Last week, the LSI design team had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with Celerie Kemble during her keynote presentation at the annual Room to Bloom Decorating Symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina – LSI was an engaged and enthusiastic sponsor.  Festivities included a silent auction and luncheon prior to Celerie speaking.  Our Charlotte design community was out en force and talent abounded.

We have admired Celerie from afar and we’re delighted to report that she is just as engaging and talented in person. She wowed the room and the LSI team with design insights and observations. We found ourselves nodding throughout the presentation, as Celerie’s perspective is amazingly like ours.

To share some Celerie-isms where LSI is quite likeminded…

1.  Celerie says,”you should walk into a house and feel you know someone better.” We concur. Absolutely. Personality shines through in great design. It’s our job (and delight) to tease out the details.

2.  Celerie says she sometimes feels like she has a “multiple personality disorder,” as her style constantly evolves based on client needs. Likewise, we sometimes feel like design chameleons because we shift and reshape to express the homeowner’s point of view.

3.  Celerie says she likes to “break rules” (apart from the fundamentals of good design). She mixes verboten colors and styles openly and to great effect. To this we say, yes, it’s the mix that matters!

4.  Celerie confesses she’s a “maximalist.” She loves full-bodied rooms with contrasts and variety.  “Juxtaposition” is our middle name at LSI. We are picky, picky editors, but love well-articulated spaces.

P.S. A parting gift to the enthusiastic audience was a copy of her new book, Black and White.  It’s an inspired study in contrasts.  If you don’t have it, get it now!

Merely child’s play? If so, we want a seat at the table. Here at LSI, we love these faceted and geometric building blocks by Fort Standard. No offense to Legos and Lincoln Logs, but these are building blocks we love to see on the living room (a.k.a. playroom) floor. What creative firestarters! Shall we set a playdate?

All design eyes are on High Point, North Carolina, this week as we blog in real-time from the International Home Furnishings Market. We read, we shop, we immerse ourselves in the world of design on line, but the Furniture Market never fails to amaze us. It’s a chance to engage with furniture designers and artisans from around the world. Today we’re shouting out two design trends that we see morphing in exciting ways.

TRIBAL -  Ahhh, the Tribal trend continues to resonate. Who knew loincloths would be a Market hit? The ever-innovative Merrie Shinder at Canopy Designs adapts loincloths into lampshades as shown here. Each execution is unique.

And underfoot, rugs have also beautifully succumbed to the Tribal influence. Natural, organic, and un-manufactured, the size, color and pattern variances just amaze us.

ICONOGRAPHY - The Noir showroom delights us at every turn. Familiar forms and symbols – the icons of our modern life – are given new expression.

Thumb’s up for the oversized peace sign.

We love the dimensional plus-sign light.

And, (alas poor Yorick) we’re not yet over skulls.

When you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work. So it goes for LSI and the world of design. And ditto for Michelle Adams and Patrick Cline, co-founders of  Lonny Magazine.

Our avid blog readers will know we “collaborated” with Michelle and Patrick last week on some quality beach time. But fun in the sun was just part of the agenda. Today we’re sharing some pix from the nose-to-the-grindstone working part of our time together.

The creative energy was palpable as Michelle and Patrick set the shots to capture both the detail and the essence of rooms on film. Yes, film. Lonny lives in a thoroughly pixilated digital domain, but it all begins on Kodak. Eager to see the Lonny story? We are too! Keep an eye out for LSI in Lonny this summer!

Here’s a peek at our low-key creative recharge with Lonny founders Michelle Adams and Patrick Cline … at an undisclosed beach with Lisa Sherry and team. So natural (and swanky).

Approaching a perfectly pristine, freshly painted blank wall with hammer and nails can be so intimidating. Or so our clients tell us. Here at LSI, we are undaunted. Wall art pairings and collages add boundless personality to a room. And, as designers, it’s our chance to get really creative. Just between friends, we’ll share some trade secrets:

BE PURPOSEFULLY RANDOM – We love the trend (and LSI may have helped ignite it) toward free-form, elliptical collages that seem impromptu and unplanned. A great eye, along with a keen understanding of scale and proportion are absolutely necessary to achieve this look of (seemingly) spontaneous expression.

THINK SYMMETRICALLY – Order pleases the eye. While we love the accidentally-wonderful look just described, classic balance and order also delight. Smart symmetry is a matter of execution. Drive no nail before its time.

THE MATTER OF MATTES (AND FRAMES) – Mattes give the object of desire breathing room. Here at LSI, we favor white hues (quelle surprise). Frame-wise, we like to mix it up with various sizes. We are also huge fans of going frameless and matteless. Art is hero.

ASK, WHAT IS ART? – There are the usual suspects: acquired and curated oils, watercolors, photographs and the like. Lovely. How about a shiny mirror? A collection of your children’s tempera paint creations? Your granny’s wedding portrait? You decide what’s art (p.s. it’s between you and your wall!).

All designs via Lisa Sherry Interieurs.  Last image via Charlotte Home and Garden.

Later this month, it’s pencils down and computers off (uh, except for our mobile devices, of course). LSI is a sponsor and an active supporter of Room To Bloom in Charlotte, NC. Room to Bloom is a fun fundraiser supporting new acquisitions for the Mint Museum of Charlotte (if you’ve not been, you must). The whole, wonderful Room to Bloom affair is orchestrated by The Mint Museum Auxiliary, one of the most motivated, professional and creative volunteer groups we’ve seen.

Did we mention that Lisa Sherry Interieurs is a sponsor? We are! Room to Bloom starts with a kick-off party and decorating symposium on April 25th. Celerie Kemble is on center stage as the keynote speaker. Regular blog readers know Celerie’s one of our favorite designers and we’re looking forward to seeing her in action. Later in May, Room to Bloom culminates with various parties, including Eat, Drink and Be MerriMINT in May.

If you’re in the Charlotte area, make sure Room to Bloom is on your calendar. To find out more, just follow this link.

Why not play Russian roulette this weekend with Amuse-Bouches’ amazing cocktail table book on cocktails. Be sure the bar is well stocked. Flip to any page. Shake or stir the libation you land on! Cheers to Daniel Boulud (and you).

‘Tis the season … Lisa Sherry Interieurs design projects focusing on exterieurs are a hot topic right now. Pun intended! Maybe the mild winter has accelerated the segue into spring and summer. A new, favorite resource that’s put a spring in our step and a smile on our collective face is Link Outdoor Fabrics.

Here at LSI we love colors with unusual, provocative names. This tells us they’re nuanced and defy easy definition. Kudos to Link for fab palettes like Palme Melon, Sugar and Cabana Sky. As designers, we also like pattern and texture names that make further explanation unnecessary. Like Piece Out in Glacier, Crossings in Carbon and Fringe in Dandelion.

Stay tuned for further developments with LSI and Link. See how Breeze Straw pairs with Swagger on the Echo chaise to accolades on summer nights.

We LOVE special occasions, long-planned exotic trips and shimmering five-star hotels. We admit it. But, here at Lisa Sherry Interieurs, we think luxury should be an every day occurrence. Thus, we are raising our collective hands to support the new Glamping trend. It’s camping, but with a piquant twist of luxury. Bring out the china, Belgian linens, lanterns, portieres, the caviar and crystal. Rarify a rural environment with finery. Think tents (Gypsy FaireTents is a fave), tree houses, airstreams, campers and yurts – with a new, luxurious flair.

Recreate Out of Africa luxury in your own tree house.

Clearly, wonderful things are happening inside this palatial tent.

Create your own Kasbah.