St. Louis Magazine’s Living Space of the Year contest winner shows us her office

And herrrrrrrrre’s Joi! Part 2. Come along and see her office transformed with paint, and I am not talking paint on the walls, but on the window treatments, lamps, chairs and chandelier. This girl knows how to use a spray can. Her little index finger must get real sore. But oh is it worth it and I think you’ll agree. Her office looks so chic.

DIYers take note: Spray paint is a decorator’s best friend. It is often easier to shop for shape in our accessories and paint it the color you prefer. And it gives you the option to change the color of your decor anytime you please.

Catch Joi on the Nate Berkus show tomorrow 9 a.m., on channel 4 if you live in St. Louis. Following the Nate’s show she will appear on Great Day St. Louis.  Joi will show us how she is one of the thrifiest decorators in America. You won’t see Joi’s office on the show, but you can right here. Alrighty now, click and be inspired:

Winner St. Louis Magazine Living Space of the Year — part 2

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So I used a new template provided by Microsoft’s Windows Movie Maker. Do you like it or is it cheesy? I don’t control the transitions, they just happen in some random order I can’t figure out. The new version of Microsoft movie is better than the last. I have greater control over the music volume now. I can have the music louder at the beginning and softer during speaking parts. I still want a mac and Imovie, but Windows Movie Maker works until I can afford it. Saving my pennies I am. With Joi’s inspiration, I can decorate for less and have money leftover for my mac!

Joi, winner of St. Louis Magazine’s Living Space of the Year, shows us her guest bedroom

I had the opportunity to judge the St. Louis Magazine’s Living Space of the Year contest, sponsored by Woodard Cleaning and Restoration Services and by Phillips Furniture where I work.  Joi Svesia won the contest with her outstanding living room. This begins a series of videos showcasing not only her winning living room, but other rooms in her home. Joi is remarkable and I think you’ll agree. She shows us style is achievable on any budgets.

Winner of St. Louis Magazine’s Best Living Space

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St. Louis interior designers share top decorating tips

Designspeak is a blog dedicated to interior design in St Louis.  It was started by Kimberly Ruether, whose goal is to promote area talent, resources and ideas for the home.  I am on the designspeak team. Recently, we held a networking event we call a “speakeasy”. I asked area designers to share their number one design tip.

SSDO – Designspeak speakeasy_x264

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maryann’s custom kitchen

My Movie Maryann’s custom kitchen

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I worked with my clients Maryann and Caroline to give their kitchen a facelift.  Maryann was a  good sport to let me video tape her and the team. She shares tips for working with a designer from a homeowner’s perspective. And Marc of Homefix, while short on DIY tips is long on entertainment. He kept us laughing which is always important for a home improvement project. 

We used the existing cabinets, but everything else is custom. Sticking to a budget is always a challenge, but as Maryann points out, with perseverance and professional guidance you can have a space that looks high-end on a modest budget.

Stay tuned for Maryann’s office redo.

see dana visit jonathan adler

I don’t usually share with clients my personal style. That is because I want them to know my focus is on them. I don’t market myself by a signature style — though there may come a day before I die that I will,  just for fun, because life is too short – rather, I market myself as being client-focused to bring out “their” personal style.

So I am about to let you in on a secret and inside my world of design and share my personal style.  I favor a style that is best described as “hip and happy”. And no one does hip and happy better than Jonathan Adler; he is my style hero.

See Dana shop Jonathan Adler’s Store

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Follow me as I tour his store in Chicago. 

Dwight the manager and his staff were so accommodating to this crazy lady talking into a camera. They joined in and made it fun. But of course they would, they are associated with the most funnest – not to mention chicest, deluxest, happiest – designer/retailer of home furnishings in the universe.

designHop club at Maggie’s

See what happens when friends get together to remake a space: introducing my design club we call “designHop”.  Keep in mind, there is little advance planning and we never know who will show up for the two-hour meeting… well, in truth it often turns into four hours.

This time we met at Maggie’s home. Natalie joined us for the first time and surprised us with her painting expertise. It was a great success. Maggie didn’t think there was much we could do, but as always, we keep surprising ourselves. The magic of collaboration!

If you live in the St. Louis area and would like to join us this Tuesday, just leave a comment. If you want to learn how you can start a designHop club, just send me an email to dana@danasdesignstudio.com

SDDO-designHop at Maggie’s_x264

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I filmed this with my flip cam. Members of the club took turns filming. This time I tried using different music in the background, like five or six different scores. Tell me, what do you think? Too many different ones or does it make it interesting? I kinda like it, but it seems like most shows I watch only have two to three different scores in a half hour show.

see dana do towel art

We have all observed artful ways to display towels. I have seen just too much of the tie-in-the-middle-with-raffia approach — that is so last century. Or the typical and less artful – albeit skillful – fallback: hang the towels in pairs side-by-side. Yes, traditional, but yawn-boring. And the very common lifestyle approach: hang ‘em on a hook. I admit, I do this on most days.

But towels are ringing out (pun intended) for much more attention than we give them. They are a given element in a bathroom, why not be inventive and playful with our terry cloth?

See Dana do towel art

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I didn’t invent creative towel placement. The credit might go to hoteliers who have mastered and proliferated the art. But I have given a name to the practice.

Introducing: “towel art“.

Afterall, if we call it “art” won’t we take it more seriously? Maybe not, but I do hope we will have more fun with towels. And kids love art, so maybe they will get into it too and even pick up those towels off the floor. “Hey mom, look what I made! Look at my towel art!”

I  shot this with my flip camera and edited it in Microsoft Movie Maker. My husband filmed me until he got bored. Mostly it was me in my bathroom, clothes on. Weird because I was standing in my bath tub the whole time.  Lighting and make up were a challenge, but hey, I do the best with what I have.

If this inspires you to engage in towel art, I hope you’ll send me photos or videos of YOUR terry cloth creations. Just leave a comment or email me. If you all get serious about this — as in we have more than one competitor and so it becomes a contest – I’ll come up with a prize…maybe, I’ll throw in a towel.

Vote for my OWN show!

Please vote for my OWN show on Oprah’s new network.

Click HERE.

Thank you!

second try — my audition for my OWN show

Here is a second version of my audition for my OWN (Oprah’s network) show. A lot of you liked the energy of my first video, but thought that it was too rehearsed. You told me to be myself.

The truth is I needed to rehearse more and to relax.  I guess when you want something bad enough you try too hard sometimes. This is great practice.

Note to self: don’t try too hard.  

Again, feedback is very appreciated.

Audition for OWN final 2

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My audition for the OWN network

Oprah has a contest to decide the next talk show star on her new network OWN. There are several categories of shows.  I’ll enter the design category.

Here is my audition. I would love your feedback. If I get the thumbs up from a few of you, I will enter it. If I need to do it again, I will.

Audition for OWN final 1

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