ELLE DECOR May 2013

Having barely survived my own recent bout of bathroom renovation, I would suggest that a more apt metaphor is warfare. As with war, much planning is required. But no matter how well you strategize, no matter how detailed your battle plan, a few things always blow up in your face. Inevitably there are unexpected skirmishes—between designer and contractor, designer and homeowner, homeowner and contractor. Invariably there are refugees (all the bedroom furniture that sits in the middle of the living room for weeks, then months). And no campaign, no matter how strategically it is worked out on paper, proceeds without at least a few breakdowns in the supply chain (where the hell is that showerhead?). Experienced hands know you may have to lose a few battles in order to win…

CYNTHIA FRANK Cynthia Frank, whose Hamptons home appears on page 192, started in magazines in the 1960s. Photographer Slim Aarons recruited her to work at Town & Country. That's her, above, styling a 1984 Aarons shoot in Florida, left. "There was a frost, and we had to glue-gun bougainvillea to the columns," she recalls. Frank has produced many ELLE DECOR stories, including Ivanka Trump's apartment and the one shared by her son James and his wife, photographer Claiborne Swanson Frank. CLIFFFONG Decorator Cliff Fong first met Ellen DeGeneres when he was 19 years old. Since then, he's helped her design 14 homes—but only a mere five or six, he says, for DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi. (Their most recent project, a ranch in Hidden Valley, California, begins on…

MAIL Your March issue is absolutely dizzying. Even some of your ad pages are visual stunners. Love it! Herman Vyncke, Dorval, Quebec I am a 17-year-old exchange student from Germany living near Wichita, Kansas. I discovered your magazine because it is so eye-catching. I'd like to work as an interior designer in the future, and ELLE DECOR has been an inspiration. Pia C. Stahmann, Eastborough, KS I look forward to receiving my copy of ELLE DECOR each month. The homes featured always have a lot of character, and no two are alike. I live in an area that's not known for good interior design, and I depend on national and international publications for inspiration. Francesca Connolly's home in your March issue ["Outside Influences"] really played to my senses. I would…

With the release of The Next Day, his first album in 10 years, David Bowie is having a moment. An exhibition at London's Victoria & Albert Museum surveys the original starman's career as fashion revolutionary, from his over-the-top stage costumes—including the glam bodysuits worn by his androgynous alien personas, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane—to his later collaboration with Alexander McQueen (www.vam.ac.uk). David Bowie Is, the show's lush catalogue, unearths rare photos and artwork from the musician's own archives (abramsbooks.com). Meanwhile, with the '70s revival in full swing, you can spy Bowie's legacy in Raf Simons's shimmering spring 2013 collection for Christian Dior (dior.com) and designer Kristine Johannes's space-age iridescent clutches (rauwolfnyc.com). what we love EIGHTY YEARS AGO, FINNISH ARCHITECT ALVAR AALTO DESIGNED A SEAT WITH THREE CURVED-WOOD LEGS. THE SIMPLE…

GILDED AGE North Carolina artisan Tommy Mitchell fashions intricate tole flowers from hand-hammered copper, brass, and steel, adding a gilt finish and painted highlights. From left, the 22" h. foxglove costs $1,100, the 7" h. lily of the valley is $600, and the 14" h. primula is $1,100. 919-732-8664; tommymitchellcompany.com 1 / TONE POEM Inspired by midcentury design, the husband and wife behind Two Tone Studios apply vivid colors to their handblown glassware. The Jewel Tone cups are 5" h. and cost $65 each; a matching pitcher, which comes with a stirrer, measures 13" h. and is $250. The pieces are available in ruby and saffron, shown, purple, gray, olive, and gold. 206-937-8237; twotonestudios.com 2 / BALANCE OF POWER Hudson Valley Lighting's Deyo lamp…

There may be no Italian designer of the 20th century more influential than Gio Ponti—and there was certainly none as prolific. He was protean, designing hotels and office towers in addition to tables, chairs, and shelving units; he was a professor and the founding editor of the pioneering design magazine Domus, even as he created elegantly whimsical ceramics and silverware that have become collector's items. So it has always been a bit difficult to grasp the full range of his work. Now, "Vivere alla Ponti," at the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, provides a starting point. The exhibition includes sketches and historic photographs, including one of a geometric wall unit for a home library, right. The show also marks Italian furniture company Molteni's launch of a new range of…