RAIN MAN

CNN weather anchor Rob Marciano braved the eye of the storm as Hurricane Brian zoomed in on his loft

Produced, designed, written and styled by Brian Patrick Flynn with photography by Sarah Dorio

Sunny with a Chance of Heartthrob? Too weird. Doppler Gangster? Hell no. Hurricane Rob? Almost. Wow, I spent entirely way too much time naming this story. Why? Both project and client remain perched atop my list of besties. When I’d gotten word that Rob Marciano was desperately seeking design, I was quick to rise to the occasion. The painfully smart weather man threw me a decorating forecast of warm, modern and outdoors-y. And he wasn’t afraid of color [SCORE!]. But budget and timeline were tight [BUZZKILL]. Read More

HOLLYWOOD ENDING

How a collaboration between design and filmmaking dudes led to a budget-friendly Hollywood ending

Produced, designed, written and styled by Brian Patrick Flynn with live action direction by Eric DeFino and photography by Sarah Dorio

As an ambitious, Nintendo-obsessed young boy, my mother often preached “Make us proud by finding something you love to do, then get paid for doing it…just as long as it’s not appearance-based OR in show business.”. I am [a] an interior designer [b] a TV casting producer. FAIL.

Four design series, three well-decorated homes, two rescue dogs and one spread in O at Home Magazine later, Mommy Dearest snuck an amendment into her little mantra. Could this have anything to do with SonnyBoy’s access to furniture at wholesale prices, high-end rug remnants and steep media discounts? Perhaps. But I prefer to think it’s my five years treading the entertainment industry waters without a shark attack. This conclusion rings especially true since my father equates success with “how you triumph over adversity and conflict”; based on his collection of elk, hammerhead and sailfish taxidermy, the dude knows a thing or two about triumph. Regardless, by land or by sea, I’m doing TWO things which I absolutely love…and people give me money FOR doing them. WIN.

When a new production company waltzed into town seeking smoke-and-mirror magic for their creative lounge, my team made a beeline for the set faster than a fluffer to flacid talent. Although the writer/producers wanted something dramatically Hollywood, each envisioned a different use of the space. One person saw the lofty 24 x 18 as a sophisticated writer’s retreat while others saw it as a place to throw back Hennessy with hot chicks and clients. Soon thereafter, ideas and requests multiplied like Gremlins after midnight: a TV director needed graphic backdrops for shooting reality-style interviews, two laptop-clutching writers insisted on power outlets galore, sound engineers preferred the concrete floors NOT to echo, and the staff editor wished for a sofa on which to kick back and scan raw footage. For a bunch of dudes unsure of what they’d DO in the space, they surely agreed on what they’d SPEND on it—very, very little. FAIL.

As a fan of conducting business for the sake of, I dunno, MAKING MONEY, another gated community-caliber design on a community theater budget wasn’t too enticing. Suddenly, my imaginary lightbulb flickered. The Decor Demon team had been gearing up to shoot a series of web videos and, coincidentally, our prospective new clients own cameras, sound equipment, lights, cranes and editing software. Two dumpster dives, eight reupholstery jobs and five weeks later, cameras rolled on THEIR new space…and on OUR new series. WIN/WIN.

Read More

Hollywood Ending: Wallpaper 101

Hollywood Ending: Splurge vs. Save

WESTERN CIVILIZATION

Thanks to stellar design skills and great parenting, all remains civil in the teen quarters of designer Betsy Burnham’s Los Angeles home

Produced, written and directed by Brian Patrick Flynn with styling by Burnham Design and photography by Sarah Dorio

Ever since my teenage brother stabbed me in the foot with a sharpened number two pencil, I’ve [a] hated him [b] avoided teenagers [c] used a keyboard. When my tortured tween sister was dealing with Floridian mean girls, I’d intervene at the bus stop—to disastrous results. At fourteen, I attempted karate moves in my own bedroom—resulting in my foot through a wall—hours after my mom had the sheetrock redone. During my senior year of high school, my “friends” disowned me claiming I was psycho for naming my Clownfish after their girlfriends. My point…and I do have one, is that dealing with teenagers is usually a nightmare—unless you’re Los Angeles designer Betsy Burnham.

The California-by-way-of-Connecticut fashionista invited us to photograph her latest work—the bedroom suites of son, Will, and daughter, Carson, at her family’s Hancock Park Mediterranean Revival. In two shakes of a lamb’s tail, my photographer and I were perched like eager puppies waiting for treats at Burnham’s back door. Both of us huge fans of her work, we jumped at the chance to see her team in action. While Carson made an after school appearance, Will, much like his stunning mother, preferred as much distance from the lens as possible. In true Los Angeles fashion, both the family AND their breezy abode were cool, calm and collected—not to mention insanely fit [says the guy sipping a glazed Christmas ham through a straw].

Not only were the teen rooms fresh, fun and practical, but like all Betsy Burnham creations, they were layered, worldly and effortlessly chic. High-end elements such as custom draperies were counterbalanced with checkbook-savvy West Elm purchases. Splurges on beds were justified by area rugs from IKEA and accessories from flea markets. After ten hours of shooting teen-related content, talking about inverted box pleats and chasing down gourmet sandwiches with red vines, I found myself pleasantly re-living the teenage experience…this time without Clownfish named Tina and Jennifer.

Read More

BLONDE AMBITION

Decor Demon brings some much needed glamour to FOX News reporter Stacey Elgin‘s home office with a medium size budget and ambitious timeline

Produced, designed, written, styled and directed by Brian Patrick Flynn with photography by Sarah Dorio

Finally! After five years designing homes, I’ve been able to use this sentence: “My client is in Spain with Cameron Diaz learning how to drive stunt cars so we’re gonna have to push the purple ceiling installation back two days until she’s done interviewing Tom Cruise, then stops by Austria.”. These words don’t stem from being delusional or obsessed with A-Listers or Scientology but rather from the fact that my new FOX News reporter client, Stacey Elgin, has the coolest day job in the galaxy. Referred to as The Road Warrior [in reference to her live, out-in-the-field morning news show of the same name], the stunning southern belle is tasked with assignments ranging from movie premieres and press junkets to American Idol finales and the latest and greatest in fashion and fitness. The well-spoken blonde bombshell hired my team to infuse glamour into her lackluster home studio. What the hell does a news reporter need a home studio for? Well, when this Road Warrior is off the road, she runs a website hocking high-end women’s workout gear and custom jewelry. The only sucky part of the project? Getting it all done in about a week. The un-sucky part? My client’s hands-off approach and super fun taste. Her three decorating must-haves? Pink, black and mirror. This situation can best be described as a designer’s wet dream.

While the girl on TV braved 100 mph loop-dee-loops around Spanish race car tracks with Golden Globe and Oscar nominees, my team braved 100% humidity-infused drives back and forth from Home Depot with trim color candidates. Although we aimed for Bergdorf caliber high fashion, the proposed budget was more of a fit for Dress Barn. Thanks to an amazing wallpaper website, we scored a Halston-esque 1970′s pattern for the walls without breaking the bank, then the rest fell into place. We saved on storage and seating, splurged on floors, trim and custom draperies, then went Wisteria wild for our finishing touches. At the tail end of the project, I realized one minor detail. I never ran this pretty in pink concept by Stacey’s blue-and-brown-loving man’s man of a husband.

Read More

LOFT IN TRANSLATION

How an energetic, six-foot-five designer translated his love of 1960′s cinema, space travel and farmhouses into the design of his downtown loft

Produced, designed, written, styled and directed by Brian Patrick Flynn with photography by Sarah Dorio

You know that old line “if you don’t have anything nice to say, paint your stuff green and move to a farm on Mars”? Neither do I. But if that actually was a saying, my downtown loft would be the root of its existence. At only 920 square feet, the former downtown Atlanta milk factory lent itself to an “anything goes” method of decorating. While at first this was a designer’s dream situation, too many options rendered me my own worst client. Making decisions for others? A total breeze. Making decisions for myself? A total bitch.

After an unfortunate situation involving a what-was-I-thinking shade of blue and silly rod-pocket drapery panels, I opted to start over. No trends. No neutrals. No being safe. No picture frames. No mirrors. There would be no inclusion of my beloved charcoal, blue-grey or orange. It was time to be totally experimental without asking for anyone else’s opinion. Should I mix space age and farmhouse styles? Well, of course! Pair kelly green and black-brown with ultra-white and Christmas red? Sounds neat! Invite David Hicks and Andy Warhol in to finish it all off? Yup. The outcome? My most loved, hated, talked about and publicized project to date. Apparently, giving the rules of decorating the middle finger works quite well.

Read More

CURBSIDE PROPHETS

Two designers help a trashy triad of furniture shed its curbside past to inspire an economy-friendly outdoor lounge

Produced, designed, styled and written by Brian Patrick Flynn with photography by Sarah Dorio

Lately I’ve been street hustling with hardcore garbage. It’s not my fault, I’m blaming the economy. Nowadays doing the design showroom mambo with deep-pocketed, Prada-clad clients is more fantasy than nine-to-five routine. To make a buck as a decorator in 2010, you’ve gotta strap on the knee pads, prepare to suck it [up] and hope that everyone else is putting out. The trash, that is.

Dumpster dives, curbside castaways and remnant rooms are now substitutes for occupational terms such as memo runs, borrowed floor models and sample sales. Since I’m known for vintage heavy spaces, my X-ray vision for hidden potential is a great fit for hounding trash [and cleaning it up]. As 70 degree no-chance-of-rain days set in, I kicked it into high gear and hired myself to design my own freecycled, trash-to-treasure outdoor lounge with a little help from my fellow DIY-challenged spatial planner friend, Sarah. We put together a bold, budget-minded gathering space just in time for friends—and yellow layers of Atlanta pollen—to christen it.

Read More

ABOUT FACE

All the single ladies of Lisa Pearl‘s latest accessory collection are giving good face

Produced, written, directed and styled by Brian Patrick Flynn with photography by Sarah Dorio

Someday I’d love to walk into a big ass fancy mansion and empty a paintball gun laden with hot pink latex ammunition. While ultra formal, luxurious spaces are often jaw-dropping, they sometimes make me want to clock ultra-privileged, silver-spoon-fed owners over the head with their pompous $15,000 flatware. Glamour is so much more interesting when juxtaposed with something raw. ENTER Lisa Pearl.

Lisa photographs beautifully mysterious subjects, then prints their images as bold textiles with glamorous finishes. Months after our first East Coast encounter, Ms. Pearl relocated to Los Angeles to stock hotspots Fred Segal [Melrose] and Barney’s [Beverly Hills] with her latest line, Hot & Cold. Current subject? Mannequins bedecked with dramatic makeup and jewelry fit for Hollywood royalty. Lisa’s style isn’t necessarily for the faint of heart, but this girl is the driving force behind a gorgeously daring new style and I plan on joining her for the ride.

Read More

BECOMING JANE

Decor Demon designs a Jane Fonda-inspired bedroom suite for the Oscar Winner’s GCAPP charity auction

Produced, designed, written and directed by Brian Patrick Flynn with photography by Sarah Dorio

Five years into my interior design career, I’ve tackled some seriously “yeah, good luck with that” projects: fraternity house, two animal rescue spaces, three-story-high rooftop dining room with no elevator, mid-century garden shed, two non-profit children’s art studios, lounge space for teen girls, non-profit dining room for the homeless and an 8,500 square foot two-story restaurant on a shoestring budget and blink-and-you-missed-it timeline. So, of course, a room inspired by a two-time Academy Award winning Hollywood icon would be the next step, right? What the $%#@?

Jane Fonda founded GCAPP [Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention] in 1994 when the state of Georgia had the highest rate of adolescent pregnancy. This year, to raise funds for the cause, she hosted World Fitness Day, a nod to her Spandex-clad exercise videos of the 1980′s. When asked to create something relevant to the event for its live VIP auction, I jumped at the chance to whip up something over-the-top, legwarmer-centric and totally Barbarella…but didn’t. Huh? While fur-upholstered, zero-gravity, spaceship style rooms are totally awesome, high society patrons dropping thousands of dollars to take them home seem rather unlikely. Oscars and Emmys aside, the Fondalicious auction deserved its own award. Jane and her friends raised thousands of dollars for GCAPP, the winning bidder got the deal of a lifetime, my high-strung upholsterer drowned himself in free top-shelf liquor and I got to turn legwarmers into pillows.

Read More

PANTRY RAID

Lifestyle expert Annette Joseph’s impressive culinary creations from basic pantry items

Produced, written and directed by Brian Patrick Flynn with styling by Annette Joseph and photography by Sarah Dorio

Shelter magazine producer. Chef. Prop stylist. Florist. Food stylist. M.I.L.F. Writer. Decorator. Athlete. Morning show expert. Gardener. To assign Annette Joseph just one title is to set yourself up for failure. She’s that Little Miss Good-at-Everything you want to hate but can’t: student body president, track star, cheerleading captain, philanthropist and comedienne. Producing a web-based feature on her is tricky as a b&$%@. How do we choose just ONE role for such a multi-faceted design star?

My photographer and I approached our first Annette Joseph feature as though we were culinary students. Our combined cooking expertise: toasted pop tarts, water in a glass with ice and re-heated soup. We asked Annette to walk us through so-easy-a-trained-monkey-could-do-it recipes certain to have friends and taste buds smiling. To further drive home how user-friendly this all was, the gracious hostess enlisted a quartet of [gasp!] teenage boys to execute it all under her direction. The outcome? An afternoon of jar opening, cheese sprinkling, X-box playing, oven pre-heating and the best $&%@ flatbread creations in history.

Read More