GOOD TASTE MAKES UP FOR A HOST OF SINS

Candy, you’ve made such a good point. Bad taste just makes things so much worse. Reminds me of a story I did 10 years ago about the former head of Dallas County Corrections, who used his department’s money to buy bedroom furniture for a female employee, among other things. Most people understand that using county money to curry personal favors is not ethical. But what most readers failed to get was just how tacky this guy’s taste was. Picture a whole suite of vanilla French provincial from Levitt’s. It was the seediest part of the whole story for me.

Oh, and then there was poor Ryan Amacher, who was the president of UTA until he started spending the school’s money on lavish parties and fancy furniture for his office. I interviewed him in that office, and I was impressed — It was all Herman Miller in shades of cream and blue. The guy had good taste. Made my job so much easier.

RAISING THE ROOF

FYI: Check out the roof INSIDE and OUT before you buy it. I recently put a contract on a cute little house only to find that a roofer had put composition shingles over wood shingles. While I at first thought this was no big deal, I later learned the home was practically uninsurable (which the mortgage company didn’t like). So it looks like this poor little house will have to have a new roof — from the platform up!
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BURNING FOR YOU

Claus Porto should be no stranger to lovers of stylish hand soaps. Both Nuvo and Neiman Marcus carry the Portuguese maker’s wares. Now, Nuvo has the candles and with tantalizing names such as red poppy, sweet tobacco, and mimosa, the candles prove to be just as scent-a-licious as Claus Porto’s wonderful soaps. Plus, the packaging is too cool. Head to Nuvo to check them out or find them on the web here.

NOTICED!

A friend e-mailed something I had totally forgotten:

“My point exactly. Remember former DISD superintendent Yvonne Gonzales and her horrific rosewood furniture that she embezzled from the district?

She should have been jailed just for her bad taste alone.”

Exactly. If you are going to use the school district funds to pay for your furniture, at least go to George Cameron Nash and order something of quality and beauty. Ditto Baker Knapp and Tubbs, where stuff is worth going to jail for. (Well, if you are Yvonne Gonzales. Where is she now anyhow?)

EVER NOTICED?

That when white collar crooks are busted, like former Congressman Randy Cunningham, they all seem to have over-indulged in antiques, decorative accessories, fancy homes, art, paintings, jewelry?

Certainly these are very unscrupulous characters, but I kind of understand how tempting it must be to want these things after the first million.

Maybe we should grant pardons based on the level of good taste in the artifacts they acquired? At least artifacts of good taste will fetch more when Christie’s auctions them off! (Credit photo New York Times, Monica Almeida)

THE BETTER BABY

I’m always amazed at how much we spend on babies and children. When my niece was born 15 years ago, I spent every last dime on cute clothes for her. She outgrew them before wearing them, or hated them by the time she grew into them. These blankets and sheets from ducduc are described thusly: “Designed so families don’t have to check their aesthetic at the door of their new nursery…” A 300-count sheet set is $350. They’ll be out soon at Design Within Reach. Happily, 10 percent of the profits will go to children’s charities….

BUY A TICKET, WIN A HOUSE, HELP THE CHILDREN

All-Star Miracle Home, a home giveaway program that began in Phoenix in 1996, and Meritage Homes broke ground today on a $500,000, 4,000-square-feet house in Carrollton’s Dominion at Indian Creek, a luxury community near Lake Lewisville. Benefiting Children’s Medical Center Dallas, Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, and the Dallas Mavericks Foundation, the home will be raffled off in February 2007.

Tickets are $100 (call 1- 877-564-7225 or go here to purchase yours), and no more than 20,000 will be sold. In theory, you could buy them all, but then you would have paid $2 million for a $500,000 house, which just isn’t smart business (but you would get the good karma from helping kids, plus it’s a tax write off, so it’s really your call).

TEAK AND STYLE

Sutherland Teak just keeps pushing the boundaries of “outdoor furniture” with his new Hameau Collection by John Hutton. Just as Sutherland’s sister company Perennials has blurred any distinction between indoor and outdoor fabrics, so have teak designs moved out of the straight, clunky lines of the past. Good thing teak is sustainable, with all the new styles, looks, and shapes it has acquired.

GMAB II

One last thing before I settle to write…sharpening my pencils so to speak. I was out and about all day and heard that a certain city magazine, well, let’s say a magazine that has a severe identity crisis and thinks it is a city magazine. Yes it is a young one, large, glossy, free….Take a guess and if you’re right, you get a chocolate Easter egg. Anyhow this magazine called my friend Bill Lawrence and offered to feature him in a high profile story about Dallas’ top male movers. Bill was quite honored until he learned that this high profile mention would cost him $5,000!

“My ego just isn’t that big,” he says, “to pay for that kind of publicity. Ridiculous.”

Yeah, I agree. Ridiculous. And desperate, too!

GIVE ME A BREAK–NOT A CREDIT CARD!

One of my fave blogs features a great piece about credit card debt, THEN I scroll down and see that the blog is financed by ads for zero percent interest credit cards!

YING AND YANG

So yesterday I spent some time with Diane Cheatam, home builder extraordinaire, developer of Urban Reserve, a 50-lot contemporary development off Royal Lane near Central (homes range from $350K to more than a million). She is just a fabulous person interested in urban development, planning, everything. We talked about concerns over too much urban development — a plethora of downtown condos — “I cannot imagine where the people are coming to buy those,” saith she.

Then TODAY I talked with Chris Cole of Cole & Co., a local manufacturer of custom bathroom vanities, who has grown his 6-year-old Dallas company so fast, so successfully that his firm was just named by Inc. 500 as one of the fastest growing companies in America…
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STEPHANIE ANNE’S SHOW HOUSE

Stephanie Anne, whose charming interior decoration for children has recently expanded to include grown-ups, has just finished doing the interiors for a 7,500-square-foot house located at 4465 Rheims Place. It will be on tour Saturday and Sunday, April 1-2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Go here for more details on the tour.

Get this — Stephanie Anne decorated the entire house in one month. Stay posted, we will show you pictures of the interiors as we get them.

RE: YOU’RE ONLY AS OLD…

Roger, I would like to see the garden, too. I’ll drive you; you’re not old enough.

RE: YOU’RE ONLY AS OLD AS…

So if 50 if the new 30, what does that mean for me, Peggy?

I’m going to view the Simmons’ garden today (in all its glory)–can I borrow the car?

OVER THE HILL

Well Peggy, I guess we are over the hill…over 30 that is, but only by a smidgen. That five-oh is the new three-oh (never say the words) just makes my day! After my five days in geriatricsville, I have also decided that our generation will NEVER, repeat NEVER utilize those chrome walker things (even in five-oh years!). So Ralph Lauren, Diane Von Furstenburg, Nate Berkus, someone please start designing now….what could be better than a walker with matching stilletos designed by Dolce and Gabbana?

RE: WISTERIA SALE

A D Home fanatic with a penchant for PR has this to say about Wisteria:

Have you been to the outlet at I-35 and Regal Row? They’re open on Thursday and Friday. It’s hit and miss, but last year I got four tufted black leather slipper chairs on casters for $35 each. That’s cheap.

Yes, it is, and I love a good steal. Those new to the outlet can find it here.

YOU’RE ONLY AS OLD…..

It’s confirmed - by no less a source than Katie Couric on The Today Show. 50 is the new 30. Yay! Who’s with me here?

PLEASING PLEATS

Only two of the original Delphos dresses remain that Mariano Fortuny designed for the Countess Elsie McNeill Lee–and they are coming to Dallas. They will be on display at the Ellouise Abbott showroom for their grand opening May 11–hand-carried from the museum in New York. Delphos refers to the pleating machine that Fortuny invented in the early 1900s.

IT’S ALL GOOD FOR GOOD FULTON

A fellow O.C. dwelling D Home fanatic has this to report:

I don’t know how familiar you are with Preservation Dallas. I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt since you’re more than likely in Kessler or Stevens Park. My firm, Good Fulton & Farrell, recently received a Preservation Achievement Award for its restoration of the Embarcadero Building at Fair Park.

Congrats to Good Fulton & Farrell. The Embarcadero is a lovely and important George Dahl design. And GFF does great work. Check them out here.

ANYONE NEED A WOODEN PARAT CHEAP?

If you’re in the market for some home furnishings with a slightly worn, ethnic bend, then check out local mail-order purveyor Wisteria’s online sale. Lots of great goodies: mother-of-pearl trimmed mirrors, meditation tables, hand-painted folding chairs, and the like. (And, pssst, you didn’t hear it from us but this is where a lot of local interior decorators shop for those “hard to find, one of a kind” treasures.)

URBAN BLOSSOM ART EVENT

Please tell me that you have been to Addison Circle. It’s just one of the coolest little architectural enclaves in the city, that’s all. And if you haven’t had the pleasure, here’s an excuse: Tonight — Tuesday night — The Urban Blossom will open its doors from 7 to 9 p.m. to celebrate the work of Dallas artist Gregory Bergeron. I particularly like the piece shown here, Campanile. Wine and light hors d’oeuvres will be served. UB is located at 5035 Addison Circle East. 972.763.0808. RSVP at www.theurbanblossom.com.

TRADE SECRETS COMPANION

By now, I’m sure you’ve all run out and picked up the latest copy of D Home (that’s the garden I wrote about on our cover–mmmhmm, that’s right). If so, I’m sure you’ve turned to page 56 to read Christine Wilson’s fabulous story on the return to prominence of the Belmont Hotel and Fort Worth Avenue. Turns out, Christine dug up so many interesting facts about the area, we couldn’t possible fit them all in the magazine. So, as a gift to you, dear readers, we’re posting Christine’s insight into the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group here. Enjoy!
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EINSTEIN’S CUT OF MEAT

I spent our stormy Saturday curled up with this book. While it is neither about Einstein nor new (it came out in 2002), I wanted to tell you to get it, if you haven’t already. My boyfriend is studying to be a chef, and for him it’s practical knowledge about the science of cooking. To me, each chapter was as fascinating as a short story. Still, I got plenty of science out of it. If I had read it earlier, I could have defended the poor butcher in Whole Foods who was being berated by a customer. Seems some of the rib eyes in the case had brown patches (not the ones on top, but the ones underneath). If you’ve read this book, you’ll understand why the ones underneath were supposed to be brown.

AVOCADO FLOCK

I have returned from a few days of geriatric immersion, visiting my uncle in suburban Chicago to celebrate his 95th birthday. He lives alone in a 3,500-square-foot home: he still (gulp!) drives his Lincoln Mark IV. (Trivia: he told me the Mark IV is named after a WWII German tank.) Uncle John was my mother’s closest sibling and now that she is gone, I check on him. Being in his home for a few days saturated me in the decor many of us boomers grew up with: olive green kitchens, flocked wallpaper, shag carpet, white French provincial. I felt so happily retro in his home I asked if he would will me the two blue grape-cluster light fixtures hanging over the gold-rimmed sink in the blue-flocked hall bathroom.
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PICASSO IN MAY

Anyone with a few extra bucks should plan to be in New York on May 2 for the Impressionist and Modern Art sale at Christies. This 1932 painting Le Repos is expected to fetch between $15.000.000 and $20,000,000. Pocket change for our loyal blog readers!