Color Me "Decorated Out"...

This last weekend was the culmination of a LOT of work for my newspaper writing partner Christian Ursino and myself (check out our website and columns). We were the designers for a new feature at the 2006 Northwest Flower and Garden Show called Destination Living by Windermere Real Estate.

Here's the basic concept: When you are ready to purchase your vacation getaway, Windermere wants you to think of using them because they have offices in many different states. This is a pretty good idea when you think about it, since the people who attend the show are the same ones who are buying 2nd homes.

So at the show, there were 5 rooms with coordinating gardens promoting different getaway themes. Christian and I were the ones responsible for transforming each 11.5' x 11.5' box into a space that would evoke the specific theme.

The kicker of the project: we received the assignment in early December - we had less than 8 weeks to design 5 rooms, secure suppliers for all surfaces (floors, walls and furnishings) and coordinate the whole thing. Sure, it sounds like a lot of time, but we had Christmas and New Years in there, a flu epidemic and a potential supplier who never materialized. We really pulled it all together in less than a month!

Our rooms turned out great. Our suppliers were angels, we could not have down it without Dania , Capers (206-545-7876), Daly's and Fidalgo's.

Nor would we have looked too pretty without the expert services of Queen Anne Painting and Elgie Gibson (425-485-3211) Wallcovering Installation.

More on our rooms later - I've got to dash off to the store to pick up Valentine's Dinner and Desert for the family - I think we'll have pasta with red sauce and strawberries with whipped cream for dessert (add a little champagne for us parents!). Kids will like having a red dinner for Valentine's Day.