Designing Women

Second row from right, third swatch from bottom: Tropicana Cabana is the fresh Benjamin Moore color I had in my tiny sunroom office. There's not much wall space, and lots of white trim [with seven windows and built-in bookshelves], so the clean coat of Tiffany-box blue really popped.

Tonight my editor at Asp1re Magazine [http://www.aspirenj.com/] kindly brought me as her guest to an American Society of Interior Designers awards dinner at Mayfair Farms in West Orange.

I have to confess, I loved the ASID members' personal style as much as their award-winning rooms [shown in slides]. I saw a soft, dusky-blue wool shawl with pompom trim, the perfect blonde bob snipped into a careful reverse wedge in back, sleeveless dresses with jazzy beaded yokes, exactly the right pinkish lipstick to complement someone's fair hair. Short, ropey pearl necklaces and a dark, tailored, chic pantsuit on a woman who was recognized for corporate design. How fitting.

I liked learning about design elements, too: an executive bathroom with organic toiletries; a little girl's room with chairs scaled to child-size, and a lovely vanity skirt, too; kitchens and movie rooms and offices and reception desks and even a bagel shop, all sleek and smartly styled. Stunning.

Back home at the ranch, we have a little decorating to do ourselves. We should be back in our home by October 18, a bit longer than seven months since the tree fell on March 13. The workers are really going at it.

I plan to hire a designer in town who will charge $75 to $100 per hour and should be able to help us nail down colors in one or two hours total. We have to choose paint for my office [but I think I'm sticking with my rich Tropicana Cabana, which Anne, Moey and Elly just helped apply in summer 2009]; H.'s office; the living room; the dining room; the kitchen; the bathroom; two small bedrooms; and Figgy's new attic space.

That's nine colors, not counting hallways--or the exterior house and shutters. I can't wait to hear what the color pro says.

Bedtime. Now that school has started [finally, on Sept. 13], I want to get into a more regular lights-out and morning exercise pattern.

Aqua dreams.