Style Matters

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

My guests today are Beth Dotolo and Carolina Gentry, founders of Pulp Design Studios, two amazing interior designers with many awards between them.  I wanted to approach this interview a little differently than I have in the past.  I thought it might be helpful to treat this almost like a masterclass in design by choosing 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.  I think we do a pretty good job of describing the room itself, but I know you're going to want to see it, too.  You can definitely check it out on their website, pulpdesignstudios.com, but I also have photos of it on the show notes page for this episode at littleyellowcouch.com, along with links to a few things they've mentioned during our conversation.  And, a quick word about the show notes pages for the Style Matters podcast:  To find them, when you go to our website, again, it's littleyellowcouch.com, click on the Podcast link at the top and then click on "go to episodes."  Click on any episode to open it up and in the top right corner you'll see "attachments."  Click that, and that's where the show notes page will be for that particular episode.