Oct.

25

Black & White (and a bit in between)

I’ve long been an admirer of Celerie Kemble’s work and over the years I’ve collected plenty of Celerie’s tear sheets from design magazines, but I’m a huge fan of Celerie’s for a reason she doesn’t even know about. You see, long before I ever considered launching a lifestyle website, I was a design junkie and avid weekend decorator, so from time to time I would email designers (and a few bloggers) whose worked I was inspired by to ask them questions. Most of the time I didn’t hear back from anyone, but do you know who responded faithfully each and every time? Yes, Ms. Celerie Kemble. I’m sure she was super busy and of course, she didn’t know me from Adam, but she always returned my emails and offered encouragement and better still she shared several of her design sources with me as well. More importantly, Celerie taught me a valuable lesson about elegance and manners in the digital age. I remember how it felt when I received a response from Celerie and that’s why when I started Zavvi Rodaine, I decided that I would respond to each and every email from a reader, even if it meant losing a few hours of sleep.

One popular reader request is for my favorite design guides and I’ve shared a few favorites before, but I also want to suggest that you read Celerie’s first book, To Your Taste: Creating Modern Rooms with a Traditional Twist and her new book which will be released on November 1, Black & White: Timeless Interiors, Dramatic Accents, and Stylish Collections. Both contain detailed advice and step-by-step inspiration to help you create a personal, yet polished and comfortable home.

Thank You, Celerie!