Amy Bleier Long

The Great Estate

Written on May 9, 2011 at 3:05 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

Last week, the Stately Homes by the Sea Designer Show House opened at Holly Hill, a Georgian colonial estate built in 1934 and located near Red Bank, New Jersey. All proceeds from the house benefit the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey’s home care, hospice and community-based programs and services. Traditional Home is honored to sponsor this show house, where the talent of 42 designers and landscapers from New York and New Jersey is on display until June 12, 2011.

Visit hollyhillestate.com for a little more history behind the house and images of the house as it looked before the show house designers came in and worked their magic. And visit statelyhomesbythesea.com for ticket prices, dates and times of operation, and directions to the house.

And now, for a sneak peek of just some of the rooms on display at this year’s show house:

*all photographs by Stacy Kunstel

Design on a Dime!

Written on May 5, 2011 at 2:13 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

We are proud to again sponsor Design on a Dime, a fantastic fundraiser benefitting Housing Works, which is an organization working to end AIDS and homelessness. More than 50 top designers have created vignettes and every item in the vignettes – including new housewares, furniture, and linens – are for sale at 50-70% off retail prices. Proceeds of sales benefit a new housing project in Brooklyn which will provide a home for previously homeless adults living with HIV/AIDS.

Suysel de Pedro Cunningham and Anne Maxwell Foster of Tilton Fenwick (one of our 20 New Traditionals) designed a vignette for us (sneak peek above).

The opening reception tonight is completely sold out, which is great because the event is a fundraiser, and the largest crowd ever is expected. But the sale will be open to the public, for free, through Saturday night:

Friday, May 06, 2011 – Saturday, May 07, 2011  10am-6pm

Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W. 18th St. (btwn. 6th & 7th Ave.) New York, NY

If you’re in Manhattan this weekend, shop these spectacular rooms and support a wonderful cause!

And now for something New…

Written on February 7, 2011 at 3:54 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

We are very excited to be collaborating with Lonny magazine founders Michelle Adams and Patrick Cline on our online-only edition which will feature totally original content. So we were thrilled when some of the top design bloggers were able to join us for a dinner last week where we introduced our 20 New Traditionals – the fabulous interior designers to watch in 2011 – who are being featured in Trad Home‘s inaugural issue which will be live April 12th.

We had fun celebrating the upcoming launch, especially with such a well-dressed, design-loving crowd! So, a very big thank you to our blogger friends and congratulations to the interior designers selected as our 20 New Traditionals!

Here are some pictures from our dinner at Freeman’s on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Enjoy!

New Traditional designers Anne Maxwell Foster, left, and Suysel dePedro Cunningham, right, both of Tilton Fenwick with Beth Brenner, Traditional Home’s publisher.

Marisa Marcantonio of StyleBeat and publicist Elizabeth Blitzer

New Traditional designers Ron Marvin of Ron Marvin Design, Callie Jenschke, left, and Nicki Clendening, right, of Scout Designs

New Traditional designer Ryan Korban, Nicole Gibbons of So Haute, and Michelle Adams of Lonny magazine (and guest editor of Trad Home)

New Traditonal designer Robert Passal of Robert Passal Inc., Beth Brenner, Austin Bradley of Robert Passal Inc., and New Traditional designer Tom Delavan

Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo, Beth Brenner, Stacy McLaughlin and Michael Bruno of 1stdibs, Austin Bradley

Sarah Firshein of Curbed National, Amy Preiser of AOL’s Shelterpop, Beth Brenner and Nicole Gibbons

Listening to Michelle Adams speak are, seated: Patrick Cline of Lonny magazine, New Traditional designer Patrik Lönn of Patrik Lönn Design, Doris Athineos of Traditional Home, Michael Bruno, Marisa Marcantonio, Tom Delavan, Elizabeth Blitzer, Julia Noran of The Editor at Large, Robert Passal, and Austin Bradley. Standing: Beth Brenner and Blaire Rzempoluch of Traditional Home.

The other side of the table: Francesca Connolly of Remodelista, Brad Ford of Design Therapy, Stacy McLaughlin, Amy Preiser, Michelle Adams, Sarah Firshein, and Ron Marvin.

Also thanks to New Traditional designer Nina Freudenberger of Haus Interior, Katie Armour of The Neo-Traditionalist, Ellie Somerville of Lonny, Coco of CocoCozy, Amy Wicks from WWD, and Gabriella Karl on behalf of CasaSugar, who attended but are not pictured.

Congratulations to our other New Traditional designers who couldn’t join us:

Amanda Malson and Jolene Ballard of Domicile Interior Design

Sasha Adler and Lauren Gold of Nate Berkus Associates

Jeff Andrews of Jeff Andrews – Design

Jayne Michaels and Joan Michaels of 2Michaels

Erika Powell of Urban Grace Interiors

Megan Rice Yager of Megan Yager Design

Amy D. Morris of Amy D. Morris Interiors

Kim Winkler of Westbrook Interiors

Lisa Sternfeld of LSID Inc

Jamie Herzlinger of Jamie Herzlinger Interiors

Heidi Bonesteel, Michele Trout, and Jill Hall of Bonesteel Trout Hall

Sara Gilbane Sullivan of Sara Gilbane Interiors

romancing the home

Written on January 28, 2011 at 12:15 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

For lovers of Shabby Chic’s well-worn, feminine aesthetic (and who especially love it at Target prices), the brand, founded by Rachel Ashwell, has launched a new line called Treasures by Shabby Chic. The first collection of gift items, stationery, and craft products premiered at Michaels stores. The product is in-store only, but you can visit Michaels’ site for more information.

Shabby Chic’s vintage-inspired prints adorn the goodies, which range from adorable gift tags to functional items like magnets and sticky notes. Sweet little soaps make great gifts, and I always love a good shelf liner. Bonus: everything only costs $1-$5!

To celebrate the launch, Shabby Chic is hosting an online sweepstakes through January 31 (this coming Monday) via their Facebook page. Five winners will score a prize basket with an assortment of the new products. Click here to enter.

Born to be a star?

Written on December 13, 2010 at 1:25 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

Think you’re ready to take on TV? Apply online or in person at a casting call to see if you’ve got what it takes to be HGTV’s next Design Star!

the art of giving

Written on December 3, 2010 at 6:06 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

For all you art lovers out there—and for those who know art lovers, and for those looking for a good cause to support this holiday season—Zatista.com has something for you.

Zatista, an online art gallery, has partnered with activist organization Housing Works to host an online charity auction to coincide with the Art Basel Miami art fair. One-of-a-kind works by the site’s most popular artists are up for grabs.

#198 by Kaley Rhodes, Mixed Media on Canvas, 24″h x 36″w (photo courtesy of Zatista.com)

All proceeds benefit Housing Works, the US’s largest community-based group providing services for the homeless and those living with HIV/AIDS. Visit housingworks.org to find out more about this amazing organization.

So, if you can’t be in Miami Beach, you can still get an original work by an up-and-coming artist this weekend and help others in the process. The auction is live now through 8pm EST on Sunday, the 5^th.

sweetness and light

Written on December 1, 2010 at 4:41 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

When asked to do a feature vignette at the Lampworks showroom in Manhattan, designers generally bring in a cabinet here, a console there, and it’s all a slightly serious undertaking (Albert Hadley has done one). Interior designer Felicia Zwebner, founder of her own firm, Art De Triomphe, decided to attempt her most ambitious installation ever and go outside the box and off the floor.

Her initial inspirations were fall, but not pumpkins and hay bales, and the outdoors. Her love of France led her to ideas of eating outside and vineyards. A little bit of Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland and the vision was complete.

photograph: (c) 2010 Dwight B. Tobin

A canvas floor cloth is painted to look like the sky, and the stairs are a rushing waterfall, both by Faux Time Design. Ceramic mushrooms and butterflies dot the faux rock formations. An extra bit of whimsy is the French-inspired taffeta hot air balloon.

Tilt your head 90 degrees to the right and take in the “blue stone patio” with table fabricated by Window 25 and Pierre Deux wheat-back chairs, Kravet fabric (as the tablecloth) with Samuel & Sons trim, as well as the birch canopy. There are so many sweet details, such as the burlap seat cushions also from Window 25; I love the tiny one on the child’s chair. It took a lot of effort and finger-crossing to pull off this wall-mounted scene.

Of course, the light fixtures are the real stars. Hung or mounted at different heights is a mix of new, custom, and vintage indoor and outdoor pieces in varying scale. A favorite fixture was the Vaseline glass-and-iron pendant from 1925. You can see its milky-colored sphere in the center of the above image.

Felicia’s installation could have fit perfectly in our October Enchanted Forest story, don’t you think? It’s a totally fun way to show off the beautiful range of products at Lampworks, and it should be up until late winter, if you get the chance to stop by. Lampworks owner Bebe Regnier says that this sort of display is exactly what draws her to Felicia’s work: “Everything has precise detail. It’s its own little world, like she’s created a movie set.”

The Lampworks showroom is located at 231 East 58th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

beyond the red kettle

Written on November 17, 2010 at 4:24 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

One of the things I’m already trying to instill in my daughter is an understanding of how blessed we are to have everything we need and quite a few of the things we want, but that this isn’t the case for everyone.

A favorite childhood memory of time spent with my family is of a Salvation Army volunteer day we all participated in together, though my sister and I were quite young. There were hundreds of boxes and cans of food set up like a makeshift grocery store in the meeting hall of an electricians’ union. We just went around and around the hall with a wagon, filling up bags for needy families until all the food was allocated. That’s actually my earliest memory of volunteering and giving back in any small way I could, and looking for opportunities like that is something I continue to do with my own little family.

And if there’s anything I’ve learned in this first year of motherhood, it’s that sleep truly is a gift. And perhaps a privilege I seem to have not yet earned back. So to further build good karma, I want to share with you Stearns & Foster’s Gift of Sleep program.

Between this coming Monday, November 22, and January 3, 2011, for every Stearns & Foster mattress set purchased at a participating retailer, the company will donate $100—up to $1 million—toward new mattresses designed specifically for The Salvation Army for their residential facilities. And some retailers are even planning to match the gift, so if you’re in the market for a new mattress, try your local Stearns & Foster retailer.

Because ’tis the season, and isn’t giving and receiving at the same time the best of both worlds?

no hard feelings

Written on November 10, 2010 at 12:06 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

I know I mentioned already on Facebook how inspired I was by the Classic Women Awards two weeks ago. I was just so honored to be a part of the celebration, especially since it was my first. (I missed last year’s because I was on maternity leave.)

As a Women’s Studies major in college, I was surrounded by stories of immense struggle and success. Each of the winners, including past honorees, has fought something and is stronger because of it. And I think our world is richer for their being in it.

Nina Rappaport Rowan is another woman who is dedicated to a good cause that I feel is especially timely and I wanted to share. Nina was Executive Producer of this summer’s hit Despicable Me, and is best known in the animation field and as a producer of family entertainment including children’s books, animated films and TV projects. As the founder of Plushy Feely Corp, she created Kimochis™ …Toys with Feelings Inside, below, adorable little plush toys on a mission.

Read more

get your dose of fiber

Written on October 26, 2010 at 4:07 pm
By Amy Bleier Long

A few weeks ago I had a chance to visit with Merida as they launched 3 new rug collections: Sweater, Pure, and Veledo. Merida’s products are beautiful and sustainable: They’re made from renewable materials such as sisal, jute, paper, wool, and grasses. I love their natural look and the layer of texture that the materials add to an interior. Here’s a quick look at the new patterns:

Sweater

Creative Director Maegan Fee has always been inspired by textiles and knitted constructions so she wanted to create a collection that looked like a knit but is actually woven natural wool. In the Sweater line, there are two woven patterns and one tufted.  I’m a huge fan of things that look like sweaters or cable knit; I think it’s psychological since I’m allergic to wool. But, don’t they look cozy?

 
Veledo

Perhaps their most revolutionary collection, Veledo is made of recycled leather. It’s the company’s first hard-surface flooring and the leather comes from sources such as shoe heels and briefcases from Italian factories. There are four embossed styles, including Croco and Angus, which come in a variety of colors.

 
Pure

Pure is the most outwardly environmentally-friendly, though all their products are. Pure is made from undyed wools and organic jute backing. Available in five colors, it’s 100% biodegradable and compostable, and contains no VOCs.

 
Merida also relaunched Broadway—their first product—a 100% sisal diamond pattern woven on a Jacquard loom.

 
While there I had a sneak peek at a collection from Barclay Butera Lifestyle. It just launched officially last week at High Point. The natural fiber woven rugs are inspired by men’s haberdashery and will be available in the colors for which Barclay’s best known – blues, chocolates, and neutrals.  Stay tuned for a future issue where there will be more on the collection.

I spent some time with Barclay and Merida creative director Maegan Fee. Can you tell which one of us didn’t spend much time outside this summer?