I am pleased to announce that I’ll be returning to the Modern Atlanta show founded by Elayne DeLeo and Bernard McCoy on the week of June 6th. I’ll moderate a panel with the local heads of the ASID and the IIDA which should be very interesting.

The World of Interiors gave Stripes; Design Between The Lines a full page review in their April 2013 issue and 1st Dibs posted Annie Kelly’s review which is probably my all time favorite write up. Here’s a link: http://www.1stdibs.com/introspective/required_reading/stripes_design_between_the_lines_by_linda_okeeffe/

In the next week of so I’ll post the piece I wrote about the very talented Alison Berger in the Spring 2013 issue of Cultured. It’s such a good publication. You can check out the digital issue at: http://www.cultureddigital.com/t/9613/

Also, check out the Q&A I did for the Spring issue of Ligne Magazine if you have a chance: http://www.lignemagazine.com

Thanks for your interest and be well!

New Year’s resolution for 2014 – I will update this site more! Thanks for your feedback and prodding about this!! I have a bunch of magazine articles I need to post so please look out for those in the coming weeks.

I’ll moderate a panel at the Architectural Design show on March 21st between interior designers Geoffrey Bradfield, Robert Passal, Kathryn Scott and Glen Gissler. Not sure of the topic yet but it’s a very talented group of people so the event will be informative and lively.

I’ll also talk about shoes on March 25th at the 92Y. This stems from the Fall, 2013 publication of a shoe book I wrote for the Princeton Architectural Press, which is essentially a compendium of the original shoe book I wrote for Workman Publishing. Copies of both books will be available at the event.

I’m currently reviewing layouts for my new Rizzoli book entitled Heart & Home; Rooms That Tell Stories (very exciting!), which chronicles 30 of the most heartfelt, stylish interiors I’ve come across in a long while. I’m also in the midst of writing Benjamin Noriega Ortiz’s monograph for the Monacelli Press. Both books will launch this Fall.

Thanks for your interest!

I’m feel lucky to report that Stripes was reviewed by a number of publications including Architectural Digest, Veranda, The New York Observer, Elle Decor, Dwell, Modern Magazine, At Home, Interior Design and Casa Vogue. Here’s a sampling.

1st Dibs: http://www.1stdibs.com/introspective/required_reading/stripes_design_between_the_lines_by_linda_okeeffe/

Metropolis Magazine: http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20121030/book-review-everything-you-ever-w

Design Milk: http://design-milk.com/stripes/

O, THE OPRAH MAGAZINE: http://www.oprah.com/book/Stripes-Design-Between-the-Lines?editors_pick_id=
40950

Thursday, November 8th 6-8pm
The first STRIPES book signing is in NYC. Please Come!”

We held the party at Francine Gardner’s beautiful store, Interieurs and despite an evening of torrential rain all the copies of Brilliant sold out!! It was a wonderful crowd.

The Miami book party took place at Nisi Berryman’s beautiful interior design store, Niba, in Miami’s Design District and one designer bought a copy of Brilliant for each of the 7 designers in her studio!

Benjamin Moore hosted three Brilliant book parties in their showrooms. The first took place in New York with Benjamin Noriega Ortiz and Carl D’Aquino. Really good questions from the audience and, as usual, Carl and Benjamin were in great form. The second took place in Chicago with Paul Florian and the very talented Kara Mann and the third took place in San Fran with Jay Jeffers and Beth Martin who became a fast friend. It was thrilling that both events sold out.

After San Fran I popped over to L.A to moderate a panel between Catherine Fellowes and Michael Wollaeger at Thomas Lavin’s very well configured showroom at the PDC and that was standing room only!

I was honored to present a Hue Award to the very talented team of D’Aquino Monaco a few days after I came back from the west coast and subsequently I moderated a panel between Jamie Drake and Benjamin Noriega Ortiz at the 92 Street Y’s Tribeca branch that was packed to the rafters.  Please check out this blog from Office Insight that reported the event. http://current.officeinsight.com/_pdf_/OI043012.pdf

Stripes book signings – the first one is in NYC. Please come!

Here’s one from the archives! Video of an interview I conducted with Ralph Pucci at Brooklyn Design a few years ago www.elledecor.com/…/interview-ralph-pucci-video-11349333…

I’m currently working on my next book, Interior Portraits/Going Home (working title) for Rizzoli so I’m scouting personal, heartfelt interiors all over the place. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it:) I have shoots planned in Los Angeles and Miami throughout the winter in order to meet my mid-February 2013 deadline.

I recently judged Benjamin Moore’s Hue awards. The winners will be announced by the year’s end and the Awards Ceremony will take place in the Spring of 2012. Here is the press release.

DATES SET, JUDGES NAMED FOR

5TH BENJAMIN MOORE HUEÒ AWARDS
(MONTVALE, NJ—APRIL, 2011)—Architects and interior designers who possess a passion for using color—and have a portfolio of projects to prove it—are invited to submit their work for the Benjamin Moore HUE Awards. In its fifth year, the competition, which recognizes exceptional use of color in architecture and interior design, will begin accepting submissions April 15, 2011, with a July 15th deadline. There is no fee to enter; downloadable entry forms and instructions are available only at www.benjaminmoore.com.
Since establishing the HUE Awards in 2005, Benjamin Moore has presented more than $130,000 in prize money to both the super novas and novices of the design profession in categories that include Residential Interiors, Residential Exteriors, Contract Interiors and Contract Exteriors. Additionally, there is a Lifetime Achievement Award, plus past years have seen the presentation of discretionary awards for Social Responsibility and also one for Restoration & Preservation. A $5,000 cash prize goes to each honoree along with a HUEY mouth-blown crystal sculpture.
“The power and impact of color are what the Benjamin Moore HUE Awards is all about,” said Eileen McComb, director of corporate communications. “And, Benjamin Moore, which has been a color authority for over a century, is proud to be able to shine the public spotlight on some of the most creative and forward-thinking design talents who have demonstrated their affinity for color and applied it in innovative and imaginative ways.”
The judges for the HUE competition also have been named and are an illustrious group drawn from the worlds of design, fashion and industry. They include:  Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker; Tim Murray, creative director, TARGET Creative Vision Group;  Hans Neubert, executive creative director, frog; Linda O’Keeffe, design author and former creative director Metropolitan Home magazine; and, Gary Panter, artist, graphic designer and set designer for the original “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.”
“The high caliber of HUE judges has always been upheld,” said McComb. “We are again grateful to have enlisted another group of rarified individuals who add to the credibility and legitimacy of the awards thanks to their experience and insight.”

About Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore & Co., a Berkshire Hathaway company, was founded in 1883. One of the country’s leading manufacturers of premium quality residential, commercial and industrial maintenance coatings, its products are distributed via a network of independent paint and decorating retailers throughout North America. Benjamin Moore has been a longstanding steward of the environment with a relentless commitment to sustainable manufacturing practices plus the ongoing development of the most eco-responsible formulations possible. Its portfolio of Green Promise® products continues to grow and includes Aura, über-performance low-VOC paint; Natura, the true zero-VOC interior paint, remaining zero after tinting in any color, any sheen; and EcoSpec zero-VOC paint for commercial interiors. What’s more, the Benjamin Moore color offering of 3,300 hues is unrivaled, but any custom color choice can be matched, as was recently done for the White House Oval Office ceiling and trims. The only assurance of getting an authentic Benjamin Moore color is using Benjamin Moore paint, since the colorants and resins are proprietary and formulated with the company’s own patented waterborne technologies. And, authentic Benjamin Moore colors are available exclusively from Benjamin Moore retailers.

Past HUE® Awards Honorees

Lifetime Achievement Steven Holl  ‘06
Ettore Sottsass  ‘07
Legorreta + Legorreta  ‘08
Diamond Baratta Design ‘10

Residential Interiors​​Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners ‘06
Drake Design Associates ‘06
David Ling Architect ‘07
Danielle Bokor, ‘08
Ghislaine Viñas ‘10

Contract Interiors​Clive Wilkinson Architects ‘06
TVS Interiors, Inc. ‘06
Saia Barbarese Topouzanov Architectes ‘07
STUDIOS Architecture  ‘08
Envision Design, ‘10

Residential Exteriors​Daniel Weiland Architect ‘06
Ibarra Rosano Design Architects ‘07
Donald Lococo Architects  ‘08
Amy Wax, Your Color Source Studios ‘10

Contract Exteriors​Rockwell Group ‘06
SMC Alsop, Inc. ‘07
Allen + Philp Architects/Interiors ‘10

Social Responsibility​Gary Wang, Architect ‘07
Make It Right, New Orleans ‘08

Special Achievement
Restoration & Preservation​​Eikona Studios ‘10

When I appeared as guest judge on Bravo’s Top Design the producer asked me to write a blog.

The very talented designer Todd Oldham was the show’s ring master and voice of reason.

“Let me say that I have tremendous respect for all the people involved in “Top Design”. All of the judges are friends or colleagues and they are all talented, consummate professionals, all tremendously respected in their fields. And how brave are the contestants for putting themselves in the line of fire where they had to conceptualize, design and execute room settings in the blink of an eye? That’s a daunting challenge for a seasoned pro let alone a novice. I’ve produced, styled and art directed interior design stories for magazines and books for more years than I can remember and I know that a still photograph of a room can be easily achieved with smoke and mirrors.

A still photograph portrays and isolates a moment that may not be truly representative of an overall project. A moving camera is more brutal – it can’t deceive in the same way so all of the spaces needed to be able to stand the scrutiny of a camera peering into drawers and under beds. Talk about pressure! When I arrived on the set all I knew was that the contest was down to the wire. I would be meeting the final 4 contestants, the ones who had made it through the other grueling episodes. These were stars whether they made it to the final episode or not. I knew people at home would be rooting for their favorites who, let’s face it, were household names at this point.”

I guest judged alongside the show’s regular panel that included Margaret Russell, Kelly Wearstler and Jonathan Adler.

“I’ve done my fair share of TV but I was never on a reality show and I was intrigued by the process but I was concerned about the quality of the show so I had a revolving list of worst-case-scenarios in my head. The prize for this episode’s challenge was to be published in Met Home – what if none of the contestants’ designs were up to Met Home standards? What if the winner of this challenge had great style but his/her style wasn’t compatible with Met Home’s aesthetics? Met Home is modern, well-edited and edgy – what if the winning room was traditional, cluttered and granny-like? What if I felt inhibited about being honest in my criticism?

I am paid, after all for being critical and spend a large portion of my time rejecting projects that are configured by the world’s top designers and architects. Would I have to lower my standards tremendously and end up patronizing the contestants? What if I hated all of the rooms and didn’t want to cite anyone as the winner? Could I be critical, compassionate and constructive – a tall order in the TV world of sound bytes? Could I come up with a sound byte that trumped Johnnie Adler’s “see ya later, decorator” which had already become the water cooler catchphrase of the moment? Yes, before filming began, I sat in the green room and tortured myself with these and many other similar thoughts.

More pressure came from my awareness that being published in Metropolitan Home, the challenge prize, would legitimize the winning designer and I took that aspect very seriously. Met Home has been around for 25 years so a significant portion of the design community, at this point, got their big break in the pages of the magazine. I can’t tell you how many times designers have said to me things like, “my very first project was published in Met Home and that’s what put me on the map” or “after you guys published me I got a furniture contract and….” or “that one story you did on me enabled me to set up my business and the rest is history.”

I’ve been doing what I do for such a long time that I tend to get blase about the power of being published so I had to check in to the reality of what it would mean to be an unknown designer who was at the beginning of their career. On the other hand, I was there as a judge and I needed to evaluate the work from a realistic standpoint and respect the professionalism of the contestants because the last thing they needed was for me to be patronizing. I also felt that it was somewhat appropriate for me to be brutal if I felt the work was under par. After all, these contestants were ambitiously pursuing a career in interior design and their talents needed to be developed enough to stand the scrutiny of a bit of criticism. When I introduced the challenge with Todd at the Viceroy I noticed that all four contestants were taken aback at the idea that they would have to theme their room according to the element card they picked.

Based on a few of their comments I could tell that they were going to interpret their element literally and I feared the worst. A literal interpretation could potentially limit their creativity. When I saw the final rooms my first take was that the literal renderings were not so successful. Given its broadest definition, for example, the fire element could have translated into an all red room or a room that exemplified passion of any kind. But how easy is it for me to say that? The contestants had to go with their gut reaction – they didn’t have time to deliberate and second guess themselves. The final rooms were all very accomplished however, the assignment was to create a ‘luxury suite’ and that concept was missing from most of the designs.

I liked a lot of individual elements – how impressive was it that Andrea designed and sewed her bedding? And how great was it that Matt actually created his own art work? I wondered whether the contestants had stayed in many hotel rooms because basic essentials weren’t addressed in a few of the designs. The judges, by contrast were all seasoned travelers and three of them had designed hotel rooms so the review process was realistically harsh. Luxury, it occurred to me, was not necessarily about cashmere, champagne and oodles of cash. In the context of a hotel room luxury is about feeling pampered, about feeling that all of your needs are being met in the most practical, most beautiful way and that can be achieved simply.

A few things in the rooms were unresolved like Goil’s statue. I envisioned people doing obscene things with that torso or at least hanging their clothes or jewelry on it. It wasn’t a wise choice. And then there was Matt’s painting – while I admired his enterprise, it didn’t feel finished to me so it didn’t work. But Kelly loved it so much that she coveted it so that was great – I liked it when us judges had that kind of disagreement, Overall, I think we all realized the seriousness of our roles so there was a shared gravitas in the room, eliminating someone meant we were shattering someone’s dreams and that’s not an easy thing to do.

I hope the contestants had a good experience even if they didn’t finally win the coveted Top Designer title. All 4 of them made it this far and they should derive a strong sense of accomplishment from that. Whenever an up-and-coming designer asks me for advise I always tell them to nurture their individuality and to uncover their own aesthetics. None of the great, successful designers have cookie-cutter style – each of them is unique. So I guess the advice is to be brave enough to not be liked. If you want universal acceptance from everyone you meet you are trying to please everyone and that’s a formula for disaster.”