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Archive for the ‘Press’ Category

Top Interior Designers Selected for Greystone Mansion Showcase

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011

Getting ready to settle into a relaxing Fourth of July weekend, I kicked back and opened the latest issue of LUXE.   Then I saw it, my name in the  first, official ad for the Greystone Mansion Showcase House.  What a way to start the holiday!

 

LUXE Maison de Luxe has chosen over 20 top leading designers from all over the world to participate in this fall’s show house for the historic Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills.  You can imagine how excited I am to be included.  This event is one of the largest and most majestic show houses in the country and is sure to be awe-inspiring. 

 

Lori Dennis

HGTV and my show The Real Designing Women will be following the action, along with celebrity friends like Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, Nathan Turner and Mary McDonald from Bravo’s “Million Dollar Decorator.”

Any reputable showcase designer list would include the old gaurd and this one is no exception.  You’ll see legends like Hutton Wilkinson, Jamie Drake, Barry Dixon and Suzanne Rheinstein.

My Fabulous Friend Hutton Wilkinson

Colorful Jaime Drake

Lady Suzzane Rheinstein

Lord of the Manor Barry Dixon

 Built in 1928, this Baronial-style estate is over 46,000 square feet with 18.5 manicured acres of land.  It’s our city’s most famous palace and certainly rivals those of Rhode Island Coasts.

Show House Tour runs November 4-20, 2011 and Designer Lecture Series are November 4, 11 and 18.  For more information, Please visit www.beverlyhills.org/maisondeluxe.

Tags: architect, Architecture, ASID, austin, Award Winning, Bath, Bravo, Commercial, Construction, Contractor, Custom Furniture, dallas, Decor, Decorating, Design, Expert, famous interior designer, Furniture Rentals, green, HGTV, Home, home design, home remodeling, houston, Interior Decorator, interior design, Interior Designers, kitchen, LEED, los angeles interior designer, los angeles interior designers, Maison de Luxe, new york, Orange County Interior Designer, Remodel, Renovate, Residential, Space Planning, Spokesperson, Staging, sustainable, The Real Designing Women, Top Interior Designer
Posted in Baths, Charities, Events, Green Building, Green Living, Interior Designers, Kitchens, Lectures, Magazines, Outdoor Living, Outdoor Living Rooms, Parties, Press, Public Speaking, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Legends of La Cienega: Mood Boards

Friday, May 13th, 2011

This morning I will be speaking at Legends of La Cienega on the topic of creating mood boards.  Here’s a simple 5 step approach that’s an efficient and impressive way to convey your designs to your clients:

 

1. There are many benefits of creating a digital Mood Board.  It’s incredibly fast to search online and simply copy/paste images onto a page, or create a visually compelling and exciting presentation using other graphics programs.  Now you won’t have to shlep a big board with you from place to place – just email it.  This conveys your ideas to your clients, and with their reply you’ll have an idea of the direction they’d like to go.  It speeds up the design process so the project can start moving right along.
2. Let’s say you want to evoke the feeling of a Bali style resort and need a little inspiration.  There are many places you can search for your style: HGTV, online Magazines (Elle Décor, Traditional Home, Veranda, Architectural Digest, Luxe – or Google “Interior Decorating Magazines” and a list will pop up).  Blogs are also a fantastic way to find inspiration and see what trends people are writing about.  Some of my favorite blogs include So Haute, All The Best, Apartment Therapy, Tobi Fairly, Remodelista, Design Sponge, Inhabitat, Decorati, 1^st Dibs, or Desire to Inspire.
3. There are simple and effective ways to do an image search on Google using keywords, quotes and (+) signs.  For example (Bali+Style+Design) picks up all 3 words listed on websites or images.  Quotes make sure that the entire phrase – in that order – will pop up (“Balinese Design”).  Don’t forget to save each image that inspires you.
4. If you know the piece you’d like to use in your design (sofa, drapery, rug, tassel, etc.), or just have a general idea, search for the item on a vendor or Industry Partner’s website, online catalogue, or again on Google Images.  Most of your favorite showrooms or stores will have plenty of items for you to skim through.  Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, again save your image under an informative name (vendor + item+description, ie: Scalamandre Wallcovering Stripes).
5. A program like Photoshop or InDesign would be ideal for creating your mood board, but don’t worry if these aren’t available to you.  Simply insert your images into a Word Document, organize and title each image for an easy presentation and voila!

Tags: Architecture, ASID, Aspen, austin, Award Winning, Bath, Boca Raton, Brand Ambassador, california interior designer, Celebrity Interior Designer, Commercial, Construction, Contractor, Custom Furniture, dallas, Decor, Decorating, Design, Expert, expert interior designer, Expert Witness, Furniture Rentals, green, HGTV, Home, home design, home remodeling, Host, houston, Interior Decorator, interior design, interior design expert witness, Interior Designers, kitchen, La Quinta, LEED, los angeles interior designer, Miami, new york, Orange County Interior Designer, Palm Beach, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Santa Fe, Remodel, Renovate, Residential, Space Planning, Spokesperson, Staging, sustainable, Top Interior Designer
Posted in Architecture and Design, Events, Interior Designers, Magazines, Press, Public Speaking, Uncategorized | No Comments »

A Better Way to Brand

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

We’re sick of being sold.  Traditional advertising has become blurry and quiet, we simply don’t respond to it anymore.   Tivo’s success exemplifies my point.  But I’ve seen the light, a better way to brand. Hours before the Academy Awards,  AlltheBest blogger and  SFERRA brand ambassador, Ronda Carman, hosted her own red carpet event at Tony Duquette’s Dawnridge.  

 

  SFERRA’s TABLE SETTING

 In honor of  SFERRA’s 120th anniversary, ten top bloggers and a sprinkling of design elite sat down to a one of a kind luncheon,  table styled by team SFERRA- Hutton Wilkinson and placed in one of the many magical outdoor spaces of the Dawnridge Estate. 

                                                                   

 Brand Ambassador Ronda Carman

 

Being a spokesperson for Milgard Windows and a business owner, I am constantly faced with “designing” clever ways to market.  I hit the idea jackpot at Dawnridge.  Ronda nailed it.  

Step 1. LEAVE AN IMPRESSION- If you haven’t picked up a copy of Tony Duquette’s More is More, you should because words will never describe the decadence of the estate.  ( Better yet, get yourself invited… somehow. )   No one who attended the event will ever forget the experience that afternoon or the gracious hosts who invited us.

Tracy Porter and Hutton Wilkinson

Step 2. DON’T MARKET- INSTEAD INVITE and INSPIRE AS A BRAND AMBASSADOR- There was no tradtional marketing at the luncheon, not one piece of literature or signage- but the entire experience sang SFERRA- permanence, luxury, generational, fine, perfection.  The location, the setting and the guests left everyone in awe. SFERRA and Ronda treated us like honored guests instead of marketing targets. Being invited by a “brand ambassador” set the tone for a unique experience that would not be forgotten.   

Hutton Wilkinson and Lori Dennis

Step 3. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TIMING- Ronda coincided the event with the first annual Blogger’s Convention, on calendar for the following day.  Since the best of the best were already in town, she made an offer no design affectionado could refuse.   Bloggers blog about the things they do and see.  Ambassador Carman made sure they saw something worth blogging.  And let’s face it, when respected people say  positive (and unsolicited) things about your brand, it’s the most valuable advertising there is. 

Tobi Fairley and Kyle Knight

 

Step 4. INVITE THE RIGHT GUESTS- Suzzane Rheinstein, Jan Showers, Barclay Butera, Hutton Wilkinson, Anne Sage, Ronda Carman, Lori Dennis, Tobi Fairley, Clinton Smith,  Tracy Porter… the list went on and on.   I read Tobi Fairley’s blog religiously… and there she sat across from me -along with 9 other major leaguers. A mutual admiration society meeting is a good thing and makes for very happy guests.

Barclay Butera and Suzzane Rheinstein 

                                   

 Ronda Carman and Jan Showers

Step 6.  GIVE GOOD SWAG- Each guest left with a boldly colored, personally monogrammed set of SFERRA cocktail napkins.  Think about this.  SFERRA makes heirloom quality linens that can be passed through generations.  Each time these exquisite cocktail napkins are pulled out for decades, it becomes an opportunity to tell the story of Ambassador Carman’s luncheon for SFERRA’s 120th Anniversary at Dawnridge.

That’s a better way to brand.

SFERRA’s TABLE

Tags: Architecture, ASID, Aspen, austin, Award Winning, Bath, Boca Raton, Brand Ambassador, california interior designer, Celebrity Interior Designer, Commercial, Construction, Contractor, Custom Furniture, dallas, Decor, Decorating, Design, Expert, Expert Witness, famous interior designer, Furniture Rentals, green, HGTV, Home, home design, home remodeling, Host, houston, Interior Decorator, interior design, interior design expert witness, Interior Designers, kitchen, La Quinta, LEED, los angeles interior designer, Miami, new york, Orange County Interior Designer, Palm Beach, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Santa Fe, Remodel, Renovate, Residential, Space Planning, Spokesperson, Staging, sustainable, Top Interior Designer
Posted in Architecture and Design, Blogs, Events, Parties, Press | 13 Comments »

© 2011 Lori Dennis. All Rights Reserved.