lowelldown

Hi Everyone,

My sister Laura rolled into town last week. She’s the gal who fields lots of questions from all of you on a staggering array of topics. As many of you know, she’s our viewer mail contributor for my radio show and also runs our communication department answering many letters that never appear on this site as well. It’s a big job and she does it very well. While she’s been on air via phone, she has actually never met any of the gals who produce the radio show in person. So on the evening of her second day here in LA, I hosted an all finger-food party for the radio group and a few key folks she’s close with here.

As I suspected, the party slowly turned into something akin to a huddle of the Ya-Ya sisters. It was so cool to see this group of hip, talented, caring and passionate women so fully engaged with Laura who’s been hungry for interaction with other like-minded women. This wine drenched love fest lingered into the wee hours of the morning as no topic was left untouched. I’m always amazed that women feel so comfortable speaking frankly in front of me, and it continues to give me a pretty clear on-going overview of what’s on their minds.

Pictured are Laura with Christopher, Christopher with radio co-host Kelli Gates and the party’s tablescape.

The next morning we got in the car for our trip up to Santa Barbara, but we stopped by “the new house” on her insistence so she could see where she might be visiting when she’s here next time.

After three days of five-star treatment, I could tell that Laura, while having a good time, had a lot on her mind. It’s been awhile since she’s been way from her normal daily life to get a fresh perspective.

Upon our return she and I spent the afternoon talking about the re-invention process and of course no one knows better than me how important it is to stay positive and passionate. After several hours, I began to see the fear of the unknown give way to the excitement of future possibilities. So all in all it was a great trip on many levels! And her creative mind has been turning ever since.

So, OK, about the ‘house.’ All info will be in by the end of this week and by next Monday I will have made up my mind. I’ve been so measured and placid through this whole house ordeal that I think I’m freaking out my management staff. You know, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to separate what I think I want from what is God’s will. So no sense getting ahead of ‘Him.’

As you read this I will undoubtedly be in Manhattan, New York. My schedule on Monday begins at 4:00 am and finishes with a live in-studio session down on Wall Street at 11:00 pm as a guest on the Joey Reynolds Show. I’ll be exhausted, but how cool to be tromping around Wall Street at midnight by the time we’re done.

Tuesday morning, the car picks me up at 10:00 and I’m booked every hour until 5:30 pm. We start at Details Magazine, then three other home magazines, then three networks and bla-bla-bla.

Wednesday, I fly to Phoenix, AZ, do some press, then dinner with Radio Host and syndicator Kim Komando. The next morning off to Good Morning Arizona, then off again to two radio gigs, then off again, again — to officiate a grand opening of a new Jo-Ann store (on Van Buren) then I think they give me lunch and put me on a plane back go LAX.

So what are you doing this week?

Later,
CL

Hi All,

Well, things are processing with the new house. While the banks and approvals march on, so too do the inspections. It’s so important to spend the money to really get a full and complete history on an older home. So bit-by-bit the profile begins to unfold and it has to before escrow closes, just in case.

When I was last there, I took a digital camera and photographed every inch of the house so that I could begin the re-design process at home. In addition to photographing the rooms themselves, I also photograph outlet placements, each existing light fixture, phone jacks and cupboards both open and closed. I also take photos of moldings, imperfections and anything else I might need to begin the rendering process. I also walk through the house, drawing the footprint of each room, then I add the measurements of every wall and opening.

With these photos and visual aids, constructing a livable calendar can then emerge. Phase one is always the master bedroom and bath. No matter what’s going on in the rest of the house, knowing that the room is finished and a haven away from chaos is vital. Phase one also includes the kitchen. In this case my kitchen stuff – a veritable Williams-Sonoma – will have to be split between two floors – the kitchen and the “to be built” pantry below. In phase three in a year or so, I’ll expand the kitchen to twice its size, but that’s way later.

There’s a wooden triple arch between the living room and dining room which I just can’t live with. While the idea is good, it’s too thin in depth and therefore really dates the house to very 60s – not a happy time in home design — dig? So I’ll keep the left part of arch one, the right part of arch three and remove the center arch altogether, then re-frame it out in moldings typical of the proscenium arch that frames a theater stage. I’ll use rubber molding for the arch part. This will cost half the price because it bends. It will add a lot of architecture while opening up the entire two rooms. It will be a lot of visual bang for the buck. While I hate to spend the bucks right now, not doing it will create a domino effect that I’ll pay for later.

Phase one also includes basic electrical. There are some nice chandeliers in the house but some were placed rather randomly and have to be moved. Old “Faux-Spanish” fixtures go bye-bye — shades of high school shop class for those of you old enough to remember. Recessed lighting then goes in, cable is then run for plasma screens and Internet. Later I’ll hit the flea markets for original fixtures that will tell a truer Mediterranean story. If I can’t find them, I might do period pieces done in stainless steel for a more modern twist — again, later when I can afford it.

Then we’re ready to paint. I’ll go through the entire house with a pencil, writing the color name and number on each wall and ceiling as a guide for the painters. Then we’re ready for move in.

Phase two will be mirroring. Part of the dark living room faces a spectacular outdoor pool area. So mirroring the wall opposite the view will pull the outdoors inside — and the natural light with it. The dining room gets mirroring too, but I’ll recreate a false French door to match the others already in the space – but mirror the inside pains – where glass would normally go. Again, all of this can be added later after the painting is done, and I’m ‘in.’

Then I’ll share photos.

Later,
CL

Hi All,

Just a bit of housekeeping.

The Daily Cafe show as well as the Retirement Living network is national (DirecTv) — I wouldn’t be doing all those segments for a local show — too much work. It’s launching in about 29 million homes. I wanted to be a part of it because I believe we Baby Boomers (I’m just on the cusp) are really still leading the pack. Research shows that they/we are more willing to reinvent and have the money to do so — than the next generations. They/we have been through the most change in a very condensed period in our cultural evaluation and have the wisdom to promote reinvention in a whole new way because they’ve/we’ve lived through it twice already. The first cafe segments will begin airing on June 18th, then every Monday until they run out.

Our goal has always been to help bridge gaps and right now there’s a big gap between the boomer and the X/Y generations who, although technically savvy, are a bit adrift and are fighting hard to establish their own identities in a media saturated culture that, frankly is confusing the hell out of them. It’s why so much of our initiative has been to create that new language to level the field and get everyone united on how we live from here on. It’s at the heart of HOMEnext and our new TV series, which is creating QUITE the buzz in the industry right now because it is so controversial, relevant and compelling.

Much as we had done in the mid 90s for the first multi-tasking career woman, the newly emerging “Metro-sexual” and the beginning of the sexual blur — we’re now doing it all over again for the hyper-tasking world ahead.

As I’ve said, I’ve spent the last two years with my nose to the grindstone researching, meeting with tomorrow’s leaders, world-wide manufacturers, global retailers, leading futurists and the like to create another onslaught of startling predictions — ideas that hopefully will garner us the same 96% accuracy a decade from now, that we enjoyed in the last decade — and you thought I was just an interior designer! Remember, what I’m doing now is what I did for many years and many huge corporations before I ever went on TV.

With the next ten-year “Bible” now written and the course now strategically charted, it’s no wonder that I’m ready for a physical life change as I go into the most productive time in my life. While some might say “Gee, you’ve worked hard all your life — why not take it easy?” What I’ve also learned is that if you’re passionate about what you do and are willing to stay relevant, it’s not work at all.

So we had the house inspection — 40 pages to read over last night. It is an older home and therefore there are many inherent things that come with it. Today I have a structural engineer and the termite guys up there to fill in the rest of the blanks so I have a full and accurate history of a house that’s been remodeled several times — some stuff to code, some stuff NOT. So by Friday I’ll be able to see whether it’s a money pit or a potential beauty in disguise. But I’ve learned not to get too emotional about things like this because you just never know. I did, I must confess, pick my color palette for the house but that only took me about an hour — to helped me get the creative juices flowing so that when I walked through the house again I could see it ‘finished.’

But, now it’s in God’s hands. If he says stay put, I already love the house I’m in — so there!

Later,
CL

Hey Everyone,

It’s been a very long week. First iVillage Live. While they actually showed the one live segment, we actually taped several, which will air later in the month. They had an open-air (bleacher-style) studio audience. I felt like I should have live trained animals with me. The reason you don’t see as much of the audience, however, is because they’ve not been happy with the quality of them overall. It’s tough because these people are dressed for the water slides and theme park rides and are often not “camera ready.” When Discovery tried to shoot ‘Home Matters’ there years ago, they had the same problem. So the show is moving to Chicago instead. What was great was that Laura, my sister, was able to be with me. She stayed for the taping, we had lunch together, then off she went knowing that she’d be here in LA for a good visit within two weeks.

In Orlando we stayed (they put us up at) the Portofino Hotel. Very faux Italian and “Disney-ized.” I prefer the Hard Rock Hotel which, had we known it was right across the street and no further from the lot, we’d check in there instead. I will remember the Portofino only because it was there that I received the news that my offer on the potential new house was accepted. Still not a ‘go’ until after Monday’s inspection–gotta know what’s inside those walls.

Next it was off to Baltimore to the University of Maryland’s college campus. We were to to tape segments for a new show called “The Cafe.” This is one of many being developed by the head/owner of Retirement Living TV who, from what I can tell, is quite the entrepreneur. We did ten or so segments for them which, to the great credit of my Senior Producer, Michael Murphy, went off letter perfect. They’ll be broadcast throughout the next year.

The crew was a great mix of new and seasoned pros that treated me royally and more importantly like one of the crew — many who had worked for Discovery. They let me do my thing and we still had time to laugh, remember who knew whom and tell dirty jokes. They were happy to be working with what they called “a real professional” — not knowing what to expect other than what they saw on TV. Rumor has it that we may be doing more for them on a regular basis — but maybe from our studios here. We’ll see.

Arrived back to LA at about 11:00 PM. Just in time for meetings Monday with the networks.

It’s going to be a very busy June.

More later,
CL