Art Southampton & Luxe Hamptons Launch

At the end of last month, we attended a launch party for one of our favorite magazines, Luxe Interiors + Design, to introduce their new Hamptons edition. The magazine launch was hosted at the Maserati Lounge at Art Southampton, directly in the center of one of the most incredible art shows around. We began working closely with Luxe several years ago, after we were featured on their April 2012 cover, and since then, we have partnered with them for multiple events and have maintained a close relationship. To show our support and help Luxe celebrate this milestone, we sent our own Taylor Lagerloef to check out the action:

Art Southampton, the “sister” show of Art Miami, is an art show that runs each summer for a period of about 4 days. This year’s venue entailed an extensive 100,000 square foot space and hosted work from over 660 artists ranging from 43 different countries. Upon my arrival, I walked past a graffiti-ed Ferrari and an iridescent taxidermy elk…clearly I wasn't at your typical local art show. I then passed by aisle after aisle of cool, contemporary artists – many of which exhibited very avant-garde and one-of-a-kind pieces. One piece utilized paper-thin fragments of glass laid out in a circular pattern, creating a shimmery, three-dimensional effect. Another piece was an over-sized oil painting of a beach scene, which would be just superb for a beachfront abode. Other pieces at the show included an avant-garde life-size spray can of Campbell’s tomato soup, surfboards plastered with Andy Warhol prints (perfect for those Montauk surfers!), and a gorgeous oil and pastel piece from Abby M. Taylor Fine Art. This was truly one of the best art shows I had attended. What added to the excitement was walking amongst some of this century’s most renowned talents: Warhol, Lichtenstein, Calder, Frankenthaler…all on a simple Friday evening in Southampton.

The excitement continued once I reached the Maserati Lounge. Curated by Luxe Interiors + Design and designed by Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams, the space was located directly in the center of the venue and allowed guests and collectors alike to mingle with a panoramic view of the entire pavilion.  Launching a Hamptons edition of Luxe is a great move for the magazine, and what better way to break into the market than with a fabulous art show?!

Lautaro Cuttica "Beach Scene"

An oil and pastel painting from Greenwich's own
Abby M. Taylor Fine Art

Taylor Lagerloef with Janice Browne of Luxe Interiors + Design

Being an interior designer, I enjoy attending these types of shows and events so that I can shop for clients (and because it is great to see what direction the art world is going in!). Art can be the final element to truly complete a room and a home. Many people overlook the importance of this, and see art as something that only serves a decorative purpose. Your home should reflect your personality and lifestyle, and art is the last component to really make it personal and your own. Some people opt for prints and posters, which can be reproductions, while others might opt for one-of-a-kind pieces that have history and tell a story. Either way, artwork can fill the void in a home and will brighten up any room.

On a final note, thank you to Luxe Interiors + Design for including us in the celebration! We can’t wait to see what you do with the magazine – we are certain it will be great!

Spring Cleaning with Rinfret

Aah Spring…the season that seemed so improbable after the never-ending Winter of snowstorms and single-digit temperatures. Though the official start to Spring was only on March 21, it is safe to say that everyone has been anxious to finally get back outdoors and transition into warmer weather. What better way to segue into the new season than with some Spring redecorating?! Luckily we have some good tips and new furnishings to help. We even enlisted our very own Cindy Rinfret to answer some of your top questions about “spring cleaning”! Allow yourself to get inspired...

Here are some of Cindy's Spring selections from Rinfret Home & Garden:

Awards Season

We have all been glued to the red carpet this winter watching the parade of stars at the Oscars and Golden Globes, so now that the awards season has come to a close, we thought we'd take this opportunity to do a little bragging on our own awards sweep this winter.

For the second year in a row, we are the proud to be voted as the "Best of Houzz"! This is a really special award as it is determined by the Houzz users. Here are some of our most popular images on Houzz:

Which ones are your favorites?
Visit our page on Houzz and add these images and more to your idea books.

This awards season we won another "people's choice" award with Serendipity Magazine readers designating Rinfret Home & Garden the BEST of Fairfield and Westchester Counties! We've got stiff competion in this area, but as the designer that defines "Greenwich Style" we think Cindy Rinfret earned it fair and square.

We were especially touched by the words of one of our most famous clients, Tommy Hilfiger:

 "Cindy Rinfret has worked with me on at least 15 different projects. She has amazing taste, she is totally professional and is simply the hardest working decorator in the business. What I admire most about her is that she finds great solutions to problems on the job. She is also an incredible purveyor of antiques and hard-to-find vintage pieces. Her ability to go from modern to classic, city to country, or American to European makes her a real star. She possesses a true talent in so many areas. She is undoubtedly the best decorator in Greenwich and the East Coast."

Above: Cindy Rinfret (second from left) with friends and clients, Tommy and Dee Hilfiger (on right) and friend and garden designer, Phillip Watson (on the left), at an event earlier this winter.

What a testimonial! Curious to see some of the rooms that Cindy has designed for Tommy? Here's a look at a few of our favorites (with more in the works right now):

It's safe to say that we have enjoyed a "winning" start to 2014. We can't wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for us and we look forward to sharing it with you. Stay tuned!