Redecorating

I realize times are tough. More than 20,000 jobs were lost in a single day this week. Everyone needs to cut corners & save & be constantly aware of the bottom line. I even saw ACADEMY AWARD WINNER, MIRA SORVINO shopping at the outlets with her family in PALM SPRINGS 2 weeks ago. More power to her.

But the JOHN THANE story is just obscene! You know this guy. He used to head up MERRILL LYNCH. He’s the guy who paid out 15 BILLION in bonuses to ML Execs even while profits were in a freefall & all the while waiting for a Government bailout. But more to the point, despite showing a catastrophic loss for the company, THANE was busy fiddling while Rome burned to the tune of $1.22 MILLION to redecorate his office!!!!!!!! The invoice included a $87,000 RUG, $28,000 for four pairs of curtains and….. $1,405 for a wastebasket!!!!!!! Can any family in the entire country read this without wanting to PUKE. Seriously????

Now, the really troubling thing to me is that the rug & the curtains & God Help us the waste basket, were all ordered by the designer MICHAEL SMITH, whom Thane hired for the redecoration.

Michael Smith is a very talented Los Angeles based interior designer frequently featured in the now defunct (as of today!) DOMINO Magazine. His understated style is a little too “MITCHELL GOLD-BOB WILLIAMS-CRATE & BARREL for me; but he has legions of fans. Smith’s credo is so simple, sparse, & plain that I am shocked he could even find, let alone use, a waste receptacle that costs in excess of $1,000!!! The floors of his own Los Angeles home are covered in a type of sea grass or sisal that I wonder where on earth he obtained an $87,000 rug!!!!

Another troubling aspect to this whole disgusting tale is that the FIRST FAMILY; The Barack Obamas, have HIRED Michael Smith to be their personal decorator in The White House!!!!!!! Oh, but I hear that the Obamas have him on a strict budget of $100,000!!!!!!
Sorry Michelle, it looks like YOUR wastebaskets are coming from OFFICE DEPOT if that’s your limit!

Jesus!