Press Alert: Jeanine Hays on Your 15 Minutes Radio

Hi guys!  Please listen in to Your 15 Minutes Radio this evening at 4pm PT / 7pm ET.  I'll be stopping by to talk about AphroChic products during the Favorite Things series.  You can listen here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/your15minutes.

Holiday Gifts Galore At One Kings Lane

It's the final day of November 2010, and the holiday season has swung into full gear.  As I'm writing this post I'm listening to my Charlie Brown Christmas album and sipping hot cider.

As the season of giving comes ever closer, I know that you are in search of the perfect gifts for family and friends.  One Kings Lane, one of my favorite shopping sites, has some fantastic selections for the person in your life who loves high-end treats (and here you won't break the bank!).  Offering luxury items at markdowns as much as 70% off retail, One Kings Lane offers beautiful pieces at every day prices.



I love the items that they curate daily in their sales.  Pieces like the Gray Malin photograph above and the Rani Arabella Love Pillow are at the top of my list.



These Vera Wang Gilded Weave bowls would make a lovely present for the holiday host.



And I have wanted one of these Python trays since I first spotted one in Domino years ago.



For the reader in your life, they also have a beautifully curated selection of Random House classics.  Get a classic set of poetry books starting at just $26.

I love sites that offer quality items at wonderful prices, and One Kings Lane definitely does that.  So, what are you waiting for?  Visit the site, sign up to become a member, and get daily deals sent to you to help expedite your holiday shopping.

Enjoy!

{Images: One Kings Lane}

Holiday Wish List: Photographik

One of our fabulous sponsors, Photographik, is holding a Cyber Monday sale today just in time for your holiday shopping.  This shop offers some fun and whimsical eco-friendly pieces that are made from 100%  recycled plastic bottle eco felt and 100% natural organic cotton.

Some of my favorite designs include the Tree With Bird Table Runner above.


Love Your Planet Pillow

And these adorable pillows are not only fun, but would make great gifts for friends with little ones.  Can't you seem them as the perfect decorative accessory for a nursery or child's bedroom?


Rainy Day Felt Pillow


Bee In Honeycomb Felt Pillow

Visit Photographik to explore additional items, including placemats and a variety of cushions that can be customized.

Happy Cyber Monday shopping!

{Images: Photographik}

AphroChic Cyber Monday Sale

It's the final day of the AphroChic sale!  If you're looking for some unique holiday gifts, be sure to check out the pillows and tabletop items in the AphroChic Shop.  Get 15% off until midnight tonight with code: HOLIDAY.

Happy Cyber Monday shopping!

The AphroChic Black Friday Sale!

The AphroChic Holiday Sale is here!  From now until Monday, enjoy 15% off everything in the shop.  Use code: HOLIDAY at checkout.

Have fun shopping!

{Image: AphroChic Brooklyn Life Table Runner}

Style Talk: Marcia Prentice

I am so excited to bring you today's Style Talk interview with Marcia Prentice.  You're likely to recognize her name, as Marcia is a writer for Apartment Therapy and a member of the cast on HGTV Design School.  Not a licensed interior designer just yet (but you wouldn't know that from her incredible portfolio), Marcia shares with us her journey from business school to interior design; the exciting projects she's worked on for her reality TV series; and what's on the horizon as she prepares to graduate and put her own mark on the world of interior design.





Why interior design?

Although interior design is a second career path for me, my love for form, materials, color, and overall interior aesthetics began before the age of 10. My father worked in the construction industry and we moved a few times whenever he found inspiration to build a new home. Working in finance and investing served me well, but interior design is my next conquest.



What elements define your design style?

In my designs you are almost certain to find elements of color, clean lines, and an industrial or worn quality. I am most drawn to historic buildings or homes with the original architecture still in tact. Give me a 1920’s Spanish colonial home and I will find a way to retain its character, individuality, and history, while updating it for a modern lifestyle. I love a great story behind a historic home, but I draw the line at haunted houses.



You came to design school with a background in business.  Was it always your intention to put your business studies to use in the design field?  Has that experience been helpful in your work as a designer?

I am fortunate to be able to operate on an analytical and creative level and switch gears when necessary. As with interior design, I was introduced to business, and in particular investing, at a very young age. I was on track to the beginning of a career at a large financial brokerage firm, when I started to evaluate if finance was my true passion. Moving to California resurrected my need for self-expression.

Being in the accompaniment of friends who were investing in real estate, I decided to make a similar investment and travel back to Wisconsin to work with my father on a house flip. Did my business and financial background help me in managing the budget, hiring contracts, and overseeing the project – absolutely! I am able to develop a beautiful design while maintaining a logical and realistic outlook.





You're in design school and decided to take the ultimate test - filming a reality TV series.  Can you tell us about the HGTV Design School experience?

Designing for a reality TV show wasn’t in the plans just yet. Although I will admit, it was my goal to apply for a design show after I graduated school. The show found me and I kept returning to casting meetings and just had fun with the process, while not being overly focused on the outcome.


Being a cast member on a television show brought a new set of challenges and gave sleep deprivation a whole new meaning. Just when you finished one assignment, you were on to the next, with no breaks. Yes, it was the ultimate endurance test. However, still being a student you really can’t pass up the opportunity to design the rooftop of the historic Los Angeles Athletic Club one week and the next week design and manufacture a custom chair for Los Angeles Lakers player Ron Artest. 


While the other design students found a new love in furniture design, one of my favorite challenges was designing an event suite for the Staples Center. Could I be the next luxury suite designer? I would love that! 


What are the unique challenges to life as both a student and reality TV star?

How about dashing past the large cast poster and 84” television screens broadcasting “Design School” 24 hours a day without any student stopping me and making me late for class? All kidding aside, I had a hard time returning to life as a regular student and focusing in class after being catered to and accomplishing some of the most difficult design challenges. In our minds, many of us had felt that we already graduated, but in reality we had to finish our core design classes. 

You'll be finished with design school pretty soon.  What new perspectives are you hoping to bring to the world of interior design after you complete your degree?

I have gained a diverse range of design experiences: house flipping, furniture design, hospitality design, window vignette composition, and now blogging for Apartment Therapy. Each experience added to my knowledge base and changed my design perspective just a bit. 

My unique perspective on design consists of incorporating differing design styles and closely examining each décor item for its design quality versus its popularity or status. For example, if I can show you how to successfully mix Italian architecture, vintage found objects, vibrant modern furnishings, and industrial accents and lighting, then I have broken the rules of designing for a particular style. As many of my close friends know, I hate to follow rules and live by the status quo.

As a writer for Apartment Therapy you have to be up on the latest design trends and the changing nature of interior design.  How has that experience been?

Writing for Apartment Therapy has definitely soared past any of my expectations. Even though blogging isn’t the highest paying job, making new connections with like-minded designers and design enthusiasts is the most rewarding part of my day. Apartment Therapy has a very loyal, passionate, and educated reader base that makes writing each post an open-ended conversation.

Before I started my position at Apartment Therapy, I was interested only in the most expensive, modern furnishings, without faltering or considering other design aesthetics. When I opened my world to a greater design community, I realized how narrow minded and unadvanced my prior design perspective was compared to the most successful designs.

With so many different projects in the works, what's next for you?

I entered design school with the intention of advancing my technical design skills to continue flipping homes. I don’t think I have to state the obvious, but the house flipping mentality has become pretty undesirable in the last few years. 

Now, I am focusing on building my own design blog and continuing to build relationships with magazine editors, publicists, and prominent designers and architects. In the back of my mind New York is calling me to take a job at a décor magazine, but my logic holds me back from living through winter storms and icy roads. I haven’t lived away from Wisconsin that long that I have forgotten what real winters are like.

Marcia, I hear what you're saying about winters, but I'm definitely rooting for this possible move to New York.  We need knowledgable writers like you in the shelter magazine world.  Good luck on all of your endeavors!  We'll follow your work no matter where you land.

I will be taking the rest of this week off for Thanksgiving vacation.  If you're looking for some design inspiration while I'm gone, please take a look at my latest post on HGTV Design Happens - Dine in Color.  There are some great tabletop decor tips for your Thanksgiving table.

The past few months here at AphroChic have been absolutely amazing.  I am truly thankful for all of you who have sent comments, written posts, tweeted, and just thought good thoughts for both me and my hsuband as we launched our new collection.  Thank you all for supporting AphroChic.  Have a wonderful holiday!

{Images furnished by Marcia Prentice; HGTV}

Holiday Wish List: Studio Surface

Design studio, Studio Surface, is next up on my holiday wish list.  Michelle Salz-Smith and her husband Jake, used their ability with wood-work to create a beautiful line of jewelry.  Each piece is designed and hand-crafted by this dynamic duo.  From necklaces, to cocktail rings and bracelets, these polished wood pieces will make spectacular gifts.  And you may even want to buy one for yourself!

Ellipse Necklace

Spool Bracelet

Plateau Curve Ring

Large Barrel Chunky Bracelet

I love them all.  I want one of each please!  

Visit Studio Surface and get your order in by December 12th to receive it in time for the holidays. 

{Images: Studio Surface}

Holiday Wish List: Yahgie

It's time to get ready for the holidays!  Every day this week I'll be introducing you to some unique holiday presents offered by our blog sponsors.  I promise, you are going to love them!

Yahgie, one of our sponsors, has some wonderful items just perfect for the holiday season.  I love the idea of giving art as a holiday gift.  It's something that can add a special touch to a friend or family member's decor, and it's a gift they will never forget.  Here are some of my favorites pieces from Yahgie, that are sure to make unique holiday presents.

The Screaming Lady Wall Art above is one of my favorites.  Aren't those chandelier earrings to die for?



Words of Inspiration has motivational quotes digitally printed onto cotton canvas.  What a lovely gift for the person in your life who's making a career change.



The Home Bliss Wall Art print is a celebration of the comforts of home.  This watercolor painting is perfect for the design lover in your life.



This Custom Postcard Wall Art is such a unique gift.  You can customize the name of the recipient, sender and address.  How cute!

What makes these pieces even better is that Yahgie is giving 20% off all items until January 3rd, so hop on over to order some fantastic holiday gifts.

{Images: Yahgie}

Press Alert: AphroChic In The New York Times!

Friends, yesterday was one of the most amazing days of my life.  I got to grab a copy of The New York Times and see one of the pillows from our Brooklyn Renaissance Collection featured!  If you follow AphroChic on Twitter or Facebook you saw what an absolutely exciting day it was.  Here is a copy of the article that is on the NYT website.  Hope you enjoy it!

{Image: The New York Times}

The Story Behind A Collection Part II

I thought I would wrap up this fantastic week with some behind-the-scenes photos from our photo shoot.  While it all came together beautifully, there is a lot of hard work that goes on in the background to bring a shoot together.  Over two days, with our photographer, Melanie Acevedo, her fantastic crew, our models and a team of stylists, we worked to shoot product shots of the new collection.  They were two of the longest days of my life, but definitely worth it.

Arriving at Melanie's beautiful Brooklyn limestone. (above)



Thank goodness my dad let me borrow his SUV.  We had it packed full of props.



Me spending one of the few quiet moments organizing props.



My wonderful husband setting up the wallpaper for our dining room shot.



Melanie taking a moment to get our two models camera ready.



The dessert table is ready!  My sister worked her styling magic on this one.



After a long, long day, the whole crew sat down to some Jamaican jerk chicken.  A perfect ending!

Have a fantastic weekend everyone.  I will be back next week with more news on the shop, and our holiday gift guide just for you!

And if you have a moment this weekend, check out my latest post on HGTV Design Happens.  It's all about Suzanis.

Happy Weekend!

{Images: Angela Hays}

The Story Behind A Collection

I want to thank all of you again for your amazing comments yesterday.  I can't stop smiling!  When you work on something for almost a year, and it finally comes into fruition, all you truly want is for people to enjoy what you have created.  I am so happy that you are enjoying the new collection.

I thought I would take some time today to give you some background on the collection, how it came together, and the amazing cast of people that we worked with to help bring it to life.  It all started with a photo, one of my favorite images from Domino (above).  I don't know if many of you remember this image, but it was taken at the Brooklyn home of Demi Adeniran of Fabrica.  Melanie Acevedo was the photographer on the project.  Demi's daughter Sade was also featured.  Little did I know the first time I saw this photo that many of these people would be involved in my own photo shoot a year-and-a-half later.

The collection was inspired by Brooklyn.  One of my favorite New York boroughs, Brooklyn has been an inspiration.  Full of amazing artists, designers, entrepreneurs, this part of New York is going through its own artistic renaissance.  My husband and I really wanted to celebrate that, and decided to go to Brooklyn to meet with artists, designers and others who could help us make our vision come to life.

Our first meeting was in December 2009 with illustrator Samantha Hahn.  I have always loved her work since I first saw it featured on Design for Mankind.  I contacted Samantha, a new mother, and my husband and I met with her (and little Henry) in a cafe in her Brooklyn neighborhood.  It was the beginning of a wonderful collaboration that resulted into our modern toile watercolor images.


Samantha Hahn


Brooklyn Life Toile

After meeting with Sam, and knowing that we could bring our Brooklyn Life prints to reality, I went on to design our Vibe and Beat patterns.  With patterns and samples ready I was in search of a photographer who understood Brooklyn and the feel we were trying to capture.  That's how we met Melanie Acevedo.  An absolute dream come true, Melanie not only loved the Brooklyn concept, but she was from BK herself!  She also had some models in mind for us.  The first was a little girl named Sade, yes, the same little girl in the Domino picture!


Sade

As we searched for a woman to be our model, Melanie called me up and told me she had found someone  - a beautiful actress, Adepero Oduye!  Not only did Adepero have the natural look that we love, but she is also from Brooklyn.  We knew she was the perfect fit!


Adepero

Then it was time to think about styling.  I called up my sister, Angela Hays, a visual stylist for Room & Board, and with my husband already on board, we had quite a great team in place.  We needed some original styling pieces, and I reached out to some of my favorite artist and designers.  Leigh Viner created some fantastic original pieces that I fell completely in love with.  You can see them on the mantle in the image below and with our The Beat wallpaper.  They were the perfect styling accessory!


Leigh's print graces the mantel.


Love how strong the Lune print looks with our vintage skates and BK poster.


Lune Print 2


Lune Print

We also received jewelry from Jess LC and Barbara Campbell, and clothing from Brooklyn clothing designer Katie Buckley.

From start to finish, this collection has been a collaboration with so many amazing people.  We are thankful to everyone who helped the AphroChic Fall Collection come to life.  Later this week I'll share with you some behind-the-scenes pics from the shoot too.

{Images: 1. Domino; 2. Samantha Hahn; 3. Brooklyn Life Outdoor Pillow; 4. Melanie Acevedo for AphroChic; 5. Melanie Acevedo for AphroChic; 6. Melanie Acevedo for AphroChic; 7. Melanie Acevedo for AphroChic; 8. Lune Print 2; 9. Lune Print}

Press Update: Jeanine Hays Among the Top Ten Home Decor Experts on Glo

Hi friends.  It has been a really exciting day here at AphroChic.  With the launch of the new collection we are receiving such wonderful comments from so many of you, and are so happy that we've created a line of products that people love.  To make this day extra special, Glo has included me in their 10 Home Decor Experts We're Loving feature!  It's a big cherry on top of this absolutely incredible day.

You can also see posts about our new line on Decor8, City Sage and Mochatini today.  Thank you all for your incredible support!

{Image: Glo}

The AphroChic Fall Collection Has Arrived!

It's a very exciting day here at AphroChic.  Our fall collection has officially launched!!!  It's been nine months in the making, and I am so happy this day has arrived.  You can see on our website that we've expanded our collection this year to include some exciting new items - new pillows, wallpaper, table linens and organic shower curtains.

I'll be giving you info all this week on the behind-the-scenes and how the new collection came together.  But today, please explore our new offerings and let us know what you think.  We'd love to hear from you!

{Image: Melanie Acevedo for AphroChic}

AphroChic Pillows Voted California Home + Design's Most Wanted!

Last night I attended California Home + Design Magazine's Hit List event at Ruby Living.  It was an incredible event with ten designs that were voted to the top of the CH+D Hit List.  I am excited to tell you that the AphroChic pillow collection was among the top 10!!!!  We are so honored to be on the Hit List and have to thank each and every one of you who voted for us.  It is because of you that we have received this honor.  THANK YOU!!!  If you have a copy of the magazine, you can see the complete article on page 51 of CH+D.

On Monday, I will be revealing some more exciting news - our fall collection will launch.  You will also seem some changes to the blog as it moves to our main domain - www.aphrochicshop.com.  Change is coming and it's good.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

{Image: California Home + Design}

Happy Veteran's Day

Wow.  November is moving quickly, and Veteran's Day is here.  For the first time in months I have scheduled a complete day off.  I will be getting some rest before the launch of our fall collection which happens on Monday.  I can't wait to show you all that we've been working on for the AphroChic shop.

If you're missing AphroChic today, you can also find me here:
- HGTV Design Happens - my latest post on Watercolor Prints.
- You can get a peek of what's coming to the AphroChic shop in Interior Design Magazine's Fall Market Tabloid.
- See what CNBC is saying about HGTV Design Happens' new blogger line-up (including me!).

I wish you all a restful holiday.


{Image: the Soho House New York}

Original Art: Danny Roberts

I love, love, love this new series by painter Danny Roberts.  Danny has created an original series for Models.com - paintings of the top newcomers in the modeling world for the spring/summer 2011 season.

These portraits beautifully capture the essence of each woman, and are an incredible way to celebrate the talent of these fresh faces on the catwalk.

You can see more pieces from the series right here.  Enjoy!