Reality Check

I thought I would share some "before" and "during" pics of a current project I am working on. I think it's important to include real life design on my blog, in addition to the fantasy pictures we all drool over and dream about. This project includes some outside-the -box design choices, such as wallpapered ceilings, painted floors, and a few others. I will post the "after" when it is complete!

Two shots of the Living Room before. Very traditional, a bit dated and not at all reflective of the young, energetic family who lives here.

We are on our way! A beautiful BM paint color, "Gray Mirage" on the walls, and a fabulous grass cloth wallpaper on the back of the bookcases. The same grass cloth covers this custom made console destined for the finished room:

Here is the Dining Room before:

Again, very dated, too full of items so that the beautiful old architecture (the house is 300 years old!)
and the original pine floors cannot be seen or enjoyed.

Here is the wallpapered ceiling. Not much else done in here yet, but stay tuned. The floor has been stained a custom color (no pic yet) and those dark beams will be painted out. A surprise on the walls...
I'll keep you updated! Let me know what you think......

Salvage Yard

Six months removed from the last Brimfield Show, and in need of some inspiration in the form of searching dusty shops for undiscovered treasure,  a friend and I recently took a drive to New England Demo and Salvage in New Bedford, MA.

This is the front door. I'm not kidding. While some would shy away, my heart goes pitter patter.  Oh! the treasures to be found.

 I was looking for an old door to replace the boringly typical Home Depot door that leads to my laundry room.

Ok. This is just ONE of several mile long corridors holding doors of every size and description culled from old houses, schools, offices.

Here's an example. Aren't these simply beautiful? Painted, with some fab hardware and you have a spectacular design element. These were $250.00!!!!!! Come on.

Here's the beauty that will come home with me. The glass has begun to oxidize a bit. Yum. Painted black and perhaps stenciled with the word "Laundry". I'll post the completed look when finished! This solid old door was less than $100.00.

This mantel had these wonderful old blue and cream tiles still attached.

There is something hauntingly beautiful (at least to me) about row upon row of tubs and pedestal sinks. So lovely, so evocative of another age.

Some need to be re-porcelained, Others only need to be cleaned!

Sigh.

And the payoff. The piece that made the whole trip worth it. This spectacular Edwardian copper tub with a carved mahogany surround.

I think I hear angels singing. I think I may weep just a little. Did I mention it is COPPER?

I would put this in a master bedroom, like this:

Image: Domino Magazine

Downton Abbey

Are you all watching Downton Abbey on PBS? I highly recommend it!!

A kind of updated "Upstairs, Downstairs", it takes place in a more interesting time: the first season in the year leading up to World War I ; the second season (airing now) during the war. Interesting because the world of servants, butlers, footmen and housekeepers is coming to an end in a most extraordinary way. Technology is advancing faster than they can keep up with (sound familiar?), and the kitchen staff are  afraid of the newest additions to the house,  electricity and the telephone.

From a design perspective, it's a glimpse into a Great House, and I often find myself re-winding a scene because I was scanning the details of the room rather than listening to the dialogue.

Highclere Castle in England, the home used as  "Downton Abbey"

I have to say, I am much more interested in the "Downstairs" interiors than the "Upstairs"~ all of the excess, gilding, marble  and fringe trim is beautiful and inspiring but does not speak to me in a visceral way. Whenever  I am on an historic  house tour, I always wish I could tour the attics and the kitchens and the see the linen closet instead of the marble ballroom.

A Drawing Room at Highclere Castle

Even the downstairs room names ~ servery, buttery, larder, pastry room, butlers pantry are more resonant ~ they conjure for me images of darkly aged wooden built-in cabinetry with fabulous hardware, old marble counters with that patina only age can achieve, huge scrubbed pine work tables, copper cookware lined up on endless shelves, dented soft silver or soapstone  sinks. I am much more apt to pull from images like these for design inspiration:

19th c kitchen floor plans : what a great inspiration for an updated
kitchen project.

The kitchen of The Breakers in Newport, RI. That mortal and pestle makes my heart stop.
The copper cookware, the butcher block on legs........

Such great light! Note the marble topped table with drawers; I would
copy that for a modern project in a heartbeat!

Note the tile walls - a huge trend in kitchens right now.
That plate rack is spectacular.

A 19th c Butlers Pantry. Sigh.

That soapstone counter on the right: how beautiful. That could be
re-interpreted now as a work station in an updated kitchen; a place
for the mail, the charging station, the keys, the ipad.

Double height Butlers Pantry at The Breakers. Only he would have the keys
to access the space, where the family silver was kept.

When Martha Stewart bought Skylands in Maine, a former Ford family estate,
she kept the pantries largely as found. These shelves and table are original;
the porcelain table was for preparing fish.

Display Your Everyday

I know it is a bit of a cliche to talk about organization at the start of a new year. Still, even though I am by nature a very organized person, I delight in looking at images like these. As it relates to design, if space is an issue as it is for so many of us, storage may have to be visible, and therefore visually pleasing.  Here are some ideas:

Who says you must have drawers  and cabinets for everything?
The everyday item can look quite good displayed, especially in multiples.
Photo: Country Home  

Again, if you are not blessed with endless cabinets, display the everyday!
It helps also to keep like with like and colors or finishes similar.
Photo: Country Home

I imagine that all of the small items that can be put into these bins, if kept in their packaging and put in a drawer or closet, would use up 10 x the space.

Ah. Tricia Foley. I worship and adore her.  Everyday items: paper towels, soap bars,
dish soap and laundry detergent. Decanted into pretty vessels and grouped into
multiples, maybe a pretty label and ....perfection.  ! I'd never close the door.
Photo: Country Home



And Martha. Oh, Martha, These are photos of the inside of her various
kitchen drawers. Seriously.
Photo: Martha Stewart Living



New Year, New Gear

Hello! I know, I know. I have been told both in person and via comments that you all have been checking back faithfully, only to be disappointed that I haven't added any new postings. Mea Culpa.
I feel very lucky indeed that you all have been hanging in there regardless of the silence on my end. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I resolve to get back to blogging! An upcoming posting subject will be the long awaited and overdue design and set-up of my home office, which is currently an unused bedroom filled with....well, you all know the "extra" room drill; unopened boxes from my move, extra this, extra that.
Follow the transformation! I'll document it step by step as it goes from that to something like this.......



Photo: Annaleena House Interior Design..I love a painted floor!




Thomas O'Brien in Elle Decor...he is my God



Thomas O'Brien...a genius gatherer



Elle Decor...already have my folder full of collage images



Tricia Foley...she is my Goddess

Sink or Swim

Dawn recently sent me an email containing this picture.

There was no note. just the picture. She knew I would love it.

Where good design is concerned, we very often communicate this way. This sink embodies many elements we both love - it is soapstone, it's black (well, dark gray), it's oversized, it has simple lines, it incorporates the contemporary (stainless doors) with the earthy and age-old. It's perfect.

Our obsession with good sinks began many years ago, when we purchased this Edwardian marble sink at one of the first Brimfield shows we ever attended together, intending it for some lucky client's powder room, master bath, laundry room, mud room, or potting shed. Pool house, summer house, kitchen? Come on! Look at those faucets! Alas, we still have the beauty. I believe she is still destined for greatness.

What is it about a great sink that makes me want to wash every dish by hand, become an expert floral arranger, and bathe babies the way our Mother's used to?

1st six photos: Country Home

Image: Elle Decor 

Spring Brimfield

Last week I took a break from client installs, photo shoots, and the daily grind to attend the spring Brimfield show. If you have never been, and you enjoy that sort of thing, it is a huge 6 day outdoor flea market/antique show held 3 times a year and it is  a fantastic resource for those little (or not so little) pieces that keep an interior interesting, unique, and individual. Here are just a few of the beauties I saw.................

A fabulous settee; I actually love the burlap and would consider  reupholstering in  a similar everyday fabric to contrast with the ornate form and carving detail 

Gorgeous mirror with beautiful openwork carving; this is the one item I think will haunt me  -  I regret not taking it!

Another settee (I have a weakness) this one with a sweet curve

This deck chair had 3 silver plaques embedded in it - you can just see 2 of them at the top and bottom of the leg rest -  "Queen Elizabeth I" , "First Class Boat Deck" and the 3rd on the back named a passenger to whom it belonged. It is quite a find, but was priced accordingly. I would use it in a bedroom in the place of a chaise!

A romantic porch swing...sigh. It was extra long and the perfect place for a summer doze. I see it with a long seat cushion and lots of pillows made from French ticking. 

A great basket - this one was set apart by the white stripe painted along the top. So many uses: newspapers, magazines, laundry. I almost took it home, but I already have SO many baskets.....

There were 3 of these fantastic pendant lamps; hanging over a kitchen island they would add the perfect unique touch to a modern kitchen

A sweet simple fireplace surround painted the perfect shade of cream. I wouldn't change a thing, i'd just install it!!

Vintage glass fishing net weights - beautiful as a garden ornament, or just interesting clustered together in an otherwise boring corner - or in a basket 

My friend kelly snagged this beauty - I already have one, purchased at Brimfield years ago. They were filled with straw and used to transport china by ship in the 19th century. I store out of season clothes in mine

This entire tent was filled with Swedish/Gustavian treasures. I can't even deal.

In the end it was a small take for me this time around; after many years I've learned to buy only when I have a use and a place for it. It will be an entirely different story when I open my store.........stay tuned!

My take: A huge vintage cutting board, 2 wine bottle covers made of vintage sack cloth with  sweet red monograms, some silver and copper fishing lures for a fishing friend, a vintage feed sack (a steal at $10 - they were going for $70 and up at other booths!) to be made into a big bolster pillow, and my find of the day: vintage botanical slides with amazing handwritten labels. I'm not sure yet how I'll display them but I know they ate unique, interesting, and individual!