Design

Did anyone see us on "Ex Wives Club", aired on ABC last Monday? Okay, if you blinked you probably missed it. We did too, actually. So this is what happened. About a year ago we got a call from a producer from ABC TV. They want to use our store to shoot a scene for a new reality show staring Marla Maple, Angie Everhart and Shar Jackson (Shar who??). Shar Jackson, let us inform you, used to be married to Kevin Federline, who used to be married to Britney Spears, got it? Being in Southern California, we are just as celebrity obsessed as anyone else. Plus, we thought it would be a nice little publicity for our store. Mind you, we are a little store (and we meant, LITTLE) with no more than two pennies to rub together for an advertising budget, so we jumped at the chance. We got all dressed up, all made up, cleaned up our store--all in anticipation of the filming. The next day the crew came with Marla Maple and Shar Jackson. They were extremely nice, and we could tell they were amu...

Is Top Design, the new interior design show on Bravo, a yawn? We think it's an absolute yes. Unlike Project Runway, Top Design doesn't have any DRAMA! We want drama, we want talents, we want blood! We want cat fights! The first episode shows the candidates working in team with a budget of $50,000 to design a room. Now, $50,000 seems like a lot but it is not because it is based on RETAIL prices. Like cars, you should never pay MRSP (manufacturer suggested retail prices for furniture), especially at places like Pacific Design Center. Just so you know, the vendors don't expect to sell them at that prices either. The standard is 30-40% off the retail prices. You usually have to go through a decorator to buy at the design centers, but don't pay a mark up on top of the design fee. That is just plain silly. Ok, back to Bravo. We don't see any talents on the show yet. The second episode features the candidates doing a kid's room. This time the budget was limited and req...

We heard that the folks responsible for Project Runway and Top Chef are coming out with a show for interior design. This is so exciting! We love Project Runway and Top Chef! It's nice to have a reality show about talents than about silly people babbling about nothing of value (would you believe this, but there will be a realtity show coming called "Hot Moms". Please, give us a break!) On some other TV related-news, we will be featured on "Ex-wives Clubs", coming to ABC next year. Well, that is if we don't get cut out in the editing room. The folks from the show came to us last year to shoot a segment with Marla Trump and the woman who used to be married to K-Fed (what is her name?). You know what's realistic about reality show? Very little. From what we've seen it's very scripted. Watch out for our next post where we will keep you informed about all the cool home design stuff that is going on in Los Angeles.