Million Dollar Decorators: Episode 1

 

Mary McDonald and Nate Turner arrive for Kathryn Ireland's birthday party bearing quite a cake!

Okay, so my initial thoughts on MDD Episode 1: These designers all took an incredibly huge risk in doing this show. They risk looking unprofessional, ungrateful and unkempt. On the other hand, how many of us, when under considerable stress, would look and act great with cameras trailing around after us 100% of the time? When I blogged on Bravo's Top Design, the designers on those shows had relatively little public profile - the were all professionals, but not quite big names either. Twitter and FB didn't play a big role, but this time, the people tweeting and commenting are a highly professional and dedicated group of professional designers (some with as big, or bigger careers than those on the show). And, the initial commentary is a very mixed bag indeed.  Many negative comments were flying via public tweet and private message. These shows are produced because they are dramatic and there's big business in drama. Mix the drama with celebrity (Sharon Osborn plays a big role in epi 1) and million dollar budgets and BravoTV is in pig heaven. Professional designers all seem a bit leary - will this make the rest of us look bad? Will the long held negative stereotypes of our industry (stereotypes regarding blown budgets, overbearing decorators and clients not getting what they want) be reinforced? Or, will we see real people, warts and all, just trying to satisfy a demanding clientele? After all, Sharon O seemed completely unfazed at making Martyn Lawrence Bullard completely decorate a new apartment in a matter of days. And, one wonders, what other client's work was pushed aside in order to accomplish this feat? Time will tell. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Meanwhile, here's a round up of places to go to hear what others are saying:

Tweet-a-palooza! 

There were three tweet hashtags going on during episode one. A little crazy, but some of the best commentary comes in less than 140 characters. I highly recommend using TweetChat.com because it makes following all the aggregated tweets so much easier, plus, it appends the hashtag on automatically.

#mddbravotv (the one I use) http://tweetchat.com/room/mddbravotv

#mdd  http://tweetchat.com/room/mdd

and 

#milliondollardecorators  http://tweetchat.com/room/milliondollardecorators

Mary McDonald is shocked that her clients are getting a divorce and are selling the house that MM not only decorated, but also considers her own.

Some of my favorite tweets: 

@amandawaas: Here's a tip: never let anyone with the word "teen" in their age plan a party. All you'll end up with is a bag of Fritos and tears. #mdd -11:21 PM May 31st, 2011

whitwestbrook Whitney A. Westbrook

#MDD Yay! Looks like real design stress in upcoming episodes! When I saw the antique tile being destroyed, I threw up a little. Good sign.

ErikaatBluLabel Erika Ward

Ok, so Sharon Osbourne is the highlight of the show. They should bring her back next week, no? #MDDBravotv 

@vickinoe I AM having a cocktail while watching this #mddbravotv. Much easier to watch that way #mddbravotv

karidesigns Kari Fisher

at least amongst the silly decorator personalities, they are showing the hardworking design assistants #MDD #madlovebehindthescenes

 Ross Cassidy (JAM's bf and assistant) and Jeffry Alan Marks disagree on a Martyn Lawrence Bullard fabric. 

Textiles flying and eyeballs rolling!

And the designers own Twitter handles: @MARYMCDONALDINC  @MartynBullard   jeffreymarksinc @KathrynMIreland  @nathanturner and @NTurnerDesign 

In others' words: recaps from the blogosphere: (this section may be added to throughout the week, so check back!)

Design Blahg - THE funniest captions
Raina Cox on Curbed offers her designers' eye and knows the difference between Eames and van der Rohe, unlike a certain $$$$$$$$$ decorator 

Will you be back for Episode Two?

Who is your favorite designer so far?
	Kathryn M. Ireland
	Mary McDonald
	Martyn Lawrence Bullard
	Jeffrey Alan Marks
	Nate Turner
pollcode.com free polls

 

Who was your favorite non-designer charachter?
	Ross Cassidy (JAM's bf and assistant)
	4 pug dogs (Mary McD's)
	Kathryn Ireland's French Housekeeper
	Kathryn Ireland's sons
	Sharon Osborne
pollcode.com free polls

If you would like my help on your design project, I would love to chat with you! Please email me. Thanks!

 Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Million Dollar Decorators: Episode 1

 

Mary McDonald and Nate Turner arrive for Kathryn Ireland's birthday party bearing quite a cake!

Okay, so my initial thoughts on MDD Episode 1: These designers all took an incredibly huge risk in doing this show. They risk looking unprofessional, ungrateful and unkempt. On the other hand, how many of us, when under considerable stress, would look and act great with cameras trailing around after us 100% of the time? When I blogged on Bravo's Top Design, the designers on those shows had relatively little public profile - the were all professionals, but not quite big names either. Twitter and FB didn't play a big role, but this time, the people tweeting and commenting are a highly professional and dedicated group of professional designers (some with as big, or bigger careers than those on the show). And, the initial commentary is a very mixed bag indeed.  Many negative comments were flying via public tweet and private message. These shows are produced because they are dramatic and there's big business in drama. Mix the drama with celebrity (Sharon Osborn plays a big role in epi 1) and million dollar budgets and BravoTV is in pig heaven. Professional designers all seem a bit leary - will this make the rest of us look bad? Will the long held negative stereotypes of our industry (stereotypes regarding blown budgets, overbearing decorators and clients not getting what they want) be reinforced? Or, will we see real people, warts and all, just trying to satisfy a demanding clientele? After all, Sharon O seemed completely unfazed at making Martyn Lawrence Bullard completely decorate a new apartment in a matter of days. And, one wonders, what other client's work was pushed aside in order to accomplish this feat? Time will tell. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Meanwhile, here's a round up of places to go to hear what others are saying:

Tweet-a-palooza! 

There were three tweet hashtags going on during episode one. A little crazy, but some of the best commentary comes in less than 140 characters. I highly recommend using TweetChat.com because it makes following all the aggregated tweets so much easier, plus, it appends the hashtag on automatically.

#mddbravotv (the one I use) http://tweetchat.com/room/mddbravotv

#mdd  http://tweetchat.com/room/mdd

and 

#milliondollardecorators  http://tweetchat.com/room/milliondollardecorators

Mary McDonald is shocked that her clients are getting a divorce and are selling the house that MM not only decorated, but also considers her own.

Some of my favorite tweets: 

@amandawaas: Here's a tip: never let anyone with the word "teen" in their age plan a party. All you'll end up with is a bag of Fritos and tears. #mdd -11:21 PM May 31st, 2011

whitwestbrook Whitney A. Westbrook

#MDD Yay! Looks like real design stress in upcoming episodes! When I saw the antique tile being destroyed, I threw up a little. Good sign.

ErikaatBluLabel Erika Ward

Ok, so Sharon Osbourne is the highlight of the show. They should bring her back next week, no? #MDDBravotv 

@vickinoe I AM having a cocktail while watching this #mddbravotv. Much easier to watch that way #mddbravotv

karidesigns Kari Fisher

at least amongst the silly decorator personalities, they are showing the hardworking design assistants #MDD #madlovebehindthescenes

 Ross Cassidy (JAM's bf and assistant) and Jeffry Alan Marks disagree on a Martyn Lawrence Bullard fabric. 

Textiles flying and eyeballs rolling!

And the designers own Twitter handles: @MARYMCDONALDINC  @MartynBullard   jeffreymarksinc @KathrynMIreland  @nathanturner and @NTurnerDesign 

In others' words: recaps from the blogosphere: (this section may be added to throughout the week, so check back!)

Design Blahg - THE funniest captions
Raina Cox on Curbed offers her designers' eye and knows the difference between Eames and van der Rohe, unlike a certain $$$$$$$$$ decorator 

Will you be back for Episode Two?

Who is your favorite designer so far?
	Kathryn M. Ireland
	Mary McDonald
	Martyn Lawrence Bullard
	Jeffrey Alan Marks
	Nate Turner
pollcode.com free polls

 

Who was your favorite non-designer charachter?
	Ross Cassidy (JAM's bf and assistant)
	4 pug dogs (Mary McD's)
	Kathryn Ireland's French Housekeeper
	Kathryn Ireland's sons
	Sharon Osborne
pollcode.com free polls

If you would like my help on your design project, I would love to chat with you! Please email me. Thanks!

 Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Mazda RX-8

Mazda RX-8

Million Dollar Decorators premiers tonight!

Join me TONIGHT on Twitter #mddbravotv  ( http://tweetchat.com/room/mddbravotv ) to chat about this new series featuring the crazy lives and businesses of designers Kathryn Ireland, Mary McDonald, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Nathan Turner and Jeffrey Allen Marks. I'll be interviewing each of the designers throughout the 8 week season, so stay tuned for that. Editor at Large has already done a series of interviews, which you can read here and here.

I've seen the first episode and it's fast paced and eye opening. The entire series looks like a hoot and I think professional designers will really be fascinated, appalled, jealous and sympathetic to the real world of high-budget and high-stakes decorating. And "civilian" viewers will likely be astonished by the dollars that can be spent on decorating. This isn't your mother's HGTV, that's for sure!

So, join me on Twitter, 10PM EST tonight and every Tuesday throughout the season to share your thoughts on the show, it will be fun! Twitter hashtag #mddbravotv

If you would like my help on your design project, I would love to chat with you! Please email me. Thanks!

 Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

Million Dollar Decorators premiers tonight!

Join me TONIGHT on Twitter #mddbravotv  ( http://tweetchat.com/room/mddbravotv ) to chat about this new series featuring the crazy lives and businesses of designers Kathryn Ireland, Mary McDonald, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Nathan Turner and Jeffrey Allen Marks. I'll be interviewing each of the designers throughout the 8 week season, so stay tuned for that. Editor at Large has already done a series of interviews, which you can read here and here.

I've seen the first episode and it's fast paced and eye opening. The entire series looks like a hoot and I think professional designers will really be fascinated, appalled, jealous and sympathetic to the real world of high-budget and high-stakes decorating. And "civilian" viewers will likely be astonished by the dollars that can be spent on decorating. This isn't your mother's HGTV, that's for sure!

So, join me on Twitter, 10PM EST tonight and every Tuesday throughout the season to share your thoughts on the show, it will be fun! Twitter hashtag #mddbravotv

If you would like my help on your design project, I would love to chat with you! Please email me. Thanks!

 Subscribe to ::Surroundings::

2012 Fiat 500c

2012 Fiat 500c

Fiat just can't wait for spring. We wouldn't want to wait either if we were behind the wheel of Fiat's latest 500 variant: the 500c convertible. Fiat chose this week's New York auto show to debut the 500c for America.
The cute-as-a-button design from the hard-top 500 is carried over, swapping out the roof panel for an electrically folding soft top. The new roof is not a traditional convertible, though -- the A-, B-, and C-pillars remain intact along with the roof rails. What that means is that even with the top lowered, passengers will not get a full open-air experience; a good or a bad thing depending on how much you value your hairdo.
The roof is inspired by the canvas roof that was available when the original Fiat Cinquecento premiered in 1957. While the old car's roof only rolled back to the end of the roof panel and was powered by elbow grease, the 2012 500c's top is electrically actuated and can fold all the way back to rest behind the rear headrests. Driver's can drop the top to its fully open position at up to 50 mph, or fold the roof back to the integrated spoiler to create an open sunroof at up to 60 mph. Opening the rear trunk will cause the roof to lift up, allowing unobstructed access to the diminutive, 5.4-cubic-foot luggage compartment.
The look of the 500c is almost identical to that of the hatchback; however, Fiat has extended the windshield to help reduce wind buffeting with the top down and to give rear passengers better forward visibility with the top up. Hidden in the new windshield is a reinforced upper cross member to help maintain structural rigidity once the roads get twisty.
Color options for the 500c are plentiful, offering the same 14 exterior hues as the hardtop, as well as the choice between ivory or black interior dash and gauge trim. The seats are available in 12 different combinations, with the lower part of the buckets wearing either fabric or leather and the headrests matching the dashboard trim. Buyers will have three choices for soft top colors: nero (black), beige, and bordeaux (red).

2012 Fiat 500c

2012 Fiat 500c

2012 Fiat 500c

Volkswagen New Beetle Convertible by CarFilmComponents

CarFilmComponents, adhesive company, had used an "old" Volkswagen Beetle Convertible New to demonstrate its expertise at Tuning World Bodensee.

If the car is not new, nor preparation for the adhesive, it turns out that the final SWC has just been released. At Tuning World Bodensee, at the beginning of May, CarFilmComponents was gradually covered the body of the New Beetle. The German tuner, armed with tape and a printer, applied without much complication to decorate drawings wildest bumpers and low-to-cash small convertible. The interior is also revised, including the custom door moldings.

2012 Dodge Avenger RT

2012 Dodge Avenger RT

Given its muddied history, we'll forgive you for brushing off Dodge's latest batch of R/T models. Although the R/T badge once signified a vehicle designed to tease, excite, and appease the enthusiast, in recent years, the nameplate was haphazardly applied to almost every Dodge, many of which drove no better than their conventional cousins.
The R/T range has been renewed and expanded for 2011, but its original purpose is on the way to being restored. Dodge brand CEO Ralph Gilles has promised all future R/T models will offer a "higher level of dynamic capability" -- and that appears to hold true for the 2012 Avenger R/T, which debuts this week at the 2011 New York auto show.
As is the case with other current models in the R/T portfolio (now including the Charger, Grand Caravan, Durango, and Journey), the new sport-tuned Avenger doesn't receive any wild bump underhood. In fact, it continues to make use of the same 3.6-liter, 283-horsepower Pentastar V-6 found in lesser Avengers, matched up to a six-speed automatic transmission.
In other words, it's not exactly a configuration that's going to raise eyebrows, quicken pulses, and set Internet discussion boards afire. But wait: In the immortal words of Ron Popeil, there's more.
The secret, or so we're told, lies entirely with chassis tuning. Lo, engineers have had their way with the Avenger's suspension bits in an attempt to liven up a front-drive platform long regarded as more milquetoast than magnificent. The Dodge crew says stiffness is increased by 18 percent, while front and rear spring rates are upped by 17 and 12 percent, respectively.

2012 Dodge Avenger RT

2012 Dodge Avenger RT

2012 Dodge Avenger RT