Happy Tuesday !

I was recently nominated for “BEST NEW DESIGN BLOG” I would greatly appreciate it if you can take a minute  to VOTE . Also please sign in as a subscriber on my blog and  you’ll have the latest design ideas , expert tips and new resources right in your daily mail.

If you’re looking to hire me for your next kitchen design project contact me at my website,
New Canaan Kitchens. I provide kitchen planning and design services for homes here in New England and around the country. I’m also available for phone consultations. This can be a fast and effective way to get some immediate help if you’re out trying to make some decisions, if you’re working with a contractor and not a kitchen designer or are just in the beginning stages and would like to share your ideas and thoughts. Having a professional second opinion can be invaluable.
New for 2013 , those desiring to hire me from afar can now do that through a very unique and personalized design experience called  INSIDE Your Kitchen with Rebecca. I’ve created a very simple process incorporating different “design experience” levels for us to work together to create the kitchen of your dreams.

Photo of Oranges/Tile – Filmore Clark

On Friday I began chatting about some of the people, places and events that enhanced my “design life” in 2012. I’m  sharing this with you not in a boastful way by any means…. it’s simply to express how important it is for designers to get out from behind their drafting boards and computers to learn new ideas from others, find the best and brightest resources and perhaps travel to be inspired  so that we continue to be the best at what we do. There’s many educational and fun industry events as well as experiences that inform and inspire and influence my designs. Ultimately I put this all to good use in clients homes. I share these experiences and resources with my clients and their projects so that they can have the kitchen
of their dreams and begin to live a delicious life in their home.

Onto the good stuff !

February found me in California for the month as I was exploring a possible move to the West Coast.  My trip ended with in L.A. for the annual
“Design Bloggers Conference”, which if you’ve been following over the last few days you’ve seen that by some miracle,  I was just  nominated along with 4 others for “BEST NEW DESIGN BLOG” The Design Blog Conference was a wealth of design knowledge for all aspects of entering or improving your blog. The speakers are top-notch, inspiring, educated and experts in their field of knowledge. From this conference so many of the following events I was involved in came out of this one event. This years line up proves to be a PRICELESS experience.

Theres no time like NOW to SIGN UP TO ATTEND

June – Los Angeles -Dwell on Design Show

2012 -I was invited to participate (so proud my team won….read on for my winning recipe)
Cowgirl Chicken Enchilada Casserole in the Designer Cooking Challenge.  

The stage was set and sponsored by two culinary industry giants, Capital Ranges, who provided us with the most sophisticated ranges available for a residential  cook but one who desires a “commercial cooking experience and American Standard  whose presented us with their line of  ”culinary inspired” sinks and faucets. Both their sites are amazing resources when planning a kitchen remodel. It was incredible fun to be able to take part in this great show as well as meet some amazing people along the way, especially my co-chef in crime,  the very stylish L.A. designer Lori Gilder, whose blog “Diary of a Makeover is on my list of “go to ” reads . I hope  I can find my way back to L.A. for the 2013,  June 21st-23rd.

September – Las Vegas World Market

Scouring new markets like Las Vegas is always good for business  and making new connections.

In the photo below is business associate and friend Leslie Carothers of The Kaleidescope Partnership. This year was so rich in experience’s because of Leslie’s introductions to so many wonderful people and industry events. Thank you Leslie. A highlight of Las Vegas Market week was meeting Leslie’s friend and amazing business woman Kathy Ireland,  long time cover girl and now a retail genius casting a very wide net over the home design, fashion and business world. Featured on the cover of FORBES Magazine in February 2012, “Super Model, Super Mogul”, Forbes goes onto detail the just how important this woman has become in the home furnishings and decor industry.She was genuinely kind, beautiful and obviously very smart. I wish I could have spent more time with her in the hopes that some of the abundance of her brains and beauty might  overflow to me. Thank you Kathy.

Many of the wonderful products I’ve found along the way soon will be presented in a resource library on this blog. It will a culled selection of the “best of the best” products and will consist of hundreds of my “got to” favorites, new resources and companies I’ve relied upon for years to build and style the very best kitchens. In the photo below are two companies, Global Views and Four Hands that have product from classic to cutting edge. As a loyal customer, I look to do business with companies that are “like minded” companies who share my core business approach of outstanding quality, superior service and value. I deliver that to my clients and need for my suppliers to be supportive in that business style.

While in Vegas, I also had the  pleasure of attending the WITHIT Foundations annual Gala. WithIt , a woman’s leadership development network in the home & furnishings industry whose mission it is, to support the  accomplishments of woman in the design business. Lori Dennis, L.A. designer, HGTV personality and co-founder of Design Camp was on site to video this wonderful event held in a lovely old mansion in Las Vegas.

Las Vegas World Market is filled with many great talks, both inspiring and educational. I especially enjoyed one that was given by Woodson & Rummerfield 

A very chic , glamour driven designing duo who cater to a clientele of L.A’s “A-Listers”. Their talk and “insider” stories about many of the “Old Hollywood” mansions was really intriguing. It made me want to go home and  learn more about the old Hollywood architecture and grand homes, the stars who lived in them, the looks they loved and the designers behind the look . More to come on that in the future as I venture into researching the kitchens that may have been in these wonderful homes. Ron was all “snap” from head to toe and Jamie was all glam.

I just might need them to “make me over” when I’m in L.A. next.

Fall Fashion Week  with BRIZO and Jason Wu – New York City -

This was probably the most exciting few days I’ve had in my career yet, bar none! I was an invited guest of the luxury faucet manufacturer,
BRIZO to attend a 3 day gathering with 18 other  designers/design bloggers from around the country. From the first night at a “get to know the girls” cocktail party under the stars night on the balcony of the hotel, to the limo ride home, it was simply a star-studded few days of product knowledge and actual “stars” at Fashion Week.

 Our second night consisted of all the girls being chauffeur driven to Sur La Table, a candy store for anyone who cooks, entertains, thinks they do or just dreams about it. We cooked ,we ate and enjoyed the evening getting to know one another.

 We then enjoyed a night on the town for Fashion Night Out in New York. Hands down the next best thing to Christmas in New York. Every stylish boutique and luxury fashion brand opens their doors for the night and hosts the “city that never sleeps” biggest party.

If we didn’t already feel like princesses at this point, the next day we were welcomed with a breakfast fit for a queen, a few hours of training and then a wardrobe change for THE BIG EVENT. We were all invited guests of  fashion darling Jason Wu to attend his Spring/Resort 2013 Fashion Show. Brizo created a “design partnership” between their luxury brand and the luxury fashion designer three years ago to make fashion statement within an industry known for “hard goods”, to convey the synergy between the worlds of home decor and fashion. I think BRIZO was a bit ahead of their time as many luxury brands are now creating these “visual fashion forward partnerships. KUDOS to the brain trust, design team, marketing pros, production teams and those leading the crew at BRIZO.

As a designer attending the fashion show, I can say it was one of the most exciting hours I’ve ever spent. Truth be told I think the actual fashion show was all of 20 minutes but it was the flashiest 20 minutes I’ve ever spent. From the paparazzi, to the milling around with a couple hundred “very chic” invited guests, the biggest fashion editors in the world …..(ok so it’s here I get to tell you I had an up and close with Anna Wintour although she didn’t know I was alive ) and naturally some celebs who tried to go unnoticed. The fashion show itself was everything I thought it would be;  the lights go out, the rooms hush stills in anticipation, the hip music begins thumping at a “chair raising” decibel, slowly the lights cast over the runway and out come the lithe but stunning models gliding down an intentionally stark runway to draw ones eyes on whatever’s flowing by. While they don’t go fast, it’s hard to truly take it all in from all angles, to catch the details, the shoes, the accessories, etc….. And before you know all the girls have strode by one by one and then the finale. Rooms goes dark and Jason appears from behind the shadows of the runway foyer. A magnificent experience was had by all.

One event thats been left out  intentionally as I’ll be covering this in a separate post is the Fall Home Furnishings Market in High Point, NC where I spoke first the first time to a group at The Antiques & Design Center. It was a nerve wracking experience as having never done this before but I moved outside my comfort zone, I survived and it proved to be a success. I’m quite excited to have been asked back to speak again for the Spring Market where the focus of my talk will be /  Making your next kitchen remodel sing with personality.
“INCORPORATING VINTAGE, REPURPOSED & ANTIQUES INTO KITCHEN DESIGNS” Date and time / TBD

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