Legit Fear

 

I have a legitimate fear. I swear to God, I have a legitimate fear about what would I do if my ALS decided to rob me of my voice… And I couldn’t decorate my apartment. I put a lot of time and effort into this fear. Sometimes I will pass by my living room on my way to the bathroom and out of the corner of my eye I will notice if something has been moved or worse, added. There is a standing rule at my house that no one shall take the liberty of decorating, contributing, juzhing or rearranging anything in my apartment… Except me. Not a pillow, not a painting, not a coffee-table book, not a flower vase and especially not anything on my fireplaces.

Before you think in your head, “What a total bitch she is…” Let me explain: 24 hours a day I am surrounded by straight men… My husband, my male caregiver Joel, and my male caregiver Victor. I love them but these are not the people that I’m going to count on to decorate my apartment if I am unable to do so. Before you think in your head, “If she’s totally paralyzed and cannot speak why does she need to decorate her apartment?” The answer? Because I still have eyes!

When I am not watching The Kardashians, telling my daughter to mind her manners, worrying if my feeding tube is going to explode, explaining to my French husband that only girls are allowed to use the word “undies”, talking to my bestie Yolanda about her stem cell treatments, laughing with my other bestie Jenny about my husband’s 1980s modeling portfolio, teaching my caregiver how to make fucking croutons, thinking that my “deal with God” might be coming to fruition with a new treatment called Haelen 951, explaining to my sister that I would literally kill for a Chick-fil-A sandwich, and having dreams about my deceased brother eating all of the green beans and cranberry sauce before I had any at Thanksgiving… When I am not thinking about all of this, I am thinking, “Who would I trust to decorate my apartment if I were no longer able to.”

There are decorators that I completely admire… But I would worry about if I gave them 100% control. I could see myself (if I had a billion dollars) forming a decorating coalition for my apartment with Kelly Wearstler, Alex Papachristidis, Timothy Corrigan, Mary McDonnell, Martin Lawrence Bullard, Daniel Romualdez, Chahan Minassian, Jean-Louis Denoit, Gilles & Boissier, Ko Studio and Juan Pablo Molyneaux. But, if I had to choose one person to give 100% control to… On every level, in every room, with every detail without ne’er a worry would be Mark D. Sikes.

His style is exactly what I like… A little bourgeois with an air of California casual, big chunky sisal rugs, blue and white galore, ivories, Carolina Irving fabrics, dogs on sofas, Gracie wallpaper, chinoiserie, lil’ bit of leopard, Le Grand Genois Tree of Life fabric, seashells, stripes and checks, linen and flowers flowers flowers. He is also a master of vignettes, layering, scale and the flow of a room. I can tell this is the type of decorator who would lose sleep if something wasn’t just right… Like the wrong color of tulip in the dining room (this can happen!). Let’s take a look, shall we?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark D. Sikes doesn’t just stop at decorating… He has now curated his own clothing line… M.D.S. Stripes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we can’t forget his blog! Chic People, Glamorous Places, Stylish Things. Need I say more?

 

 

 

 

 

So if you ever find yourself in a situation of becoming completely paralyzed and losing your voice and wondering who the fuck is going to decorate for you… My advice is Mark D Sikes.

Who would all of you choose if you had to give free reign of your whole house with one designer? Choose wisely! Leave your choice in the comments so we can all see. :-)