Blogfest 2011 Part 2: The Joy, The Wisdom + The Pretty

A few highlights from Day 2 and Day 3 of Blogfest 2011.  You can read my previous post here where I just added a  photo from the Joss  & Main party which was recently emailed to me.

Joy 
 

 

Love this photo of Barbara Barry I snapped when she was informally showing us her Indochine line for Kravet.  You can see the passion she has for what she does.  I think she was responding to all the love in the room that day.   You can read highlights from her presentation on how her Asia travels inspired the Indochine line here.

 

Loved this room designed by Suzanne Kasler showcasing Lee Jofa’s New Shiraz Print from the Heritage Collection. Seven designers (with licenses at Lee Jofa and Groundworks) were asked to reinterpret a favourite Lee Jofa print based on his/her unique style.  Suzanne reinterpreted a multicolored floral by tracing the outline and recoloring it with one colour on white linen.  It’s stunning!

We were able to meet Suzanne and other designers such as Thomas O’Brien, Suzanne Rheinstein and Eric Cohler at a cocktail party at Mayo Studios to preview the collection.  See more photos here.

Wisdom

Margaret Russell, Editor-in-Chief of Architectural Digest gave us a behind the scenes look at the magazine.  One of the stories she shared was that AD was shooting Elizabeth Taylor’s home the day she passed away.  The family insisted that the article be printed as that would have been her wish.  Below is her garden and you can see more photos on their site here plus a full article in the July issue, out soon.  Andie Day did a great recap of her inspiring talk here.

Pretty

One of the highlights for all of us bloggers was visiting the Kravet, Lee Jofa and Brunschwig and Fils Design Studio.  We were able to chat with staff about the creativity process and what it takes to produce their beautiful fabrics.

The Showroom Merchandising  team designs showrooms and decides on the fabric each furniture piece will be upholstered in.  I noticed that they were fabricating a sofa in the Jellybean fabric I used on my daughter’s headboard for their showroom in Stamford.

Some of Kravet’s new custom and semi-custom carpet collections.

Not sure if I was allowed to take this photo (but I’m sure it’s fine as bloggers always have cameras at the ready!)  Hand drawn sketches and computer generated images all have a role in the process of designing a custom carpet.

This new collection is called Chelsea (after the neighbourhood in NYC) and the graphic print above represents tire treads. Fun!

Barbara Barry’s new Indochine line – elegant, understated and timeless.

I’m loving this new collection by Alexa Hampton - so  relaxed and beachy.  Kravet is currently working on a new Thom Filicia collection with jewel tones.  They are also happy to have Jonathan Adler as a new licensee and are working on his collection as well.  Always something new to look forward to with Kravet/Lee Jofa!

I think we all were in awe of this woman who, even though her job title is Director of Print Department, paints by hand Lee Jofa’s block print patterns ensuring the exact colours before they are produced.

       

For Eric Cohler’s new collection, they are reproducing one of his popular patterns in a velvet. Wouldn’t it be fun to play with those colour swatches?

 

Kelly Wearstler’s new line for Lee Jofa Groundworks will be available later this year.


 

Happy fabrics from the new Lily Pulitzer for Lee Jofa collection.

   
Wouldn’t it be a treat to come to work here every day? This was the Kravet licensing studio where we had a sneak peek at new indoor/outdoor fabric collections by Windsor Smith, Barclay Butera and Echo. 

 
Thank you Kravet, Lee Jofa and sponsors for this amazing opportunity.  Blogfest’s tagline of “Access to Inspired Design” was exactly that and I look forward to next year!

If you didn’t have an opportunity to attend Blogfest 20ll, follow on Twitter or Facebook to hear when their 2012 site will be up.  There were over 100 peeps on the waiting list and I can only imagine the added interest due to all the tweets and blog posts from everyone in attendance this year.

Blogfest 2011 Recap – Part One

Did you miss me?  I certainly missed you.  As I mentioned once or twice before,  I was in New York City last week for Blogfest 2011, a fab event for design bloggers dreamed up by the folks at Kravet.   It exceeded my expectations and with the exception of a flu virus that I caught while there, it was a stellar week.

I arrived the day before the conference began to do a little shopping before checking into the Ace, our very cool home away from home.

  
A shopping highlight was the Madeline Weinrib sale at ABC Carpet and Home.

  
We ended the day at Balthazar’s, an authentic French bistro.  We booked our reservation a month in advance and it was a good thing as every single table was occupied.  (Speaking of a good thing), you can listen to Martha’s recent interview with restaurant owner Keith McNally here where she candidly shares a wild night  spent at one of his restaurants.  


With Toronto area blog friends Amy, Dane and Vie.  Had so much fun with these girls!

Blogfest 2011 Day 1

Blogfest’s first event was a kick-off lunch hosted by House Beautiful at the Hearst building.

Via  Kate.

It was great to meet bloggers in real life who I have only tweeted with or know through reading their blogs.


Here’s a photo via Dane of Abby meeting Kimberly.  Making connections was the icing on the cake during Blogfest.


Beth Greene, VP Marketing and Communications for Kravet (far right) moderated a panel discussion with the Editors in Chief of (from left to right), Town and Country (Mark Rozzo), House Beautiful (Newell Turner) and Veranda (Dara Caponigro.)  Some takeaways:

Newell:  bloggers are like beat reporters of the past; like when bloggers talk about things happening locally; blogs are becoming increasingly influential; edit, edit edit!
Dara:  inspired by travel and books; as a blogger, be true to yourself and have a point of view.
All:  credit photographs using only photos with watermarks or mentioning the source.

Two other panel discussions were with the Veranda editors and the House Beautiful editors providing an peek into what goes in to producing a successful shelter magazine. As I have been a magazine addict for years (and have about 1000 magazines that I can’t part with – don’t judge), I found the panel discussions informative and inspiring.

Next up, we were treated to a champagne reception hosted by Town and Country.  So fascinating to hear  the charismatic Mark Rozzo talk about the magazine’s beginnings.  Who knew a leisure jacket could be so hip?

 

Canadian design bloggers (a few were missing) with Jennifer Powell (3rd from left), Kravet’s Social Media Expert and a key person (along with Beth Greene) in organizing the 3-day event.

We were then transported to the Elle Decor Modern Life Concept House where 10 “Designers to Watch” created spaces using leading brands. You can watch a short video of the house here.


A highlight for me was meeting designer Sara Story (photo on left) who designed the study using furniture from the New Traditionalists.   I also had a chance to chat with Janell, a blogger who I have long admired and who recently launched the online mag House of Fifty. (Thanks Nyla and Amy for the photos.)

A party organized by Amy and Jonathan of Design TV tweetchat in partnership with Joss & Main ended the day. I didn’t take any photos of the event as I was too busy meeting and chatting with the other bloggers.  You can see photos of the event in Amy’s post.

Me, Amy and Roslyn (Thanks Kimberly for sending the photo!)

I want to thank Geovin for sponsoring my blog and making it possible for me to attend Blogfest.  You can read my earlier post on them here.

If you need decorating assistance, please contact me at vanessa@vanessafrancis.com.