Casita Alegria staircase

High Desert Habitat

A dramatic spiral staircase frames
 Casita Alegria's dining room, rich with the
 colors of the Southwest's landscape

DESIGN IN THE DESERT

IN THE NEWS

 

The Albuquerque Journal and the Santa Fe New Mexican talk to Linda about Design in the Desert

Both publications interviewed Linda about her upcoming seminar in Santa Fe on September 26-28, and its focus on color. "The colors of the high desert are so spectacular and such an inspiration to me," Linda said about her enthusiasm for her seminar presentation. "Yet, so many of the Southwestern interiors I see are limited to shades of brown and white. I don't really understand it, when there is so much opportunity to draw from the landscape and the environment to bring the desert palette indoors. A large portion of my presentation will focus on the use of color to transform our homes."

 

Look for the Santa Fe New Mexican article either September 7 or 14, and the Albuquerque Journal article on September 13.

 

SEMINAR NEWS: SOURCES, PILLOWS & HOTEL ROOMS

 

Casita Alegria

Linda's Design Sources Revealed

Seminar guests never seem to run out of questions about where Linda finds her carefully selected pieces. This time, in addition to visits to several of Linda's favorite shops at the Santa Fe Design Center on Saturday, Design in the Desert guests will receive Linda's personal list of showrooms, galleries, trades and other resources used in her remodel of Casita Alegria in their seminar notebooks on Sunday. Included in the list are sources for the 18th Century American pine dining table, the 1940s chandelier and antique French bergère chairs, all the home's oushak rugs, the spiral staircase, the front entry's artwork and antique bench (photos left and above).


 
Sherwin Williams

Seminar bonus:
Sherwin Williams Color Trend 2009 Presentation
Linda used Sherwin-Williams products extensively in the remodels of both Casita Alegria and Kirby Kendrick's Grande Dame, and is very excited about their participation in the seminar. On Sunday, Designer Account Executive Ismahan El-Frih from The Sherwin Williams Company will be on hand to present the Colormix 2009 Trend Event. Ismahan's entertaining and educational presentation will show us what's new for 2009, including eco-friendly paint resources and product tips. Ismahan is also filling our gift bags with her 2009 Forecast Color Trend Cards and the new Sherwin Williams Concepts in Color Fan Decks, with 250 new colors - a terrific design tool usually available only to designers. This will be a great opportunity to have all your paint and color questions answered by a true professional.


If you haven't already been to their website's Color Visualizer, you will be amazed! You can select a room or exterior in any style, and drag and drop colors onto it to see what it would look like - it's VERY cool!

 

Hotel Rooms: Travelers, Start Your [search] Engines!

Santa Fe has thousands of hotel rooms, and while they do fill up on busy weekends, there is still availability for the seminar weekend. We did a quick search on kayak.com and came up with a good selection in a variety of price ranges, from The Inn at Santa Fe ($84/night) to Fort Marcy Suites ($165/night) to the Inn and Spa at Loretto ($350/night), to name a few. We were able to confirm availability on the hotels' websites, but rooms are disappearing quickly and many places are sold out, so don't wait any longer. BTW, kayak.com's search feature includes many of the popular search engines such as Hotwire, Travelocity, Expedia, etc., and even airlines like Southwest that most searches don't find. We like it!

 

Casita Alegria Living Room

Linda's color theory is apparent in Casita Alegria's living room. A colorful palette with lots of contrast is grounded by neutrals.

Can we get you another pillow?

Linda and Laurie Soldmann have been hard at work on the stunning new line of pillows for 2009, which will make its debut at the seminar. The distinctive new series reflects Linda's theory about color, which she will be talking about in her presentation: she uses lots of rich, bold colors and then grounds the palette with black and white or neutrals. The result is the perfect balance found in Casita Alegria, pictured on this page. Even Traditional Home magazine, who shot the historic adobe for an upcoming spread, commented on the unusual combinations of colors and patterns in Linda's rooms, and the striking results she achieved. Each pillow is hand made from sumptuous designer fabrics, some with three or four different textures for contrast, and exotic trims, buttons, flounces and flanges. They're spectacular! The pillows will be on display and for sale at the seminar this month, and on the website starting in October.



If You Can't Make the Whole Weekend...
We've been receiving requests from people who can't get into town until late Saturday, or who want to attend both the Wine and Chile Fiesta and our Seminar, so we have added a Sunday-only registration option. Although you won't get to tour the two adobes on Saturday (Linda's Casita Alegria and Kirby Kendrick's Grande Dame), your registration fee will include the entire Sunday agenda, starting with the seminar at La Posada de Santa Fe, the seminar notebook and gift bag, a fabulous New Mexican lunch in La Posada's garden, the 2009 Color Trend presentation by Sherwin Williams, and the closing cocktail reception sponsored by Sherwin Williams Paint Company. For details, please call our office at 415 331 2040 or visit our website's seminar page. Attendance is by prior registration only, and subject to availability.

We'll see you soon in Santa Fe!

Come on out!

So make plans to join us in the Southwest at the end of September. We promise you'll have fun, learn a lot, enjoy wonderful art and antiques, savor delicious Southwest food, and meet fabulous people from across the country. It will be a weekend you won't forget!