i’m always thrilled to find out any of my favorite actors or actresses are secretly design-obsessed like i am. so i was excited to see a new ‘style compass‘ column on 1st dibs yesterday about the actress rachel griffiths. you may remember her most recently as brenda on hbo’s six feet under (i still think she should have ended up with nate over that quaker chick) but as it turns out- she’s a huge modern design fan. rachel put it best when she said, “it’s so much more exciting to think about dressing a room than dressing myself.” i couldn’t agree more- especially when you look at the photos (shot by richard powers) of her beautiful home. click here to check it out.

[stay tuned for a new product guide at 12 and two new city guides at 11 and 1pm]

kristina at three layer cake traveled to venice to visit designer kiki van eijk (i have a major girl crush on kiki- she’s the coolest). the result of their meeting is a fantastic interview you can check out right here. great work, kristina!

a while ago i asked you guys for some questions to ask designer kelly wearstler. well, everything finally came together and i’ve posted her full q+a (using your questions) interview right here! it was fun to see which top design contestant she’d let design her house (hint: it wasn’t the designer who won), which decade she finds the most influential and what she has to say about her fashion choices for top design. click here to check out the full piece. thanks to everyone who contributed questions!

i really enjoyed opening up the jay jeffers podcast to reader questions so i’ve decided to expand on that notion with a series called “15 questions with…”. i’ll be inviting some of our favorite designers to take place and answers questions that you ask. once a designer is introduced the comment section will be open for you to leave questions. next week i’ll be featuring designer todd oldham. todd hardly needs an introduction so instead i’ll open the floor for questions you might have for him. he’s done just about everything when it comes to design (product design, interiors, graphic design, photography, etc.) so feel free to ask away. i’ll choose my favorite 15 questions and hand them to todd tomorrow with answers running next week. have fun!

jonathan adler was kind enough to answer a few quick questions for me (including his favorite color combos) on injecting color and personality into your home. you can read the full piece right here- as always he’s full of great quips and a few thoughts on sanjaya’s ponyhawk.

the lovely susan of art esprit just posted a great podcast with artist ashley g. she’s got a lot of fans over here so i thought some of you might be interested. you can check out some more of ashley’s work right here at susan’s gallery. i love the piece above, it’s a nice departure from her more recognizable pieces.

kristen at shakadoo was kind enough to include me in their interview series on shakinstyle. if you’re interested in reading it you can find the full piece right here. [thanks, kristen]