Cher Charles--

I get hundreds of Ask JA questions a week and it's funny, whenever I consider which ones to answer and post on our website I find myself drawn to the testimonial-style enthusiasm of letters like yours. Are you sure you're not my mother writing under a pseudonym?  She has recently figured out how to use a computer......

Oddly, I never post the letters that say things like "Why would anyone ever want to buy your hideous pots?" or "You look like Margaret Hamilton" or "You suck", that kind of thing.  The best letter ever was from a customer who sold his body to pay for one of our Lampert sofas. I was truly touched and I thought it was a great compliment. 

Anyway, thank you Charles and family and keep on stalkin'.

Hola Pamela.

That is an excellent question and it's very near and dear to my heart.  I am the primordial muck from which all other tv-addicts have sprung.  I spend every moment (when I'm not working or destroying my husband at the ping pong table) watching tv. 

I'm like a junkie who needs a fix--I simply don't have the time to waste opening up a cabinet to get to the tv.  I think you should have a tv in every room, out in the open, always on.

Yo, F--

Thanks for the question and thank you for liking the Elsa vase--it was one of my faves.  Re: Couture pottery, I do still get to spend some time at the wheel but I mostly make prototypes for pots or stuff for my own pad.  I hope and pray that I never do any kind of production work ever again ever ever ever.

If you scroll down the Ask JA question (which you should--my mother tells me that my answers are brilliantly written and tres informative) you will learn that I spent my pretty years as a production potter.  I would wake at 6:00 am, rollerblade to the studio, start potting at 7:00, make a hundred mugs by 12:00, have lunch, pull the handles for the hundred mugs by 3:00, trim all the mugs by 6:00, and then attach handles until about 11:00 at night.  I knew it was time to leave the studio when the 7th installment of All Things Considered would come on NPR.  And that was my life seven days a week for about four years.  Production pottery is hell.

So, now it feels like such a luxury and a pleasure to make something new and different every time I sit behind the wheel.

I know.  Isn't my husband brilliant?  Simon's most recent book, Nasty, is one of my favorite books of all time and he is just putting the finishing touches on a new tome that will come out next spring.  If you're desperate for a dose of Doonan you can always read his biweekly New York Observer column.

Anyway, on to the silent W.....  My bloke is British so, of course, he would naturally pronounce "Norwich" as "Norrich", but that's not how we roll around here.  My Simon is living in America, he loves our country, and he does what it takes to make our fellow Americans understand him.

Elizabeth, Never fear!!!  We are just about to unleash a sizzling new wallpaper collection.  We'll be featuring lots of groovy graphics and updated traditionals, all available in a range of colors and - are you sitting down? - gold and silver Mylar.  Meeeooow!!!! Anyway, I'm forwarding your email (marked Urgent - you need your problem solved right away!) to the appropriate operative and she will be in touch. We're here for you.

Yo, Diane--
J'adore a 1930’s Hollywood Jean Harlow glamourfest.  Who wouldn't?  And, I know just the color scheme for you.  Go with the silver thing (MDC Wallcovering’s “Platinum Chambord, textured foil titanium” wallpaper is gorge for your walls, btw), mirror, mirror, mirror, lucite, lucite, lucite, and then choose an improbable accent colour.  The safe bet in this case is a pale ice blue.  But, lately, I'm feeling for yellow and it looks gorge with silver. Check out our new Bargello pillows in the grey/yellow colorway.  Bon chance!

Yo, Gus—

Obviously, the holy trinity of Mantiques consists of a suit of armor, a chesterfield sofa, and an oversized leather rhinoceros ottoman.  Everybody knows that.

But, I’m open to a really big sword (How big?) and a sailing wheel.  The important thing is that your interiors must be eclectic!  So, let wifeypoo have her say for the most part (per my manifesto, “We believe that when it comes to decorating, the wife is always right unless the husband is gay), but put your foot down and rock the Mantiques!

On another note, I have a theory about husbands and wives and décor.  Husbands always complain when their wives make their bedrooms super-fem,  all pink and frilly.  However, I believe that the husband actually loves to be ensconced in a pretty pink room but is too embarrassed to admit it. Discuss.

We have a saying in our company:  “If your heirs won’t fight over it, we won’t make it.”  We’re pretty hardcore about only making stuff that will result in lots of family strife and lawsuits in years to come.

I was lucky enough to have very groovy parents with great taste and the house I grew up in remains a total inspiration to me.  Our house was full of tchotchkes that my brother and sister and I fight over to this day. 

So, take a good hard look around Chez Jules.  Anything that’s not a potential lawsuit-inducer needs to be thrown out immediately. Keep the stuff that speaks to you, which is usually made by a passionate creator with something to say. And, Jules, with your newfound restraint you will feel liberated to splurge on the stuff that’s really fantastic. Courage!

Go to work for an interior design firm!!!! Don’t go to school.  You can learn and make money at the same time.

 I’m very jealous of hairdressers.  Hairdressers are brilliant.  They can skip those silly college years (I studied semiotics, the most useless discipline in history), go to work at 18 and start making money. By the time they’re 22, when their peers are in the red, having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on their educations, hairdressers are making mad money and are unencumbered by the academic mishegas that pollutes so many people’s minds. 

Hairdressers are (deservedly) very well compensated.  When we opened our store in LA, a dude came in to interview for the assistant manager position for which he was way over-qualified.  I explained that his pay would be less than half what he made in his previous job, and he said, “That’s fine.  I’m burnt out, I need to make some changes in my life.”  He continued, “Plus, we don’t really need the money because, well, my husband is a hairdresser.”

Hairdressers are the doctors of today.

You shouldn't have to!  I love me some toile and, if you also love it, you should have it.  Yes, it's been a bit trendy for the last few years, but so what?  Rock the toile!

Merci!  Yes, music is mega-important and under-considered.  For Mr. P's, the concept was to create a groovy lair for a disollute old funster.  The music had to be spot on so we created a groovy playlist, lots of Serge Gainsbourg, some tunes from the soundtrack of "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls", some Brigitte Bardot hits, and a healthy dose of 70's Stones. Music adds that extra je ne sais quoi.

Having said that, I must add that je deteste music on websites.

 You have to channel MacGyver and just kind of figure it out. If it's a freestanding bookshelf, you can wrap wire around the shelf and attach a little hook onto the wire.  Then hang the picture from the hook and you've done no damage to the piece of furniture. I'm also a big fan of cheesy-ass solutions like velcro if it's a small picture. And then, of course, there's always a good old nail.

I know, I must do another book, but it takes so much bloody time and it will interfere with all my tv viewing.  What would you want the book to be????  Okay, I'll start working on it.

Dear Richard—

I am so glad you mentioned Gabe. I am truly madly and deeply in love with that little varmint and I want to run away with him.

I hate to objectify him, but I want to start my paean to Gabe by discussing his figure. Rock solid, with a nice barrel chest, strong haunches and teeny love handles to grab onto—perfection. Then there’s his personality. Gabe is an up-for-anything, anytime, anywhere funster. He tears through that store and throws himself around like a banshee, always with a puckish glint in his eye. 

But, Gabe is not all fun and games. His eyes are wise, he has an ineffable spirit of gravitas, and his wry but insistent snort gives him a Lou-Grantish avuncular quality.

Whenever I’m rungling around the store and rassling with Gabe I feel terribly guilty, like I’m cheating on Liberace. I love Gabe. All y’all should race into the LA store and squeeze Gabe—you won’t regret it.

Oh, yeah, and as for the super-cute LA store operatives, they’re not bad either. But, don’t squeeze them unless you ask nicely.

Eric,
Merci! I am probably the wrong person to ask for advice on starting a business because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I started my business. Scroll down several questions and you can read the story of my stupidity. 

But, as for money, I don’t think that money or a business plan are the keys to starting a business. The key is passion. 

I truly believe that if you are passionate about what you do, and it sounds like you are, then you can make it a business. The business stuff is the easy part—the passion and the authentic voice are the part that really matters.

I have zero educational background in anything and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The whole designer versus decorator thing has become quite a controversy in my world. Ever since I started saying my signature catchphrase on Top Design—“See ya later, Decorator”, I have been pilloried in the blogosphere and called the anti-Christ.  Luckily, I have a forum to fight back—this is how I summed up my feelings on the Bravotv.com website:

"The word "Decorator" is quite controversial. My brethren are funny about being called decorators—they’re worried about being characterized as fluffy dilettantes with bags of swatches. They prefer the term “Designer” which, in their minds, connotes professionalism and gravitas. Decorator/designer, manicurist/beauty consultant, sex-worker/prostitute, whatever."

The whole euphemism thing is especially comical chez nous. My bloke, Simon Doonan, is a window dresser and I am a potter. Two more reviled professions are hard to imagine. The word potter conjures an image of a crunchy Vermonter, years out of date, sequestered in a garret listening to Joni Mitchell and never shaving anything.

Window dresser is even worse. Be honest - the window dresser in your mind's eye makes Rip Taylor look like Tom Selleck. But Simon and I don’t insist on being called a “ceramicist” and a “visual display merchandiser”. We embrace everything about our professions including people’s tendencies to mock them. We don’t care what anybody calls us and neither should you!

So, that’s pretty much how I feel about people who insist on being called designers. I think it’s best to approach a creative endeavor as an outsider.  I’m not bound by the rules of Interior Design school, I don’t have too many preconceived notions about how things should be, and I think that’s the key to creativity.

As for your silly designer friend who is all up in arms-YAWN!

We at the Adler laboratories have spent endless hours and buckets of money researching the perfect brown, pale blue, and orange paint colors.  Here are our findings:

Brown:  Sherwin Williams "Kaffee", Code SW6104
Orange:  Benjamin Moore "Startling Orange", Code 2016-10
Pale Blue:  Benjamin Moore "Ocean Breeze", Code 2058-60

Go for it!

I do like a good tie, Josh.  I inherited most of my ties from my dad who had a fierce collection of knitted Rooster ties from the 70s.  I love a good Rooster.  As for the top-stitched ties that I often wear on Top Design, I bought them in Milan and I can't remember the name of the store but, the last time I was there, it was gone!  Very very tragic.  I wish I had bought about nineteen squillion of them top-stitched ties.

And, I probably shouldn't be trusted because I don't know how to properly tie a tie.  I can do the boring old basic knot, of course, but the super phat double Windsor knot that I rock on Top Design was courtesy of the stylist for the show, Paris.  Yes, the stylist is named Paris and I j'adore him but I'm irate that he never taught me how to tie that knot.  I'm also mad at my husband, Simon, because he's supposed to be a fashion savant and he's English and used to work on Saville Row and he should know how to tie a bloody double Windsor but he doesn't.  Bummer.

 Excellent question. I’ve backed myself into a corner by being the “Colors can’t clash” guy when I don’t really entirely mean it. J’adore color and j’adore it in abundance. But, sometimes one can go too far. I like to choose a few colors and use them over and over in the same space.

Dear Katie—Never fear—I’m working on it. Until we rage into San Diego and offer Happy Chic living to you deserving San Diegans, you can go to our Melrose Avenue store in LA!!!!!

The best way to get a job right out of school is to send your resume and be talented and be willing to work hard! I truly believe that if you have skills (CAD, rendering, etc.) the world is your oyster. And, that’s the majesty of New York. I came to this town with dreams of becoming a potter (weird) and had no idea how the hell I could possibly make a go of it but I had some weird faith that New York + hard work = success.  So, I worked my little bottom off making pots and hawking them and gradually figured it out.

p.s. I know this is going to sound like I’m some freaky-ass octogenarian, but I find that kids today (that’s right, kids today) just ain’t like I was when I was coming up. I was willing to work and work and work and stay late and do whatever it took.  So, Todd, get a job, stay late, and you’ll be a mega-success!

Bonjour! J’adore leather couches and I have one in my ping pong parlor at home. It is kind of a browny-green vintage chesterfield and, it sits proudly atop a Peter rug in brown and blue! So, that’s moi’s answer.  Though I don’t have kids, I do have a dog (who I am convinced is half pig, actually) and he’s pretty rough and tumble and, well, and my point is that you have to live your life and expect a little bit of crayon or drool on everything. Go for it!

I am a dorky enthusiast. I am inspired by and obsessed with so many things--tv (always), 60s and 70s design, fashion, hippie-dippie pottery, outsider art, fashion, blah, blah, blah--and my obsessions are constantly expanding.  Thank God I have built this business!  I have a platform to channel my inspirations productively, otherwise I fear I'd be some hermit freak holed up a la The Unabomber scrawling ideas obsessively and incomprehensibly until my family would have to intervene and institutionalize me.

Sorry to go a bit dark on you, Diana.  My point is that I am widely influenced and always hungry for more and I think that is the key to creativity.  Re: trends, I try to ignore them and stay focussed on my own idiosyncratic interests.  I find that the more personal and quirky my work is the more people like it.  It's actually quite heartening that, in this era of focus groups and corporate research, personal vision is still the key to success.

My favorite getaway place is my rustic modern shack on Shelter Island.  I never understood the whole Wallpaper magazine thing of jetting off to Indonesia for the weekend or how to spend three days in Sao Paolo.  My blokes (Simon and Liberace) are all about cozy familiarity.

I miss Will & Grace!!!!!  I was always thrilled to see the set festooned with my merch and secretly always dreamed of a guest spot, but, alas, wasn't meant to be.  Loved her and loved her designs.

Glad you asked.  I just renovated my pad and upgraded to a very swishy Sharp Aquos flat screen and I put all of the components in my Channing buffet and it works perfectly!  I had to drill a hole in the back, but it's totally fine. I cannot believe my new sleek lifestyle!

Dear Mar--
You would be mad not to want to redecorate with Palm Beach flavor, especially in chilly old Denver. You must go for it immediately and you will soon be feeling sorry for your cozy neighbors and their fleecy Coloradoness.

Look no further than moi's website!  Start with my Woodhouse sofas (be sure to do contrasting piping), add a bold graphic rug (perhaps the Richard Nixon pattern in green?) and layer in some lacquer furniture and some platinum pots.  Moi's Chinese Chippendale dining chairs are a must and my ceramic greyhounds are an updated take on the traditional grehyounds featured in my book. Also, don't forget to get some of my Meurice lighting for it's updated take on Waspy style.

I could go on and on.
Go for it!!!!

I first went to The Breakers a few years ago and was underwhelmed. It's such an incredible property and it could be so great, but it's just moderate and corporate and a total bummer. But why must it be so??? When I reference The Breakers circa '72, I am imagining a time when designers really went for it.  In my mind's eye, it was all fun and colorful and glossy and groovy and high-waspy and everything that Palm Beach should be. 

It was probably none of those things--it's probably always just been kinda' corporatey and wedding-hallish. But my fantasy of The Breakers circa '72 inspires me to create the over-the-top stuff that Palm Beach is about.

Richard Nixon had the grooviest ranch house in San Clemente that was a mix of ye olde stuff with modern and color and it was awesome.  So, the Richard Nixon pattern--all graphic and crisp and kinda' modern and kinda' traditional--is my homage to his sublime San Clemente ranch.  He may not have been a great president, but he had very groovy taste.

Fritz, I can tell that you are a complicated and dynamic provocateur. When guests arrive Chez Fritz, they need to know that they're dealing with a maverick tastemaker who plays by his own rules and takes no prisoners. Fritz, your decor must not be matchy matchy; that's simply not who you are. Rock the eclecticism that reflects your spirit and go with the Chippendale and Platner situation.

Mindi

First of all, Mindi, I love your name! I had a good friend growing up named Mindi who spelled it with an i just like you.

As for Seder plates, yes, I am totally planning to make a seder plate and I'm glad you reminded me. Judaica can be kinda' gnarly and I fully intend to do something about it!

Thank God you wrote!  My primary mission in life is spreading my Happy Chic design philosophy;  my secondary mission in life is saving people from becoming lawyers. Now, before my lawyer customers get all irate at me and all boycott-ish, let me say that I come from a law family--both my parents were lawyers, both of my grandfathers were judges, my sister is a law professor, blah, blah, blah. But, a lot of people go into law as a default career and end up miserable and overworked and  unfulfilled and they just did it to please their parents anyway or to make a good living and they find that it ain't even that well paid and it's all pretty gnarly to behold.

As for going to school, I think you should just get an entry level job with a decorator and learn how the business works.  School sucks.

I love this question and I have a divine answer!  People often wonder what screens are for and I always say that they're portable architecture.  You are a perfect screen candidate.  I recommend that you get my Desmond Screen and use it to create a foyer.  Place it directly in front of the door, about 5 feet away and then put a piece of furniture in front of it.  Moi's Channing Buffet would work well or you could put one of my Prescott Chairs in front of it with a little end table.You need to open the door and have something for your eye to rest on rather than just bursting into your big old living room.  Let me know how it goes.

My Simon is the greatest and most creative person ever and he is as sweet and as funny as he is talented.  Re: work, we're very much on the same page sensibility wise.  We both believe that creative expression, whether it be design, art, or writing, should be clear and communicative.  Unfortunately, a lot of creative people go to the dark side, and use creativity to express a dour and obscurantist viewpoint.  Hate that.  So, I think that Simon inspires me and me him to keep the Happy Chic spirit alive.

There is another, slightly darker way in which he inspires me.  You know how (allegedly) Jean Michel Basquiat was given heroin by various art dealers in exchange for paintings?  Some say he was even locked up in a studio painting and painting and painting just to get heroin.  Well, I have a similar idea in mind for Simon.  I love his writing so much that I want to lock him up and make him write and write and write just so I can read and read and read.  So, he inspires me to make enough money to be able to build a hidden room in our house where I can imprison him with his keyboard.

I think patterned rugs can be quite neutral.  I would recommend my Pat Nixon rug in chocolate and white which is graphic and groovy but kind of rustic and modern at the same time.  Btw, Alix, your house sounds like heaven!  Keep the rustic modern spirit alive!  Courage!

Re: the chandi, go with the antiqued brass.  For the last several years, design has  been all nickel nickel nickel and brass has been considered gnarly.  But, I'm all about brass.  It's warm and groovy and vintagey and timeless.  Rock the brass.

Re: being me, it has its moments.  My fave moments are when I'm canoodling with Liberace who, as I write, is striking the most fetching and alluring pose I've ever seen so I gotta' go.......

 It sounds like you need to buy my Disco Lady and Disco Dandy needlepoint pillows, my orange Lacquer Tray for your coffee table, and my brand new Horse Head lamp (lamp is coming soon- see the new Horse Head for a sneak peak) for your end table. I know these ain't terribly cheap, but they are memorable! You have the foundation, you need the punctuation.

Good luck!

I'm not allowed to reveal much, but stay tuned......

Not only do I think that the Lampert sofa and the Prescott chair work together, I actually have them both in my guest room! I'm rocking our Tisket-a-Tasket Ice Blue fabric, but I think that you could use our new Avalon Natural linen velvet which I'm madly in love with.  It's the perfect fabric--kinda' fancy, kinda' frisky, and kinda' natural--I love it! I want to cover everything in that linen velvet. I'm even considering a jumpsuit for myself...

A lot of national retailers make stuff that is nice. They make stuff that is in good-ish taste, well-ish-crafted, affordable-ish, but, utterly cold. Usually you buy that stuff when you're beaten down after a long search and willing to settle for something "that'll do". When you kick the bucket, the first things your heirs will toss are that personality-free stuff that you bought because "that'll do". If it's only "that'll do", we will not make it.

I am design obsessed! I can wax rhapsodic over the silhouette of a teapot or lose sleep over a sofa proportion. I'm very, very serious about design and craftsmanship, but I'm sassily personalitied. So, my challenge is to balance design and personality and to make stuff that's neither too serious nor too sassy. Sometimes I fear that I do myself a disservice by being all throw-away about the work that I care so deeply about and that I'm so serious about. But, that's just how I roll.

Anyway, I hope that answered your question and that I wasn't too Oprah-y.

Dogs are tough in the Menagerie Collection. I'm kind of afraid to open the floodgates and start making every breed and just becoming the proprietor of a ceramic dog concern. As a diehard dog lover, this could easily happen and I could become one of those weirdo reclusive animal people like Brigitte Bardot (who I'm often mistaken for). On a design level, one of my great challenges in making ceramic animals is to keep them in the realm of the beautiful rather than the merely cute. Dogs walk that fine line and can easily become more cute than beautiful. But, I never say never...

As for Hollywood Regency,  scroll down a bit and you'll see my answer to a Hollywood Regency question. In short, I'm a Maximalist and an Eclecticist and I love lots of stuff (including Hollywood Regency). I put all of my passions into my mental blender and come up with a collection that is (I hope) idiosyncratic and eclectic and very personal. I think those are the very qualities that everyone should strive for in their home decor.

I define Hollywood Regency as Neo-classical lines mixed with Hollywood glamour and a top note of mod moxie. Hollywood Regency was a style of architecture and decoration popular in the 60s in LA that was a revival of classical regency style through a modern lens. Hollywood Regency added a layer of pattern and decoration and opulence and glamour to the minimalism of mid-century modernism.

I think that the current rage for Hollywood Regency is a reaction to the Christian Liaigre-ish minimalism that has been pervasive for the last several years. Design was starting to look a bit dour and grey and joyless and I think people had simply had enough. So, Hollywood Regency has become a catch-all name to describe design that thumbs its nose at minimalism in favor of classical references and lots of decoration. As for the mirrors and bamboo and Asiana and chrome, those are all design elements that figured into Hollywood Regency style the first time around and I think they're back because they're decorative and glamorous.

I have always been a maximalist and an eclecticist. My pad has always featured a mix of my own stuff with modern classics and Louis XVI chairs and a dollop of rococo, so I fully support design that has a dash of opulence and a soupçon of decoration.

Quel conundrum! How does one throw off a bunch of copycats trying to bogart your sublime style???

I was recently in one of the most amazing houses I've ever seen that was owned by Squintillionaires who had done something unbelievably decadent and kind of ingenious. They had a real working kitchen in the back of the house staffed by 37 servants all whirling about cooking and cleaning. But, in the front of the house they had another huge kitchen which was absolutely gorgeous--an enameled Aga stove, a frieze of French 50s ceramic masterpieces (with a few of my pots mixed in, thank God), an extra-wide SubZero fridge, and all the other top of the line kitchenish stuff that we've all dreamed about one day owning. This kitchen has a breakfast nook overlooking the sea and it couldn't be more perfect.

Of course, the beautiful kitchen is fake. There was no food in the fridge, the oven had never been used, the mixing bowls and pots and pans were purely for show. This kitchen was where the Squintillionaires would go to have a meal if they wanted to have a casual "let’s just eat in the kitchen" kind of experience. All the real cooking took place in the back kitchen and the food was brought to the Squintillionaires by uniformed servants but presented in a very down-home kitchenish way as opposed to the more formal presentation if they were eating in the dining room. It was all very Marie Antoinette and completely insane.

But, I think there is a lesson to be learned, Thea. The solution to your problem is quite easy--you simply need to build a couple of fake rooms in the front of your house and furnish them in the most horrid style you can imagine. Because you're the neighborhood trendsetter, the copycats will imitate your new style and decorate their homes in a hideous manner while you will be ensconced in your ultra-groovy pad feeling all chic and kittenish and the joke will be on them.

Good luck!

Sorry, I can't stop decorating! Back to your question...the sofa is the anchor--make it great and classic. Add lamps and accessories with lots of flavor and enjoy your life!