Blog

Rocking the Country Floors

Alexia Rossetti — Thu, 31 May 2012 14:01:16 +0000

(Faience tile from Country Floors)

(Kitchen by Country Floors)

If you ever pictured yourself pattering barefoot across a stone floor, baking bread amidst a field of blue and white tile walls, and surrounded by old-world charm, then you need to take a look at the Country Floors showroom. Country Floors just recently opened their renovated showroom in NYC to highlight their spectacular collection of stone, ceramic, glass, and terra cotta tiles.

(Golden Sienna stone by Country Floors) (Country Floors Showroom)Designers at Country Floors offer many styles to suit a variety of tastes. They include classic collections of blue and white French faience, Greek classical, Moroccan motifs, and old-world Spanish style.

(Classical collections by Country Floors)For those who prefer a more rustic mood, Country Floors offers the Novelda series of fruits, vegetables, and floral arrangements.

(Novelda tiles by Country Floors)Their Pedralbes collection recalls the terra cotta stone floors of Spanish monasteries and villas – some tiles are even hand glazed to give it the unique look.

(Pedralbes Collection from Country Floors)Take a lovely trip through different cultural styles without leaving your armchair - browse through the collections of Country Floors and turn your dream of beautiful floors to reality.

Sparkles Aplenty - Some of Our Favorite Wedding Jewelry

Jay Johnson — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:00:06 +0000

Going over to our friends at 100 Layer Cake, the wedding and events inspiration website and blog, we discovered some beautiful wedding jewelry that we wanted to pass along to you. Click on each piece for more information, and explore the opportunity to add more bling to your special event. (Note that some of these items could be worn on and adapted to non-wedding occasions, too.) These are all items found in the Cake's Marketplace shop, and they're usually once-used or never-used items being sold from people all over the world. There are bargains to be found!

Bonus

Click here to read Couture Wedding Jewelry Sparks Bridal Fantasy.

As lead curriculum developer, I try to find interesting jewelry styles that would be inspirational for our students. If you're interested in learning more about the designing jewelry, then we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.
Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Event Report: Close Encounters with Elizabeth Gilbert

Jay Johnson — Mon, 28 May 2012 13:00:40 +0000

I love to attend events, and since Sheffield School offers a Wedding and Event Planning course, I'm always eager to see how different events are planned and coordinated. Sunday, May 20th, was an 84-degree hot one in the idyllic river village of Frenchtown, NJ, but the scene was anything but tranquil. An electric buzz ripped through the main street as folks queued up for a limo ride to Two Buttons, the great Asian and world imports store that Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert and her husband Jose Nunez own, along with a complex of other conscious businesses ranging from a Pilates studio to a whole-foods restaurant. But what about that limo ride?

The special event was a "whole-town celebration" as Liz autographed copies of her latest book, a cookbook reissued with contributions from Liz - the cookbook originally published by her great-grandmother Margaret Yardley Potter called At Home on the Range. The book is fantastic. Whip-smartly written with a real gourmand's eye for the offbeat, the delicious, and the divine.

My friend bought an amazingly colorful Thai porkpie hat at Liz and Jose's store, and I picked up two copies of the cookbook and stood in line to say hi to Liz, chat with Jose while we stood in line (busy serving red wine to everyone, always the perfect host), and then have Liz autograph one copy of her cookbook for my daughter Meredith and her partner Chriss and one for me - I had her sign it: All My Love, Julia Roberts. The event was beautifully organized, with volunteers helping people in line, writing the names of special dedications on sticky notes to put into books for Liz to sign, and even Frenchtown police officers providing order to the colorful chaos. Outside the store, the town set up booths in a carnival-like atmosphere, and every restaurant in town was featuring a different special dish prepared from the new cookbook.

The event was a whole-town success, and was planned and executed wonderfully. And the core of the event, showing off a small town's best-selling author, was brilliant. The cookbook proceeds will go to Scholar Match, an organization connecting donors with deserving under-served students to help them attend college - so the event had a fundraising twang to it. I encourage everyone to buy several copies of At Home on the Range, give them out as gifts, and feel good about discovering unique recipes and helping deserving students at the same time.

Bonus

Click here for How to Be an Event Planner.

As lead curriculum developer, I enjoy covering the "events beat." If you're interested in learning more about the exciting world of event planning, then we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.
Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

More Interiors from Kips Bay Decorator Show House

Alexia Rossetti — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:00:51 +0000

(Sitting Room by Charlotte Moss)A walk in the French countryside inspired designer Charlotte Moss to create her sitting room at the 2012 Kips Bay Decorator Show House. Named “Behind the Hedge”, the space gloriously captures the French outdoors with a trompe l’oeil mural of a chateau garden and flourishes of greenery. The walls are sensuously draped in green velvet by Arabel fabrics and box hedges breathe life to the room. (The trompe l'oeil mural is by Osmundo Echevarria).

(Living Room by Bunny Williams, Brian McCarthy, and David Kleinberg)Design team Bunny Williams, Brian McCarthy and David Kleinberg envisioned this bold living room. Providing the main focus of the room is the colorful tapestry by architect Le Corbusier. Its red, black, and white colors are reproduced in the Dupre-Lafon sofa, the zebra rug, the red-upholstered wood chairs and the bright draperies. The parchment wrapped waterfall coffee table is by Vosges.

(Library by Jaimie Drake)Green was the dominant color in this year's Kips Bay and designer Jaimie Drake dreamed up this jungle mood for a library room. Snaked across the walls is an emerald grasscloth wallpaper. The glacial cocktail table from Lorin Marsh further plays up the green motif. Below, green painted bookcases line the walls. Palm trees emphasize the tropics. To give an air of sophistication to the library, Drake enveloped the ceiling in hammered silver paper. Dominating the room is a phantasmagoric oil painting by Andy Harper called Winter Gate.

(Library by Jaimie Drake)Charles Pavarini designed this ultra-chic "Black, White, and Red All Over" bedroom full of decorative delights. The leather wrapped platform bed custom designed by Pavarini floats over the Ironwork carpet by Stark. A resin painting by Damian Robinson provides red fire to the room as sculpted butterflies dance across the mirrored walls.

(Bedroom by Charles Pavarini)

Bonus

Click here to read A Day at the Kips Bay Decorator Show House.

Cheree Berry Invitations - So Inviting!

Guest Blog — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:00:28 +0000

If you're thinking of great wedding and event planning inspiration for the coming spring/summer season, look no further than 100 Layer Cake - one of our favorite wedding blogs. They cover a variety of weddings and feature top wedding vendors, from the best photographers to the best florists. The folks at "the Cake" take their wedding invitations and snail mail with a side of flair. A hot tangerine envelope liner, gold foil details, horn blowers (why not?), multi-colored confetti dots spilling out of envelopes, and bold stripes and patterns. There’s one place to get it all and that’s Cheree Berry Paper! If gold confetti could come flying out from your screen when we announced that, we’d make it happen. Yes, we get that excited when we talk about paper! And we’re even more excited to share her new designs with you! Just take a look at these suites – does it get any more fun than this?

See what we mean? Baby announcements, wedding invitations, personalized stationery, save the date coasters – there’s a suite for every occasion and we want them all!

Photos by the lovely and just as cheery, Edyta Szyszlo.

Bonus

Click here to read A Week in the Life of a Wedding Planner (and Mother).

Thanks to 100 Layer Cake for their beautiful photographs, posts, and wedding inspiration. 100 Layer Cake is a unique, comprehensive wedding planning resource for and by thoughtful, crafty modern women. Their vendors, projects, weddings, resources, sponsors, and marketplace are hand-picked and thoroughly researched with the hope that every single one is a truly unique addition to both your wedding and your planning process. Visit the 100 Layer Cake website today.

If you're interested in learning more about wedding planning and decor, we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Explore the Beautiful Ceramics of Italy

Jay Johnson — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:00:54 +0000

Ceramics of Italy is an International Contemporary Furniture Fair exhibit coming up that will feature nine of Italy’s leading ceramic tile companies and their new designs. The ICFF will be held from May 19-22, 2012 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. The show focuses primarily on modern design, and the Ceramics of Italy exhibit will show off fresh tile trends for floor and wall coverings in booth #1432. Exhibitors include Atlas Concorde; Ceramiche Refin; Cooperativa Ceramica d’Imola; Cotto d’Este; Fap Ceramiche; Mirage Granito Ceramico; Il Ferrone; Sant’Agostino; and Settecento mosaici e ceramiche d’arte.

Expect to see many state-of-the-art flooring and wall covering developments.

Urban motifs
Wood, stone, and concrete looks created with ink-jet technology
LEED-compliant tiles
Super-thin porcelains

According to Franco Manfredini, president of Confindustria Ceramica:

We are excited to be attending the show for the fourth time. New York is an important market for our Italian companies and the architects and designers we meet every year make it an event we cannot miss.

Italian manufacturers continue to focus on both aesthetic and technological trends that are both bold and progressive in the tile industry. For updated information on Ceramics of Italy’s participation at ICFF or to view new products launching this season, visit the Italian Tile website.

Bonus

Click here to read Sheffield's exclusive photo tour: A Day at the Kips Bay Show House.

As lead curriculum developer, it's fun to check out new flooring and wall covering products. If you're interested in learning more about the exciting world of interior design, then we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.
Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Share Your Review of a Sheffield School Course

Sheffield Admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:00:54 +0000

At the Sheffield School, we’re always looking for feedback from students and graduates on their experiences, their successes, and their overall thoughts on the quality of education that they receive from us. And it’s how we continue to make sure our courses meet the standards we’ve set for them.

It makes our day when we hear from a former student. And that’s why we launched a new website, specifically to collect and showcase course reviews and testimonials!

Introducing SheffieldSchoolReviews.com!

It’s brand new, and we want to fill it with student and graduate reviews. Help us out by submitting your review today.

Don’t have a review? That’s fine. You can still check out what others are saying about the courses by visiting the site.

Announcing New Website Review for Interior Designers

Sheffield Admin — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:34:51 +0000

The Sheffield School was founded in 1985 as a school for aspiring interior designers. Since then, it's grown and expanded to offer education in other creative areas, but we never forgot our roots. And today, we're happy to announce a new service we've created specifically for interior designers.

It's called SiteCatapult! And it's a website review service for interior designers of all shapes and sizes.

We did some research and found that today's interior designers drive a huge amount of new business through their websites. In fact, most professional interior designers today use their website to drive word of mouth marketing and referrals. But when we talked to our students and graduates, many did not know where to get started with their website.

By taking ideas from marketers, website developers, and interior designers, we were able to create a service that we're sure interior designers are going to love.

If you have a website, you can purchase a professional web evaluation. Our evaluator will dive head first into your site. And using some basic information that you provide us, will fill out a 16 page evaluation form designed to show you how your site stacks up against the competition, and give you real-life steps that you can use to take your site to the next level.

Don't have a website yet? We've got you covered too. We're offering a downloadable ebook for $19.99 that serves as a guide to creating your interior design website.

We've got something for everyone. Check it out and sign up for your evaluation or ebook today!

6 Favorite Lights from Luce Plan

Jay Johnson — Tue, 15 May 2012 13:01:23 +0000

Bright ideas in lighting spring up all the time from talented product designers. New lightings gives interior designers and homeowners cause to celebrate. Fresh, contemporary designs are great ways to enliven tired interiors and shine light into the darkest corners of rooms, creating pools of inviting warmth. Luce Plan, the international lighting company and showroom, has an amazing array of lamps and other lights that we're craving - and here are 6 of our favorite designs. Click on each photo for more information.

Lighting Bonus

Click here to read Into the Lights.

As lead curriculum developer, it's fun to check out new lighting products. If you're interested in learning more about the exciting world of interior design, then we encourage you to explore the Sheffield School, New York, NY. Sheffield began as an Interior Design school in 1985, and then expanded our course offerings to train people in other design-related fields, including Feng Shui, Wedding and Event Planning, and Jewelry Design. With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any school in the world.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.
Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

6 Favorite Wedding Cakes

Guest Blog — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:01:00 +0000

If you're thinking of great wedding inspiration for the coming spring/summer season, look no further than 100 Layer Cake - one of our favorite wedding blogs. They cover a variety of weddings and feature top wedding vendors, from the best photographers to the best florists. At Sheffield, we have some pretty picky wedding planning folks on the team, and we wanted to share with you some of our favorite cakes from recent weddings. Click on a photo to check out the rest of the amazing wedding details.

Classic wedding white, in tiers of cupcakes.

This ruggedly beautiful cake mimics its California ranch venue.

This creamy wedding cake strips off the fondant in favor of fresh flowers.

This Chicago wedding's gold chevron wedding cake is flanked by sweet treats and balloons.

Inspiration for a 1950s themed sweets table.

This wedding cake comes out of a secret garden.

Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.

Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.