apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

In case you are going through voting withdrawal
after the end of the Fall "I've Got Color!" Contest, fear not. Architectural Digest wants your vote. As part of the their Open Auditions, the AD site is posting top design entries from their NY auditions. This week, it's dining rooms. But act quickly... voting ends tonight at midnight.

Vote here. And see the three dining areas full size(ish) after the jump.

And they call it puppy love. In the spirit of the Purina National Dog Show following the Macy's Day Parade, here are some gratuitous puppy pics to follow up the holiday weekend. What, pray tell, does this adorable pup have to do with home decor? You'll just have to read more (and see more pics) after the jump.

She wont bring you flowers. Margaret Dunne, Executive Editor of Architectural Digest, lets us in on the rarefied world of AD, and gives some surprising insight into what sets the magazine apart like the fact that they dont style their shoots. So if there are flowers in the shot, its because the homeowners (or designers) put em there.

We talked to Margaret about the first Open Audition held here at the D&D Building in October, and she gives us a behind-the-scenes glimpse to this major event that promises to splash unpublished pros and undiscovered amateurs onto the pages of AD and the pages of the AD website.

Big Scoop! We've got the AD winners listed below. In October, Architectural Digest kicked off its "Open Auditions," a nationwide talent search for undiscovered designers to grace the pages of the venerable shelter magazine. And after a wildly successful first Open Audition at NY's D&D Building, AD has allowed AT to announce the winners... even before AD does!!

You may have seen the banner over there on the right. Architectural Digests Open Auditions are coming to NYC October 10th and 11th, and AT is getting the low-down from none other than AD's Executive Editor, Margaret Dunne.

Heres the premise: Architectural Digest is opening up its hallowed halls to amateurs and previously unpublished professionals in a nationwide talent search. The PR reads: Architectural Digest is always searching for new and innovative talent in design and architecture. And theyre borrowing a page from the likes of Last Comic Standing and So You Think You Can Dance? to do it in coast-to-coast road trip style...

Somebody in the Williams-Sonoma empire likes art, and the artists who make it. Pottery Barns Art to Collect program, and the West Elm partnership (now a year or two old) with the Savannah College of Art & Design offer the buying public a new venue for fine-ish art. And its a welcome direction.

While art purists will no doubt howl, we like the broad exposure being afforded these works and the recognition for the people who produce them.

Naughty boys
need love too.
Part Bulldog from Frasier, part Anthony Maritino, the Mario Cantone character from Sex & the City (the wedding-producing, passionate Italian part), Robb Mariani from HGTVs Design Star talked (quickly!) about his on-air antics, and explains why what didnt make the cut just might have changed your mind about this truck-lovin Creative Design Consultant from Orlando, Florida.

We wondered from Challenge 1 whether Robb was a design firecracker or just a timebomb waiting to go off. While were still not entirely sure, we discovered Robb has much more of a sense of humor than in the bad-boy picture the shows producers painted...

Sparkle, sparkle, fallen star. Who knew you could be too glitzy for Sin City? Josh Johnson found out the hard way, and had to pack up his BeDazzler and head back home at the end of the Wedding Challenge episode of HGTV's big hit Design Star.

The always upbeat, almost always glamorous designer from Hendersonville, Tennessee was sent South in the double elimination he shared with fellow castmate Christina Ray. Well miss his unflagging sense of humor and truly unique way with words after all, he coined the term celebu-teen.

As sweet as sweet tea. Southern belle and Canton, Georgia designer Christina Ray was the latest casualty in another double-elimination week on HGTVs Design Star in the episode that featured a wedding design that would challenge the most seasoned pro.

Christina talked about why all-nighters in Vegas were no party, why even getting filmed shaving her legs was all in a days work, and why she thinks there is room for "nice" on reality TV. She also talks about how they edited out some of her attempts to satisfy the groom. Oh my.