I first heard the rumor that the luxury stationery firm of Mrs. John L. Strong was closing from Meg of Pigtown Design and today the rumor was confirmed by An Aesthete's Lament. I bought a beautiful desk calendar and a few note pads for my bachelor pad project and I always thought they were a nice finishing touch. I guess he's going to have to use the easel for something else after the year over. I was hoping to pick up a few things for myself before they closed the doors but I was too late. The entire shop has already been removed from Barneys. If anyone hears of a final sale online, please let me know. I love sending handwritten notes but apparently I might be the only person left who does. Stupid technology!
I love when one of my blog posts leads to an email from a reader who has just the right answer for my design dilemma! Today I received an email from author Cathy Whitlock about her soon to be published book re-de-sign: New Directions For Your Interior Design Career (Fairchild Books, June, 2009) that will be a big help to interior design students as well as already established designers who may be looking to take their business to the next level. Cathy was kind enough to send me a pdf sneak peek and what I love about it is that she gets that creative types are a visual bunch. The book is full of beautiful photos as well as insights from top designers such as Alexa Hampton, Nina Campbell, Kelly Wearstler, and Martha Stewart, as well as magazine editors and book publishers. Whether you want to be a regular interior designer or the next start on HGTV, this book is for you! Cathy wanted me to mention that the book is priced as a text book on Amazon so it's a little on the steep side so she will be setting up a website to offer it at a lesser price. While it's not exactly a how-to guide for setting up an interior design business, it's definitely a good start!
First, I want to apologize for not posting yesterday. As you can imagine it's a little hard at times to juggle my client work with writing the blog and having any semblance of a personal life. That's why I love talking to other designers about how they started their own business because they all went through the same things and always have great advice.
Who knew a little walk down Madison Avenue Saturday would turn out to be so interesting. First, I saw Fran Lebowitz waiting outside the Carlyle Hotel. Then I noticed presidential interior designer Michael Smith and a friend climbing into a taxi in front of the Ralph Lauren mansion. And while walking by the Stribling Real Estate office, a photo in the window caught my eye. Seems one of our favorite interior designers is selling his apartment. The one bedroom is listed at $885,000 which in my New York skewed sense of pricing actually seems quite reasonable. Those of you who live outside of New York will not find it as such I am sure! More importantly, I'm curious as to where he is moving and when we will be able to see it! Hopefully there will be some magazines left to publish it when it's ready! 
Kimberly Ayres could have been another casualty of the demise of Domino magazine but since the photos of her home and office were taken by my friend Eric Cahan, I get to introduce you to this Designer to Watch for 2009 instead! Kimberly, like many designers, started out renovating and decorating her own houses while she was practicing law as a way to relax. Luckily for the design world, law was not her calling and as she told me, "friends began to ask for decorating advice and I realized I might have a chance to do something I loved and I couldn't be happier with my career switch!"
"After completing studies at International Fine Arts in Miami and at UCLA in Los Angeles, Kimberly jumped head first into an apprenticeship with internationally renowned designer Kelly Wearstler, and continued her development with designer Michael Lee in Malibu. In 2000, Kimberly launched Kimberly Ayres Interior Design in Los Angeles where she quickly established a notable clientele and reputation for deftly mixing eras and cultures. In 2006, she opened her much admired Kimberly Ayres Home furnishings and accessories store in San Francisco."
The room above is the dining room in Kimberly's apartment. Her description cracks me up! "This apartment was loaded with mirrored walls when I found it. Really scary on a bad hair day. Most were removed, but I kept this one. The artwork is a collage created by Lulu de Kwiatkowski from an Eric Cahan photograph. My all-time favorite ebay purchase is the blue pigskin/suede sideboard. The parson's table and the chairs are vintage. The chandelier is Moth Design from my store."
In Kimberly's bedroom, the bed is from Oly and the lamp is from Christopher Spitzmiller. The wallpaper is the Montague print from Twenty2. The curtain fabric is from Nina Campbell and the table is the Bungalow 5 Jacqui Side Table from Eboniste. The painting is vintage.
A beautiful bedroom vignette close up.
In the guest room, the headboard is custom and the pillow fabric is Christopher Farr - Cloth. Kimberly says, "I love this quilt. It's designed and made by hand by my friend, Michael Pechenski." Moroccan lantern is an ebay find. I think the best thing about Kimberly's apartment is all the new sources and vendors that she has introduced to us all!
Kimberly's desk in her office is by Jonathan Adler but the cabinets and chair are vintage. The wallpaper is grasscloth from Twenty2 and looks like a great alternative to Phillip Jeffries, my usual source. "The french plaster sconce is by Moth Design, one of the lines we sell in the showroom," says Kimberly.
I posted this photo once before and it received a very positive response and now I can tell you that the vintage desk, lacquered in Farrow and Ball Dix Blue, is where Kimberly's lucky assistant, Angel Tasso, sits. The wallpaper is grasscloth in Neptune from Twenty2 while the lamp and chandelier are Moth Design in silver leaf finish. The chair is vintage and the drawing was found at Blackman Cruz.
"This room is in my office in San Francisco. The building is a tiny 1890's cottage in the Design District, serving as both my design studio and a showroom for the furnishings I sell. We carry new lines of lighting, accessories, wallpaper and fabric, as well as all sorts of vintage furnishings."
I think we can all agree that interior designer Kimberly Ayres made a great career switch and the design world had better look out! She's definitely one to watch and I can't wait to see what she does next!
Photos by Eric Cahan
