The ACE hotel seems tiny in comparison with the hills and sky in Palm Springs

This past weekend, I attended the kick off of Palm Springs Modernism Week.  It was the perfect event for me.  I love mid-century modern architecture and style and I love the indoor-outdoor relaxed living of the 1960s Palm Springs cocktail aesthetic.  I love clothing styles that take cues from that time period yet are completely current.

The best espresso in Palm Springs is found at the foot of these palm trees

Although the weather started out with rain, it cleared up to be a beautiful weekend.  I was happy to visit my favorite café in Palm Springs: Koffi Coffee.  Fully armed with a honey-vanilla latte, I headed into the show.

The decorative pieces were not for the timid

The Modernism Show at the Palm Springs convention center held many vintage furniture dealers, a number of vintage clothing and jewelry booths, some architecture booths, and a handful of non-profit preservation groups.  I enjoyed walking the trade show floor and checking out how the furniture vendors staged their booths.  Some were very well done and provided me with decorating ideas.

I loved these aqua chairs.

I was really thrilled to attend a lecture given by Trina Turk.  I love the Trina Turk design style which takes its inspiration from the California/Palm Springs lifestyle in the late 1960s and early 70s.  Ms. Turk gave an interesting presentation on the influence that architecture has had on her design style and brand.  I really enjoyed hearing from the designer about the development of her brand, her inspirations, and how she worked to translate that into the Trina Turk retail spaces.  Ms. Turk spoke of Kelly Wearstler, the interior designer who developed her Palm Springs and Los Angeles boutiques.

Please sign me up for the Trina Turk lifestyle. Beautiful clothes, gorgeous home textiles, and a zippy golf cart are on the menu!

I wish that Ms. Wearstler had been on the speaking agenda over the weekend.  I would have loved to have heard her speak.  She has designed some of the signature locations in the updated Palm Springs.  Do check out her website – her portfolio is stunning.  Also take a look at her blog My Vibe My Life – one of her latest posts has a sneak peak of a jewelry collection she is designing.
In addition to Modernism Week activities, also had fun shopping in Palm Springs and Palm Desert.  I browsed a number of vintage stores and saw a number of inspiring pieces – but did not take anything home.  I loved getting ideas.  And, it has given me some inspiration to take on the job of clearing out things I don’t use, in order to better see the space and borrow some of the decorating ideas I spotted.  I also stopped in a couple of my favorite stores: Trina Turk and Kate Spade New York.  I wanted to see the Trina Turk store again and look at some of the design elements about which Ms. Turk spoke.  I was impatient to see the Kate Spade boutique in Palm Desert in the El Paseo shopping district as I had enjoyed the Twitter feed from the KSNY designers who were in Palm Springs to open the store and were picking up local vintage items.

Palm Springs Modernism Week made for a fun weekend trip.  It added a punch of excitement to my own take on my interior and exterior living space and I am excited to put some thought and energy into sprucing up my home this Spring.