There is risk in being seen, and in this window before the book launches I feel exposed, and I find myself fortifying my little emotional house like a crazy beaver. The beaver wants every outfit planned in advance, professional hair for every appearance, and thinks pre-writing thank-you notes is a good idea. She’s also fixating on hostess gifts and whether or not the outfits should be color coordinated to the chapters. That’s when I realized I had gone off the rails, and maybe I don’t need to change my entire Modus Operandi of being in the world to do this tour. I can pick one seasonally appropriate outfit at a time and have medium clean hair and be done with this.

I will be seen, I will be known by some, some people will write rude things on Amazon, most people will barely notice. I will have the gift of connecting with some people (it’s already happened!) who like what I wrote, and that will make me feel good. I will channel that crazy, color coordinating, nothing-left-to-chance, balls-out beaver back into work stuff. Like this splendid, beautifully produced trendy British newspaper service! Pictured below and excerpted here. It’s just one of the supportive pieces of swag for the book (there is tissue, there is ribbon, there are tote bags) and I can’t imagine a better way of celebrating the book, belatedly celebrating 20 years of the studio, celebrating my wonderful staff. Look at my collateral! Don’t look at me! Unless you want to meet me at one of the truly lovely events I have lined up, in which case, I can’t wait to see you. I hope you don’t mind I’ve given up on manicures.

Further Reading

This month it’s articles and links! I’ve been working with Pine Street PR since 2000, and I kind of wonder how Amy and I filled our time back then. Just this month alone: ArchDigest did a feature on one of my favorite projects of all time! We won award from Sunset and my dear client texted me about it on the weekend! The book is in Elle Decor. The book is in Veranda. The book is in Big Sky Journal.

And how about This Must Be the Book Tour? I hinted, but it’s real, and it’s starting this weekend. Please come join me in High Point, or Carmel, or San Francisco, or Montecito. Or later this summer in Charleston, Missoula, LA, New York or Seal Harbor! We are doing sweetie pie events only, and I predict small turnouts so this is your chance to have me sign your book with an elaborate/inappropriate inscription. Your choice.

And finally, thrillingly, we are on TheExpert, a platform I have wanted to work on for YEARS! My dream is to meet people who need clarity or a nudge, and to help them in a flash. And to meet with other designers who want to talk about systems and having a staff, development, burnout, and all the business things. I have office hours open every Friday, please join me.

PRE-ORDER THIS MUST BE THE PLACE

Most of my writing energy last year was directed towards my forthcoming book, This Must Be the Place, coming out on May 5. I loved almost every part of the process - the pitching, the photography, the words, approving the book design, basically all of it except meetin’ those deadlines. As a yearbook rat who loves to write I suspected I would enjoy it, but I was surprised by how therapeutic it was. There is a tension in this line of work, when you really care, between considering a project to be "mine" for years (I'm so sorry clients who are reading this, I know it's demented) and then having to "give it back" to the people who have owned it the entire time. For years I would experience a sense of loss after turning over the keys. It felt like I had fostered an amazing animal and just when it’s ready to fly/sleep through the night/walk on its own, I have to return her. Or him. You see? I made it too personal, and there have been many evenings I’ve come home and said things like “do you know what would make me really happy; a beautiful kitchen in a weird color with bountiful counter space! A tasteful and precarious cabin by the sea! A campus-like setting with multiple zones for hosting all my friends!” Not fast or easy things, and I could go on. My husband, a practical man who has what he wants and wants what he has, nods at me. Plays cards with me. Makes a nice drink for me, and does not tell me I’m being a deranged baby even though he knows I’m capable.

For 20 years this has been the cycle: a project is mine, but the house belongs to the client, and when this transition happens I mourn. At some point I realized all this fostering and letting go wasn’t serving me, (thanks, Coach), and I decided that building a book where all these houses would “live” would make these projects feel like mine again. And I was right! I wrote 10 chapters that include some of our most beautiful projects and holy shit, my little pets came back to me. It’s possible they came back even better because they were reflected through the eyes of Laura Resen or Laure Joliet or Matthew Millman or Leslie Williamson, and always they had Yedda Morrison nudging and sprucing and adding her final layer of life. I did not expect that putting the photos in an order with a specific title and colors and collages by Vanessa Saba would feel so good, that the act of building a book with my own voice would feel so profound.

These magical deep-dish chapters in their linen-bound glory, they will be available in May. I hope you will consider a pre-order in this delicate time when Abrams is deciding how many to print, a pre-order is LIFE! I have kept The RAD MiniMag free for just this occasion: I wanted you to read, to be amused and enjoy the photos, and and then, years down the road BAM, now you’re addicted and you need to own the real thing. She didn’t watch The Wire twice for nothing, people. When Stringer Bell went to class so did I.

Pre-order is LIFE!

Back to the point: I now have a healthy sense of how much to be invested. I learned how valuable it is to have space on a page to reflect, and to remember what we tried to do and show how we achieved it - creating a good house is good times! And so I’ve been busy making other projects into DIY “chapters.” I’ve been working on this quietly, alone, happily. Little scrapbooks of the beautiful, short window when I put all my care into someone else’s pet, then, in exchange for trust and US dollars, return it to them better than I found it.

First up: Stinson Beach. I’m in the process of posting it in parts on IG, and here it is in its entirety. Not as polished and professional as the experience the book provides but still so flipping pretty. Enjoy.

I WANT TO BE THE MAYOR OF STINSON BEACH

All the chapters in the book have titles that I would characterize as… referential and atmospheric. The actual title, This Must Be the Place, is referential and atmospheric! I decided this kind of naming is something I enjoy, and so moving forward I am abandoning calling projects by the last name of the owners, or even worse, by their town plus a number.

Anel Clay and Veronica Aguilar were the designers on this project, art was a collaboration between the wonderful client and the wonderful Caroline Brinkerhoff. Photos are Veronica and myself, and that sweet-ass rendering is all Veronica.

Thank you as always for reading, if you want to support the MiniMag without much effort please click the heart! It helps with discovery. And if you want to open a book and live in a beautiful world where people’s personalities come to life please do order This Must Be the Place, it will arrive on 5/5. If you email me a pic of your receipt I will send you a signed engraved book plate that we are designing right meow. Would make a very cute gift for Mother’s Day, just a thought.

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When it was my turn I was asked to freestyle ideas around redecorating a teen boy’s bedroom while three cameras filmed me from different angles. The table of producers sensed my bewildered energy and suggested I “amp up my personality”. This advice hit me like a frozen pizza to the face, and I completely forgot why I was there and what I was doing - I believe the technical term is “choked”. Unfortunately I was still aware I was losing the room, losing my chance, and my solution, (buckle-up), was to improv a scene where I advised putting mirrored tiles on the ceiling of this imaginary teen’s room. The teen (who was being played very dynamically by the casting director) was into this idea.

Gross and ew, but I was only 24 years old and I thought this was a cool and appropriate idea. Fast forward to the show not getting picked up, and instead of being bummed, I had clarity that I would never audition for TV again. Wasn’t built for it. Long-form, perfection-based, cream-of-the-crop interior design was the life for me!

Happily this experience didn’t put me off makeover shows. I never stopped loving them, even though over time I got cranky about how HGTV perverts people’s expectations around budget and timeline. Every episode of Love it or List it when prickly British Hilary makes magic with no dollars, I feel the need to rail about the accuracy. It’s simply not possible, even in 2011 suburban Canada, to pull off a structural retrofit, new kitchen, new stairs, new pool, new rec-room, and all new furniture for $100k. And everyone in my family is aware of this and tired of hearing it.

Then something started to shift. I read Ezra Klein’s Abundance where he makes the case that doing things quickly is its own reward. I redid my daughter’s bedroom to that cream-of-the-crop standard in four weeks. I watched Rock the Block (recommended by my friends Michelle and Barack), and saw my actual friend Alison Victoria absolutely crush the renovation of a basic-ass 5500 sq ft house in six weeks. I still take issue with the budget, but I’m at a point where I can admit you can do a lot, a TON, in a few months. Not everything has to take years. And I want to invite more of this energy into my life.

To that end, I want to do a six-month design project with someone. I’m calling it a Charrette Project, and the idea is to take six weeks to design, then two weeks to noodle and edit. Four months to shop, fabricate, scour, paint, wallpaper, sew, stage, and then six months from now, we install. We would need to trust each other, trust the process, trust that after 20 years I would never suggest mirroring anyone’s, especially not your son’s, bedroom ceiling. If this sounds interesting I have a few more questions, and a few ideas about how much it would cost. If you are curious click here…

In the meantime, I promised IG I would give a tour of my daughter’s speed makeover when it was done, and friends, it delivered! My husband described it as “the opposite of bang-for-buck” but it felt really nice to do something in my house that is up to the scratch of a RAD client project. And if, like Ezra says, there is value in doing things fast then this was actually a ton of value. Perhaps even, a ton of dime for the time? I can workshop this phrasing but I trust this crowd knows what I mean.

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FEATURE: JUST ONE KID’S BEDROOM

Just one kid, but a very special kid! My 14 year old daughter, Lily. She’s a lamb-chop with a passion for stuff, and has always, since she was little, had multiple areas of treasure all over her room. Art, Lego, books, Woobles, gear, goggles, hats, sweatshirts, jewelry, shinguards, stuffies, it goes on. I once asked her to watch Marie Kondo thinking she might get inspired to streamline, and instead she went upstairs and hugged both of her "toilet paper roll collections" and told me with a sincere face that they sparked joy and she was unwilling to part with either of them.

So that’s who we’re dealing with. It was impossible to keep her room tidy, plus I think years of growing out of your clothes and shoes every nine months caught up with the closet. She was due for a purge.

The design phase was a dream, we treated her to real choices and drew elevations and floor plans that she approved. We used RAD Goods and got custom cabinetry, went from two hideous lamps to (I hesitate to say this because it’s so over-the-top) eight sources of task and ambient light. Most of which turn on at the new Forbes & Lomax switch bank, but the reading, desk and vanity sconces are switched at the unit. We went from 25 linear feet of storage to 75 linear feet. Storage is king, America. And we also saved. The mirror is from Urban Outfitters, the bed is from CB2. The Aalto table was from a sketchy guy on Craigslist.

So this video is a test to see if my children read my Substack. They subscribe, but something tells me they would never make it this far. If they do this will likely be taken down by tomorrow! But it’s cute as hell, my favorite part is the beginning where you can hear Andrew saying in the background “move that bus”, a callout to the OG most popular home show ever, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

Thank you to Ali and then Alex in my office for tag-teaming the design, the value engineering and the expediting. Andrew project managed and Chris McDermott was our amazing contractor who was sweetly willing to take on such a small project, and hit every single deadline. Anel Clay sewed the curtain liners and bed canopy panels beautifully. Can’t wait to work together again soon, the rest of the bedrooms in my house await!

FIVE THINGS: SPLURGE VS. STEAL

I didn’t invent the concept of high/low but I’m a real devout practitioner. To wit:

1. LOW: Dumb Trendy Mirror. I’m irrationally proud of this one, it’s so goofy and happy and feels like a teen! Without this the room could feel too mature.

2. HIGH: RAD Goods Wallpaper in Sunblock. I thought I would be getting a sweetheart deal but turns out the quality is quite high on our products, and even with my own discount I still count this as a splurge. n.b. it is also my number one needle-moving atmosphere sweetening pick on this list.

3. LOW: Used Marble Saarinen Table. At any given moment there are always a few Saarinen tables on Craigslist. Maybe today they’re not your preferred size, but within three weeks I predict yours will pop up. Be willing to accept some dings and do your own pickup and you can pay hundreds not thousands.

4. HIGH: Forbes & Lomax Switches and Outlets. This room was one of the last rooms in the house to not have F&L and it brings me so much joy to have these throughout, even in the closets.

5. LOW: Wireless Reading Lights. They say they’re from Sweden but you best believe they arrived from China. I stuck them to the wall behind the bed for directional reading, they recharge with a C-cord and they are 2700K temperature. They tap on and off and are totally functional and cheerful.

Who is jazzed about getting it done without overthinking it? In a predictable window of time! I am already planning my next improvement and welcome a conversation with anyone who might want to do the same.

Find out more about a Charrette Project

Thank you as always for reading, if you want to support the MiniMag without much effort please click the heart! It helps with discovery. Love you all,

Last Word: A nip of my omnivore’s book club where I never tag the author because I like to let ’er rip on all books great and sleazy. Almost 200 book reviews of all flavors saved in stories

Obviously it had to be Abundance. I’m probably the 99th person to suggest it to you, but maybe the first to tie it to a decorating project?

It’s been busy over here. I turned in the manuscript for my book, Pretty/Weird (out next spring from Abrams) and I feel amazing. Like an author and an artist and an Adobe wizard all rolled into one, and now there is a hole in my schedule that I think I will fill with… fitness? Improved fingernail maintenance? Some new RAD Goods patterns? Heaven forbid I just kick back and like, don’t fill the void with a quest. Must have a quest at all times.

I also got excited, then disappointed, then excited again about a bunch of new work projects that may or may not happen depending on the aerosolized chaos in the air. Proud to report I didn’t freak during that stock market/tariff news cycle of last month but people, clients, colleagues, vendors seem worried. Inquiries are down and I get it - big, long, expensive projects don’t thrive in uncertainty and I hate it. I’ve decided to cope by donating to NPR but not listening to it, and treating myself to lots of self care including a Tarot Card reading whose absurdity made me feel like absurdity is evergreen and maybe things are not so bad right now. The deck was by Edward Gorey and likely not up to tarot-code, nor was the teen amateur who did the ceremony. She cackled as she diagnosed my future card as bringing “amnesia, an incident in a restaurant, shriveling”. Obviously I will blame our dipshit president for everything negative that comes to pass, but the lineup reads the room well I think.

With that pettiness out of the way let’s nest, shall we? Cozy up and discuss the comfiest room in the house in great detail? Some of my favorite posts by the excellent Laurel Pantin are about Fancy Mom, and indeed it was the issue on every single detail of Fancy Mom’s bedroom where I finally navigated the Substack paywall maze to find out about her sheets. Fancy Mom was right, those sheets are worth it and they are linked below. But first I will share some of my favorite bedrooms RAD has done, and then I’m just going to break it down for you fine people. Five splurges and a steal that won’t change how the room looks much, but when it’s time to read or scroll or do your crossword in bed you will think you died and went to heaven.

BEDROOMS

Sleep is magical, has your best friend with the Oura ring told you this already? It’s true. So much of our work is about making people feel seen and cared for, and no where is this more profound or actually caring than designing a private room specifically for rest and restoration. I have learned so much about what makes an excellent bedroom and I’m excited to share it.

Start with how you want it to feel when you walk in, which is, I’m imagining, peaceful and comfortable. You want it quiet, with the ability to control the light and the temperature. Did you know some colors make people feel energized and hungry? Burger King did the research on this and their selections are the opposite of what you should choose for your bedroom. No reds, no yellows, don’t do high-contrast, don’t make it smell like beef. ha.

You can choose a pattern, and don’t worry about getting tired of it - I can hear people saying to themselves “it’s 1/3 of your life!” but I point out: “your eyes are closed!” boop! We’re both right. My advice is to pick something pretty that your eyes love. Get sconces and table lamps. Open your heart to a color that might be darker than you would usually go for, and keep a bud vase filled on your nightstand.

Occidental

All anyone in Gen Alpha hears these days is “get out of your comfort zone” - I see my daughter curl up like a salted slug if anyone dares suggest this to her, similar to how I die inside if someone suggests I “just have fun with it”. But here we had to stretch: our client wanted dark and happy and masculine and feminine and brown but also pretty. Let’s go! Browns can be hard, and to stay safe I’ve always kept to paper-bag tones. Cardboard box truly goes with everything, but it wasn’t going to cut it here, it looked insipid and weak. We needed it stronger! Darker! Anel and I made it our beeswax to find a perfect tobacco/cocoa/leathery saddle brown and finally we found it - Marsh Brown from Benjamin Moore. Paired with Zac + Fox Incanto fabric it is just so cocoony and superb, a tremendous place to retreat at the end of the day.

In summation, here I am, daring to suggest that you, too consider colors you may not have thought were for you. Asking you to leave your comfort zone! Thanks for indulging me, I promise I’ll never ask you to have fun with it.

Stinson Beach

These sweetie pie beach house bedrooms check every box: two sources of light (sconce + table lamp), desk-as-nightstand (classic hotel move), and I love a plump pillow or two stacked instead of tilted, with the decorative pillow in front instead of a Euro behind. In real life the bottom pillow is often a special, specific, mushy number that does not photograph well. Your husband probably owns one he bought with a podcast discount code and he is committed to its excellence! I say fine, but only feathers for the camera.

The take-home on this one is to treat yourself and your guests right. Do not rely on overhead lighting alone, and err on the side of bedside tables that are larger rather than smaller.

Big Sky

What could be cozier than this fluffy four-poster when it’s wintry outside? Nothing! When placing an area rug in a bedroom I like for it to land in front of the nightstand, as shown. You want a little more real estate for your hooves at the foot of the bed, don’t waste it by aligning the bed and the rug. No need!

SIX THINGS: MY ACTUAL PICKS FOR A BLUE RIBBON BEDROOM

I’m both judge and champ in this metaphor, but I think I’ve earned it. I’ve proposed and purchased bedding for, I’m going to say… more than 200 beds in my career, and I’m not afraid to test a mattress. Twice a year I am seized by the curse of the rich white lady and throw a fit about microplastics and off-gassing. I score high on the HSP test which means if you are uncomfortable, I’ve been uncomfortable for an hour already. Side note: everyone in this office is an official HSP (highly sensitive person), it’s possibly the secret sauce of the firm.

Anywho, everything in this list is primo, soft, organic, the best. That said, I know this space is innovating and if there are other deeply comfy items that I missed please tell me. I’m interested.

1. These Legna sheets are so soft they almost feel like water. Like cool, dry, supple water. They are made in Italy from wood, and they are eye-wateringly expensive but they last forever. Magnificent on day one and apparently even better after 10 years.

2. European Sleep Works mattresses are made to order so you and your… lover… can have different toppers. They are made from all natural materials and simply gonzo. Sometimes I cackle when I get into bed because it’s that comfortable, and my friend who recommended this store sword that his mattress “cured hangovers”. I prefer a soft mushy experience but my husband does not and we settled on a firm base with a two-sided topper with lots of latex and wool and tufting and we are both delighted.

3. The Large Willow Lamp by Victoria Morris Pottery. A perfect lamp from one of my favorite ceramicists who sadly lost her studio in the Eaton Fire. It is the plutonic ideal of a lamp, simple and tactile with great brass hardware, worth getting on the mailing list to find out when she resumes operations.

4. This is major: Tala Bulbs in 2700K. I was the ornery Californian who was trying to have incandescent bulbs shipped to my parent’s house in Montana so I didn’t have to comply with environmental standards, but I’m here to report these are better than the best incandescent. The glass is thick and looks like porcelain, and having reached the point in my life when I never want to see a filament again I feel these are a present from Jah to me. And now to you!

5. And just when you thought I was an insufferable snob sent here to bankrupt you, I present the Flora Quilt from your friends at Magnolia. Cotton/linen, darling, happens to be on sale right at this minute.

6. The Bettersleep App. I thought I would quit after the trial period but no. Turns out I really love to be hypnotized by a Danish woman while the sound of a winter storm in Yellowstone rages in the background. It’s a golden age, I tell you.

Is this everything you need to make the bedroom of your dreams? Maybe. If not and you want help we’re here for you as always.

Toodles for now, thank you for reading and please consider sharing this free newsletter if you like it. Next month we will be discussing restaurants and if it matters whether or not they are beautiful. Stay tuned for my hot take…

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Last Word: A nip of my omnivore’s book club where I never tag the author because I like to let ’er rip on all books great and sleazy. Almost 200 book reviews of all flavors saved in stories

My Name is Lucy Barton! Why this, why now? Because much of it takes place in a bed, that’s why. Also it’s excellent.

One is not supposed to see letters of recommendation written on their behalf, but for some reason I was shown (or peeked at?) a letter from my boss to Whom it May Concern at all the Architecture schools and I saw what he listed as my top skills, and dear reader it was not design. Or being artistic in any way, or a critical thinker. It was “people skills” and “an ability to get along with everyone in the office”. I was mortified by this faint praise, and still am if I’m honest, but I share because this issue is about the office! Work! Co-workers! It’s a huge part of life and as someone who does have a mission (as we’ve discussed its good atmosphere equals a good life) along with an apparently preternatural desire to get along with everyone, it is key to get work atmosphere right. Both from a design standpoint and human standpoint. It’s literally one third of your life and it should be nice.

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Which brings us to some big news: RAD moved into a new office last month and I thought it would be fun to interview the designer responsible (Rose) and let her introduce the space. It’s on Fourth Street in Berkeley and we got the atmosphere right, friends. Morale and productivity spiked from the second we moved in - I suspected they would but it’s nice to get validation over here, to be the proof in our own pudding so to speak, to have our asses be cashing the checks we’re writing, etc. Basically what a thrill: to do a project for ourselves and to have it succeed. Come peek at where we’re spending 33 percent of the week these days…

INTERVIEW WITH ROSE LOUIE

Senior Designer Rose Louie has worked at RAD since 2018 and was the perfect person to lead this project - she worked on the Vintner’s Daughter office which turned out beautifully, and our Rose enjoys keeping her work diet varied between commercial, retail and residential like a little Interior Design Omnivore. If I recall, she had a tiny window in her schedule and we thought we could slot in the new office no problem. Ha ha.

A bit of background: The brief was challenging and the “before” was grim. We had a vague but limited budget, new commercial subs to get used to, and I’m going to say… months of VE. That stands for Value Engineering and it’s the semi soul-crushing exercise of watching one’s beautiful first choices get swapped for more affordable options. It always works out but also, it is always hurtful. Doubly hurtful for me to be on both sides! Demanding cuts that I don’t want was a mindfuck that I can laugh at now but yikes I didn’t like it at the time. Read on for Rose’s tastefully diplomatic takes on the process.

CW: How would you describe the office when we first signed the lease?

RL: Oh ho!!! Basic. It was just… [trails off disgustedly] There were no designated zones, you landed right in the middle of the main room and from there you could see into the bathroom and the kitchen and what is now our library. And it was most definitely two separate suites connected by clunky sad fire doors.

CW: How about the materiality?

RL: [big eye roll] Commercial-contractor-grade start-up office. Does that do it? (Author’s note: here are some “before” photos to illustrate - we took this space for the light and the location. Literally any realtor could have told me to prioritize this 15 years ago but we live, we learn)

CW: What is your favorite part of the new office?

RL: The amount of light we get is sublime, and the choices of materiality, specifically our oak herringbone floors.

CW: What was the most challenging part of the design process?

RL: The tight budget was a big challenge. Finding substitutes that felt high quality was a challenge and the construction process was different than it is for clients. (Author’s translation: we were scrappy and it was stressful!)

CW: What were you most excited to say good-bye to and what were you committed to correcting from the old office?

RL: Where to begin? [laughs then looks despondent] Well, having a front door that we don’t need to lock feels like a big deal, and I’m so happy to say good-bye to the dark, grey vibe we had over there [in Oakland]. I was committed to correcting the floor which was lovely over there at first - it was pale oak, but it had too much grey and it added to a dark feeling. Now we have warm oak and it is everything.

I was also excited to make improvements to the floorplan which was wide open at the old office. Now we have functional areas that make sense for all the different tasks we do, quiet zones, collaborative zones, multiple private areas, doors that close, it’s amazing.

CW: Was there anything you wanted to repeat?

RL: We kept the designers clustered together which I love. It’s nice for workflow and collaboration, everyone can pipe-up and assist and it is great for learning.

CW: Most proud tidbits:

RL: Well, here what I love is even with all the compromises there has been no let-down. All the VE worked. Details I chased paid off; the aligned herringbone, the little brass detail at floor transitions, the lighting plan is a triumph. I feel very proud when people come in and say it feels homey. (Author’s note: I just overheard the building manager tell Rose it didn’t feel like an office up here, he thinks it feels like a “library” and then handed her eight dormant orchid bulbs. Baffling.)

For all the talk about VE there are a few things on which we didn’t compromise, and it’s only because we have amazing partners that we were able to pull it off. First; Urban Electric Co. worked with us on all of the non-vintage lighting and it is stone cold luxurious. Glowy, abundant, technical and atmospherically perfect. Thank you Tommy, Missy, Dave, I can’t wait to have you for a drink here someday.

At the beginning it was abundantly clear that the existing doors were one of the start-up-iest parts of this office, and if we didn’t get the architecture right it would always feel sad. Enter West Coast Architectural Millwork who made the gorgeous solid-core wobbly-glass tiny mullion doors of my dreams. This allowed us to combine the two suites while still adhering to fire code which is a straight up miracle. And miracles are what we do but we can’t do it alone! Thank you Dee and the entire team at WCAM.

FEATURE: RAD BERKELEY

Pics are my own, taken over different days with drastically different lighting. We’re in touch with the weather up here!

Biggest thanks to Rose Louie, Ali Toia and Andrew Warner from RAD who made this dream come true. A lot of sparkly stars had to align for me to meet Elena Holsman who found it for us, and thank you to OPC - our amazing contractors who we hadn’t worked with since McMullen in 2018 and who did a wonderful job.

FIVE THINGS

1. We committed to conforming cutlery,

2. glassware and

3. ceramics in this new office, and ooooh the sense of control is real

4. I’m very sensitive to scent and, like a mean little wolverine, can turn against the best smells in an instant if they get too strong or last too long. So I’m experimenting with incense like it’s 2015 and this one is nice! It only lasts 25 minutes so it’s also kind of like a natural Pomodoro Timer

5. Meeting people for dirty chai lattes at my new neighbor Cafe Réveille. I’m writing this at 4pm and I’m already excited for tomorrow’s beverage

The boost we get from working somewhere suitable, considered and nice is real, and it made everyone in the office proud of what we do. Design is not a frivolous luxury, it’s a worthy stake in the ground of making your life wonderful, and should you have a project you would like to discuss with us we would be honored to discuss it with you. We take on offices, small renovations, decorating only projects and big zinger renovations. And I mention it now, to the few the proud who make it to the bottom of the newsletter: there is a gap in our calendar right meow for someone nice. If you have that person in mind send them my way!

Toodles to all of you fine people, thank you for reading and please consider sharing this free newsletter if you like it. Next month is part two in the Things That are One Third of Your Life series - topic is sleeping but I may change it to “the bedroom” to please the algorithm. Stay tuned…

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Last Word: A nip of my omnivore’s book club where I never tag the author because I like to let ’er rip on all books great and sleazy. Almost 200 book reviews of all flavors saved in stories

Including this one because the author is healed by the beauty of his workplace and colleagues. And time, of course, but we’re operating within a theme here.

I hope this finds you on the last day of December, cozy with low-demand plans for the evening. What a lovely year this has been, I likely won’t be able to replicate this kind of hoo-hah again so I’m just trying to enjoy it and remember the best parts were that I made new friends and enjoyed parenting. And fell in love with my work in a new way, and felt like my underwear and jewelry drawers make sense for the first time in my life. Like I’m cooking with gas, as my parents would say, and I wish the same for all of you in the coming year.

Thanks for making it to the end, dear readers! I love you, I love Substack, and am always open to comments and feedback here, unlike my rigid stance over on IG where I won’t even entertain “what color is that wall” questions! That said I have an IG call to action, and it’s to please follow RAD Goods on IG - I’m so proud of what we’ve made over there and 2025 will be a classy and rewarding time to be following along. Happiest New Year,

Chloe

Hello Pals,

Last week was the San Francisco Fall Antique Show, a five-day juggernaut of beautiful furniture, art and creativity. It takes place in Fort Mason and everyone who attends thinks: San Francisco, wow, whatta city. I was honored to design a vignette (a booth for the straight husbands out there) at the entrance and all week I just felt great. We were in supreme company (the other vignette designers were Martin Lawrence Bullard, Mark Sikes, McMillan Inc.), got to work with supreme ingredients (de Gournay wallpaper, antiques from Emerson Bailey, Maison & Co. and artwork from Berggruen Gallery) and making a small creative set in a short amount of time is a dream assignment. A year ago I wanted to try new things, to learn and to be in touch with my creative self, and all of a sudden that’s what is happening! And this was a very real representation of my quest. We called the vignette an Artist’s Studio and in case that wasn’t therapeutic enough I sat in it, sketched a still life then peaced-out and came back in a gown and got tipsy in front of it. Does my coach read these? Highly recommend this exercise of building a life-size habitat for who you want to be!

All night people were nice to me, and because my beloved PR person Amy had made it her beeswax to make sure the launch of our wallpaper, textile and furniture line was timed to this event I delighted in telling people yes, we just launched a wallpaper, textile and furniture line. Peony Chintz was the first product but now we have a full capsule with our own righteous logo and full shopibility. RAD Goods! A piece of the artist, available by the yard. Feedback welcome on this dopey slogan, but don’t worry if you’re a lurker who would never comment and doesn’t care if I make bad choices, Amy would never let me get away with something so cringe.

FEATURE: RAD GOODS

I’ve written a bit about this already but now we have a logo and photography and ooh la la, working on a brand is so much fun. Here are my highlights:

The moons aligned for Laure Joliet and my cousin Kate Macko to all come to Islesboro for one day and shoot photos of pillows in ferns, wallpaper secured with binder clips, fabric flowing breezily in the wind. I was beyond excited to shoot at this house which is currently for sale that used to be owned by my grandparents and before that my great grandparents. I sense this is a tasteful group and maybe someone here needs 21 bedrooms? I love and am so grateful to the sellers, but I’m also here for the buyers. Call me.

One person does not maketh a brand. My deepest gratitude goes to Judy Kail, Amy Harper, Kristy Koplin and Andrew Warner. Eliza Crater for making fabrication seem achievable, and Rose Louie for whispering “surface pattern” to me on a drive from Sun Valley to Boise.

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FIVE THINGS: ART SUPPLIES

If you, like me, endeavor to think of yourself as an artist there is no better way than to acquire some lovely tools of the trade. Here are my favorites, manifest!

1. Impossible to spell, but so very satisfying to use: Gouache paints

2. These pencils

3. Pastels for when you’re in a dry mood

4. This excellent art class

5. The RAD Goods Sara cabinet - a most civilized place to store your supplies

Thank you lovely people for reading, I can’t believe I thought about doing this as a normal boring newsletter at one point. Substack makes it so much fun - there are more than 3000 of you out there and it feels incredible to hear from you, even if it’s just your name when you subscribe.

Love you rascals,

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Last Word: A nip of my omnivore’s book club where I never tag the author because I like to let ’er rip on all books great and sleazy. Almost 150 book reviews of all flavors saved in stories.

Sure, all your middle-aged friends have read this already but it’s not too late for you. It’s an Artist in-crisis! So good, I promise people will still be asking you if you’ve read it into 2025 and finally you will get to say YES and nod knowingly.

Are any of you familiar with The Business of Home? It’s the true media of record for designers - news, tiny bit of gossip, job listings - if our industry ever decided to unionize this would be how it would get done. Anywho, last week I taped an episode of the Trade Tales Podcast and it was WILD. I sat in a closet with sparky and thoughtful host Kaitlin Petersen speaking directly into my ears, responding to my voice, and by the end I felt like I was a contestant on Love is Blind. Kaitlin asked if I could tape a little longer and I thought to myself… I have no idea what time it is, I’m in a windowless casino of vulnerability and she is my only tether to reality so of course I will do whatever she says! I now see how dating show contestants commit to strangers based on their voice. Happily I was just able to open the door and get on with my day.

Her starter question was about a “profound business pivot you made that put your firm on a different trajectory”, and omg the timing! I was already planning on writing about my sabbatical for The MiniMag - I have so much to say about the absolute wildflower meadow of seeds that got planted during that time, and the lovely ways these seeds are still popping up. Here is the short version…

The beginning of the story is demented; it dawned on me that I needed to change things in early 2022 when I had Covid that just lingered, and I saw an ambulance driving and thought “mmm - must be nice” because I wanted to be unreachable and blameless. I couldn’t imagine how my firm would work without me but also, I am not so unique. Smart creative people take sabbaticals all the time and come back super fresh! I wanted that to be me, I wanted to figure it out, and a year later I did. I was completely off the grid for the first quarter-ish of 2023.

At the beginning my fear was that I didn’t program the break enough and that I would get itchy. I’ve never taken meaningful time off and I only had a loose agenda, but the days filled easily with a little piano, some low-stakes online gardening classes, exercising, picking my kids up from school and making nice dinners. I trained for a ski race, took a trip to Egypt, did many routine health appointments that I don’t understand how working people are expected to stay on top of (mammogram/colonoscopy/teeth cleanings/mole checks/mole removals/psychic healers) and generally unspooled a bit, but not 100 percent. I still felt busy, but in a mellow “who do I want to have lunch with this week?” way. My life still felt important.

By the end I was scared I wasn’t ready to come back - that the sabbatical didn’t work. And maybe I wasn’t fully restored but what I got was better - it was the gift of coming back and seeing, realizing, feeling in my bones that the wheels were on the bus. Firmly, solidly, in all ways. Project wise, office wise, externally, internally. My office thrived without me there every second, smart people were making great choices - and ever since I have been free to expand the firm in ways I always wanted but didn’t have time for.

On the podcast I talk about the practical pivots that came from the profound pivot (the sabbatical); cutting back on email, hiring a coach, joining a Forum group. These have yoinked the trajectory of my firm so dramatically and interestingly, but I’m aiming to keep this issue un-trunkated so if you want to go deep join me on the pod, it will go live on September 25 and you know I will post about it on IG. For now, let’s reflect on the meadow, specifically on the biggest flower in the meadow: my motherflipping book deal.

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FEATURE: (Working Title) ATMOSPHERE

Could I have buried the lede anymore? This is a dream come true! I’ve always wanted to have a book, more recently I’ve thought I might be the one who would write the book, and now it’s going to happen.

This relates to the sabbatical because it never would have happened if I didn’t free up some mental energy to try and be creative in new ways.

More excerpts from the proposal… I’m so proud of every page.

One of my deep fears is that I’m going to boff the acknowledgement section of this book that is two years away from being published. Already so many people have helped me but the core book team is these in-season peaches; Hadley Keller, Amy Harper, Vanessa Saba, Kate Woodrow. All that work to catch the eye of terrific-on-Zoom Laura Dozier at Abrams, I’m so happy to be working on this together. Thanks for taking a chance.

FIVE THINGS: PLAN YOUR SABBATICAL

Do we all know our Enneagrams? My friends are so obsessed, as am I, and I’m curious about the number of everyone I know. Please take yours and report back, I’m a 3 and I find 3’s delight in meeting other 3’s because we’re so embarrassed and delighted to find each other, especially if we think the other seems sane and/or is getting a lot done. We keep ourselves warm at night with achievement, which is why when I went on sabbatical I couldn’t just “not work”, I had to have micro and macro to-do lists, and a big picture goal of this being good for my firm in the long-run.

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1. Here is a free Enneagram test: pls report results in comments, who are all you fine people?

2. I watched this Stefan Sagmeister movie on a plane years ago and never forgot it. He also did a Ted Talk about sabbaticals; the movie, obviously, is more artful and interesting.

3. Get yourself an absurd sports goal. Especially if you’re a woman or a parent or perhaps older than an Olympian. Nothing sizzles like thinking of yourself like an athlete - it’s very rare and people will be so happy for you! I am lit up by my friend’s audacious goals; to run the Boston Marathon, to swim the English Channel with a group of like-minded 13-year olds, to compete at the US Senior Games in Javelin, to ride the rim of Crater Lake with a group of like-minded 75-year olds. My personal goal was to compete at NASTAR Nationals. Very much easier than it sounds but look how happy I am - fastest woman on the slopes on my day! I ended up with a Silver and I will never tire of telling people this fact.

4. The MiniMag has already covered travel, but I recommend a solo trip as a part of a restorative sabbatical. Picking up and moving for a few months could also be great but I sense you might drown in logistics and not really heal thyself.

5. Try blocking three months off in one of your shared calendars a year from now. Trust me, whoever notices first is going to be psyched and it will snowball.

Thanks as always for reading, this is the one year anniversary of The MiniMag and I’m so thrilled to have thousands of you out there just silent-bobbing in the comment section but telling me you like it IRL! Part of the impetus behind starting this was to practice writing, and maybe, maybe try to get a book deal, and just like 2006’s The Secret - it worked. Now I have to write an entire book and turn it in by March, pray for me! These low-stakes posts take me a week and have almost no meat at all.

Love you all so much,

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Last Word: A nip of my omnivore’s book club where I never tag the author because I like to let ’er rip on all books great and sleazy. Almost 150 book reviews of all flavors saved in stories.

You’ve read this book already, right? Everyone finds themselves in it somehow - I read it during my sabbatical and felt very certain the characters needed to work on their work/life balance. Everyone seems to love it; just made the NYT Top books of the century so far. In retrospect I give it a 5/5

It’s been a long time since I could really claim a hobby aside from reading, all I do is work and try to make my home-life nice (dinner, The Bear, book, bed), but my garden-era is coming, and what I used to think was confusing and boring is now all I want to look at, all I want to think about, I feel like I’m going through puberty but for green. Like, I remember being a kid and my grandmother’s friend (name: Honeybee) offered to tour us around her garden and I remember thinking - if this lady compliments one more leaf I’m going to die. And now, the hormones are right and my mouth literally waters for heart shaped foliage. It’s wild and I’m going with it, but in a strange uptight way where I haven’t actually laid hands on a plant.

Instead I have taken two Masterclass-style classes with Dan Pearson, fired a gardener, gotten fired by a different gardener, collaborated on client projects with some of the best landscape designers in California, and landed in this terrible place where I tell myself I can’t play, I can’t fail, I have no time, and I’m not smart enough to figure it out. I’ve decided Landscape is strictly for geniuses and I’ll let myself try only when the conditions are perfect. Before you shudder for my children - don’t worry their dad is sane and I am the only person to whom I speak this way.

Despite this punishing internal monologue I still want to give it a shot. When I see what Scott Lewis does for our clients; calmly deciding on an appropriate direction (woodland, coastal, ranch, urban), making confident hardscape choices, selecting plants that will thrive, it looks easy. I see what his work does for our projects and it’s profound - it modulates nature and time and art and light in a way that is deeply rooting. It increases the livable area of a house and somehow makes California more beautiful. It takes forever and it’s so worth it.

And so it’s no accident that the cover image of this month’s Luxe is the exterior of a gorgeous project we worked on with Scott Lewis, Eric Davies and Matarozzi Pelsinger. It’s a house in Stinson Beach and a big part of what is so special about it is the intimate connection to the outdoors: the dining room wall opens up to the dunes, the front yard has six different programatic zones, the air smells like wood and the sea and working on this house made me fall in love with Stinson. Of course the interior is magical but the garden is the cover girl, and to coincide with this terrific honor I got Mr. Scott Lewis himself to share his thoughts on Landscape and Gardening. It’s the MiniMag’s first interview!

INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT LEWIS

The first project Scott Lewis and I worked on together was this gorgeous San Francisco garden (Image 01.) It was installed in 2017 and has matured into the plutonic ideal of romantic understatement, and every project we’ve worked on since has a similar effortless/appropriate/inevitable quality that you only get when you really know what you’re doing. He has had his firm since 1993, won so many awards, and is a delight in real life and on the page. Read on for his hot takes:

CW: Can you describe your very first garden in three words? 

SL: I can do it in two: “strong form”. This project taught me to trust my instincts about the site character and to not be reluctant to use a strong form within the landscape. We only used seven plants, because 1) it was a coastal site (Stinson Beach) and 2) we wanted to create a simple, low-maintenance plant palette: Lavender, Pacific Reed Grass, Blue Lyme Grass, Rosemary, Rugosa Rose, Beach Strawberry and Cordyline. (See image 05. for a peek of this project)

CW: How many years does it take for a garden to start looking like itself, and how long does it take for a landscape architect to get good?

SL: In general it takes three years for a garden to start looking like itself. And, well, experience is no guarantee of design quality, but I think after 10 years of practice one starts to begin to feel comfortable and confident in all phases of a project. “Good” could be another 10 – 15 years. (Author’s note: readers you see why I’m intimidated! It’s a long-game)

CW: Do you visit gardens when you travel? What has been a memorable one? 

SL: the Giardini Guisti in Verona. Came upon it somewhat by chance – it’s marvelous – a structured symbolism that ends up in the “wild” garden atop an outcrop overlooking Verona, framed by the allée of Italian Cypress. (Author’s note: check out that allée in image 02.)

CW: What plants do you consider to be corny or annoying?

SL: I’m not a fan of plants/trees with yellow leaves, or garishly-colored new growth in the Spring, or contrasting two-tone leaves and flowers, overly large blooms and Phormiums in general. (Author’s note: savage!!)

CW: What plants do you consider to be flawless and dignified?

SL: So many plants bring me delight: Camellia sasanqua Shishi-gashira, the native Western Bleeding Heart Dicentra formosa, the ill-named “Summer Snowflake” (Leucojum aestivum ‘Gravatye Giant”) that blooms in the winter, ‘Autumn Moon’ Japanese Maple, Variegated Japanese Sweet Flag, Kenilworth Ivy – for starters. (Author’s note: I asked him to go on) So many more: Japanese Maple, Serviceberry, Autumn Moor Grass, Deergrass, Serbian Bellflower, Giant Sequoia (the Big Tree, not the Redwood), Coast Live Oak, Morning Light Maiden Grass, Gingko – where do I stop? (Author’s note: I let him stop here. See images 03. and 04. for two flawless & dignified specimens)

CW: I shouldn’t have harped on plants so much, it’s the magpie in me. If I’ve learned anything from my internet class it’s that flowers are secondary to form. How much effort do you put into the hardscape vs. the plants? 

SL: The keys to a strong site/garden plan are 1) layout, 2) circulation, 3) grading, 4) trees and 5) materials. These elements form the framework of the garden and so are more important than the individual plant species, but the goal is to have all elements in harmony.

CW: The phone rings, it's someone terrific with imagination and a bottomless budget who wants to do her generational property in (insert dream location here) - where is it and what’s the scope? 

SL: The opportunity to work on a ground-up project with an interesting site, a talented architect and open-minded client is always a great combination. The location could be anywhere, although the more difficult sites tend to be more satisfying. (Author’s note: he loves a challenge! What a guy. Thank you, Scott for your thoughtful timely responses - see you soon)

FEATURE: STINSON BEACH

Longtime Luxe editor Mary Jo Bowling wrote this feature and I can’t improve on her words so there will be much quoting ahead, but captions are mine. It was an honor to have new EIC Jill Cohen select this as her first national cover, we even met on site to make some sparky video coverage to commemorate the occasion. It was a total blast, she’s a pro and I am so looking forward to the future of Luxe.

Thank you to RAD Designers past and present Rose Louie, Ali Toia, Joanna Paul and Stephanie Guerrero. And a special shout out to Maria Wu who gracefully made this her final project before opening Studio Wu; Architect: Eric Davies; Builder: Mattarozi Pelsinger; Landscape: Scott Lewis Landscape Architecture. We consider Amy Harper of Pine Street PR on the team as well, without her projects live only in Dropbox. Photos by Matthew Millman; Styling by Yedda Morrison

Our clients deserve the biggest thank you, they are in the top quartile of taste and decisiveness and only laughed a little bit when I pitched them on Sea Captain’s Granddaughter.

FIVE THINGS

1. Here are the Dan Pearson classes I took, he’s so soulful with a flawless eye and hand, I learned a ton

2. The Garden Editor of House & Garden UK writes about what she’s planting in real time - it makes me feel empowered and helpless in equal parts and I love it Bud to Seed by Clare Foster

3. Scott Lewis Landscape Architecture website - the full portfolio

4. Heated Outdoor Furniture from our friends at Galanter & Jones - they make the piece featured on the cover of Luxe

5. The Munder Skiles Swan Lounge Chair - plutonic ideal of an outdoor chair in case you were wondering

Update from when I started this issue to now - one of the gardeners I employ but forgot about (because I never see him) appeared at my door on July 4 in the middle of the day and I happened to have my master gardening document (that I made in my Dan Pearson class) and we looked it over together and he is giving me a quote. After YEARS things may be moving forward, and I swear it’s the magic of writing things down and posting them to Substack. It’s witchy but I’ll be the smug one when all my hardscape dreams come true - stay tuned!

Thanks as always for joining me, please consider sharing this free newsletter if you like it, or do like the teens do and “swing me a comment” (I can hear the teens in my life now yelling “cringe”, but I’m here to amuse myself, so it stands)

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Last Word: A nip of my omnivore’s book club where I never tag the author because I like to let ’er rip on all books great and sleazy. Almost 150 book reviews of all flavors saved in stories

I’m writing this month’s letter from a rental, a cottage north of San Francisco on the water we’ve come back to many times since we first decamped here in the gloomy winter of 2020. The house is perched on a hill with a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean, a weird wonderful garden that would take you 20 years to grow, and the sound of waves crashing but we’re high enough that we don’t worry when the town floods. The aesthetic is what the owners call “Pottery Barn” and what my husband calls Busvan-4-Bargains, which is a very specific and savage aughts SF dig from which you can never recover.

I am not a dick designer who requires everything in my life is just so, but I have redecorated this house in my mind many times. The funny part is that I do it in a practical way even though it’s a fantasy - no changes to architecture, no permits, no contractor. It reminds me of when I was approached in a dream by a very sexy musician to make out, and I said “no thank you, I’m married”. Apparently the guardrails upstairs are solid, and so… what would I do if I were the only renter? If the architecture (which is mid) was going to stay as-is, could I make it have great atmosphere? And the answer is of course. The careful reader may have noticed I have a theory about atmosphere, and how there are three ways to achieve it; decorating, architecture and art, and you don’t need all three. You really only need one. And of course I would say this: but decorating is potent and powerful. You can do it without overthinking, it can be streamlined and move forward without a big team, and most of it you can take with you when you go. But that’s not the reason to decorate a rental, the reason is to feel at home in your space, to not have someone else’s bland atmosphere horning-in on your main character energy. To be psyched when you come home at the end of a day. To be excited to have friends and family over to eat and drink with you and to never feel like you’re delaying your happiness.

Anywho, the owner asked me if I would be willing to pick out a new sofa. Of course I said yes, but it’s a slippery slope that (as we discussed) ends at hiring a contractor and so now I’m debating whether or not I just give her what she asked for which is one sofa, or share the entire list. I’ve included this list below for the nosy ones among us, and also because it’s a useful way to think about any project - get it, renters!

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TO START: SURFACES

• To start with I’d eliminate or tone down all the surfaces that are synthetic. Popcorn drywall would be covered (either skimmed with plaster, wallpapered or upholstered). n.b. I did not say I was doing this on a budget. 

• I’d recover the tiles in the entryway with Mirth adhesive veneer product like we did at Kips Bay

• I’d consider painting the kitchen cabinets and no matter what get new knobs and handles

• I’d put in rugs that fit, covering most of the floor

NEXT: LIGHTING

• I’d triple the amount of indirect lighting (your girl hates an exposed bulb), replace cool LEDs with 2700K bulbs, swap out every pendant and sconce for something lovely and suitable

• I’d add many (more than four) additional lamps and floor lamps

AND NOW: FURNITURE

• Big built-in bookshelf shelving system next to the stove. Vitsoe or Royal Shelving could be grand and are portable. I’d use it for books (shout-out to the house Garfield oeuvre that has brought my kids much joy over the years), games, art, lighting, sunscreen, bins for towels, storage, it would be massive and useful

• 2 Sofas - one built in “L” made of two french ticking mattresses, and one love seat sized. Maybe the frame is slip covered for cheerfulness and beachyness? Then pillows galore of course.

• Useful big side tables that fit lamps and have shelves, coffee table that is sturdy and ottoman-esque 

• One Jacob May Nomad dining table, a bench on one side and vintage cute chairs

• Add one additional piece of furniture in kitchen as a pantry

THIS IS A BIG ONE: ART

• Big beautiful piece in the dining room, medium piece next to the stove, smaller pieces in the bookshelf

• Big piece in the kitchen

• Small piece on the way to the bathroom

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: ACCESSORIES

• I’d put in a new Sonos system

• I’d do one good coffee system

• I’d quadruple the flower vase collection, and always have foraged arrangements

• I’d get a full set of Sarah Kersten ceramics and glass & barware from Umami Shop

• I’d get all new table linens from Kneeland & Co.

And voila. This would be incredible and I could get it done by Thanksgiving if everything went my way. Stay tuned to see if I pitch it, your thoughts on whether this would be a horrible or wonderful thing to receive are welcome in the comment section!

And to think all of this is a wind-up for the feature this month: the 100 unit apartment building we designed in conjunction with Wilson Meany and Hart Howerton Architects - The Wesley at Hollywood Park. The building is amazing, HHA partner Tim Slattery told me when they design they are always trying to evoke a vacation feeling by making high-end hospitality choices (big windows, views, luxurious bathrooms). It’s so smart and I’ve never forgotten it. We loved working on the interiors, the idea was to design something colorful and cinematic, less like vanilla cake and more like birthday cake, but with gorgeous art everywhere. When we installed last year I was struck by how easy it would be to move in, to just unpack my clothes and live without all my *stuff*, and without all the weight I carry around worrying about what kind of repair or renovation I will embark upon next. It can be a waste of time and a distraction from this lovely hot-tub life I lead at the rental. Le sigh… grass is greener, etc.

FEATURE: THE WESLEY

A tiny diversion: this was the second lantern installation Anel and I have worked on together - in 2017 we hung what felt like a bazillion paper lanterns in the dining room of the SF Showcase House dining room. We hung them ourselves from a nest of power cords zip-tied to the ceiling and chose the size and drop as we went. Quite different from The Wesley, where each fixture was hardwired into the ceiling and the drop was decided before they were installed. Anel rendered and revised it many times to get this effortless, bouncy, airy feeling.

Anywho, back to The Wesley: It’s another gorgeous WFH space, the official Library.

RAD Team: Technically many people have worked on this since we started designing it in 2019: Maria Wu kicked it off, Taylor Shanahan pitched in, but Anel Clay and Veronica Aguilar brought it over the line in 2023. I got to work with my friend and neighbor Whitney Welsch, who, along with Janice Thatcher and Chris Meany, showed us how substantial needle-moving things get done gracefully. Tim Slattery and all of Hart Howerton have been an inspiration, and Rand Williams from TCA Architects has been our clutch partner. I’m so appreciative of the opportunity, and to have been on such an amazing team.

That’s all for this month, yet again I flirted with the post too long for email warning and bravely blasted through it. Thanks for sticking with me, this is so much fun.

Last Word: A nip of my omnivore’s book club where I never tag the author because I like to let ’er rip on all books great and sleazy. Almost 150 book reviews of all flavors saved in stories - Samantha Irby’s Substack linked here, she’s a treasure, people

As a TV lover it’s been challenging to find shows that are appropriate and interesting as my kids get older. I have real moments of prude-person shuddering when things take a turn for the sexy: hearing my mom confidently answer my daughter’s curious “what is jacking off?” (“well, it’s a form of self-love…”) remains one of the darkest moments of my life. But a positive is that it’s brought reality competition shows into my life, specifically The Amazing Race which has been on for 22 years with the same eagle-featured host Phil Keoghan.

This show has become the backbone of my family’s conversation topics - If you had to, could you eat one pound of caviar in a Russian palace? If you had to, could you shave off your hair in the Ganges? If your jeep flipped over in Kenya would you leave your wounded cameraman to get to the airport on time or would you help him? If we lived in the same town would we be friends with Boston Rob and Amber? Is it possible to engineer a wedding between one of their four daughters and our teen son? Time will tell but we’re open to this. And most importantly, who amongst our family would win, and who amongst our family would you want on your team?

Hurtfully but unsurprisingly my family agrees that I would be terrible on The Amazing Race. I’m easily thrown off my game by being physically uncomfortable, and I require a lot of sleep. This has meant for years I haven’t loved traveling: most hotels are not for me, and schlepping small kids is a nightmare that has nothing to do with vacation. So many creative people claim to love travel, it’s where they get inspiration and feel restored and that always felt out of reach for me until last year, when I went on the trip of a lifetime to Egypt and sailed up the Nile. Not coincidentally it was led by an interior designer who lavished care and attention onto our comfort, and the experience of enjoying novel sight/tastes/sounds while remaining unconcerned with where I would be sleeping/eating/recreating next was transformative. It also was the first time I’ve been on the receiving end of the type of service my office provides, and it filled my cup. I love my job because of the day-to-day, but experiencing what it feels like to have energy poured into my creature comforts was bananas. What a gift, I’m so proud that I get to do this for people.

The feature this month is snapshots from that trip. It’s about being inspired, making friends, collecting and editing, all the things travel promises it can do and why it’s worth it to get out there. So worth it that I’m currently packing to go to Morocco with my family on Friday. My trip was planned by Grant Gibson, the same interior-designer-turned travel pro that orchestrated my Egypt trip, and I’m so excited for my family to see this Grant-ified version of me: sturdy, alert, go-with-the flow, perhaps even up for a river-side haircut or a dune buggy race. Wish me luck, my secret hope is to edge my way up to first draft pick.

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EGYPT & JORDAN

Have you ever wanted to go somewhere remote with 10 strangers? Neither have I, but last spring I scheduled a sabbatical and felt I needed a quest. A trip to Africa led by Grant popped up on my radar and felt like the perfect dramatic exciting thing - somewhere I had never been, something I would never think I could do. I signed up without thinking about it too hard, was added to a WhatsApp group, and flew to Cairo knowing only that my fellow travelers put a lot of thought into their packing, and had big feelings about people who check bags.

It’s hard to tease out what exactly changes you; is it the trip, the sabbatical, the ski race, the grief, the book, the concert, the song, the coach? I’m a different person than I was a year ago, jollier with more ideas. Less of a complainer. And I trace so much of it back to Egypt, which of course wasn’t just about the itinerary but the people. And with that in mind I will show one great group photo but the rest are atmosphere, nature, architecture and me in a hat.

Insights that made it possible for me to feel like this was a business trip and not just a me me me trip: Yes color, yes pattern, yes cotton, yes things made by hand. Yes to imperfection, to layering, to high ceilings and big windows. Yes to decorative plates? Sure. But also: a view is everything. Nature is everything.

Thanks to Barrie, Abbey, Jordan, Emily, Holly, Mugs, Jeff, Diane, Lauren and Jamie, and the biggest boop of all to Grant. What a gift.

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Well I started this issue before I left for Morocco and now we’re back and I’m pleased to report it was everything I hoped it could be; I saw so much beauty, I ate so many delicious things, I met wonderful people. We slept in seven different beds in 12 days and it turns out when the beds are great this is something even the pickiest traveler can handle. You too can be this brave, email Grant or just follow him on IG to be inspired. Stay comfy out there.

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Timeline-wise, we were offered the opportunity to participate right before Thanksgiving. The completion date was Valentine’s Day, and, a bit about this industry, we are not a people who work through the holidays. There is no such thing as a contractor or a wallpaper installer or a designer who is getting back to you with estimates in the second half of December, so… in many ways it was first idea best idea.

The biggest idea was to tent our room in our very own fabric, and to time the opening of this room with the birth of our product and fabric line: RAD Goods. For ten years I’ve mumbled about “licensing” and “product” and was just sort of waiting for something to happen. Then last summer I decided to stop waiting. I painted and took a surface pattern class and now our first fabric, Peony Chintz is done and you are (scroll scroll scroll) looking at 340 yards of it. What’s more, our first piece of furniture - The Lucia Game Table - is done and you’re looking at her too! They’re both designed in-house and gorgeously made in America to our impeccable standards. They’re both for sale on our very own DTC website where you can ApplePay the entire Kips Bay room if you like (a mere $250K including installation!), or just order a swatch for $8. It all feels very exciting and GeorgeW Mission Accomplished and I guess it’s just like my lower back tattoo says in incredible script with some indiscernible characters thrown in: Nothing like an opportunity and a deadline and an incredible team to make dreams come true.

WHAT EVEN IS THIS

Our room is the loggia, open on one side to a lap pool with a 14’ ceiling. We had approximately eight days to design everything, and with approximately zero architectural features to inspire us we decided to go big towards fantasy and just tent the entire thing.

STYLE GUIDE TO REALITY

The devoted reader may remember I create a document at the beginning of each project that gives us a North Star. This one was fun and personal: after we decided this was going to be a very chill reading and game loggia and there would be chintz and cards and a bar, it was clear to me there was one person who would love it - my Grandma Lucia. She wintered in Florida for decades (my parents got engaged at The Breakers in 1976!), gardened her balls off, taught me what Brunschwig et Fils was when I was a teenager, and oversaw more than a million games of Gin Rummy 500. Thus, the Peony Pavilion was born, and we started padding it out with a bar and a sofa literally named the “napper”. To make sure it wasn’t overly nostalgic I added the spirit of Sofia Coppola who I think would also appreciate this fully shaded paradise.

INSPIRATION: Sofia Coppola x my Grandmother at The Breakers in 1976

This will go down as one of my favorite career moments of all time. So proud of the RAD Team: Anel Clay, Veronica Aguilar, Judy Kail and Mr. Andrew Casual. Thank you to Steele Marcoux for tapping me, and to Amy Harper for the nudge and the follow-through; Photos: Nick Sargent; Clutch long distance styling support: Yedda Morrison

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I promised gossip and intrigue, and those of you who have plowed through the “post too long for email” cutoff now get to hear the drama of opening day at Kips Bay. It started at 10:30am, tense-as-hell because the designer of the dining room refused to speak to the designer of the living room because of a curtain that blocked a sightline (gasp). We took a group photo in which the designer of one of the bathrooms refused for five minutes to sit down because it was unflattering. Another designer showed up with morning side-boob and a pregnancy bump and I realized this was the saltiest group of people I have ever been with and I loved them all.

Fast forward 10 warm hours in which Amy (my PR and Marketing person) and I have been sustaining ourselves on bubbly water and catering, meeting people and fielding tax advice from felons.

Him: “I just got out of jail and I think you should write off all this as a donation to a non-profit” Me: “I’ll look into that.”

It became clear by the end of the night that both Amy and I had gotten food poisoning. We suffered, but only one of us had to fly back to California feeling like they were going to die (so sorry, Amy). I rallied 2 days later and the only thing giving me energy was that I wanted to learn who else got sick. Was it a full-on gala poisoning? Would the CDC be getting involved? Turns out NO ONE ELSE got sick. No one else ate. One of them said “I make it a policy not to eat ahi that’s been sitting out in the sun for hours.” And I realized I still have so much to learn in this life.

Thanks for reading, if you have it in you I love a comment. Even a dumb one.

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Further Reading

This month it’s articles! Our Richmond project was just in House Beautiful, I also wrote about it obliquely in the Perspiration issue of this very MiniMag if you want to see more.

And wowzers, our Occidental project just came out in WSJ Off Duty, and will be in print on Saturday! I wrote about this one obliquely too - it’s in the Inspiration issue, but all the pics are now online.

Finally, see ya in the checkout line of your favorite East Bay grocery stores :)

It’s January and half of my friends are dry, are cleansing, are committing to Whole 30. The other half are going way “upstream” with Peter Attia; lifting weights and finding ways to “retard their decline” omg the phrasing. I don’t observe New Year’s Resolutions (except one year when I vowed to stop eating fruit that I know in advance is going to be disappointing - a good call), but am very familiar with the impulse to improve and the joy that optimism brings. It’s impossible to live if you feel everything is just getting worse, but it’s important to be thoughtful about that quest. Everyone has heard the research about lottery-ticket winners losing their minds because one huge improvement followed by years of decline is shitty, it’s got to be little nibbles of dopamine at appropriate intervals.

Or, as the author Jane Smiley put it, all any parent wants for their children is the worst novel ever: a long, boring, unbroken line of little wins. I love this sentiment, and I try to think of frustrating episodes as plot-twists, but in my heart I want a long, boring, unbroken line of little wins.

And to that end, when aging starts to feel like a loss (which can happen to anyone, not just people who newly have fingernail ridges and are experimenting with readers) the thing that I choose to control and improve is how I dress. My thesis is that you, me, everyone, can dress better, more personally, more powerfully than they did last decade, and it’s such a profound boost we should all engage. My favorite way to shop is in-person and always has been - I can’t resist an amazing outfit that I can take with me, but I can always abandon an online cart. This speaks to the magic of a beautiful store, and brings us to the feature this month: retail.

We have been lucky enough to work on some of the best shops in the country over the years; Ayla Beauty, McMullen and Hero Shop, and in all cases we sought to channel the singular vision of the founder and act in service to the products. To provide an atmosphere where people can see themselves as more beautiful, themselves but improved. These chic and thoughtful stores give the opportunity for an unbroken line of small but sincere wins every time you visit, every morning when you get dressed. Improvement one purchase at a time, babiezzz.

RETAIL

First up: McMullen’s Oakland Flagship

We started with a concrete shell with actual dirt on the floor, and a zippy whirlwind design phase with founder Sherri McMullen. From there the build-out was quick and surpassed even our high expectations - every subcontractor delivered spectacularly. In 2021 Vogue declared it one of the six best stores in America and said browsing there was “like perusing through shopping heaven.” They most definitely meant the clothes but it’s nice to be adjacent to that kind of praise so I’m mentioning it.

This project was also special because it was the first time we provided graphics and branding support. The signature logo was hand-drawn by me and fabricated first in neon, then went on to live as the primary wordmark. The secondary logo used on the light box sign was also designed in-house, and we collaborated with a workshop to recreate the feel of a sign I saw during a trip to Tokyo. One of my favorite touches was making a custom cohort of diverse skin-tone mannequins - most in Sherri's Pantone (479C 80%), then a few lighter and darker for true inclusivity.

Thank you to former RADsters Maria Wu & Olivia Rogers; Flynn Architecture; Oak Park Construction; special shout-out to Rago Neon. And thank you to amazing Sherri McMullen, decisive and chic at all times

Next: Hero Shop!

This was a thoughtful and subtle collaboration between owner Emily Holt and designers Rose Louie and Alex McAuley. I was on sabbatical for almost all of the heavy lifting, and came back into the picture just in time to take a victory lap at a fun little margarita party. Sidenote: returning to work after a meaningful break and feeling proud and impressed with zero stress was really nice, not going to lie.

Anywho, many components of the store remained the same, but lighting, casework, clothing racks, shelves and dressing rooms and rugs all subtly leveled up. Similar to the best visit to a dermatologist, this project is glowy and looks expensive but you can’t put your finger on exactly why.

Thank you to RAD Team: Rose Louie and Alex McAuley; Emily Holt you are a classy inspiration; Special honors and clapping emoji to Greg Bergere and Katie Kilanowski from Go Build Studio

Finally our OG Retail project: Ayla Beauty

This job came to us because my friend was shopping at Ayla and saw Dara struggling with a paint chip - not just struggling but crowdsourcing opinions from strangers. My friend recognized a kindred spirit in a desperate situation and told Dara to call me, and we hit it off immediately and started right away. The budget was tiny, but as I mentioned above Dara has an extra gear as a no-drama project manager in addition to multiple Ivy League degrees and entrepreneurial expertise. And so… the sweetest beauty studio you ever did see was done in six months, and six months after that it was featured in Wallpaper* Magazine.

Thanks to former RAD Designer Maria Wu; Leigha Weinberg for the spark; and to sweet Dara Kennedy for the trust and inspiration over the years

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The end! We made it. Next month will be (cue Hallmark movie of the week voice) a “very special episode” in which I bring you behind the scenes of our Kips Bay Showcase room - opening on February 22 in Palm Beach. I thought long and hard about committing to a showcase house (the stress! the expense! the TIME!) but you don’t say no to Kips Bay, friends, and now that it’s (just started but also) almost done I am lit up with excitement, and I can’t wait to show you how it came together.

See ya on the other side,

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As they say on The Bachelorette I wasn’t there for the right reasons. My heart wasn’t in it and I didn’t thrive. I was always aware of the aesthetic hierarchy with like, The Pritzker Prize on one end and Martha Stewart on the other, and me with my traditional taste and my enthusiasm for ornament, color, and materiality was on the wrong end and it was a very long four years.

I almost dropped out three times. One summer as I was making my case that I was terrible and it was too hard my mom admitted to me that she “wanted to want to quit smoking” and I agreed that I “wanted to want to finish Architecture school” and we left it there - we would both just keep wanting to want to try and hope that we got there. Pleased to report we both made it! And now here we are.

It surprises me that I have a dang Masters of Architecture from Harvard, and 18 years later I’m here to report that the best thing about it is that I can see clearly and without wistfulness the thing that matters is Atmosphere, and there are three ways to get there; Architecture, Decorating and Art. None is better or more powerful than the others and you really only need one. But if you have two? Wowza. And if you have all three? That’s when memories are made, when your kids friends ask to play at your house, when you have truly elevated how you live.

This is all to say I no longer have hang-ups about being not-architect. Without decorating you’re sitting on a two legged stool my friends, so let us reject the hierarchy and embrace the sensory, the ephemeral, the garlands, the citrus, the beeswax, the paperwhites. Five Things this issue is all about these non-frivolous boosts that fade, but while they’re here they make winter worthwhile.

And finally, the main event is a beautiful house in Montana that has all three; architecture, decorating and art. It just came out in Architectural Digest and its atmosphere is superb; full of nature, designed to the nines, cozy, elegant, playful and with amazing art. A true and groovy reflection of the clients who are my kind of people.

BIG SKY

AD assigned David Foxley to write this article, and I can’t do better so there’s lots of quoting going on here. It starts with me sounding like a wild animal who thinks she’s going to move in someday, but all I meant is that we were very much on the same page lol. Captions are mine and I added some behind-the-scenes photos for context. I hope you enjoy the tour, working on this was a career highlight for our entire team.

That sense of partnership translated into a serene five-bedroom showpiece designed in collaboration with local firm Centre Sky Architecture with construction by Authentic Builders. It features windows so vast and framing views so sublime that certain perspectives may call to mind one of those snowy alpine lairs conceived by A.I. on Instagram. For Warner, the structure made her look at winter in a new light. Instead of “something to battle,” she says, reflecting on her youth, the season became “my pal, and it’s bringing all this softness and quietness.”

When devising any design brief, Warner, an avid reader of novels, starts by conjuring a fictional client, a character who embodies all of the aesthetic principles she means to convey. For this project, her invented muse was a guy who grew up in Montana, she explains, then traveled extensively to Scandinavia and Japan, collected things he loved, and brought them back to a modern mountain idyll. Any severity imposed by architecture would be tempered by cozy seating setups with enveloping silhouettes, plush fabrics, primary colors, warm metals, floral motifs, and vegetal accents. “[Warner has] an architectural mind that brings dimension and purpose to her spaces,” notes the wife. “We appreciated her choice of mixing textures and making spaces feel truly unique.”

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Warner’s alchemical touch is on display in the formal dining area, the first space one encounters upon entering the house. There, under 20-foot-high ceilings, a custom Fromental grisaille on silk depicting local flora, fauna, and nearby Lone Mountain (“sweet little place-affirming touches,” notes the designer) serves as a backdrop for larger family dinners. Lit by glowy Roman and Williams Guild pendants over Swedish brass candle sconces, and appointed with deep green leather and dark wood seating, an otherwise cavernous, transitional room becomes a snug dining space conducive to languorous meals.

Thank you to RAD Designers Rose Louie, Alex McAuley, Joanna Paul and tip of the hat to the OG Maria Wu; Contractor Authentic Builders best guy Rob Safranek; Centre Sky Architects; Photos by Laura Resen; Styling by Yedda Morrison

And the biggest thank you goes to our clients, who are truly the best. Maybe I really was imagining this as a place for all of us. At the very least for a drink someday.

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The end! If you’re seeing this thank you - it was too long for email but I plowed ahead anyway because I wanted to show all the photos.

Next issue is on Getting Dressed - you gotta do it. Clothes have a huge effect on mood and power and fun, and I believe retail is the best way to make good choices about what you wear. We’re going to tuck into the three beautiful (and distinct!) stores we’ve designed in the Bay Area; McMullen Ayla Beauty and Heroshop, and break down how to make a beautiful dressing area for yourself. Teaser: it’s about the lighting. Click below to subscribe, hope to see you there.

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This one’s about doing the work

Hello Pals, 

People used to ask me if they could hire RAD to pick out a few things and then they would take care of it from there. It took me years to get comfy admitting 80% of the work we do is the “take care of it from here” type, likely because I never set out to be a part-time marriage counselor with excellent taste who owns a logistics firm. In early days I would say yes and let them do it themselves, I even partnered with an e-Decorating service for a while but it was unsatisfying (I like to be the person who hollers “move that bus”) and there would always be so. many. questions.

I get it, even with a perfect shopping list and a floor plan no one wants to make an expensive mistake, and the planning, the ordering, the production, the fabrication, the installation, it’s all ripe for miscalculation and delay. We still make mistakes, my house is full of the most beautiful mistakes! But when it’s your company those mistakes can be corrected, sent to another project, absorbed into inventory.

Even so, we aim to minimize those mistakes. And to meet a budget and a timeline. And that means we are in our cars, on the phone, on the emails, FaceTiming and scribbling and updating spreadsheets all day. That’s what it takes to make sure we get what we want, what we promise people they can have. That’s why I don’t fear disruptive apps that promise to draw and select and purchase everything, because it’s not just the choosing of the doughnuts it’s the making of the doughnuts, and it’s hard work that cannot be done alone.

What’s great about 2023 is all our collaborators are trusted, or at the very least a known kook who we love because they are so good at what they do. And these people, who either have terrible Yelp ratings or cannot be found there, make the difference between a smooth project and a turbulent one. There has been so much trial and error to get here. 2012 me once had furniture delivered by convicts who didn’t give a shit and dumped all the furniture in the front yard and left. Now we work with a team that wears booties and polo shirts, who assembles a house like a Liberty Puzzle and who knows we like a coffee table kind of close to the sofa.

Five things this month is my homage to our Rolodex, where I compare what the 5-Star Yelp tier is putting out there compared to our workrooms. It’s kind of unfair but also I’m borderline petty and here to amuse myself so I’m going with it.

But first, the feature: One Perfect Room. It’s an entryway with hardly any furniture but we’re going freakishly deep on how it came to be. What I love about this photo is the it feels simple and inevitable, but for it to come together properly many things have to line up. Exactly how many? Join me and let’s count ‘em together…

ONE PERFECT ROOM

Let’s start in 2017, and gloss over the years of design development with Martinkovic Milford Architects, of meetings with handsome and patient contractor Barry O’Brian, of drawing interior elevations with new hardwired lighting, of selecting the brush-outs with many shades of white and finally settling on Distant Gray (BM OC 68). Let us tip our hat to Taylor who started this project and Anel who was promoted to Senior Designer by the time it ended.

Furniture wise, it’s minimal. This table belongs to our client. It’s an antique, beautiful and the right scale and means something to them. A huge win! There are only two more items here; UECo. sconces that are perfect with everything else in the house, made to order then installed by hot-ass Barry’s electrician. Then the mirror which we designed and had made by Joel Milikan in the right size with the right amount of detail.

Then the art. This is the project and client who brought art consultant Caroline Brinkerhoff into our lives, and this Ted Gahl painting is one of my favorite placements she’s ever done. All of a sudden our restrained wall color makes sense

At this point the room is serviceable but the only thing sparking joy is the art. It’s furnished but lacking confidence, it needs a groovy geranium accessory and it needs the floor stencil. It’s all coming, but for a year it’s early pandemic and everyone is frozen pizza.

Let us fast forward to the cold winter of 2021 when our client and I find ourselves texting while I’m watching Oceans 12. There is a scene in Italy with an incredible floor. I send a terrible image. She responds. We workshop our options. We then wait six months for a window when the house will be empty and Charles Leonard can work for a few days in a row without a puppy bounding through his work.

Press play for a most satisfying reveal…

Are we counting the choices at this point? Have we even acknowledged our clients who are green-lighting, cooperating, facilitating good art behind the scenes and treating themselves to geranium sculptures?

And all of this only gets us to real life. (“Only real life” lol) For fun let’s imagine we want a beautiful image for a Minimag, or (finger to sky) a real print magazine. This means we call Yedda Morrison and get her to come over and nudge everything into its best light, and get Laura Resen to capture it through her beautiful eye. Are you tired yet? Do you see what kind of collaboration even a simple room without furniture requires? Imagine the living room. Or just meet me in my mumble podcast where people just fall asleep to the sound of me listing all the tasks we do.

Thank you to RAD Designers Taylor Shanahan, Anel Zarate and Veronica Aguilar; Contractor Barry O’Brien, Martinkovic Milford Architects; Photos by Laura Resen; Styling by Yedda Morrison.

And finally, officially, darling clients I do acknowledge you. Sure, for the green-lighting, the cooperating, the facilitating of good art, but mostly for being lovely people without fail for many years in a row. If you want a report card for being a grown-up to show your parents I’m standing by.

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Here we are again, the end. I love each of you who made it here, writing this is a delight for me and I’ve been quite happy to see 1,000 people who don’t know me subscribe over the past month. Welcome! The Substackerverse feels real cozy right now, thank you.

Next month I’m tackling designing vs. decorating. Have you ever noticed how designers get prickly if you call them decorators? And are you aware that an architect would (want to)* stab you in the face with a compass if you referred to them as merely a designer? There’s a hierarchy, it’s gendered, and it’s nonsense. And there’s no one better qualified than this guy (finger guns myself) who is low-key architect, designer, and decorator to build this bridge. We will discuss the power of decorating for the holidays with real tips and real things you can order that will make you happy. Click below to subscribe, hope to see you there.

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Welcome. Thank you for reading the first issue of RAD Minimag.

Hello there, 

I used to write a newsletter and I loved it. It was usually a one-pager to announce new office babies or share when we got published - in one memorable post I detailed The RAD Calf, a terrible/wonderful intra-office lower-leg-only competition. Because I am a professional I did not compete or judge, but I enjoyed documenting the jolly and confident atmosphere of my office, and to this day I think of calves as the filet mignons of the leg, so we all learned from that post. Then we got busy, moved the office to Oakland, got even busier and moved again. We are now a mid-size firm in a beautiful space. I’m in my 40’s and prefer Substack to Instagram, and it dawned on me that maybe the grid is not enough! Do I have things to share? I think I do! Will I be reporting on the body parts of my employees? No I will not!

The subject of the first RAD Minimag is Inspiration. It’s fitting because that’s where every project (a house, a painting, a minimag) begins, it’s elusive, and it’s fascinating. To me it's a spark of noticing, attached to a sense, that becomes an engine. And if you pay attention, catalog, and follow-through you can turn it into something excellent. The Jeff Tweedy book How to Write One Song detailed how he collects sounds and words, and when he sits down to work he mines that trove and boop! He creates a song. My process is similar except it’s visual and tactile. I have an enormous collection of images, paint chips and ephemera, and when I start a project I sift and edit them to create a Style Guide and then boop! House is done. Just kidding, that's for the next issue, Perspiration. 

I’m pulling back the curtain on a particularly satisfying Style Guide-to-Sneak Peek in this issue; a beautiful misty house in the woods where we wanted to conjure the atmosphere of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, but in a wholesome and non-murdery way. Read on to render your verdict, and thank you for joining me on this journey.

STYLE GUIDE

When I create a Style Guide at the beginning of each job, the images all come from a pool of inspiration that I've been collecting for years - it's my sourdough starter that blooms all of our projects. I select based on the client and the architecture and what I sense the house wants, and the deck that emerges becomes the DNA of the project.

This house is deep in a beautiful forest north of San Francisco, and we started with the the words woodsy, socialite, 1980's, Twin Peaks, ornament, busy motel-florals, totems, talismans, magic with a tiny bit of sinister, and very very happy. 

Without further ado, here are the pages that express those ideas.

INSPIRATION: Sinister & Magical

I’ve been asked for this vibe precisely once in my career and I think we nailed it.

SNEAK PEEK

PREVIEW: Occidental

Our nickname for this project is Twin Peaks on Prozac: dark and piney and so happy. Note the charcoal peaked roof lines! The cool 1980’s furniture, the preponderance of florals.

That's all for now on this woodsy wonder, I hope the connections between inspiration and final product felt true, this one was pure joy from start to finish for us. 

Thank you to RAD Designers Anel Zarate and Veronica Aguilar; Contractor Andy Brucker; Photos by Laure Joliet; Styling by Yedda Morrison.

Finally and most of all, thank you to our clients who are off-the-chain inspiring. It is a kind universe that brought us together, and I'm grateful every day.

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The last five things I saved to my private IG folder

You made it to the end! I’m thrilled! This took me approximately 300x longer than an Instagram post but it feels both meatier and less thirsty. Hoping the next issue comes together quicker now now that I’ve made those dang banners.

Anywho, the next issue is about the work - Perspiration! I’m giving a backstage view of what it takes to actually produce a project, and I have some sizzling insights on collaboration. Click below to subscribe, hope to see you there.

Hello. Welcome to the Redmond Aldrich Design Minimag.

Here I’ll be sharing tidbits from the office, deep-dives into our process, and thoughts on design, architecture and atmosphere. And not just serious things, also some fun and sleazy things like listicles and book reviews. And of course, pictures. Thank you for joining me.

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