Inspired.talk

Kravet and the 2014 Design Bloggers Conference

Earlier this month, a group of more than 300 interior designers and design bloggers from across the country descended on Atlanta for the fourth-annual Design Bloggers Conference. Kravet was a major sponsor at the conference, bringing in keynote presentations from Jeffrey Alan Marks and Candice Olson, two beloved interior designers and TV stars who have collections with Kravet (Jeffrey’s launches this Fall). Jeffrey’s presentation was a relaxed Q&A with Kravet marketing EVP Beth Greene and Candice presented a slideshow of before-and-afters that had the audience gasping with delight.

 Via Cozy Stylish Chic

After her appearance at the Design Bloggers Conference, Candice headed over to ADAC, where she participated in a fun Q&A with HGTV Magazine editor in chief Sara Peterson, moderated by Kravet’s marketing manager Jennifer Powell. Their candid tales of first jobs, embarrassing moments and career advice had the audience in stitches, proving why these two ladies are at the tops of their game.

Photo via @whosevent

In years past Kravet has hosted an event in New York City each Spring called Blogfest, but this year we shook it up a bit and decided to merge the best part of Blogfest (the networking and celebrating!) with the Design Bloggers Conference. HGTV Magazine and Kravet co-hosted an incredible party in our showroom on Tuesday night to close the conference, and we had a blast toasting to our friends, old and new.

The next day, the team at ADAC hosted a “digital” market day, with panel discussions and presentations that addressed important questions about the changing digital landscape as it applies to our industry. Jeffrey Alan Marks and Suzanne Kasler discussed how to get design projects published with Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles editor in chief Elizabeth Ralls in front of a sold-out audience, then sold copies of their books in the Lee Jofa showroom.

 Via @adacatlanta Instagram

Conference attendees generated millions of social media impressions, from tweets and hashtags (#dbc2014 and #kravetblogfest), to photos and videos shared on Instagram, blogs and Facebook. Atlanta was the embodiment of Southern charm, and we were honored to be involved in such a big way. We are always looking for ways to connect with designers through social media, and this particular event was a great collaboration between national companies like ours, design centers like ADAC, top design talent, great event organizers like the folks at Design Sherpa, and of course the Atlanta design community.

Sara Peterson, Candice Olson, Beth Greene and HGTV Magazine publisher Dan Fuchs, photo via HGTV Magazine

Best of Blogfest 2012 - Social Media Contests

If you attended Blogfest this week, you know there were lots of opportunities for future collaborations with magazines. We’ve compiled all of the contests and incentives here in case you missed any of the details. All winners will receive a Best of Blogfest thumbnail logo to feature on the sidebar of your blog to call attention to your win and collaboration with a major magazine.

House Beautiful – The Aha Moment

The editors from House Beautiful want to know what inspires you, and what “aha moment” you have created in your own work. Ten winners will be chosen, and their photos will appear on House Beautiful’s Aha Inspiration Pinterest board, with links back to each individual blog.

To enter, write a blog post about your own “aha moment” inspired by the House Beautiful. You must own the rights to any images you feature in the post, and images of your own work are strongly encouraged. All posts must be published by May 29^th and please limit copy to 500 words. Once the post is live, tweet the URL to @HouseBeautiful using the hashtag #myaha. Editors will read all entries and select ten winners.

VERANDA – Memorable Rooms

Starting today through the following Wednesday (May 30^th), attendees are invited to email VERANDA’s web editor Candice Braun ([email protected]) their most memorable room of all time. It can be any room, from one they’ve seen in a magazine to their very own spaces. Along with an image of the room, describe in 75 words or less why you love the interior.

The contest will end at 5 p.m. on the 30^th  at which point our decoration director, Carolyn Englefield, will review all entries and select the top three. Those three winners will receive a copy of VERANDA’s new book, “The Houses of Veranda,” and will be featured on their Facebook page on Friday, June 1^st, at 10 a.m.

NY Spaces – Guest Blogging 

NY Spaces held a business card drawing and selected five attendees to write blog posts on the NY Spaces blog as contributors throughout the year. Congrats to the winners!

Interiors Magazine - The "Wow" Factor

Interiors magazine challenges you to peruse the current June/July issue, and find your favorite "wow" factor in each of the five featured spaces in the editorial well. Then, add one WOW of your own work or something you love. Submit your entry by posting the blog to the Interiors Facebook page.

Winning entries will receive a free one-year subscription to Interiors magazine. One "WOW" blogger will be chosen to guest blog for the magazine and be featured in Interiors' insider page in the printed magazine, as well as on the Interiors website and Facebook page.

Glassybaby

Glassybaby is inviting attendees to share their own inspiring stories on their blogs, and post a link to the Glassybaby Facebook page. Glassybaby will repost the blogs and share on their web site and social media. In addition, for the first time ever, they are inviting suggestions for Blogfest attendees to help name some of the beautiful colors that emerge from the glassblowers’ studio. Who better than a group of savvy designers and writers to tackle a fun task like this?

Kravet

In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting and reposting many of the recaps we’ve seen of Blogfest. A few of the recaps will be excerpted for the Fall issue of inspired.news, Kravet’s printed newspaper that is circulated within the industry to designers, magazine editors and showrooms across the country. We’re also inviting you to post your photos to our Blogfest Pinterest board. We’re in the process of inviting everyone to have access, but once it’s up and running you can pin away!

We hope you take advantage of these great opportunities to engage with your favorite magazines and brands. We can’t wait to see all of the posts and photos about Blogfest!

Happy Fourth of July

 

In honor of Independence Day, we thought we’d share a beautiful home that will be featured in an upcoming issue of inspired.news. The home, located in the seashore resort of Stone Harbor, NJ, is a charming, newly renovated 1940s cottage. The house was originally built as an exam center for the U.S. Coast Guard, and most of the original wood and layout has been kept as it was in the 40s.

Interior designer Michael Murphy changed little about the structure, only removing one bedroom on the first floor to add the banquette for dining. The great American flag with 48 stars and a beautiful sailboat atop the fireplace greet family and friends as they enter the cottage. Murphy scoured flea markets from Maine to West Palm Beach to find the wonderful accessories that add character to the home.

The kitchen evokes a feeling of a bygone era, with a reproduction refrigerator and a working dial phone on the wall. The tray on the blue ottoman in the family room was found in the walls of the home during renovation. It probably was a sign placed on the outside dock, now a conversation piece or a tray for serving cocktails on the deck.

This special nautical home was truly transformed for the family, giving the feeling of vintage South Jersey shore living at its finest. We hope you enjoy the photos and, from all of us at Kravet, we hope you have a relaxing and safe July 4^th weekend.

 
 

 

 

 
 

 

ELLE DECOR A-List Luncheon in NYC

By Beth Greene

Me with Michael Boodro and Karen Marx from ELLE DECOR

Last week, I had the great pleasure of being invited to ELLE DECOR’s exclusive lunch honoring its annual A-List Designers. The list pays tribute to 25 top designers, plus it recognizes 5 up-and-coming design talents that have caught the magazine’s eye. To celebrate this year’s honorees, ELLE DECOR transformed the posh restaurant Modern, located within the Museum of Modern Art in New York City into an oasis of peonies overlooking the MoMA Sculpture Garden. With flash bulbs popping from the design paparazzi, the Modern provided the perfect backdrop on that beautiful summer day. While I was not definitely camera worthy at this event, I managed to have my picture taken with the likes of Thom Filicia, Jamie Drake, Michael Boodro and many more.

Jamie Drake, Thom Filicia, Ernest de la Torre, Michael Boodro

Million Dollar Decorators Jeffrey Alan Marks, Kathryn Ireland and Martyn Lawrence-Bullard

A bit Design Royalty star struck I was, as the who’s who of interior design made this luncheon clearly a not to miss event! Even the members of the new Bravo show “Million Dollar Decorators” entertained us with their candid conversations and tales and perils of television production. 

Old guard and new mingled in an environment that was relaxed yet filled with a fresh energy. Well known names such as Juan Montoya, Sheila Bridges, Ernest De La Torre, Kathryn Ireland and Martyn Lawrence-Bullard mingled with their peers, including Aerin Lauder, who announced earlier this year she’s starting her own lifestyle brand.

Sheila Bridges with Michael Boodro

Ray Booth, David Kleinberg, Richard Keith Langham, Michael Boodro

 
Aerin Lauder and Michael Boodro

Anita Sarsidi from ELLE DECOR, Thom Filicia, Ellen Levine from Hearst, Jeffrey Alan Marks

In attendance was one of my very favorite TV personalities and interior designer extraordinaire, Thom Filicia, who secured a coveted spot on this year’s A-List after a string of professional achievements, including a successful fabric collection with Kravet. Other Kravet licensors missing from the luncheon but definitely on the A-list are Alexa Hampton and Suzanne Rheinstein. And let me not forget to mention my luncheon partner, Aurelien Gallet, of course charmingly French, handsome and fresh off his two successful show house rooms at this year’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House and ELLE DECOR Modern Life Concept House. I hear his Hampton Designer Showhouse room, opening in July, should not be missed.

The festive celebration also marked the first official event hosted by ELLE DECOR as part of Hearst Corporation, which now owns the brand along with several other home shelter and lifestyle titles. It was an honor to be invited to dine among such an elite group, and a joy to feel the renewed spirit of our industry as we all came together to celebrate beautiful design and inspiration.

All photos courtesy of ELLE DECOR.



How to Get Published

 
Display collections in innovative ways. Vicente Wolf, featured in Veranda

Next week while we are digging out of another major snow storm on the East Coast, Carolyn Sollis will be in Kravet showrooms in Southern California to present a very informative presentation titled, “How to Get Published.”

 
Be bold with color. Tobi Fairley, featured in House Beautiful

Sollis is a former style editor at House & Garden and a former executive editor at House Beautiful, so she is uniquely qualified to answer the tough questions about catching an editor’s eye and packaging a story to increase your chances of getting a project published.

Some of the things she’ll discuss:

The changing landscape of print media

Building a personal brand

Getting recognized

Creating a great submission

 
Layering neutrals creates a rich look. Barbara Barry, featured in Town&Country

She’ll be in Scottsdale on Tuesday, Jan. 18 at 10 a.m., Laguna Beach on Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 10:30 a.m. and San Diego on Thursday, Jan. 20 at 9:30 a.m. If you’re located near any of these cities, contact your local showroom to RSVP. Interested in hearing this presentation near you? Let us know, we’re still planning our showroom events for the year and we’d love to hear from you!

- JP