Have you seen Top Design? I’m not sure I love it, but mostly because I am bitter that there are no shows like it for landscape designers (or really any good landscape design shows at all for that matter) ….it is as if TV people think that the only ‘design’ is interior design… oh well… and yes, I saw the week that they had to go to a garden center to come up with materials for a ‘room’. I felt sorry for all of them…and I was truly under impressed by most of the results – the winning design was by far the best and it was nice, but predictable…I bet they don’t repeat that challenge…sigh….
But on the bright side, the show lead me to this excellent manifesto from the company website of Jonathan Adler (one of the Top Design Judges):

We believe that your home should make you happy.

We believe that when it comes to decorating, the wife is always right. Unless the husband is gay.
We believe in carbohydrates and to hell with the puffy consequences.
We believe minimalism is a bummer.
We believe handcrafted tchotchkes are life-enhancing.
We believe tassels are the earrings of the home.
We believe in our muses: David Hicks, Alexander Girard, Bonnie Cashin. Hans Coper, Gio Ponti, Andy Warhol, Leroy Neiman, Yves Saint Laurent, and Madonna.
We believe in the innate chicness of red with brown.
We believe in being underdressed or overdressed always.
We believe in infantile, happy emblems like butterflies and hearts.
We believe celebrities should pay full price.
We believe in rustic modernism: Big Sur, A-Frame beach houses, raw beams, and geodesic dome homes.
We believe in Palm Beach style: Louis chairs, chinoiserie, Lilly Pulitzer, The Breakers circa ‘72.
We believe our designs are award winning even though they’ve never actually won any.
We believe in Aid to Artisans.
We believe dogs should be allowed in stores and restaurants.
We believe in mantiques – suits of armour, worn chesterfield sofas, heraldic tapestries.
We believe you should throw out your Blackberry and go pick some actual blackberries.
We believe colors can’t clash.
We believe in blowing your nest egg on our pots.
We believe our lamps will make you look younger and thinner.
We believe in irreverent luxury.