I love the idea of having a Muse for my work! World-renown artists, fashion designers and musicians have always had a Muse! The idea is sexy and mysterious and downright exciting!

And to be honest I have a Muse myself…Fabric!

But let me be more specific here! I LOVE colorful print fabrics!! Cottons, Linens, Florals, Damasks…they float my boat!! Prints are my muse for all my designs! They are what inspire me to do what I do! They are what drive every project I design, every room I create, every space I transform. And even more fun is the idea of a gorgeous, sexy and mysterious woman wearing these fabulous prints! Now this is truly an inspiration, not only for my designs but for my own personal fashion style! Creating the imaginary storyline of this gorgeous lover-of-prints living in my bold and dramatic interiors is all I need to be re-energized to create fantastic interiors!

My good friend Michelle Adams, designer of the AMAZING eco-friendly fabric line Rubie Green has created this so-called Muse for me along with her friend, photographer Patrick Cline. They have gone so far as to actually photograph this mythical woman I envision, and she sits above on the bar with her tea in my very favorite fabric of Michelle’s, “Marilyn”.

This bold and sassy rose print has an amazing hand. It’s a cotton canvas-like sustainable fabric.  And it is just what the doctor ordered for my guest room makeover! I just received 40 yards of this lovely print yesterday and it has been put into production asap to get my room ready for receiving a Special Guest later this month!!

When it comes to selecting a fabric for me, the more color the better! And a bold pattern…ooh la la!  There is nothing I adore more! People often ask me how I make color and pattern work in a room with such success. I admire textile designers who are savvy at walking that fine line between doing color and pattern well versus those who can’t. The right combination of color and pattern can be gorgeous and sexy and fun or it can look cheap! Great fabric designers make my job so much easier!

Michelle’s other patterns (some shown above) are equally daring and sophisticated but I am still partial to my girl “Marilyn”!

Another sassy fabric line that is going outside the box in color and also in novelty patterns is Of the Young and the Restless.  I first heard of them several months ago on Michelle Adams’ blog M.A. Belle and I had a flashback of my soap-watching days of college. But these fabrics are nothing as dull and traditional as you might see in the home of some outdated soap star! These fabrics are super unique!!

Not for the faint of heart, Of the Young and the Restless marries unique and pure color like in their bright coral “Nesting Shells” print contrasting with strong black detailing!! And the result for me…I am in LOVE!!! And I also happen to have a thing for birds and they hit the mark with their “Birdhouse” pattern that comes in two colorways, colonial and floridian!

Another of my dear textile-designing friends, Michael Devine, is right up my alley with his stunning overscaled prints on linen!! I am crazy about Gramercy in every colorway but am especially fond of the yellow!!

The uber-sophisticated Aerin Lauder loves Michael’s Gramercy too and covered her bedroom in the black version as evidenced in the July/August 2009 issue of Elle Decor.

Michael does a beautiful job with his collection offering a variety of geometrics, novelties and damasks!

Designer Charlotte Moss is fond of Michael’s work too! She covered her Kips Bay room in it this year with fabulous success!

And from another Interior Designer Extraordinaire, Windsor Smith, comes the great geometric print collection for Kravet.

Windsor’s clean and crisp style comes through in the simplicity of her fabric designs! Though some of the color ways are a bit more muted than my typcial style, I love her line as an option for more serene settings like bedrooms or when I am looking to create more of a spa retreat.

I am using her “insignia” print in my yoga room at my new Design studio that will be complete later this year! I promise to post pics!!

Also new to the Kravet Fabric family is a collection from my Friend Barclay Butera. You all know how crazy I am about Barclay’s wing chairs. I use them as often as I can, including in my own home!

I am anxious to see more about Barclay’s Kravet fabric collection soon! You can watch a great video of Barclay’s inspiration for his line from the Kravet website. Here’s a link to the Barclay Butera Video.

And be sure to become a Fan of Kravet on Facebook where you can see Barclay’s video, another video about the Windsor Smith Collection and other interesting happenings from Kravet including an upcoming article by Yours Truly on Social Networking from a designer’s perspective!

Another company that knows both color and pattern and can executive them with extreme style is Quadrille!! Their website is a testiment to their gorgeous textiles with it’s showcase of these beautiful designer projects below!! I love the room with the red sofa by the great Carlton Varney who was mentored by Dorothy Draper.

I am a fan of all the Quadrille Collections especially their signature Quadrille line and also the China Seas collection!! They do toiles and ikats like no other!

Always one of my go-to companies, Schumacher has especially been on my radar since the launch of their Celerie Kemble collection and their new indoor-outdoor designs by fashionista Trina Turk!

I used Celerie’s “Hot House Flowers” in mineral on my own headboard. And I am head-over-heels with the Verdance color way below!

And I just covered some great Hickory Chair Wings in them for my shop! I will be sharing photos of my showroom in an upcoming post.

I have been using the Trina Turk line liberally for clients as well! And I had a blast using it for the IV party Charity Even in May.

There are so many amazing color schemes for Trina’s line, I can’t decide which ones I like best…black and yellow, bright blue and lime, red and orange.  They are all spectacular and I would expect nothing less from this fab fashion designer whose boutiques are an interior design extravaganza themselves!

But one thing that I can decide on is that I LOVE Fabrics!! Bold, dramatic, colorful, delicious Print Fabrics!

And on This Day #21 of Things I LOVE…I am inspired to create a line of my own so I better stop blogging and get to work!!