After several years of development, I am officially launching the first product in my home line; a candle.

I used the highest quality ingredients to formulate a candle that is a beautiful as it is healthy. It’s made with coconut oil, so pure you could cook with it. The wick is wood, so it burns clean, no smoke, film or wick particles. The scent is a mix of rustic and sweet.

A fresh gentle natural scent, a mixture of fig and jasmine or green tea and vanilla . The vessel, a beautiful custom smoke colored glass that after the candle is used, can be re purposed in your home in the kitchen, bath or office. I hope that my candle can light up your life, the way it does mine.

LOVE ANDREA

order via my contact or online at www.puremedy.com

Design school

"authenticity in design come from creating what you truly love."

I was at a party in Malibu recently and had the chance to speak with one of my favorite designers Michael Lee.  He said, "why are your eyes watering?" I literally was buzzing with questions because I had just began remodeling the bathroom of my dreams and wanted to make sure it could be everything I hoped for.

"what do you think of waterworks Devonshire tub?" I blurted out.  I must be annoying to be him.  Groupies like me trying to snatch information about his work life while he is trying to relax at a party.  My friend’s husband is a dermatologist and everywhere they go friends ask him about rashes and weird skin issues.

Once at a funeral a friend of theirs asked if he could go into the bathroom to look at some bump on his beep beep.  I mean really? Now here i am doing the same thing with michael lee.  " do you like it?" he said. " yeah but do you?" " I’m not the one bathing in it, you are he said.  Why does it matter what I like?

At that moment I was free.  Free to be completely ok with designing spaces that I like and not worrying about what someone else would approve. So now I am halfway finished my dream bathroom and it’s everything I love.  White, marble , polished nickel, vintage mirrors, big windows.  

Stay tuned for the final pictures.

From my home to yours.

Sharing lessons I’ve learned to increase beauty and joy in our lives and the world around us.

No Label Required

When I was younger I yearned for a label that could package my passions into one perfect label.  "designer, entrpeneur, writer, mother of four , host, producer expert gardener".  

At times I have carried certain labels but none of them seem to really define me as a women.  When I look around me at some of the amazing people I know, the same is true.  Once when asked to introduce myself in  the company of some very accomplished people, I simply said, "my name is Andrea Schroder and I am a really good friend."

It was a label that was so simple, yet at the time described me best at the time.  Once I found a cute dress at a vintage store Venice beach, it had no label, but it was one of my favorite dresses for some time.  The cut was right, the fabric original, I didn’t wrinkle, looked cute with boots or flip-flops.  Versatile.  

It’s a quality we want in ourselves, our homes and our lives.  Versitilty opens the door to endless possibilities.  I don’t have to wear the same pair of shoes my whole life.  A patio can be a sun room, a stage for a little girls performance, a herb garden, and outdoor dining room.  

Why limit yourself, your space or for that matter your life.  My friend recently told me her 80 year old grandfather was going back to college to get a law degree.  That’s pretty freeing to think that life is full of growth and change. Let go of labels and open your life to growth.

Ox Andrea

Andrea Schroder Exits from Top Design

The most recent episode of Bravo’s Top Design ended with a scene that reality TV producers dream about: as the judges prepared to choose who of the remaining five contestants would be packing his or her paint samples, Andrea Schroder (pictured at right) announced that she wanted to go home.

The 36-year-old mother of four and wife to actor Ricky Schroder (talk about interiors, remember that train in the Silver Spoons living room?) missed her family and was struggling to concentrate on tasks such as designing a room for people who live the year 2108. Judge and Elle Decor editor-in-chief Margaret Russell advised her to toughen up (as judge India Hicks had done in previous challenges, reminding her that she was, after all, “a red-hot chick”), but ultimately, Andrea chose to leave, allowing Ondine Karady to squeeze her way into the final four.

We asked Schroder, now happily back on her family’s farm in the Santa Monica Mountains just outside of Los Angeles, if she had any regrets about her premature departure. “You know it was different for me doing the show because I was the only cast member that has children,” she told us. “I always have energy for design challenges, but suddenly, I felt really strongly that my family needed me.” Spookily, Schroder’s young daughter broke her arm on the day her mother returned home. “I am glad I listened to that inner voice, so she could have her Mommy with her in the hospital.”

Schroder, who owns her own real estate development and design company, describes her design approach as practical. She carefully considers the client’s lifestyle and shapes interiors that are “clean, fresh, simple, relaxing, and beautiful.” Her goal is to create welcoming, serene environments. Says Schroder, “I feel that life can be so chaotic, so our homes should be a peaceful, inviting: a sanctuary.”

As for the chaotic experience of Top Design, Schroder learned something after watching herself design competitively. “I was surprised at how confident I came across on the show,” she said. “I think over the years I have grown and blossomed more than I have realized.” With each grueling episode, however, that confidence waned. In a blog post entitled “I Did Not Make Andrea Cry,” Russell writes, “Everyone empathized that she missed her family, but being sequestered for up to six weeks was a non-negotiable part of this reality-competition deal. In truth, it was Andrea who made most of us weepy that night, and I was disappointed to see her leave.”

Silver Linings

After Some Tough Family Upheavals, Ricky Schroder and Wife Andrea, a Budding Reality TV Star, Find Happiness in a Rural Refuge Near L.A.

Mornings start early for the Schroder family. In their spacious kitchen—which is also known as the Great Day Breakfast Cafe—a menu hangs on the wall, boasting items such as Stay Full Hash Brown Pie and Little Angel Waffles. This is where Ricky and Andrea Schroder and their family of six gather each morning, and Andrea serves as head chef, making meals to order for their four kids; when there’s no time for everyone to sit down, an On the Go Smoothie is whipped up.

It’s probably not how most celebrity couples manage breakfast, but Andrea, 36, and former child star Ricky, 38, have never been a typical Hollywood pair. After 16 years of marriage, four kids, an unthinkable loss and a devastating accident, they are certain they can withstand anything. "The core of our relationship is our friendship," Andrea says of her bond with her husband (she calls him Rick). "I put this quote up on Rick’s desk, and it says, ‘A good marriage is more than finding the right person, it’s being the right person.’"

But last spring, the family griddle went cold when Andrea, who has taken design and drafting courses, was told she had been selected to appear on Top Design, the reality competition for interior designers on the Bravo network. "As a mother, you’re used to putting everyone else’s needs first. This was the first time I just had to walk away and say this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me," says Andrea. Doing the show, in which she joined 12 other designers to compete in Los Angeles (as of last week’s episode, she remained in the pack to win the show’s $100,000 prize), meant leaving home for five weeks.

Luckily, the couple’s kids, sons Holden, 16, and Luke, 15, and daughters Cambrie, 11, and Faith, 7, didn’t quite starve. "I fed them pretty good while Andrea was gone," insists Ricky, who got his own start in show business as a child actor in 1979′s The Champ and the ’80s TV series Silver Spoons. "I tried to juggle all the balls, but there’s a lot of balls to juggle. We definitely missed her."

Andrea, a Calgary native, met Ricky in 1990 while he was filming a movie in the area. They married two years later and embarked upon their first venture as husband and wife, building a house on a 55,500-acre ranch in Colorado. It ignited a passion within the couple, who began finding, fixing and flipping multimillion-dollar properties in Colorado and Arizona before settling in Los Angeles five years ago. Now the family resides on a 30-acre Topanga, Calif., farm, which includes a five-bedroom, two-story main house, four guest cabins, fruit orchards and hiking trails.

The Schroders’ seemingly idyllic home life comes on the heels of several years of family turmoil. In 1998 Ricky replaced Jimmy Smits on the hit drama NYPD Blue. Midway through his third season on the show, Andrea, then pregnant with the couple’s fourth child, miscarried in her sixth month when the placenta separated from the uterine wall. Ricky quickly left the show to be with his family. "That was a really sad time for us," he says softly. "It was so unexpected and out of the blue, and it hit us hard," Andrea agrees. "We named him Seth Michael. Seth means ‘perfect in God’s eyes.’ Even though he went when he did, it doesn’t change how important he was. We have a little granite headstone for him here on our property that says, ‘Families are forever,’ and his name is on it."

Three months later Andrea learned she was pregnant again, this time with their youngest daughter. "That’s why she’s named Faith," Andrea says of her little girl. "We had to have a lot of faith that everything would be okay this time. We were so humbled by the loss of Seth, but the by-product of pain in a family is hopefully you grow closer."

In the summer of 2007, the family’s strength was tested again. Oldest son Holden was riding a dirt bike near the family’s home when he collided with a truck. Upon impact, his helmet flew off, and he was then thrown through the air. After hitting the pavement, he slid under the truck, where his skull hit the vehicle’s axle.

Ricky and Andrea learned what had happened when Holden’s best friend phoned, sobbing. "It was the worst call," Ricky says. "It was like, your son is being airlifted." Recalls Andrea of the ride to the hospital: "Rick was inconsolable in the car. The girls were crying in the backseat." When they got to the hospital, Holden’s condition was worse than they thought. "He was bleeding out of his head and his ear," Andrea says. "He was shaking from the shock, and he was in pain. That was the worst for me, seeing my son suffering."

Despite two surgeries and nearly a year of recuperation, including wearing a helmet to help his head heal, Holden completely lost hearing in his right ear. Today, he is a happy and healthy high school junior who spends his time surfing, studying for the SATs and driving his siblings to school. "There is nothing harder that we’ve been through," says Andrea, admitting that she and Ricky are now "more nervous with our kids. You see how fragile life is."

But the couple realize too that the kids are itching to make their own mark in the world. Holden, Luke and Cambrie all want to follow in Dad’s footsteps—with his blessing.

"I’ve had a very fortunate career and I’ve loved every moment of it," Ricky says. "Regardless if they have a career or not, just to get some experience and confidence performing in front of people is a good thing."

Even if Andrea is destined for design stardom, or the kids are soon as famous as their father, things aren’t likely to change back on the ranch, where the day’s highlights include a raucous game of Scrabble. "Our goal is to raise children who are good human beings," Andrea says. "One little fight? No big deal. It’s all about the big picture."