Living by Sarah Richardson

Sarah Richardson has been one of my favourite Designers for a very long time. Her attention to detail and ability to bring a warm and very chic space together seems effortless. I especially love her range of furniture and how she creates little spots to read and relax.
This room is just lovely. The detail on the linen chairs is beautiful. I miss that I can't watch her show on TV anymore...it was one of my favourites!!
Sarah has really created the ideal coastal living room here. She always seems to get the colour right and doesn't go too over the top with it all.

I must say though, I do love her calming spaces as well - like this little seating nook in a bedroom. For more on this very talented Designer - visit HERE.

All photos via Sarah Richardson Design

Ness xx

That Door!

It all started for me with this image:


The carved door frame in this New Jersey home had been a gift to previous homeowners by Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Not just any old door, but one with provenance.


Then there was Ruthie Sommer's door, a Pagoda and fretwork topped affair. Love it.


Going back in time to the early 20th c.- Henry Sleeper's Gloucester, Massachusetts home Beauport featured the China Trade Room with, yes, a fabulous door frame. Simple, but fabulous.


And my love affair with Chinoiserie style doors continues. Just look at this door in the dining room of the English House in Atlanta. Philip Shutze was the architect responsible for this glorious example; both door and frame are richly detailed with Chinese Chippendale style carving. Do you think a door like this would look out of place in a 1968 condo...like my 1968 condo??

(Image 1: House Beautiful, Feb 2005; #2, In Style Home, Spring 2007; #3 via Emily Evans Eerdmans; #4 from American Classicist: The Architecture of Philip Trammell Shutze)

Silhouette: The Art of the Shadow

Bear with me and my book reviews. You know that the Fall is like Christmas to those of us who love design books!

One of the more intriguing books to come out this season is Silhouette: The Art of the Shadowby art historian Emma Rutherford. I've long been drawn to these graphic visages, and I'm not alone. Think of Lulu Guinness whose logo includes a silhouette (in fact, Guinness wrote the forward to the book), or Diamond Baratta who introduced a great silhouette fabric a few years ago.

Rutherford traces the history of the silhouette all the way back to Etruscan vases that are considered to be the precursors to this graphic art form. The book explores the silhouette's popularity in 18th c. France and of course the Victorian age (those Victorians were awfully crazy for silhouettes...), and many 20th c. examples are included as well, most notably the provocative work of artist Kara Walker. Rutherford reminds the reader that silhouettes have long been created in many forms besides paper cutouts- paintings and carved and molded pieces were also favorite mediums for the silhouette.

After reading this book, I find that I now have far more of an appreciation for silhouettes; to me, they're no longer just a Victorian novelty. Is it fine art? Well, no, not really, but to dismiss silhouettes as mere decorative trifles would be quite a shame.

Roger Palmer, Lady Dorothy Bradshaigh (c. 1705–1785), life-size head, hollow-cut on blue paper, 9-3/5 inches high, Private Collection


A Jockey at Newmarket, Pringle (dated 1827), painted and bronzed on card, 3-1/2 inches high. Lidstone Collection.


The Hunt, Master Barber, aged 9 (fl. c. 1851), cut-out paper, 5 inches high, Ian Cross Collection.

(All images ©Silhouette: The Art of the Shadow by Emma Rutherford, Rizzoli New York, 2007)

French Fancy...

via Villa Anna

bh&g

Chateau Robert
These beautiful French inspired photos for you all to brighten your day!

Have a lovely one,

Ness xx

Perfection

This 1936 photo of a cocktail room stopped me dead in my tracks. (Yes, we can just stop the post right here. A cocktail room. How utterly fantastic and so very civilized. I'm going to call my living room a cocktail room from now on because it is where the cocktails are drunk in my home.) Everything about this room sums up what I love best: Chinoiserie; a mural; cocktails; a dark floor (perhaps linoleum or some type of composite?) with what appears to be metal inlay.

The mural was painted by Allyn Cox, famous for his murals at the US Capitol. You may also remember my post about the Peacock Mansion here in Atlanta with its Allyn Cox mural in the dining room (see below). How I wish the cocktail room photo were in color, but here is a description of the room:

A corner of a cocktail room in a house in Glencoe, Illinois, with murals by Allyn Cox. The background is pale yellow, the figures are a luminous blue-white, with black touches in hair and shoes. The room itself is done in grey, with splashes of vermilion.

Perfection. Enough said.


The dining room of the Goodrum House (aka the Peacock Mansion) with its Allyn Cox mural.

The Peak of Chic is a Bride!

An Elegant Bride, that is. I'm sure that's news to my family. It's news to me too! Don't know who the lucky groom is either. Even better, the reception is an ode to Dorothy Draper, the Peak of Chic's favorite decorator! Oh, and Antony Todd, another Peak of Chic favorite, designed the event.

Sounds like my ideal wedding. And to think that I didn't even have to do any dating before my walk down the aisle!

(Image from Elegant Bride, Fall 2009, Jonny Valiant photographer.)

Bathroom Renovation Thoughts

From my Dream Home file - unknown

Don't get excited this is not it. If I could wave a wand it would!
Lyn Gardener
We haven't made any progress on our bathroom as yet. Still waiting on our window to arrive, and then we can get started making the bathroom smaller. It is a huge space and we will still have a big bathroom even with us stealing a little for a built-in Laundry and linen press.
With all the rain we have had, and then the sunshine today, I wanted to get out a crow bar or something and start ripping off the old ranch board we have lived with for over 6 years! At least I would feel like something is getting done.
Our bathroom space has a claw foot with shower over, sink, toilet, laundry and cupboard which houses our linen, 11 foot ceilings....and no style!
BH&G
I have been thinking on and off what we will do in there. Until we see what is lurking under the ranch board and the cement sheeting that covers the beautiful Tasmanian oak floorboards (which I hope are in good condition still) we have no idea really where to start. I would how ever like to find the old wall boards that we found in other parts of the house and paint them white, like Layla has done in her hallway. This would save LOADS of money and give the space some texture and a wonderful nod to the history of our old home, "Glenlee". Some beaded board sheets would also look great, like above...don't know yet.
Home Beautiful -I think
As for what we are going to do with the sink and vanity is still in the air. I would really like a double one, but something like an old dresser up cycled with a porcelain bowl on top and a bridge tap would be lovely. Of course there will be a big mirror above it.
I really like the little toile roman blind in this bathroom with the white.


Mabley & Handler

The small subway tile would look beautiful in there.
via The Lettered Cottage
Mic really wants a shower and I tend to agree. I would like to have the bath and shower separate as I am over the curtain sticking to our legs.
Trying to work out how and where we will put it is becoming a hassle. We don't want to move too much plumbing as the budget will blow out for sure.

Brooke Giannetti

This works for me. A clear glass shower screen with the shower heads pointing towards it and no door is something I have had in my head for quite a while now. Like wet room on a smaller scale. I also love how all the walls are plastered, with California One Kote I think, and just the shower is tiled.
via The Laurel Hedge
These twin showers look great...I could have each of our boys in at the same time!
The idea of tiling up to the glass like I mentioned above is another thought. Having the shower heads pointing to the opening wouldn't work in our house. The shower heads are magnificent. If anyone knows of where to get some like these would you please email me?

unknown - sorry

Another suggestion from Mic was to get rid of our old claw foot all together!!! NO! This was one of the selling features of the house. I have always wanted one, and now that we do he wants to get rid of it! It needs help, I understand, but it has history...it will be 100 years old on the 9/4/10...it has the date it was made welded on it!

I also feel that being a four bedroom house, that if we ever had to sell it (I will have to be old and dead!!) just a shower wouldn't do in a family sized home.

Brooke Giannetti
So, what do we do with the underneath part of the bath? We plan to paint the floors like we did in our bedroom, but we need tiles and waterproofing around it. This idea from Brooke was perfect. A 'bath mat' I have named it. Made of tiles, not cotton. So it would look like a rug and function as a splash proof saviour from our kids and their aqua aerobics!

I might even whip out the sketches and some before shots if I am game enough to show you.
That is my thoughts on that!
Ness xx

David Hicks: A Life of Design

One fall book release that I have anxiously been awaiting is David Hicks: A Life of Designby Ashley Hicks. And right about now, many of you may be rolling your eyes and thinking "yet another book on David Hicks?" I realize that the Hicks revival of a few years back has run its course, so why this book?

First, this book has much more biographical information than the previous Ashley Hicks project. That book gave you a glimpse into the life of David Hicks, but this tome really fleshes out the story of how Hicks got his start and created his design empire. Hicks was certainly ambitious (perhaps one could say aggressively so), and when opportunity knocked on his door, he didn't hesitate to make the most of it. Perhaps that's not such a bad thing as we are still talking about Hicks today.

The other point I'd like to make is that Hicks' work went beyond that mod, graphic, zingy look that he is so associated with. Much of Hicks' later work is actually restrained, elegant, and even at times subdued. I think that this phase of his career is often overlooked, and it's one that should be explored by young designers.

Granted, many of the photographs included in this book appeared in Ashley Hicks' earlier book as well as many of David Hicks' own books. However, there are Hicks interiors that I have never seen before, especially those of his early career. If you are a Hicks fan, or if you collect monographs of great designers, I think this book will be a worthy addition to your collection.


The ballroom at Claridges transformed for an event by David Hicks and this then business partner Tom Parr, c. 1957.


A Hicks Parr room from the 1950s.


The Belgravia drawing room of Princess Guirey, designed by Hicks in the 1950s.


One end of the Long Gallery at Baronscourt, the seat of the Duke of Abercorn, c. 1978.

(All images © David Hicks: A Life of Design by Ashely Hicks, Rizzoli, 2009.)

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Want to know a secret? I love mirror. I love mirrored walls, mirrored doors, mirrored screens, mirrored furniture, and mirrors on a wall. (I don't, however, do mirrored ceilings.) Am I a narcissist? Do I like to admire my reflection? Well, no. OK, so maybe a little.

What I'm drawn to most is mirror that has something interesting going on. Think smoked or antiqued mirror or better yet verre églomisé. And mirror that has been incorporated into a room's architecture really pushes me over the edge- in a good way. What I find a shame is that so few artisans or designers are doing unique things with mirror today. (An exception is my friend Ray Goins who is a master at verre églomisé, but that's a post for another day.) Back in the 1920s, 30s and 40s, mirror really was the height of sophistication, and the imaginations of furniture craftsmen, architects, and designers knew no bounds when it came to using it. Take, for example, this door:


Now, a door like this could not have been in the apartment of a milquetoast. Instead, it graced the New York apartment of screen legend Gloria Swanson circa 1928. I can't quite figure out where the door actually is or how it opened, but that's not the point. The mirrored panels were outlined in steel molding, and in the middle was an electric fountain backed with a bright gold niche. Yes, the fountain shows questionable taste, but hey, it was Gloria Swanson. And you have to admit it was pretty creative.


Above is an outdoor ballroom designed by Nancy McClelland, a very talented and prominent designer whose name has been somewhat forgotten through time. That rather rotund fountain, the shell above the door, and the stylized tree were all made from mirror mosaic. This is really pretty fantastic. Gaudy? A bit. Do I want it on my balcony? No. But can you just imagine how this outdoor ballroom looked at night with guests attired in dinner jackets and satin bias-cut gowns, champagne coupes in hand, dancing among the mirrored decorations? Now tell me, when have you seen anyone go to this much trouble lately to do something different?


OK, so this example above might be more to your taste. A bedroom in Paris c. 1936 in which the door and window frames, the radiator covers, and tables were covered in mirror. I'm not so crazy about the commodes (or are they the radiator covers?) with the strips of mirror on them, but that door...perfection. That was some glamorous architecture!


And finally, a dining room from 1941. The mirrored fluted pilasters framed panes of mirror. The diamond inset behind the clock was a nice touch.

If mirroring walls, doors, and radiator covers seems a bit complicated, you could always buy a mirrored screen like the one at top, available from David Duncan Antiques. It's obviously not the type of mirror in which to preen, but it looks pretty smashing nonetheless.

I missed it...but I am feeling better

Ness Lockyer
This is my 402nd post today! I missed it though as I have been so sick the past few days. To add to that the rain has been relentless. This view from our kitchen window is bleak and the puddle of water you can just see beside our shed joins on to this....

Ness Lockyer
argh! This goes to show you how much rain we have been getting lately. We have named this "Loch Ness"...if it keeps raining some sort of sea monster is going to move in I am sure!!

Today is sunny though =0)

I did say I was planningto rearrange our old Medical cabinet if I was feeling ok...well I wasn't. Here it is though in it's blurry glory. I will show you a better shot when the sun is shining (it was raining and dark when I took this) and I have channged the contents about.

I did add some things to it in an attempt to show you something...I felt guilty! Not exactly what I was after...but something at least.
Anyway.....



Marley & Lockyer

I thought you might like to see the French Chair cushion I made with the artwork I done that I showed you last week.
Marley & Lockyer
There is also this newbie to the shop. 'Spring Hummingbird' I have called it...and we actually had some sunlight on the weekend to photograph it! I would like your feedback...if I run a giveaway would you prefer my chair art work as cushions or as prints????
Love to hear your thoughts..and thank you to everyone who left get well messages. I do feel I am on the mend.
Ness xx

What Do You Do???

Warm Whispers
...when you have the flu? I was hoping to re do our medical cupboard I spoke about yesterday and show you today...but I am too sick. So, I am going to show you instead some lovely favourites I have found recently.
This photo above is one of about 12 prints from the renown Sadie Olive that I would love to have gracing our walls. They all have that vintage feel to them which I adore.
Roll And Tumble Press
I need a little reminder- I really do feel terrible!! This has been hand fed into an old letterpress machine and the colours are so calming.
Two Inspire You
This Wedding Boxwood Wreath would look lovely on our front door right now. We are heading into 22 weekends of rain!!? I crave real Spring days.

Red Wren Designs
This little sweetie is made here in Tasmania in Frankford. I love the fact the tea towels are on 100% linen and all hand made.
Eva Julie
What a wonderfully pretty print. It says "Choose Joy" in French and the fact that there are little birds in the tree appeal to me even more.

Well, I am sorry that I couldn't bring you the cupboard post today. I hope to be able to do it over the weekend seeing there is more rain coming. I will see how I am feeling.

I do hope you all have a beautiful weekend.

Ness xx