Well I guess if you're reading this post, you already know that my blog has a whole new look!! Thanks to Jessica at the Love List who did the graphic design work, my blog layout has become more gorgeous, and it is really a celebration of the many exciting developments which have been going on at Julie Neill Designs!

For starters, we have re-designed our website, with all new studio shots of our lighting, and we've included a copy of our catalog which can be viewed online! Here, give it a try.

Although Melissa Rufty grew up in South Carolina, her fabulous style and taste embody the character of the city she's called home for many years!

Like New Orleans itself, Melissa shows a love for all that is old, traditional, and gorgeous, but, acknowledging that it's all about "the mix" she injects her sense of fearless fun, a certain sexiness and  celebration, and an eye for the  bold and unexpected into her interiors.

It is this wicked combination of fearlessness and the ability relax and enjoy the process which defines Melissa's style.

Nowhere is this more evident than Melissa's dining room. Using her grandmother's 18th century table and an over-the-top antique chandelier that was a gift from her mother as the centerpiece, Melissa revolves a mix of fabulous pieces which create a narrative that draws guests in and invites them to enjoy the party.

On one side of the room, Melissa created a huge antique mirror out of an antique architectural doorway, which she says strategically "makes you feel like you're in a restaurant with another table full of people next to you," effectively doubling the party!

And if that weren't a clever enough trick, she commissioned a painting for another wall, a  New Orleans narrative, which draws its inspiration from the famous Napoleon House. Such  archetypical characters as "the man glancing down a woman's dress",  "the drunk in the corner" and "the young deb with the gloves." populate both the painting and the room.

Layer all this on top of  Schumacher's Brigton damask wallpaper,  and an antique rug, and set the table with  an antique dessert service, and you have the sultry, easy-going elegance that is Melissa Rufty.

The living room is also defined by Melissa's deft use of family pieces such as her grandmother's armchairs which are updated with a bold ikat fabric. These comfortable chairs add  a moment of wild to the otherwise subtle room.

New Orlenians love to include architectural fragments in their homes whenever possible, and Melissa found the ornate panel and had doors milled to fit it to create the fabulous wine closet, which she calls "a little filling station off the dining room."

The breakfast room is defined by the wonderful David Knox photos of South Carolina tobacco fields and farmhouses. I love how they create a Southern sense of place and create a modern yet warm dramatic backdrop for the antique table and chairs.

The family room contains all things Melissa: a fabulous sofa upholstered in sturdy yet comfortable outdoor velvet from Perennials, an ottoman covered in an animal print, beautiful bold print pillows, local art pieces, and the quirky fabulous find-an oak leaf shaped chair which Melissa recovered in an beautiful bright fabric with custom embroidery.

Another fabulous idea, banquette seating under the stairs reinforces Melissa's emphasis on comfort and entertaining. Isn't this just the most decadent and welcoming treatment for a space like this?

Melissa found her headboard soon after graduating from Tulane at Bush Antiques on Magazine Street. As if it weren't sexy enough on its own, the undulating and sensuous curves of the Leontine Linens bedding takes it to a whole new level. Painted a gorgeous pink, it inspires the visitor to ask how her husband deals with the color. Melissa says that her mother once told her that the bedroom is for the woman, and she invites the man to join her. Who could resist a room as gorgeous and sexy as this!

More Leontine Linens in her daughters bedroom complement Melissa's corageous combination of several bold, colorful prints.

No New Orleans home is complete without a painting by Amanda Talley and Melissa's house doesn't disappoint, with pink on pink, and pattern on pattern being the idea for this inviting space in her daughters room.

Melissa's eye for details, choosing just the right piece and creating visually interesting compositions is what makes her spaces truly inviting and individual. I love the compote with fruit from Shadyside Pottery.

As you may be able to tell from her home, Melissa herself is delightful, talented, mischievous and fun. Melissa is truly a gem of the New Orleans decorative community and one to watch for future fabulousness!

See for yourself! Here is the beautiful Melissa, who was featured in the Southern Style issue of Garden and Gun.

I am currently enthralled with the fabulous art work of Susan Dory, a painter whose paintings are now being shown at Guthrie Contemporary Gallery here in New Orleans.

Although Susan lives and works in the Seattle area, she has quite an avid following in this city, thanks to the introduction of gallery owner, Leslie Guthrie. Leslie has an amazing talent for presenting artworks as installations, combining the traditional white walled presentation with vignettes formed by showing the art pieces within a context of her extensive personal collection of antique furnishings.

It is a presentation technique that really works. Who could resist falling in love with this amazing artist's paintings when shown in such a perfect setting?

Susan Dory develops her paintings by carefully pouring layer after layer of acrylic paint in colors which she formulates herself, creating a play of positive and negative shapes and of translucent colors which lay on top of each other.

Visit Susan's website to view a video of her in action.

Susan paints by  creating the repetition of  a capsule shape, which she manipulates to imply movement, dynamism, and passage through time and space. Nowhere is this more evident than her installation in the T F Green Airport in Warwick, RI.

By creating layer upon layer of poured paints, creating overlapping, manipulated, and deconstructed capsule shapes in vivid personal colors, Susan imbues her canvas with an energy which is magnetic. She celebrates abstraction as well as the physical process of creating her paintings, and the viewer cannot help but experience the dynamic tension and release which results.

While Dory's work speaks for itself, it becomes quite a presence in a wide array of interiors.

The warm, botanical colors  make this painting almost jump off the dark wall in this room designed by Elizabeth Sullivan. (image via guthriecontemporary.com)

The softer, more subtle colors play off the complex, dynamic, motion-oriented composition in The Southern Living Idea House in Covington, LA. (image via guthriecontemporary.com)

There is nothing more inviting than a simple white wall as the backdrop for a series of Susan Dory's at Guthrie Contemporary.

This kitten, one of Leslie Guthrie's menagerie seems quite content amongst the Susan Dory's in this installation.

I love the  composition formed by the shelves of books lying beneath this series of  three  paintings at the King County Public Library in Sammamish, WA. (image via susandory.com)

This vignette at Guthrie Contemporary is perfect! A gorgeous white painted french chair, a lucite side table, the wonderful   Celeste chandelier by Julie Neill , and a fabulous room full of Susan Dory paintings. (photo courtesy of Michael Terranova)

Susan Dory's energetic paintings are an amazing addition to the art scene in New Orleans, and we are lucky that Leslie Guthrie has brought her into our midst!

Guthrie Contemporary Gallery is located 3815 Magazine Street, and they can be reached by calling (504) 897-2688.

I was recently fortunate enough to have made a new blogging friend in Maryanne Flagherty, the author of the fabulous blog, Beadboard UpCountry.

Maryanne has a fabulous  award-winning shop in Brenham, Texas, which is between Houston and Austin where she has some gorgeous things including linens, pottery and glassware.

She carries beautiful linens from such great lines as Arte Pura, Papillion, Peacock Alley and French Laundry. Her specialty is in bedding and table linens in natural fabrics such as linen and cotton, and her color selection is tremendous.

I'm very in love with these luscious blankets she has from Brahams Mount.

At Beadboard Upcountry it's  easy to set a  beautiful table with such lines as Juliska and Arte Italica.

But most importantly of all, Maryanne is a very talented decorator who can help you put it all together to make a fabulous statement in your home. And this is how she and I were introduced to each other.

Maryanne has a client from Louisiana who was looking for a pair of sconces. This client had a very narrow space for some sconces and she found some on my website and told Maryanne about them and how they can be ordered in exactly the size she needed since we are a custom line.

This is how Maryanne and I found each other and now we are mutual fans. In fact, she has done a fantastic post on some of my work, including some of my latest designs.

So go over to her wonderful blog and check it out. I see much more collaboration in our future since I am in the process of designing some new beds and Maryanne has such beautiful linens to dress them with.

Thank you, Maryanne, my new blogging friend for the wonderful post!

A few months ago, my dear friend, Mary Douglas Drysdale mentioned to me that she had been asked to participate in the Richmond Symphony League's 2010 Designer House. Mary said she saw in the house a great opportunity to showcase the embodiment of Southern Style by inviting a group of designers who live and work in the South to participate with her in this project.What a wonderful idea!  Imagine my excitement when she asked me to be in that group and to design some of the lighting for the Showhouse!

I have to say that I've been in awe of Mary's many talents since the first moment I laid eyes on her work, and have followed her career ever since.

I've long admired Mary's architectural approach to composing her interiors,  her exacting attention to detail and her fearless use of color. Her outlook has been a great inspiration to me throughout my career from the earliest days.

Mary's use of balance and symmetry create interiors that are both memorable (who could ever forget opening Veranda and seeing this room for the first time?) and timeless. They are deeply rooted in the classical and simultaneously modern and fresh.

In an interview on the Doxa Home blog, Mary says she sees herself as a sculptor of interiors, and she obviously draws inspiration from the sculpture and antiquities which she uses to such great effect.

She also draws on sculptural inspiration in designing the custom furnishings which grace many of her interiors.  I have always swooned over her tabletop compositions.

Mary's ability to create, find and compose fabulous objects and art within a room are part of her unrivalled signature style.

The painted furniture, rugs and floors Mary designs inject an additional element of delight into her richly detailed spaces.

In my opinion, Mary's unswerving attention to every detail that goes into the architectural and interior design of a room is the wellspring from which her talent flows.

Mary always makes sure all her i's are dotted and her t's are crossed. There is an underlying basis of classical order which creates the resonant simple elegance which always informs her work.

In her own words:

"The difference between something you take the time to see and something you just pass by is sometimes just a fraction of an inch."

So it is with great excitement that I approach my opportunity to work with someone whose work speaks volumes on everything that is good about architecture and interior design.

Mary was recently interviewed on The Skirted Roundtable, and Tobi Fairley has been blogging about her adventures with Mary and the Richmond Showhouse.

I'm so very excited about working with these two fabulous designers as well as some of the Richmond Showhouse designers, also.

So stay tuned because I will have lots more to tell as things progress!