The City That Never Sleeps: Business of Design Conference In New York

 

After attending David Shepherd’s one day conference in Dallas last spring and gleaning so much from it – myself and four of my designer friends decided to attend his design conference in New York City last week.  When the anticipated time finally arrived we jetted off together to enjoy our stay, meet other designers, learn some new tips on running our businesses and escape the stifling Texas heat.   And all was accomplished beautifully with the exception of that last little part – escaping the Texas heat!  We arrived to find the weather as muggy and humid as Dallas!  But, of course, that didn’t stop us from enjoying every last minute.  Not only was the seminar successful from the standpoint of business we got to meet some of the most successful, talented, amazing, famous interior designers in the country.  Not to mention just plain nice, and forthcoming in their advice and eagerness to share.  A wonderful New York experience for the five of us Dallas designer chicks!  Take a look:

This is the lobby of the century old Roosevelt Hotel where we stayed and where the seminar took place.  It’s an older hotel with marble floors, traditional furnishings and some of the original details such as the ceiling and some of the fixtures.  Definitely a hustling, bustling place – people coming and going constantly.  When we first got there this amazing floral greeting us. 

 

During our stay the floral got changed out to this beautiful arrangement. By the way always keep an eye out for beautiful details in hotels that you visit that you might  like to incorporate into your own home.   Like this marble floor pattern for example – it would look great in a large entry way.

 

Traditional furnishings and rugs graced the hotel sitting areas.  I love the colors in this rug.

 

Notice the detail in the ceiling?  This could be duplicated in your own home. 

 

Touches of greenery in traditional urns were sprinkled throughout.  I’ve always liked this timeless look for a touch of greenery.  Would something like this work in your home?  You could paint the urn a fun color or give it an interesting faux finish to snazz it up and customize it for your own space.

 

Once we were settled in and had toured the hotel a bit the five Dallas designer chicks  had to toast our arrival with these beautiful drinks.   

 

The rooftop bar offered some amazing views.  Too bad it was too bloody hot to enjoy it during the day!  At night when the sun went down it wasn’t so bad.

 

Another amazing view from the rooftop bar.

 The next morning it was down to business with David and his wonderful guest speakers.  A full day of learning, learning, and more learning. 

These are the five of us from Dallas with David Shepherd, the founder of “The Business of Design”, who headed up the conference.  (From left to right:  Traci, Kristi, David, Myself, Dot and Barbara)

 

As I said there were many wonderful designers there that we had the privilege of spending time with.  Not only are they extremely successful designers, but warm, friendly, wonderful and inspiring.  Below are just a few of the talented men and women we met.

 

This is a precious designer named Vita Vygovsky.  She is a successful businesswoman and window treatment designer in Pennsylvania and has written a book called: The Business Of Interior Design.  In addition to this she was one of the speakers at the conference sharing her story of arriving here from the Ukraine at the age of 15 and her determination to go to college here and succeed in this country.  I would say mission accomplished!

 

This wonderful man is the talented Skip Sroka in Bethesda, Maryland.  He does incredible work and has had his work published in popular design magazines.  His current home was just published in an issue of Traditional Home this passed summer.  In addition to his talents he is just one of the warmest, nicest guys I met there.  Not to mention cute, cool and hip!

 

 I met this glamorous young lady before at a private luncheon with designer, Joe Ruggiero, last winter in Dallas, and was so happy to see her again in New York.   She’s none other than the talented Shay Geyer with IBB Design in Dallas.  Some of you who are local may see her on Friday mornings on Good Morning Texas sharing new products and design tips.  She is such a little cutie-patootey!  A real sweetheart – and always so “chic” looking. (Yes, you are, Shay!)

 

 Okay, and one of my favorite peeps and someone I had so hoped to meet was the famous Ms. Tobi Fairley.   In addition to being one of the keynote speakers, she has a very successful blog chock-full of her great designs, magazine publications and TV appearances.  In fact her March cover for House Beautiful is up for Magazine Cover Of The Year.  How cool is that?

 

Last, but not least, is this nice gentlemen, Craig, who was there with his lovely wife, Christina. (She volunteered to take the picture rather than be in the picture!)  Both wonderful to talk to and extremely forthcoming with the ups and downs and joys of the design business.  They have a very successful company called C2Limited Design Associates designing resorts, hotels and second and third luxury homes.  Some of their work can be seen in an upcoming issue of Coastal Living Magazine. Keep an eye out for their blog which should be launched soon.

It was a fun, learning experience for all of us Dallas designer girls and we enjoyed every minute of it!  I’ll be posting more pictures of the event at later dates, but that’s all for the moment.  Now it’s time to get to get back to the business of design!