Miravel Spa , Waiting to exhale?
Interior Design retreat in October at the famous miravel spa in
Arizona. Enjoy free treatments all inclusive stay with your colleges. Feng Shui classes available, hiking, yoga, and free profit seminars.
You can have it all. Mind, Body, Spirit
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To The Design Trade Only
To The Design Trade only is a purchasing source for interior designers, small businesses, architects with an interior design department and home staging professionals. After 35 years in the retail interior design business, Mindy McVay Heilmann sold her business and established a venue for design professionals to purchase many lines of 
furnishings and home decor at a very low markup above cost.
During Heilmann's interior design career there were several occasions that desired wholesale sources were unavailable to small design firms. Many companies had minimum purchase requirements and local retail stores were the only option.
To The Design Trade Only offers complimentary searches and pricing and has become a valuable asset to many firms within the United States, offering:
- Furnishings
- Accessories & Lamps
- Wall Coverings
- Floor Coverings
- Window Coverings
We look forward to serving you and are committed to providing you with the very best sources and service for your clients. Start maximizing your profits today!
Mindy McVay Heilmann, ASID DSA
(843) 424-6701
tothedesigntradeonly.com
P.S. Please visit our new website: mainlymirrors.com We add new mirrors daily and we welcome suggestions for new additions
Appropriate Durability
Considering durability in our selection of materials is a fundamental design practice. Usually, we match the level of use with the amount of needed durability for the desired useful life. A higher price tag usually comes along with durability. In this regard, when we need the durability, it becomes an investment. The upfront higher cost is returned in the value received for a longer useful life. In general terms, we consider higher durability to be synonymous with higher quality, and as long as we can afford it, we're willing to pay for it.
But, in design we don't just match necessary durability with functional needs. We often use durability standards as a minimum and ignore durability that may exceed functional needs.
Granite countertops are a perfect example of this. The decision making process that allows us to use granite for kitchen counters is based on the old "bottom line" kind of thinking where only the upfront economic costs are considered. People who can afford it choose granite counters for personal preference or status seeking reasons, not 
because they need them to last hundreds of years. But, just as HVAC professionals are expected to right size heating and cooling systems, we need to embrace the appropriate durability of our material selections and right size durability.
Sustainably responsible decision making and right sizing durability means we must ask more than, "Is it durable enough and can we afford it?" We also need to ask, "What are all the costs?"
It is possible to keep reusing a slab of granite for a variety of applications throughout time. But, is it even remotely possible that a slab of granite will actually stay in service for its entire useful life? And, if it were, does the reuse rationale make it a sustainable practice?
More fundamentally, we should ask, "Does granite have value if we leave it in the earth?" Are we ready to embrace a renewed belief that the earth has an inherit value? If so, then what is the real cost of using this irreplaceable resource and forever altering the earth? What about embodied energy? We can figure the embodied energy required to blast it from the earth, ship it to be cut and polished, delivered and installed. How does that embodied energy compare with alternative countertop solutions?
Asking these kinds of questions about all our material selections and taking a hard look at our fundamental relationship with the earth will help us all move toward a more sustainable tomorrow.
Sue Norman
LEED© AP
Managing Editor
easytobegreen.com
Change of Season, Change of Look
(ARA) - Change is in the air. Fall is here and winter isn't far away. It's one of the busiest times of year for interior decorators. "The reason we're so busy is people really get energized in the fall," says Thomas Pheasant, an award winning interior designer from Washington, D.C. "The change in temperature serves as a signal to start focusing more on the indoors to get ready for winter."
Pheasant says one of the best, and easiest places to start, is in the room where you spend a majority of your time: the bedroom. "You don't have to start moving furniture all over the place to change the look of the room," says Pheasant. "Changing your bedding and curtains is often all it takes to make a dramatic difference."
Pheasant says the same colors you see on the trees outside --- orange, gold, red, brown and olive green -- have great appeal indoors. "They really set the mood of the season, especially when combined with paisley and velvet textures."
The bedroom isn't the only place where bold color and texture changes will have a quick and noticeable impact. You can also set the mood of the season by putting some dried 
leaves or branches on the coffee table, and colorful pillows and a slip cover on your sofa. A seasonal bowl of apples on the dining room table, along with slip covers on the chairs, will also make a big impact.
So where do you start if you want to bring the fall "look" into your own home? "Start with materials. The kinds of fabric or color you choose can really change the attitude of the room," says Pheasant. "Velvet and damask are formal patterns that are more appropriate for fall and winter. Linen, paisley and leather are more modern and better suited for spring and summer."
Pheasant recommends you take his ideas to an interior designer for help implementing them. "Mistakes are expensive. Professional designers have resources available that most people do not. Hiring someone can make your life so much easier," says Pheasant.
If you ultimately decide to take Pheasant's advice, pieces from his collection of furniture and accessories are sold at over 200 independent dealers throughout the country.
Thomas Pheasant is an award-winning interior designer with more than 20 years of experience in the field. He has been recognized for his signature style of modern elegance. He focuses on bringing a contemporary dimension to classic principles in design: a bridging of past and present. Pheasant's projects range from high-end residences to corporate interiors and special commercial assignments, such as prototype retail environments, exhibition spaces and upscale hotels.
Baker Knapp & Tubbs, Inc. includes Baker furniture, Baker Knapp & Tubbs Showrooms and Baker stores. Along with McGuire Furniture Company and Ann Sacks, it is part of the Kohler Interiors Group and a wholly owned subsidiary of Kohler Co., a global leader in kitchen and bath designs. Kohler Co. was founded in 1873. Headquartered in Kohler, Wis., it is one of the oldest and largest privately held companies in the United States.
Courtesy of ARA Content
Like you, I'm trying to catch at a few more beach days with my kids to recharge for a busy fall in which we will begin to see the avalanche of new 2010 legislation.
Mary Dennis - Graceful Lifestyles
Having influenced both residential and commercial environments as a Feng Shui designer for the past 25 years, Mary Dennis has a keen sense of proper placement. Her visionary ideas and innate creativity bring the ancient art of Feng Shui and interior design to the world in ways that offer easy integration with Western approaches. Her most recent achievements include designing an environment for Corporate America, which received the ARDA (American Resort Development Association) award and Silver Certification from USGBC (United States Green Building Council).
As the Feng Shui designing partner, she continues to support wellbeing and sustainability through her Intentional Designs.
the allure of having one's name "in lights" and because of the perceived passive revenue stream.
