The Beauty of Simplicity

While in San Francisco, I got the chance to interview Jun Pinon, who is one of the top floral designers in the Bay area. His rise to fame is due to his stunning, yet simple, style. And it truly is simple. I was even able to do it. But you'll get to see that on video very soon.

During the shoot, Jun's cousin Iah Isip was there to take photos of the event -- and to make me nervous. Being in front of one camera is enough. But I shouldn't complain. Iah is a highly requested fashion, fine art and landscape photographer -- so it was an absolute honor to have him around for the day.

After filming, I took a look at Iah's portfolio and realized that the eye for simplicity ran in the family. His pictures are stunning examples of the beauty of restraint.

Gorgeous floral arrangements, photos -- and especially rooms -- don't need to be complicated and filled with tons of colors and textures. Often the simplest things are the most beautiful, and the pictures above are a perfect example of that. Maybe after seeing them you'll be inspired to simplify the decor in your home. I know I was.

To see the rest of Jun's gorgeous floral arrangements, visit www.pinondesign.com. To view more of Iah's stunning photography, visit www.iahisip.com.

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Screw the Sound, All We Want is the View

That's right. After careful thought, we've decided to take the sound out of all of our future videos. It was a hard decision, but we realized that if we wanted Ask the Decorator videos to be the best around we'd have to ditch the sound.

Rather than focusing on my voice or the random music, you'll be able to concentrate all of your attention on the beautiful items featured - whether it's a stunning kitchen, gorgeous linens or beautiful furniture.

If you're interested in what is being said, you'll be able to read the closed captioning. In our beta tests, we found that only 9.1% of people were interested in the closed captioning. But now we want to hear from you.

Later today I'll post our first soundless video. Tell me what you think about it. Does it make the viewing experience more pleasant? Are you able to better focus you're attention on the decorative items?

I look forward to receiving your input. Oh and by the way, Happy April Fools!

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25 Things You Want to Do (In Your Home) Before Next Year

While in the San Francisco area, I was lucky enough to get to spend a day at Google. My host for the day, who was - and is - an extremely nice and intelligent man, excitedly showed me all around the Google headquarters. I saw everything stereotypically Google, the sleep pods, micro-kitchens, massage rooms and swimming pools, but the thing that stood out the most was not what he showed me - but what he said at the end of the day.

Being a very polite man, he asked me if he could offer me some advice. "Of course," I said.

"Meghan, you should write down the 100 things you want to do before you die," he said.

That's not exactly what you expect to hear while at Google. But rather than look dumbstruck, I proceeded to tell him that I had to do that for a class when I was a freshman in high school, and I'm sure the things I wrote were completely unrealistic and irrelevant to today.

"I think one of the things I wrote was to tame a wild stallion. They were totally ridiculous," I said.

He looked at me completely serious with not the hint of a smile on his face and said, "What's so ridiculous about that?"

I was completely taken aback. Not ridiculous? But he was right.

Anything is possible. No dream or idea is ridiculous. He taught me the importance of taking my aspirations seriously and treating them like real goals rather than daydreams.

I'm still working on my 100 things. When I finish, I'll let you know.

Creating my list made me think about our homes. We talk about how we want to remodel our kitchens or redecorate our bedrooms, but we rarely write down our aspirations for our homes. So rather than writing down the 100 things you want to do before you die, why not write down:

The 25 Things You Want to Do in Your Home Before Next Year

Your list will be very revealing and can contain absolutely anything. Remember nothing is unreasonable. I'll even help you get started with some ideas.

1. Have everyone gather in one place - other than the kitchen - where we all relax together rather than going to different rooms at night.
2. Make a charity box where I can put the things I no longer need. Then actually take the box to charity.
   
3. Start a food fight and not worry about what will be ruined.
4. Create a space for after dinner dancing equipped with good music and low lighting, and use it more than once.
   
5. Grow a plant. Make sure it survives longer than a week.
   
6. Hang a full-length mirror and not be afraid to look into it.
7. Host three dinner parties that are such a hit people I don't know want to be invited next time.
   
8. Look through my pantry and not find stale food.
9. Make a real fire. Maybe even roast s'mores.
10. Create a craft area, and actually make something.

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Bring Back the Brass

While in California numerous people were kind enough to inform me that brass "should be left in the 80s." Even before leaving for the Golden State, I'd been caught in countless conversations where brass was blasted as being "gaudy," "flashy," and "terribly out of the date."

But I have a confession to make. I like brass.

In fact, it's in my genes. I have brassy-gold streaks in my hair and rims around my irises. So you can't tell me that brass, green, brown and white don't make a fantastic color combination. I might even take offense if you try.

But my natural coloring isn't all that benefits from the presence of brass. There are dozens of other color schemes that come alive when brass is added, and the second you take brass away and replace it with a "hotter" option - which is currently silver or bronze - the once beautiful scheme becomes lackluster.

We have an entire rainbow of colors to enjoy and mix and match. But the second we start following what's hot and what's not, our rainbow turns into an 8 ct. pack of Crayolas.

Trends are dangerous. They limit your choices. This week you can no longer use brass. Next week it might be purple. A year from now olive may be on the banned list. Before you know it, your only selection may be the currently "fashionable" blue and brown.

And as tempting as that combination is, I'll take my brass and green over it any day - even if people call me flashy.

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