I’m sitting in my home office, dogs snoozing at my feet, looking out at the three-foot snowdrifts piling up on the deck. It’s our third snow day in two weeks and the novelty is wearing off—big time. I like to think of myself as a hearty Midwesterner who skated through Minnesota winters with aplomb, but this year, I’ve been beaten down with endless shoveling, salting, and schlepping through slush. I need spring and I need it now.
But since the weather is not cooperating—there’s even more snow in the forecast—Creative Director Halina Sabath and I created our own version of spring with this issue of Westchester Home. I have to say it is the cheeriest one we’ve ever produced—from the cover image of an adorable child’s bedroom to the vibrantly hued paintings by New Rochelle restaurateur Alvin Clayton to a gorgeous, multi-tiered garden that blooms throughout the year.
This is our first “Family Issue,” and it is full of all sorts of great ideas for living spaces for moms, dads, and kids to be together; sleeping quarters from nurseries to a teen fashionista’s dream retreat; and fun products like a chandelier made out of gummi bears and a table that looks like Candy Buttons (made by Jellio, a Bronxville company). Interior designer Patti O’Shaughnessy scoured through all the new lines of wallpaper to come up with seven enchanting designs that deliver a welcome splash of color and whimsy.
We also deliver an Art of the Deal piece on Beatles memorabilia, just in time for the 50th anniversary of the band’s first performance on the Ed Sullivan show. We look at everything from a Sgt. Pepper album signed by all four Beatles to the talisman necklace that John Lennon wore on the infamous Two Virgins album cover, for which he posed nude with Yoko Ono. (It recently sold for $528,000.)
Before spring fever seduces you, I’d like to plant a little seed: Even though they aren’t due until next September, it’s not too soon to start preparing your submissions for the 2015 Westchester Home Design Contest.