The Set-up: A Celebrations Transformation

It's only one day before the big Celebration! I was very torn in choosing a space for the event--in these economical times I didn't want to give a party that was too slick, so it was essential to find the right venue. I love the Armory because it's a raw, empty space that sort of reminds me of a high school gym.

It's been an interesting challenge transforming this space. For each new venue, there are specific elements I always focus on:
• The walls--how do I cover them?
• The ceiling--what am I going to hang from there?
• The floor--depending on the space, sometimes I think, "How am I going to deal with this?"
• The entrance
• The actual decor itself

It's always good to have as much time as possible for setting up. This being New York city, we only have about 48 hours to set up the lighting, the flowers, the stage, projections, and so much more. My crew and I will definitely be pulling an all-nighter for this one.

I'll have more pictures of the set-up process to show you tomorrow, but for now, tell me....

What was the most exciting transformation you have ever created or witnessed?

A Discussion on Transformations

Tomorrow is the book discussion with the gorgeous Nina Garcia I was telling you about last week! One of the things we’ll be talking about is transformations and how I turn a “before” into an “after.” One of my favorite transformations was created with my partners in Jakarta—Karen Kwek and Tania Tjiptobiantoro. They’re visiting New York this week, so they’ll be at the book discussion tomorrow.  One of my favorite dress designers, Biyan, will be there too. So glad they’ll get to attend the event.

Now, onto a different transformation. Below, you’ll see a standard room in the St. Regis hotel in New York City.

The client wanted us to turn this room into a sleek, elegant, black & white themed room for an after-party. Here is the after picture.

How did we create this transformation? Well, I don’t want to give away all my secrets, but I’ll share one here.  To change the floor we glued black and white plastic tiles together to form something similar to a dance floor and then temporarily installed that floor over the carpet of the room.

The wonderful thing about transformations is that they don’t have to apply only to your events. You can transform spaces in your home too. If you want to hear more about how to do that (and more of my secrets)...you'll need to come to my book discussion tomorrow at the Barnes and Noble on 86th Street and Lexington. (You didn’t think it would be that easy to find out my secrets, did you?)

Transforming An Empty Space Into An Art Gallery

Last week, I had the privilege of transforming an empty floor of my building into an art gallery space for one of my favorite photographers Peter Azrak. One of the biggest inspirations I use for my work is Nature, and Peter captures its essence beautifully in his artwork. The opening for his new show was last Friday October 16th, and it was a wonderful night. A great chance to look at art and meet new friends while spending time catching up with old ones.

Here is a before and after picture of how I transformed the space:

The next day, we had a chance to attend a meditation in the new gallery space. The space was once again transformed to be a place of peace—a tiny moment of calm and meditation hidden in a building on a busy New York street.

To see Peter's photographs, check out his portfolio.