2011 February | Katie Rosenfeld Design

28FebThis Above All

To Thyne Own Self Be True

Day one at the first annual Design Bloggers Conference in LA and as usual with me, a little drama to keep it real. I think I may be coming down with the flu.

It’s hard enough for me to wrap my 42 year old healthy head around all this technology, and how it is affecting daily change within my trade— as well as in my day to day life. The keynote speaker commented that bloggers are all part of a “renaissance movement’—that will ultimately change the landscape of how the design business works.

And so it is, with every business out there. I suppose it’s just the world today. Print magazines folding, online versions launching; it’s changing fast and it’s all very exciting.

And to hear Grace Bonney, founder of Design Sponge, speak about her 7 year history (she may be one of the first design bloggers)— I felt as though like I am somehow late for a super fabulous party….but it’s all okay. Better late than never, I suppose. I need to keep my focus on the design work I do, and the people I do it for—and remember this blog is just another vehicle to communicate and to let off some extra creative steam.

In any sceanrio there are pioneers and those who follow and not everyone gets to be a pioneer. Sometimes it’s good to just be a sponge…. I will leave you with one super-exhilarating image: I trekked down to Roberston to Newsroom Cafe (because even with flu-symptoms, I had to have a tofu ceasar salad and mint iced tea.)

I casually jay walked across the street, and who did I stumble upon? One of my idols, the dapper Carson Kressley in all his splendor lunching patio-side at The Ivy. He was sweet enough to let me take this photo.

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26FebLA Bound

It’s been a full 2 years since I returned to LA; hard to believe, since I sobbed like a baby the day Doug asked me to relocate from there to Boston. That was Spring ’07. Now, I head back for a few days, to attend the Design Bloggers Conference, see old friends, eat like a pig, and maybe do some shopping, time permitting.

I will be posting while I am there, but to get in the spirit, I thought I would create a collage of all the things I can’t wait to see and taste while I am there…(sad, but true that the food comes before anything else…) The question is, are there enough meals to accomodate what I need to accomplish??? This post makes me very sentimental, and also very hungry.

A walk down memory lane….

If I had one last meal, it would be the Spicy Tuna Rice Cake at Katsu-Ya
And the Pot Roast at J.A.R. in Beverly Hills
Lobster Enchiladas and Guacamole at Casa Vega in Studio City; will I will run into my idol, Jeff Lewis?
Visit my all time favorite showroom, Hollywood at Home to see blockprinted textiles and one of a kind accesories that are so LA. Then hop down to Melrose and duck into Paul Ferrante for artisanal iron fixtures and spanish-med home decor, and walk up and down Melrose and tuck into design shops galore.
Get a facial at Kinera Spa and stroll down Roberston, sure to see something outrageous.
Grab a loaded dog at The Stand —I have a soft spot in my heart for this place; it was where my daughter and I ran into John Heder (aka Napoleon Dynamite) and got his autograph. It’s also the place I saw Dave Grohl (as in Foo Fighters) at least 5 times; I asked him “Has anyone ever told you you look like Dave Grohl?” to which he replied “Yeah, I get that alot.” Eventually, I learned he WAS Dave Grohl…
No trip to LA would be complete without a jaunt to Fred Segal (I prefer the Santa Monica location). Then we can have lunch at Urth Cafe—with the guys from Entourage perhaps? For those Kelly Wearstler worshippers, a drink at the Viceroy is just what the doctor ordered!
And while we are on the topic of drinks, my all time favorite place to have a drink (and guess what… I don’t even really drink!) is the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Their chopped salad is the mother of all chopped salads, and you are destined to run into someone famous, even if it’s just a housewife…

Wish you could come, but I will be sure to keep you posted (no pun intended)!

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24FebAnatomy of a Photoshoot

We all read glossy magazines (or look at them online at this point…) and look at the pretty pictures of these fairy-tale homes, overflowing bowls of fruit on counters, a half-sliced watermelon casually placed on the island, coordinated throws on plush sofas, and everything looking, well, just perfect.

I am here to tell you that this is not the way real people live. Everyday. Don’t we all have smushed pillows, stained rugs, papers piled up, all the accoutrement of children in the house, and opened bags of snacks on the counters? Then why do these pictures look different from the way we all live?

These houses all have great design. The right pieces. Abundant accessories. Art. Details attended to. And guess what, even if it has all these things, it will probably still require more styling and/or staging. And it still may not look like the pictures.

Check out some behind-the-scenes pictures from a photo-shoot for a recently completed design project with photographer Michael Lee. See the final photos here!

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22FebKicking It Old School

I am gearing up to attend the design bloggers conference in LA later this week, and it has me wondering about the future of my own blog, how to make it more relevant, more informative, more fun and perhaps even more addictive…

Doug handed me a NY Times article about how blogs are becoming old fashioned and that new media like Twitter and Tumblr are poised to take over the way creative people communicate with one another. Essentially predicting the death of blogs as we know them. Hmmm….

Here’s my analogy:

I resisted buying a cell phone much less a blackberry—thinking they were showy gadgets, detracting from real person-to-person relations. When I first saw my friend (who shall remain nameless) plugging play-dates into a blackberry many years ago, I almost gagged. And here I sit, blackberry in hand, I-phone on order… What I realized is that these tools will never replace a good old fashioned conversation or even talk on the telephone in a private space.

There are, of course, times and places for every gadget out there, but I remain old school when it comes to human contact and real communication. But in order to keep a foot in this new world that keeps changing each day, I have accepted I need to participate in the technology out there. Plus, it’s plain fun.

Truth is, I struggled to launch this blog for a few years—not knowing if I should just keep it old school and do the work. Thinking that sharing these thoughts and posts was somehow vain or narcissistic or blah-blah-blah…. But, after being encouraged by those around me (much like my cell phone scenario), I hopped on board the train, hoping to make it different, new, fresh and meet new people.

Who the hell knows what the future is, as far as blogs, vlogs, schmogs, or whatever. And who cares at this point? I am not going to try to run this race, but rather keep a steady stride and keep it real.

I have fun and new things planned (won’t spill the beans just yet…) and am excited for the future of this vehicle, and I hope you are, too. Meanwhile, stay tuned…