Guest Post from Amy of ABCD Designs!

First and foremost...I love you guys! The Rue team has been floored by all your kind comments, well wishes, and support for the magazine. Yesterday was a really special day for us - thank you for being part of it. Really and truly, I am honored to be part of such an inspiring community of bloggers, designers, and design enthusiasts!

As you know, Anne and I are in New York all week shooting home tours for the premiere issue of Rue. So, I've lined up some of my friends to keep us company while I'm away. In honor of being in the city that never sleeps, I've asked them to share their favorite NYC designers with us! And I'm thrilled to have Amy from ABCD Designs here with us today!

True story: The other day I received a beautiful card in the mail from a friend. It was so pretty that I had to ask, "You did this stationery?!" And it turned out, it was Amy! Of course...when you want the best, who else? So, take it away, Mrs. D (P.S. Her favorite NYC designer also happens to be mine!):

It's so great to have Crystal in NYC with us this week! I couldn't be happier that she asked me (a designer in NYC to write a post in honor of her trip to the City that never sleeps. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo (ABCD!) and I write a blog called ABCD Design.

As a topic for this post, Crystal asked me: Who is your favorite designer in NYC? I had to think on it for 0.001 seconds before Vicente Wolf came to mind! Who can't embrace the man responsible for being the first designer to "do" the all white room?

Vicente has worked as a designer in NYC for more than three decades. While he doesn't hold a degree in interior design, you'd never call him "just a decorator." Vicente's interior design work is incredibly complex. Layers and layers of texture, light, and form go into the spaces that he creates.

The palette is always neutral in tone, allowing the artwork and artifacts to stand on their own and tell a story. One of the key points in his design aesthetic is the composition that he creates with furniture. He always manages as interesting visual dialogue between pieces.

In regards to furniture placement Vicente says, "They are placed to create different balances, without being symmetrical, in a way they neutralize each other, and this produces calmness."

Using a dinner party analogy, he explains his furniture placement theory further, "How do you seat guests at a dining table? You do not put a talkative person besides a talkative person. Each one fills in the gaps. Not too much of the same thing next to each other."

Vicente is a multidimensional artist - he designs furniture, a line of crystal for Baccarat, he is a talented photographer, a collector, a theatre buff, and a world traveller. I adore his aesthetic, it truly speaks to me. I hope you take a moment to check out his website and his blog.

Crystal, thanks again for having me at Plush Palate - I can't wait to meet you in "real life" on Thursday!

xoxABCD

*images via Vicente Wolf portfolio