Lori's List » Nathan Turner

Top Interior Designers Decorate Beverly Hills Mansion

Lori — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:21:40 +0000

Please enjoy the opening night videos of Maison de Luxe from our friends at Editor At Large featuring huge design stars like Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Mary McDonald, Nathan Turner, Jaime Drake , Holly Hunt, Jeffrey Alan Marks , Phillip Gorrivan and me!

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Well, West Elm’s Figured it Out

Lori — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:54:30 +0000

In the mid-priced budget, there’s less and less need for a professional designer when retailers like West Elm have nailed a look that reflects a well lived and traveled life.

Have you seen their latest catalogue? It looks like they robbed Nathan Turner’s shop to be able to offer their latest items at such affordable prices. Add that West Elm is at the forefront of pushing retail one step further to help sustainable products go mainstream as a growing number of their items are 100% green and there’s little reason go elsewhere.

For years I’ve been teaching designers and the public about eco-friendly and healthy resources. Lately my push has been for awareness of the people who make the goods we buy. West Elm’s latest partnership is with Aid to Artisans. I’m terribly impressed that a huge retailer has realized a way to profit and create economic opportunities for artisan groups around the world.

This season they are focusing on All India Artisans and Craftworkers Welfare Association. The Indian women’s yarn co-op creates one of a kind, hand loomed and hand woven pillow and throws without the use of any electricity. Pieces from Stray Dog Designs can also be found at West Elm. Stray Dog Designs has been an enormous part of pre and post Haitian Earthquake artisan commerce among a lengthy, charitable, corporate agenda .

With Certified 100% Organic Cotton textiles for bedding and bath, FSC certified furniture and accessories that are rapidly renewable, reclaimed or recycled, chic and totally within your budget, West Elm has NAILED IT.

Add the new collaboration with A-List Design partners like Allegra Hicks, Benjamin Moore and David Stark and it’s clear that West Elm has made the taste for champagne on a beer entirely possible.

I’m not saying you’ll be able to pass their furniture on to future generations, but clearly West Elm understands a green, triple bottom line. They’ve got great style and you can feel good (physically, socially, mentally) about what you buy from them.

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Top Interior Designers Selected for Greystone Mansion Showcase

Lori — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 00:13:28 +0000

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.

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Los Angeles Interior Designers…Who's on Top?

Lori — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:21:40 +0000

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of market research for our new retail shop and discovered who ranks where in the Los Angeles interior design world (based on keyword searches, recent publications and blog/website mentions). Being number four never felt so good.

1. Kelly Wearstler- licensed everywhere, hosts Top Design, is entirely FAB.

2. Rose Tarlow- old guard, always refined, boyfriend isn’t too shabby

3. David Phoenix- designs for governors, streamline traditional, entertainment industry darling

4. Lori Dennis- green guru, rustic modern, organic chic

5. Karin Blake- AD 100, Americana, Malibu Mama

6. Kathryn M. Ireland- European flair, relaxed fabrics, joie de vivre

7. Nathan Turner- smart retailer, impecable style, location location location

8. Martyn Lawrence Bullard- exotic tastemaker, bold interiors, excellent name

9. Molly Luetkemeyer- Wearstler protege, funky vintage, no charity is too far

10. Barclay Butera- west coast answer to Ralph Lauren, hell of a sweetie, knows a good outdoor lantern

and there you have it.

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Living Green at California Mart

Lori — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:45:11 +0000

Yesterday I attended part three, Living Green :Sustaining Business with Sustainable Design Practices, of the California Mart’s Designer’s Forum 2009 Series. The lecture included panelist: David Hertz, Mariel Hemingway, Nathan Turner and was moderated by California Homes’ Susan McFadden. The audience was packed with many of the old guard at ASID, eager to learn more about green design. David Hertz, who I’ve lectured with at my Alma Matter, the UCLA Interior Design Program, gave a riveting power point presentation and ending with a preview of the Wing House he has been working on for the last three years. I’m pretty certain this house will be remembered in history with the same relevance as the Glass House or Falling Water, only sustainable. Then it was Mariel Hemingway’s way turn. Now I understand the draw of star power, and to be fair she has written some books on healthy living, but what that had to do with the business of sustainable design practices eluded me. These old guard designers left the CEU presentation thinking that, “slow down and eat right” was relevant information to their bottom line. Also speaking was Nathan Turner, an elegant retailer and designer with impeccable taste who runs a gorgeous little antique shop in West Hollywood. He did work on Entourage’s Adrien Grenier’s ultra green home. What bothered me about this presentation was that two of the most successful green designers in the business were sitting in the audience, Rachel Winokur of Etta Designs and me. California Homes must not have been paying attention to the design firm they named Best Green Designer, my firm, when they made decisions for the panel. Green design is a serious matter as the planet and people become sicker, resources shrink and energy costs rise. Educating designers and clients with applicable information would be a good start to help form real solutions. Wake up editors!

A gracious thank you to Palecek, one of my favorite green retailers, for the following reception.

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