A Letter from the President
In This Issue: A Letter from the President
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Coming Events
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Take a Seat Scores Successful Encore
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Spotlight on...Chris Madden
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Members Making News
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Welcome, New Members!
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Bigger than the Boomers! Millennials Change the World
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A Word from Our Sponsors
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Contributors: Rose Gilbert, FIFDA—Editor Anna Israel—Editor Mervyn Kaufman, FIFDA Su Hilty, FIFDA Kara Marmion Maureen Klein
Fellow Members – It’s been a busy first half of the year for IFDA. Our second annual Take a Seat charity auction was a huge success, showcasing the design talent of many of our interior design and furniture design members, while other members volunteered their skills to organize and promote the event. What makes IFDA unique among industry organizations is that our membership body truly crosses all facets of the furnishing and design worlds. It’s great to watch how different professional skill sets complement one another when the group comes together. Getting involved is the best way to maximize your IFDA membership and share the benefits of the networking and professional development this organization offers. If you are interested in becoming more involved, or joining a committee, please call or email the IFDA office and we’ll get you in touch with the committee chairs. All the best for a happy summer. —Kara Marmion 1
Coming Events
Take A Seat Scores Successful Encore
Cocktails, Conversation & Connections
Take a Seat rated a standing ovation when the New York Chapter staged a repeat performance of its hit event at the Room and Board SoHo retail store last month for a crowd of 250-plus enthusiastic attendees.
Mon, July 7, 5:30—7:30 pm Metro Grill Roof Garden @ Metro Hotel 45 W. 35th Street Networking—Bring your business cards! Cash Bar
IFDA Summer Social Thurs, August 7, 6:00—8:00 pm GE Monogram Design Center 150 East 58th Street, 10th Floor Cocktails, networking, and fun with the GE chef for Members & Invited Guests
IFDA Color Trends Event Mon, August 18, 8:30-10:30am NY NOW @ Jacob Javits Center 655 W. 34th Street Lower Level, Room 1 A 02-03 Learn the latest trends with DJ Carey, Cottages & Gardens, and Renee Hytry Derrington, Formica & Laminex
IFDA Trip to MAISON&OBJET PARIS September 5 - 9 Special prices & amenities await all travelers. Details to come.
Take a Bow Wed, October 1, 7:30 – 9:30 pm AXOR Hansgrohe 29 9th Avenue Celebrating the NY Take a Seat Event & Skyping with 5 other IFDA Chapters during their Take a Seat Kick Offs Benefiting Habitat for Humanity
LISA McMAHON PLAYS VANNA WHITE --Take A Seat Co-Chair shows off the spindle-back chair created by Sara and Moncef Touijer.
Twenty-eight one-of-a-kind chairs had been created or up-cycled by designers and artisans for the second iteration of the gala auction that started last year in three chapters– Japan, New York and San Diego. Take a Seat has now doubled its reach with six chapters participating, including Arizona, Florida, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and Northern California.
New York started the “chair roll call” on May 14, with the help of media partner New York Cottages and Gardens (NYC&G), and editor-in-chief Kendell Cronstrom. Chairs were on display in Room and Board’s front windows and on the store’s floors for a week. The live auction starred TV personality Libby Langdon as emcee, and auctioneer Harrie E. Copeland III, who knocked down bids totaling more than $9,000 to benefit Habitat for Humanity, NYC and chapter professional development. With names like Miss Welty, Tango Indigo and Fit to be Tied, each one-off chair had its distinct personality. Fashion designer Betsey Johnson dressed hers in poofy pink. Industrial designer Karim Rashid spent more than eight hours doodling vibrant symbols over one of his iconic OH chairs. NBC’s American Dream Builders designer, Vanessa DeLeon, took light and flight to new heights with her electrified butterfly beauty. Enthusiastic event chairs were Lisa McMahon, a public relations specialist, and Tamara Stephenson, designer and blogger. New this year is the dedicated website IFDAtakeaseat.com, created as a courtesy by Arizona IFDA member and social media specialist Charlene Kingston. Adrienne Hart, AZ, and Caroline Rogow, FL, are leading the international Take a Seat teams, and Karen Wirrig and Maureen Klein, co-founders along with Yasue Ishikawa, are acting as advisors. Additional auctions will take place in October, preceded a simultaneous Skype kick-off party on October 1, when all six chapters will toast the nationwide exhibits. 2
and Bingo! In 1997, Chris became the first design correspondent on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She also published A Room of Her Own (11 printings, 100,000+ copies sold), featuring the natural habitats of remarkable women. The book led to remarkable friendships….with the late poet Maya Angelou, for one, and with Oprah Winfrey herself.
Spotlight On…CHRIS MADDEN Celebrity designer, TV personality, businesswoman, author of 20 best-selling books, Chris Madden, IFDA, was resting on her laurels when we phoned to SPOTLIGHT her remarkable career -- which includes being honored in the 2003 CIRCLE OF EXCELLENCE. Chris remembered another IFDA event, a Plaza Hotel luncheon where she was guest speaker. “But I had laryngitis. Couldn’t talk!” Today, she speaks up to praise IFDA: “So generous and supportive…An organization we should all support!” Relaxing in St. Thomas, she and husband Kevin Madden, former House & Garden publisher, have put in “enough 80-hour workweeks,” Chris reported. Now their son Nick has joined their thriving Chris Madden Inc., based in Port Chester, NY.
But back to the business story: an eponymous furniture line with Bassett Furniture Co. launched in 2000, sold $100+ million in two years, and spawned a 12-year partnership with JCPenney, where Chris developed a line that expanded to 2,000 pieces and $2 billion in sales. Next? Watch for two new product launches at the Fall Market in NY: bedding from Idea Nuova, and bath from Sunham.
Galley ‘Slave’ — Some 40 years ago, when the Maddens honeymooned in St. Thomas, Chris’ resume included a stint with Sports Illustrated. That got her a chef’s job on a yacht returning from the America’s Cup -- “Before I wrote my cookbooks!” she laughs. But not before she’d been photographed in Mademoiselle – as a six-year-old. Or won a scholarship to FIT (she still serves on their board). Doing Well = Doing Good — Now Chris is heeding her own advice -- “Follow your passion and you bring joy to others.” In 2007, Project Katrina furnished stormracked homes in Mississippi with her JCPenney products. The next year, she partnered with Blue Star Mothers of America in Operation Cozy Comfort, replacing regulation army blankets with Chris Madden plush blankets from JCPenney.
After a post-grad backpacking journey around the museums of Europe, Chris handled public relations at some of New York’s great publishing houses, including Random House, Putnam, and Farrar Straus and Groux, where she met bold-face names face-to-face: Susan Sontag, Philip Roth, Tom Wolfe…. Then she was downsized out – “A kick in the pants” that compelled her to launch Chris Madden Inc., in l976. She also launched her writing career with Interior Visions 1988), Rooms with a View, (1992), and Kitchens (1993). The books caught HGTV’s eye and she became one of their first hosts.
As she observes. “We who are blessed really can give back.”
Enter Oprah — Interiors by Design ran for eight seasons (1995-2003). Fans included Oprah Winfrey, 3
Madden and husband, Kevin, in Mississippi.
Members Making News HERE TODAY, GONE TONIGHT: DESIGN ON A DIME— “It took months to plan and only a few hours for all the items to sell at this festive evening,” according to Tamara Matthews-Stephenson, designer/blogger and IFDA VP Communications. “April 24 -- part show house, part charity sale for Housingworks -- came and went in a flash,” she recalls.
the Palace Hotel, and the “awe-inspiring” exhibition of design magic inside its “spectacularly proportioned rooms,” Charles said he hopes the 42nd annual show house “has inspired designers, architects and aficionados of great design in a way that will set the bar for residential design of the 21st century.” Drawing top design talents and some 20,000 visitors, the May-long open house is a powerful fund-raiser for the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club, whose programs benefit 11,000 youngsters in the Bronx. A Kips Bay Show House veteran himself, Charles is already looking forward to next year and – he hopes – to an encore performance in the Villard’s 19th- century architecture with its “original paneling, Beaux Arts motifs, and properly-trimmed fenestrations. “If only,” he says, “the rest of us might have the opportunity to flex some design muscle in a Villard House in 2015. Let’s only hope the showcase can return for more of what made this year so memorable.”
MAKING LIGHT OF HARD WORK – Many hands on deck smoothed the sailing for Tamara’s seaside room setting. Helpers having fun: Michael Tavano, MT Custom; Tamara; fellow IFDA members Lisa McMahon; and Maureen Klein
Here’s how Design on a Dime, now in its l0th year, raises funds to help people living with or affect by aids: “Designers (60 of us) are given a 10 X 12-ft. space with three walls…and creative license to whip up whatever we desire.” “After our hard work the event is open to the public, Champagne is served, there’s a press hour and preshopping VIP time, then before the shopping begins. The velvet rope comes off and the items start flying off the shelves with proceeds going to this very worthwhile cause.” Tamara’s French-flavored beach room may have disappeared like Cinderella at midnight, but you can still see it at nestnestnest.blogspot.com.
SEEDING THE FUTURE OF SURFACE DESIGN— Penny Sikalis, former IFDA President and VP of SURTEX, presents the Grand Prize in the 2014 SURTEX designext Student Design Competition to Tori McLean, a third-year student at the Winchester School of Art, U of Southampton, UK. th Now in its 28 year, the competition drew entries from art schools all over the globe. Tori and three other student winners were invited to exhibit their designs in the Javits Center. The SURTEX show is devoted to selling/licensing original art and design.
KIPS BAY SHOW ENCORE AT VILLARD MANSION?— This year “was most definitely the year that put the Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse back on the map of high drama and the utmost in luxury-living,” reports IFDAer/ Showhouse Committee Member Charles Pavarini III. Between the Villard Mansion venue, the McKim, Mead and White-designed architectural landmark opposite 4
Members Making News NEVER MIND Shhhhh! Out to spread the word about the IFDA Educational Foundation, VPs Kim Price, (left) and Susan Hirsh (right) greet Ross J. Francis (center), Trustee/ Chairman of the Friends of the Library at the New York School of Interior Design. They attended a reception in the Mario Buatta Materials Atelier, honoring Billy Kwan, newly named Library Director by NYSID’s President David Sprouls. TWEETING FOR HER SUPPER?— Eagle-eyed Su Hilty, FIFDA, home from her Alaskan voyage, triumphed in the Architectural Digest's Twitter hunt during the AD♥200Lex event that sent party-goers sleuthing through showrooms to find -- and Tweet about -- items selected by Editor in Chief Margaret Russell. Su's reward: dinner for two at Jean-Georges; something to, er, tweet home about!
as chapter administrator (Tuesdays/Thursdays/Fridays). Rose’s mentor is show room manager Dionne Gadsden. Come August, Rose will be back at FIT for her last semester as an Interior Design major. ECO-TALK ON EARTH DAY – Mervyn Kaufman, FIFDA, (right) greets Campion Platt, ranked among Architectural Digest’s ‘AD 100’ top interior designers.
DIVE IN, U.S. DESIGNERS & ARCHITECTS! – Win a round trip to ISH in Frankfurt, the world's largest trade show for water and energy in building solutions, courtesy of the new Hansgrohe+Axor Das Design Competition. Hansgrohe’s first-ever design competition deadlines September 2, according to Luky "Jade" Ng, IFDA, Hansgrohe Design Studio Manager. For full details and entry form, visit http:// dasdesigncomp.com. COLOR IN THE CONSULATE— Hasmin Espitato, the Vice Consulate in Florence, admires ‘Light Tribute’ by IFDAer Paul Thomas, now hanging in the US Consulate there.
COLORFUL NEW ASSIGNMENT— IFDA’S Office Manager and stellar design student Rose Hittmeyer is summer interning at Silver Sponsor Benjamin Moore’s show room in the D&D Building. She’s on duty Mondays/Wednesdays, then back to her other-day job
SUMMER SALE ON IFDA MEMBERSHIP! Dues are $225 if you join us by September 30! Get all the perks of membership & save $125! Quick! Click on www.IFDA.com. 5
Welcome, New Members!
1,000 kitchens -- everything from floor plans and product specifications to complete delivery and installation -- before launching her own firm. She is a recipient of the Best of Houzz Award for both 2013 and 2014 in the customer satisfaction category, and serves on both the K+BB Editorial Advisory Board and the Thermador Design Council.
Saly Antoun, FIT student and volunteer at IFDA. Also a member of ASID and IFDA, Saly is serving her second year as head of fundraising for the FIT ID Club. Her involvement in the interior design field also includes student competitions, and interning for Robin Baron Designs as an assistant to Robin and the design Jesse Walp, Buffalo, NY. A design team. instructor and shop supervisor at Villa Maria College in Buffalo, Jesse is a sculptor and furniture-maker who exhibits both his arts, locally and nationally. He was born in Wellsville, N Y, grew up in Southern Mississippi, and began his design studies at Mississippi State University, and then went on to study Furniture Design and Woodworking at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he earned his MFA degree in Toni Sabatino, Tony Sabatino Sculpture. After graduate school, Style, Newport, NY. An award- he taught and exhibited at various winning kitchen designer who community art centers as a worked with a cabinet resident artist before accepting his manufacturer and then a current post in Buffalo. distributor, Toni built a portfolio of 6
Bigger Than The Boomers! Millennials Change the World Millennials—that generation of adults born after 1982—are carving out a niche of their own in today's home marketplace, according to a recent Better Homes and Gardens readership survey. Its thought-provoking results were announced by Jill Waage, the magazine's editorial director for home content, at the 2014 International Home Builders Show in Las Vegas and repeated April 28th at an IFDA/New York Chapter event hosted by Country Floors in Manhattan. "Millennials are swarming into the home marketplace armed with information, ideas, and a passionate desire for personalization," Jill said. "Home builders, designers and remodelers should know that this generation expects you to work with them as collaborators, not just contractors." *Other Survey Findings: • Millennials believe owning a home is part of the American dream (79%) and home buying remains a sound investment (77%); • Lack of a down payment is their greatest obstacle to making that dream a reality (35%); Those
surveyed believe their next home is more likely to be a fixer-upper (23%) than newly built (18%). • Millennials making home improvements are convinced that now
is a good time to fund such projects the function of at least one room—a trillion in direct annual spending. (35%) nursery, home office or craft/hobby That report also notes that within the next 15 years Millennials will • Millennial respondents want space. homes that are more energy efficient • Six out of 10 of those surveyed are outnumber Baby Boomers 78 to 56 (40%). using a tablet or smartphone to million. • Among the readers surveyed, 45% say they are currently planning or doing some kind of home improvement; of these projects, 75% also involve furniture and accessories, and 34% include altering
access home-related information: According to Jill, "This generation ideas, inspiration or actual items. wants homes that reflect their *How Big is the Millennials' Market individuality, and their sheer size will Segment? According to a report by reshape the home market for the Boston Consulting Group, it decades to come." currently amounts to some $1.3
AND NOW, A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS:
IFDA NY GOLD SPONSORS
AMERICAN HARDWOOD INFORMATION CENTER: American Tulipwood is on the fast track in London! For London Fashion Week – a striking construction in natural tulipwood (aka Poplar) created the backdrop for clothing brand 1205 Designs. Seems the “rawness” of the species – its variable color and exciting grain patterns – was the perfect match for this trendy line.
disguises an unsightly staircase, and significantly improves the acoustics in this former west London warehouse. Tulipwood was chosen for its physical characteristics and affordability. At the V & A -- located in the John Madejski Gardens at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Infinity Bench demonstrates the potential of thermally modified tulipwood -- and other American hardwood species -- in outdoor applications. Perfect for exterior use, “modified” tulipwood limits moisture absorption and resists decay, while exhibiting dimensional stability.
HUNTER DOUGLAS: New Frontiers in Light Control.
Tulipwood in the Phoenix Brewery Office
In the Phoenix Brewery Office Complex -- an impressive sculpture-like enclosure of stained tulipwood
Light control tops almost everyone’s list when it comes to window dressings, and Hunter Douglas Silhouette® window shadings take that concept to the next level. Its soft fabric vanes, floating between two sheers, transform incoming light from harsh and unyielding to gentle and diffused for an 7
improved ambience and enhanced light control.
Silhouette® A Deux™ in the Bedroom
The new Silhouette® A Deux™ dual roller system combines light-filtering and room-darkening capabilities in one window shading, in one headrail. Among other enhancements, the collection now offers 287 SKUs of luxurious fabrics from which to select, including four new choices:
Myst™: A sophisticated metallicaccented vane with a colored face sheer brings shimmer and surprise to Alustra® Silhouette window shadings;
French Linen: Also exclusively featured in The Alustra Collection,
French Linen has a casual face sheer inspired by the look of refined linen;
Mystere™: A richly textured horizontal vane fabric and coordinating colored face sheer bring beautiful light-diffusion to rooms;
Monaco™: A distinct, crosstextured fabric vane sports wonderfully colored front sheers for added vibrancy at the window.
nation’s growing “Maker Movement,” will debut at NY NOW, August 16-20, at New York’s Javits Center. NY NOW’s “Maker Project” will include showcases of individual makers and products, a four-part seminar program addressing the movement’s evolution, impact and opportunities and exclusive free access to a special “NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial” exhibit at
MOEN, INC. Introduces the New Align Faucet Suite,
MAD upon presentation of a Summer Market badge. Information and registration is available online at nynow.com.
STACY GARCIA, INC. – Showing up at HD Expo (Hospitality Design) in Las Vegas last month, Stacy Garcia’s product launches and previews included: The Foundry for Bernhardt Hospitality, Hudson & Sutton Collections for Hospitality Designs, The
NY NOW’s Maker Movement
MAD Museum. Elements of the “Maker Project” include:
The Align Faucet Suite
including two single-control faucets, a two-handle version, matching tub and shower trim, and matching accessories and grab bars. There is a singlecontrol that is only 4.8” tall (5.8” handle up) to accommodate the A117.1 rules for faucet height with wall-mount medicine cabinets and mirrors. The Align is shipping now.
Exhibits: A new Etsy Wholesale pavilion, a Grommet Wholesale showcase, two maker-focused collectives – American Design Club and JOIN Seattle – and two existing NY NOW ‘incubator’ showcases;
Education: Four Maker-focused seminars: “Modern-Day Matchmaking: Technology & Tools for the 21st Century”; “Knock-Out Knock-Offs: Design Integrity in the Internet”; “The Maker Movement – Forging A New Paradigm,” and “Entrepreneurship & Lessons Learned from the Start-Up Trenches;”
NY NOW Debuts “Maker Project” at Summer Market. A new threepronged initiative, connected with the
Events: Free admission to “NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial,” on view at MAD, as well as a 20 percent discount on full-priced items at The Store at
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Following Stacy Garcia’s Scavenger Hunt
Curator for Brintons, Connoisseur for Durkan, Fizz for Lexmark , and more! In honor of the newest collaborations, they served up Morning Mimosas, threw a Pink Champagne Party, and dished out coffee and Kahlua. A Stay Inspired scavenger hunt led tour attendees through each of the new products. Players who visited all of the Stacy Garcia partners were entered to win a personalized Louis Vuitton Tote! See the winner and more details from the show on the Stacy Garcia blog, Life -Styled.net!
IFDA NY SILVER SPONSORS CHELSEA FRAMES / GALERIE PROTÉGÉ: Three new lines added by Larson-Juhl Custom Frames:
The Jepara collection features hand applied Capiz shells on elegant profiles. Well-suited for beach and wedding photographs, Jepara offers versatility to complement any art style; The Linea collection is a simple yet sophisticated collection, available in two profiles and three shades of gray. Linea can be used alone or as an accent to match styles from country to modern. Subtle silver undertones capture and reflect most interior colors, allowing Linea to blend with any color scheme; Finally, the CR2 collection features a 100-percent stainless steel-wrapped surface with clean lines and a slick finish. CR2 beautifully complements kitchen décor, pairs well in modern industrial settings and showcases photography of all kinds.
Terri Beckles, Alcides Rivas, Allison Henri, Samuel Fuentes, Brigitte Caramanna, Nicole Sands, Robert Dimin, Justine Hill, Ethan Millspaugh, Gloria Godall Luch.
CLIFF YOUNG, LTD. -- The brand-new Cliff Young Signature Rug Collection is in! The refreshingly organic, contemporary collection was designed by Cliff Young Ltd. and made by hand in Nepal, featuring an incredible array of patterns, textures, colors and techniques. Like all the Cliff Young signature pieces, the rug collection is fully customizable.
KRAVET INC. -- Diane von Furstenberg Designs for Kravet Collections. Kravet announces the launch of a new collection of home fabrics and trimmings from the legendary designer Diane Von Furstenberg.
Diane von Furstenberg for Kravet Collections
Cliff Young’s Rug Primer
At Galerie Protégé: Opening July 12, through August 15: The Annual: Curated by Jaclyn Acker. Works by the staff and family of Chelsea Frames and Galerie Protégé
The inspiration for the rug collection has come from art, nature, organic patterns and dynamic visuals that surround us, and the fibers, colors and techniques used are enhancing that. Wool, silk, linen, and aloe in myriad of colors are playing beautifully with each design in telling a story.
Reception : July 12th 6-8pm. Artists:
See more about Cliff Young Signature
Alcides Rivas, Untitled, 2012
Rug Collection here.
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The line showcases her renowned aesthetic and sense of print and color, as seen in many of her iconic patterns. Von Furstenberg effortlessly brings high fashion into the home with prints, wovens and draperies, and custom trimmings designed to accent the fabrics with an exotic edge. The collection has a strong foundation in black-and-white with pops of color, and incorporates the iconic designer’s signature bold animal prints, such as Spotted Cat and Funky Zebra. Geometric and abstract prints are also featured, for an eclectic blend designed to be mixed and matched.
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR IFDA SPONSORS INTERNATIONAL SILVER SPONSOR
NEW YORK GOLD SPONSORS
NEW YORK SILVER SPONSORS
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