Design Trends 2010: Carpet, Floors & More

With the New Year come the latest design trends offering inspiration for carpet, floors and much more. I share with you here resources for discovering more!

As a result of Celebrating Carpet: UK's Fun On the Floor With Style, I became acquainted with global trend forecaster Scarlet Opus, based in Yorkshire, England.

I did a blog interview with co-owner, Phil Pond [see Meet Scarlet Opus' Phil Pond], and am planning on meeting in person co-owner Victoria Redshaw at Surfaces 2010.

Scarlet Opus interests me because it uniquely focuses on interiors and products and décor for the home and home environments with a marvelous global twist. Given Victoria's global perspective, I thought you would be interested in the latest design trends that she has written about.

I'd love to hear what appeals to you the most...

Here goes:

+ From the Surfaces Blog, see 2010: new year... new way of thinking and being seen to be green. The photos are scrumptious and truly show off how beautiful a design element carpet is [as you can see from the photo above].

+ The Scarlet Opus Blog is a feast for the eyes and definitely worth exploring. Top Colour Trend Tip for 2010: Blue offers perspective on how important the color blue will be.

+ Although from January 2009, this article Houses as homes: don't move, improve - to which Victoria contributed - makes a strong point about improving what you have and how to do so with colors and textures... [Also check out Victoria's suggestions at the bottom of this article New Year New Décor for homeowners .]

+ Last, but not least, the Top 10 Colour Trend Tips for 2010...

Which are your favorite color and design trends for 2010? Which will you add to your home and how?








Image courtesy of www.funonthefloor.com

Extreme Carpet Cleaning Homeowner Tips

Extreme Carpet Cleaning Story Yields Real Homeowner Carpet Cleaning Tips

My friend Bethany Richmond from the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), recently posted an amazing carpet cleaning success story on the Carpet and Rug Institute Blog - about the Jet Stream Grill, a restaurant in Chattanooga, TN. Yes, it's about a commercial environment and not a residence. That means that it's the equivalent of an extreme carpet cleaning makeover situation and there are real lessons for home owners.

Carpet Cleaning Tips For Homeowners

More specifically,

• Vacuum your carpet thoroughly and regularly and don't forget to check your vacuum bag on a regular basis. Be sure to replace it when it's full!

• Don't just use any carpet cleaning product. Check out CRI's Seal of Approval (SOA) products which have earned that Seal of Approval by going through performance tests and meeting specific standards.

• Seriously consider working with a professional carpet cleaning service provider. You can locate an SOA approved service provider by zip code by visiting this page on the CRI website. They use not only approved products, but also approved equipment.

If you're interested in nitty gritty details, check out these two blogposts that Bethany wrote with more details on the Jet Stream Grill carpet cleaning project: Part 1 and Part 2.

And, here's the 6 minute video [Subscribers, click on this link to view the video.]


Since it's winter, you might also want to invest in Walk-Off Mats to Protect Carpet & Floors. I'm ready to reinstitute a 'no shoes inside' policy for my house.

Some of our previous posts about carpet cleaning, care and maintenance:
+ How to remove a carpet stain
+ Keeping Carpet Clean
+ Dog Day Afternoon

Thanks for reading!

Carpet, Flooring, iPhone Apps & Mohawk Me

Have You Mohawked Yourself?

Happy New Year 2010! This just in: a new iPhone app that links mohawk hair styles to carpet and flooring. Have you tried it?

It's called Mohawk Me and is available free via the iPhone App store.

For personal and professional reasons, I've been immersed in iPhone applications. From Benjamin Moore's app, to HappyTapper's Gratitude Journal, to CoPilot Live for turn-by-turn GPS navigation, and a few in between, I've been uncovering a fascinating world.

Imagine my delight, then, given my interest in flooring and carpet to learn that *finally* there's an app that relates!

Here's the announcement: Mohawk Flooring Announces New iPhone App - Mohawk ME!

It's a quick download and you're off to mohawk yourself. I decided to mohawk my daughter - as you see above - and easily emailed a copy to myself as well as a TwitPic.

Mohawk Me is definitely fun [although I'm not sure my daughter will be too thrilled about looking like a boy in some of the other versions]!

You'll note in the upper corner some text. The program matches up a product profile with your image; it shows up in your final saved image. Most can be cropped out if you really love your mohawk self enough to issue formal portraits.

Of the eight profiles, 5 connect with carpet recommendations and the rest with hard surface flooring.

So, my question to you is: What do you think?

Of the application itself?

Of the message you get on your saved self with mohawk?

How likely are you to consider a Mohawk flooring purchase?

Happy mohawking!


PS: Check out the range of mohawk hairstyles. Did you know there were so many? I wonder how many can be turned into carpet styles?

Spiders Create Magic Carpet Tapestry

Spider Silk Tapestry Brings Magic Carpet To Life

Madagascar Tradition Creates One-of-a-Kind Carpet Textile Marvel

No. I'm not spinning a yarn and telling tales.

A spider is, though. Or rather, a million female golden orb [aka Nephila madagascariensis] spiders have, creating a museum carpet artifact that brings back to life "an indigenous tradition on the island of Madagascar."

I learned about this from a 10/29/09 FastCompany.com article titled "Creepy, Crawly, Crafty: A Tapestry Woven by Eight-Legged Artists."

Given how immersed I've been lately with thoughts of creativity, innovation and inspiration [see BRITE 09: Innovating During Downturns & Surviving the Worst, Flooring eNewsletter #1 From Simple Marketing Now and Sources of Flooring Inspiration & Innovation], I was quite taken with the magnificent creativity that this spider-woven tapestry captured.

The richness of the saffron gold color [the reason behind the name 'golden orb'] and intricacy of design truly stop you in your tracks. I found it so beautiful, that I was reminded of how carpets were originally used: as tapestries. According to Wikipedia, the word 'carpet' originally referred to table linens and wall coverings. Not until the 18th century were carpets used on floors. Even then, they were rich in design and color [see Brussels Flower Carpet 2008 for perspective on patterns].

What's amazing from a visual perspective with this spider-created magic carpet is the opulence of the pattern and design, despite the monochromatic palette.

Furthermore, from a scientific perspective, this spider silk seems to be remarkably strong and filled with possibilities. Perhaps someday we'll have spider-silk textiles readily available around us as well as underfoot. Although, to put this magic carpet tapestry into perspective, it took four years and 60+ handlers to extract the spider silk and weave it into the exquisite patterns we see here.

This unique spider-silk textile is on display at the American Museum of Natural History which includes fascinating details of how the tapestry was created....

If there's a chance you're in NYC for the holidays, perhaps you'll visit the display. There's also a special exhibit titled Traveling The Silk Road [which includes a fun interactive website]. If you do go, would you share with us your impressions?

Related Post:
Magic Flying Carpets

Celebrating Carpet: UK's Fun On The Floor With Style

Fun on the Floor with Carpet.

Fun on the Floor is a UK campaign sponsored by several carpet manufacturers [and not the Carpet Foundation and its member manufacturers which are not connected with Fun on the Floor - edited 1/19/10]. I first heard about it in 2008 in Is carpet about to make a comeback? A bit later, I was delighted to come across Carpet is back in style which offered delicious carpet style trends and details about Fun on the Floor.

A few weeks ago, I exchanged emails with Patrick Finn from Fun on the Floor, who graciously made possible the interview below with Steve Elliott, managing director of Associated Weavers in the UK and part of the Fun on the Floor panel of home experts offering free consumer design advice. He has worked in the carpet industry for over twenty years, has a varied and experienced background within the industry regularly dealing with manufacturers and suppliers. Steve is particularly knowledgeable about product development, the link between carpet and fashion and the changing colour trends that emerge. With an excellent understanding of the UK and world carpet market and also what consumers want from a carpet he is perfectly placed to comment on all carpet related issues.

Steve, what is the purpose of Fun on the Floor?

In 2008 a collective of carpet manufacturers, distributors and retailers joined forces to create a major generic marketing campaign under the banner of ‘Fun on the Floor’. The campaign aims to get the nation embracing the attributes of carpet.

The website www.funonthefloor.com is an interactive resource for anyone interested in learning more about the transformation that carpet can bring to a room – whether home owners, home improvers, retailers or media.

What objectives does Fun on the Floor want to achieve?

Fun on the Floor (FOTF) has four main objectives, to make carpet seen to be:

Noticed
Desirable
Affordable
Practical & fashionable

How did the members of FOTF get together?

All the UK’s major carpet manufacturers and retailers were invited to become part of FOTF, with Carpetright and Headlam spearheading the campaign. A total of 13 companies now make up the FOTF group.

What was done in the first year of Fun on the Floor?

In the first year Fun on the Floor ran a national campaign highlighting carpet as a flooring choice by bringing to life its versatility, practicality, affordability, and ability to transform a home!

The first phase of the campaign launched July 31st 2008 with the opening of a unique house in central London designed and curated by Interior Designer and Sunday Times Style Columnist Danielle Proud [mentioned in the article above].

The Fun on the Floor house acted as a showroom through a medley of creatively designed rooms featuring carpet in stunning, creative and fun ways based on current interior trends and popular carpet choices. The house was visited by trade, national, consumer, regional journalists as well as key influencers such as interior designers, production companies for a free shoot location and celebrities.

Following the launch of the Fun on the Floor House, an eye-catching press and outdoor advertising campaign launched in the Autumn that covered billboards and vans nationwide.

Supporting all the activity and creating a consumer hub to the campaign, an interactive website launched to coincide with the house opening (www.funonthefloor.com), helping consumers understand carpet and offering advice and tips from Danielle.

What about the second year?

In the second year Fun on the Floor continued with a national advertising campaign and developed the website further through the provision of an expert panel. Funonthefloor.com created a unique panel of home experts to offer consumers free advice on home improvement offering expert knowledge of interior flooring trends, carpets, colour and crafts. The panel consists of modern craft expert Danielle Proud, Interior Design expert Andrea Maflin, colour expert Victoria Redshaw and carpet industry brain Steve Elliott head of AWE carpets. Each member of the panel had been carefully selected for their individual areas of expertise.

In addition to the expert panel Fun on the Floor worked with leading trend forecasters Scarlet Opus to produce an interiors bible featuring all you need to know about forthcoming interiors trends with an emphasis on the most popular flooring choice – carpet. The report acts as an informative yet stylish guide with exclusive photography, quotes from the FOTF experts and a ‘get the look’ section.

Who are the experts on the FOTF panel and what do they specialize in?

Andrea Maflin – Interior Design Expert

Andrea Maflin is an interior design expert with many television appearances including Home Front and Real Rooms, both for the BBC, and Renovation Street for Carlton. She was the resident interiors expert on Channel 5's Britain’s Worst DIY-er as well as presenting on UKTV Style's Our House (Series 1 and 2). She has also designed a house for GMTV and appeared in regular design slots on Sky interactive and This Morning. A contributor to numerous interiors magazines Andrea currently has a regular, weekly slot in The Sunday Times.


Victoria Redshaw – Colour and trend forecaster expert

Victoria Redshaw is one of the trend forecasting industries brightest new stars and founded leading trend forecast agency Scarlet Opus. Quite visionary in her proven ability to read world events and social change and translate these into consumer trends with total accuracy for any business concerned with products &/or Services for the home.

Steve Elliott – Carpet industry expert

I am the managing director of Associated Weavers and have worked in the carpet industry for over twenty years. I have a varied background and am very active within the industry regularly dealing with manufacturers and suppliers. With a specific interest in product development I pride myself on being knowledgeable about the link between carpet and fashion and the changing colour trends that emerge. I follow the UK and world carpet market closely and also what consumers really want from a carpet so I can help make sure we create products people want to purchase.

Danielle Proud – Interiors and craft expert

Danielle launched the Fun on the Floor campaign last year with the stunning Fun on the Floor house. Described by the Sunday Times Style Magazine as "The sexy blonde Nigella of homemaking" Danielle Proud is the new face of modern craft. Danielle runs House Proud Craft, an umbrella company through which she sells her own design craft kits. In 2006 she moved into craft and home-making for UKstyle and a series of daily appearances on GMTV. In 2007 Danielle presented the highly original interior design format ‘All in the Best Possible Taste’ for BBC2, which paired her with husband Alex Proud. She is also developing an exclusive craft range to be sold throughout the UK and had a regular column in the Sunday Times Style Magazine.

What trends can we expect to see develop in 2010?

King and Country

This October Chanel hosted the most elaborate fashion show of the year as models took to the catwalk surrounded by an enormous barn and piles of hay. Rural colours dominated, with deep greens, sand and wheat colours making ‘country chic’ truly the hottest look of the show. This trend is destined to start filtering its way from the catwalks of Europe to the home as funonthefloor interiors FOTF colour expert Victoria Redshaw predicts the King & Country look will be big in interiors next spring.

The King and Country trend it is not about severe austerity, but rather cheerfulness in the trend’s styling that reflects the spirit of 1940’s wartime Britain. An abundance of simple patterns inspired by the reworking and recolouring of classic men’s suiting fabrics [e.g. tweed, herringbone and plaids] to create fantastic carpets, upholstered furniture that has patches of appliqué, cushions, throws, lampshades and even wallpaper!

Eastern Odyssey

An emerging influence, Eastern Odyssey is a huge trend that will bring much needed colour and pattern to a darker season such as Autumn/Winter. In addition to the bright sari shades the colour palette is updated by the addition of rich spice and dark maroon tones inspired by monsoon rain and mists. Maroon is a key colour development in this trend e.g. its inclusion in décor schemes through one step of laying a new carpet will help to refresh rooms and deliver a contemporary look. A visual opulence is reinforced by the use of an orange toned gold as well as burnished copper and brass.

The hustle and bustle of Indian city streets with their jostling crowds, decorative tuck-tucks, billboards and market stalls inspire mash-up patterns and colour mixes that reflect the vibrancy of life. This trend is not about co-ordinating, it is about lively mixes of different patterns on upholstered seating, wallpaper & oversized wall decal motifs, curtains and carpets. The abundance of pattern is balanced by areas of strong, plain colour blocks, with the introduction of bold carpets which can stop room schemes from looking chaotic. The juxtaposing patterns enrich and add character whilst the plain areas add depth and provide a calming foundation.

Magic Garden

This trend’s look can be achieved by the playful use of scale. Much of the Alice in Wonderland story involves manipulating scale and this is an important feature of furniture design and interior design relating to this trend and other home trends in 2010. Carpet's essential role in this trend is to provide a neutral or vivid base, either of which works well to enhance the magic garden look. Another important feature of this trend is storybook illustrations. They inspire surface pattern designs with a doodled, naive styling or narrative layouts that appear to tell a story and have a logical progression -- e.g. around the edge of a plate, up wallpaper or around a tabletop.

These placement patterns are much more interesting than conventional pattern layouts. The tangled foliage and colourful blooms of magical, fairytale gardens are an integral part of this trend. Vibrant mixes of large scale floral prints that appear to grow up wallpaper and wall decals create indoor English country garden scenes. Floral wallpapers can be used to decorate fitted wardrobe doors and bedside tabletops. Carpet with tiny, scattered flowers also helps to bring the outside, inside. For a bolder look select small scale gingham patterned carpet or for a plainer look invest in a pale blue or pale pink cut pile carpet.

For more on what are going to be the top trends in the home next year go to www.funonthefloor.com and ask the Fun on the Floor experts.

Is the trend report available on the FOTF website?

FOTF is constantly updating with new images and new content such as the expert panel to keep consumers interested and returning to the site. The full FOTF trend report is due to go live on the site by the end of 2009, giving consumers exclusive access to what is going to be hot in the interiors world next year.

What advantages do you think carpet has over other flooring choices?

Well for a start there are now a seemingly uncountable range of colours, styles and designs available on the market now. Carpet is also great for giving a house a cosy feel and can save consumers up to £100 [approx. $165] a year on their energy costs due to its insulating qualities. Carpet is also very affordable, an average sized room can be carpeted for as little as £200 [approx. $330]. Another great advantage of carpet is it’s noise canceling properties, many hard floors carry sound all over the house and therefore can be a very noisy flooring choice.

Finally, what does Funonfloor.com have planned for the future?

We will be continuing to innovate and produce great content on the site for consumers, trade and the media. Carpet has a great heritage in the UK and our aim is to continue the nation’s love of carpet and showcase it in as many compelling and visually appealing ways as possible. With regard to what we have planned coming up specifically I cannot say too much other than – keep checking the site!

Steve, many thanks for all of this wonderful, fun and style-filled carpet information! I look forward to learning more as Fun on the Floor continues.

The Fun on the Floor website is worth exploring. It includes details on the House that designer Danielle Proud re-imagined [definitely take the 6.42minute video tour], helpful and useful advice about carpet, inspiration for living on carpet, and responses to Ask the Experts questions. From my U.S. perspective, I particularly enjoy seeing the range of rich carpet style patterns, textures and colors.

And, I LOVE the carpet creativity that Danielle shares. She has truly brought new dimension to carpet, furniture and the 5th wall!

What do you think? What are your reactions?




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Design Your Bathroom Around Your Rug!

In preparing for the 4th annual Bathroom Blogfest, I came across a tweet [i.e., a Twitter post] from @PassionForRugs with a link to an article titled Bathroom Rug Mosaic, which delighted me! It showcased a bathroom that had been redesigned around a patterned rug [pictured here].

Don't you find the effect brilliant? What a marvelous way to make the 5th wall in a room the visual anchor for design!

The design premise had me thinking about Thom Filicia and Designing From The Floor Up.

It also reinforced what NKBA New Zealand described in summing up what it had observed from the entries to the 2009 NKBA Awards: "a return to clean and simple lines, kitchen and bathrooms that are minimalist in style but with a bold feature or texture."

At around the same time, I came across a link [thanks to @TLSbyDesign] to NKBA's Top Ten Kitchen & Bath Design Trends for 2009. The trends include:

1. Steel counters
2. Glass elements
3. Stone hearths
4. Black & White kitchens
5. The return of chrome
6. Shoji screens
7. Tin ceilings
8. Floating cabinets
9. Mirrors away from the walls
10. Resin panels

Given these trends, and the wonderful potential that designing your bathroom - or any other room for that matter! - around your rug holds, how would you go about redesigning and coordinating for as marvelous an effect as the bathroom referred to above?

Happy Bathroom Blogfest 09!

For more information, and links to all of the 2009 Bathroom Blogfest posts, visit BathroomBlogfest.com.



Photo credit: Attic Mag, Bathroom Rug Mosaic


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Strange Carpet Store Names: What's Your Favorite?

I recently rediscovered an article titled "Strange carpet store names can floor you - Giant Don, Big Bob, Jungle Jim -- it seems size matters" by Julia O'Malley from the 05/09/09 Anchorage Daily News that had me giggling and reminiscing.

Giggling because I could picture the owners of Giant Don, Big Bob's and Jungle Jim -- and Kash's Carpet, Signs Carpet and Chubby Chicken's Cheap Cheap Carpet or Dirt's Cheap Carpet -- as they described the profound logic behind their choices of names.

Now, to be fair I have spoken with Big Bob David Elyachar and, even over the phone, he comes across as bigger than life and hugely passionate about his business. [Here is the story of how he got started.] His name is also the tamest... although some of his commercials are beyond description [I couldn't find the Bohemian Rhapsody commercial, but do check out these two Big Bob's classics.]

The more extreme and strange names had me reminiscing about my Wear-Dated upholstery fabric days and more specifically a series of conversations leading to a presentation with John Case, formerly president of La-Z-Boy and CEO and president of Elecrolux, about the types of sales events that furniture retailers would put on. Like "Big-Ass" Sales with graphic images that - unlike Apartment Therapy's promotion of one - go against any kind of association with design or style or interior inspiration.

Because after all isn't that what a carpet or furniture or other home interior item is supposed to be a part of? A beautiful, stylish, elegant, inspiring and comfortable home?

Which explains why a name like Floorcraft or Town and Country - as the article mentions - sounds a lot more appealing than, although perhaps not as memorable as, Dirt's Cheap Carpet.

Do you agree?

So, now I'm curious. What are the strangest carpet store names you've come across? And, what about unusual sale event names? Which are your favorites?

If you need further inspiration, check out check out Roadside Art Online: Grog N Groc Hall of Fame. As the tagline reads "Great names, normal places, we do not make these up." It's guaranteed to generate giggles, guffaws and a few dropped jaws.





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The Latest Carpet Style Trends 2009

Chile Fashion Week grafica originally uploaded by kevinkobek.

Hurray! After being on the lookout for several months, I've just come across information on the latest carpet style trends...

This from the August 31/September 7, 2009 issue of Floor Covering News in an article titled "Mills roll out new products for fall, discuss trends, looks." [Subscription required for full article.]

The latest news is primarily about color although Emily Morrow, Shaw's director of color, style and design states that "Hand-touched visuals are achieved in carpet through the use of striated yarns, creating the sun-faded, hand-knotted and time-worn visuals of the hand-knotted heirloom rugs from middle-eastern origins."

My interpretation: texture comes from visual effects.

Not too different from the kinds of effects that Robbie Schuette described in A Foot's Perspective About Fabrica's Silk Weave Carpet.

Specifically on the color front, Vickie Gilstrap, vice president of residential color and design with Mohawk, shared five key trends that new carpet styles will reflect:

• Neutrals will bring security in a bold way.
• Nature is a natural source for optimism.
• Buying "American" takes on a new meaning.
• Think royal.
• In addition to local, there's more global.

Fun to think how those trends affect us right now... I'm totally into purple, and I'd say we're all more aware and appreciative of the uniqueness that local and global offer in counteracting the sea of sameness.

Emily Morrow says "the world of color, style and design has taken a turn toward 'comfortable, sensible sophistication' for 2009... Today's palette doesn't vary far from the 'natural neutrals' to 'dark, rich neutrals' with a few exceptions."

Furthermore, "gray, dark brown, tans, black and white are what we find most prevalent.... These are the most basic yet classic and elegant neutrals from which to choose as a beginning. The newest carpet styles are using these rich neutral colors, considered no-brainers but appropriately supported with a cast of other vibrant colors from the fashion/interior world, offering the consumer the choice of using 'color as pop' or 'color as canvas.'"

For more of Emily Morrow's thoughts about color, read this Floor Focus article on 2009 Color Trends that she and Kaye Gosline contributed to.

I'm eager to discover how all of this translates into actual carpet styles. I'll be attending [and presenting at] the upcoming Surfaces 2010 and hope to have specifics to share with you then.

In the meantime, how do you see these trends affecting you and your flooring decisions?



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Carpetology Blog Reinvents Itself

starting from scratch originally uploaded by Rev Dan Catt. http://www.flickr.com/photos/revdancatt/ / CC BY 2.0

Yes, it has been a while for The Carpetology Blog. It's not that I haven't been thinking about it. It's more that I haven't been sure how best to proceed at reinventing it given the various changes that have taken place...

Chief amongst those changes is that I am no longer associated with Wear-Dated. Instead, I am chief simplifier of Simple Marketing Now, and have started a new associated blog, Simple Marketing Blog.

Flooring The Consumer, though, continues strong! And, I still have a foot in the flooring world; I'm still a consumer of flooring and carpet, and I still believe that there's opportunity to demystify and simplify carpet related information. Most important, I believe strongly that flooring is fashion!

So, here's what I have in mind for this space....

I will share design inspiration. Although flooring is fashion, it's fashion within a space - home, hotel, office, store... - and needs to interact and interrelate with that greater space. So, the design inspiration I share may reflect that greater space.

I will expose you to carpet related stories that strike my fancy...

And, I'll dig through my files and see if there aren't any gems about carpet care and maintenance that haven't yet made it to the blog.

In the meantime, I do recommend to you the Carpet and Rug Institute Blog, which I've had a finger in, as an excellent resource for information about carpet care, carpet allergy and allergies myths, the benefits of carpet in learning environments, and carpet recycling information.

Thank you for your support and please do feel free to contact me at cbwhittemore[at]gmail[dot]com if you have ideas and suggestions for other topics to consider on The Carpetology Blog.






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Design Reviews From The Floor Up ~ Silver Screen Surroundings

March's Design Reviews From The Floor Up introduces you to ::Silver Screen Surroundings::, another inspiring site from interior decorator Linda Merrill, owner of Chameleon Interiors in Massachusetts.

[Her company was included in a Washington Post article titled eDecorating - Web-Based Designers Click With Budget-Conscious Clients Who Want to Tackle Rooms Fast.]

Linda's background encompasses both visual and performing arts, something I learned when I profiled her original ::Surrondings:: site in Design Reviews From The Floor Up ~ Surroundings. That's when I discovered ::Silver Screen Surroundings:: which focuses on "Movie set decor, set decorators, and how to "Get that Look"." What a fabulous concept!

And, given the recent Academy Awards Red Carpet events, this seemed like the perfect site to share with you.

Linda asks: "Have you or has someone you know taken inspiration from a movie set for your own home decor? Would you like to share your images? Or, do you have a suggestion for a movie you'd like to see covered? Drop me a line at: linda.m.merrill (at) gmail.com."

What I love is how Linda dissects the onscreen decorator looks, demonstrating how to achieve them in ::Silver Screen Surroundings::. From Coco Chanel, to Benjamin Button to Marie Antoinette, and everything in between. Plus, she includes visuals that make my heart sing!

[I also love that Linda includes a Tutorial: Screen grabs when you need them! Thank you!]

Be sure to check out ::Silver Screen Surroundings:: and let me know which movie set decor inspires you the most. While you're there, explore the ::Movie Decor Cool Links::...

For previous sites included in this series, click on Design Reviews from the Floor Up. Or, visit our sidebar also titled 'Design Reviews from the Floor Up.'






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