>> they scare the begeebers out of me when I watch them paint over the
>> natural brick fireplaces.  If someone did that in my house, they
>> would end up in a world of hurt, and then, when my better half
>> stepped aside, I would be able to take my turn inflicting pain.
>>
>> IceBear, protective of our old world charms in this house
>
>Some people love the impact of say a supremely high tech look in an old
farmhouse exterior, so I won't say to do such in an
>old farmhouse is "wrong" per se -- but I would say most
people *don't* like
that jarring impression. They want something
>fitting where they are and their life.... so for a designer to come in and
turn a farmhouse family room into a sleek,
>black furniture, wire mesh curtains, steel poles and burnished aluminum
tiles on the fireplace high-techy wonderland is
>just... obnoxious.  Rooms that I would otherwise like I wind up hating
because they so painfully do not belong where
>they are, or to who has to live with them. So when you start seeing that
over and over again from the same people, I do not
>see good designers (even if the design is good) because they're not working
for you -- they're doing their own thing,
>and if that's their deal they can go elsewhere. But Frank, Laurie and Vern
really do try to give the homeowner what they
>want - with their own spin on things (Frank can be too cutesy, Laurie is a
fabric freak, Vern can be a tad too attached to Asian design principals).
>
Frank can be too cutsey, but often his little extra touches are the very
things that touch the hearts of the people he's designing for. I've seen
Laurie do some disasters,  but she has done some lovely things, too. Vern
*is* Asian, so you would expect his heritage to influence him the way your
heritage influences you. He has done some completely non-Asian things
because he was designing for the people who would have to live there, but
his Asian touches can be stunningly beautiful, givng the rooms a lovely,
homey resonance. So far I haven't seen Frank or Vern do a room that had a
negative outcome. The worst I saw Laurie do was a room for two girls who
didn't want bunk beds any more, so she gave them one bed, expecting them to
sleep together in it. Stupid.
>
Laurie I'd trust Vern Yip in my house Phoenix
>

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