Well, okay, maybe that headline is a bit of a stretch. But the folks at the Sheffield School of Interior Design (www.sheffield.edu) are very proud of Jennifer Ellen Frank, their own Feng Shui instructor, who will be featured on Monday night at 6 on NBC news.

The story they’ll run is on a woman who consulted with Frank years ago, and now, having cleaned up her space inside and out with Feng Shui, she’s re-inventing herself so she can continue to flourish as the economy melts down faster than a popsicle on a New York sidewalk in August.

So tune in and get some tips, and see how great the Sheffield teachers are!

The Stylehound loves the work of individual artists and artisans. We admire the artists who pour their creativity into their work, often without much compensation—we all know that just about anything pays more than creating gorgous pillows or hand-stitched cloth napkins. Well, anything except working in the financial world.

And without the work of artists, our homes would be pretty dull places indeed.

That’s why we really enjoyed reading this interview on Indie Fixx with Shanna Murra, one of those infuriatingly creative people who works her designs in painting, sewing, embroidery—nothing is safe from her creativity. She can even make a plain paper bag look classy. And she can make a simple throw pillow a must-have.

You can read her thoughts on inspiration, being organized, and

running an artist’s business at http://indiefixx.com/category/home-stuff/

In case you think decorating a nursery for a new baby is a matter of pink, blue, and kitchsy-looking duckies, think again. You can do just as much with decorating a nursery as you can with any other room in the house—provided you have the basic furniture that’s tiny-sized.

In our on-going search for interesting new takes on baby design, we were delighted to see “Kara’s Nursery,” at
http://sweetiepiepumpkinnoodle.blogspot.com/2008/05/karas-finished-nursery-aka-worlds.html
Here’s baby’s little bed:

Here’s a cozy corner where Mommy can sit:

When you live in New York City, you catch on pretty quickly to the fact that the city is constantly morphing its look, in ways both dramatic and small. You get used to walking under scaffolding and dodging construction vehicles. And you get used to coming up out of the subway and saying, “Hey! Where did THAT come from?”

The other day I was sitting with a   friend  at the little tables on the northeast corner of Columbus Circle, looking at one of the newest buildings in the city. Everyone I know has been calling it either “the new design building” or “the crafts museum,” but once it opened last month  it’ll be known as the Museum of Arts and Design, a name more befitting its elegant look.

Elegant indeed. It calls to mind The Four Seasons restaurant on East 52nd Street in Manhattan, that stalwart symbol of understated elegance which was designed in the late 1950s by Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson.

The new museum was designed by Allied Works Architectural, led by Brad Cloepfil, after his plan won a competition for the project. Getting a design gig this way isn’t new in New York—Central Park itself is the plan created by Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux which won  a contest held in 1857.

The new structure for the Museum of Art and Design  is built in the footprint of the old one, which was known by some as “the lollipop building” because of the shapes cut out of its façade. Those circles have been transformed into squares and oblongs, giving the building a truly updated feeling. The exterior is made of “luminescent ceramic.” I’m not sure what that is, but it looks great, kind of shiny and polished but not flashy.

Last week, I realized it was opening day at the museum when I saw several creatures bouncing around in front of the museum. Turned out they were humans wearing elaborate balloon costumes, like coats made of tubular balloons tied together. I think this bodes quite well for this latest addition to the landscape.

Imagine The Stylehound’s surprise the other day when my friend, Daisy, said she wanted to get new linens for her bedroom and wanted my help. I mean, really. I never thought I’d see the day when my decorating sense would be pressed into service—not me, who once thought polyester sheets were acceptable.

But I guess I have learned a thing or two, because I jumped at the chance to meet her at Macy’s. Daisy, it turns out, is one of those people who gets very easily overwhlemed by things like shopping. She’s much too cerebral for price comparisons and such, but of course like all of us these days she needs to watch her pennies.

We met at the doorway of the bedding department, and she looked around in despair, pointing at the little price signs: $179 for one queen sheet. $400 for a set. (Granted, they were gorgeous, 700-thread count, made in Italy.) I took her in hand and marched her around the floor. “First, we’re going to look at all the prices,” I said, and we did, and sure enough, soon the word “SALE” appeared like a beacon before us, and then we found the sheets that were $24 a set and we could quickly reject those. Daisy found a coverlet that was perfect, but the tag said it was $350, so I brought it up to the clerk and asked the price. On sale for $75.

Really. These are real figures.

Daisy was unsure of her color scheme at first, but once we saw the display beds, she decided on white with off-white accents, and I agreed. A white bed is classic, easy to match, and can always be perked up with new pillow cases in a bright color or pattern. But if you’re starting afresh, I told her, just get white everything.

She did, and soon we were staggering out of Macy’s. The whole thing cost her $400—a really nice sheet set, a gorgeous white matelasse coverlet, a very good white duvet cover, and two fluffy white towels —well, if you’re doing the bedroom you can’t have a shabby-looking bath, right?

I’d like to invite you all to a wedding. It’s big, it’s splashy, it’s got loads of laughter and music and that other element necessary in any wedding: family drama.

And you don’t have to buy a gift or travel far. You just need to pony up 12 bucks or so and settle in to a seat in a movie house.

I’m talking about a new film called “Rachel Getting Married,” which opened in New York City this past weekend.

Often movies have “wedding” or something like it in the title, and yet much of the film takes place away from the actual wedding itself. But in this film, the audience feels as if they’re really attending the wedding—and not just the ceremony, but all the other events around the wedding, starting with barging in on the bride as she’s trying on her gown the day before.

And in terms of wedding design, this is one to watch. It’s an Indian-themed wedding, even though none of the principals are, as far as I could tell, Indian. As I left the theater this was the topic audience members were mulling over: what was up with that Indian design, complete with saris for the attendants?

Rosemarie Dewitt, who plays Rachel, has said in an interview that she thinks the Indian style is ironic, and if seen that way, it kind of makes sense. Both Rachel and her sister, Kym, are from a well-to-do white family in Connecticut, and there’s no explanation about the Indian theme of the wedding. Let this be a warning to anyone planning a real wedding—if you appropriate another culture entirely, the guests may enjoy the décor, but they likely will also be somewhat perplexed.

It’s also unclear why the saris chosen for the wedding are so drab. These are not the colorful, highly embroidered saris of Mira Nair’s MONSOON WEDDING, for example. Perhaps this is a comment on the family’s disassociation from the Indian culture, which results in something not as gorgeous as it could be?

Still, it all looks pretty great, and it’s all fun to watch, especially the music and dancing and the cake in the shape of Ganesh, the elephant god who is called “the Remover of Obstacles.”

Therefore, there is something to the Indian theme, as the heart of the film isn’t really about Rachel’s wedding but is about her sister, Kym’s, experience of Rachel’s wedding, and about the many obstacles in front of Kym. The most interesting element of the film, other than the wedding design of course, is really the character of the mother of the girls.

That’s all I’ll say so I don’t spoil anything—just that, and go see this movie. But unless you’re Indian, leave the sari at home.

As the world watches presidential and vice-presidential debates with bated breath, we still have to get groceries into the house, don’t we? After all, we have to feed all those people coming over to watch the next throw-down.

But what’s a shopper to do? You can’t bear to bring home one more new plastic bag to shove into the cabinet with all the others just like it. And yet you don’t want to schlep around town carrying a bunch of old plastic bags. And you don’t want to use a string bag and worry if the little things like dental floss or tiny bottles of eye cream will be lost along the way.

And of course you don’t want to look as if you care only about the environment at the expense of looking fabulous.

Don’t worry. Even as you read this, designers are hard at work developing reusable shopping bags that are sturdy, easy to clean (in case of spillage) and that look great.

The bags made by Earthchic are remarkable in that as the name says, they look chic, but they are made of 100% recycled plastic bottles—so not only are you doing a good deed by reusing your bag, but you’re helping provide a new, purposeful life to those old plastic bottles—it takes about ten bottles to make one Earthchic bag.

The Earthchic bags come in those most chic, go-with-anything-colors: black and white.

You can find them at http://www.earthchic.com/

A current student in the Sheffield School’s Complete Course in Wedding and Event Planning was kind enough to share her design ideas from her Birthday Potluck Hawaiian Luau.

After a recent trip to Hawaii this year and falling in love with the sights, smells and culture of this amazing state I decided that my birthday theme was going to be a Luau. I starting getting ideas by going through the few hundred pictures that we had taken during our trip. Taking note of flowers, food, plants, sea shells, tikis, and so on, I then did a quick inventory of those things that I knew I already owned. I few days before the party I went into Party City and Joann Fabrics. Both stores were having a great sale on all summer items. So I was able to get a few things at a great price to put the final touches to my décor. I was able to plan my party on a modest budget of $250. Since I already owned a lot of the decorations or made them myself; food & drinks is where I spent most of the money.

As the guest approached my front door I made luminaries that said “ALOHA”. I created them with brown lunch bags. I cut out the letters with a blade; put a white lunch bag inside. I filled each white bag with 2” of sand and placed a tea light candle. They looked beautiful lit up. Once threw the door they passed threw a bamboo curtain, again greeted by an ALOHA banner and was given a silk flower lei.

The summer weather in South Florida is very hot and sticky, even in the evenings, not the mention the mosquitoes. So I knew that I had to have food, drinks and a majority of the party inside. My dining room table was transformed into the buffet table. I hung a grass skirt around the table, then laid 3 large bananas leaves down and any other exposed table was covered with bamboo place mats. I put exotic flowers in a tiki vase as the main centerpiece. Candles, coconuts, tikis and seashells were placed around on the table. The food was served in white and hand made wooden bowls. I served Chicken & pork on skewers marinated in ginger and pineapple soy sauce. A large bowl of fruit, Hawaiian bread rolls, nuts, and homemade mango salsa for the sides.

In the kitchen is where the “Tiki Bar” was located. I hung a string of flower lights under the cabinets, and set up an ice tin, cups, shakers, mixers, alcohol, and beer tub for guests to help themselves.

My lanai (patio) table also had banana leaves and a string of flower lights for my guests that needed an after dinner mint (smokers). In the back yard along our privacy fence was a string of blub lights and tiki torches were placed around the yard for that nice warm glow.

I had a great time not only at the party but planning the party! My friends & guests all came dress in Hawaiian attire. Hawaiian music playing in the back ground. All in all the party was a huge success. I’m looking forward to my next event, my son’s 3^rd birthday.

What a fun party! Thanks to Morgan Campero for sharing.

Are you working on any theme parties? If so, we’d love to hear about  them.