FEAR OF COMMITMENT

Birthday party here...


which included this Crewcuts wearing gang leader pinata beater...


which was followed up by a trip to the pool...


which naturally led to this...


which lead to the unwrapping of 12 of these fresh from the framer...





that need to go in my living room on either side of the altar table...which means the removal of these... Sayonara, Peacocks...you couldn't even stay 'til the custom cushions arrived...


but they were replaced with these...


which meant rearranging this...


and fixing this hot mess...

SNOWBALLS

SO SWEET AND SIMPLE. LOVE.

Retreat

Since my husband has been busy busy busy with the opening of his new restaurant I thought I would pack up the kids and head over to my client's new river house for the night.

Had a great burger here. Lots of suspenders and gun racks. We fit right in with our hybrid and Prada.


We headed over to a funky little antique store. What the hell do you do with these?


We bought this chair for my client's bedroom. It was a steal at $100. Won't be when I'm done with it.



Notice the charcoal and bbq (and yoga mat). We couldn't figure out the million dollar gas grill so we had to buy a Hibachi at the general store. We grilled ribs Fed Ex'd from Niman Ranch. City dorks. If I had known mobile slaughter was an option the menu would have been different.


Grilled naughty 5 year old. Meaty, too.


A few fabulous things can really make a room. A big room. This vintage sofa recovered in a Henry Calvin wool/silk/linen damask came from my storage unit. It is awaiting pillows in Robert Kime's Indian Pear. The KILLER Brazilian cowhide rug stitched with a floral pattern came from The Rug Company. My client is trying to weasel out a giant abstract painting from her dad's house for that big wall. Vintage French deco chairs came from 1stdibs and we had them upholstered in a burnt orange mohair. Donner and Blitzen came from the North Pole. Duh.

BOTOX

I feel like I look so old lately. There's always...

What is James Wearing?

Have you seen James' blog?

I wish he was my neighbor and 5 o'clock visitor.

Does he wet his designer velvet pants when doing these shoots or what? I'm dying.

Rock the sheer tunic.

He brings back memories of summers in Montana.

I'm a Ding Dong

Inspired by this from Juxtaposition...

I bought this vintage Chinese batik on ebay...



...which sucks and looks like an old piece of acid washed denim from the 80s. On a good day.



Shhhh...can you hear that? It's Ding Dong laughing all the way to his Bejing bank.

More Spousal Abuse

One day this will be my foyer and not just my hallway...


Black or blue...

AH, GRASSHOPPER

Hopper on a reverse painted Chinoiserie lamp.

The Lure of the Capiz Shell

I try not to get sucked into trends. If the trend strikes a chord in me, though, I attempt to seek out a unique and vintage version of it. A one-off.

Let's take capiz shell. Capiz shell is actually the outer shell of the marine mollusk, Placuna placenta, found in the shallow waters off the coast of the Philippines. This mollusk has a flat, semi-transparent shell with a pearlescent appearance. OCEAN BLING.

It has been popping its shiny head up about once a decade since the 1930s. I can certainly see why. A couple hours on ebay rewarded me with these fine examples.

A vintage capiz coffee table from Brooklyn. Add one amoeba shaped piece of glass and voila!


A vintage capiz pendant from Danville, CA. Add one mild electric shock to unlicensed wanna-be electrician/husband and voila!


Pair of vintage Italian capiz lamps (purchased on my iphone from the backseat of my father-in-law's car while driving in Scottsdale). Add 2 shades, 2 glass finials and 2 lucite bases. Voila!

Todd Romano... Oh, MY God!

If there is a god...heaven looks like THIS.

Robert Kime

Robert Kime is one of my top three favorite fabric houses. For good reason. I think I've got my clients hooked on him, too. At least for pillows...

One client just ordered Indian Pear for her river house.


Another Ardagh for her Knole sofa...


They should really think about raising their prices...

I wonder if John Rosselli remembers the first day I ordered Robert Kime. I was so excited. I placed the call to THE John Rosselli. I had really arrived. Home business thriving. Buying the BEST NY has to offer. My kids were quietly playing upstairs as I rang NY. In the middle of my call they loudly bounded downstairs. Charles was naked with his underwear on his head and Estelle was performing pirouettes while singing at the top of her lungs. I had to finish the call hiding in the closet. Shame.

These chairs (pair) were the fruits of my labor...so to speak.

Good Gourd!

Hopper enjoying the vistas from a vintage cloisonne gourd.

BANNER

Could my banner be worse? Maybe it sets me apart. Or not. Decorator with stock banner. Impressive. I'm working on it. My graphics girl had twins. Note...anybody who has twins is suffering and does not give a shit about her friend's banner. She is just trying to stay alive.

Chelsea Textiles

I fell in love with Chelsea Textiles' fabrics when we moved into our current home. I saved up my money to buy 12 yards of Wisteria in Seafoam. Bad name. Good color.

I had curtains made for our bedroom using just a simple Brisby pleat at the top. I put Hartmann & Forbes grass shades behind them and was done. I have never ever tired of them...which is saying a lot for me. When you go classic and buy the best you can't go wrong.


Well, Chelsea gets around. Another client of mine just built this gorgeous entryway with walnut cupboards and honed carrera tops. We picked out this Chelsea fabric (Roya) from their Ottoman inspired collection by Alidad. It cost a small fortune. Seriously, you could feed a family of nine for a week on what this cost. Actually, it probably took a family of nine a week to embroider it.


The repeat was a bit unclear on the sample so my genius seamstress and I ended up piecing the fabric together to create something truly unique.


It was quite a pain in the butt. That was what it was all about, though, wasn't it? BUTTS.

Chinese Rice Paper Paintings

Well, what a wonderful Mother's Day it is. Phil and the kids found this incredible set of 19th century Chinese paintings on rice paper. Phil knows that I am such a sucker for chinoiserie anything. The colors are gorgeous and still very vivid after all of these years. The colors are my favorite...turquoise and coral.


The pictures tell a story of a father and son. The son is either learning how to garden or being lectured by his father about his bad hairdo. Not sure which.


The paper is so delicate. I am always amazed that such fragile items remain so well preserved. It must be due to how they were stored...or forgotten. They came in a cardboard box labeled ASIAN RICE PAPER PRINTS GARAGE. Garage? Honey, could you grab the plunger? It's in the garage next to the Jansen sofa and the venetian chandelier.

This definitely makes up for Phil sleeping in today...

Happy Mother's Day!

Florida circa 1972

Occupational Hazard

This is my husband's LEAST favorite thing to come home to...


He confronts me. "Most women don't redecorate all of the time!"

"Well, Mr. Wedgie Pants, most women don't have this in their basement."


...or this remnant from the beige craze.


Can you blame me?