Los Angeles Design Blog | Material Girls | LA Interior Design

High Point Market – that is!

This past Spring market, the Material Girls (along with other fab bloggers!) were invited to participate in “Suite Spot Tours” at the International Market Centers in High Point, NC. As part of the tour, we were each allowed to select vendors through-out the market suites to feature as part of our intimate guided tour:

To highlight a few of the vendors I included on my tour (& some of my favorite finds!) – here’s a re-cap:

Marc Phillips Rugs – always love their collection of area rugs, and especially the new unique artist designed rugs that I also featured here. One in particlaur was on display at High Point Market, the Obey Giant designed piece.

Another collection I enjoy, is the graphic pillows from V Pillows & Rugs, a company based out of Miami, FL.

Los Angeles based designer Kim Salmela is a new favorite – loving, loving, loving everything coming out of her product line – which you can view here. Kim was nice enough to share with our group her background and design collections for Spring!

…and when I wasn’t busy with my own tour, I went on over to another High Point building fave: 220 Elm to tour W. Schillig with my bestie: Maison21 (& shout out to him for a big help on my tour…let’s just say he helped “keep the pace.”) BUT here’s the thing: he gets to his tour, finds this super comfy leather sectional sofa to recline back on and tells me, “Now you go take the rest of my tour, I am staying put right here!” See how that works! (If you don’t believe me – well, the picture above tells exactly the story!)

Another showroom at 220 Elm I had the opportunity to visit (thanks to a friend of mine who was helping out there!) was Mat Orange. They have a range of rug collections (many graphic, and colorful) – one of which I absolutely love – pictured above.

In addition to showroom tours, I had the opportunity to attend a press tour for the Traditional Home Showhouse located in Greensboro, NC. The Adamsleigh Estate is a magnificent 15,000 square foot mansion that boasts 33 rooms and covers 13.5 acres which includes a lake, tennis courts, pools, gazebo, & five car garage. A handful of amazing designers transformed the home into one amazing room after another. Above is the powder room. For more info on the home and designers included, click here.

Next came the parties. Lots of them! One of the most anticipated was the unveiling of the new Stanley Furniture showroom. The entire two story space is stunning. The most exciting was seeing the work of our friends, Los Angeles based design duo Ron Woodson & Jaime Rummerfield of Woodson & Rummerfield’s House of Design and their showroom gallery space for Stanley Furniture. Above is Maison21 and I photographing the gallery wall of mirrors which we loved!

Ron Woodson and Jaime Rummerfield at the Stanley Furniture opening party with fellow blogger / designer Sarah Sarna.

While at the Stanley Furniture party, Christian of Maison 21 took a little time out to be interviewed by Shane Inman.

Next came the Halo party – always a packed house!

Between design events & parties, we stopped to take a few pics – or, in other words – wherever we saw mirrors! Like here in the courtyard at the Baker Furniture Showroom (with Ashlina of The Decorista and Edyta of Edyta & Co Interior Design).

And more mirrors! (Edyta, me, Ashlina)

We had a fun afternoon hanging out at the Younger Furniture showroom (located at 220 Elm) for the launch of designer Traci Zeller’s new textile line. Pictured above is Traci with Ashlina.

Last but not least, came the grand finale of High Point parties: the always fun Four Hands party. I had a great time hanging out with my “twin” & Blog Tour London buddy: Raina of A Stylist’s Life.

Many thanks to High Point Market Authority for organizing yet another succesful market!

Thank you to IMC (International Market Centers) for inviting the Material Girls to High Point for a great opportunity!

220 Elm & Heinz – thank you for hosting us all for an amazing lunch!

If you haven’t yet been to High Point Market – it is defintely worth a trip! For details and planning for Fall Market, visit the website here.

{For additional pictures from High Point Market, check out my Instagrams.}

This past week I attended the opening party for the Los Angeles Modernism Show, taking place through the weekend at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. The show features over fifty exhibitors displaying 20th century furniture, decorative and fine art from across the US and Europe. Most all the exhibitors (with a few exceptions) are based here in Southern California. The event also benefits P.S. Arts, a charity working to improve the lives of children by providing arts education (a charity I’ve mentioned and featured greatly on the blog). The show featured some amazing  finds – and here is what caught my eye (among the celebs in attendance)!

It was lovely to meet and see actress Courtney Cox! (Her fellow Friends star Lisa Kudrow was also in attendance.)

My “design partner in crime” and fellow blogger Christian of Maison21 attended the event with me too.

Loved this glam gold console featured in one of the exhibitor booth’s at the Los Angeles Modernism Show.

Lots of artwork among the vendors, including abstracts, pop art, and geometric pieces like this one.

Maison21 looking quite serious among some modern colorful pop art.

I would say the Joannes Lucas booth was the most eclectic of all the vendors, with the theme “Zoo” going on.

But I have to say, I quite liked this guy.

And wouldn’t doubt this would be a conversation piece at any party.

One of our favorites, is the Christopher Anthony Ltd space (which we had also seen at last Fall’s Art & Antiques Show. Yet again, another hit – featuring some great finds – including the console and accessories above (and below).

We had our eye on this vintage fireplace screen.

I thought this gilded geometric wall sculpture was pretty cool.

More from Christopher Anthony Ltd – modern metal and glass side tables.

Off the Wall Antiques featured some great items, too – such as this large scale chandelier.

These textured wall tiles were a fave of Maison21′s.

I quite liked these retro textured pair of doors.

Lot’s of abstract art was on display, both gallery style among the aisles and in the vendor booths. I think seeing all the various pieces of art was one of my favorite things (well, among so much else!).

If you missed the show this year, be sure to mark your calendar for next year!

All photos by Jill Seidner Interior Design

For more, check out all my Instagrams here!

This past week, the Design Bloggers Conference took place here in Los Angeles – and with that came lots of events, parties, and the arrival of so many fabulous designers and bloggers that I’ve come to know and love! This year, it was an honor to attend the actual conference itself, as the Material Girls were nominated for a Hall of Fame Award in the category of Best Overall Blog!

The start of the three day event kicked off with an invitation (courtesy of the lovely Bethanne of Currey & Company) to interior designer Michael Berman’s house for a dinner party. We were fortunate enough to have had a really beautiful day with this amazing view of the downtown and LA basin from the backyard pool of Michael’s house!

As always, I attended the party with my “design partner in crime” Christian of Maison21, pictured here with interior designer Michael Berman.

Of course, all my favorite boys where there too: Christian of M21, Andrew of Andrew Joseph PR, Sylvestre of Fuse Lighting, and Clinton of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle Magazine.

The interiors of Michael Berman’s chic mid-century modern home.

Here’s M21 pictured in Michael Berman’s breakfast room…being silly and using a real old-school wall mounted telephone! (Even the original oven was still in the kitchen!)

When we weren’t being silly, we were taking amazing pictures of the gorgeous LA view (pictured here with me is Sylvestre).

A detail shot from Michael Berman’s latest collection: Bronze Studio (image courtesy of Maison21).

Fun parties aside, come Monday was the start of the Design Bloggers Conference. By noontime, Tobi Fairley (a recipient of last year’s Hall of Fame Awards) emceed the awards with her hilarious presentation (read about it here – the pics are the best!). While it was an honor to be nominated, the Material Girls did not win (always next year!). However, it was thrilling to be in the room when the crowd applauded and our blog was flashed on the big screen (pictured above).

It was fun to see so many design blogger friends at the conference, and while I didn’t get a chance to take many pictures, I did meet up with Sara from Decorative Carpets and Lulu & Georgia during one of the brief  breaks.

As glamourous as LA can be, an invite to an intimate dinner party hosted by Duralee at the Chateau Marmont is a great honor! On Monday evening, I joined the likes of Tobi Fairley, Brooke Carter Wallace, Christian May, Clinton Smith, Vanessa de Vargas, Andrew Joseph, and both Allison and Samantha of Duralee for a fun filled evening! (Tobi and Brooke will make you laugh to tears! Just request their impression of the girl named “Dur-ah-leeee!”)

Our dinner menu for the evening – everything was SO good!

While photography is not allowed at the Chateau, we rebelled – and took more than a dozen self-portraits (me, Samantha from Duralee, and Andrew Jospeh) having fun after dinner!

Last but not least, we were each given a copy of textile designer John Robshaw’s latest book (& I was lucky enough to score an extra copy for a soon to be giveaway here on the blog – stay tuned!) [Image via M21]

It was great to see so many design friends and bloggers this past week here in LA. Next year’s conference will be taking place in Atlanta, GA for those of you who could not make the trip to LA. Many thanks to Lynn of Decor Arts Now for sharing her conference ticket with me!

This past week I attended a dinner with Miele, focusing on Miele’s Better Living philosphy: “We want our consumers to live the best life possible.”  With that in mind, we witnessed the preparations of am amazing dinner brought to us by Chef Lindsay Smith-Rosales, proprietor of Nirvana Grille in Laguna Beach, CA. She spent the evening with us at the Beverly Hills Miele showroom and prepared the most delicious four course meal, sharing her cooking skills and use of Miele appliances.

  The Miele showroom transformed to accommodate a large dinner party, guests included designers and bloggers.

The food preparations.

Chef Lindsay Smith-Rosales demonstrating her cooking methods using Miele appliances.

Part of the appetizers and first course.

A very sleek and contemporary Miele hood.

An integrated Miele coffee system (which take the Nespresso capsules – my new addiction!).

The storefront as seen from inside the Miele Beverly Hills showroom.

Thank you to Miele and Chef Lindsay Smith-Rosales for hosting such a great event!

{Photos by Jill Seidner Interior Design}

My Two Designers along with Olioboard is teaming up for a fun contest – and I’m excited to announce I have been selected to judge! One lucky winner will receive $1000! For all the details and to enter the contest, click here. {As an added bonus, entrants will receive a 20% discount code just for entering.}

Looking forward to taking part and viewing all the design boards (one of my favorite things)!

As part of Blog Tour London, we visited the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour in London. During our visit, we were hosted by two sponsors: Samuel Heath and Victoria + Albert. Samuel Heath specilizes in both classic and contemporaty bath fittings and Victoria + Albert produces the most amazing volcanic baths and sink basins. Here’s a highlight from our visit to both showrooms!

The entrance to the Samuel Heath showroom at the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour.

Sleek modern bath fittings on display.

Chic bath accessories in black.

My somewhat iconic (& personal fave) pic of fellow bloggers and blog tour members: Igor of Happy Interior Blog and Will of Bright.Bazaar blog “modeling” for the Samuel Heath showroom.

Just across the way is the entrance to the Victoria + Albert showroom.

Once again, I enlisted Igor & Will to jump in the bath together…

And they weren’t shy about it!

Beautiful sink basins on display at the Victoria + Albert showroom.

And another!

Inside the light filled atrium of the Design Centre Chelsea Harbour.

In conjunction with the London Design Festival, many events were also taking place, including major UK design magazines showcasing at the design centre.

Land Rover UK provided transporation to and from the design centre to other major events.

Just outside the Design Centre Chelea Harbour is a courtyard with the Vaughan showroom.

And there is indeed a Chelsea Harbour!

Thank you to Samuel Heath and Victoria + Albert for hosting us!

{Photos by Jill Seidner Interior Design}

“Welcome to High Point”

Art at Chic Art

Lighting from Currey & Company

Art from Trowbridge Gallery

Christian May & Ginna Christensen at Marc Phillips Decorative Rugs

Showplace at dusk

Rare birds at the Antiques Center at Market Square

Collage from Younger at 220 Elm

Lighting from Circa Lighting / Visual Comfort

Fabrics and furniture seen at the suites at Market Square

At the Four Hands showroom

Fun times with friends: Me, Annie from Empiric, and Ginna from 27Ground

Architecture in High Point

Colorful cow hide rugs seen at the suites at Market Square

The courtyard at 220 Elm

Rick Springfield in concert during High Point Market

Press breakfast hosted by the High Market Authority, focusing on fashion and design

Tie-dye, seen at Skyline, at 220 Elm

Blog brothers separated at birth: Scot Meacham Wood & Christian May

Showplace at night

Chic Art, as seen at the suites at Market Square

Get your party hat, er, house on, at the Proximity Hotel

Antique & Design Center at Market Square

Blog Tour London bloggers reunite at the Halo Party: Cheryl, me, Christian

Lighting from Currey & Company

Chair from CR Laine

Area rugs from Marc Phillips

Old bank vault in the recently restored Radio Building in High Point

The suites at Market Square

It was great seeing so many designers, bloggers, and showroom friends alike at this past High Point Market! It was especially fun catching up with fellow Material Girls Chicago blogger Julia!

Images via Instagram,  @jsinteriordesign

Since returning from Blog Tour London it has been fun catching up on all the blog posts the other bloggers have been featuring for the past few weeks. Each and everyone of us seems to have a different story to tell, a different angle, and all the variety of posts I’ve come across so far have been very interesting! Thought I would share a round up of some of the posts making the internet!

One highlight of the trip was meeting designer Marcel Wanders at a press breafast with Moooi. Lynn of Decor Arts Now featured her wonderful interview this week with Marcel here on her blog.

One afternoon, we had a little time off to go exploring. That day, I spent with Jennifer & Lynn. We had the best time together visiting the Victoria & Albert Museum followed by lots of walking, shopping, & dinner together. Check out Jennifer of Dec-A-Porter’s blog post on our visit to the Victoria & Albert Museum here.

Maryam of My Marrakesh featured a post on our wonderful brunch together hosted by sponsor Mr. Steam. She also featured a great post about our start to Blog Tour London and our time together as a group.

I enjoyed meeting and spending time with Robin of Urban Gardens. One of our first nights in London we attended an event together and after went out for dinner, talking and chatting like old friends! Robin featured a lovely post on our visit to Tom Dixon and Portobello Dock here.

Igor of Happy Interior Blog has included stunning images on our showroom visit to Blog Tour London sponsor, Lapicida. Check out the post here.

Nyla of Nyla Free Designs blogged about design junction, one of the many London Design Festival events we attended. Her post on trend spotting features many linear furnishings seen at the show.

James of Lighting Design by James Bedell highlighted some his best take away from Blog Tour London in this post. (Also a big congrats to James for completing the 20 mile hike along with Tim in support of Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre’s!)

A few glimpses into the start of Blog Tour London is featured on Raina’a blog: A Stylist’s Life here. Love her photo (above) of The Gun, a pub where we had our first night’s dinner together.

If you want to know all about what a blog tour is – check out Patti of Chatti Patti Talks Design blog post here!

Vitania of Verdigris Vie has some great pictorial pics on her blog post titled London Story. One of my favorites is this picture of Jennifer exiting a London taxi cab!

Covering 100% Design, Cheryl of Design and Details features some design details from the show on her post here.

Last but not least, Rashon of Mr. Goodwill Hunting has some fantastic images from our brunch hosted at the Samuel Heath showroom on his blog here.

Blog Tour London: Still more to come! Stay tuned!

Thank you to Carmen at The Decorating Diva for featuring one of my room design’s in her latest Look Book series! To view the feature, click here – and to check out more Look Book features, view here.

I’ve just returned from an amazing trip to London, as part of Blog Tour London, an international group of designers and bloggers. We had the opportunity to experience first hand the London Design Festival and interior design scene, touring local showrooms and design centers. We had a fantastic time, were a great team, and I think we’ll be sharing many memorable experiences in the days, months to come! As a start, I thought I would share my first few days in London, having arrived a couple of days early to the start of the official blog tour kick-off – with time to enjoy the city and attend a few extracurricular events!

Upon arriving, I checked into the CitizenM Hotel, our host hotel for the week. The CitizenM is a new boutique hotel located in the Bankside neighborhood of London, south of the Thames and very close to the Tate Modern museum. (And yes, the rumor is true, I packed only a small carryon for the week long stay.)

I had the pleasure of seeing British pop star Robbie Williams every day in the lobby at the CitizenM, at the elevator. (Funny because I used to have the keys to his house in Beverly Hills as I happened to work on when working for another interior designer.)

Spent the first few days on my own walking everywhere, seeing the city, often getting lost but stumbling upon picturesque places like this park with The Shard in the background.

I also walked along the Thames River, which I loved, with all it’s amazing bridges, this picture taken near the Southwark Bridge.

I passed by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

And visited The Tate Modern Museum.

Of course, I also stopped by Buckingham Palace to say “Hello” to the Queen.

As part of the London Design Festival, I was invited to attend one of the earlier events at interior and product designer Lee Broom’s showroom in the Shoreditch district.

His Crystal Bulb lights are absolutely stunning in person!

At Lee Broom’s cocktail party with (l to r): Lynn of Decor Arts Now, Kate of Fabric of My Life, Lee Broom, & myself.

For the event, Lee’s showroom was transformed into a “high-end saloon,” complete with sawdust on the floor.

The next day, we ventured out to Portobello Dock for a press event with Marcel Wanders and Moooi, and to check out the Tom Dixon showroom.

The Moooi Showroom in London near Portobello Dock.

We had the opportunity to interview designer Marcel Wanders, pictured here with Lynn of Decor Arts Now.

Lynn and I at the Moooi Showroom.

Over the bridge is the Tom Dixon showroom, which was featuring vignettes from different designers on display and showcasing two levels of furnishings.

After the morning’s press events, we headed over to this beautiful London neighborhood, where the Antiques Fair was taking place and we were invited to a luncheon hosted by 1st Dibs.

The sit down luncheon hosted by 1st Dibs.

Pretty wallpaper from De Gournay lined the walls at the 1st Dibs hosted luncheon.

Later that evening, we kicked off the offical start of Blog Tour London by catching a ferry boat for a sunset cruise on the Thames River and a dinner at a local pub.

Christian of Maison21, Erin of Modenus, and I – heading down the dock to catch the boat!

An amazing, beautiful evening on the Thames River.

Passing under the Tower Bridge.

Having cocktails at the pub and enjoying the view of the Thames River and the Millennium Dome.

The ceiling of our private dining room at The Gun, a pub in East London where we enjoyed our first night’s dinner together.

And lastly, the official group photo of the Blog Tour London 2012 team! Stay tuned for more posts to come on all the activities and events we experienced during our five days attending the London Design Festival!

Many thanks to Veronika, Tim, and Erin from Modenus for putting together a fun filled itinerary and hosting us for an amazing trip!

{All photos by Jill Seidner Interior Design}