• Soup on Sunday: Roasted Vegetable

    by  • 30 Sep ’12 • 4 Comments

    Now that autumn has arrived I am eger to start making soup again. Don’t get me wrong, I always love a hot pot of soup…I just find it depressing to make soup in August, even though we had a nonexistent summer in Scotland. This past week I was in London for Decorex and ran into my friend and designer Hugh St Clair. I was reminded of the lovely roasted vegetable soup that he made for me when I was his guest in London. It’s such a simple, yet complex tasting concoction.

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    Hotel Review: The Lowell Hotel

    by  • 22 Sep ’12 • 9 Comments


    Merriam-Webster defines luxury as:
    a : great ease and comfort; a sumptuous environment
    b : something adding to pleasure or comfort but not absolutely necessary
    c : an indulgence in something that provides pleasure, satisfaction, or ease
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    Profile: Timothy Corrigan

    by  • 5 Sep ’12 • 8 Comments

    With my book at the printer I can finally get back to featuring more profiles on All the Best; I am thrilled to start with interior designer Timothy Corrigan. With offices in both Los Angeles and Paris, Timothy is known for his perfect balance of European grandeur and California comfort. A perfect example is his own home in Los Angeles’s Hancock Park neighborhood. His 1922 Georgian Colonial–style house is grand, yet bright, classic and cheerful. The house Timothy now calls home is the same house he grew up in as a child. When the property went on the market a few years ago there were seven other offers. So he sent the owner a photo of him in the swimming pool when he was a boy, with a note that read, ‘Let me come home.’

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    Running the Spectrum by Brian Patrick Flynn

    by  • 3 Sep ’12 • 6 Comments


    When it comes to owning and operating an interior design business, my situation is a little bit different than the norm. While I have a fantastic group of residential clients in Atlanta and Los Angeles, my biggest client is not a homeowner, but rather the largest shelter-related interactive network—Scripps Interactive. So, the ways I go about designing things are a little bit out of the box.

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    Patrik Lönn

    by  • 31 Jul ’12 • 8 Comments

    I recently had the pleasure of meeting interior designer Patrik Lönn during the Traditional Home trip to Scotland. Right away I liked him (and his sense of humor). After a quick glance at his portfolio it was easy to see that his design aesthetic is both chic and quite appealing.  Patrik  received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Interior Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology and holds a Masters Degree in Design Management from the Pratt Institute.  He infuses his interiors with graceful furnishings, elegant palettes, and clean Scandinavian lines inspired by his studies in Stockholm and the Uppsala University in Sweden.

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    Designers at Home is Now Available for Pre-order

    by  • 29 Jul ’12 • 12 Comments

    At long last Designers at Home: Personal Reflections on Stylish Living is available for pre-order on Amazon. After going live yesterday, I awoke this morning to find that it was ranked #6 in ‘Interior Design’ and #1 on ‘Hot New Releases – Interior Design’ on Amazon. Of course it changes day-by-by…actually it changes hour-by-hour! Nevertheless, I could not be more excited. Now if only I did not have to wait until spring for it to be released.

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    New Site: All the Best Passport

    by  • 22 Jul ’12 • 3 Comments

    Travel is one of my great loves, despite the fact I am a very nervous flyer. The thrill of landing in a new location or simply planning a trip is sublime. Thanks to my friends at Mr & Mrs Smith and a few wonderful hotels,  I have experienced some  amazing places and locales. It has always been my custom to post my favorite locations on All the Best Blog, but now they will also all live together on All the Best Passport. I will continue to add to the list so check back often. Likewise, I love suggestions

    Traditional Home + Designers Come to Scotland

    by  • 17 Jul ’12 • 5 Comments

    Last month Scottish Development International, Scottish Enterprise and Textiles Scotland, along with Traditional Home, invited a few US designers to Scotland. The goal of the trip was to increase awareness of Scottish textiles for interiors use. The fashion industry knows well the exceptional quality of Harris Tweeds, Scottish cashmere, wool, lace, and tartans fabrics. In fact, some of the best fashion houses in the world work with Scottish mills (The Hermès Group, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren). Now, Textiles Scotland, and its various umbrella organizations, want to encourage interior designers to utilize the country’s finest textiles.

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    The Amalfi Coast: Le Sirenuse

    by  • 13 Jul ’12 • 13 Comments


    One locale I dream of often (passportless or not) is the Amalfi Coast, especially Positano. Positano was a relatively poor fishing village during the first half of the 20th century. It first began to attract large numbers of tourists in the 1950s, after John Steinbeck published his essay about village for the May 1953 issue of Harper’s Bazaar: “Positano bites deep,” Steinbeck wrote. “It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.”

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    Paul R. Williams: Classic Hollywood Style

    by  • 11 Jul ’12 • 12 Comments

    Now that my book is off to the copy editor, I have time to catch up on reading. At the top of my list was Paul R. Williams: Classic Hollywood Style. With a career spanning six decades, architect Paul Revere Williams came to define “gracious living” for the Hollywood elite. Although his hey-day was the 1930’s and 40’s, he designed from the 1920’s to the early 1970’s bringing something new to each period. Williams mastered an array of architectural idioms—including American Colonial, Spanish Mediterranean, English Tudor, French Normandy, Art Deco, and, of course, the California ranch style.

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