Style Matters

 I've wanted to interview many Australian designers but haven't been able to make the difference in time zones work.  Until now!  You're about to hear my conversation with Jen Kingwell, fabric and pattern designer, quilter, and now author.  She's just written a book called Quilt Recipes, and I fell in love with the gorgeous photos showing how her quilts are used in interiors.  Not only can you follow her patterns and design ideas to make your own quilts from this book, she also includes recipes from her mom who was a terrific baker.  When you think about it, it's the perfect combination for a cozy winter day... curling up with a soft handmade quilt and a sweet treat.  You'll have to check out the photos on the show notes page of this episode to really get a sense of the feeling this book has inspired in me!  Ok, here's Jen. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll

I'm very happy to have Marian Parsons open up this new season of Style Matters for us.  You may also know her as Miss Mustard Seed, which is what she called herself when she started a blog over 10 years ago.  From the blog came other business pursuits such as creating a line of milk paint, creating fabric and product designs, and selling her original artwork.  She's just come out with a new book, "Feels Like Home: Transforming your home from uninspiring to uniquely yours," and her approach to design completely aligns with what we believe here at Style Matters.  And that is that your story is your style.  Let's hear from Marian.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Melissa Parks is a hunter and seller of vintage goods just outside of Chicago, Illinois.  She's also a regular contributor to the digital magazine, Lived-In Style and wrote for the print publication Flea Market Style before that.  You may know her as "Megillicutti," which is the name she uses on Instagram where she has over 26k fans.  n this episode we talk about how she approaches the “hunt,” what makes the cut and what doesn’t and how she fills her own home with a rotation of collections.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Jamala Wallace shares her many room and furniture transformations through her personal blog, Viva La Vintage.   In this conversation, we really zero in on the idea that beauty comes from the act of finding and creating it, rather than acquiring it. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Emmy Ellison, founder of de Maroc.  Her mission is to bring the beauty of handmade woven rugs from Morocco into all of our homes.  I'll let her tell you her story, starting with her wandering around Morocco, following the trail of the centuries-old tradition of designing, weaving, and dying these beautiful, soulful pieces. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

People often ask me which episodes they should start with if they're new to the podcast. And so I thought an interesting way to answer that question would be to go over some of the best eye-opening perspectives that I have heard from my guests over the years. We'll cover a few things such as how do we really define a personal style in the first place, and why does it matter? We'll also get into why I've created the Slow Style approach to design. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Today, I'm talking with designer Rachel Fowler who's out with a new book, "My Happy Place: healthy, sustainable and human design for life and work."  She's going to get the ball rolling here in that the bulk of what we talk about is the big picture of what's really going on with how we purchase, consume and dispose of home-related things.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

"House Story: Insider Secrets to the Perfect Home Renovation."  I talk with Jasmine on the Style Matters podcast about the questions, mis-steps and small victories won when going through a home renovation. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

I'm delighted to share this episode with you.  I'm having a conversation with one of my favorite fabric and wallpaper designers, Mally Skok.  And she's also a really fabulous interior designer.  Originally from South Africa and now living in the States, near me, in Boston, as it turns out, Mally has just written a gem of a book.  It's called "Mally's Little Handbook: A guide to finding your joy through my designer eyes."  Without knowing it was going to happen, what we talked about so closely aligned with my Slow Style approach, I feel like Mally could be the spirit animal of the Slow Style philosophy!   Let's get started and I think you'll see what I mean.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

My guest today is one of my favorite interiors photographers and she's also an accomplished, sought after designer. You'd never guess that her life was kind of in shambles a decade ago. I'll let Carley Summers tell her own story. Let me just say that I'm so happy to have met her and been introduced to her work. Along with her personal journey, we also talk about how to make sure you're making good decisions while you're thrifting and antiquing, why you can't have great style without having patience, and why we all deserve sacred spaces in our homes. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Today I'm talking with Aldous Bertram about his first book called "Dragons & Pagodas: A Celebration of Chinoiserie."  He traces hundreds of years of the development of the Chinoiserie style, into what reads like a novel.  And then gorgeously illustrates all of the major motifs under the Chinoiserie umbrella.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Several years ago, passionate philanthropists Kelly and Scott Meuller had a vision for expanding and sharing their private art collection with the public through an endowment to the Cleveland Museum of Art. They went to the firm Peter Pennoyer Architects with this idea.  What has emerged is Rowdy Meadow, a property that is both home and museum, as well as a 150 acre sculpture park with 30 pieces by some of the most renowned artists working today.  To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Today I'm talking with cookbook author Elizabeth Van Lierde. We talk about several different types of gatherings with her eye on creating experiences inside her home that make for the best kinds of parties... the ones where everyone, including the host is relaxed. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

My guest is Margie Grace, founder of Grace Design, a landscape design company in southern California and we're talking all about our outdoor spaces today.  Margie tells it like it is when it comes to residential backyards and gardening in terms of what you should and shouldn't plant and why being honest with yourself about maintenance is so important.  To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Today I'm talking with N'Ckyola Green, founder of eXtraordinary By Design.  Nikki is passionate about many things having to do with creating a home, from rolling up her sleeves and doing her own projects to eco-conscious lifestyle choices and natural beauty regimes, to gardening, cooking, and honoring the benefits of an interdependent community.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

My guests today are Beth Dotolo and Carolina Gentry, founders of Pulp Design Studios.  For this episode, I chose one of the rooms they've worked on and break it down into its component parts...color, scale, pattern, flow, materials... and explain to us how all of these elements come together to create what I consider to be a beautifully designed room. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

My guests today are Sarah Karakaian and Annette Grant, founders of Thanks For Visiting, which includes a podcast, a membership and a free introductory course on how to start and maintain a successful short-term rental business.  They give us a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to be a Superhost on Airbnb and why putting the guests first is critical to the bottom line.  To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

Rebecca Haskins is the founder of the online shop NOMA Collective which is a collection of handmade goods for the home made in collaboration with the artisans themselves. She has developed such wonderful relationships with people across the globe to create modern iterations of ancient designs and the results are not only beautiful, but incredibly meaningful.  To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

 My guest today is Nicole Jackson-Bertrand. She is blowing up on Instagram because of her beautiful projects. Herself, along with her wife, Diane had been doing for years, everything, themselves, just from the vision to the execution. It's pretty amazing. They live in Florida. So there's a lot of attention they'd paid to their outdoor living spaces. I just want to encourage you to think about while she's talking is what are your plans? What is your vision for your outdoor spaces and how do you want to live in them? And what's on your dream list. To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).

I'm delighted to have Sharon Santoni back on the show again.  I first met her when her book, "My Stylish French Girlfriends" came out.  And she has put together a life that embodies all of the components that I admire: beauty, inspiration and the company of great friends.  Her blog, My French Country Home," has turned into a multifaceted business, including antiquing tours in Paris and Normandy, two books a magazine and more.  And today, she's going to take us to France.   To use the Slow Style approach in your home, start with this free guide on how to create a vision that sets you up for every design decision you'll need to make!Sign up here to receive the free guide (and lots of suppport along the way).