http://blog.widmag.com/blog Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:04:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en On a beautiful spring evening, the penthouse of the Hudson Hotel is a good place to be. With wide views out over the Hudson River and a spacious outdoor deck, it was the perfect place to host our friends and supporters in New York. (I’m always impressed with publisher Jennifer ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/07/02/michael-wollaeger-writes-about-the-wid-fifth-anniversary-party-may-14-the-hudson-hotel-penthouse-new-york-city/ I lived in New York for eight years, back in the day, and I’m always glad for any excuse to return to the city. ICFF (the International Contemporary Furniture Fair) is as good an excuse as any. During the fair, New York is alive with design energy, innovative new products, ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/06/30/michael-wollaeger-writes-about-his-trip-to-new-york-may-13-20/ I love the Teatro Hotel in Denver, located in a beautiful old former bank building on the edge of the city’s hip LoDo area. I had flown in for the Denver Design District market, where I’d be speaking about “How the West Is Redefining Luxury,” a topic dear to my ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/05/30/michael-wollaeger-writes-about-his-denver-colorado-visit-on-may-6-7/ If you haven’t been to Dallas lately, you’re missing a lot. The city is undergoing massive changes, and all for the good. I was there last month to address a meeting of Design Centers International, and I was impressed with the new energy coursing through old Dallas. Before my talk on ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/05/29/michael-wollaeger-writes-about-his-trip-to-dallas-texas-on-may-1-2/ Gracie, a New York-based company that imports and produces scenic hand-painted wall coverings has introduced five lush new patterns to its collection. Inspired by 18th and 19th century Chinese mural paintings and wall coverings that depicted the life, architecture and nature of mainland China, the new offerings feature rich contrasting ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/05/28/gracie-a-new-take-on-tradition/ We’ve been having fun celebrating the fifth anniversary of Western Interiors & Design, so we decided to have a party during the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) in Chicago last month. After considering a variety of glamorous Chicago hot spots (and there are more and more in that toddlin’ ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/05/13/michael-wollaeger-writes-about-the-western-interiors-design-party-at-blackbird-in-chicago-april-11/ April in Chicago is indeed the cruelest month, as I should know, having grown up there. So as a 35-degree wind cut through my sport coat, I cursed myself for “traveling light” and not bringing my overcoat. Publisher Jennifer Matthews and I had just arrived from the spring furniture market ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/05/05/michael-wollaeger-writes-about-the-kitchen-and-bath-show-chicago-april-11-13/ The spring furniture market in High Point, North Carolina, is a twice-yearly ritual for design editors of all stripes, and we’re no different. So publisher Jennifer Matthews and I flew in on Sunday, April 6, to attend a few of the kick-off parties and previews, which were both fun and ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/04/29/michael-wollaeger-writes-about-the-spring-furniture-market-in-high-point-north-carolina-2/ In his new book Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House, Dan Gregory pays tribute to Cliff May, the chief architect of the Ranch house. The book examines twenty classic Cliff May homes and traces the development of indoor-outdoor design, an architectural style that came to be identified with living ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/04/21/new-book-release-cliff-may-and-the-modern-ranch-house/ Designer Tricia Guild, of the London-based company Designer’s Guild, explores the transformative power of blossoms in Flower Sense, her new book from Rizzoli. Loaded with candy-colored photographs and innovative ideas for displaying flowers and plants in color-saturated city rooms, vintage environments, modern spaces and country ... http://blog.widmag.com/blog/2008/04/15/flower-sense/