuting this month. Editor in Chief Alisa Carroll arrived in the office from Europe, and Champagne popped as the magazine was revealed to gasps and applause. After months of reviewing fabulous design projects and features as they came…