Guest Blogger - Maria From Dreamy Whites

hi all. The very sweet Maria from Dreamy Whites has been kind enough to do a guest post for me while I have been very unwell (which is why I have been missing). I know you will enjoy this beautiful post.....

Hello Marley & Lockyer Readers!

My name is Maria, from the Dreamy Whites blog.

I first would like to thank Ness for inviting me to guest post on her beautiful blog.

It is a real honor to be here.

She is one busy girl, and I was happy to fill in for her.

I know Ness loves linens just as much as I do. So I thought I would do a post on how I arrange linens in my bedroom.

I have an obsession with linens. Especially anything that has a monogram on it or might have the word french attached to it.

I recently purchased some beautiful linens from

Ness's store Marley & Lockyer.

I love them and I think they mix nicely with my vintage linens.

I thought I would first share a few photos of the french inspired pillow slips I bought from the talented Ness.

I love this vintage french wine label that Ness added to this slip.

I also love the little M & L tag she attaches to her designs.

I ordered this La ballon pillow as well.

These pillows are made from a crisp white cotton.

I love how bright of a white the cotton is.

Ness also made the 1902 pillow.

She dyes them herself to resemble vintage feed sacks.

The color comes out beautiful.

I think Ness does an excellent job dyeing her pillows. If you notice in this bottom photo, that is a picture of a grain sack from the 1880s

Ness's pillow slip matches the antique grain sack perfectly!

Can a girl ever have too many pillows?

I don't think so!

Speaking of grain sacks...

I don't think you could ever have enough of these either.

They are one of my favorite things to accessorize my home with.

I discovered grain sacks about 7 years ago.

I have been hooked ever since.

You can use them for everything.

The list could go on forever......

For now I will share with you how I use them in our bedroom.

This photo and the above photo were shot looking into a mirror in my bedroom.

Not only can grain sacks be used to make beautiful pillows,

but they can be used as a runner for the edge of the bed.

The bed below is done up with mostly vintage linens.

My sisters made all of my pillows.

I am so lucky to have sisters who will sew for me!

My husband thought the Anthropologie duvet was a little frilly.

So to soften it,

I added a vintage monogram sheet.

Then I put a grain sack on the end of the bed.

Then to add a little bit of dimension I added a cotton throw, that has a modest ruffle.

Then to top it off a french basket full of lavender pillows, to the foot of the bed.

I have a real collection of lavender pillows, my sister made all of them.

I have had those lavender pillows for over 4 years and they still are just as fragrant as the

day we made them.

My bedskirt I have on this bed is also from Anthropolgie. This bedding is a bit modern,

however I love the mix of modern and vintage linens.

Thank you Ness for asking me to guest post on your beautiful blog.

You are such a talented girl, and it was a real honor to be here.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Take Care,

Maria

Dreamy Whites

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Thanks again Maria. You know how much I love your house and I could just curl up in that bed with all of your vintage pillows. It would have been the perfect spot for me to recover! Thanks for showing us your room. You are a sweetie.

I will be back on board tomorrow for posting as usual...Ness xx

Tiffany Taste

Robert Rufino was in town a few days ago as part of a SCAD Style panel discussion, and I'm so disappointed that I was under the weather and couldn't attend. His appearance did, however, remind me of that great House & Garden article in which Rufino's small but supremely stylish Manhattan apartment was featured. Of course, the most memorable part of his home were the beautiful menswear fabrics used, hardly surprising as Rufino has been named to the International Best-Dressed List on more than one occasion.

But the other thing that struck me at the time- and that still captivates me today- are all of Rufino's accessories from Tiffany. It makes sense, really, as Rufino is the former Vice President of Creative Services for the retailer. Oh sure, when I worked at Tiffany's in my mid-twenties, I was able to purchase "stuff" at discount. I had 12 place settings of my formal china by the time I was 23, and I still have some discontinued Peretti pieces that I purchased during my Tiffany days. But the problem was that my style at the time was not as defined as it is today, meaning that certain pieces were simply over my head. That, and my meager salary would only accommodate a purchase here and there. When I see Rufino's cache of Tiffany treasures, I think "Why didn't I think to purchase that while I was there?" or "How come I didn't even know we sold that piece??". Really, I think that Rufino purchased (or perhaps borrowed for the shoot) some of the best- and most iconic- Tiffany pieces like...



Everyone's favorite Bamboo flatware. Thank goodness that someone in my family (my sister) has Bamboo, especially since it's a pattern that has been put out to pasture. I have also always loved the Peretti thumbprint cups and that Teardrop carafe (both still available, thank the Lord), but didn't purchase them while I had my employee discount- dumb move on my part. See those monkey candlesticks? I never knew we sold those until I saw this article. Maybe monkeys aren't big sellers here in Atlanta.





I was lucky enough to receive two Peretti orchid pots as gifts, one in black (like Rufino's) and one in cream. They're some of the most handsome orchid pots I've ever seen, but for whatever reason those got discontinued too. I better take good care of mine.



A better view of that carafe. And another classic Tiffany piece is that sterling flower pot that Rufino employed as a vase.



That simple decanter is none other than that designed by Van Day Truex for Baccarat. Now this decanter has been on my wish list for years. Had I known who Van Day Truex was at 22, I would have snapped one up in a heartbeat- meager salary be damned! And that the crystal ice bucket is from Tiffany as well.

So the moral of the story is...if any of you work at a shop or showroom, take advantage of that employee discount! Don't go broke, but use it while you can!

(Photos from House & Garden, November 2004, Oberto Gili photographer)

The Old Lady

I've been called an "old soul" on more than one occasion. And I suppose that it doesn't come as a shock to me. After all, my favorite movies are those from the 1930s and 40s, something which I write about on a semi-frequent basis.






And how many thirtysomethings do you know who spend their free time researching decorators like Elsie Sloan Farley, someone whose heyday was eighty some odd years ago?





As a child of the 1980s, I have a fondness in my heart for those designers whose work epitomized that era, namely Mark Hampton and Mario Buatta. (And by the way, you must, and I mean must, get the new Mark Hampton book . It's absolutely wonderful, much like the man himself.)





I'm old enough to remember the outrageously glamorous days of television, shows like Dallas, Dynasty, and the short-lived Paper Dolls. Or perhaps I should say the glamorously outrageous days...




I was listening to Bobby Short as a teenager- and that's automatic old soul status right there.




I have- and wear- Belgian Loafers.



Really, the list could go on. But something happened yesterday that has made me rethink this old soul status. What happened, you ask? Just look at what I got in the mail yesterday:





Seriously? An AARP card? Belgian Loafers aside, I'm not that old. What's next? Geritol? Perhaps I should rename my blog: The Chic Has Peaked!

(Image of Mark Hampton from Mark Hampton: An American Decorator by Duane Hampton, Rizzoli Publishers, 2010)

Sunny Side Up

A lot of people feel that the sunburst mirror has been done to death, and I don't necessarily disagree. Yes, they're a tad ubiquitous right now, and perhaps if I had one I might give it a rest in storage for a while. But just because the sunburst mirror is on a few "out" lists right now, it doesn't mean that the motif itself is stale. That radiating design is so pleasing to the eye that it would be a shame to throw the baby out with the bathwater. I mean, you wouldn't deem the mantel clock at top to be passe just because the pendulum is graced with that sunburst face. And let's face it, Elsie de Wolfe's Schiaparelli cape, below, is drop-dead chic, don't you think?







This sunburst headboard is a bit wild and just the slightest bit tacky (at least in today's world), but you can't deny that it was awfully, um, theatrical. (A display room at B. Altman & Co. designed by Robert Reid MacGuire in 1928.)

How about sunburst wall appliques? These were auctioned off at Christie's a few weeks ago, as was this:

A French ormolu and glass plaffonier-form chandelier. Now this is drama for your ceiling.

But nobody, and I mean nobody, did sunbursts like Tony Duquette. I guess you could call him the Sun King!



Sunbursts on the Duquette Pavilion, San Francisco


and on torcheres at Dawnridge.

(Top photo by Jennifer Boles; Schiaparelli cape image from Shocking! The Art and Fashion of Elsa Schiaparelli; B. Altman bedroom from Selling Good Design: Promoting the Modern Interior; Duquette photos from Tony Duquette)

SO Interesting....

The amazing Atlanta Bartlett has just released her new 'Look Book' for her store Pale & Interesting. It just evokes Spring and even though we here in Australia are into our Autumn, I can still pick out some images that could have been made with our climate in mind too.

Lets have a peek...
This group is giving me loads of inspiration for the Miners Cottage makeover. As my client is a Man, I am loving the industrial feel of that light as well as the leather sofa...and the cupboard is just amazing. I have some hooks on an old palette board like the one shown to go in the kitchen of the cottage.

The pressed tin had me immediately and I love the rust showing through. I don't think there is anything in Atlanta's Look Book that I didn't like.

Judge for yourself HERE.

Ness xx

all images via Pale & Interesting

Longing for Linoleum

I'm dying (seriously, dying!) to use linoleum somewhere in my condo. But first, let's get something straight. When I say linoleum, I do not mean that cheap vinyl stuff that graced the kitchen floor of your first post-college apartment. I want honest to goodness linoleum. And, I want to have the linoleum cut to create an interesting pattern. If you look at old photos from the 1930s and 40s, you'll find the greatest linoleum floors in all kinds of colors and patterns. There were reds, grays, blues, and yellows. Greek key borders. Inlaid stars. Geometric patterns.

So where would my linoleum floor go? I've got two options: my entryway or my kitchen. Seeing that my entryway is small, perhaps that is where it will go. It would be a vast improvement over the ceramic tile that's there now. And I would probably go with a black and cream linoleum. You just can't beat those neutrals. And the design? Ah, that's the hard one to nail down.

Now, if this was a really proper post, I would have researched all of the current offerings in the world of linoleum (Marmoleum, anyone?), figured out how expensive a project like this might cost, and determined how difficult it would be to find someone who could actually execute it. But I didn't. And that might be a good thing because I haven't found anything to dash my hopes to someday have my neat linoleum floor.


A c. 1930 master suite dressing room originally decorated by Thedlow. With a floor like that, no wonder the rest of the room is understated (understated in a chic way, of course.)


William Pahlmann decorated this model room for Lord & Taylor with a geometric linoleum floor.


In the early 1940s, House & Garden suggested using all kinds of linoleum cutouts to create unusual floors, including this constellation design. This would not be feasible today, but the constellation idea might be great for painted floors.


I can't confirm if this floor is linoleum or some other kind of composite, but the simple outlined design might be an option for my entryway.

Weekend Dreaming...

image unknown - sorry

This weekend just past I spent a lot of time in our kitchen as both of our boys have been ill, so no bargain hunting for me. I have been fiddling around in there trying to get the space organised. Re-doing pantries and the like...boring stuff. I did however spot some gorgeous kitchens and dining spaces which had me dreaming and thought I would share with you.

This one above is just beautiful and I am sorry, I cant remember which blog I seen it on. If you know can you tell me please? The window is amazing and I love the vintage linens draped over the table.

image from google-ing 'kitchen images'

This would have to be one of the most beautiful cooking nooks I have seen in a long time. I love the tile, the lighting, the bench tops, cabinetry and the oven which is like the one we have on our wish list for when we re-do the kitchen...sigh!

oh well, I did do lots of baking though - there's something!!

hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Ness xx