Category Archives: Business of Design

Saturday Stuff: Getting My Decor Right So I Can Live My Life

Posted on by

0

Saturday Stuff: Getting My Decor Right So I Can Live My Life

I pretty much think most of life’s issues can be solved thru Design + Decorating

Ok, well, most of them…

I mean a cool coffee table can make a girls day!

Ok, some of them…

Truly? maybe all of them 😉

Doesn’t funky wallpaper cover all our painting sins ;)?

I mean, it’s Saturday…family is all home…family room can get rather chaotic, everyone is cooking some fabulous breakfast, dishes everywhere, a teenager leaves the pan on the stove & a glass of milk on the table before rushing out to get a run in…

The phone rings, someone get it!

Or maybe it’s a sippy cup dripping with juice stuck to the high chair because last night everyone hit the wall

The phone rings, someone get it!

Or perhaps the cat thought your wine glass was a great toy & you wake up to find Max the Persian purring over a few drops of Merlot….

The phone rings, hey Max…where did you HIDE it?!

Whatever it is, it’s “STUFF”

Life stuff – and whatever surrounds us, those design & decorating things, either make life stuff easier or harder

Remember that Frasier example from a few days ago

So this Saturday, my house is a bit disordered however the systems we set in place catch it from going completely overboard (most of the time)

What is your Saturday Stuff?

Did the sofa catch the remote last night?

Did the cat knock over the wine glass?

Is the sippy cup stuck to the cool table from Pottery Barn?

Yes, my teen’s cleats are on the English Coffee Table so the dogs won’t chew them…just an older version of that sippy cup 😉

Design. Real life living. It’s the good stuff…

What’s yours?

What are your systems?

How do they handle your stuff?

Saturday!

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”

xo Ann

**************************************************************************************

Don’t forget to send your email to Ann@Couturechateau.com if you want to be a tester! We have fewer than 5 spots left! Are you FEARLESS enough? This Webinar is on “How To Custom Decorate With Retail Product & Make It Look Like The Pro’s”

How To Use Retail & Make It Look Like The Pro’s…let’s avoid the “nice Pottery Barn House” because you are so worth it!!

We are working on zipping up the name, so LET ME KNOW! What do you think of:

“Help, I’m a West Elm Addict: Decorate With Retail & Make It Pass The BFF Test”

“My Catalog Life: How To Get My Family Room Right Using Retail”

“My Family Room Wins: How To Start & Actually Finish A Decorated Room Using Only Retail”

Remember, as one of my testers, you will be on the inside track. Your feedback MATTERS! These are systems I have used for years with my full service clients and am SO excited to get them out to you!!

I want you to say YES if there is even the smallest part of you that is thinking about it! We will start testing in late February. Tomorrow we should have a short video for you to watch.

FEARLESS. It’s what 2013 is all about.

Monday Matters: Planning For A Week of Master Mind

Posted on by

0

Monday Matters: Planning For A Week Of Master Mind

As many of you know, I get together every quarter with a fabulous group of Designers in Little Rock, Arkansas

I am part of Tobi Fairley’s Master Mind program and it has changed HOW I run the business of my Design Business

I believe this PASSIONATELY about our spaces…also true with PEOPLE…

The simplicity of Tobi’s program spoke to me: It’s about the business of Interior Design. I grew up with an archaic drilling that inherited wealth was ok, but to earn it? omg…how gauche…PROBLEM: If I don’t earn from a well run business, then my business closes. No jobs for those I delight to work with & the gifts & talents I have been given to steward in this area simply die. Hard lesson for me. Money was simply never discussed in “polite company”….

Ummm….times have changed….

LOVE this. Pick wisely. You matter enough to do so.

That has been a hard lesson to get into my soul. I think it’s why I laugh SO HARD when watching Downton Abbey. “What’s next…the London stage?”…..you will never know how much I relate…

I see this so much with my Clients & is WHY I am so passionate about these upcoming Webinars. I want so much to INVOLVE for Understanding so your life is EASIER. Design Systems Simplified!

In my heart I knew it was right to join this group of fabulous women. But it was a risk…I mean, there were (are) those I know who eye roll as a daily habit…oh well…

Says it all.

So this Monday matters.

I look forward to a week of:

Refreshing

Challenges

Renewing

Encouraging

Designer Stuff!

It will also be a great hiatus from our Webinar production that has been on the front burner these past two weeks.

DO let us know if you’d like to be one of our limited live Webinar Testers. Send an email to Ann@Couturechateau.com. This is a product which will contain an Introduction Module + 6 Additional modules and will have a price tag well into the thousands…if you’d like to be on our short list of test participants, you will receive some of the material for free! We are scheduled to start testing the last week in February. Limited number of spots available so be fearless and email me!

Monday Matters & so do YOU!

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”â„¢

xo Ann

Saturday Stuff: Never Worked Harder, Trying To Work Smarter…

Posted on by

2

Saturday Stuff: Never Worked Harder, Trying To Work Smarter…

Saturday Stuff. For me it tends to be the things piled up from the week that still need attention

Into my Home Studio I head, to get some early quiet work done

Today? Tweaking some information for my Webinar.

whew!

I believe what they say about passion projects. You do them because you just HAVE to….

I now understand

I am doing this Webinar & Seminar Series because I have to….in a good way…

Here are a few images that are clearing my overloaded brain right now

As I am working on this Webinar, I feel like we are cutting through the fog & rising to what is good about what & how we put together a space for clients. It’s hard work but good work…

May they be a blessing to you this Saturday

I love images like this. They remind me we don’t always see clearly…

And remember another one of my Decorating Principles: Shopping is not Decorating ;)!

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”â„¢

xo Ann

Thursday Spotlight: Module 1, Round 2

Posted on by

0

Thursday Spotlight: Our First Module, Round 2

Yesterday, I recorded part of our First Module in Webinar Form

This morning, more recording & some edits

This First Webinar will end up between 6 – 8 Modules, each lasting an hour + Q/A

This is a ton of work, but am feeling good about getting the information out of my head + heart

We are recording several Modules & making them available in:

PDF + MP3 + MP4 + Live Video

Whew. Ton of work. So worth it. So excited to make this information accessible outside these walls.

This is where my heart is: Design + Training + Equipping Others to…well, you know…live their custom lives 😉

A breakthrough approach to decorating like a pro using retail product. I reserved the domain “decoratewithretail” today for just this downloadable product. Very fun. We will of course offer how to customize just for you as part of this Webinar!

Spotlight. Module 1.

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”â„¢

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: Biggest Fear In Decorating & What It Looks Like

Posted on by

2

 Tuesday Tidbit: Biggest Fear In Decorating & What It Looks Like

Today I wanted to share something I come across consistently

Especially as we are readying to re-record our last Seminar

No matter the budget, no matter the access, no matter HOW polished someone comes across (trust me on this), no matter how important or famous…we each bring small snippets of fear to our decorating decisions

Some have spent years developing highly effective ways of projecting they don’t carry fear

I call them my “Three S’s”:

1. Snob

I love how YSL puts this. Someone who is a snob is never elegant ;).

2. Snuff

When we snuff people, especially when it comes to our decorating or design decisions it just makes us look small!

3. Snide

I love how silly and yet how TRUE this is.

***********************************************************

Tuesday Tidbit = No being a Snob, Snuffing someone or making a Snide comment about someone’s decor choices today 😉

It’s freeing! It let’s us love those in front of us for who they are!

Then, as time & access permits, we can graciously teach them or better yet learn…

One never knows which side one is REALLY on until we drop the pretense & show up with our genuine self…

May Tuesday, your most productive day so far this week, be FREE from the “Three S’s”!

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”â„¢

xo Ann

Monday Matters: A New Week, Fresh Starts At Home & In Design Office

Posted on by

0

Monday Matters: A New Week, Fresh Starts At Home & In Design Office

I love Monday mornings. I get a new start at home and in the office.

This week we are re-recording Part 1 of our Seminar (professionally) so I am supposed to practice, practice, practice

I love this quote, but I need to LEARN it. One of my “fresh starts” for 2013 is to get back in the pool. 4 years ago I broke my foot badly, surgery…the whole 9 yards. I couldn’t swim, but now I can and I am not…but I NEED to…This reminds me the broken foot was a COMMA not a PERIOD. Just like our Seminar, when the recording of the Live Day didn’t translate I wondered…was that a comma or a period? Without practice I MAKE it a period. By stepping out of fear (remember 2013 = Fearlessness) and trying…I MAKE it a comma…..

Am supposed to have the right equipment at the ready, my seminar notes, my make up on & the white board clean

I love my white boards, pin boards & mirrors, but they are NEVER tidy. Today, I wipe & tidy so we can move forward with recording this week.

Smiles

Anyone who knows me, knows my white boards are NEVER clean. Ideas, drawings, clients…all over ALL the boards.

I love to talk & teach, but practice? Not my strongest gift…;)…so I am learning

What is it that you need to practice this week?

I know this….but I still fight against the rush of the “new”…so I learn this every day. This week, I practice the Seminar so I can teach it via video & webinar. I LOVE teaching a live small group in person. The interaction, the insight, the live “aha moments” = pure delight. But I know in my heart we need to get this outside the ordered safe walls of my Studio. And so I practice for you & set aside my fear of “what if” and failure. What do you need to set aside this week?

Monday Matters

& so do you!

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”â„¢

xo Ann

Saturday Stuff: More On “The Beautiful Issue” In Decor

Posted on by

2

Saturday Stuff: More On “The Beautiful Issue” In Decor

Yesterday I shared one of the modules we work through when I am teaching my Decorating Systems Program. This is a collection of Systems I share with:

1. DIY

2. Clients

3. Design Enthusiasts

4. Professional Decorators & Designers

I tailor the program (customize, is that a surprise ;)?!, to the person or group I am teaching by age & stage, but some (not all) of the BASICS are the same

“The Beautiful Issue” is one of my basics

Developed this System because I noticed there were things I learned around “the kitchen table” or “the dining room table” or at “my parents cocktail parties” that were Foundational Truths to “custom living” & “living well” in a decorated home – that seemed to be missing in the hearts & minds of my  dear Clients

I kept encountering a gap between where I wanted to start with clients and where they NEEDED to start

Hence my solution brain 🙂 my Matrix Brain….my Systems Brain!

My Comfort Area

This issue became LIGHTENING when I put together the first “My Catalog Life” Seminar which teaches How To Decorate Like The Pro’s From Ready Made Retail Product and Avoid The “Nice Pottery Barn” House Comment….

Major Labels sometimes show up at Home Goods. KNOW what to look for & you can find some deals.

I am not anti-catalog. I am anti-home-uniform…

This is the Seminar we are working to bring to market for you in downloadable form

This is the Seminar I hired a Professional to take care of those “labels, formatting…”

Oh sure…they make it look so easy ;). I hired a pro to handle all the formatting because I know where my gifts are, and they are NOT in this area!! In the interest of getting this to YOU before I am 80, I relinquished control of the download format process….

This Seminar resonated deeply, there were many “aha moments” but not for the reasons I had anticipated

People (we) are AFRAID to go outside of “The Pottery Barn House” (Designer Label)

People (we) are AFRAID to NOT get the comment “Nice Pottery Barn House” (Designer House)

Aghhhhh

Need I say more? Image linked.

I like Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware…I am not “anti-catalog” but I am “anti-home-uniform”

A home uniform = death

I am not “anti-track home”

I am “anti-home-uniform”

When I went back to Berkeley to take a Graduate Course in Design, this was required reading. My professor was brilliant. He reminded me WHY I was doing what I was doing…….and that it wasn’t fluff. It mattered.

There is a DIFFERENCE. That difference is a “heart-set”. A custom “heart-set”. Begins in the heart and mind…travels through the soul, the bones…your life…

It’s the realization that you are custom. Therefore your life should be custom. Because it matters that you are custom. And beautiful is an outcrop of custom.

Home is where your story begins. You are NOT the same as everyone else. You have value. You are unique. You were made different for a reason.

Image linked.

I grew up with the aesthetic teaching that to be the same as someone else was to not be you. Was to not be what you were supposed to be.

House Beautiful. These things are beautiful. But once the cameras leave & the staging is removed, how does the owner live? My hearts deepest desire is for my Clients to live MORE beautifully even than the camera captures…..

Why in the Saturday Stuff Post? Because we all have this personal baggage “stuff”.

Sometimes this “stuff” keeps us from decorating the way we want…we go to The Catalog which looks safe + approved….but somewhere deep down, there is a silent scream because deep down you and I weren’t made to be safe + approved by The Catalog.

I am going to say that again: we silently scream because we know deep down we were not made to be safe + approved by The Catalog. The Grocery Store. The Cool This or The Cool That…it’s a visceral scream we spend years dampening & I see it most expressed in “The Beautiful Issue”…& my heart breaks…

You & I were made to be Safe + Approved just because we exist

We have a saying in our home: “Just Because”

It’s not what you think. It’s a gracious “Just Because”. It means “Just Because You Are”

It means you are SAFE + APPROVED Just Because You Are

I want you to decorate beautiful because you ARE

I want you to live beautiful because you ARE

Foundational Ann McDonald’s Decorating Systems Truth: This is NOT about buying beautiful stuff. This is about uncovering the beautiful in you, where you are, in the house you are in, with the furniture you have, with the budget you have FIRST so that you learn to live beautiful at any time, at any price, at any stage, in any location.

Trust me, just because you can buy a $1,200/yard fabric, doesn’t mean you live beautiful with it

Remember, I developed this System for real people, SMART people, SUCCESSFUL people, NICE people, GOOD people…people just like you are and just like I am, to move INTO the daily process of living beautiful. Just Because We Are.

It changes lives. It frees. It lightens the load.

I love the quote above. My take: “If I design + decorate the most beautiful space for someone but they are not FREE to enjoy it, it’s like going to the symphony and not being able to HEAR….” Ann McDonald, 2013

Living beautiful is also a stewardship issue…are you sensing tomorrow’s post?

I hope so

I am crazy passionate about teaching Why & How to Decorate for a Custom Life

It’s not fluff. It matters.

Birds build custom nests. They don’t copy exactly. And if someone moves in after they move out, they tweak just for them…

If you are interested in this, please let me know!

Private? Ann@Couturechateau.com; Public? Comment below. I would be grateful.

I want so much for these Systems to make a difference, to strike a chord, to bless, change, edify, equip…..

Remember, even people who “have it all” struggle against what I call the “Catalog Culture” or “You Can’t Culture” when it comes to their homes & living in their homes

Neither of which I like

I happen to believe “You Can” and you should live “OUT side of a Catalog”

“The Beautiful Issue” ran deep, runs deep

It can cripple us without even knowing it

I want you to live a custom life 😉

but you know that already….because I value you….

“Live a custom life. There in only one you.”

xo Ann

Tuesday Tidbit: My Lake Tahoe Habit

Posted on by

2

Tuesday Tidbit: My Lake Tahoe Habit

Each Tuesday I try to give a window into my habits or bite size design nuggets.

Tuesday should be an easy take a way day, remember, it’s the Most Productive Day of the week, so I want you to get out there and change the world with your custom gifts somehow!!

Today I am working in Lake Tahoe

Fabulous Coral Lamp from Pier One. If you look closely at the Beach House on ABC's Revenge, you'll see it there too! At $125 a complete steal.

Do you remember one of my FAV Lamps? Coral Lamp from Pier One. If you look closely at the Beach House on ABC’s Revenge, you’ll see it there too! At $125 a complete steal. We are customizing this Lamp with a patterned shade & using it in a room with deep red shell mirrors for a project in the Basin.

Meeting some contractors, saying hello to some clients, checking on some jobs in progress and bidding out some new full service design possibilities. Meeting some Couture Chat & VIP Day people.

Very fun. I LOVE working in Lake Tahoe!!

One of the things we do a bunch of are second or rental homes for our Clients who live in the Bay Area

If you have one, give us a call! Our VIP Days are the go to resource and many Realtors in Lake Tahoe give these as Housewarming Gifts. Our favorite Contractors also recommend these. At $1,500, they are high value. Quick turn around inside of 2 weeks.

We will help them pick out furnishings that look great but don’t break the bank. We add a quick custom detail here and there to make SURE it feels like a Couture Chateau project.

Are you working on your own home?

Do YOU have a favorite lake? A favorite Mountain Hideaway?

Let me know! I know we have some friends in Northern Michigan…and Maine…and Texas…where are you?

Maybe we could share YOUR Couture Chateau on the blog!

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”â„¢

xo Ann

Monday Matters: Thinking, Planning, Learning & Some Fresh Air On This Holiday Monday

Posted on by

0

Monday Matters: Thinking, Planning, Learning & Some Fresh Air On This Holiday Monday

Getting some much needed catch up work done

Thinking time

Planning time

We know from this month's House Beautiful that Hermes Orange and Tiffany Blue are all the rage, but how do we incorporate that when we can not or choose not to spend $$$$ on Custom Decorating? In this Seminar we FOCUS and EDIT from the get go. We start by establishing a Color Palate for YOU. A Custom Color Palate for a singular space that will be your jumping off point. We "eat the elephant" one bite at a time!!

I need time to sit and plan…

Learning time

I am always reading books about how to improve. I want so much to go back this next week and review my dog eared copy of this book. It’s simply a must read, even if you don’t have your own business.

And some fresh air

As January hit like a freight train around here, I am using the time to get some fresh air & clear my head so we can bring our best for the rest of the year. We are looking at the schedule and wanting so much to make Chats (our 2 hour Verbal Consults) and VIP Days (our 1 Day Package) available to as many as possible….

CC_MoragaPorchDetail2xF (1) (1)

I love doing Chats & VIP Days but we can only do so many a month. I like being hands on and present at these, not handing them off to one of my Assistants. I am clearing some decks so we can do a few more. 🙂

May today be a blessed day for you and yours

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”â„¢

xo Ann

Sunday Stewardship: Beauty & Decorating Systems

Posted on by

2

Sunday Stewardship: Beauty & Decorating Systems
Reminding Myself of what to Steward….

Couture Chateau Decorating Principles

&

Couture Chateau SYSTEMS that work in conjunction with my Decorating Principles

to achieve the home, life, space, decor that works for you, as you are today

Birds have nests, foxes have holes…you know the rest…since we have graciously been given a place to lay our heads at night, we should dwell with delight in our homes….making them BEAUTIFUL places from which we thrive.
And bless those around us…be who we are supposed to BE

These are tried, tested, re-vamped, re-tried, re-tested REAL systems I use every day in this Design + Decorating Business

When they fail…the drawing board is where I go

Why? What needs to change?

What if this…or that…

STEWARDSHIP

I am having so much fun sharing them but sharing is of no value if it isn’t made practical. Sharing is nice, but the goal is not just “oh…that’s nice”…the HOPE is that you and yours create BEAUTY that LIVES in your home because these things are made PRACTICAL. Easy to implement. Easy to steward.

I have never worked so hard out of my area of expertise to get my Systems & Principles “OUT”. I am no code writer. Nor am I a video editor. Or MP3 expert. I don’t even know how to get the label to print properly on the Office DVDs. The systems are here, we know they work…but I need my own expert to steward them into place…

(our “My Catalog Life” Small Group Seminar that worked so well in person is still being morphed for you. How To on Ready Made Retail is STILL in process. I could not give you a less than excellent product. I finally reached out to a true professional, skilled in execution and look forward to getting this off my desk and into your hands)

I know in my heart that these systems are made for you, for us…I don’t want to have wasted a talent or gift because I buried it in my Studio, with a few close clients & in my FEAR. A gift or insight given is only given to bless others…it must leave the harbour…it is not mine to own or hoard…

These are the systems I use to generate Small Group Seminars, VIP Days, Chats…Full Service Design

I am passionate about these because they SIMPLIFY my life & my BUSINESS

But it is scary for me to share them outside the safe + ordered walls of my Studio….

What if?

Then I remember what these systems do for me…daily…

They give me hope that when I can no longer think because the “noise” is too loud, I can rely on Foundational Truth & simple repeatable steps to bring me back to whole

I like simple steps that we can replicate. 1-2-3. A-B-C. 1 through 7. That sort of stuff….Universal & Customizable…

My hope is that they simplify & bless you

And that they are FUN.

How fun would it be to hang out in this room by Kelly Wearstler? Image linked.

That they equip you and me to REALLY live fearlessly as who we ARE

Stewardship.

It’s work. But it’s good work.

And I am grateful.

May today be a day of Stewarding who you are, and creating some beauty around you.

“Live a custom life. There is only one you.”â„¢

xo Ann