All photography is courtesy of WestElm.com

You won’t believe the great things I found at West Elm recently. You’ll love them, so come shopping with me!

I love these chairs. They’re copies of ones by Marco Zanuso and I actually just bought some original Zanuso chairs and they’re being shipped from Europe to me. Zanuso was a leading Italian modernist designer and architect and I do really like these copies and their color, which is fun and fresh. This is a very good find right now at West Elm and the price points are really quite good. And these chairs are nice and heavy. When you buy from catalogs or online you don’t get an idea of the quality of the pieces you’re buying. These chairs were regularly $699 and up and they’re on sale for $599.

I’m always looking for pieces for outdoors, for myself and for my clients, and I like to mix and match. Although I feel like my outdoor pieces are a little bit too matchy currently, but what can you do? I love this Monti Lava stone side table. It’s priced at $199, is nice and heavy and looks good. And the lava stone coffee table has statement sculptural legs that draw the eye, in and out of the house.

The store had a good selection of natural pillows with fun textures and all the same color and great to display on your sofa to give is a clean, fresh vibe.

This planter is made to look like concrete but actually made from a lightweight composite that’s easy to move around. And it’s frost proof. It comes in a bunch of different sizes priced at a range of $89 to $549, although they’re also on sale now. I love these gigantic ones and I’m going to buy some! This is a definite must-have if you’re looking for outdoor items at an incredible price.

I also love this planter, also made of a lightweight composite. It comes in three different sizes and has this pretty fluting.

This next planter is extra special. It’s called the Cecilia and is my favorite planter of this season.

The marble items catch my eye next. What a surprise! I love marble anything and these platters are fantastic. (The small one is $38.) They come in different sizes and have multiple uses. You can even put the small one on your kitchen counter as a spoon rest. So think outside of the box. Marble platters of any size are always a fun thing.

This light fixture really caught my eye. I love this mid-century look. Obviously it’s a copy. We all know it’s a copy but for $699, it’s great. The fixture is made of steel and dark bronze and I think it’s very chic.

They also have a Serge Mouille copy that I think looks fantastic. He was a French industrial designer and goldsmith known best for his light fixture designs. This copy is a really great chandelier, perfect for a round dining table, a definite must-have!

This leather chair really beckons to me. A piece inspired by Brazilian mid-century designs, it’s comfortable with an angular back and smooth curved arms. It’s a little light, but I like it. I do wish it could be heavier and more substantial.

In this bedroom area I love this screen. It has natural caning which contrasts with its lacquered finish, and the kiln-dried wood gives you privacy. Even if you don’t need privacy, this screen is a great way to divide a room.

Here’s a great swivel chair. I like the fabric, kind of a beige/gray, but what I’m really excited about is this coffee table, the Maddox table that has a solid white marble top with engineered wood backing and a mango wood base in a white finish.

It looks super expensive and the fact that it has a pure marble top makes it a winner. At $799 and sustainably sourced, you can’t do any better.

As far as accessories go, I don’t personally like to over accessorize but when I find something good like these wooden links, I get super excited. This is expensive, $110, but it makes an impact. I also found two other accessories that I like. I like the smaller one better. It’s on a real marble base and would look great placed on a stack of books.

The Hargrove coffee table is the perfect square and has rounded edges. It feels nice and heavy, looks good and has cute little drawers where you can hide games, kids’ toys and so on. It’s $899.

This chair stopped me in my tracks. What I like about it is that it’s nice and wide and really makes a statement. If you have a large space or a corner you want to fill up, this chair would do nicely. It’s comfortable, it swivels and I say, go for it!

This bed is such a great find. If you want to get the super luxurious hotel look, buy three duvets and a feather pillow topper. You’ll sweat to death but at least you’ll get the look.

There’s a wicker chair I have to show you before I leave because I don’t think I can live without it. She’s perfect and is coming home with me. The chair has this curvy form that adds volume to any room and cushions for comfort. At $699, this is a good deal. Who knows how long it will last but for $699 who cares?

Finally, this bench has elegant curves, a nice thick cushion and slim metal legs. For in front of a queen bed, this is a home run.

One of the highlights of my life has been designing a collection of low-pile chenille rugs with Ruggable. I never thought I would have this unique opportunity to share my designs with people all over this country and in Canada and the U.K. When Ruggable called and said they had done a collaboration with the designer Jonathan Adler which had gone well and now wanted to do one with me, I said, “Who? Moi? Me?’’

I was so excited and said I would like nothing better than for people to have a washable option for their rugs. And that’s why Ruggable is so special. You can wash their rugs! This makes them easy to live with, and allows you to have a pet in the home, which, as you can see, I now have in baby Oscar. Oscar arrived at the same time as my rugs launched and let me tell you, the rugs’ washability factor has been very helpful so far.

Ruggable is one of the first companies to make washable rugs. Why would you want to wash your rugs? Why not? If you have an accident, (or your dog does!) or people over to your house spilling wine everywhere, you won’t fret because you know everything will come out in the wash. I don’t usually serve red wine but now I ask myself, why not grab a Chianti? And being affordable, you buy two or three and change the look of your room whenever you want.

You can see all the rugs, inspired by Paris, my favorite city in the world, online, but I’m going to show you some of my favorites. My Seine rug with its abstract swirl design comes in ivory with black, sage or camel, and is named for the famous river that runs alongside the streets of Paris and mimics its subtle and tranquil flow.

I have the ivory and camel version in my dining room which I think is a perfect neutral and works with an entire host of different aesthetics, time periods and design motifs. It lends itself to modern and Mid Century along with contemporary and something a little edgier than that, too. The design makes it versatile and we all need versatile pieces for our homes.

The Marion collection has rugs in ivory with camel or black and a cobweb of intersecting lines that reflect the busy streets of Paris. It’s also an ode to my very first pair of shoes with a kitten heel that my parents finally allowed me to get when I was 13. They had black splatter over them and I was obsessed with them, and truth to tell, I still am!

I have a bunch of my rugs peppered throughout my home and they work well with my overall look. As I told you, the one I’m using in my dining room is the Seine rug but in ivory and camel and I can’t tell you how it brought the room together. In my family room, I have the Marion rug in camel which has made it a great space for me to hang out with my family and Oscar worry-free. Ruggable’s two-piece system creates rugs that come in two pieces: a lightweight, removable cover over a clingy, non-slip pad that keeps the cover securely in place. When it’s time for a wash – (or you’ve got a new puppy!) – you peel off the cover, throw it in the wash, and voilà—the rug is as good as new! It’s the low-maintenance solution we’ve all been searching for! Oscar has been hard on this rug. He’s had a few accidents and his sharp little nails have been all over it yet the rug is so well made there has been zero wear and tear. It was important for me to partner with a company that produces quality products that look high-end and are affordably priced.

My Loire rug in Ivory Quartz features an abstract swirl of shapes and lines in cream, dark grey, off-white, and deep dusty rose. Essentially it’s an abstract watercolor with a floral design. Here it is pictured under my bed in my primary bedroom. The rug is also very soothing and subtle with muted colors. I wanted it to be for bedrooms and other rooms where you’re trying to create a calming effect.

I love these rugs and I hope you will, too.

All photography has kindly been provided by the Ruggable team.

There are some new design styles taking over in 2022 and I want to share some of the most interesting ones with you. The first is called Japandi, a style that combines elements of both traditional Japanese and Scandinavian rustic design. Though you may not think the two styles have much in common, each one’s aesthetics are rooted in simplicity, comfort, natural elements, soft hues and sustainability. (The name Japandi is a melding of Japan and “DI”, for Scandi.)

For example, we’re seeing designers incorporating feng shui – an ancient Chinese practice that configures a structure so as to harmonize it with its environment and with the spiritual forces that inhabit it. The idea is to ensure your surroundings are comfortable while still being ordered. We know Japanese interiors tend to be sleek and warmer in color while Nordic ones are more stark and crisp with generally cold palettes, so the combination of the two allows for a simple, minimalist but cozy style.

You’re going to see a lot of neutral tones: terracotta, white and a look focused on what I call structured minimalism. You have beautiful shapes, as in the lanterns in this living room and the chair that’s sitting in this particular living space with beautiful oak details. The essence of Japandi style is bringing the outdoors in, along with a lot of white space as you can see in these photos. There’s a lot of white, whether it’s in the chair or in a dining room that has mid-century lighting and white walls or carpet. This style also has a lot of sculptural elements. You’ll see curvaceous chairs with beautiful rounded backs and round rugs.

There’s a big emphasis on oval and rounded chairs and coffee tables and a lot of warm, rich, worn-in leather. The trend is not about being slick and clean and shiny. It’s about being comfortable and at one with your world. If you look at this shower, you’ll see it’s not tiled. Lots of designers are plastering shower walls these days, including me. It makes for a very soothing, warm style that Japandi is all about.

You’ve probably heard rumblings about the next design style I want to tell you about: Grandmillennial, and wondered, “What is that?”! I’m here to tell you! Grandmillennial is making its mark as “The New Traditional”, it’s really just the evolution of traditional design.

The Millennials have a great spin on this style rooted mostly in maximalism, where displaying collectibles and piling on becomes part of the design. There’s a lot of wallpaper with its traditional undertones and a tendency to use vintage pieces, which is great for the planet.

Grandmillennial style favors putting pieces together that are oddly juxtaposed. You’ll have colorful floral wallpaper like you see in this room, paired with this vintage light. Grandmillennial is a style that does not shy away from layering things, bringing things together and it’s a really fun style where the eye is stimulated from left to right.

Take this very interesting room, for example. The walls are pink and you have a beautiful emerald green velvet sofa from Kagan, an asymmetrical mirror and orange and green curtains that are really mixed up with velvet and tassels and trim with some check patterning. It’s maximalism at its most maximal and the polar opposite to Japandi, but it’s an engaging style that’s really fun to look at.

The third style emerging right now is called Neotenic design, a term coined in 2019 by designer Justin Donnelly to describe a playful style incorporating child-like forms. This style features softer structures and exaggerated scale and proportion with squishy, whimsical aesthetic that aims to soften the angularity and rigidity of contemporary furniture and décor.

This photo illustrates the look. You have the famous wavy mirror based on Ettore Sottsass’ original design, and these droll pieces of furniture with their extravagant volume. And don’t forget color. It’s everywhere. You’ll see chairs in purple and yellow and orange. And things that don’t seem to be in scale, yet then come together beautifully.

I think this style is going to be around for quite some time because it’s a look that grabs your attention and makes a statement. Because design isn’t only about having a beautiful home. It’s about making a statement. What does your home say about you?

The hottest trend right now is the material terrazzo, a composite of marble, granite, and quartz chippings set into cement.

It originated in 16th-century Italy as a way to reuse leftover stone and works well for residential and commercial buildings because it is almost indestructible. What I love about terrazzo is that as you use it over time, it hones and polishes itself and you’ll see specks of marble or other stone that you hadn’t seen before. And all that brings color. It was very hot in the 50s and 60s, especially in Los Angeles and you see people saving it now, not tearing it out. Terrazzo also comes in tiles.

People are making it themselves because it’s a cost-effective way to get flooring and so on into their homes. The best thing is that you can customize terrazzo so you get exactly what you want.

In this photo you’ll see stairs made of terrazzo next to a black handrail that is very striking and gives it a very modern look.

Terrazzo is also being used a lot in kitchens in gorgeous colors and in bathrooms where floors are notoriously difficult to keep clean. You can even put it out by the pool instead of concrete, adding color and life to your yard.

It’s taking over and I hope it stays around for a while because I love it!

I’m here in Los Angeles at Waterworks, probably the most luxurious bathroom and kitchen showroom of all time and a personal favorite of mine. I’m excited to show you all the new finishes along with a new line by Waterworks that is actually competitively priced so you too can afford to trim your bathrooms and kitchens with the best items out there.

The showroom is in West Hollywood and I’m here to meet up with a client but before I did that, I thought I’d give you guys a tour of this jewel of a showroom.

As you can see, everything is elevated in taste and style. They have the most beautiful show kitchens, bathtubs, and lighting and plumbing fixtures. You can luxuriate in your bath and do business at the same time. When my client walked in she said the showroom was mind-blowing and jaw-dropping. Which is exactly how I feel.

Waterworks make some of the best cabinetry on the market and their inlaid metal details are unparalleled. You can find wonderful details including seeing these cabinets paired with butcher block and marble counters.

The drawer details are also great as you can see in this burgundy bar where the black splash is made of glass, giving the bar an old world vibe. The hardware is all brass and beautifully finished. One of the things I love is this double sink and the faucet in this kitchen with pots hanging from above. Both allow you to have two people working in the kitchen at the same time while keeping the design look very chic. I especially love the spray handle in the middle of this polished nickel double spout faucet. What fun!

As you guys know, I love natural wood cabinets and this kitchen with its linear brass hardware and retro knobs looks great.  I love the subway tiles, I love these thick, chunky faucets, not to mention details like these gorgeous spouts. This cast iron bathtub has a solid brass cup filler that lets you take a long hot bath. Just what we all need once in a while.

The shower is great too with its solid brass fixtures and unique arched shower heads. They seem to come from a different era.

Just a note: Waterworks also has an array of bath accessories from towels to baskets to hampers and those can be picked up in the showroom. Everything else has to be ordered.

Just look at this gorgeous combination of brass fixtures against a terrazzo-tiled shower wall. Waterworks has lots of pretty tile that you can mix with brass so your shower can look like this!

I ran into this oval copper bathtub reminiscent of the high, sloping French tubs of the 19th century. It costs nearly $63,000, but don’t fret!

Here’s a collection of more affordable fixtures for common bathrooms. The primary bathroom fixtures are more expensive, of course. I love that the kitchen hardware comes in a variety of colors and in different finishes from lacquered to un-lacquered, matte to nickel. They can coordinate with your bathroom as it is and make it feel fresh and new.

Waterworks’ lighting fixtures are unique and original. They look very expensive and yes, they are expensive but they’re a one-time splurge for, perhaps, a primary bathroom. I particularly like this Art Deco light with its frosted glass, as well as the wall-mounted double sconce with fluted glass shades.

I hope you enjoyed the tour and that it gave you some inspiration for your own homes.

As you may know, I’m an ambassador for Anthropologie and its Anthro Living lifestyle branch, and now that spring is here, I thought I’d show you how I set a garden dinner table for six with Anthro Living’s pieces.

The first thing I do is place flowers in Anthro’s terracotta Verona vases from Portugal on a nearby coffee table. To set the table, I lay out the Duke fringe-trimmed, oatmeal linen placemats which are a stylish base for the rest of the items.

I also place this really fun cotton/linen table runner to pull the look together. Then I lay the Vivi dinner plates, handcrafted and glazed in Portugal. They are thick and substantial and have the most charming floral design.

On top of the dinner plates, I stack my Renata side plates. With alternating patterns, they make the table look more interesting. I just love the sweet floral motif. Anthro Living’s napkins also have different but complementary patterns and colors and work well for a very visually intriguing table. I place them between the side plate and dining plates.

The Jessa wine glasses, made in Mexico from recycled hand-blown glass, go to the right of the plate. And for utensils, I love using gold pieces to bring a bit of color and warmth into the tablescape. Forks go on the left and knives on the right and the dessert spoon goes above the plates. I plan to serve sorbet for this wonderful warm evening so I place pretty deep bowls on the top of the plates because even though they won’t be used first, they’re so fun and chic I want all my guests to enjoy the entire table before I dismantle parts of it. The Vivi pitcher is a really good one. I always like to have cool water on hand and ready so people can stay hydrated.

And, of course, there is nothing more special than fresh flowers on a spring table. I coordinated the colors of the flowers with the colors in the runner and stoneware so that together they can bring the table to life. And they do!

I also position my Copia vessel on the table because I’ll be using it for salad.

I love candles on a dinner table, whether I’m indoors or outdoors. The flickering of the light and the shadows they cast lend depth and mood and Anthro’s molded Fiorella candles work great.

I’m done! I’m ready to entertain and it’s going to be a fun evening of laughter, reminiscence and the comfort of good friends.

Here’s my backyard reveal. (Finally!)

Before:

After:

As you can see, this was a big transformation. We spent quite a bit of time and quite a bit of money doing it. It was something I had planned on doing after the house was built, but when it was finished seven years ago, we had run out of cash. Now, finally, we were able to tackle the project the way we wanted to.

The only thing that was in this backyard before we started demo and work was the pool and grass we threw on. The first thing we had to deal with was all the ugly concrete coping around the pool. That was the least expensive way of building the pool during construction and we knew eventually we would have to change it. We just didn’t know how, or even what we were going to do. So we went with the cheapest option. To figure out what we were going to do with the coping was quite a challenge. We thought about removing it, but given the prohibitive cost of a demo and quite possibly shattering the bottom of the plaster pool while doing it – we decided against it.

One solution we found, which was probably the best solution, was to cover the coping with tile that we laid right on top of the coping. We raised the backyard elevation so everything would be flush and tiled everything in this gorgeous outdoor porcelain that is very durable and looks great.

Drainage is also a very important consideration when you’re designing your backyard, so in order to make sure that nothing from the raised elevation went into the pool we added these long channel drains against the pool. That way, when it rained the water would flow down and drop into the channel drains and not the pool.

Once we decided where the tile was going to go, we carried it through and created a pathway from the pool to the loggia. We got this gorgeous pendant light from Circa Lighting, and we built this fountain to give the yard a sense of Zen.

We also continued the tile from the loggia to this nook where the fountain sits. From there, we created a hardscape where we used white pebbles over grates. These grates are wonderful for when you’re using pebbled rocks to create pathways because they create stability. With them, we installed a beautiful pathway which you can use to enter and exit the property.

We then lined the pebbles on each side with mondo grass. We already had these large ficus hedges behind that gave us privacy and which we planted when we moved in seven years ago. As you can see, they’ve fully matured and look wonderful against the pebbled pathway.

We loved the look of these mature boxwood spheres and planted them in different corners of the property to create some visual interest and a manicured look, because while my style is well manicured, it also includes a smidgeon of whimsy.

In several areas we have small square planters in which we planted multi-branched olive trees. They were fairly small when we planted them and have grown to be quite large. Around them we planted those spheres I talked about as well as boxwood hedges to create an illusion of depth, a border that was necessary to give the area some definition and bring in a lot of green against the new tile floor.

Along the main wall of the property which we built ourselves, we planted Japanese blueberries. They don’t need a lot of dirt, which was good because we had an issue of a footing where the wall stood, which meant we couldn’t plant anything with deep roots there. The Japanese blueberry was the perfect option to plant against this very long wall.

A great idea that we came up with during construction in order to save money, was to put our pavers down, tiles that we purchased our tile 24 by 24, and instead of pouring concrete and creating pavers and complicating things, we decided to use the exact same tiles that we used throughout the property and place them along the wall to create a pathway. Additionally we put mondo grass in between the tiles to create a soft, green walkway.

The next big section of the yard we needed to address was the barbecue area, places to sit and dine and a cozy place to have cocktails after a long day at work. I didn’t want to have a typical barbecue with lots of steel drawer front. I find them ugly. So I decided to get two pieces of quartzite, and eliminate all drawer fronts. My barbecue is the Aspire from Hestan and it cooks beautifully.

At the moment, due to global shortages, it has been difficult to source outdoor furniture but I’ve been lucky enough to get the pieces I’ve needed one by one. I now have part of the set of Design Within Reach’s dining table. I have the lounge set and the club chairs but more importantly also have the chaises longues. As you can see, at the moment I only have two, but I will be acquiring more as time goes on. I also need cushions, but that’s another whole story of the logistical issues we are having in trying to source them. Never fear, I will have them for my patio — and soon!

The side tables you see alongside the chaise longues are made by moi from the quartzite left over from the barbecue. I wanted something that could withstand the environment while also looking elevated and chic.

The fireplace was a very important part of the backyard design. There’s a lot of wind here because we’re on a hill, and when it’s windy it gets very cold, even on warm summer nights. I had installed a fountain back in a corner of the yard which didn’t work because the wind would blow the water all over the place. (Aha! Even designers make mistakes!) Instead of demoing the fountain, I came up with the idea of throwing in a firebox, closing things up and now we have a fireplace that is chic and somewhere we can get together at night.

Don’t forget outdoor pathway lighting. This is a vital part of backyard design not only for esthetics but also for safety reasons. We popped in these minimal outdoor lights that sit within the boxwood wall we created and not only do they provide a warm glow but also allow you to see all the greenery.

Next, once we did the pool we still wanted to have a nice patch of grass so we created a large flat area for that. Lastly, on the hillside above the retaining wall towards the back near the pool, we wanted something interesting and decided to plant some favorites. I love saucer magnolias because I like to cut them for dinner parties, and there’s also lavender, some agave, and Japanese blueberries along the periphery. They trickle down the hill and look great.