What inspires Diana Bennett Wirtz of Amethyst Designs?

Today we’re highlighting another designer in our Top 100 DesignSherpa “What Inspires You?” contest entry countdown.

The entry comes from Diana Bennett Wirtz of Amethyst Designs. Here’s what she says inspires her:

Fred inspires me.
Rolling down the design road of life I often think of my late husband Fred; for he gave me the gift of believing in oneself, looking for the best in everything and knowing you can always do more or better. He encouraged me to finish my MA in interior design and now working on my PhD and teaching interior design, his delight in the ordinary things of life comes to mind when learning or sharing new ideas or concepts. Great design is not creating complex spaces; it is ability to transform that space from ordinary to extraordinary.

What inspires Ruthie Staalsen of DecRenew Interiors?

Here’s the latest from our DesignSherpa “What Inspires You?” contest entry countdown. If you’re visiting for the first time, we’re counting down the top 100 entries from our “What Inspires You?” contest, which will send one lucky person on an all-expenses-paid, 10-day trip to Paris, France to attend the annual ‘Maison & Objet’ trade show in January 2011.

Today’s entry highlight comes from Ruthie Staalsen of DecRenew Interiors and the Renewed Treasures blog.

This room inspires me because it’s so approachable. Most people are drawn to rooms that say “come in, put your feet up and stay a while.” What makes this room so stunning is the eclectic mix of styles. The monochromatic color scheme, mixed with modern clean line upholstered furniture, grouped with rustic elements all make for a restful, collected over time feel. The formal architecture & subtle gray wall texture is a great backdrop for the large scale accessories that are placed around the room. The chandelier in the center of the room adds that touch of whimsy that goes along with the fur pillows that are placed so perfectly in the chair by the fireplace. The best part of this room is that it’s functional, conversational, elegant and unpretentious. Light that grouping of wonderful “old world” candles on the mantel and this room would be ready for a formal or casual cocktail party. My design philosophy is to encourage people back to entertaining in their homes. It starts by making rooms comfortable like this one. Isn’t being with friends and family IN YOUR HOME what’s life is all about?

What inspires Kate Patterson?

Kate Patterson is today’s Top 100 DesignSherpa “What Inspires You?” entry highlight. She writes…

Infinite possibility. A blank slate. A fresh canvas. These are my inspirations. What could this room be? Who will visit? What memories will be created here? In the quiet moments of standing in a room-to-be, a million possibilities flash like a old movie reel though my mind. In a split second this room could conjure a French market cafe, a Moroccan riad, Notting Hill, a Soho loft. Will the room say mid-century Eames? Classic Dorothy Draper? Cool Vicente Wolf? Or maybe pop art campy kitsch? This is my room and this room allows me to dream.

What inspires Debra Phillips of Sentimental Gardens?

We’re still just in the beginning phase of sharing each of our Top 100 entries from the DesignSherpa “What Inspires You?” contest. Stick around, as we’re unveiling one entry each weekday until we count down all 100. And make sure to leave a comment! We’d love to hear what you think about each entry. To leave a comment, click on the title of this post, “What inspires Debra Phillips of Sentimental Gardens?“  and scroll to the bottom. There, you’ll see an area called “Speak Your Mind.” Fill out the necessary information and leave a few remarks.

Today’s entry comes from Debra Phillips of Sentimental Gardens. She writes…

A shocking submission perhaps, however this is an example of what INSPIRES me.
Since childhood I have imagined the “what if’s” the “what can-be”, the innate beauty that lies deep within homes and within objects, particularly those of neglect.
This photo fires my imagination; who built this, what was their image, what happened?
Immediately my design background soars into action; would I restore this historically accurate or add a contemporary twist? Once that process is in place; the landscape; believing it should be designed to enhance the architecture, a cohesive marriage of reflection.
Finally, what lies beyond the boarded windows? What can be salvaged? What opportunities lie ahead to blend the historical framework with contemporary elements? No doubt I would reposition or remove walls wanting to update for a modern lifestyle. And finally onto the ‘piece de resistance’; the interior decoration from colors, lighting, fixtures to furniture and accessories.
My pulse is pounding; my imagination swirling — the possibilities have no boundaries that, to me, encompasses design inspiration.
Thank you for this opportunity!
Debra Phillips

What inspires our Top 100 contestants?

The first round of DesignSherpa’s “What Inspires You?” contest has concluded. Our esteemed judges have narrowed the field down to the Top 100 entries. To give you a glimpse, we’ll be posting one Top 100 entry every weekday over the next hundred days. Make sure you check back soon or subscribe to our RSS feed to have the entries delivered to you!

Today’s Top 100 entry comes from Lisa Hodges. She writes…

“Strolling through a flea market along the rows of “junk” to me treasures truly inspires me to create! Just look at this beautiful display that combines old and new. I love to get ideas from these treasures and come up with my own idea of how to display or make it. That is truly my home.”

Trip to Paris and Maison & Objet Excites “What Inspires You?” Entrants

DesignSherpa, the leading social media and internet marketing system for design professionals has officially closed the “What Inspires You” contest for new entries at midnight, June 21, 2010.  Hundreds of submissions were received on this site, all including an image and 100 words of inspiration, and our judges will now go to work selecting the top 100 contestants to move to the next round.  We will feature the work and submissions of our favorites until the judges award the ultimate prize of $10K, the trip to Maison & Objet, and the chance to blog about it for DesignSherpa.  We can’t wait to uncover the amazing design talent that rises above all others.  Will a design industry icon be acknowledged or will a new talent be discovered?  Keep checking back here to keep up with all the news.

We launched this social media contest to give something back and to thank the home design and remodeling industry that so quickly made DesignSherpa a successful service for providing full service social media solutions to such a wide array of design professionals, showrooms, and retailers.  We had no idea what to expect or what part of the ultimate prize would be most interesting to the design community.  It looks like Paris and Maison & Objet topped the list based on a survey we hosted here since the launch of the contest.  Who knew?

Inspired by Design, $10,000 and a Trip to Maison & Objet in Paris?

“What Inspires You?” A Design Contest That Just Might Have You Facebooking and Tweeting From Paris

The explosion of social media tools and networks, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, create a unique opportunity for design professionals, retailers, showrooms, service providers and other luxury home design businesses to get active driving their profiles and brands on the web.  DesignSherpa, our revolutionary Internet marketing service for the home design industry from Network Communications, Inc., the country’s largest group of regional home design media brands including Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, At Home in Arkansas, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, Kansas City Home & Garden, Mountain Living, New England Home, Seattle Homes & Lifestyles, St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles and more, is tickled to announce a new social media contest that provides an opportunity for those in the greater design community – even those who blog about design — to share what inspires them for a chance to win amazing prizes, including a $10,000 cash prize plus a paid trip to Paris combined with a full visit to Maison & Objet in January, 2011. All inspiring entries will be reviewed and judged by an esteemed panel of high-profile stylemakers that reads like a Who’s Who in the design world, including Diane Carroll, Tobi Fairley, Michael Fink, Elaine Griffin, Marcia Sherrill, and Clinton Smith.

Here is how the “What Inspires You?” online contest works:

The Grand Prize winner will be determined by advancing through four (4) phases by a distinguished judging panel of leading design experts.

Phase I: Entrants submit a 100-word post and image on what inspires them.

Phase II: The one hundred (100) entrants with the highest scores will submit a 350-word post about an interior or architectural design topic that communicates their unique passion for design.

Phase III: The top ten (10) entrants will submit a video of no longer than three (3) minutes produced and created by them that is both entertaining and informative about some element of home design.

Phase IV: Three (3) Finalists will each be interviewed via phone to determine the Grand Prize winner of:

• $10,000 cash prize
• Expense Paid 10-day trip for one to Paris, France, with a retail value of $15,000, that includes: round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations at the Jean-Louis Deniot designed Hotel Racamier, and a 4-day pass to the annual ‘Maison & Objet’ trade show in January 2011
• Plus, the opportunity to contribute to the community of DesignSherpa blogs

Social media tools are helping home design businesses organize engaged online communities that drive meaningful leads and referrals for their companies.  Likewise, consumer design enthusiasts have been sharing their design sensibility and building profiles for themselves in the Design blogosphere, an option not unavailable to them before the proliferation of social tools.  So, we thought we would add a little excitement to the talented community of writers that is already generating amazing content on the web, and to those that aspire to inspire, but are undiscovered so far.

You only have until June 21 to submit your entry.  So, “What Inspires You?”  It just might line your pockets with cash, a plane ticket, and the trip of a lifetime to Paris, France.

Welcome to DesignSherpa

Welcome to DesignSherpa, a revolutionary internet marketing service for the home design and remodeling industry from Network Communications, Inc., the parent company of the country’s largest group of regional home design media brands including New England Home, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, At Home in Arkansas, Seattle Homes & Lifestyles, Kansas City Home & Garden, Mountain Living, St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles and more.

DesignSherpa provides a turn key solution to building and managing a social media marketing program for design professionals, retailers, showrooms, and luxury home service providers.  DesignSherpa takes the risk and complexity out of social media marketing, creating a new kind of Internet Marketing presence for your home design business. We will improve your visibility on Google, increase your web traffic, enhance your connection with consumers and other design professionals, and turbo-charge your referral network.

The explosion of social media tools and networks, like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, create a unique opportunity for design professionals, retailers, showrooms, and other luxury home design businesses to get active on the web, by providing interesting content relevant to consumers and the  trade who are seeking ideas or resources while they plan enhanced residential living environments.  Social media tools help you get involved in the process that starts with inspiration and culminates in selecting  products and resources, creating an active and engaged online community around your business when your prospects are most active.

Network Communications and its home design media brands recognize the incredible potential of social media marketing to improve your bottom line.  We also understand the time and technology challenges that social media marketing presents to busy design professionals.

DesignSherpa is a monthly subscription service that provides a customized turn-key solution to create active, engaged and effective virtual networks of prospects and influential members of the trade in your market..

Our numerous luxury home magazine professionals from Atlanta to Seattle bring their unique skills in content creation and management, as well as knowledge of social media networks to the implementation of DesignSherpa.

Our teams are all social-media certified. Every member has gone through a detailed month-long training program with Domus Consulting to educate them about the power of social media networks and to give them insight and experience in developing effective and influential networks.  Our teams submitted themselves to several additional months of training in creating and sharing content that drives engagement around their magazine brands and market activity and growth in their own social networks.  They can now share their experiences and help you start to harness the power of social media with benefits best appreciated by getting active with a well thought out complete social media strategy and system.

To learn more about this powerful service, please visit the following links:

About DesignSherpa

About Home Design and Network Communications, Inc .

Meet the “What Inspires You?” Judging Panel

“What Inspires You?”

Meet Our Dream Panel of Judges

DesignSherpa has assembled a talented and diverse team of judges with unwavering design credentials and sensibility. They spend their days working at the top echelon of their professions in design journalism, design education, interior, and fashion design.  They have agreed to lend their good eyes and creative minds to a  six month What Inspires You? judging process.  We are pleased to introduce the judges to all of our entrants and contest followers:

DIANE CARROLL: A veteran design journalist, Carroll joined the Network Communications, Inc., team in 2009 as Editor in Chief of At Home in Arkansas, a highly successful statewide design publication that she and her staff have transitioned into a regional design resource with a thriving online audience and strong social media presence.

Previously, Carroll served as a regional editor and ongoing contributor for a variety of residential design publications, including Metropolitan Home, Traditional Home, House Beautiful, Better Homes & Gardens, Ladies’ Home Journal, Renovation Style, Kitchen and Bath Ideas, and a wide range of specialty magazines. In her 15-year stint as a regional editor based in Dallas, her stories graced the covers of House Beautiful, Metropolitan Home and Traditional Home numerous times. Working with Meredith Publications, Carroll’s work was also featured in multiple books, including Discovering Home, New Classic Style and Real-Life Decorating.

TOBI FAIRLEY: Selected by Traditional Home Magazine as one of the Top 20 Young Designers in America for 2009, Fairley has a signature look that is fresh and simple combining colorful, large-scale geometric prints with classic furniture styles for a beautiful and functional result. Since establishing her firm a decade ago, Fairley’s projects have spanned the southern region and the nation from Charleston to Los Angeles. Her award-winning designs for high-profile and celebrity clients have been featured on HGTV and published in Traditional Home, Better Homes and Gardens special publications, and have graced the cover of At Home in Arkansas Magazine 6 times.

Fairley’s design blog, which chronicles the happenings at her luxury residential design firm and highlights her favorite things, has gained immediate popularity since its launch in September 2008. She is currently working on product designs for several companies that will be introduced in 2010 and has become a popular speaker at industry events across the nation sharing both her business and blog successes.

MICHAEL FINK: Currently the dean of the new School of Fashion at The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Fink was named to the post in the fall of 2009.  Prior to his appointment at SCAD, he was vice president and women’s fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue where he was responsible for forecasting women’s seasonal trends as well as analyzing and supporting the women’s fashion and women’s accessories selection for stores nationwide. He also developed product, both private label and branded, and played a key role in integrating the seasonal fashion message into his Saks.com series “Front Row at the Shows,” marketing concepts, advertising and windows.

Fink has toured extensively throughout the country lecturing on fashion trends. A fashion expert in local, national and international media, Fink was a frequent commentator on “Full Frontal Fashion,” and also appeared on “The Today Show,” CNN and as a fashion adviser on “The Apprentice.” He has been featured in The International Herald Tribune, USA Today, The New York Times, Harpers Bazaar, Time Magazine (India), and Marie Claire, among others.
ELAINE GRIFFIN: A Yale–educated native of Georgia (B.A., Art History) who studied postgraduate at the New York School of Interior Design, Elaine began her design career in the office of architectural behemoth Peter Marino. She is a contributing editor of Elle Decor and is ranked as one of House Beautiful’s Top 100 American Designers. A participant in the 2003 Kips Bay Decorator Showhouse, Elaine’s work has been featured in publications including Elle Decor, House Beautiful, the New York Times, Daily News and Post, Better Homes & Gardens, Southern Accents, New York magazine, and Oprah’s O at Home.  Elaine’s first book, Design Rules: The Professional’s Guide to Do-It-Yourself Home Style, was published by Gotham Books in Fall 2009.

MARCIA SHERRILL: A member of the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America, Sherrill’s handbag designs are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Permanent Collection at The Costume Institute. She served on the board of The Fashion Institute of Technology’s Accessories Department for 15 years. Her designs have been featured over 700 times in W, Women’s Wear Daily, Elle, InStyle, Vogue, Style.com, Harpers Bazaar, Self, Mirabella, Lucky, The New York Times, Town & Country, Departures and Travel & Leisure, among others.

Sherrill is co-author of the ground-breaking Portraits of Hope, the first book focused on breast cancer survivors from every age, race and gender. Her next work, Stylemakers: Inside Fashion, featured the insider personalities that drive the fascinating world of fashion. Beginning as a writer and contributing editor for New York’s Avenue and the Hamptons Country magazines for 6 years, Sherrill writes for Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles and has also written for Elle Décor, Southern Accents and House Beautiful.

CLINTON SMITH: An award-winning journalist and the Editorial Director of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, Smith has covered the fields of style, design and travel for a decade. Under his leadership, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles has garnered numerous awards and accolades, including a Gold GAMMA for Best Design from the Magazine Association of the Southeast. In 2006, he was personally awarded the Media Award from the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Georgia Chapter. Smith is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Journalism at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss), his alma mater. He is a former member of the board of directors of the Museum of Design Atlanta and is a member of the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America, as well as the Atlanta Press Club.
Smith’s versatility as a writer has led him to pen articles on a number of lifestyle topics— from dog spas to pretty paint palettes. An established authority on matters of taste and style, Smith has been quoted frequently in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on style and design-related articles, made numerous TV appearances on WXIA-TV (NBC) and Fox 5’s Good Day Atlanta, and spoken at numerous events at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center and AmericasMart.

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