So I thought I'd start this off by answering Patrick (the other one's) question about what it's like to work with a designer on my new two-bedroom apartment.
Well, today I feel like it's great! My designer and architect (they are married) are wonderful people. Very responsive to me, very conscientious, have great taste and are relatively well-priced. for instance, they do not mark-up any of the furnishings they buy for me. They're paid on a flat rate. Also, even though I am quite young, because of their experience I know that I am getting good quality materials and good prices on the work that is being done. Or at least, I know when I'm overpaying.
In addition, it's been a fantastic learning experience for me and I have become very knowledgeable about many aspects of design (movements, artists), construction (finishes, skim-coating), etc.
Of course, this is because this week has been a great week.
At other points, I've felt that the apartment wouldn't end up feeling like mine (ie. I'll be scared to move a chair or pick out a vase on my own). Second, it is a lot of fun to spend someone else's money and I regret some of the choices they've urged me to make. For instance our first purchase was a really really expensive carpet (okay i'll be frank - $10,000) that they assured me was worth it and that all the other furnishings would be much cheaper (I initially hired them saying I wanted three really nice pieces and then the rest from Ikea and Crate & Barrel and other mid-priced places).
It is the most expensive thing in the apartment but nothing in the apartment is from Ikea! I'm ending up spending literally twice as much money as I wanted to initially, all told. And although the rug is gorgeous it probably is too much for me. I would have been very happy with a much more cheaply furnished pad.
On the other hand, it's going to be fabulous!

Finally, although this is my first apartment my mother has been burned three times with designer/architects. One put a 50 percent mark-up on furniture, one (a well-known name) insisted that her fee be given to her upfront and then quit, the third was an incompetent who literally quadrupled the cost and time spent on her renovation and the whole thing ended in lawsuits.
So, all things considered I think my project is going really well and that my designers are great! But that's not always the case...
I could say more, but this is way too long.

How many people who read this thread and are serious about decorating also follow feng shui? What particular feng-shui books have been most helpful?

I know very little about it but am finding that it is at cross-purposes with how much of my place is decorated (wrong colors, too much water or fire or whatever in one room). Problem is, I *like* the way my place is decorated, I don't want to bring purple into a beige room, or take flowers out of somewhere else, move a mirror from where it's perfectly placed (in my eyes), etc.

Yet the idea of feng-shuing my living space is still appealing ... anyone out there run into this problem?

i am so pumped about ICFF next month.

To the AT addicts who will remember this from an old thread -- Garnet Hill has resurrected those bed linens with French writing on them.

Jennifer P. -- I don't think you have to follow feng shui to a T, just do what you can. A lot of it is common sense. I like Karen Rausch Carter's "Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life" because she has a sense of humor about it.

Oops, just checked my book and it's Karen Rauch (no "s") Carter.

me (the first)--

You beat me to posting about the French writing sheets! Too funny!

For whatever reason I always thought Feng Shui was kind of dumb. It was funny to me when suddenly the books began taking up an entire row at B&N. Ultimately it guides its practitioners toward better design, so it's not all bad.

Have to wear kneepads in this apartment, so many opportunities for painful bumps. Seems more like an obstacle course with all of the chairs and little coffee tables. Granted, it's a small apartment, but my place is 3 times the size and I still have less stuff. Granted, it's awfully nice "stuff", but I think it would all work much better in a larger space. Like mine...

regarding feng shui, i think most people who visit AT are open to the idea that design can change your life. a big part of feng sui is being open to its ideas... i.e. don't put something you think you'll hate in your space just because a book says you should - you have to embrace the changes. feels like its popularity peaked in the 90s, but it would be nice to see some new posts on the topic.

there's a book by william spear called "feng shui made easy..." (i've never read it, but we're related, gotta represent)

i remember hearing about that williamsburg punk rock feng shui guy, who would mess up your furniture and make you more uncomfortable and more "aware" of your space - that sounded like a lot of bs to me.

Are you guys talking about the travel journal percale sheets? Or are there other ones? Somehow I imagined script and not type...

Sally, I'm also totally ready for ICFF, although I'm not sure my employer is. We get space donated to us as a non-profit (thank you, GLM!) and apparently, our space this year is bigger than the last and last year was enormous. But I love being there and talking to the people and designers who come and, of course, walking the show.

Also, May 6-8 is Brooklyn Designs. Do any NYCers want to do a group outing to the show?

I'm curious what people thought about Hilary Swank and Chad Lowe's home in yesterday's NYT House & Home section. I really liked it. I thought it was elegant but quirky and liveable. Very much not the terrazzo terror from Sunday.

karenw--
Yes, those are the ones I was taking about.

Hooper--
I think you meant to post in reaction to Brandon's apartment?

Hi Ruth.

I also really liked the Hilary/Chad house in the NYT section. I thought the same thing--it really seemed like a home, not a showplace. I wasn't a huge fan of the blue rug that was placed somewhere, but I really liked everything else--particularly that eccentric forest wallpaper. It didn't look overly designed.

Ruth- I too liked that space...The chandelier was beautiful in that dining area...made the plainer furniture seem so elegant. I fell in love with that dresser though...

cristy--
Thanks for that insight. More is welcome, to be sure.

Hey, no regrets allowed about the rug $$!!! That is probably one of the best places to spend for quality. I'm guessing Tibetan?!

I like how you indicate that the process is smooth, NOW. I am guessing that a relationship with a designer is just that-- A RELATIONSHIP.

Interesting, too, that even though they are working for a flat fee, they are still steering you to higher-end goods, and away from what your original directive ("some C&B.Ikea, please!") had been. Do they offer an insight as to why? I just saw a piece in Architectural Digest about how Tiffany's Design Direcor John Loring worked on a budget house for a client, and the search took him to Home Depot for solutions! And he did it proudly, not with apology.

How did you go about finding your team?

i'd love to hear more stories about working with designers. my boyfriend and i are about to close on a 450 sq ft apartment with a teensy pullman kitchen we're hoping to make nicer. our general plan is construct an island with ikea cabinets (hopefully one with some eating space--you know, breakfast bar-ish), replace some existing hanging cabinets, move a fridge and install a dishwasher. while i'm sure we don't absolutely need the help of a designer, so many people have spoken eloquently about the advantages that we're considering it--neither of us has done any of this before, and we'd love the opportunity to develop something really special.

i'm wondering, though, if anyone will want to work with us given our small budget. we have about $5,000-6,000 to spend; can anyone advise me about whether it's worthwhile to try to find a designer or just make do with the guidance of ikea employees?

lindsay--
how much construction/renovation do you anticipate? or are you looking primarily for style guidance and/or showroom access?

i think what we need mostly is a person with a better eye than we have. we probably can't afford to buy much from a showroom, and i don't think there'll be any actual construction (other than creating this island out of stock cabinets, which is hardly "construction").

so, yeah, i guess it's style guidance we're looking for . . . the ideas that someone who's redone other small kitchens might have already used to great success that we won't have thought of. we're both creative people on paper, but neither of us works with space or color or anything like that, i don't want to miss opportunities to do something more useful or more fabulous than the ordinary things we'll come up with.