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Looking for | Looking for 'Top Design' Hidden in Your Home? Meet Eddie Ross Eddie Ross is a familiar face to fans of "Top Design" on Bravo. As a recent contestant, Eddie displayed his decorating and design skills through many challenges. Magazine mavens recognize Eddie's name from his stints as Senior Style Editor of Martha Stewart Living and Associate Decorating Editor at House Beautiful. Eddie is also a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. An expert at finding new life in vintage furnishings, Eddie shares ideas and shows off recent projects with Jan Jessup of Calico: |  | | | | Q: Eddie, how can consumers enrich their lives without spending a bundle, especially when it comes to home décor? A: I'm a firm believer that living well is in our hands — literally. It's about digging, sifting, wading your way through the flea market, the Goodwill — even your own attic — unearthing whatever you find, then re-imagining it in some fantastic way all your own. Scaling back on what we spend doesn't have to mean skimping on style. | | |  | | Q: I love the chairs you found at the Goodwill store to re-do! Tell me about them. A: These four 1970's chrome chairs looked so corporate in their beige fabric covers. They have good lines and I knew they could look totally different in a colorful print fabric (or two)! It's fun to play against type, when choosing fabric for a chair: something classic on a modern frame, or vice versa. And here, a vibrant floral fabric on a sleek frame. I love the idea of these chairs at a round white Saarinen table in a kitchen. | | | | | | Q: The unique pillows we made with your antique fabrics were quite a hit at a recent Calico Corners seminar. A: I bought a cool chiffon beaded dress at the Salvation Army for $5 — and cut it up to create a one-of-a-kind pillow. The Calico crew helped select a pretty lilac cotton fabric to back the sheer fabric with — and to use for welting and the back face of the pillow. It's a stunning finished pillow — and looks as if it cost $350 at a fancy store on Fifth Avenue! |  | | | | | | |  | Q: I also loved your idea of taking something meaningful but dated — a vintage dress or your mother's silk dressing gown — and making a pillow or shams out of it. A: Instead of giving it away, use that garment in a fresh way that can still have a presence in your life. At the New York City flea market, I found a colorful vintage dress, and we cut it up and made two pillows from it, using large ric rac for trim. How fun is that? I also found a gorgeous old hand-painted silk shawl — and I'm planning to have shams made from it, centering the floral motifs on the sham, backing them with new designer fabrics from Calico. | | | | | | Q: How do you know a great second-hand find in furniture when you see it? A: For upholstered chairs and sofas, you really have to lift up the skirt and check out the legs! Look beyond the worn fabric and examine the lines to discover if it's worth investing in. You can update old pieces by switching out the legs (if it's too squat), reupholstering it in a classic textured neutral fabric (for a timeless look) or adding a fun pleated skirt with a contrasting color fabric behind the kick pleats. | | | | |  | Q: One of our customers had a challenging question: What do you do with the items that someone has given you — such as that clock from your mother-in-law — that aren't really your taste and style? A: I think everyone needs to have their own prop closet! Bring things out as needed, whether because a certain someone is coming to dinner, or just for seasonal change. It's nice to change your accessories, re-do your pillows, change out a tableskirt when we move from winter to spring or vice-versa. For more tips on how to decorate and entertain beautifully and affordably, visit Eddie's website and blog at www.eddieross.com. | | | | |
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