Monday, December 30, 2013

Christy Ferer Shares Tips on Space



Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says "Space has to become your own personal artistic experience." So says fashion designer Donna Karan. To most of us, lots of space is the ultimate luxury. Grand space is liberating. It makes us feel limitless. But to many of us, a small, cozy room is complete comfort. If your rooms are physically just the right size for you, you're very lucky.  Here are some ways we recommend to stretch or shrink space to make it more compatible with your physical and psychological needs.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Form and Function Need No Passport, a selection from Christy Ferer's book


  • Chinese wooden chests, lacquer boxes, and carved wooden bowls bring warmth to a room.
  • Large clay pots, rice baskets, and wooden trucks make great end tables or nightstands.
  • Orchids, bonsai, jade plants, and gnarled willow branches once warm.
  • Oriental rugs work well with any style of furnishings and add color, pattern and a splash of cultural diversity underfoot. They look great overlapping one another underneath English Regency to postmodern pieces. 
  • Hang a kimono as wall art or use Indian saris as curtains table coverings, or bedspreads. 
  • An East Indian hand-carved standing screen or an old carved Mexican door can be placed behind a couch to replace hung artwork on the wall. Wood carvings, ceramic works, masks, metalwork, and handmade crafts can all be isolated as works of art that humanize modern interiors in particular. What may look like street bric-a-brac while you are in foreign lands really can become sculpture the minute it is placed on Lucite blocks. 
  • Christy Ferer recommends pieces of mahogany or teak furniture create texture and give depth to a room. Drape them over the arm or back of a sofa, hang them over a mantel or balustrade, or use one as an area rug. 

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Everywhere Meets West

Orient is a constant influence on today's interiors. We respond to its sense of calm in our stressful world. A room infused with the quiet order of the East is luxurious, detailed, beautiful, and never busy, understated elegance at its most tranquil.

The current interest in all things Asian is reminiscent of the rage for Oriental design during the eighteenth century. Then, furniture, walls, accessories, and textiles were decorated with Chinese-inspired motifs called chinoiserie. The style was popular in the American colonies, especially in wallpaper designs and painted murals. The French mixd chinoiserie with their own rococo Louis XV style. In England, the influence of China was seen in the furnishings made by Chippendale. Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer loves Eastern influence.

Monday, December 23, 2013

More of Global Style's Rules to Break

The fun is in the mixing. Everything and anything goes. But be selective in your choices. The idea isn't to make your home look like a Morroccan souk or Indian bazaar. Subtlety works. Use imports to spice up, not overpower a room. A group of Chinese figures can share the same mantelpiece as two French period vases. Or use the drama of one exceptional piece as a focal point - an African fertility figure, a large Oriental vase filled with bamboo stalks, a pair of antique Indian candlesticks, or a pair of Chinese black lacquered chairs. Mix new and vintage, reproduction and ancient artifacts. What matters is the shape, line, color, and character of the object. Christy Ferer encourages you to break this rule.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Christy Ferer's Global Style Rules to Break



"Ethnic or global pieces should be showcased as a collection and treated as artifacts."

Whether a room is traditional or modern, the recipe for an engaging space is to mix cultures as functionally as possible. Take that great Thai silk or African woven raffle and make it into a pillow to spice up a traditional couch. Mix in pieces of bamboo with modern or traditional furniture. Christy Ferer mentions that Chinese furniture, no matter how ornate, goes with any other style. Don't be afraid to integrate the most rustic of travel mementos. Display Indonesian textile blocks on a fine piece of English pieces of English furniture.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Global Style

Christy Ferer says who needs a passport when you can design a carpet from Nepal over the Internet, order Chinese wedding chests from a catalog, and find imported Indian textiles or Indonesian teak in mass-market stores. It's never been easier to mix in ethnic touches or experiment with a look you've never tried before. Today the world is our market. In addition to buying on the Web, I never go anywhere without an empty duffel bad to fill with irresistible items I might find at a local flea market or in a remote village.

Integrating global finds is like living with a three-dimensional travelogue: instead of just socking away mementos in photo albums that I look at once a year, she is living with her treasures. Ethnic and global artifacts help us to get away from the cookie-cutter. An African mask placed on a sleep glass-and-steel modern table adds new perspective, as does a leather Moroccan saddlebag as an ottoman with a modern sofa. The elements close the gap between cultures and between centuries. Look at the lines of your furniture. They are probably simple, clean, and uncluttered. Play with them by using important pieces carved with an elaborate twists and turns, intricately embroidered textiles, vivid colors, and lush textures.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Christy Ferer, "Break the Mold"

"Break the Mold"
  • In the dining room, mix antique chairs with a contemporary table. Or vice versa
  • Use a glass-topped modern metal table in front of an antique sofa. A simple modern pice juxtaposed with an ornate old piece brings out the beauty of two eras. 
  • Christy Ferer says hang a for of abstract art in a traditional room.
  • Let line, color, and shape unify objects. Centuries come together when emphasis is placed on similarities rather than differences.
  • While you might want to mix with abandon certain periods and styles do marry particularly well. Good blends include Victorian, art nouveau, and eighteen-century French pieces: Scandinavian modern, Shaker, and Japanese; English Regency and Chinese; contemporary and Japanese or Chinese, seventeenth-century Italian and art deco. But don't hesitate to make other combinations. A bit of deco with Shaker. Or Scandinavian modern with Chinese. In moderation almost anything can be decorative punctuation. 
  • Christy Ferer also recommends Midcentury modern, the furniture and accessories from roughly the 1940s through the 1950s, is highly collectible now. Its finishes are light, its lines are simple and clean, and practicality is its premier concern. Think Heywood-Wakefield, Russell Wright, Knoll, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eero Saarinen. Much of their work is being reissued today if you can't afford the original. Even one piece of midcentury modern will give you a newness to a traditional room. 

Friday, December 13, 2013

More Eclectic Rules to Break from Christy Ferer



"To be eclectic means anything goes."

There is a define line between eclecticism and chaos. A room can take on an eclectic look by using subtle contrasts as well as bold ones. Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says A contemporary home filled with classics or a historical one filled with contemporary ones automatically has an eclectic spirit. But it's certainly possible to create an incoherent space by jettisoning all organizing principles. 

She recommends you start small- with galvanized metal chairs pulled up to a rustic country dining table or a sleek halogen lamp on a Chippendale desk. Mix shiny with rough, urban with earthy, provincial with palatial, old with new, the found object with the treasure. That's what eclecticism is all about. But there is safety in some uniformity. Keep one color of wood in a room of different period furniture. Use neutral walls to showcase varied forms of art. 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Christy Ferer's Eclecticism Rules to Break

"Decoration means coordination"

Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, advises to resist the of-the-rack. A modern sculpture on an antique dresser plays with new and old. Whether it is a stone fresco hung above a primitive Chinese wooden side table or a rugged log cabin centered on a crystal chandelier, unexpected juntaposition makes you see things in a whole different way. French antique dealer Nathalie Ballanger says: "Mixing makes a room that's like a mind, filled with many memories."

If you faithfully follow one style, she says, how can you possibly get it wrong? Well, you could end up with a room that looks like it came from a hotel chain. Different styles should play off one another. An eclectic home is a personal timeline, an autobiography. Use objects bought on travels, inherited pieces, and gifts you've been to tell the story of who you are.

Monday, December 9, 2013

More Eclectic Tips from Christy Ferer

Christy Ferer says filling up your living space is like panting on a black canvas or assembling an outfit. You are building a look - your look. The advantage of being eclectic is that it gives you the broadest of palettes, one that allows you to dabble in culture, styles, and periods.

One of Christy's mentors, Bernadine Morris, former fashion editor of The New York Times, told me the key to style is never looking like you spent hours putting yourself together. The same goes for decorating a space. It shouldn't look too matched, too decorated, too precise. Fashion Cynthia Rowley agrees. "The worst thing is to have everything perfectly appointed," she says. And Calvin Klein equates modernity with relaxation: "The role of modern design is to make living in a complex world-where even times has become a luxury-easier, more relaxed; it goes beyond trends. Mix casual with formal and work with modern textures and different weights and forms."

Friday, December 6, 2013

More Tips on Eclecticism

Play. Put a funky lamp on a pedigreed table. Modern, colorful pillows on a Victorian velvet settee. Or a cover a beanbag chair in richly colored Thai silk in a room of a more formal wooden furniture. Alter the spirit of a room with a surprise, a jolt.

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says what do you do if you want to use your grandparent's old breakfront, you're deeply attached to an old spindle chair that got you through school, you've bought a lot of upholstered pieces during one uncontrollable spending spree online  . . . and your living room's ended up looking a little grannyesque? Modernize it with a glass coffee table and some sleep wrought-iron accessories and lamps.

On the other hand, maybe you've out-sleeked yourself with too many minimal parsons tables, leather chairs, and slick surfaces? She recommends to try messing things up a little. Add heat and punch with pillows in warm colors, throws,  a pair of ornate lamp fixtures, or a console in gilt woodwork.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Eclecticism



Vidicom's CEO Christy Ferer says forget what you've been told about what goes with what, sticking to one period, one decorating style, or one color thread. It is all boring. Karl Lagerfield once told me that great style, whether it be about clothes or homes, cannot be all salt of sugar… mixing both is what satiates the style tastes buds.

Real Chic comes from mixing it all up, expensive with bargains, antiques with new. The Moroccan vase you get as a wedding gift can look great with all your American department furniture. Old French faience can fit comfortably next to flea-market glasses. Loosen up and let your intuition take over. If you don't like the way something looks, you can always charge it. She says express yourself!

Monday, December 2, 2013

Architectural Finds

Until this century, deeply carved architectural trims--ranging from columns and capitals to banisters, crowns, corbels, mantels, arches, and crowns--were mostly the property of the rich and royal. They were associated with huge manor houses of chateaus. Now, these elements can be found in junkyards, flea markets, and salvage yards. If not there, there are reproductions. Brass grilles from the thirties and forties or iron fences make great headboards. Lightweight plaster casts can be painted or antiqued to look as if they are hundreds of years old. Look for discarded gingerbread trim like old wooden corbels from demolished homes, hotels, or restaurants. Christy Ferer says they make great shelf supports. Or treat them as sculpture by placing them on a modern oblong or square column. Architectural elements give a sense of history to new rooms.


Friday, November 29, 2013

Tips on Showing Off

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer provides a few tips on showing off your displays:

  • Contract color, texture, or size when displaying objects. Learn from nature. Things in the natural world never match. Some things tower over others. Colors don't follow rules about where they should or shouldn't go. Rough lies down next to smooth, Shiny and dull live side by side.
  • Relax when arranging objects on a tabletop. The more precisely placed things are, the more touchable they look. Collections should be shared. Guests will feel intimidated by a perfectly arranged display. See the beauty in unusual juxtapositions. Try for a sense of luxe minus fuss.
  • Be playful, not predictable. Try something quirky. A porcelain or silver plated piece of fruit mixed in with the real thing, a priceless Faberge egg in a real bird's nest, old perfume bottle tops on a fine silver bowl, glass balls lining the perimeter of the room.
  • Go casual . . . learn artwork against walls and stack books on tables and chairs, or even on the floor.
  • Use maps, line drawings, and black-and-white prints to give a sense of calm. Manipulate overscale lithographs, posters and oil paintings in vibrant colors to create a focal point.
  • Put anything silver on top of a mirrored surface.
  • Hang one of anything beautiful or interesting inside an empty, ornate picture frame or a bunch of them over a window or door.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

More Display Rules to Break


"Match the size of the artwork to the size of the wall. In other words, small wall equals small art, large wall equals large art."

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says Bananas... don't be afraid to aim for the unexpected. An outsize framed vintage poster filling up a silver of a wall becomes important "wallpaper," as does an entire wall covered top to bottom with framed mirrors or black-and-white photos. Or go the opposite way. Try leaving a large wall clean and uncluttered to exaggerate its size or hang one small mirror smack in the center of it or act as a pinpoint of light.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Display Rules to Break By Christy Ferer

"Art should be showcased on a plain unpatterned wall."

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says layering patterns gives a room depth. If in doubt, extra-wide mats surrounding a picture supply a little breathing space between the pattern on the wall and the subject matter of the art. White plates or collectibles pop against a wallpapered wall. Pictures or paintings displayed on bookcases add perspective to a room.

"Match the size of the artwork to the size of the wall. In other words, small wall equals small art, large wall equals large art."

Bananas... don't be afraid to aim for the unexpected. An outside framed vintage poster filing up a silver of a wall becomes important "wallpaper," as does an entire wall covered top to bottom with framed mirrors or back-and-white photos. Or go the opposite way. Try leaving wall clean and uncluttered to exaggerate its size. Or hang one small mirror smack in the center of it to act as a pinpoint of light.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Christy Ferer Shares Her Suggestions on Displays


Stuff--we all have it. We can group it or pare it down. Highlight it. Create themes. Link colors and shapes. Mix the functional with the ultra luxurious.

Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, says live with your favorite things where you can see them every day. Arrange them until you find a configuration that speaks to you. You'll know it when it happens.

A Few Rules to Break:

"Objects of value create the most impressive display."

Christy Ferer says not true. Even the most mundane objects can be elevated to importance, whether isolated against a great white surface or grouped in multiples. Good things are worth repeating, even dried weeds in simple ceramic flasks.

Build a great wall of china with mismatched tag sales plates, tureen or sugar bowl covers, or ironstone platters. Or isolate one of something you like in a corner or in a fireplace. Stones, shells, driftwood... everything and anything you like.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Christy Ferer Gives Her Take on Accessories

Christy Ferer says artists surround themselves with objects that inspire and feed their creative side, and so should you. You probably have a collection already without realizing it. Walk around your house and find one. Gather all your vases. She says the plates that are too good to eat off. Those beautifully colorful foreign banknotes that you will never spend. Things made from the same material, or off the same shape, color, subject, or texture. Stuck away in a drawer, it's just clutter-displayed, it's a collection.


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Christy Ferer Shares Her Views on Accessories

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says a house isn't a home until it's filled with your favorite things. An old crock here. A teapot there. Your mom's Vaseline glass. Magnifying glasses picked up from your travels. Textile print blocks. A fistful of shells. Anything and everything that you enjoy looking at. Artists surround themselves with objects and inspire and feed their creative side, and so should you. You probably have a collection already without realizing it. Those beautifully colorful foreign banknotes that you will never spend. Things made from the same material, or of the same shape, color, subject, or texture. Stuck away in a drawer, it's just clutter-displayed, it's a collection. 


Monday, November 11, 2013

More Furniture Rules to Break

Vidicom's CEO, Christy Ferer, says  "Upholster within the character of the furniture." Be contrary. The Contrast of fancy and plain makes the form and beauty of antique furniture come alive! Think of using gingham and muslin, blue denim, white canvas , simple calico, even a cut-up woolen blanket or old linen tablecloths on antique furniture. Gerald Schmorn, a designer for Christian Lacroix housewares, used a colorful Pucci print on his couch.


Friday, November 8, 2013

Furniture Rules to Break

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Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, says to "Think in sets." Safety in pairs is boring. Aim for asymmetry. End tables don't have to match. Use an oval table on one side and a square one on the other. Or don't use tables at all. And you don't have to face sofas and love seats in sets. Go with a love seat and two chairs or a chaise lounge Or use four or five very cushy, comfortable armchairs arranged in a circle.


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Christy Shares Furniture Ideas

Christy Ferer says that traditional furniture can be anything but. Upholster a precious museum-quality antique in plain four-dollar-a yard muslin, calico, or a Navajo blanket. Or use dress fabrics like silks, organza, or cashmere to dress up a couch. Paper a chest of drawers with sheet music or old love letters. Applique flames on a traditional sofa, as Josie Natori does in her Paris apartment.

The way we use furniture has evolved in much the same way that our use of rooms has. Flexibility and practicality are our prime concern now, and looking pretty is not enough. Furniture has to feel as good as it looks and it should be multifunctional. A headboard should slide open for storage. Tables and chairs should roll to where they are required.


Monday, November 4, 2013

Christy Ferer Shares Tips on Mirrors

Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, says that mirrors attract light like a magnet. They play with it, bounce it around, and make it dance. One source of light becomes two, becomes three, and on and on.

To explore the effects of mirrors:
  • Create a mosaic of tiny mirrored tiles on a chimney wall.
  • Think big. Lean an oversize mirror against the wall in the living room or dining room. Or create a wall of mirrors by leaning mirrors of approximately the same size against a wall.
  • Mirror in the insides and top of a window frame or the step risers on a staircase.
  • A large mirror on a wall opposite a window will reflect the outdoors, bringing it inside.
  • Convex mirrors create points of light within a room.
Stay tuned for more tips from Christy's book.


Friday, November 1, 2013

Lighting Rules to Break

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"Lamps on either side of the couch or bed should match," says Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO.

If you want a motel-room look, stick to this rule. Otherwise, use lamps that you love, whether they match or not. They don't have to be the same height, same style, or same period,  and the shades can be entirely different, too.

A lamp or light source is where you find one. Make a lamp from an alabaster urn, a large conch shell, an earthenware jug, old pillars, vases, a perfume bottle, an old teapot, or a sugar bowl. A large glass funnel turned upside down makes a great hanging fixture.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Christy Provides More Tips on Lighting

"Mirrors, lamps, sconces, chandeliers, and windows have all become more than just light sources," said Vidicom CEO, Christy Ferer. These light sources have been reinterpreted and revolutionized. Light can be manipulated by mirrors, semi-gloss or glass paints, even by the color and size of a light bulb. Indeed, with a plug and a light bulb anything can be made into a light source.


Monday, October 28, 2013

Christy Ferer Shares Tips on Lights

Vidicom CEO, Christy Ferer, says the way a room is lit determines how we feel about it and how we see everything in it. Tectures, color accessories, all are sculpted by the type of lighting we choose. Lighting highlights and accents. Or, by its absence, it diminishes. Lighting strongly affects the ambience of a space. The brighter a light, the more exposed we feel. The softer it is, the more protected and calm.

To Bette Midler, "Light is everything. Light, light, light...gotta have light.... I can't stand to live in dark places." Midler is a huge fan of Swedish painter Carl Larsson. "He brought light into Swedish home plunged into darkness by short days," she says. "His use of light was magical and it inspired me in how I decorated and lit my house."



Friday, October 25, 2013

More Choices in Flooring

Christy Ferer says the following about floors:

  • Ceramic tile is synonymous with Spain. Glazed in bright colors, such as yellow, red, and blue, and polished to a high gloss, they are often arranged in tight, highly decorative patterns.
  • Leather is the greatest extravagance possible for flooring. Leather "tiles" are made of steer hide cured with vegetable tanning and dyed. They can be embossed or printed with pattern. The gaps between the tiles are usually filled with Carnuba wax.
  • Cork is soft, warm and available in many colors and grain patterns. It is sold as tiles that are laid over a sheet cork underlay.
  • Mosaic tiles can be played with to give a new take on tradition. Bette Midler uses mosaics to "paint" Hawaiian designs and sayings like "Aloha" in her house.
  • Glass blocks can be set in concrete to make a honeycomb pattern. Or round, lenslike glass blocks can be set in a polka-dot pattern. Glass is used to open up a space and bring in light from the level below.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Floor Choices from Christy Ferer

Vidicom CEO, Christy Ferer, says the following about floors:

  • Concrete floors can be warmed up with paint, polish, or stenciling. They also can be scored with patterns or set in intricate patterns with tiles (or flat-backed clay or beads, or bits of broken tiles or dishes).
  • Rug Remnants can be finishing with piping.
  • Turkish and Persian rugs have been prized in the West for centuries, since Marco Polo brought them back with him from his travels. Add a modern twist to these timeless rugs by casually layering them.
  • Terra-cotta tile, a favorite flooring in the Mediterranean, Mexico, and India, can be configured in many patterns. Sets of squares, diagonals, or herringbones can be made with square, rectangular diamond, hexagonal, and octagonal tiles. Once the tiles are set and grouted, they can be left naturally rough, polished, or sealed to resist moisture and stains. For a European look, place hand-painted tiles at intervals to act as accents.

Monday, October 21, 2013

More Floor Tips from Christy's Book

Vidicom CEO, Christy Ferer, says that "Wood isn't for kitchen floors. Use the title instead." This rule has led to lots of aching backs. While ceramic tile is beautiful and easy to wash, it's very hard. It doesn't give. This makes it tough on the legs and back when cooking for long periods of time. It is also cold (something to think about if you have young children). She suggests going with the grain. Woods like oak, maple, and birch are durable, hard-wearing and have enough play in them to make them easy on the body.


Saturday, October 19, 2013

Christy Ferer Shares More Floor Rules to Break

Christy Ferer, CEO of Vidicom, states that "Redecorating means a new floor." Or revitalize your existing floor. As in all decorating, sometimes what you think you need is already there. Sand down and reseal your wood floor. Stain or dye your carpeting, or cut it into area rugs and have the edges bound. Paint or stencil existing tiles.


Friday, October 18, 2013

Vidicom's CEO, Christy Ferer, Floor Rules to Break

"Linoleum and rubber flooring are for high-traffic rooms only." Linoleum and rubber are big news again. Their terrific variety of colors and their durability make them attractive and practical for any room," says Christy Ferer.

These floor coverings, which are all made from the natural fibers of plants, blend with any period or style. They have an earthy, timeless appeal that gives texture and, sometimes, pattern to a floor. Contrary to rumor, most of them are soft, easy on the feet, and very durable.


Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Another Tip on Decorating Floors

"Industrial-strength materials being used today such as steel and rubber have a high-tech look that can instantly update an interior," says Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO. Marvelously sensuous underfoot, leather flooring is the height of luxury. I layer carpets of woven plastic, one over another, mixing patterns and colors. There are more choices than ever. You can even design your own rug on the Web with a few mouse clicks.


Monday, October 14, 2013

Christy Ferer Shares a Tip on Decorating Floors

Vidicom CEO, Christy Ferer, says as the largest uninterrupted surface in any space, the floor sets the tone of a room. Warim it up with texture and color. Cool it down with hard surfaces and steely or transparent neutrals. Treat it like a blank foundation on which to showcase your moveable parts--the furnishings and accessories that are going to make your tableau. But whatever you do, know that the floor can be manipulated to contrast or complement your design scheme.


Friday, October 11, 2013

Rules to Break When it Comes to Walls

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says, "Carefully sand and prime walls before painting them." There is beauty in imperfection. Play up a wall's flaws and blemishes. Exaggerate them. Celebrate, don't conceal, cracks. After stripping wallpaper, think about leaving the wall as is. Leave the traces of past paint jobs or the wallpaper glue. This creates age and character, gives lineage, and hints at past lives. A compulsively prepared wall can end up looking lifeless. She says if you're painting, try scratching up the dry paint with a steel wool or fine sandpaper to add a little world-weariness and turn up the charm.


Thursday, October 10, 2013

Advice on Walls


Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, says, "Walls really do talk--about you. What you do with your walls reveals a lot about the kind of person you are. Are your walls loud or quiet? Playful or serious? Are they cushioned with fabric or coated with copper? What can you do with a naked wall? It is the largest blank canvas in your home, personal envelope waiting for your stamp. She says that today's walls are more versatile than ever before. They are able to open and close, lower and raise up, light up and cool down.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Turn Up the Texture

"Turn Up the Texture" is a section in Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer's book, "Breaking the Rules." Below are a few texture tips:
  • Give punch to a boxy room with a richly patterned rug, sofa, or upholstered wall.
  • Small accessories like plates, vases, and tabletop sculptures create movable pockets of texture and pattern. Rotate them as the spirit moves. Make your home a living environment that reflect your mood.
  • Lacquer and satin finishes give textures to walls with their sheen.
  • Opposites attract. They bring out the best in one another. Soft with hard. Shiny with rough. Patterned and plain. A one-note perfume is never as intriguing as a daring blend.


Friday, October 4, 2013

Read Christy Ferer's Texture and Patterns Rules to Break

Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, says "Richly textured materials, such as Oriental rugs, brocades, damasks, and jacquards, beling in formal rooms."

Formal is a label and labels are restricting. Learn to live without labels and watch what happens. Favorite fabrics can be everywhere you go so you can enjoy them. I've filled my beach house, for example, with a mix of rich fabric pillows. Persian rugs look wonderful layered over sisal or terra-cotta. Velvets and brocades complement rattan furniture. Conversely, cottom ikats on antique mahogany chairs break the formality of a dining-room table.


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Texture and Patterns

Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, says you might not realize that texture and pattern are related, but pattern gives a grain event to a smooth surface mimicking roughness and nap. Pattern in area rugs, vases, paintings, decorative boxes, wallpaper, drapery, slipcovers, and pillows give richness and intensity to a room. Textures like chenille, velvet, corduroys, bamboo, sisal, and sea grass come with "built-in" pattern. Use these textures to contrast with a cool sleekness of wood, glass, leather, or stone.


Sunday, September 22, 2013

Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, Talks About Texture and Patterns

Christy Ferer, Vidicom CEO, says a room should feel as good as it looks. Texture energizes a room and softens the often hard lines of modern life. Just as a painter manipulates the size of a brush stroke, its thickness, and the direction of the paint to create texture, so can we use fabric, objects, and wall treatments to generate a rich juxtaposition of textures in a room.

You might realize that texture and pattern are related, but pattern gives a grain even to a smooth surface mimicking roughness and nap. Pattern in area rugs, plates, vases, paintings, decorative boxes, wallpaper, drapery, slipcovers, and pillows give richness and intensity to a room.


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

More Color Partners from Christy Ferer's Book, "Breaking the Rules"

Christy Ferer, CEO of Vidicom, wrote an interior design book called "Breaking the Rules" and she discusses color partners that will work throughout the home.

Blue: Pale blues amplify a sense of space, are soothing, and together with white create a fresh, breezy look that is pretty in any room. Deeper blues become jewellike when complemented with reds or greens.


Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Color Partners by Christy Ferer

Here's Christy Ferer's's advice on color partners:

Green: In nature, green goes with everything, and its multiple shades give it a complex personality. Juxtaposed with red, green is elegant, strong, visually soothing, and not just for Christmas. Tinted with gray, green is restful and soft. Blue with green echoes the most basic color combination--blue sky and green grass.

Vidicom's offices are painted white and this type of color provides a relaxing environment for the employees.


Monday, September 16, 2013

Christy Shares More Tips on Paint Colors for Your Home

Vidicom's CEO, Christy Ferer, says you can wrap yourself in a favorite color by painting the walls and ceiling and adding a rug, furniture, pillows, drapes, and accessories in many shades of the same color. Avoid extreme color contrasts--it is a harmonious, "wrapped" look that you are after. The subtle variations in tone and textures will keep monotony at bay.


Friday, September 13, 2013

Christy Ferer's Thoughts on Paint Colors to Use for Your Home

Christy Ferer, CEO of Vidicom says "There should be at least three colors in a room."

The impetus behind this long-standing rule can be summed up in one word--variety. The fear is that using any fewer than three colors will result in a bland room. The problem with this rule lies in its assumption that one color equals one shade. Colors consist of many shades.


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Primary Colors Are For Children's Rooms

Christy Ferer, CEO of Vidicom, believes there is nothing like red to cozy up a space, because it advances rather than recedes, but it will still have the same effect if it is made less intense by watering it down into a wash or softening it to rosy pink. Even a pale yellow brings sunshine into a dark room. Blue expands space and gives the feeling of fresh air to cramped quarters.


Monday, September 9, 2013

More Color Style Tips

"Pink is a feminine color, best used for private spaces like bathrooms or bedrooms."

Christy Ferer and the Vidicom team says pink is unisex. You don't have to wear lipstick to appreciate the rosy glow this color gives your complexion and your outlook on life. Yes, pink is for the bathrooms. But it is also for living rooms, entryways, dining rooms, and any other room of the house you want to use it in. My husband's study in painted pink. French designers Philippe Model uses pink throughout his apartment. For him, it "works on the unconscious and makes us feel at ease."

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Christy Ferer's Style Rules to Break

Vidicom's CEO, Christy Ferer, says "Stick to neutrals. They go with anything."

This rule is responsible for decades of boring rooms. People think neutral means only beige, white or black. True, these colors blend easily with other colors and are easy to live with, but so are lots of more interesting colors. When toned down with white or black, green coordinates with almost all colors, making it nature’s neutral. Celadon, olive, khaki and steel gray are the “new” neutrals, easily pulling together complex color palettes.

Remember what the legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland said: “Shocking pink is the navy blue of India.” The point is that what is neutral for one culture or person is radical for another. Remember this too: Almost any color becomes a neutral when it stands on its own and isn’t made to coordinate with another color




Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Color Style Tips

"Forget color wheels and other academic approaches to choosing what colors go with what. Color has more to do with emotion than with technicalities. Think about what color does. It pulls you in, or pushes you away. It can easily shock. Or calm," said Christy Ferer, CEO of Vidicom.

She thinks there is no reason to follow anybody else’s idea of what color you should use in your home. If you aren’t sure, just look through your clothes closet. One of two colors will repeat over and over. Trust yourself. If you love a color, use it. Let your eye and your instinct lead you to the colors you love to live with.




Thursday, August 29, 2013

More Style Tips From Christy Ferer


Vidicom’s CEO, Christy Ferer, believes that breaking the rules allows you to start a revolution in your own home, and it gives you the courage to go ahead and let those style “security blankets” unravel. Show off your most beloved accessories in new ways, experiment with your furniture to create new spaces, find fresh ways of living from room to room. 
What Breaking the Rules offers is a small window on the world, the style snapshots that has affected her eye and the way she played with her home. Christy is blessed because she has been to exposed to so many people who have pushed the envelope and broken more than a convention or two. Now she is sharing that with you.

Style Tips Introduction From Christy Ferer's Breaking the Rules Book

In Vidicom's CEO, Christy Ferer’s book, “Breaking the Rules,” she provides style tips for the home:

·         Never use big furniture in small rooms.

·         Stick to one style, one color thread, and one period throughout your home.

·         Pink is only for bedrooms and bathrooms.

These age-old rules are over. Personalization reigns. These days we are taking control of our living spaces and molding them to our every need, mood, and last-minute flea-market find. Whose is it, anyway? Yours, remember? That old adage “rules were made to be broken” is tremendously liberating. 

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Author Gene Marks Visits Vidicom's Studios This Week


Author Gene Marks was at Vidicom's studios yesterday shooting a satellite media tour about small businesses and the struggles they face. Marks spoke about ways small businesses can run more efficiently and the “cash for registers” program that can help small businesses upgrade their current register system.

Christy Ferer has been running a successful small business since 1981. The company has produced numerous branded video content for hundreds of brands. The company continues to produce and distribute branded content and has worked with many well-known celebrities, including Melissa Joan Hart, Gabby Douglas, Jane Pauley and many more.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Must-Reads for the Week of August 23, 2013

Travel + Leisure published an article about what travel articles to read this week. Christy Ferer and the Vidicom team travel articles and we recommend you read on where to travel before Labor Day weekend!

Click here to read more.


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Why Apple is Eyeing Gold for the New iPhone

Vidicom's CEO, Christy Ferer, is excited that a new iPhone is coming to stores in September. Although the standard colors are black and white, there seems to be a new color that will be available: gold. Click here to read the article.


Monday, August 12, 2013

French Legion of Honor Awarded to Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer

Christy Ferer, CEO of Vidicom, received the French Legion of Honor Award in 2010. Ambassador Benoit d’Alboville presented her the prestigious award in New York. To learn more about the award, visit:

-Business Wire

-Reuters

Citybuzz offers NYC Trip to NYC Matters Contest Winner

Citybuzz, a division of Vidicom, which was founded in 1981 by Christy Ferer, created the NYC Matters Contest and is offering the winner a NYC Insider Weekend of Broadway theater, museums and more. To learn more about the contest, please visit: Business Wire

Christy Ferer's Vidicom Produces Social TV That Talks Back with AARP and Jane Pauley

Jane Pauley, AARP’s TODAY show contributor for Life Reimagined, is connecting with audiences through InteracTV, a live interactive webcast, from Christy Ferer’s Vidicom. Her show on NBC is a monthly series that features people from across the country who are trying new things. For more on this story, please visit:


Monday, April 29, 2013

Christy Ferer Recommends You Check out our Buzz of the Week

Vidicom CEO Christy Ferer says it's worth the venom at The Viper Room.  Check out our newest Buzz of the week, coming straight from Los Angeles!  This sweet intimate little spot has the perfect location for drinks, performance, and an ambiance that says relaxing in LA!  Check out the newest video on it from our CityBuzz site.

Let us know if you find this place interesting.  If you've ever been there, we want to know your experience on our Facebook page!!


Thursday, April 4, 2013

Watch the New Citybuzz Video: Wine and Roses

Chef Seth Levine visits Upper West Side hotspot, Wine and Roses, for our latest Citybuzz, a Vidicom Company by Christy Ferer, New York Video. The cute wine bar, a 25th anniversary gift to owner/operator Jennifer Klein is a perfect spot for a cozy date or a night out with a friend. In fact, Jennifer says she knows multiple couples that got married after having their first date at Wine and roses.

Seth and Jennifer sample some of their favorite menu items, including a proscuitto pizza, and the sinful red velvet chocolate cake, complete with a chocolate red rose on top.

Next time you find yourself on the Upper West Side, stop for a drink at Wine and Roses - odds are you’ll run into a celebrity!