5 Things You Can Do To Survive and Thrive

Mike at the Landfair Retail Focus has posted about 5 Things You Can Do To Survive and Thrive in Today’s Challenging Economy! Written by George Whalin, President and CEO of Retail Management Consultants, it offers five tips:Be True to Your Principles.Take a Critical Look at Every Expense.Support Your People.Get Closer to Your Customers.Fix What’s Broken. Good advice from an expert.Bev &

Tom Ford

For my birthday, Mike bought some Gwen Stefani "Lamb" perfume for me. Last week, after visiting the Nordstrom's perfume section, I came home smelling like Tom Ford, the perfume! It was in my hair and on my neck and on my pillow where Mike could smell it during his afternoon nap. Tom Ford, it turns out, was nominated The Menswear Designer of the Year by Council of Fashion Designers of America (

Frederick Cooper Pendant Lamp Wins Award

Metropolitan Home magazine in their Year's Best Design 100 have selected Alexander and Meagan Julian for creating a winning pendant for Frederick Cooper. The editors considered all items in the "art of making" which include architecture, interior décor, home furnishings and gadgets. The pendant is a reductivist take on one of the Julians' favorite textile patterns. The work is hand cut brass

The Landfair Retail Focus Is About Rising Costs Of Furniture

Over at The Landfair Retail Focus, Mike has posted about the Rising Cost Of Metal In Furniture and its implications for future furniture.

Portland Coffee Tables

The Oregonian's HGNW has an article today written by Nanine Alexander entitled A Table For Your Coffee, And More. The article has pictures of eight coffee tables that offer "...a place to set items you want within easy reach, a drink, a magazine, the remote control." Alexander doesn't mention my main reason for a coffee table, a place to rest my feet in front of the TV.The article pictures all

Design Star 3 on HGTV

The third season of Design Star 3 on HGTV premieres Sunday June 8th at 9pm.I just took a look at the competitors and only a few are designer "want-a bees", meaning they don't have any formal training. Here's a rundown of contestants:Trish Beaudet - Owner and Designer of Finishing Touches Interiors by Design, Inc.D. Paul DeRouen - Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Louisiana at

Bridget Otto Thursday

What a nice way to begin the day. Open The Oregonian and see a picture of Beverly Landfair gracing the pages of HGNW.Photos by Marv Bondarowicz THE OREGONIANMoving to the Pearl Design Center allowed Bev Landfair to more than double the space for her store, Landfair Furniture + Design Gallery.It's an article by Bridget A. Otto on the Pearl Design Center.In early 2007, the question was asked, "Why

uruguyan paradise

The coastal settlements not far from Punta del Este are called South American Sant-Trope. Light buildings are buried in verdure and flowers . Alan Faena, a famous Argentine couturier, chose this place to build a summer house for himself and his friends. A path leads from blue gates to snow-white wooden building, embraced by a veranda. Both in his work and everyday life, Faena loves bright colors in the most unexpected combinations. That accounts for the house's interior: gaudy of colors and blending of cultures. The central room of the house plays such a broad spectrum of roles, that it can hardly be called a sitting room. There is a dining table and couches on one side, a big bed and master's private nook, on the other. Variegated rugs cover striped floors. Rich Guatemalan plaids and shawls are thrown over eucalyptus furniture units, traditional for Uruguay. Motley Brazilian vases can be seen everywhere. An antique canopy, brought from Argentina, hangs over the dining table. Screens from Bali and huge candlesticks with religious images complete the color collage.

Copy Successful Designers

Nika Stewart has an email that echoes some of the thoughts of KP in The Luxury Consumer Part 2: Interview With Kathie PozarichStewart, Designer' Success Coach, tells us "if you want to run a successful design business, copy what successful designers are doing, and you'll achieve the same success." So, what are successful designers doing? How do they work, think, act? Here are Stewart's three

wall units

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Bridget A. Otto Thursday

Bridget Otto shows how two professionals, Jon and Julie Nordby, owners of Nordby Design Studio, solved the design problems of a house bought by ex-Minnesotans Keith Halasy and Erin Tripp. They loved the view through the large windows and the acreage. Unfortunately, he says, the execution of the design was not very good. Take the relationship -- or lack of it -- between the living room and

Welcome to the CoCo Blog

Just a test to make sure we are up and running!

Good Friends

I consider myself fortunate to have so many close friends. These three women have been my close friends since the eighties (Gail on the left), since the seventies (Sandy on the right), and Marsha in the middle since first grade. That's me in the yellow coat.The four of us have been in a book club for too many years and recently, Gail moved to Boise. Do we replace her? We decided no, we will