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This Issue's
Featured Feature
JEI's latest creations are showcased in Beautiful Bedrooms & Baths of
Texas,a fine book by Signature Publishing Group. The 396-page publication
features hundreds of vivid photographs of Texas' most stunning homes along with
editorial. Julie's bed and bath projects are featured on four pages in this stunning book.
Beautiful Bedrooms & Baths of Texas is available through
Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon.com, among other chain and independent
bookstores.
Each of the projects appearing above in book images are by JEIDesign. |
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JEI Helps Build Wells in Africa...
... for people who currently have no access to clean drinking water. As supporter and sponsor of local nonprofit, Well Aware, since 2006, Julie and her firm has already made a substantial impact on the people of rural Kenya.Well Aware's first large-volume water well was completed this last February, and they are returning this month to complete their second. The combined relief of these two wells is service to over 50,000 individuals in Kenya.To learn more about what JEI and others are doing to alleviate the suffering from water deprivation in Africa, or how you can also help, please visit www.wellawareworld.org.
You can also follow Well Aware's trip and drilling progress on their blog, blog.wellawareworld.net.
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Award-winning designer, Julie Evans, Allied Member, ASID, and owner of JEIDesign in Austin, TX, is known for her skills in interpreting her client's tastes and developing their ideas to surpass their expectations. Her enthusiasm, diligence, and discerning eye, coupled with over 25 years experience, have established Julie as one of Texas's top interior design professionals.
JEIDesign offers a complete range of design services - from collecting information to establish a design concept, helping organize the client's ideas and setting priorities, interpreting the chain of events in the construction process and aiding in each aspect of the decision-making process to ensure that the final product will reflect the total concept.
The firm's goal is to help all clients to achieve the dreams they have for their home!
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Dear ,
Greetings fellow interior design enthusiasts. This month's newsletter includes information on the release of a remarkable new bed and bath publication in which JEI and their projects are featured, as well as some insight into Julie's big-hearted community involvement. We would like to extend a big, big THANK YOU to all of you who helped Julie raise funds for a water well in Kenya.
We also have a pretty fun article for you this time. A joy to research and write, this one will tickle your nostalgia a bit. We have collected some of television's most impactful, or at least notable, interior design schemes over the past few decades. Our take on these influences is to prove a point: the interiors set the stage for life... on the screen, as well as in your own reality. We hope you enjoy, and thank you for tuning in!
JEIDesign
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Trends on the Tube
The Influence of Your Telly on Your Tastes
When you're planted in front of the tube (don't worry, we
all do it from time to time), you're not always inactively observing the story
or information that is flashing in front of you. Whether you know it or not, what you are
seeing can often be affecting your life decisions. I'm not talking about subliminal messaging or
anything like that- we'll leave that topic to the behavioral scientists- I am
referring to, of course, your crucial decisions for the appearance of your
home.
For decades, we, as a culture, have been dramatically affected
by the trends on the telly. I have a
handful of friends, having been in my early twenties during the peak of
Friends, who wanted their apartments to look just like Monica and
Rachel's. And, I have always longed for a
bedroom that looked just like Jeannie's on I Dream of Jeannie. Wait, maybe that example is a little
different, and a little odd. But,
nonetheless, you catch my drift. What
you see in your favorite characters' TV interiors can become your newest
obsession before you can even talk about your disappointment in the latest plot at the water cooler the next day.
The famous Southfork Ranch was built in 1970 but didn't make
its television debut until the second season of Dallas in 1978. The home's interiors were very traditional
but with an intense late 70's and early 80's vernacular, which, quite
literally, set the scene aptly for this very 80's prime time soap. Sue Ellen's shoulder pads were totally tubular
with the large floral upholstery in Jock's living room...
...and when Pam woke up from dreaming that Bobby
had been dead (this was scandalous for fans, as her dream was an entire season
of Dallas), that pastel small print on the walls was just bodacious enough to
compliment her fluffy bangs and frilly nightie.
While it may upset you now, at the time, audiences across the states were watching Dallas and wanting
Miss Ellie's interiors. Julie can recall
installing a fabric-draped bed almost exactly like the one in JR's Suite seen
here.
If you thought the biggest deal about Dallas was who shot
JR, you are incorrect. Nobody cares
about JR anymore, but Southfork Ranch is still holding tours, concerts and
weddings to this day.
The Brady Bunch
Here's the story...
The first episode of The Brady Bunch enchanted audiences
nation-wide in September of 1969 and continued to be a prime time must-see
until it's series finale in March, 1974. In those brief six years, the Bradys' San Fernando Valley home managed
to become arguably the biggest mid-century modern influence on interior design in
America. As a matter of fact, this
stairwell alone was responsible for many homes built in that style.
Even though the producers of the show chose the exterior of
this home for the outside shots of the Brady place because they said it was
just middle class enough, plenty of attention to detail went into the interior set
design at Paramount with a focus on "symbolizing California living". Mike was an architect, after all, and the
family of eight would need to dwell in a structure that was reflective of the
talent that Mr. Brady was portrayed as having on the show.
And let's not forget that Cindy's entirely pink bedroom with tailored white Cottage furnishings was copied by viewers many times over.
It's also worth mentioning that the design trends seen in
this classic series are loyal to the actual trends at the time. All of the other television shows we discuss
here are interpretations or slight exaggerations.
Will and Grace
Touted as the decade's most precociously advanced sitcom for
its depiction of relationships, Will and Grace achieved more than just
broadening the minds of viewers around the globe. This show also created its own interior
fashion décor, which we like to describe as "Millennium Manhattan".
The style seen in Will and Grace's New York City apartment
can best be described as transitional eclectic with traditional accents. As a matter of fact, we think that this was
the first time we saw "eclectic" done quite this way. Their pad is hip but not annoyingly trendy,
and the palette is vibrant but anchored by neutrals and basics for a uniquely grounded
but merry mood.
Grace's Bedroom  |
Their apartment is on display at Emerson College Library,
donated by the series' creator, and it is still referenced by designers and fans
alike for its interior design.
Cougar Town
What do you get when you cross wicker, a citrus and sand
color palette and sea shell fabrics? The
new Floridian home as seen on the popular Cougar Town on ABC, that's what.
Don't pretend like you don't love this show. I fought it at first, too, but it's clever,
entertaining and relatable. And, now, some
blogs are posting about this show solely for its interior touches. While the appeal may not be quite as broad as some other television design schemes,
if you are living in Florida, you will see that floral print on Jules' couch
popping up all over Boca and the Keys.
We're coining this décor "Florida Fresh", combining a youthful ease with
tropical colors and prints to yield a pleasant and peaceful ocean-side feel.
So, if you're a cougar, or you live in Florida, or you just
like this style (or all of the aforementioned), we know where you can find
tasteful pieces to pull off this look without turning your living space into
Jerry Seinfeld's parents' place.
Mad Men
This AMC original series has become so popular, in part, due
to its set and fashion design. As a
matter of fact, the clothing designer has been asked to create her own line of
garments based on the characters' wardrobes.
The interior design is just as appealing for viewers. Although not exactly period specific (we're
letting this slide since it's so fabulous), it's a brilliant interpretation of
sixties mod with a funky blend of glam, Asian and Danish modern.
One character in particular, the suave and dashing Don Daper, has a home that is perfectly reflective of his attitude and appearance. His television interiors reek of charm and swank. The sixties sass embodied in the Draper's living room below is fantastic.Don and Betty's Living Room  |
Gossip Girl
Ed Westwick and Chace Crawford aren't the only drool-worthy elements in the CW's Gossip Girl. The Van Der Woodsens' Upper East Side pad makes us just as weak in the knees. This transitional contemporary motif is a brilliant balance of neutral with pops of color that vary in intensity throughout the space.
Gossip Girl has become known for its iconic
fashion, and we believe that the same could be said for set's interior flare and
furnishings. In both of the primary dwellings, the show's designer has an acute eye for genius composites of classic and extremely current.
Blair Waldorf's Bedroom  |
So there you have some of our impressions of the tube's power over our visual palates. As always, please let us know if you have any input of your own or would just like to heckle.
And, to close, we would like to leave you with one of our favorite quotes from Designing Women (and in honor of your summer vacation travels):
Suzanne:
Where are our seats?
Julia:
I don't know. If history teaches us anything, mine will be next to a baby who smokes.
For more detail on any of the information provided here, please contact JEIDesign at 512.330.9179 or julie@julieevans.net.
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