Blogfest 2012: Day 3

Day 3 of Blogfest 2012 started with a tour of the Kravet studios in the Flatiron District.

We were divided into small groups and taken around the all the different departments that make up the Kravet, Lee Jofa, and Brunschwig and Fils studios. Our group's tour guide was Ellen Kravet, which was a real treat.

A sneak peek at Kravet's upcoming fabric line inspired by Native American patterns and colors.

This is the CAD? department (I forget the specific names), but it's where the fabrics are digitally manipulated and tweaked until achieving the perfect color combinations. It was very cool to see.

 

Tony runs the studio with his wife. Here he is showing us some custom projects they have done recently. This fabric was designed for the First Lady's Luncheon (Kravet has been doing it for years) and it featured images of the different chandeliers found in rooms of the White House.

Vinyl for a headboard...

And some Disney designs.

This was also for Disney. It was so interesting to learn how they went from an idea, to pencil drawings, to color, and finally producing the fabric.

Here's another example, also from Disney. Pencil drawing on paper (above)...

Pencil drawing on fabric...

And finally, the fabric in color. This was actually a bedspread.

At the Lee Jofa studio, Ralph Lauren division.

Ralph Lauren fabrics. 
 

Trimmings! I loved how Ellen asked each department head how long they'd been working with them and most of them answered above 15 years! Kravet must be a great place to work!

Some fabrics are still printed using old handmade methods like this one. Very cool!

Kelly Wearstler's line (above and below). Unique and gorgeous just like her designs!

After the studio tour, we all headed to the Museum of the City of New York, where we had lunch sponsored by NY Spaces magazine and took part in a couple of panels. First, Benjamin Moore presents Color Pulse 2013 (on which I'll write a separate post with the upcoming color trends), followed by Interiors magazine's Insider panel hosted by editor Michael Wollaeger. The guest speakers were designer Miles Redd, blogger and former editor Marisa Marcantonio, and photographer Peter Aaron.

The day ended with a raffle of some amazing stuff to benefit DIFFA... And New York Spaces magazine held a raffle of their own, randomly choosing 5 bloggers to guest blog for them and I was one of them!! It was so exciting to hear designer Anthony Baratta call out my name! Here I am with three of the other winners (from left to right): Me, Elizabeth Ethridge McGann, Denise McGaha, and Kelly Kole.

And that was Blogfest 2012! Needless to say, this was a major adventure for me. I got to meet some great people, reconnect with the design world, and have such a fun time! Already looking forward to Blogfest 2013!

photos: Ana Elizabeth Hermida/ last photo: courtesy Blogfest 2012

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NIV)

Dear House Beautiful: My Ultimate A-HA! Moment

House Beautiful editor Newell Turner's presentation on those special A-HA! moments was very inspiring. I think at some point in our lives we all have those moments. Suddenly we have a little epiphany in our minds and our hearts, and somehow it changes everything.

In regards to my career, I can safely say that my greatest A-HA! moment was when I made the decision to create and launch my own interior design magazine. I knew I wanted to be an interior designer since I was about 13 years old. I remember leafing through a copy of Florida Design and marveling at the amazing interiors featured in its pages. I knew then, that was what I wanted to do.

The idea for the magazine came up while I was a design student in college. One day, a few of my classmates and I were discussing all the misconceptions people in our country (Dominican Republic) had about our profession. We also realized that there were no real Interior Design publications in the DR. We had architecture and decorating magazines, and a lot of people tended to mix up the roles of each profession. And that's how it all started.

It wasn't easy starting a magazine from scratch, specially when we had no idea of how the publishing industry worked. One by one, my classmates lost interest in the project and in the end there were only two of us left. I remember thinking: "Ana, if you are ever going to finish anything in your life, let this be it." That was my A-HA! moment. Realizing that it was now or never. We knew we had a great idea in our hands, and we just had to keep focused and make it happen. I think in a way God knew this was our ultimate A-HA! moment as well. He opened doors we never expected and gave us favor with so many incredible people, who helped us just because they thought we had a great idea.

Five months after our college graduation we released Interiorismo. In each issue we featured projects created mostly by Dominican designers and published articles that explained the systematical approach (among many other things) that it took to design an interior space. Thank God it was a huge success not only in the Dominican Republic, but in Latin America as well. For four years, it helped shape and define who I was as a designer, each issue a true labor of love. When we moved to the States last year, I had to close it down. It would have been impossible for me to continue publishing it being so far away. After all, I was editor, writer, marketing executive, and occasional photographer! And it all started with that A-HA! moment. Hopefully I'll do it again here in the States! "Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed." Proverbs 16:3 (NLT)

 

 

Images: Interiorismo

Blogfest 2012: Day 2

After an action packed kickoff, Day 2 was finally here. We arrived bright and early at Hearst Tower, which houses some of the best decor magazines like Elle Decor, Veranda, and my personal favorite: House Beautiful. Everyone got a goodie bag from Kravet filled with the latest issues of the aforementioned publications, plus some other treats like an NYC Zagat guide, chocolate chip cookies, handmade caramels from Little Red Hen Candy Co., among other things.

The centerpieces were simply gorgeous!! Peonies are my favorite flowers and it's easy to see why. They're big and full and the colors are always amazing. Some people said these were so beautiful, they almost didn't look real. LOL

We had a lovely breakfast buffet laid out for us, which we enjoyed while mingling with the other bloggers.

Everyone arriving and getting settled in for our morning at Hearst Tower!

Cary Kravet was one of the speakers to welcome us to Blogfest 2012.  Did you know that Kravet is actually a family business that his great grandfather started back in 1918? You can watch the short video they presented right here. It was quite interesting to learn about their history. Cary and his sister Ellen Kravet accompanied us on all the Blogfest activities. They were incredibly nice and warm, which I think made us appreciate the company even more.

Beth Greene, Executive Vice President of Marketing.

Dara Caponigro, editor of Veranda (and one of the founding editors of Domino), presenting an inside look at the making of Veranda's May/June issue. I was really looking forward to her presentation!

Designers Darryl Carter and Timothy Whealon, whose projects were featured in this issue of Veranda, discussed how they created each interior and answered questions from the audience. I liked hearing about some of things they have to deal with as designers. They had a lot of interesting things to say, so I will write a separate post about it next week.

The best part was getting to meet Dara and telling her about Interiorismo. We didn't have much time to talk, but she seemed genuinely interested and altogether lovely. (Please ignore my crazy hair. hehe)

Next up was Newell Turner, editor of House Beautiful with three upcoming designers, Michael Herold, Jill Goldberg, and Jon Call, who talked about finding that A-HA! moment. I loved this concept! Basically an A-HA! moment is a memorable idea, place, person or moment in time that provokes something in you. The three designers shared their own A-HA! moments and it was cool to see how each one was so different. They were simply delightful and honest.

Our view from the 44th floor of Hearst Tower.

New blogger friends. Michael Mariotti, Carolyn Von Der Ahe, and Sharon Hindson.

At noon it was off to the Elle Decor Concept House. Like a smaller version of Kips Bay, each room in the house is done by a different designer.

I loved this idea of hanging a mirror in an exterior space!

After the Elle Decor Concept House, it was time to go to the D&D Building for lunch and to partake in the afternoon's activities.

For lunch (at the Lee Jofa Showroom) we had these seafood rolls (shrimp, lobster, and crab), which were phenomenal! The folks at Blogfest kept us well fed the entire time. They even had snacks and water bottles for us on the buses. Talk about being great hosts!

At the Kravet Showroom, Keith Granet presented and signed copies of his new book, The Business of Design. I've had it in my Amazon Wish List for a few weeks now because it sounds very interesting. As designers, we are businessmen/ women after all.

Traditional Home editor, Ann Maine interviewing designer Alexa Hampton. Remember the bedroom  she designed at Kips Bay? I think this was one of everyone's favorite moments at Blogfest. Alexa was incredibly funny and witty, she had us all entertained and smiling the entire time. I took notes of some of things she said, which I'll share in a separate post in the coming days.

And here I am with Alexa Hampton!

The space in the Kravet showroom where the Traditional Home event took place, was designed by Alexa using her line of Kravet fabrics. The blue one used for the drapes was the same pattern as the one she used for the bed canopy at Kips Bay. It's called Palazzo and was inspired by a floor pattern.

Some of her hand-painted linens.

We also visited the Brunschwig & Fils Showroom.

Afterwards we all went to the Baccarat Hard Hat party (still in the D&D Building), where designer Vicente Wolf welcomed us and talked a little bit about his partnership with Baccarat.

And finally, we finished the day with a party at the GE Monogram Design Center.

Whew! Can you believe all the things we did in one day? Stay tuned because I have lots more to share with you guys, including a recap of the final day of Blogfest 2012, some design trends I noticed, and a special post about my own A-HA! Moment.

photos: Ana Elizabeth Hermida

"It is a difficult thing for someone to die for a righteous person. It may even be that someone might dare to die for a good person. But God has shown us how much he loves us—it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!" Romans 5:7-8