Perspiration

Follow up to Inspiration! About the parts of the iceberg below the water...

This one’s about doing the work

Hello Pals, 

People used to ask me if they could hire RAD to pick out a few things and then they would take care of it from there. It took me years to get comfy admitting 80% of the work we do is the “take care of it from here” type, likely because I never set out to be a part-time marriage counselor with excellent taste who owns a logistics firm. In early days I would say yes and let them do it themselves, I even partnered with an e-Decorating service for a while but it was unsatisfying (I like to be the person who hollers “move that bus”) and there would always be so. many. questions.

I get it, even with a perfect shopping list and a floor plan no one wants to make an expensive mistake, and the planning, the ordering, the production, the fabrication, the installation, it’s all ripe for miscalculation and delay. We still make mistakes, my house is full of the most beautiful mistakes! But when it’s your company those mistakes can be corrected, sent to another project, absorbed into inventory.

Even so, we aim to minimize those mistakes. And to meet a budget and a timeline. And that means we are in our cars, on the phone, on the emails, FaceTiming and scribbling and updating spreadsheets all day. That’s what it takes to make sure we get what we want, what we promise people they can have. That’s why I don’t fear disruptive apps that promise to draw and select and purchase everything, because it’s not just the choosing of the doughnuts it’s the making of the doughnuts, and it’s hard work that cannot be done alone.

What’s great about 2023 is all our collaborators are trusted, or at the very least a known kook who we love because they are so good at what they do. And these people, who either have terrible Yelp ratings or cannot be found there, make the difference between a smooth project and a turbulent one. There has been so much trial and error to get here. 2012 me once had furniture delivered by convicts who didn’t give a shit and dumped all the furniture in the front yard and left. Now we work with a team that wears booties and polo shirts, who assembles a house like a Liberty Puzzle and who knows we like a coffee table kind of close to the sofa.

Five things this month is my homage to our Rolodex, where I compare what the 5-Star Yelp tier is putting out there compared to our workrooms. It’s kind of unfair but also I’m borderline petty and here to amuse myself so I’m going with it.

But first, the feature: One Perfect Room. It’s an entryway with hardly any furniture but we’re going freakishly deep on how it came to be. What I love about this photo is the it feels simple and inevitable, but for it to come together properly many things have to line up. Exactly how many? Join me and let’s count ‘em together…

---

ONE PERFECT ROOM

How hard can it be? Allow me to bludgeon you with the answer.

Let’s start in 2017, and gloss over the years of design development with Martinkovic Milford Architects, of meetings with handsome and patient contractor Barry O’Brian, of drawing interior elevations with new hardwired lighting, of selecting the brush-outs with many shades of white and finally settling on Distant Gray (BM OC 68). Let us tip our hat to Taylor who started this project and Anel who was promoted to Senior Designer by the time it ended.

Furniture wise, it’s minimal. This table belongs to our client. It’s an antique, beautiful and the right scale and means something to them. A huge win! There are only two more items here; UECo. sconces that are perfect with everything else in the house, made to order then installed by hot-ass Barry’s electrician. Then the mirror which we designed and had made by Joel Milikan in the right size with the right amount of detail.

Then the art. This is the project and client who brought art consultant Caroline Brinkerhoff into our lives, and this Ted Gahl painting is one of my favorite placements she’s ever done. All of a sudden our restrained wall color makes sense

At this point the room is serviceable but the only thing sparking joy is the art. It’s furnished but lacking confidence, it needs a groovy geranium accessory and it needs the floor stencil. It’s all coming, but for a year it’s early pandemic and everyone is frozen pizza.

Let us fast forward to the cold winter of 2021 when our client and I find ourselves texting while I’m watching Oceans 12. There is a scene in Italy with an incredible floor. I send a terrible image. She responds. We workshop our options. We then wait six months for a window when the house will be empty and Charles Leonard can work for a few days in a row without a puppy bounding through his work.

Press play for a most satisfying reveal…

Are we counting the choices at this point? Have we even acknowledged our clients who are green-lighting, cooperating, facilitating good art behind the scenes and treating themselves to geranium sculptures?

And all of this only gets us to real life. (“Only real life” lol) For fun let’s imagine we want a beautiful image for a Minimag, or (finger to sky) a real print magazine. This means we call Yedda Morrison and get her to come over and nudge everything into its best light, and get Laura Resen to capture it through her beautiful eye. Are you tired yet? Do you see what kind of collaboration even a simple room without furniture requires? Imagine the living room. Or just meet me in my mumble podcast where people just fall asleep to the sound of me listing all the tasks we do.

---

Thank you to RAD Designers Taylor Shanahan, Anel Zarate and Veronica Aguilar; Contractor Barry O’Brien, Martinkovic Milford Architects; Photos by Laura Resen; Styling by Yedda Morrison.

And finally, officially, darling clients I do acknowledge you. Sure, for the green-lighting, the cooperating, the facilitating of good art, but mostly for being lovely people without fail for many years in a row. If you want a report card for being a grown-up to show your parents I’m standing by.

---

---

Left: Merida runner installed by Artouro who does not need to be told we like a 5” wood border, tight nosing, and please match the double inset contrast border up the side // Right: 5-Star Yelp installer showcases flippin’ floof to the walls all the way around. I imagine the client who said they want something that hides dirt is thrilled

Left: Café curtains sewn by Jerry with a French pleat, 200% fullness, unlined linen with 3/4” grosgrain trim on the bottom only, then installed on a blackened steel narrow rod with self-return. Jorge does this in 15 minutes // Right: 5-Star Yelp fabricator has another take on how to obscure the bottom half of the window. And the top half too. For people who need options

Left: This key is brand new, people. It replaced four separate antique keys and now dangles attractively from the liquor cabinet with its cutiepie tassel. A temptation to children and cats alike but worth it // Right: 5-Star Yelp installer has just the thing for people who say they care deeply about function

Left: Fancy frame shops can be scary but it’s worth it. Sterling defaults to what’s appropriate, in this case optiglass, floating mount, tasteful reveal, white frame, handmade with gorgeous miters // Right: 5-Star Yelp frame shop (shout out Cheap Pete!) is perfect for the Lego art you plan to hang in the Dojo, but that’s it. I actually think these pieces could be cool if they were framed respectfully, but that wavy plastic coating ruins it

Left: Sarah Kersten is a fellow Spaniel lover and made these vessels which are always on display (on the floor of my kitchen) and deserve be beautiful // Right: 5-Star Etsy maker with a top rated Spaniel Bowl that does not even have a tapered opening! On the other hand, this way your dog knows they’re worth it

---

Here we are again, the end. I love each of you who made it here, writing this is a delight for me and I’ve been quite happy to see 1,000 people who don’t know me subscribe over the past month. Welcome! The Substackerverse feels real cozy right now, thank you.

Next month I’m tackling designing vs. decorating. Have you ever noticed how designers get prickly if you call them decorators? And are you aware that an architect would (want to)* stab you in the face with a compass if you referred to them as merely a designer? There’s a hierarchy, it’s gendered, and it’s nonsense. And there’s no one better qualified than this guy (finger guns myself) who is low-key architect, designer, and decorator to build this bridge. We will discuss the power of decorating for the holidays with real tips and real things you can order that will make you happy. Click below to subscribe, hope to see you there.

---