A new but old centerpiece adds a lively contrast to the green and blue tones of my library/dining room. With its northern exposure the room needed some color punch, and orange was the perfect choice to serve as a complimentary color. Now that most of my new furniture has arrived, I’m slowly adding thoughtful details. And each object must pass the color, shape, purpose, timeless, and quality tests.
And the last wall to photograph in my bedroom. Now that the sun has returned, I’m photographing portions of my house that hadn’t been shot before. And tomorrow, I hope there will be at least an hour of quality morning light to photograph the newly installed front garden. All of these shots are needed to complete my redesigned website. The details are driving me crazy with endless hours of photoshopping and uploading, and I have yet to write the copy. Most of this work occurs at night, since my day hours have been monopolized with real work and continual domestic problems that need fixing.
Finally I was able to photograph my newly decorated office. For several weeks now I’ve been waiting for the sun to stay consistently bright from 1pm through 2pm in order to take these photos. Unfortunately, while waiting, the oak tree fully leafed out causing the light to not be as bright as it would have been while the tree was dormant. The sun wasn’t my only problem. With two other very different light sources, incandescent and fluorescent, I ended up having some strange color issues, which I will gladly point out to you in the following photographs.
Meet the new dining/library table. It arrived last week, but because of the dingy weather, the natural light wasn’t right until yesterday for taking a photograph. Both the top and base were purchased through Culp Associates. This ingenious combination of a top by Gregorius | Pineo with a base designed by Ironies was Charley McKenney’s idea. Sometime in the next couple of weeks, I plan to play around with various table settings. And of course, I will photograph and share the arrangements with you. To see the top surface of the table click on the link below.
Four brand new and custom designed dining chairs have arrived. And I can thank Charley McKenney for their beautiful design. I’m still waiting on the table, which will be here sometime the first part of March. Since my dining room—which also serves as a library—is basically square, a round dining table was the best option for the space. With a 48 inch diameter, the number of guests that can be seated comfortably at this table is four, hence the reason for ordering only four chairs. Once the table arrives, I will then determine if I can fit two additional smaller chairs for a total of six guests. All in good time. If your curious to see some leg, click on the link below.
Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue. The chair once belonged to a great aunt. Ever since I have been out on my own, this chair has moved with me from apartment to apartment then to my house. It’s one of the few hand-me-down relics that I have retained. In fact all three pieces of family furniture I chose to keep once belonged to this great aunt. And when I can find and purchase a wonderful reading lamp, this chair next to the fireplace will become my reading nook during the cold winter months. I love the smell and crackle of a wood burning fireplace. I usually purchase aged oak to burn, but I will occasionally splurge and purchase Irish Turf and/or peat briquettes. I spent three incredible weeks in Ireland back in 2000, fell in love with the smell of the burning Irish peat, and am always wanting to relive those memories with its scent.
Today my custom fireplace screen was delivered, and I can’t wait to build a fire. But first the average temperature needs to drop.
For the last two years, I had been doing copious online searches for semi-custom screens. I had originally just wanted a mesh insert within a dark bronze frame and somewhere have an attached circular brass monogram, but when I started talking to my architect, Charley McKenney, he suggested designing it from scratch. And it grew from there. It grew from a simple rectangle to an art deco style, from no details to scroll details, and from a circular disk monogram to a single ornate script initial. Many drawings later, Jim Cinquemani, a local metal artist that Charley had worked with on previous jobs, created this work of art that you now see in the above photo. Gorgeous craftsmanship!
Forgot to mention: The two contemporary pieces above the mantel are by Monica Vidal, created in 2001 on printed rice paper. I purchased these two from Dunn and Brown Contemporary (now called Talley Dunn Gallery).
This blushing chair just arrived yesterday after being reupholstered, and now my boudoir is for the most part complete. Because my new color palette had been inspired by lipstick and blushing powders, the chair’s original pale green and cream material was no longer up to snuff. With this new velvet fabric, the chair now adds a lush touch of decadence to a bedroom already smoldering with subtle Hollywood glamour.
chair by Ethan Allen, purchased many years ago from showroom floor during annual sale; fabric is 100% cotton velvet by Pierre Frey, color #38; cording/trim is Kenneth Meyer, color #26; reupholstery by Julian Vargas
The backside of the tubby chairs. I can’t believe I forgot to include this photo in the previous post. Please understand that the front two rooms are a long way from being complete with furnishings, art, and decorative objects which will add color, variety, and vibrancy to the overall spaces. This process is called decorating one square inch at a time.
A pair of tubby armchairs. That’s how 1stdibs had listed them when I first added them to my portfolio. Before all the restoration work, I had lived with a lot of traditional hand-me-downs and antique mall finds. In other words, my décor suffered greatly from the brown furniture syndrome in an out-of-date arts and crafts style. It was time to grow up in a timeless manner, since I no longer needed trendy objects to disguise a house that desperately needed structural updating. The key words that must apply to any new object chosen for my house are: timeless, integrity, functional, quality, quiet, sophisticated, and gracious.