COMFORT & LUXURY

I START MY NEW JOB TODAY !

2010-07-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

Bright and early this Monday morning, my life will take a dramatic turn. For the first time in years, I will climb into my car and drive to work. (as opposed to walking across the hallway from my bedroom to my home office - you can read about what happened to that job here)

I'll park my car near this corner and, while waiting to cross the street, I'll check out what's new in the windows of Pottery Barn (the competition) and J Crew (where I'll try not to spend my whole paycheck).

On my way down the block, I'll pass more tempting shops and restaurants housed in fantastic, original Old Town architecture like this . . .

. . . and this . . .

. . . before turning into one of the alleys that leads to the courtyard, the heart of One Colorado.

On any given day in the courtyard, I'm likely to encounter such surprises as a 'Rainbow in the Sky' . . .

. . . or a juried show and sale of works by local emerging artists . . .

. . . or the largest free outdoor film festival in Southern California . . .

. . . or live music . . .

. . . or a giant Christmas tree!

On New Year's Day, if I were to stand on this corner, just steps away from my new place of business . . .

. . . I would see this in person instead of on tv.

Back in the courtyard now, have you guessed yet where I'm headed to work? That's right! It's my first day at Crate and Barrel's Pasadena store. Under one of those black awnings is the door that will take me. . .

. . . through the housewares department . . .

. . . and up those stairs . . .

. . . to the furniture floor where I will be surrounded by and selling such beauties as this . . .

. . . and these . . .

. . . and these.

After four weeks of training, by mid-August I'll be on my own, working to help Crate and Barrel customers beautify, energize, design and create that place that's most important to all of us - home.

Wrapping up my old job and preparing to start this new one are what's kept me from posting (and commenting) as much as I'd like to lately and I imagine this adventure might keep me away from the blogs altogether for a while. At least until I get used to my schedule and figure out if blogging still fits into it. I have a couple of half-written posts about a recent "field trip" that I hope to get up soon and, at some point, I'll update you on how the job's shaping up. In the meantime, have a great week and wish me luck!

Oh, and if you find yourself shopping in Old Town—great shopping by the way, if you're unfamiliar with the area—please stop in and say hello!

Artist in Residence

2010-07-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

Late one recent evening, my husband and I arrived home from a party to find an artist busily at work in our kitchen. Painting this as a gift for a friend:

She had been inspired by this vintage motto print I keep on a bookshelf:

She believed both the sentiment and the peacock motif would please her friend. Unable to get her hands on another—it's dated '1923' for heaven's sake—she set out to paint her own version. In a slightly different, more youthful colorway. A bit larger than the original too so that it would fit into the thrifted frame she intended to use. It has just the right amounts of age and patina.

I think her friend is one lucky birthday girl, don't you?

At the same time and place she found the gold frame for her friend, she also found this carved wood one for herself. In which to showcase a favorite greeting card.

Talented, smart and industrious. Creative, thoughtful and thrifty. Respectful of the old yet intrigued by the new. Beautiful too, as you can see in the self-portrait she drew for me, below. That's my girl. The artist.

[click to enlarge, if you like]

Oh, and that gorgeous frame I propped in front of her drawing? She thrifted that too. Add 'good eye' and 'excellent taste' to the above list.

New Art Arrangement Over My Sofa

2010-07-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

This vintage print has hung over my living room sofa for about a year now. I found it in an antiques and collectibles co-op in Bakersfield, CA that occupies an old Woolworth's department store—a great place worth visiting if you ever find yourself in that neck of the woods. You can spend hours shopping for treasures on multiple floors then replenish your energy with a burger and a milkshake at the original luncheonette counter!

I actually passed on the print when I first spotted it because I already had so much set aside to buy. But it was one of those things I thought about for the next few days after I got back home. That's happened to you too, right? So, knowing my mom would be in the area again within the week, I asked her to pick it up for me—fingers crossed that it would still be there. Happily, it was and it's lived somewhere in my living room ever since. I really, really love it—the colors, the subject matter, that great frame— but at 34"x24" I've always known it was too small to hang over the sofa by itself. Because I wanted it there anyway, I hung two creamy decorative plates one above the other to the right of the print to create an arrangement with more weight. It looked forced and just not right. What to do? Ignore it of course! Until one day last week when I couldn't stand it any longer and decided to dig through my inspiration files.

A gallery or salon style arrangement is what I really wanted. Something along the lines of the one above from southernliving.com or the one below from gaitaninteriors.com. See how much space they fill over these sofas? Linda Crisolo, Marketing Director of Art.com says we should "make sure artwork is at least two-thirds the size of the sofa. For example, a 9-foot-long sofa should have a 6-foot-wide expanse of art above it." My 34" wide print was barely filling one third of my almost eight-foot wide sectional.

When it comes to salon style art, I am drawn to a looser arrangement of prints like those seen above. You may prefer a tighter, more controlled arrangement like the one below I found on Martha Stewart's website. I do have one small bone to pick with Martha, however, and I'll turn again to Linda Crisolo of Art.com to explain what that is: "People have a tendency to hang art too high," says Linda "The center of the image should be at eye level. In living rooms, people are usually sitting, so artwork should be lower. A good way to ensure you're placing artwork at the right height is to hang it one hand width above the sofa". Sorry, Martha. There are too many hands between your sofa and your art. It certainly is expertly aligned though.

Speaking of alignment, here's a look I love, from Traditional Home magazine, that is absolutely wrong for my room. Black and white photos of trees hung on a tight grid fill the space over this sofa—side to side as well as from just above the sofa to very near the ceiling; fifteen individual pieces reading as one large work of art. Beautiful, quiet symmetry. Inspiration photos can sometimes show you what won't work in your space as much as what might and, as I mentioned, I like things a little more mixed-up and colorful than this.

Now, here's some great color! Gorgeous panels that, again, completely fill the available space, below. Love the furniture, love the tablescape, LOVE the art and color story, but there's still something here that's not quite "me". Maybe "me" in a different kind of house, but not in this cottagey little ranch-ette I'm living in.

Aha! Now this one, below, is definitely me! This page torn from one of last year's Better Homes and Gardens speaks to me, first, because I am a complete sucker for striped walls (never mind that there is not one striped wall in my home) and, second, because I love the mix of vintage-looking art and colors and the variety of frame shapes and sizes. I also like the use of dimensional objects such as the plates and vase. But I already have a wall-mounted lamp on my wall so I'll reject the idea of dimensional art while I embrace the use of multiple colors, a vintage feel and subjects found in nature.

Inspiration image in mind, I poked around in closets and under beds for art to buddy-up with my favorite print from Woolworth's. Here's what I came up with:

The lighting is a little dim in this room even on the brightest day, and lately we've been having a lot of gloomy ones, so please bear with my amateur skills. Natural light photos without the lamps lit gave me the best results. And besides, my million-year-old sofa would rather be captured in low light and fuzzy focus anyway, thankyouverymuch. Looks good from back here, doesn't she? Especially with all her pretty mixed-up pillows acting as distractions.

I found a nice mix of frames to complement my centerpiece: a green one, a black one, a little gold one and two distressed white ones. The subjects too complement the central landscape: one vintage botanical greeting card, a floral watercolor, two bird prints and one seaside painting on a postcard. The mix of colors and styles feels just right.

I purposefully placed the arrangement slightly off-center above the sofa and closer to the table lamp than to the wall lamp because I didn't want the wall fixture to appear as part of the group. Placed this way, the grouping also hangs more toward the center of the room which is most pleasing when this wall is viewed from adjacent rooms. Long explanation shortened: it just looks better that way!

See that light fixture on the wall up there? That's my solution to lighting over the corner of the sectional. I didn't want to place a table or a floor lamp behind/beside the sofa, so we mounted an old yard sale find on the wall. Its twin lives on the same wall at the other end of the room. Lit at the same time, they help fill the room with light when we have a crowd. This one lit by itself provides just the right light for reading (and blogging) when I'm tucked up into the corner of the sofa.

Gallery and salon style arrangements are not new to my house. I've always enjoyed massing art and objects together—sometimes a little too much. Sometimes to the point that I tire right away of the visual "clutter" and have to take everything down and start over. More than once on the same day I put it all up! This wall though seems quieter to me than other arrangements I've put together. That it's been up for almost a week and not one thing about it "bothers" me when I pass through this room tells me that it might be here to stay a while. At least I hope so. I have too many other unfinished projects to attend to. . .

The Softer Side of Outdoor Decor

2010-06-28T01:50:00.000-07:00

"Mom. Look at this picture."

"Oh! Look how cute you all are! Where is this? Santa Cruz?"

"Yeah. We were walking down to the beach."

"You have such a beautiful smile. I wish you'd stand up straight though."

"Mom. Stop it. Didn't you notice the tree?"

"What? Oh! Why is that there?"

"Somebody just did it. Isn't it cool? It's called 'urban knitting'. Here, look at these..."

"Wow. That's, um, very interesting. They do that without permission? Like tagging? I guess it's better than spray-painted graffitti. Will it hurt the trees?"

"Oh my god, Mom. No, I don't think so. It's just supposed to be pretty."

"Well, it is that. Where did you find these?"

"Here. And here."

"Can I blog this? Can I use your picture?"

"Sure."

Crazy Daze of Summer

2010-06-24T23:20:00.000-07:00

Chaos still reigns at my house, this first week of summer being perhaps the busiest since it all began. I am working crazy long hours at a job that is ending. Ironic, no? College Girl is still here and has extended her stay by as many weeks as it takes for her future roommates to find them all a decent place to live. We've had a house guest. I've been on two job interviews. Met with a client to consult on her kitchen/family room remodel. Had lunch with a friend I hadn't seen in ages. And there's still one more day to go! And one too many cats in my house. I'm pretty sure he's on my dining room table as I type this. He'll head up the coast when College Girl goes. Her I'll miss; him, not so much. If it weren't for my husband keeping us fed and the kitchen clean, things would be much, much worse.

So it was with great delight and a long sigh of relief that I happened upon these photos of a beach house that took me away for a much-needed imagination vacation..... My faux-cation begins with a stretch and a yawn as I wake in this quietly serene bedroom. A bit of vintage makes me feel right at home.

I toddle out through the dining room in my jammies and bare feet—the better to fully enjoy that cool blue floor—

and into the kitchen to pour myself a giant cup of whatever the staff has prepared for me today. Vanilla latte and carrot spice muffins? It must be Thursday.
I take my breakfast into the sun-filled living room. Love that glossy ceiling and the way it bounces the morning light all around. Makes reading my requisite trashy novels so much easier.
My plans for the day include alternating walks on the beach with naps on this lovely private patio. While I have no intentions to play chess—a vacation is for resting my brain, not hurting it— I'll be quite happy to simply contemplate this unique "board". The quiet colors and lush greenery have such a calming effect on me that zzzzzzzzzzz

Sorry, I dozed off! Excuse me while I duck into the bath to splash some cool water on my tanned, relaxed face. I'll only be a few minutes and then we can stroll into town for drinks and dinner. Thanks so much for driving out to join me!

When we return to the cottage and it's time to tuck in for the night, I'm sure you'll enjoy the cozy guest room. Don't you love those twin headboards? I myself am inspired to bring this idea to College Girl's room re-do. After she leaves of course. No bad cats allowed on those beautiful beds.

As much as I love my home full of color and pattern, a house full of white and quiet looks like heaven to me right now. Unfortunately, this is not a beach rental but the Fire Island getaway of one Alex Bates, creative director at West Elm. As seen in the June issue of Country Living magazine. And in my dream vacation dreams.

Pretty Things from the Sea

2010-06-22T01:29:00.000-07:00

I spied these unique, sea-inspired accessories in a catalog that I had never seen before and was intrigued enough to share them with you.

What do you think? Sea anything you like?

atwestend.com

Summer-Fresh Fish Shacks

2010-06-18T01:57:00.000-07:00

Last year, on the Friday before Father's Day, I wrote this post about my husband's Father's Day tradition: he treats himself and his dad to a big ol' pile of the fresh New England seafoods they love—as good Massachusetts boys do—and miss so much now that they are both left coasters. This pic is from that post about a favorite comfort food:

[SWAN RIVER FISH MARKET, DENNISPORT, MA]

Because it's "clams on a plane" time again—they may well be flying over the middle of America right now actually—I thought I might write another post featuring the charming seafood shacks that dot the east coast. Luckily, someone else had the same idea way ahead of me. Only, instead of writing about such establishments on a little bitty blog that hardly anyone reads, smart seafood lover Elizabeth Bougerol went and published an entire book that everyone can read, keep on their bookshelves and carry along when they travel (that's what I plan to do anyway).

[CLICK THE PIC TO SEE MORE IMAGES FROM THE BOOK]

Now, I am not a fan of the clam or the lobster, but I do love a basket of fresh fish and chips. And, I swear, the best fish and chips I have ever eaten were at Moby Dick's.

[MOBY DICK'S, WELLFLEET, MA]

One day, I'll go back and prove to myself that I am correct about their crispy, battered fish being the very best ever and that I didn't just imagine it because we were having such a great time stuffing ourselves with all the seafood we could find on that particular trip. To be certain that I'm right, I think I should visit all of these other places in the book and sample their fish and chips too. In the name of scientific research, of course.

[LOBSTER POT, PROVINCETOWN, MA]

[WESTFAIR FISH & CHIPS, WESTPORT, CT]

[LENA'S SEAFOOD, SALISBURY, MA]

[CAP'T CASS ROCK HARBOR SEAFOOD, ORLEANS, MA]

[CINDY'S, FREEPORT, ME]

[CLAM CASTLE, MADISON, CT]

[THE PLACE, GUILFORD, CT]

[ROY MOORE LOBSTER, ROCKPORT, MA]

Summer is upon us. Time to get out for some fresh air and even fresher seafood. Have a lovely weekend and say Happy Father's Day to your dad for me! Mine was just here and is on his way back to New Mexico tonight. No fish shacks there, though I'm sure he wishes there were.

How the Navy Introduced Me to Designer Lee Ann Thornton

2010-06-14T01:23:00.000-07:00

While researching my last post, looking for images of Navy chairs, I discovered this kitchen nook designed by Greenwich Connecticut-based designer Lee Ann Thornton.

I also discovered that I love her aesthetic and affinity for mixing patterns, textures and styles. Check out the disparate pairings in this small corner alone: distressed table surrounded by mid-century chairs and a vintage-inspired bench dressed with a tailored, contrast piping cushion topped by crisp pillows in contemporary patterns and colors. Add one gorgeous pendant light, a modern botanical and the warm textures of a woven blind and wood flooring and yes, please, I'll move in right now.

And—what luck!—look at the kitchen that comes with the nook. The perfect mix of vintage and contemporary (pressed ceiling + modern stools), cool and warm (fresh green walls + deep brown floors), clean lines and textural details (crisp white cabinets and expanses of marble + woven blinds and baskets). And is that a mud room I spy through the door? If there is also a walk-in pantry somewhere nearby (there has to be, right?), then this is most definitely my idea of kitchen heaven.

More of the same heavenly mix in this seating area. Can you find all of the elements I've already mentioned in this single shot? They're all there.

In fact, it seems that every one of Lee Ann Thornton's designs incorporates the same elements even when the look is decidedly different. Here, a living room in soft blues, neutrals and bits of the sea and chinoiserie.

Another living space in periwinkle and white with hits of chocolate, a tropical touch of seagrass and bamboo, and an unexpected zebra or three.

And here, the boldest, brightest pattern-mixing-est room of them all: a casual family space in summery, sea-worthy blues and whites.

To see a bit more (honestly, I've stolen—um, borrowed—more of her images than I probably should have), visit Thornton Designs here. There is also a lovely interview with the designer here. I am so impressed with and inspired by the designs of Lee Ann Thornton... and so happy that the Navy sent me her way.

The New Navy

2010-06-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

In 1944, the Electric Machinery and Equipment Company (Emeco) and the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) collaborated with US Navy engineers to design a seaworthy chair for military use.

The resulting 1006 chair—pronounced "ten oh six"— became a staple on Navy destroyers and submarines. Its seamless construction of corrosion-resistant, lightweight aluminum made it uniquely durable, easily portable and virtually maintenance-free.

The originals were produced in Emeco’s Hanover, PA workshops and they are still made there today—offspring of the perfect marriage between American ingenuity and craftsmanship.

The sturdy little chairs soon found themselves on land as well as at sea. First, they moved onto military bases and then into civilian offices.Over the years, as Navy chairs were retired from military use, they began to appear in surplus and resale stores and flea markets across the country.
Perhaps they were, at first, an inexpensive alternative to chairs found in traditional furniture stores, or a way to get a deliberately funky look, but their timeless charm won out. 1006 and similar Navy-inspired chairs can now be seen in even the most stylish, upscale homes.

Their clean lines and casual style allow them to fit into country, modern, eclectic and contemporary spaces. They are most often seen in kitchens and dining areas where their durability and ease of maintenance make them an excellent choice for busy families.

Occasionally, you will spot a 1006—or a few dozen—out in public. The chairs above were photographed in Louisville, KY at a fancy flagship KFC. Below, you see a testament to their ability to span styles and cultures: American-designed and manufactured Navy chairs in a Vietnamese restaurant in London.

If you can't find the real thing, like this vintage 1006 I found on The City Sage blog,

affordable alternatives are out there. Target sells their Cafe Aluminum Side Chairs in pairs for $246.99.

At Stack Chair Depot, the Oceanic Side Chair is only $95.00. Counter- and bar-height stools are also available at $115 and $125 respectively. While the styling of these two versions are similar to the original, I wouldn't expect their construction to be of the same quality. Proceed with "buyer beware" caution.

A faithful reproduction of the original, the Emeco Navy Chair with wood seats in two finishes can be found at allmodern.com.

For hard-core design aficionados who want only the best and most authentic, Design Within Reach offers the Emeco Classic reinvented by Phillipe Starck (top of this post). The 1006 Navy Side Chair is the real deal, made to the same exacting standards as the originals.

Featured in the current DWR catalog is the newest member of the Navy Chair family which made its debut only a few weeks ago.

The 111 Navy Chair is made from recycled plastic coke bottles—111 of them—and is available in six fun colors. A collaboration between Emeco and Coca-Cola, this little chair, if sales progress as DWR believes they will, is expected to keep three million plastic Coke bottles out of landfills each year.

What brought on my sudden interest in Navy chairs? Well, I've always been aware of them, but when I received the new DWR catalog, I was really taken with what a great idea the 111 chair is. To the point that I walked around my house trying to picture one somewhere (the jury's still out on that decision). And then, on Saturday, I saw South Pacific on stage at The Ahmanson. Navy guys and gals dancing and singing up a tropical storm - if this current tour comes to a theater near you, go! - and whenever the set changed to The Island Commander's Office, there they were: aluminum Navy chairs at each desk. Ok, so I'm aware that this tiny detail may have totally escaped most people and really has nothing at all to do with the greatness that is this show, but it appears that I simply had Navy chairs on the brain. Or maybe it was one of those moments when, instead of watching the characters in a play or a movie, I'm busy studying the wallpaper behind them. Don't judge me, I can't help myself.

Click on the image above and you'll be treated to musical highlights, interesting commentary, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of a Navy chair on stage plus, for all you Gleeks out there, glimpses of a sometimes shirtless Matthew Morrison/Mr. Schuester who starred as Lieutenant Cable in the 2008 Lincoln Center production of the show. You're welcome!

May Flowers, Green Weekend

2010-05-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

The delicate, sweetly-fragranced lily of the valley is the traditional birthday flower for those of us born in the month of May. Its botanical name, majalis, even means "that which belongs to May". A symbol of spring and rebirth, bunches of these tiny flowers are sold in the streets of France on May Day (May 1st). In the language of flowers used by florists and wedding planners, common meanings for this lily include "return to happiness", "purity of heart", "sweetness" and "you've made my life complete". I have a card hanging in my office that my husband gave me years ago. On the cover is a beautiful bouquet of lilies of the valley. I think he was telling me—however unwittingly—that I make his life complete! (Right, Honey?)

The legend of the lily of the valley's origins is that it sprang from Eve's tears when she was sent out of the Garden of Eden. It is in some places believed that this flower protects gardens from evil spirits, and in Ireland, the plant is known as "fairy ladders" because of the way the bell-shaped flowers hang down from the stem like stair steps. I also think the flowers would make excellent fairy hats. This particular lily is a woodland plant native throughout the cool temperature regions of the Northern Hemisphere in Asia, Europe and the Eastern US. They would never survive here in the arid foothills of Southern California. I wouldn't be surprised though if some intrepid botanist has designed a hybrid I don't know about. If so, even I could have my very own fairy garden. Do you have these little pretties in your garden?

While writing this post, the white flowers and green foliage in the pics above reminded me of the following scenes from the latest Design Within Reach catalog. . .

. . .white lawn chairs on cool green grass, dockside Adirondacks, crisp green upholstery on a patio overlooking the ocean, grassy green tableware under a wide white umbrella. . . all images of terrific ways to spend any part of this long holiday weekend—a "return to happiness" for those who've waited patiently for summer to officially begin.

Happy Birthday to all of you May babies out there!

And Happy Weekend to us all!!

This post marks the last in my "flower of the month" series—which means I've been writing this blog for an entire year now! They've been fun for me and I hope you've enjoyed them too. To review the entire year in flowers, click here.

This Woman's Day

2010-05-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

I wish I was having this woman's day. Warmed by the sun, cooled by the ocean breeze. Deeply engrossed in a compelling story. Free to put the book down and simply sit and watch the sailboats dance by. Secure in the knowledge that my ample thighs have been given a makeover of such artful, glowing brushstrokes that I am beautiful to behold. These thoughts confirmed by my companion as he returns from the cabana bar with tall drinks for two and a wink just for me.

I wish I was having this woman's day. While strolling down this lakeside path, having all the time I could possibly need to enjoy the beauty all around me, I decide to take a nap on the cool, lush grass. Wouldn't you? I shade my porcelain skin with my parasol and listen to the leaves rustle, the birds sing. I think deep thoughts like "hey, that cloud looks like an adorable baby bunny" until I drift off to sleep the sleep of a carefree child. Blissfully unaware that there is anything wrong in my world.

I wish I was having this woman's day. Or, perhaps, the day she has already had. For hours, she busied herself with creative pursuits and was satisfyingly rewarded for her efforts. Now, it is evening and she is simply waiting. For her love. For her children. For whomever it is that pleases her most to come into her beautiful room and share with her the stories of their own productive day. With nothing pressing weighing on her mind, she will give them her full attention and thoroughly enjoy their company.

Instead, I am having this woman's day. A very long string of them actually. Fragmented. Disjointed. Pulled in several directions, not sure which way to turn first. Trying to get too many unpleasant things done from a very uncomfortable chair. I really wish I had paid more attention to my hair and wardrobe just in case someone sees me here, shoulder-deep in paperwork and unexpected complications. It wouldn't have made any difference though because, look, someone has made me wear a hat. I hate hats.

Lots going on right now, Friends. Some of it pleasant and welcome, much of it disconcerting and chaotic. Daughter is home for a few months til she heads up north to a new college, a household's-worth of stuff and one naughty cat in tow. New projects in various stages of incomplete, both for our own home and a client's. The middle of a project—the part where everything's undone and messy—always makes me feel unsettled. And yet, I have no time to finish what I've started in my own house because of client work (good) and changes in my "day job" (not so good). The day job is more demanding than usual right now because the contract I've worked under for fifteen years has come to an end. Much longer work hours are required from me each week until all accounts have been audited and closed. How long will that take? 30 days? Sixty? More? And then what? Tracy needs a new job, that's what. I'd love to leave the world of claims and codes and insurance companies behind and move forward into something creative again. That's been the plan all along—work at home til daughter grows up and out then find a home and design related job that allows for part-time decorating work. Great plan, bad timing. Our current economy might make this process more difficult than I imagined but still, I'm looking forward to seeing what's out there for me. Stepping into the unknown is scary for sure, but exhilarating at the same time, right? That's what I keep telling myself anyway—"This is so exciting, isn't it?!"—a big hopeful grin masking my inner terror.

To my readers who are bloggers, if I've been absent from your comments box recently, this is why. I've been visiting you, but my brain is simply too overloaded to form thoughtful, witty remarks. To everyone reading, at the risk of seeming selfish, I'd like to instead ask for your comments. Thoughts. Advice. Direction. Help! Where, in Southern California, on the eastern edge of LA County, can a 40-something woman with loads of professionalism, design acumen and an obsession with furnishings, fabrics and finishing touches earn a regular paycheck helping people turn their houses into homes during a shaky-but-slowly-recovering economy? Any suggestions? All are welcome.

Three lovely ladies by Marie Fox, Edward Cucuel, John Maler Collier, and one amazingly accurate portrait of me by Pablo Picassso.

Books and Chairs : Two Great Things that Look Great Together

2010-05-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

Chairs. Love them.

Books. Can't live without them.

Put the two together in a beautifully styled photograph in your glossy book or magazine and you'll stop me in my tracks.

I know. It's weird that I should have such an affinity for these images that I've torn more than a few from magazines and saved so many others to my photo files. I've also made note of several artists, kindred spirits perhaps, who have actually taken the time to paint books on chairs.

Vincent Van Gogh painted his friend Paul Gauguin's chair in 1888 while they stayed together in the yellow house in Arles.

Contemporary artist Maira Kalman painted a chair with books in her uniquely charming fashion. Perhaps this one is in her own book. I would love to get my hands on a copy and find out for sure.

WordWeaverArt, an etsy artist, titled this work "Comfort" because it recalls the feeling aroused by the image on a cherished greeting card. Comfort. I imagine that's exactly what books and chairs are all about for me too.

My freakish obsession led to my own photographic efforts...

What do you think?

Should I see someone about this?

Chair photos culled from unrecorded magazine sources except for the white chair draped in pretty scarves and equally pretty pink phone. That one I found on Flickr, here.

Other Ways to Decorate with Books

2010-05-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

In my last post about backing your bookcase, you saw books in their natural environment. Lined up, stacked, contained and confined. That doesn't sound so great though, does it? If you love your books as much as I love mine, spread some of them around. Let them have some fun! These books, above and below, get to welcome your guests and roll around on a tea cart.

[Better Homes & Gardens]

These get to stack up with a bunch of their buddies on a pretty purple table. Notice how some are acting as risers to show off accessories and lend dimension to the tabletop display. Books, like dogs, are happiest when they have a job to do.

[Elle Decor]

Here, a few carefully-coordinated volumes support a beautiful arrangement of flowers so that it's not overshadowed by the drama of the shell-framed mirror.

[Lynn Von Kersting via BH&G]

Also in an important supporting role, the books on the left-hand bedside table lift the lamp to the same height as the one to the right. Think about this next time you use mismatched tables—or mismatched lamps—beside your bed or sofa. Keep your lampshades lined up. Books love to help.

[Southern Living]

When you've run out of conventional storage space, as Joni did, pile your books on a table, stack them in baskets, add a collection of objects and your overflow becomes artful arrangement. No one needs to know that you've simply bought way too many books!

[Cote de Texas]

A single, beautiful book becomes art itself. Albertus Seba's Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, below, has been the center of attention on countless coffee tables. No doubt the other books are jealous, but some are just born to be stars.

[Kendall Wilkinson via OKL]

Other books enjoy being members of the ensemble. In this display, below, colorful books arranged facing forward on ledges take the place of artwork above the sofa.

[Pottery Barn]

High above the sofa—and everything else!—these brave books line up on shelves built over the windows just for them. How will they ever get down? Your guess is as good as mine.

[Apartment Therapy]

At the opposite end of the wall, way down at kid level, the books below are displayed on an old-fashioned plate rack, making them easy for little hands to grab at story time. Plus, their attractive covers make great art in your child's room.

[Martha Stewart Living]

All the way down on the floor now, a graduated stack of books becomes a table. This is the perfect job for those over-sized volumes that don't easily fit into bookcases. A tip: don't put much on top of that stack in the way of accessories. It's not the most stable surface after all. Do leave room for your cup of tea and a small plate so you can have a snack while curled up in the adjacent chair. Reading, of course, yet another book.

[Real Simple]

The ultimate in "books as decor"—a dedicated library. This one was created from an under-used dining room. A terrific idea, I think. On most days this room serves as reading, research and storage space. Then, imagine how cozy it would be to dine by candlelight among the textures and colors and countless stories contained within your collection of books.

[Cottage Living]

If you're interested in learning more about decorating with books, here's a book named just that. I don't have this one myself, surprising considering how much I love both decorating and books. I have peeked into it at the bookstore, however, and it probably will come home with me sometime soon. Because you really can never have too many books. Even books about books.

Behind Your Books Looks

2010-05-12T01:50:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working with a client whose built-in, family room bookcases need a makeover. Her exisiting situation is something like the pic you see above. Warm golden wood, closed cabinets on the bottom, open shelves up top. She wishes to play down the large expanse of wood—the floor-to-ceiling bookcases fill more than 20 linear feet of wall space, wrapping from one wall around the corner and onto another. One of the options I suggested is to add color or pattern in the form of paint, fabric or paper to the backs of the cases.

As I began collecting images, I found most examples of this treatment used on white or painted cabinets, far fewer on stained wood cases. Still, there seems to be an endless array of choices, for both contemporary and traditional spaces. From every color of the rainbow in paint...

...including chalkboard paint behind shelves in a kitchen...

...to fabrics and papers ranging from subtle and softspoken...

...to bold and bright.

Some were clad in multiple fabric and paper patterns...

...while others used textural materials like beadboard...

...and brick. I can't say for sure, but what we see here could be that brick-patterned wall paneling that was so popular (but not so attractive) in the 60's and 70's. I think this application is very good-looking, however the designer pulled it off.

Not one of these looks exactly fits the needs of my client, but, as it turns out, we've shifted our thoughts anyway—from simply adding a decorative backing to completely painting the bookcases a color that coordinates with the room's new wall color. A "camouflage" effect if you will.

Have you tried—or would you try—a behind-the-books treatment like this?

Which of these looks is your favorite?

• • •

For a super-sensible tutorial on adding painted panels to the backs of your boodcases, click here. The same technique easily translates to fabric- or paper-wrapped panels too.

Stop That Jumping and Get to Work !

2010-05-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

Hope you moms out there enjoyed your day yesterday, because all too soon it's back to business as usual. Today is

Clean Up Your Room Day!

Those naughty kids of yours should be making their beds, not jumping on them. Channel that energy into spring cleaning! Martha's here to help too. Click on her pic to get the Spring Cleaning Checklist from her Homekeeping Handbook. She'll help you turn your little ones into junior cleaning machines.

Click on the photo below and the folks at Real Simple will help you get your cleaning done faster. Make it a game!

Seriously... "clean up your room day"? Who came up with that one? Not surprisingly, its origins are a mystery. Would you admit to creating a "special" day to "celebrate" mopping floors and folding laundry? No, me neither. But housekeeping is necessary and important work so you may as well do it right. Teach your kids to do it right too and you just might get to relax on more than your one designated day a year.

Top photo by Jean Allsop for Coastal Living

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

to my mom, to your mom,

to you and to me.

I know you have seen this painting in a variety of forms, probably hundreds of times. Reproduced not only as a print, but on mugs and postcards and magnets. It is one of those images that is so ubiquitous it runs the risk of being looked upon as trite or cliché. To see it in person though, as I have recently, is to have an entirely different experience with it. To see it in person is to understand why it would become one of our most enduring images of mother and child. It is gorgeous and glowing, simple yet profound; quietly speaking volumes about a perfect moment in an ordinary day. I wish you all such an ordinary moment on this perfectly beautiful spring day.

"Breakfast in Bed", 1897, by Mary Cassatt is on permanent display in the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries at The Huntington Library.

Another Layered Art Idea

2010-05-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

While writing my last post, I searched high and low for other examples of layered framed art so that I could better illustrate the concept for you. Interestingly, the only images I found were these few, all from the same source. First, the one you see above, is from a Pottery Barn catalog. The frames are hung using wires or string, but neither the pic nor the catalog description are clear about what they're hung from. Could be a rod or a picture moulding high on the wall. I like that the casual looseness of the arrangement is brought back together by the use of similar black and white subjects all identically framed.

Next, this salon-style installation in a mix of Pottery Barn frames lit by one of their rail lights. As casual as the first image was, this one is made even more so by the variety of frame styles and their contents. See the curiously "popped out" numbers 5 and 9 in the middle? They led to the discovery of a nifty new-to-me gizmo, also from, well, you know where. Called a "frame riser", it allows you to layer photos, art and mirrors over each other without them having to touch or attach to each other. And, surprisingly, it holds up to 25 lbs, so you can layer pretty much whatever you want...

...and create your own free-form scrapbook wall of memories and inspiration. This image is also from our friends at PB and I find it quite charming; especially for a family room or home office. Follow their lead if you wish, but, please, use your own uniquely special mementos, not the store-bought kind.

Creative Art Idea from the Show House

2010-05-04T09:09:00.000-07:00

In this post, the last one about the Pasadena Showcase House (I promise!), I attempt to illustrate a creative DIY art idea I saw on my recent tour...

STEP ONE: Get your hands on a great big oil painting. Three feet wide, at least. This may require a visit to your local flea or antique market. This project works best with a landscape or cityscape, something with a lot going on and multiple small subjects rather than one central subject. Lots of lumpy bumpy paint texture is good too.

STEP TWO: Gather a bunch of random-sized picture frames. 8x10's to 16x20's and anything in between. A variety of sizes and frame styles is most ideal. If you're crafty enough, feel free to cut them up and reassemble your own custom sizes. Carved frames make the biggest impact but toss in a few plain ones to mix it up.

STEP 3: Take that big painting out of its frame. Your plan is to cut it up into several smaller pieces. Your objective is to create something like this popular treatment...

...where a large map is cut into sections, each section framed separately and hung in a tight grid...

...or, like the treatment below which requires a large poster or photo enlargement and those square album cover frames. The only difference is that our disassembled and reassembled oil painting is more random.

STEP 4: After you've cut your painting into pieces based on your frame sizes—or cut and resized your frames to match your painting sections, you decide which approach works best for you—paint all those frames the same color. A single frame color is important. It unifies the many pieces of your installation so that they read as one work of art. In the treatment I saw, the frames were painted a dark grey, a color pulled from the painting's moody streetscape. This is key to the look—that the frame color blends, does not contrast, with the colors in the painting.

STEP 5: Now, get your cut-up painting pieces into those frames. I don't care how you do it—staples, tape, glue, whatever works best for the situation you have. Nobody's going to see the backs anyway so just make it work. Remember, this is a DIY project so I expect you to be a little bit handy before you even attempt it.

Note: If I'd been more stealthy, or less hurried by the surge of lookiloos coming up behind me, I would have thought to snap a forbidden cell phone pic. But I didn't. Instead, I've created this "virtual" version of the finished product...

STEP 6: Hang your new art! As you see in my virtual example above, the designer chose to overlap some of the frames onto the others. He actually used nine separately framed sections for his treatment so I'm sure it took some trial and error to get the layout just right. Please use you imagination to see the frames as all slightly different types and widths. At the show house, the wall behind the art was painted almost the same shade as the frames making the look all about texture and color and mood. The overall size of the arrangement was about 40"x30". If you don't like the overlapped look, try a tightly arranged collage or salon style like this...

This is a pretty ambitious project, but really not so difficult, and I'd never seen anything quite like it before so I thought it worth sharing. If you're looking for a unique way to fill a large space, I think it's a great idea to file away for when the right situation and materials present themselves.

What do you think? Would you try it?

One Show House, Two Kitchens : Part 2

2010-05-01T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here's where my last post left us... inside the renovated kitchen of The Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts. I found two new photos to show you. Above is the view looking over the island toward the sink area as if the photographer's back is to the refrigerator. Here you also get a closer look at the copper-colored Metalcrete countertop on the island and the original cabinets, against the walls, some refinished in a dark brown stain, others painted white.

This view, above, takes in the sink area too, as if the photographer has pivoted to the left, and shows the opposite end of the kitchen. See the light coming in from between the cabinets on the right wall? Let's go out that door...

...cross the terrace and turn around. There's the door we just came through. The window to the left of the door and the first one around the corner to the right are the kitchen's only two windows. Don't they look tiny against that imposing brick facade? Now, let's walk forward and to the right a bit, turn around and look back again.

You can see the iron cage of the house's main entry portico in the upper left corner of the photo above. Directly behind us is the area now occupied by the new outdoor kitchen. Before receiving its show house makeover, it looked like this...

...and it appears as if there wasn't really any way to get to it because of the retaining wall and short iron fencing you see in the photo above. That fencing was removed or modified to allow for a set of steps and a handrail leading down onto a new deck. You can just see the handrail at the bottom of the photo below. You also get your first glimpse of the estate's second kitchen.

The outdoor kitchen is tucked into a corner of the house. The brick makes a great backdrop and undoubtedly played a key role in the designer's decision-making process. The cedar-look deck, made of recycled plastic and wood products, has been cut out to accommodate the existing liquidambar tree. In one view here, you'll see the soil area was eventually covered in tumbled aqua glass. The tree provides excellent shade for this area—when the 3-story house itself isn't doing that job.

Some photos show a wrought iron table and chairs set near the kitchen area, another shows a high-top bar type table. Both were present at the time of my visit, pushed into opposite corners to allow for lookiloo traffic.

Inside the kitchen work area, a Wolf grill is positioned beneath a stainless range hood. Guests who wish to interact with the cook can relax at the bar topped with architectural glass made using renewable resources. The designer chose all materials for this kitchen just as carefully claiming everything she used is either recycled, sustainable or recyclable. The cabinetry and countertops are, of course, built to withstand the elements all year round.

In the photo above, you'll notice that the pergola is fitted with canvas shades that extend and retract manually as the cook needs them to further shade the prep area. A good idea that also adds softness and an opportunity for additional color.

I've included the photo above to show you how much space and storage there is between the bar cabinet and grill area. Plenty of room for a cook and a bartender so the steaks won't burn when the grillmaster stops to refresh a guest's drink! The last photo, below, gives an idea of the overall size of the area. It is spacious enough for two or three tables yet feels intimate because of the walls of the house and the enclosing perimeter wall .

Along the wall to the right, you see a small vegetable garden. Behind that is a water feature made using a tall panel of textured glass. It adds visual interest as well as the soothing sound of trickling water. Beyond the fountain, which is set into a circular garden bed of its own, is another small garden that was packed full of edibles such as mint and rosemary and the gorgeous blooms of tall foxgloves in full flower. Behind that garden is a staircase that is considered the home's side entrance and is said to give additional access to the interior kitchen.

Unlike my mixed emotions over the indoor kitchen, I really loved this one. It was so pretty to look at with all that warm red brick and freshly-painted white wood. And I'm sure it would be as comfortable to work in as it would be to hang out in on a weekend afternoon. The size and ideas were not so grand that they couldn't be incorporated into almost any home, my own included. Excuse me while I go have a conversation with my husband...

For more information about the designer and builder of this and other outdoor kitchens, click here.

One Show House, Two Kitchens : Part 1

2010-04-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

Two small photos of the kitchen, in the official Showcase program, were the only ones I was allowed to take away from my tour of the estate and grounds. No photography permitted. As two simply weren't adequate to tell the story, I wasn't even going to try. Until I snooped around online and found lots of "unofficial" photos of the Cravens Estate including plenty of the kitchen. You'll remember that the Cravens Estate is the home used for this year's Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts in Pasadena, CA.

And let me remind you too that the house itself is an imposing 50-room mansion built in 1930 to resemble the baroque Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte, the 17th century French chateau that was also an inspiration for the palace at Versailles. Since 1962, the estate has been headquarters for a local chapter of the American Red Cross—that's why you see a cross pattern laid into the brick drive in front of the house. The home's original owners, John and Mildred Cravens, never had children so they lived in this nearly 20,000 square foot home all alone. With their 32 servants. (Do you realize that at a total of 34, that still isn't enough people to fill the house at one person per room?)

I would imagine a good number of those servants worked here, in the expansive kitchen. Cooking away for the Cravens, fellow staff members and guests. The Cravens were very active in local charities and business and used their lovely home to host many meetings and special events. This room would have been central to their success. The photo above shows the kitchen as the Showcase House designers found it. Everything I've read seems to indicate that what you see in these before photos is original to the house.
The clean-lined, glass-front cabinets wore their original crystal knobs and a coat of lifeless white paint that had seen better days. The same can be said for the slim wood counter tops and simple white tile backsplash. Both seem almost painfully plain compared to the grandeur found in other parts of the home, but in the 1920's and 30's, kitchens were for work, used by staff, not the homeowners, and certainly not on display for guests as our kitchens are today.
Clearly, the Red Cross staff and volunteers who have worked in the house for the past 48 years have been using the kitchen as a strictly utilitarian area much like the original estate staff would have. Not one thing in the space is purely decorative. The only splashes of color are found in the bulletins taped to the walls and fridge and on that lovely blue bag of paper plates. In the photo above, you can see the original cut-out drawers that were preserved in the makeover. The designer calls her approach to the kitchen renovation "not just a face-lift, but an actual restoration".
The Pasadena-based company responsible for this space spent three months on the job, working hard to preserve as much of the original kitchen cabinetry, floor tile and other materials as possible—including the silver safe, above. In the finished kitchen, the "safe" became a small supplemental pantry. According to what I've read, there are two other, original pantries somewhere nearby that weren't part of the show house makeover.

Here's another look at the full kitchen "before". The doorway you see at the back under the clock leads to an interior hall that in turn leads to a family/media room to the right and the main dining room to the left. To the immediate left of the photographer's position is a door leading to an outdoor terrace. Another indication that this is an old-fashioned working kitchen are the few and rather small windows. You can see one over the sink on the left wall in this view. The "after" of that window is the top pic on this post. Behind the photographer is a pair of similar small windows, and the door to the terrace holds its original leaded glass. That's it for natural light. Very different from the way a kitchen would be designed today. Now, here's the "after", from the same angle:
Quite a dramatic difference, wouldn't you say? Let's start our tour at the bottom and work our way up. The original tile floor in a classic brick basketweave pattern is spectacular. The most perfectly variegated shades of turquoise. On the Showcase website, it is said that the designer was thrilled to find such a bright surprise hidden under layers of grime and built-up cleaning products. From this vibrant shade was born the room's copper, teal, white, turquoise and brown color scheme. Most of the lower cabinets were stripped and stained a warm dark brown to match the restored wood counter tops. All of the glass-front upper cabinets were restored. Most are painted white. One set, near the door to the hall is finished to match the lowers beneath it, creating the look of a tall hutch.
Other counters and the new island are topped with copper-colored Metalcrete, fabricated to look like hammered copper, and pale, stain-resistant Nucrete, a concrete-based material made from 50% recycled products. In fact, all of the products used in this kitchen restoration are considered in some way "green". Anything new in the kitchen is made from sustainable and eco-friendly materials. And, of course, recycling the existing flooring and cabinetry is as green as green gets. In the photo above, you can see all the shades of the color scheme. I especially like the brick-colored upholstery on the fat counter stools that tuck under the island. They contrast beautifully with the turquoise floor and relate to the home's brick facade that can be glimpsed through the window over the sink. Notice too that the window valances are that same brick color.

All of the new appliances are energy-efficient. The refrigerator and dishwasher are disguised behind dark cabinetry or in the island, respectively. You can see the tall fridge enclosure in the two photos above. It serves to visually divide the long room into work area and storage/display area. The range wall was made a focal point with the addition of a top to bottom tile backsplash and extra-large copper hood. Copper pots and canisters continue that part of the color scheme and serve to obscure some of the expanse of wall tile. Standing in the room, looking at this view, I was torn trying to decide whether the green retro tile pattern was a good fit with the turquoise floor tile. My first impression was "wow, that's a lot of pattern!", but the longer I look at these pics, the less it bothers me. The wall tile lends a dose of light and softness, even a bit of "sparkle", with its starburst pattern, to the hard surfaces in this end of the room. And the more-green-than-blue color, rather than competing with the turquoise floor actually complements it. What do you think? It's a strong look that's definitely not for everyone.

Here's a fuzzy photo, above, that looks like a sneaky cell-phone pic. Thanks to this angle, we get a different view of the opposite end of the room. There on the far wall is the other of the two windows in the room. On the right wall, where you see the break between the two sets of white upper cabinets, is the door that leads outside. You can also see that there is a second sink on the island. And, in this photo you can see three of the four pairs of schoolhouse lights that hang from the ceiling and the decorative painted diamonds that join them. Standing in the space, that seemed like too many pendants and too much visual clutter overhead. Without the painted diamonds, the pendants may have been less intrusive. On a ceiling so large though, something has to break it up. With no room for beams and in the absence of texture, a paint treatment seems like a good idea, but I would have preferred something less "distracting" than what was done here. Try this with the photo below: hold your hand near your monitor in the "thumbs down" position. Now place your thumb so that it covers the painted diamonds but still allows you to see the pendants. Doesn't that look better?

Here's another look from the dining end so I can talk about the seating. Where the center area of the room was formerly filled by three sets of tables and chairs, there is now only one. All of the room's colors come together in the striped fabric on the chairs and in the charming tablescape. The small seating area is cozy and warm and makes this very large kitchen feel more homey and welcoming. With the trend in contemporary kitchens being to open them up to the activity of the household, it's nice that the designers found a way to bring visitors and other activities into this essentially closed-off room. The glass-front cabinets bring light in the form of reflection and through interior illumination. Their colorful contents—vintage pottery in greens and terra cottas—add more interest at eye level, bridging the bright floor and art on the ceiling.

So that's the first kitchen. What do you think? Good? Bad? Your style? Not? Next post, I'll show you the second kitchen. The photo above gives you a look at what we'll see on the way...

Photos found at artsbeatla.com, cindydole.com, dailynews.com, insidesocal.com and pasadenastarnews.com

Notes From A Show House

2010-04-27T01:20:00.000-07:00

Fresh from my visit to the 2010 Pasadena Showcase House of Design, here is what I learned...

1. I can love a really large space and a really small space for exactly the same reasons. The Drawing Room, above, and Retreat, below, shared the following: honey-toned panelled woods, decorative ceilings (one painted, one panelled), beautiful overhead lighting (a pair of antique reproduction chandeliers in one room, a single Fortuny pendant in the other), furniture that actually looked comfortable and not just set out for show, and direct access to the outdoors. That I could be equally happy and at ease in each space says something about my personal preferences but is also a credit to the designers who made them both so approachable, functional and warm despite the challenge of size.

2. It really is the details that make the difference when it comes to good design. All through the house, the things I took note of had less to do with the overall look of a room than with a specific detail that could be reproduced in a room of any size and at nearly all price points. For example, the double ruffle on the top edge of a sheer, fixed, shirred curtain panel hung for privacy at the lower half of a very tall window. The narrow ribbon edging each of those ruffles was a slightly darker tone that added a dressed-up crispness to an otherwise nondescript window treatment.

3. It is very frustrating trying to recount such details about the show house when no photography is allowed. Can anyone explain to me why that is?

4. Good design repeats itself and repetition brings order.

Like multiple dog prints on the mudroom walls, above. A row of potted succulents lined up down the center of a table or winding through a rose garden. Books with similar colored bindings massed into a bookcase of nearly the same hue can unite and "neutralize" a large wall of built-ins; what could have been chaotic visual noise became a calm but still interesting background.

5. In a residence of 50 rooms, there are a lot of redundant spaces. Morning Room, Breakfast Room plus a table and chairs within the kitchen itself. Three Sitting Rooms and a Drawing Room, also for sitting. Solarium on the first floor, Sun Room on the second. You must be very clear about which bedroom you say you'll take your breakfast in when there are eleven of them. I have decided that I am very happy not to have this particular problem. But, for the record, as I don't have one now, I wouldn't mind a private Sun Room next to my bedroom. Or an upstairs Retreat with connected balcony. Or both.

6. I am too traditional to enjoy juxtaposition simply for the sake of it. The Cravens Estate is a beautiful house built in 1930 with elements borrowed from a classic French chateau. Original details still present include a series of large murals in the entry. For the Showcase, the murals were preserved and restored. Then the designer of the space added these:

An ultra-modern, glossy black totem, a space-dominating black console down the center of the room, lime-colored accents and upholstery, and a black Lalanne-esque sheep the docent called "Tommy". It was all a bit too much for me. What do you think?

....

7. I may be traditional, but I do love an eclectic mix of styles and colors. The large, formal dining room with its original murals and painted ceiling was furnished with two round tables rather than the more expected long rectangle. It appeared as if the guests had momentarily stepped away from a lavish birthday party in progress. Seating was a mish-mash of brightly upholstered chairs and an ottoman or two. Even the mix of lighting styles is appealing in this photo, below, but I swear those Ikea Maskros pendants were not in the room when I was. Could I have been so distracted by the party that I missed them? If they were removed, I wonder why?

8. There really is such a thing as too many crystal chandeliers. A narrow, lady's closet contained five. The connected dressing room, a few more in sconce form. The adjacent hallway, yet another. Too much, too many.

9. I hope no client of mine ever wants to outfit her office with a desk chair straight out of an Austin Powers movie. The room below displayed a very creative mix of colors and textures, but I am not the person to call if this is your style. I know my limitations and exactly to whom I will refer you.

10. When dining out of doors, there should be plants to admire near the table as well as a mature garden in the distance (even if that distance is only twenty feet further away at the edge of your small yard). The outdoor dining area my friend and I enjoyed was bordered by a row of espaliered apple trees under-planted with colorful, textural ground covers and small border plants. Plants near the table add a closed-in coziness that alters your perspective of the surrounding garden; having something to look beyond makes the "beyond" appear further away than it is.

11. I discovered an interesting new-to-me way to achieve a unique display of art in your home. This bit of fun needs its own post. Stay tuned...

That's all I have to say for now about the Showcase House. Should you go? I can't really say. There was a lot to see, but I didn't like being herded through like cattle. The shops offered unique and beautiful things but were expensive for someone who doesn't drop two hundred bucks on jewelry and table linens without more than a few minutes' (or a few days') thought. The Wolfgang Puck dining experience was lovely but my quiche was under-cooked. The house itself with all of its original elements is gorgeous, some of the decorating decisions too "showhousey" (but that's to be expected). If you have a good friend to share the day and the drive with, as I did, you'll have a wonderful time even if you don't agree about the kitchen.

...

Cravens Estate rendering by Eva Margueriette.

All photos by Alexander Vertikoff from the official program.

No, I didn't talk about the kitchen in this post. There were simply too many contradictory ideas and treatments and I still can't make heads or tails of it. The nicest thing I can say is that my friend and I agreed that the restored, original turquoise tile floor was fantastic and the best element in the room.

Thanks for the day, Leslie!

If you want to get a look at the house yourself, go here.

Daisy Fresh

2010-04-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

The daisy, birth flower for the month of April, has long been celebrated in art and poetry for its simple beauty. Poets like Chaucer, Phoebe Cary and James Montgomery used the flower to symbolically express devotion. Hairpins decorated with daisies have been found in ancient ruins dating back 4,000 years. A European native, the daisy is widely naturalized in North and South America. While its most recognizable form—white petals and a golden yellow center with grassy-green stem and leaves—belongs to the family "Bellis perennis", its common name comes from the term "day's eye," a reference to the fact that daisy blooms are only open during the day and close up at night.

There is a myth that tells of the daisy's creation when a nymph transformed herself into a charming but unassuming wildflower to escape unwanted attention. Through the centuries, daisies came to be associated with innocence, childlike joy and playfulness. No other flower captures the essence of spring’s happy-go-lucky, forever-young attitude like the daisy. Daisies have long been associated with love. The "she loves me, she loves me not" method of pulling petals from a flower was first used with the daisy to tell love's fortune. Daisies are customarily given in bouquets to new mothers as a way to celebrate the birth of their baby. Did you, as a child, make "daisy chains" to wear on your wrists and in your hair?

Happy birthday, April babies!

Inspired by a meadow filled with flowers on a blue-sky day, here is a daisy chain of ten fresh-as-a-daisy spaces just for you:

3.
4.

10.

If I had a little blond dachshund, I would name her Daisy and buy her a soft blue settee. We would sit side by side. I would sip tea and read poetry aloud. She would nap quietly, dreaming of sunshine and endless green meadows.

See, the grass is full of stars,
Fallen in their brightness;
Hearts they have of shining gold,
Rays of shining whiteness.

Buttercups have honeyed hearts,
Bees they love the clover,
But I love the daisies' dance
All the meadow over.

FROM "DAISY TIME" BY MARJORIE PICKTHALL

Top photo by Baslee Troutman (isn't it gorgeous?). Other daisies via stock photo sources, photographers unknown. All interior photos via marthastewart.com. Daisy facts via teleflora.com, birthfloersguide.com and life123.com

Green House

2010-04-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

For Earth Day, a little green house that seems to grow right out of the ground. A vine-covered metal framework in the classic shape of every child's first drawing of home, this small structure is in the Children's Garden at The Huntington.
Flower-filled boxes adorn the little windows. Under the gable is a tiny doorway. I'm sure that's how the topiary bears get in too. See their green heads in the photo above? Don't they look like they're headed home?

Inside the green house is a table and benches scaled just right for children (or small leafy bears) where they can relax in the cool shade created by the creeping fig vines covering the walls and roof. High up in the rafters is a succulent ball chandelier. See how it echoes the shape of the round windows at the roof's peak? Good design is important, even in a house of wire and vines.

The Children's Garden is a magical place. There are child-size tunnels, arbors and a maze. Water features, musical rocks, magnetic sand and a volcano. Plants with whimsical shapes and fantastic fragrance. And, as my daughter discovered, blue-bellied lizards that stand still and let you touch them. In every corner, senses are stimulated, imaginations activated and a greater appreciation for the wonders of our Earth is born. If you have young children or grandchildren, this area of the Huntington's vast gardens is a must-visit. But don't think you have to be in elementary school to thoroughly enjoy yourself. Even a nineteen-year-old kid and an old mom like me can have a splendid time.

Earth Day is this Thursday. Take action, have fun, enjoy a garden, learn more.

[ Thanks for the pics and the wonderful day, Katey! ]

Local Color : Garden Events

2010-04-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

I spent a day this weekend at The Huntington again. With my daughter this time. She has a paper on 19th Century art due this week so we took our time with the exhibits before making the rounds through the gardens. They are so beautiful this time of year. The roses are spectacular and I have never seen so much color in a desert garden. (read more about my last visit here)

While we were in San Marino, I realized I was missing a local garden viewing that is my long-time favorite. Sharon is my gardening guru. The plant whisperer of our inland foothills. I have followed her advice via her email newsletters and open garden days to much success in my own garden. She advocates planting for your own specific conditions, being water-wise even with roses, and using perennials almost exclusively, all without forcing or babying anything into growing that doesn't really want to. Knowing what grows best in our corner of the world is her secret—here it's hot and dry in the summer, sometimes excessively windy, and can go below freezing in the winter. That bit of wisdom alone takes a lot of the headache out of the process. The pics above and below show Sharon's garden as it looks right now. Her garden (and one or two others) will be open again in May. If you're interested in details, please leave a comment or send an email.

There are so many home and garden events happening in this area over the next month or so, it will be nearly impossible to take them all in. Besides the small, neighborhood events like the one I just mentioned, there are larger more elaborate goings-on, some of which are listed here in the LA Times. Here are a few I'm most interested in:

I already have my tickets for the annual Pasadena Showcase House which opened today and runs through May 16. This is the 46th Showcase to benefit arts programs in and around Los Angeles. The historic, chateau-inspired Cravens Estate, built in 1929, has been given a makeover inside and out by 25+ local interior designers and landscapers. You can view their progress and get ticket information here.

After attending the Showcase House this coming Friday, I hope to make time on the weekend to head down to the O.C. for the 20th Annual Spring Garden Show held April 22-25 at South Coast Plaza. More than 75 specialty vendors will be on hand as well as display gardens full of great ideas for our own yards and patios. A big bonus: shopping at Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, NapaStyle, Restoration Hardware, Sur la Table and the Macy's Home Store all in the same wing.(learn more here) From South Coast Plaza it's just a short drive to one of Orange County's most beautiful garden centers: Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar. It would be a shame to be so close and not stop by.

Closer to home, from April 30-May 2, the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden will hold its annual LA Garden Show. This show focuses on green living in Southern California offering workshops, lectures and demonstrations on such things as edible gardens and water-wise plant choices. (learn more here)

Back down the coast again, on May 7th, the Laguna Beach Garden Club will host a tour featuring seven private gardens in Woods Cove, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city. (learn more here) The 7th is a Friday so it will take some rescheduling in order to attend. Perhaps I'll just drive down on Saturday the 8th and take a stroll through the neighborhood on my own. Any day spent in Laguna Beach is a good one.

Big Advice About Paint

2010-04-15T01:01:00.000-07:00

My May House Beautiful is here. "The Big Advice Issue". Though I've paged through it only briefly, I've seen enough to know that it delivers what it promises. All the inspiration we've come to expect plus nuts and bolts, real-world decorating advice backed up by examples and reasoning. The stand-out tip for me so far? This from the editor's page: "Pick your paint colors last." Woo hoo for me! Validation from none other than Stephen Drucker! (Why, oh why, is he leaving HB?! I'm so sad about that. Happy for him though. Read more about it.)

Let me tell you a story... A few years ago I attended a series of classes at a local college, refresher courses if you will, as I prepared to re-enter this field. One of them was a basic overview of interior design principles and techniques that I used as an opportunity to pick up the tools and get the juices flowing again. For one assignment, our instructor divided us into groups of three. Each team was given a program—the objectives and goals of a specific space and client—and was asked to use the resources in the classroom to design a concept board.

My partners insisted that we select paint colors first. I said "Let's choose upholstery first", "Let's look at flooring" and things like that. Repeatedly. They ignored me and, I sensed, considered me quite annoying. They successfully overruled me, chose a couple of paint colors, and we set about searching for fabrics, carpet, tile and wood finishes. A process which took far longer than it should have and here's why:

We live in a world of limitless paint color choices. Every conceivable hue, tint, shade and tone is out there somewhere. And if you haven't the time to search for just what you think you want, custom color mixing is as close as your nearest home-improvement store. There will, however be only one sofa that you fall madly in love with. One hand-scraped, reclaimed hardwood that you must have as your kitchen floor. One, and only one area rug that makes your antique dining set sing.

Most new homeowners will rush to paint all the rooms before moving in. "Toasty Taupe in the living room!". "Cloudless Sky in the bedroom!". It seems to make sense. Painting while the rooms are empty. But choosing paint colors without first knowing what you'll put into those rooms could be a big mistake. Adding other elements after paint could cause a clash of undertones. Now the paint looks too pink, too yellow, too gray. What seemed like the perfect fresh green for your living room walls might look dirty or dull after you bring in your new sofa. Even if you don't plan to buy a whole room full of new furnishings right away, know what you will buy when you can buy and base your paint choices on that. Or base your paint color on an element in the room you know won't change: your heirloom chair or a cherished piece of art.

It takes some planning and thinking ahead, but in the end, it will always be easier to find a paint color that complements your new chairs and carpeting than it will be to find an upholstery fabric you love that goes with a hastily chosen paint color. One more tip about paint from House Beautiful via Stephen Drucker: "Never, ever paint an entire room until you've lived with big sample boards of three possible paint colors for 24 hours". Or, as in the above photo, samples painted directly onto your walls. However you go about it, give yourself time to see the paint colors you're considering at all hours of the day. In both natural and artificial light.

To read a step-by-step guide for choosing paint colors, click on the photo above. The solid, basic advice is easy to follow. If you still don't trust your own judgement, hiring a professional who's done this countless times before will be worth the cost—in both time and money. For a fun way to explore your favorite color combinations, click the image below. Seriously. Click on that cabbage. And to see how one amazing artist interprets the color schemes she sees in everyday objects and nature, click here to visit Kris. Her love of color is contagious.

Color is fun! Choosing color can be too. But, whenever possible, do it last to get it right. Oh, and my classmates who chose wall color first? They also dismissed my suggestion to paint our imaginary room's ceiling a soft, complementary color. Never heard of such a thing, they said. I hope they've learned more about choosing and using paint colors by now. (Or have chosen different careers.)

How to Decorate With Cats

2010-04-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

[Sorry! Wrong photo! This one's from the book "How to Decorate Your Cats"]

From the age of fourteen until now, except for a brief few years in the early 1990's, I have always had at least one cat in my home. In fact, once, when I had two cats, the naughty female Houdini'd her way out of the house and we ended up with nine after her kittens were born. (Despite what your crazy Aunt Carole might say, nine is way too many cats.) None of my cats, even when there were nine, have been allowed on the furniture. Ok now, wait. Before you call PETA or the ASPCA to report me, please know that all pets in this household are loved and cared for, get their own comfy beds, cute dishes and toys and, for the most part, have the run of the house—so long as they are running on the floor. "No animals on the furniture" is simply my personal preference.

That being said, this is how I would

decorate with cats:

[This quirky collection of mid-century ceramic and glass collectibles includes a sleek, black kitty. Image from hgtv.com]

This, is not:

[While this cat looks remarkably like my first cat who I loved so much, Freddie would never have been allowed to recline among the collectibles. Photo via flickr.com]

Good cat decorating:

[Cats on pillows and cat portrait in the amazing London home of antiques dealer Peter Hinwood. Via "Rooms to Inspire in the City"]

Bad cat decorating:

This is Marley.

Marley has been our house guest while my daughter is out of town. Obviously, the rules at his house are a little more relaxed. So far, we've discovered him lounging on desks, the dining table and assorted chairs and sofas, teetering on shelves and boxes in a closet, perched on top of bookcases and—like a high-wire trapeze artist—tip-toeing across the top of the master bath shower door. I believe this photo represents the only time he has actually sat this still and, even then, as you can see by the blurry outcome, I was certain it wouldn't last long enough to bother with proper exposure or focus. As he is a guest and we are good hosts, (and because it seems that we really have no choice), Marley is being allowed to make himself at home. How many more hours are there til midday Thursday?

*****

From decorating on cats and decorating with cats to decorating by cats...

By the way, there is no such book as "How to Decorate Your Cats". But you knew that, right? (please say yes) There was, however, a calendar called "Cats in Hats" from which the top image was borrowed and for which at least twelve unsuspecting and surprisingly docile cats were thoroughly humiliated.

New to My Library

2010-04-12T01:01:00.000-07:00

"Rooms to Inspire in the City" is the brand new title, the latest in a series, that again finds author Annie Kelly collaborating with her photographer husband, Tim Street-Porter. The settings are cosmopolitan, the designers represented no less so: Carolina Irving, Peter Dunham, Mary McDonald among them. The New York City apartment shown below was designed by Jonathan Adler.

"Rooms to Inspire in the Country" is the previous title in the same series. I'm so glad the release of the current book reminded me that I hadn't yet picked up this one. The title, I think, is slightly misleading for these are not country "style" homes at all, but weekend retreats and family estates in such far-flung locales as Connecticut, Malibu and Shelter Island. Designers are an eclectic mix too: Steven Gambrel, Martyn Lawrence-Bullard and the incomparable Tony Duquette. The author's own home, pictured below, may be my favorite.

You might remember "The Comforts of Home" from my recent giveaway. It's such a pretty, inspiration-filled book, I had to have one for myself too. Author Caroline Clifton-Mogg shows us how to fashion a cozy yet stylish home in a way that melds with the currently-popular desire to live more simply. Charming vignettes like the one below remind us that the classic basics never go out of style.

"French America" by Ron Katz is at once history lesson and design inspiration. It explores the French heritage in America through an overview of history, culture, architecture and decoration in regions from New England to the Gulf of Mexico. The book is a fascinating read and a feast for the eyes. The centuries-old French colonial and Greek Revival plantation homes that dot the Mississippi Valley are particularly captivating.

"New Classic Interiors" by Alessandra Branca splashed onto the scene last fall amid much fanfare and praise. I don't know why I waited so long to get it for it's quickly become an all-time favorite. I've paged through it more times than most books I've owned for far longer. I love this designer's bold use of color and pattern and this large format book does her work justice with beautiful photography and terrific graphics too. And, really, how could I not love a book that includes this spread?

Color and pattern and sophisticated bohemian style are the hallmarks of "Downtown Chic", the book that chronicles the experiences and wisdom of Robert and Cortney Novogratz of Sixx Design. Over the last ten years, the couple has renovated and decorated several homes of their own and built a thriving restoration and interior design business all while raising seven children. No surprise, then, to find that they're also now the stars of their own Bravo series, "9 By Design", premiering this week, on Tuesday night. I'll be watching, will you?

So many books, so little time! Below, just for fun, is a recent photo of my own bookcase. These design books are in the "library corner" of the living room, near a favorite chair, because I refer to them often and simply enjoy having them around. There are plenty of others in my office, miscellaneous art books and all the less attractive how-to type manuals. That's where I store most of my back issue magazines too but on the bottom shelf here you can see one of my most prized decor-related possessions: every single issue of Cottage Living magazine ( a moment of silence, please). What are your favorite design books? Do you see any of them here? Could you use a recommendation? Or perhaps a 12-step program to curb your addiction? Talk to me about any or all of the above...

Bunny Has a New Home

2010-04-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks Mom !

These Chandeliers are for the Birds

2010-04-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

No, wait, make that "BY the birds". As in: if a crew of bowerbirds could be put to work in a lighting workshop, these are what I'm sure they would produce. (Not sure what I'm talking about? You are not alone, my friend. Talk to my family. See my last post and you'll know where this stream-of-consciousness nonsense was born)

**************************

Imagine, if you will, that we (my visionary investors and I) have harnessed the work ethic and intense creativity of a dozen or so of these little birds. But don't worry, this is no sweatshop. They can live in the rafters of the workshop to ease their commute.They can even bring their families as we offer a benefits package that includes in-house daycare (do you have that at your job?), gym facilities (15 ft factory ceilings leave lots of room to stretch their wings) and a cafeteria fully-stocked with their favorite fruits, insects, flowers and nectars. We'll even play happy, soothing music during work hours (insert Snow White whistling while she works). Let's take a tour and check out the prototypes, shall we? . . .

First, a look at the work of the apprentice birds (top image). A simple pendant structure of interwoven twigs. Bower-like dome shape? Check. Intricate construction? Check. Bright shiny objects to finish it off? Check, sort of. Only one bulb.

As the apprentices hone their craft, their work advances. Larger branches are woven with dramatic flair into the upswept form of an avenue bower. Multiple candle bulbs are incorporated.

Interwoven branches again but, this time, the birds have taken artistic license to add tiers. (Note to potential employees: Here at the Bird-Built Chandelier Factory, we appreciate and reward workplace innovation and initiative.)

In the faux department, we will be mindful that not all potential clients will appreciate the rustic look of actual twigs. The craftiest and most detail-oriented birds will learn to weld and bend metal. To some models, they will apply the shiny objects favored by the females of the species (true of birds and humans alike). Here, you see crystals and flower-shaped candle cups.

Would you like a bowerbird to come to your home and dress up your boring chandelier? You're in luck! Decorating services will be available. And, who knows? A perfectly decorated bowerbird chandelier might be just the thing that gets your home into a magazine.

In the wild, some bowerbirds line their bowers with a bed of moss. In the factory, moss becomes tiny-leaved, trailing ivy. A sprouting branch is the center support and candle cups resemble discarded seedpods. True artistry achievable only by the most experienced birds.

Finally, the work of a master craftsbird. The level of extravagant display to which all young apprentice birds aspire. Twigs, leaves, berries and fruit plus shiny bits of glass and metal. Bright colors and a multitude of collected objects. (If this one doesn't impress the ladies, nothing will.)

So, I'm off to write up a business plan. Investment opportunities are available. Contact me soon if you're interested. I have a feeling this might really take off.

(bird pun. get it?)

**************************

All dumb jokes and ridiculousness aside, I discovered something really beautiful while compiling this post— the dreamy work of artist Tracey Barnes. She is based in Denver, Colorado and, as her website says, "melds the magnificent beauty and power of nature with the mystery of the human subconscious in her textured paintings, exquisite chandeliers and innovative interiors." Her paintings are magical and ethereal and her one-of-a-kind chandeliers are indeed works of art. This first example is called (by lucky coincidence) "Bower Bird Nest".

Next is the "Z Cuisine Chandelier" which hangs in the North Denver restaurant of the same name.

This one is my favorite. "Chandelier Sienna".

Would you use such a fanciful chandelier in your home?

Would you pay more for it if was built by birds?

(market research. it's important.)

Of course, none of the light fixtures here were made by birds. Top to bottom, image sources are: BoBo Intriguing Objects; Nancy Van Atta Associates; highcountry.com; Pottery Barn; Lime in the Coconut; Doris Sanders Ltd.; southernliving.com; traceybarnesart.com

Love Nest

2010-04-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

Have you been watching the new series "Life" on Discovery Channel? If you were fascinated by the images and wonders of "Planet Earth", you'll want to check out "Life". Last night, I watched the "Birds" episode and my shelter- and decor-obsessed eye was naturally drawn to the bowerbirds of New Guinea. It is seriously amazing what the males of some species will do to get a girl.

As part of their courtship and mating ritual, the male birds build a bower, a structure made of sticks and twigs. The New Guinea variety of bowerbird builds the most impressive display, a maypole bower, which consists of a center support and a wide, domed roof. The photo below will help you visualize just how large such bowers can be. The bird you see to the left of the center support is typically eight or so inches tall. Another variety of the species, the bowerbird of Northern Australia, builds an avenue bower, two walls of vertically placed sticks that resemble the classic laurel leaf crest.

Once construction is complete, the decorating process begins. Most often, the floor of the maypole bower is cleared of all unwanted debris. A carpet of green moss may be laid. Piles of colorful objects, the brighter and shinier the better, are collected and artfully arranged in and around the bower. Different species of bowerbirds are known to collect materials unique to them, or perhaps to their surroundings, which may include shells, leaves, flowers, feathers, stones and berries. Discarded plastic items, coins, nails, even bits of glass—things left behind by human inhabitants within the birds' range—are often used as well. Hours will be spent arranging and rearranging the items, often numbering in the hundreds, in a way the bird believes will best present him as an ideal mate.

Several males will build bowers in close proximity to one another, which makes it much more convenient for the female bird to choose between them. She visits often during the building process. She will closely examine the collected objects and quality of construction once each bower is complete. In the end, she may select the same male she chose last year if he continues to impress. Under-performing males are left without mates and nothing but time—time a smart bird would put to good use improving his bower-building skills. Interestingly, once the bower has played its part in the mating ritual, it is abandoned. Nesting takes place in more humble surroundings, built by the female herself, of soft materials, such as leaves, ferns, and vine tendrils on top of a loose foundation of sticks.

Patrick Dougherty is an artist from North Carolina who, like the bowerbird, builds elaborate, fanciful structures from twigs and sticks. While it does not appear as though Mr Dougherty does this to attract a mate, his art certainly attracts attention. His works intrigue viewers, drawing them in for closer inspection, like a female bowerbird to the most beautiful bowers. With birds (and beavers) as his guides, Dougherty sometimes takes up to a full year to construct his installations in pastoral settings, among buildings and trees, and within the walls of museums worldwide. Of his work, the artist says "Art that's made out of natural materials goes out into the civilized world while coexisting with the natural world, so it offers a new way of looking at both". Images below are from stickwork, his aptly named website. The ephemeral nature of these stick structures, whether built by bowerbirds or artists like Patrick Dougherty, make it important to fully appreciate them once encountered as it's unlikely they'll still be there on your next visit.

If you have experienced such art in person, whether built by bird or man, I'd love to hear about it.

Trailheads. North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina. 2005

Call of the Wild. Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA. 2002

Na Hale 'o waiawi. The Contemporary Art Museum, Honolulu, HI. 2003

Sortie de Cave. Jardin des Arts, France. 2008

The Summer Palace. Morris Arboretum of The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. 2009

Spring Reading

2010-04-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

[Cottage Living, March 2007]

Hits of yellow on a creamy white background. Billowy pink flowers. Unique, personal wall decor. Bowl as art.

[Decorating, Spring 2008]

More yellow. A little green. Lots of white. And pattern. Painted furniture. Bare, shiny floors. The surprise of art above a window.

[Decorating, Spring 2009]

Spring green. Apple green. Grass green. Monochromatic collections. Window as art. Weathered finishes juxtaposed with glass and mirror.

[Cottage Living, April 2007]

A cottage garden in Pasadena. Mine could look like that. But who would take care of it? Will study anyway and make notes regarding plantings.

[La Vie Claire, Spring 2009]

Open window. Fresh air. A clothesline! White towels are the best. Turquoise and yellow always look good together. Painted furniture again. I sense a trend in my current preferences.

[Southern Accents, May/June 2009]

Yellow and cobalt with a large dose of lime for good measure. Love that combination. A party out of doors should be just as nice as a party indoors. And there must be lanterns.

[House Beautiful, May 2009]

White kitchens may always be my favorite kind. Fresh flowers are always a good idea. I'd like to add corbels to the undersides of my upper cabinets. Still happy my counter tops are pale so they reflect and multiply all the light that comes in over my sink.

[Cottage Living, May 2007]

2010 will be the year I finally make this lemony dessert. Five ingredients and four steps. Even I can manage that.

• • •

These are my thoughts—on things I like or would like to do, change, make and create— as I sit on my sofa paging through a stack of magazines from springtimes past. Do you do that? Review your magazines seasonally? Images that didn't stand out in 2008 or 2007 suddenly look new and necessary. March, April and May are what I am reading now. June, July and August will come out later for a summer review. Then September, October, November for fall inspiration. December primarily for Christmas. January and February offer ideas about winter but mostly make me hopeful for spring. Which is where we are now. With so many great ideas.

Which magazines do you save and refer to again and again?

How have your old friends - your old magazines - inspired you in new ways this year?

Blogging at its Best

2010-04-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

In our world of fast foods,

slow foods,

whole foods

and non-foods,

it's easy to forget the many among us without enough food. Our nation's economic difficulties have left far too many people with no choice but to rely on their local food bank. The food banks in turn are stretched to their limits because of the increased need.

• In 2008, 17.1 million households were food insecure, an increase from 13.0 million households in 2007.

• Feeding America is annually providing food to 37 million Americans, including 14 million children. This is an increase of 46 percent over 2006.

• The number of children the Feeding America network serves has increased by 50 percent since 2006.

• 68 percent of pantries, 42 percent of soup kitchens, and 15 percent of emergency shelters rely solely on volunteers and have no paid staff.

• Every dollar donated to Feeding America helps provide 9 pounds of food and grocery products to men, women and children facing hunger in our country.

Today is the second annual April Food Day, founded to unite bloggers in the fight against hunger by Meg of Pigtown Design and Chris of Easy & Elegant Life. If you are in a position to aid in this fight and wish to learn how, click on the April Food Day and Feeding America logos here on this post or CLICK HERE to go directly to the Feeding America/April Food Day donations page. You may also CLICK HERE to locate a food bank in your own community that needs your help.

On this blog, I talk about the comforts and luxuries of life as I see them. I have always known, and have even written about, the comfort good food can bring, especially when shared with friends and family. However, I have never looked upon food, the ordinary ingredients of our everyday meals, as a luxury. Sure, I've had to choose a lesser cut of meat now and then or the cereal that's on sale this week instead of the box I really want, but there's always been enough, (usually far more than enough), and, thankfully, I can't imagine my life any other way. Organizations like Feeding America make my reality—where having food on my table is a given, never a luxury—a reality for those who don't live with the comfort of such security. Thanks, Meg and Chris, for giving us this opportunity. And thank you, my generous readers, for allowing me to pass it on.

Off-Season Fireplace Fillers

2010-03-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

While organizing this post, I realized it might be a bit premature for some of you in colder parts of the country. But Spring has definitely sprung here in Southern California. April and Easter are only a few days away, for goodness sake. Time to close up my fireplace. Bring it in line with the new seasons and my lighter, warm-weather decor.

However, as I'm proof-reading before posting today, it's dreary out and threatening rain. Perhaps this idea is premature here too! Maybe I'll have one or two more fires before closing it up this weekend and then... what?

What will I do to fill in that unsightly, unused fire box? What should take the place of the firewood-filled basket and hearth tools? Searching around in books, magazines and online, I've come up with lots of examples but still I'm not sure what to do here.

Part of the problem in my house is that I really don't want my fireplace to be the focal point of my living room. It's off-center and clumsily proportioned. We purposefully painted out the brick we uncovered in the process of remodeling so that it blends into the walls. I don't put much on the mantel either. A round, iron-framed mirror plus a couple of small prints propped up and some greenery or vase of flowers and that's it. Nothing that will call too much attention.

What I choose to fill or cover my firebox during the off-season will likely then be quite low-key. You, however, may have a perfectly centered, beautifully proportioned fireplace that is the star of your room. With that in mind as well, I've gathered a variety of options to inspire us.

One of the more traditional covers for an unused firebox is a decorative fireboard. A painted board or even an embroidered and framed panel does the job nicely in vintage surroundings. Plants and flowers, whether inside the firebox itself or placed on the hearth, are also classic choices. I might try a fern this year. But any fern in my living room will have to be faux. That corner of my living room lacks enough light to keep a real one alive. Dried hydrangeas or faux boxwoods in decorative containers are another alternative I might explore.

An obvious solution to covering the opening of an unused fireplace is a folding screen. Unlike the finely woven metal screens that prevent sparks and embers from escaping the fire, a carved screen like the one above, a painted screen or even an upholstered screen custom made to complement your room is purely decorative and should be replaced when fire season rolls around again.

Here's an interesting screen of sorts fashioned from the fronds of a sago palm. And while the fronds may be real, it appears that the fireplace itself is not. Placing items on the faux hearth of a faux fireplace lends authenticity to the overall look. On a real hearth, below, decorative objects and flowers soften the blackness without entirely blocking the firebox. Which is fine, I suppose, when the fireplace will be in use. But I'm not a fan of this particular flatscreen-over-the-mantel look. I would add something more to the hearth arrangement to further reduce (or eliminate altogether) the appearance of one black box on top of another.

Candles in the firebox are a tried and true solution to an off-season or non-working fireplace. I've never tried this myself though. Maybe this will be the year. No, I take that back. I know better that I'm really not a "candle person". I'd never bother to burn them.

I do like the look of these candle hurricanes set atop a chest placed in front of the fireplace opening. This particular arrangement seems meant for the winter holidays, but it could easily be replicated with branches and plants from our current season. The starfish and Nantucket baskets lend a seaside touch that can stay all summer.

A low chest or a bench placed in front of the fireplace adds extra seating while the fireplace is not in use. That's a smart use of a temporarily freed-up space.

Or move an entire seating arrangement and treat the front of your fireplace like any other wall in the room. I like this idea a lot for my own home. Since I have such a funky fireplace situation, I do tend to treat it more like a wall. There's a reading chair and floor lamp pushed right up almost against it now.

More often than not, I've taken the easy way out and simply plopped the basket that holds our firewood right into the firebox and called it a day. Expected but (sort of) effective. Decorative (kind of) but not intrusive.

I suppose I could expend a teeny bit more energy and stack the logs sideways in an artful arrangement. And make sure the room surrounding the fireplace is as interesting and colorful as the one below so the hearth is hardly noticed anyway.

Even more ambitious is this firebox packed full of... what? Is that wood? Shingles? Books? Whatever it is, it's a conversation starter for sure. Which is not what I want my fireplace to be. So, intriguing as it is, this won't work for me. (And does anyone else think of spiders when they see this? We have a lot of spiders here. No need to make them feel any more at home than they already do.)

This fireplace below, is, in fact, full of books. Sorry, but there's just something inherently wrong with this. Yes it's edgy and creative and colorful and solves a storage problem perhaps, but it's books in a fireplace! The implication really bothers me. Nope, not going to happen.

Something I have considered is making sure the room itself is so striking, so well put together and full of interesting furnishings and objects, that the fireplace becomes a non-issue. Unlike as we see it in the photo below - smack in the center of our view - I believe the fireplace here might be overlooked entirely by the occupants of this room. Now that's the effect I'm looking for!

The elements of surprise and distraction are definitely at work below. Neutralize the furnishings and windows and hang a big blue sail fish over the mantel. Fireplace? What fireplace?

I'll be working over the next few days to solve my fireplace puzzle. I have a set of small shutters that, with a new paint job, might be just the thing. I also have some wooden boxes, a couple of baskets, and maybe I'll go on the hunt for a faux fern just to see what that looks like. If I come up with anything blog-worthy, I'll show you next week!

In the meantime,

tell me -

What do you do with

your fireplace in the off-season?

Hide it or highlight it?

The Color of Happy

2010-03-24T21:08:00.000-07:00

Did you figure it out? Of course you did.

Yellow is the color of happy.

I'm fairly certain that it is impossible to be unhappy in a room that includes a little, or even a lot of, yellow.

I'm not talking about just any yellow though. In springtime, the most cheerful yellows, the yellows we've waited for all winter, are those that come in the form of rubber rain boots and baby chicks. Fresh, lemony desserts. The warming sun. Easter eggs and daisies. Butterflies, dandelions and daffodils.

Daffodil yellow is the color in focus here because the daffodil is the birth flower for the month of March. How lucky you are, if you're born in March, to have this eternally cheerful flower as your own. Symbolically, the daffodil represents rebirth and new beginnings. Ancient lore throughout the world recognizes the daffodil as a sign of winter’s end and as a lucky emblem of future prosperity. And while their botanic name is narcissus, daffodils are sometimes also called jonquils, and in England, because of their long association with Lent, they’re known as the “Lent Lily.” In Wales, it is said that if you are fortunate enough to spy the first daffodil of the season, your next twelve months will be filled with wealth. Chinese legend tells that if a daffodil bulb is forced to bloom during the New Year, it will bring good luck to your home.

The daffodil is also the traditional flower of 10th wedding anniversaries. And while a gift of daffodils is said to ensure happiness, you should always remember to present daffodils in a bunch – the same legends that have the bright flowers bringing good fortune and happiness warn that when given as a single bloom, a daffodil can foretell misfortune. Yet another fact contrary to the flower's optimistic disposition is that the daffodil can be poisonous if eaten. In medieval times, there was a belief that if you looked at a daffodil and it drooped, it was an omen of death. Thank goodness these are only myths! The truth of the daffodil is that of a dependable, easy-care garden flower, a magical sight when naturalized in the wild, and a perennial favorite for its long life, colorful blooms and sweet fragrance.

A yellow with the exuberance of the daffodil can be tricky to decorate with. As you can see in the two homes I've featured here, liberal doses of white and pale neutrals keep the yellow from overwhelming. And in both homes, black adds a sophisticated counterpoint to a crayon-bright color that could appear juvenile if not reined in. On the other hand, notice too how even the smallest accent of this bold yellow cheers and warms a space that might feel cold or somber without it. Yellow is the color of happy. Of smiley faces and springtime. Of optimism and sunshine. Daffodils, joyful surprise that they are each spring, will fade. Using their color in your home keeps them with you every day, in every season.

Click here to visit the New Hampshire farmhouse (top images) or here to learn more about the North Carolina bungalow (bottom), both featured on countryliving.com. Gorgeous photos by Lucas Allen and Keith Scott Morton respectively. Daffodil facts from teleflora.com and birthflowersguide.com

Book Giveaway Winner and a Time Out

2010-03-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Using the super-sophisticated method of writing the names on small slips of paper, double- and triple-checking to make sure none were omitted, folding them up tight and asking my able assistant to choose one with his eyes closed, we have selected a winner...

Sarah of My Yellow House

Congratulations, Sarah! Your new book is a nice fit for you. I received two copies over the weekend - one for me and one for you - and can say now that it's as good as advertised. Filled with great pics and advice for achieving all "The Comforts of Home" the title and cover photo suggest. I'll mail it off to you right away. Big thanks to all of you who entered! By the way, anyone reading who doesn't know Sarah and her 83-year-old home, should click on the link in her name above and pay her a visit. If you love clean, vintage, cottage style, you'll enjoy following along as she works to make her yellow house with a red door, literally her "dream home", a welcoming haven of personal comforts and luxuries.

In other news. . . I am having epic problems with my server (grrr) and will probably not be able to publish anything new for a couple of days. Because I can't just leave my office, climb into my car, drive to the nearest wifi cafe and hang out there for hours while I finish up the posts I've started and planned for this week. I'd love to, it's a beautiful day for patio blogging, but I can't. I'm only able to publish this one because I occasionally get a very weak signal from one of my neighbors that could fail at any moment. So I really should stop typing now and push "publish".

Happy Monday. Happy Spring! Back soon. . .

Luxury is. . .

2010-03-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

. . .working at home on the day my first iris opens.

. . .camellias planted by our home's former owner that have continued to bloom faithfully every year.

. . .knowing that the last of our winter crop of oranges is waiting to brighten a few more breakfasts.

. . .this view from my office on a sunshiney day.

. . .a swing arbor covered with star jasmine vines that fill my house with their heady fragrance.
( I wish we had "smell-o-blog" so I could share it with you. )

. . .a brand new bicycle that's all decked out in pretty springtime colors!

Luxury is having a few extra hours of daylight at the end of the work day. For swinging... or gardening... or orange picking... or biking... or whatever else tickles my fancy. Luxury is having such beautiful weather and the time to thoroughly enjoy it on this first fine weekend of spring.

I hope you have such luxuries in your life.

DON'T FORGET TO GO TO [THIS POST] TO ENTER MY 100th POST GIVEAWAY. YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY. HAPPY WEEKEND !

On the Occasion of My 100th Post... a Giveaway!

2010-03-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

100 posts.
100 times I've had something to say. Something to show you. Something informative. Or just plain pretty. Something I hoped would help bring a little comfort and luxury into your home and your life.

100 posts.

Seems like a lot if you don't blog. Like nothing much at all if you've blogged as long as some. Still, I think it's significant enough to celebrate! I wish I could send a little something to every one of you who've visited me here. It's been so much fun! What I can do is say

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

and offer each of you the chance to win this:

"The Comforts of Home" is a brand new book by Caroline Clifton-Mogg. She's the author of other favorites that include "French Country Living" , "The White Home" and "Accessorize Your Home" According to the publisher's description, "The Comforts of Home" is "a book that enters into the spirit of how we want to live now, at a time when excess is no longer desirable. Author Caroline Clifton-Mogg puts a welcoming and beautiful haven within everyone's reach... from the welcoming hallway, to the cozy kitchen, comfortable living room, satisfying study, practical bathroom and peaceful bedroom - through to the garden. "The Comforts of Home" offers clever decorating ideas that rely on imagination and style rather than a deep purse and suggests ways of making the most of what we have to put the heart back into our homes."

If you'd like your own copy of this book, leave a comment here on this post before Midnight PST, Sunday, March 21, 2010. I'll select one name and announce the winner here on Monday the 22nd.

Leave one comment or a hundred, but I'll only count you once! (Please, don't anyone leave a hundred comments just to freak me out) And be sure to identify yourself by name in your comment if you don't have a blog or a google account or any of those other account-type thingies that identify you automatically.

••••• GOOD LUCK!! •••••

Comfort&Luxury is 100 posts old today.

Thank you for reading and writing and encouraging and critiquing and contributing in any and every way. I hope I'll continue to hear from you as I come up with one hundred more things to say!

Sunday at the Rose Bowl with Eddie

2010-03-15T01:00:00.000-07:00

Look! There I am! On a beautiful blue-sky Sunday at the Rose Bowl with Eddie Ross.

For just over two hours, Eddie led a happy group of 20 or so through the maze that is this world-famous flea market. Along the way, we stopped to listen and watch as he explained why he would choose a particular piece and what he might do with it once he got it home. These small chairs he liked for their paint potential—a glossy black, perhaps?—and the ease with which the seats could be removed and recovered. While Eddie was talking, I was totally distracted by those rush-seated, coral-red arm chairs behind him. They would be fantastic around a breakfast table and might have been mine if I had such a thing as a room just for breakfast.

This beautiful little chandelier was only $47. Click on the pic to see the details better. The combination of jade green and creamy white china was so pretty and look at the leafy accents on the arms. The fluting on the white areas gave it extra charm too. At that price, even if it had to be rewired, this light would be perfect for a bathroom, as the centerpiece in a feminine bedroom, or over a small dining table.

Eddie paused at this display of lavender glass to explain to us that it once was clear. An article I found that explains how that happens also warns of the possibility of fraud in this area of collectibles. Click on the pic if you're interested in buying only authentically sun-colored pieces. Or collect it anyway just because it's pretty. Beauty and even "antiques" are in the eye of the beholder so long as you're just decorating and not investing.

These gorgeous lamps were carved wood and quite large. Their patinaed white and gold finish was perfectly aged. A woman in our group snapped them up before Eddie was even done talking about them. Here's a good tip about lampshades Eddie gave us that I'll pass along: take a look at the Better Homes & Gardens line of shades available at WalMart. He said the shapes and fabrication are nice and that they're just as easy to customize or embellish with your own trims as more expensive shades so why not check them out?

What did I find for myself? Well, besides all the chairs that I coveted but haven't the space for, there were only a few things that caught my eye today. Two tablecloths (the bottom two of the foursome above) that I'll cut up and add to a pieced and patched table runner I'm thinking about making. And, below, an English J&G Meakin platter that will either become part of a wall display or a receptacle for jewelry on my dresser top, and an assortment of starfish and coral branches from the "shell lady" who is always there and has great items for what I think are really fair prices. (She sells her seashells at the Pasadena City College Flea Market too if you're in this area. First Sunday of every month.) With those small coral branches, I think I'll try my hand at making my own bottle toppers. You know what I'm talking about, right?

My treasures don't compare at all though to the fun of meeting Eddie and Jaithan and the opportunity to spend time with other blogger friends. My only regret is that I somehow did not get one decent pic of Jaithan as he was busy buzzing around herding the group and keeping Eddie on track. They're a pretty great team. ((Note to Jaithan: thanks for taking the perfectly-posed pic of Eddie and me!)) I was very happy to finally meet Janet of the Gardeners Cottage! She was there with her friend Melissa (visiting Janet all the way from Kauai) and they were both just as fun and genuine as I knew Janet would be. I also met another Traci (with an "i") who happens to live right here in Upland. Traci is a photographer who has recently begun a style and inspiration blog called muse margaret. Go pay her a visit. And while you're there, jump over to her professional blog and check out her gorgeous photography. So nice to meet you, Traci!

All in all, it was a very fun day! Gorgeous, perfect weather, charming hosts, loads of information and helpful hints, and new friends. Everything I expected and more. If you have the chance to attend one of Eddie's events, I say "do!".

Click here to go to Eddie's blog for his event schedule and more inspiration than you'll know what to do with. And I'm linking this post to Rhoda's Thrifty Treasure's Party over at her blog, Southern Hospitality. Click on the pic below to see what everyone else found over the weekend!

What's Up, Up There?

2010-03-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

Normally, I would say nothing should be up there on top of our refrigerators. It's a spot where things can easily go wildly wrong. Such a tempting wide open surface. Just asking to be piled up with all the stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else. Crock pot. 6-pack of paper towels. Gigantic, warehouse store cereal boxes. But, I implore you, please don't do that*. If your fridge top is exposed (not built into cabinetry), break the "no stuff" rule with decorative objects, not small electrics or groceries. I broke the rule in order to soften all the straight lines and corners that occur around my fridge top. With a metal rooster (I love his curly wire tail feathers) standing on an upturned crock. Together they sit in front of the wine shelves we fitted into the original cabinet during our kitchen remodel.

This post is for La Dolfina who keeps poultry and wine on top of her fridge too and recently posed this question on her blog:

What's on top of your refrigerator?

. . .

This post is my answer. What's yours?

*I understand that in very small kitchens, every inch of available space counts. So if you must use the top of your fridge, get yourself a basket or two, or a vintage wood or metal locker box, and fill those with the random stuff you have to store but don't need to use every day. That way, you've created an attractive display and solved your storage shortage too.

P.S. to Therese: See you at the Rose Bowl!

P.P.S. I'm linking this post to Melissa's "inspired by" party. At The Inspired Room, she talks today about adding fun and whimsy and an authentic sense of our own personalites to our interiors. This little slice of my kitchen highlights exactly those elements of my style. I love color. Chickens make me happy. I appreciate handcrafted, funky, found objects like that painted panel. And I like a clean fridge.

Wait. What Year is it Again?

2010-03-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

Holy Seventies Flashback, Batman!

I just received the new spring catalog from Pier 1. It's full of all kinds of fun, affordable, colorful accents for your home, and these. . .

ICE CANDLES!
Who would have thought something as wonderfully weird as ice candles would make a comeback. But shag carpeting did, didn't it? And "avocado" re-packaged as "wasabi". And bold, graphic wallpaper. Do any of you other 70's kids remember making these candles in your kitchen? Using an empty milk carton as the form? With your mom standing nervously by so you didn't burn said kitchen to the ground? (or send yourself to the emergency room)

I cannot have these in my house. Certain home trends are like fashion—if you wore it (or, in this case, decorated with it) the first time around, it's probably best that you avoid it now. You won't see me sporting a pair of Candie's wedges or hanging macrame art on my walls no matter how much I loved them in my youth. But if, against my good advice, you are so inclined, or you are young enough that this idea is "new to you", toddle on over to

Pier 1 and pick up a few of these candles. Better yet, get the whole groovy experience and make your own. I found a great tutorial here.

Pier 1 calls these "coral candles" and lists their fragrances as "first rain" and "oceans".

But don't let them fool you.

They're ice candles. And they should smell

like patchouli and sandalwood.

Peace.

Sunny Mood Board Monday

2010-03-08T01:24:00.000-08:00

It's Mood Board Monday time again and Sarah at pewter+sage is hosting. Sarah chose for us two bright, bold rugs as inspiration. My pick is this St. John Stripe indoor/outdoor from Dash & Albert. So crisp and clean and perfect for a springtime sunroom.

The centerpiece of my sunroom design is a pair of glossy black bamboo armchairs. They come with off-white seat cushions that I would replace with a crisp white to match the upholstery on the settee. The settee is an attractive choice for both its affordability that offsets the pricier armchairs as well as the clean, graphic lines and airy silhouette that I wanted in all of my seating pieces.

I wanted to give you a better view of the table because I like it so much. It's from Crate & Barrel and it was the top that really sold me. C&B's website describes it like this: "Each tabletop is crafted of molten aluminum, hand-casted in individual sand molds, then cooled and hand-finished with a colored patina. Three layers of hand-applied wax seal and protect." But here's the best part: the table top lifts off and flips from the solid side you see here to a tray-top. Wouldn't it look great filled with white pebbles and piled with potted bulbs or orchids?

To soften all the straight lines of the furniture and rug, I added softness and extended the color palette with a trio of bright pillows, one of them a sunny yellow. More yellow is found in the semi-sheer curtains I would hang all around this three-sided room. Especially during the day but even at night they will bring a warm glow to the otherwise cool color story. They are the "sun" in my sunroom.

The light in my sunroom, at night anyway, will come from a pair of modern lanterns. Matte opal glass is encircled by clear and both fit into a blackened iron framework. Other finishing touches include curvy zinc candlesticks that, at 22" and 25" tall, can sit either on the floor or on a tabletop. A yellow glass bowl on the table brings a bit of sunshine to the center of the room. I would continue to accessorize this room with bits of yellow and white ceramic, and green and aqua glass, perhaps in vases or vintage glass fishing floats.

Of course, no sunroom is complete without loads of potted plants and flowers. Piled on shelves, massed together on the floor and in a grouping on that great tray table, they're the perfect finishing touch for my sunny sunroom.

Hop on over to pewter+sage now to see the other rooms. Click on the image below. Thanks, Sarah, for hosting again! It was fun to dream about spring on yet another rainy weekend.

Click on my board to see sources and pricing. Flower photo is by Gridley & Graves via countryliving.com

Come Flea Marketing with Me... and Eddie Ross!

2010-03-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

Eddie Ross is coming back to Southern California. To lead us through the Rose Bowl just in time to welcome spring and meet the pent-up demands of fairweather flea market shoppers like me.

I'm sure my readers who are bloggers know who Eddie is. But for my non-blogger, non-decorator readers, here's a brief rundown of the talent that is Eddie Ross: Formerly a stylist and editor for Martha Stewart Living and House Beautiful magazines, he's also a CIA grad who ran his own catering company and is a terrific floral designer. Eddie was a contestant on the second season of Bravo's Top Design, was a participating designer in two recent HGTV holiday specials and the winner of Bloomingdales's 2010 Big Window Challenge. He is a frequent contributor to a long list of shelter mags. With his partner, Jaithan Kochar, Eddie runs his own lifestyle company in upstate New York, writes a killer blog and sells only the choicest vintage tableware and gifts from his Etsy store.

On his guided flea market shopping tours, Eddie teaches participants how to spot great finds like the silver tray, above, that required only a bit of elbow grease to restore its beautiful shine, or the lucite grapes he and Jaithan bagged, below, for their own home.

Eddie and Jaithan will be here to shop the Rose Bowl with us next Sunday, March 14th. Go to Eddie's blog to get all the details and to Apartment Therapy for contributor Laure Joliet's account of last year's trip (she scored that silver tray for five bucks!). I'm signed up and already working on a (long) list of goodies to look for. Will I see you there?

Circus Act

2010-03-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

Inspired by my recent trip to The Huntington, specifically the lithography exhibit, I decided to re-work one of my mood boards. This early 20th-century reproduction circus poster is going to kick off the new look.

First, let's see what I have to start with . . . this dining room I designed for the Mood Board Monday party I hosted in November 2009. My "clients" were a young couple wishing to entertain friends and business associates in their city apartment.

[click the pic to see the original post]

A pair of striped Bertram arm chairs from Anthropologie inspired the moody purples and greys of the dining room. I think they'll look just as great in a colorful new space inspired by the circus.

Fast forward three years, and my imaginary clients have since moved from the city to a house in the suburbs, one toddler in tow and a baby on the way. No longer desirous of a fancy "adults only" dining room, they've decided to simplify that space in their new home while shifting the pair of chairs into their new family room.

If you look closely at the two rooms, you'll see that I've pulled the grey rug and bar cabinet into the family room too. The cabinet will do a fine job in this room corralling games and project materials for the kids. It's clean, graphic lines look good in the room and its low profile makes it easy for the kids to get into. Plus, I believe most households with children would forgo the bar cabinet for something a little less accessible with regard to liquor storage.

So, I repurposed the chairs, rug and cabinet. Now, what's new? Affordable additions that take into consideration that my clients just put so much money into the purchase of their home. My goal is to find quality, stylish items that won't deplete their bank account and that reflect their new, more casual lifestyle. A hard-wearing, easy to clean navy denim slipcovered sofa is the main seating piece upon which I've piled a trio of pillows. One is textured and grey, another is constructed from a vintage mail sack, and the third is printed with a graphic from a vintage matchbox. The idea of an elephant pillow in a room inspired by a circus poster seems fun and yet this image is not too childlike.

The sofa is flanked by iron and glass end tables (from JCPenney, they're nearly identical to the Tanner tables from Pottery Barn but cost about $100 less per table). On top of those tables is a pair of ceramic table lamps that I love for their patinaed color and chunky base. Even the finial is yellow.

In front of the sofa is a white distressed coffee table. "Distressed" is always a good finish for a busy, kid-friendly room. The white color is good here because it brightens up the center of the room. Of course, if the homeowners choose to, the table can be painted another color when the room is updated or if the table is moved to another space. Other bright spots on top of the dark rug are the blue and orange leather poufs. Leather is super durable and the kids will love hanging out on these. For my mood board, I've chosen poufs from John Derian. They're pricey but come in great colors and the stitching is beautiful. More research might yield a less-expensive alternative but it probably won't have so much style.

Other art and accessory pieces support the bright graphic nature of the circus poster. I definitely want to use at least two—and possibly three or four—of these classically patterned prints, but I'd wait to choose which and how many until I saw the finished room. The metal star adds interest without being yet another framed piece of artwork and the colorfully patterned bowls would look great stacked up on a shelf or tabletop until they're called into action as snack containers. This pretty needlepoint pillow would be placed on only one of the striped chairs to keep them from looking exactly the same.

Here's another look at the new room. What do you think? Could your family have fun in a room that's inspired by the circus? (click on the board below to see sources and pricing)

Have you participated in a Mood Board Monday party yet? Sarah at pewter+sage is hosting the next one this coming Monday, March 8th. Click on the graphic below to see her inspiration items, get your decorator's thinking cap on and join us. Or, at least, stop by on Monday to see all the fun rooms.

Field Trip: The Huntington, Part 3. The Garden's Promise of Spring

2010-03-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

February, even in perpetually sunny Southern California, is not the best time to view a garden. And, truthfully, the gardens are not what drew me to visit on this day. My intent was to see the specific exhibit I showed you in my last post. To breeze in and out of The Huntington without focusing on the gardens or other galleries at all. But it had been too many years since my last visit and I was astounded all over again by the sheer size and contents of the place.

Here's the map again to reacquaint you with the scale of the grounds. 120 acres and twelve distinctive botanical gardens. See on the right side where it looks like it's cut off? It is. My scanner bed couldn't capture the whole thing. Within that corner you can't see, is more garden—specifically, the Chinese Garden and a huge Teaching Greenhouse. On this visit, we walked through every garden except the Chinese and the Desert and Lily Pond gardens which are in the opposite corner. In my defense, the place is huge! And as we paused to decide whether to go right through the desert or left toward the exit, it began to rain. So we left, with plans to visit again late in the spring. I can't wait to see how much it's changed by then.

Tea Room in the Rose Garden

Because this time of year is not the gardens' best, I didn't take many photos. Irises and other spring bulbs were just breaking through. Japanese maples and wisteria had only the tiniest hints of buds. Roses had been pruned back but their new red leaves were plentiful—a promise of the blooms to come. For true garden enthusiasts, it is interesting to see the full cycle of things. And I do wish I had snapped the rose garden arbors. Even covered in bare branches they're beautiful. But to give you the best "view" of the gardens today, I'll simply share with you, from The Huntington's website, a glimpse of each. Enjoy!

Eucalyptus grove in the Australian Garden

The Camellia Garden and statuary of the North Vista

Illustration of the Interactive Children's Garden

The Chinese Garden

The Conservatory

The Desert Garden

The Herb Garden

The Japanese Garden

The Jungle Garden

The Lily Ponds

The Palm Garden

The Rose Garden

The Subtropical Garden

That's it! . . . my day at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens. Thanks for reading along and I hope you enjoyed the tour. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and plan to go back soon. Because the most important thing I learned on this day at The Huntington is this: what a luxury it is to have such a beautiful place so close to home. I realize that I take for granted all of the wonderful places I have nearby to see and experience and learn from. I take for granted that these places will still be there when I get around to going. Do you do the same thing? Put off for another day the beauty and history that's in your own backyard? Tell me about a great place near you that you've put off for later. And, tell me, when will "later" be? I hope for each of us, later comes very soon.

All photos via huntington.org except: first photo, camellia garden and desert garden are mine, conservatory photo via sunset.com

Cure for the Winter Blues

2010-02-27T21:46:00.000-08:00

On a day like today—cold and very, very wet—I find myself looking forward to my spring garden and wondering what is taking so long? The Dutch irises first broke ground way back in November. Their leaves have grown longer, their stems taller and more sturdy and, still, there is no sign of their brilliant blue blooms. Perhaps they need less rain and more sunshine. I know I do.

The iris is February's birth flower. But they're not going to make it in time to celebrate—not at my house anyway. When they do appear, I'll take note of their three upright petals symbolizing faith, valor and wisdom. I'll remark to someone, as I always do, how much they resemble the French fleur-de-lis which, in fact, was modeled on this flower. History tells many stories of how this came to be and how the symbol has endured. It is impossible to recount them all here. History also tells that symbolic use of this dignified and graceful flower dates even further back—to Ancient Greece—when Iris, the messenger of the gods and the personification of the rainbow acted as the link between heaven and earth. An interesting article about the iris of history and legend can be found here.

Gorgeous blue hues like that of the iris find their way into our homes with such regularity and to such great effect that House Beautiful magazine has devoted much of its March issue to blue rooms of present and past. You can see 53 of them on their website. Below, I've chosen to feature just one for this flower-of-the-month post: the kitchen in a Fire Island, NY summer home that stars a wall of glass subway tile in a color that designer Marshall Watson calls "periwinkle verging on cobalt". How lucky for these homeowners... to have such a lovely color on view all year 'round.

[kitchen photos by Julian Wass via housebeautiful.com]

Happy birthday to all you February babies out there including my mom, who reads my blog (thanks Mom!), and my dad who I'm quite certain doesn't even know what a blog is. :)

First photo by dks221 via webshots.com, second photo is my garden by me

Field Trip: The Huntington, Part 2. The Art All Around Us

2010-02-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

In the 1790's, the printing method called lithography was invented by a young German playwright who wanted a cheaper, faster way to publish his plays. Copper engraving and woodblock printing weren't getting the job done for him. His new technique was successful, but it wasn't until the mid-19th century that lithography's true impact on the world would be felt.

"The Color Explosion" brought me to The Huntington—250 objects on display from the private collection of J. T. Last, a prominent expert and author of the award-winning book the exhibit was named for. "We live today in a sea of color images, printed and electronic", writes Last, "and we find it hard to imagine a time when reproduction in color was a prized commodity".

By the late 1870's, improvements made to the original process of lithographic reproduction made it possible for printers to apply multiple colors to a single image. Sheet music was one of the first groups of materials to benefit from color printing and, as seen above and below, the earliest examples were finely detailed but the colors quite subtle. Further advancements in color lithography are directly related to the early history of advertising, branding and product packaging and it was in these areas that the explosion began and grew.

Can you imagine a time when everything, everywhere wasn't being presented and sold to us in bright, blazing color? Probably not. But if you were walking around in your corset and hoop skirt in 1875 and suddenly found yourself accosted at every turn by colorful advertisements, posters, handbills and packages it may have either delighted or dismayed you. So many things calling out for your attention. Did our great-great-grandparents believe that if they saw a product "in color" it was somehow superior? I'll bet many of them did.

Trade cards—smaller that a post card but larger than a calling card—became commonplace tools of "direct marketing" for everything from lawnmowers. . .

. . . to fish. To truly appreciate the significance of such throwaway items as trade cards, you have to understand something about the lithographic process. (I am not the person to explain it. Go here if you're really interested in the details.) Trust me though. The method may have been groundbreaking at the time, but it was still unbelievably tedious and required exacting standards and workmanship. One wrong move and your mackerel would look like mush. Failure in the middle of a twenty step process would certainly kill a printer's profits and, perhaps, his reputation.

As product manufacturers and distributors benefit from lithographic images, so did the merchants of consumer goods. For example, cigar box labels like this one. . .

. . .and this one, were pasted onto the inside of box lids. The boxes were then displayed open on store shelves, the bright images obviously meant to influence selection and purchase.

Book illustration too was transformed by this new, affordable process. Natural history books, children's books and gift books became popular. Full-color product catalogs enhanced the sale of merchandise and books on technical subjects like medicine and science could more easily convey complex information through color illustrations.

Color packaging became ubiquitous to daily life. Seed packets, canned food labels and the like became commonplace. Imagine the cereal aisle in your local market without all those brightly-colored boxes. How could we quickly tell the difference between the Kashi and the Lucky Charms if they were all in shades of black and white?

As color advertising became the preferred way to promote products, so too did it impact the business of event promotions. Posters printed in large quantities could be put up all over town or, as needed, throughout surrounding communities and even neighboring states to draw attendance from far and wide.

Lithographers used their new techniques to colorfully document history too. One of the items at the exhibit I liked best was this map of New York City from 1870. Click on the image below and you'll go to full-screen version. Go ahead, take a few minutes with it. It's fun.

Also fun, for me anyway, was seeing items that represent the history of my own region of Southern California. Throughout this area, at the turn of the twentieth century, towns were born from the burgeoning citrus industry. To identify their product, growers glued highly decorative, colorful labels to their packing crates before shipping them across the country. Here are three I snapped at the gallery (before a docent politely informed me that photography was not allowed—I swear I didn't see the sign!) from Ontario and Riverside, CA.

If you've read my blog for any time at all, you know that I am drawn to bright, happy colors (and lots of them!). I found this exhibit so interesting and I am so glad I took the time to see it and record it here. (Thanks for indulging me if this look isn't your cup of tea.) I can easily imagine designing a room inspired by any one of these images. Hey!. . . maybe I'll do just that and show it to you here. But first. . .

Next post: The gardens at The Huntington.

All images are my photos from the exhibit and garden or were scanned from the exhibit hand-out except: trade cards via the Harvard Business School Baker Library, world fair poster via Getty Images, and New York City map via history-maps.com

Field Trip: The Huntington, Part 1. The Mansion and The Galleries

2010-02-23T19:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I wasn't really in Pasadena. I was in San Marino. But I didn't want you to think I had flown off to some faraway island or magical castle. Judging by just the one photo on my last post, I could have been far away—and it certainly felt that way while I was there. To clarify, the San Marino I visited is a tiny city of only 3.8 square miles that is bordered on three sides by Pasadena, California. Do you remember the movie "Father of the Bride"? The family of the bride lived in San Marino—although I believe the exteriors of their home and neighborhood were filmed almost entirely in Pasadena. Julia knows for sure and you can see more about that home here.

Enjoy the view and then turn around. . .

This house with the great view was once home to Henry and Arabella Huntington. At the turn of the 20th century, Henry Huntington was an exceptionally successful businessman who built a financial empire that included railroads, utility companies and real estate holdings. His business ventures led him across the country from New York to San Francisco and, in 1902, to Southern California. In 1911, his Beaux-Arts mansion, designed by architect Myron Hunt, was completed on the property once known as the San Marino Ranch. He married Arabella two years later.

. . . this is what's behind you.

Henry, himself possessed of a special interest in books, art and gardens that had led him to begin his own important collections, was now wed to one of the most highly influential art collectors of her generation. Together, the two amassed materials for what would become one of the finest research libraries in the world and collected rare books and manuscripts of Anglo-American civilization (spanning the ages with the likes of an original Gutenberg Bible and works by Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, Shakespeare and Audubon) as well as documents from the settlement of the United States as a nation and on to the new frontiers of the American West. They established a significant art collection—greatly influenced by Arabella's interest in European art—that features 15th century Netherlandish and Italian works, 18th century French art and objects and British portraiture, colonial American art and numerous pieces from the mid-20th century. As if all of that weren't enough, they surrounded their mansion with spectacular botanical gardens containing specimens from every corner of the world.

[photo by Matthew Field via Wikipedia]

The library collection alone contains nearly 6 million items. The gardens cover 120 acres. Most of the permanent art collections occupy two large buildings. One is the 16,000 square foot Scott Galleries. The largest gallery was originally the Huntington's private residence, the building you've seen here: 55,000 square feet of paintings, sculptures and decorative objects plus books and furnishings, many of which were in the home when the Huntingtons lived here. Arabella Huntington died in 1924, Henry in 1927. They are buried in a mausoleum on the property.

This map may help give you some perspective as to just how large this property is. See the number 5 in the middle? That's the mansion. The number 7 is the research library and its exhibit halls. To the left of the library is a cluster of dots and symbols surrounding another red roof. That's the entrance, gift shop, offices, etc. Number 23 indicates the North Vista; I'll show you a bit of that in just a minute. Numbers 10, 1 and 6 are other major buildings: the Conservatory through which you enter the Children's Garden; the Scott Galleries and the Boone Gallery. All around the grounds are smaller buildings such as the tea house, Japanese and Chinese structures in their own thematic gardens, trellises, bridges, arbors and gazebos. I was on the property for 4 1/2 hours and only saw the highlights. It would require many visits to see and experience everything.

[via nytimes.com]

Let's take a quick look inside the mansion now. Remember, it's 50,000 square feet. I won't drag you through the whole thing. The architectural style is known as Beaux-Arts, a neo-classical style that combines Imperial Roman, Italian Renaissance, French and Italian Baroque aesthetics and greatly influenced American architects from about 1880-1920. The massive hall, above, runs across the width of the house connecting with all of the public rooms on the main floor. Down the hall and to the left, directly between the two halves of the double staircase, is a large drawing room that opens out onto the south-facing terrace I showed you in previous photos. You know, the one with the view. The house's main entrance is on the north side and is actually quite understated.

Above and below are two views of the Huntington's personal library within the mansion. There is also a smaller, private library in which Henry Huntington conducted business and entertained guests. This room, the large library, was used for entertaining groups and special gatherings and the furniture arrangement was always changing to fit the needs of the occasion. Thus the Regency-period French furniture and original Persian carpets are displayed not in the way the Huntingtons would have lived with them, but to give visitors today the best view of each piece. The room itself was remodelled into an L-shape at Arabella's insistence to accommodate the three enormous 18th century Beauvais tapestries that hang at one end. But you have to look past all that—and the mirrors and chandeliers and intricately carved oak paneling—to see why this room is my favorite. See those floor to ceiling glass-front cabinets? They are full—FULL—of so many books, I can't imagine how long it would take just to count them, let alone read them.

[via nytimes.com]

Fourteen or fifteen cases easily ten feet high and from four to eight feet wide, each packed to capacity with books. You do the math. And, these are but a fraction of the books collected by the Huntingtons. Peering into the cases, nose (almost) against the glass, I saw volumes on the history of Rome and India, accountings of great wars from centuries past, travel diaries from ancient explorations, fact and fiction on every subject imaginable and not one familiar title. Talk about feeling uneducated and unenlightened! But then, in a case near the door, were several volumes of Homer's Iliad and these. . .

. . . a collection of Jane Austen's classic novels. They were bound in a rich teal leather that this photo fails to capture. Dim lighting + reflective glass + sparkly chandeliers shining overhead = difficult to photograph. But there they are. Titles I actually recognized. The coral-red roses and gold imprinting were in pristine condition. At the bottoms of the spines are the words "Chawton Edition". How old does that make them? I tried, unsuccessfully, to find out online. I wondered if these volumes had ever been read or if they were simply "acquired". I wanted to take them home. Don't you think they'd be happier at my house where they'd be touched and loved and cared for, not sealed away behind glass? I do too.

[via nytimes.com]

Since I can't have those books, I'll distract us with this: the gigantic loggia on the east side of the mansion. This photo, above, shows about one third of it. If the large library had doors on its east wall, it would open onto the loggia. I didn't notice while I was inside the library but, from the outside there were doors leading into the house near enough to the library that I could imagine grabbing one of those beautiful Austen books and tucking myself into a wicker chair for hours and hours. Until one of my servants came to call me in for dinner.

[via nytimes.com]

Back in the real world and on the opposite side of the mansion, is the Thornton Portrait Gallery. Recently redesigned to dim the natural light and enhance the paintings and sculpture, this gallery is often a guest's first stop. Because Blue Boy* and Pinkie** live here. See Blue Boy down there at the end of the gallery? Pinkie is on the opposite wall, behind the photographer's back. Here's a better look at them, below. When Blue Boy was acquired by The Huntington in 1921, it became famous around the world for the then record price paid for any painting: $640,000. A typical house in San Marino would cost much more than that today. I have no idea what formula one would apply to determine the current value of something like Blue Boy. Do you?

[via huntington.org]

That's enough of the galleries for now. There's too much in there to talk about here anyway. If you really want to know more about The Huntington and its collections, you can go here—when you're done reading this post, of course. Outside the mansion again, this time to the north, is the aptly named North Vista, below. Flanked by statues, it culminates in a large fountain. On a less cloudy day, the trees of the North Vista perfectly frame a view of the nearby San Gabriel mountains.

This is also the Huntington's camellia garden. Lucky for us, camellias bloom in winter. Also in bloom, at each sculpture's feet, are azaleas in various shades of pink.

This lady stands at the right front corner of the North Vista. I don't know who she is or what she is pointing at but I do know. . .

. . . that I love her camellia corsage and mossy green hair. A few minutes' walk past the North Vista is the Scott Gallery, below. As mentioned before, it houses the Huntington's American Art collection.

[via nytimes.com]

Through the gallery's loggia and across a large lawn is the Conservatory, below, behind which is the popular Children's Garden. Beyond that is the mausoleum, eternal resting place of the Huntingtons.

Turn left in the middle of that lawn and you'll take a short walk up to the small Boone Gallery, below. Inside this building is what brought me to The Huntington in the first place. More on that, next time.

[via huntington.org]

Next post: The Art All Around Us. Here's a hint. . .

* The Blue Boy is thought to be a portrait of Jonathan Buttall, the son of a wealthy British hardware merchant and was painted ca. 1770 by Thomas Gainsborough.

** Pinkie depicts eleven-year-old Sarah Goodin Barrett Moulton and was painted in 1794 by Thomas Lawrence.

Unless noted otherwise, photos are mine.

My View From Pasadena

2010-02-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I visited this house and was unexpectedly captivated by the view. Because the home itself is not what brought me to this place. Still, I imagined what it must have been like when people actually lived here. Wondered how practical it might be to ditch my current job and go to work here. So I could see this, and so much more, every day.

More later. . .

Click on the photo for an even better view.

Why Comfort & Luxury?

2010-02-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have always been interested in how businesses got their names. Now, there's this whole world of blog names to wonder about too. I'm going to tell you about mine. I think it also says something about me and my approach to interior design, decorating and life.

...

For close to twenty years, this quote has inspired me :

"We act as though
comfort and luxury were the
chief requirements of life
when all that we need
to make us really happy is
something to be
enthusiastic about."

Charles Kingsley - English clergyman, university professor, historian and novelist

At first, it became a favorite because it represents to me the conscious effort one must make to appreciate and find enjoyment in the everyday undertakings of life. Rather than lament what we feel is missing, we should focus on what we already have, or should seek to find something, to be enthusiastic about. For some it might be caring for their home and family; for others, their job or an all-consuming hobby or cause. Material things that add to our enthusiasm for life can be anything that pleases us—simply because we possess them, regardless of price or pedigree—like a sentimental object kept on view, a collection acquired after years on the hunt, or a perfectly positioned reading chair. And, of course, we all want to be enthusiastic about the people in our lives—our loved ones and friends—without whom all the riches and possessions in the world would be meaningless.

But then, one day, while preparing myself to pursue a career in interior design, it occurred to me that, while Reverend Kingsley warns against the pursuit of “comfort" and "luxury”, they are, in fact, two things for which I happen to have great enthusiasm. This realization brought about a new interpretation of the Kingsley quote; turning it on its head while continuing to embrace its basic message. I believe that we should choose to seek comfort and luxury in our lives, most especially in our homes. I believe home should be the primary place that comforts and sustains us; that an organized, well-designed space is a desirable and attainable luxury that will enhance and energize our daily lives. Before any of us walk out the door in the morning, our homes should prepare us to face the world. At the end of the day, home should call to us, comfort us, and warmly welcome our guests. Of course, we must also appreciate what a luxury it is to have a place of our own in which to find such comfort.

In the homes of clients, just as in my own, I believe that my brand of comfort and luxury can be achieved on a real-world budget. Knowing what good design looks like, where to splurge and where to save, and how to source smartly and creatively can produce great spaces without great expense. The execution of an idea and enthusiasm for the results matter just as much, if not more, than the dollars spent. In fact, some of my best decorating and organizing ideas have been born of restricted cash flow and serendipitous discoveries. Knowing what pleases you most—whether it is bold colors and loads of accessories or a stripped-down, simplified space—is key to finding a look that feels comfortable and luxurious to you. Whatever your goals, whatever your budget, if you are my client, it is my desire to enthusiastically endeavor to bring comfort and luxury to your life.

That then is the "why" behind the name of both my business and my blog. Here on Comfort&Luxury the blog, I'll continue to show the work I do and the work of others I admire. I'll present ideas and inspiration you can apply to your spaces with or without my assistance. If you see anything you have questions about, on a new post or old, feel free to leave a comment or send an email. If you have a project you'd like my help with, read about my services on my sidebar and contact me. At the very least, I hope you'll keep reading. Because I've become pretty enthusiastic about blogging too.

Pictured above are the Reverend Charles Kingsley and American artist Jessie Willcox Smith. As a writer and illustrator, respectively, each successfully pursued their chosen career paths near the turn of the twentieth century. Those paths crossed when their considerable talents came together in a classic of children's literature : "The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby". Written by Kingsley and first published in 1863, the 1916 edition illustrated by Smith became wildly popular and a staple of children's nurseries in the decades following. The images I show here are from that book. You can see why Smith's work continues to influence modern-day illustration artists. At the end of her life, she bequeathed twelve of her original Water Babies paintings, generally acknowledged to be the best work of her prolific career, to the Library of Congress' "Cabinet of American Illustration" collection where they remain today.

If Your Bicycle was Paisley, Would You Ride it More?

2010-02-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

I think I would.

How could you not want to take such pretty wheels out for a spin? Look at it, will you? Such fun colors! Luggage tan grips and seat. Fenders! And it's just begging for a wicker basket on the handlebars.

Target has partnered with the British brand Liberty of London to bring us, among other flowery lovelies timed perfectly for Spring, bicycles bearing their signature prints. The image above, scanned from the March issue of O Magazine, is the only one I could find to show you. But isn't this one enough? As soon as I turned to page 64, I was on my feet and in the next room announcing to my husband that I have found what I want for my birthday. (insert dramatic display of magazine pages here plus much bouncing and squealing of "Isn't it great?!!) Those of you who think you know me better should stop laughing now. I would too ride a bike.

A paisley bike.

Liberty of London is the 134-year-old British luxury brand best known for its exuberant prints and happy colors like those on their Bouton paisley, above. In recent years, their products have returned to the forefront of fashion. Supermodel Kate Moss used Liberty prints for her clothing collection at UK-based Topshop stores. Hermès produced a line of scarves using Liberty cottons. Now, Target brings Liberty to Americans in one of its largest collections ever presented in collaboration with an outside brand. According to press releases, the line will include fashions for the whole family, housewares, home decor, items for the garden, storage and organization and. . . bicycles!

The Liberty of London line is scheduled to launch on

March 14; you can get a sneak peek here on Target's website. Let me know if you go. . .

and I'll let you know if I score an early b'day bicycle.

This post is for PK at Room Remix who blogged about paisley today.

But not bicycles.

Follow Me!

2010-02-15T13:51:00.001-08:00

So I finally got with it and added the "follow" gadget to my sidebar.

If you've been wondering "Hey, what's with Tracy? How am I supposed to follow her?", thank you for wanting to! If you figured it out for yourself and have been following me all along, thank you even more because I didn't make it easy, did I? Truthfully, I had no idea there were almost forty of you already.
Boy, do I need to pay more attention!

If you have no idea what I'm talking about—follow her? where is she going?—that's ok too. But you might want to check it out anyway and take advantage if you can. If you'd like. I'd really appreciate it.
Know too that I appreciate every one of you who stops by—whether it's on a regular basis or just once in a while as you find the time; whether you "follow" or subscribe or bookmark me in your own unique way. I love knowing you're out there and value your comments and feedback.
For all of this, thank you so much.

Now, I'm off to update my own list of blogs to follow. I'll be sure to say "hi" when I add myself as one of your followers.

Photo credit unknown. Location of baby ducks unknown, but

it does look like they're heading in the right direction.

Isn't it Romantic?

2010-02-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

That he would build this

[swing arbor]

and these

[garage trellis & stone path]

and this for me

[patio pergola]

just because I asked him to?

to my valentine