VERY COOL POOL-FOL CHEN

I love this video...THEY SAY IT WAS SHOT IN SUNNY VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovl_rh4T_JI

SHOPPING IN PALM SPRINGS Area

Most thrift stores are very good but you will pay a price. I usually go to the Estate Sale across from the Parker. They always have something interesting. There are numerous of mid-century shops on Palm Canyon but they are very pricey. If you want to venture to Palm Desert, there are a few shops that kick ass but they are $$$$ along with art galleries.


Estate Sale-$
Stewart (great selection of art work) and antiques-$$$
Modern Way-$$$$
20th Century-$$$
Antique 101 (was great but I think they closed)-$
Art-Backstreet (behind Estate Sale but check time when open)-$
Art-Palm Canyon-$
Imago-Palm Desert-$$$$

I've been using a website since they started which features Palm Springs shops.
www.isdibs.com

COLORS IN PALM SPRINGS

Over the years you had an influx of wanna be designers that came to town. Don't get me wrong, there are some nice renovations but in general there is no cohesion to most design. When I looked at my first mid-century there was a designer redoing houses in white, limes, yellows and it worked but then you started seeing the colors everywhere.
Those colors still work along with blues and bright colors. Browns, dark green do not and the reason is there is very little green here and they make a small house look smaller. In Palm Desert or Rancho Mirage browns and green work but the bright colors don't. Also, the mountains are darker on that side of town. The mountain in PS is light and higher than the mountains on the other side of town which makes it more important to lighten the house otherwise you loose the house.

STATE OF THE ECONOMY & MID-CENTURY GOODS

Well, I don't know about everyone else but thank god for the recession. Between the over priced real estate everywhere and furniture, the average joe has a chance to buy mid-century items.
For awhile the word Danish had a huge dollar sign next to it and even if it wasn't Danish everyone put it in front of their item to sell.
I personally don't buy because of a name, as a designer I buy for design. If it's American or Danish...I look for structure (bones) material and function.
I bought all three above for that reason. by the way that airflow steno chair ROCKS.

DEBBIE TRAVIS

I really don't watch too much tv but when I do I guess it's natural for me to turn on design shows. Most of them are for the novice but I would have to say Debbie Travis is one of my favs.
I also like Candice Olson who designs some great bathrooms...I think Candice has a little of a gay man in her but that's another blog.
Debbie Travis's new show is cool. She takes a bunch of young kids and they are competing for $250,000 once their finished. It a great look at how male and female work in a environment.

check it out on www.fineliving.com

WEB FOO

In my search for my next website design...I have come upon some great websites to browse and create. The day you spend designing a flash intro are slowly going to be over...you look up one of the many websites that have pre-designed web intros, videos, graphics, stills and websites. In quarter amount of time you have a cool web intro.
You have to have certain design tools or sign up for a trail. Some websites you don't need any tools, like easytemplates.com

www.flashden.com
www.istockphoto.com
www.templemonster.com
www.easytemplates.com



These are some of my favs right now!

PALM SPRINGS, MID-CENTURY MODERN MAYHEM

Here is one for the books as far as design. I don't know what this person was on when they decorated but you've got to LOVE this house. The realtor's listing claim "smashing" but that particular realtor has a tendency to over use that word in all of her listings. Personally, I don't think she knows what that word means.
I wouldn't use that word to describe any MCM design but what do I know:0
Anyway check it out...the house itself is over priced like most in Palm Springs, CA. Why would you pay $700,000 for a fixer? Unless your HIGH!