Maybe this bed?

Art Nouveau bed (1899) by Belgian artist Gustave Serrurier-Bovy at the Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Beat the Thanksgiving stress...

escape to Europe!
Which is exactly what I'm doing. It's part birthday celebration/part make-up for missing Paris in September. We'll be staying in the City of Light and taking the Thalys to Brussels to see the family but there will be no turkey, no pumpkin pie... no cooking at all in fact for five whole days.
You all have a wonderful celebration and lest we forget how far we've come in a year and what we have to give thanks for, I will leave you with this image from Thanksgiving time last year. Enjoy!

Shall we dance?

The pink sectional has gone and we have gained a beautiful waxed parquet floor


Notice the difference from the left side (where the sectional was sitting) to the right - or high traffic area. The unused side has a beautiful rich polish on it which I will redo while the big beast goes from pink to blue.


And while we have this big empty space we can send out the rug for cleaning, move the tables aside and have a sliding competition across the length of the floor... or dance and swirl around to this tune from the master on the wall, M. Jacques Brel

46 yards of fabric

Say good-bye to the big pink sectional. The 12-piece Harvey Probber-designed 1968 chair and ottoman combination that is original to the house is about to get a huge, fabulous makeover. Jacques Brel up there recently got re-framed and has been looking down his nose ever since at the tufts of batting hanging from the torn upholstered corners.


Finally the Awesome Designer decided she I couldn't live with the scratched up, spilt, holey mess it had become and kicked my butt offered to find a suitable fabric and re-upholster it back to its original glory. Over the course of a few weeks she bought me swatches - many, many swatches. She hunted all over the Island and into the City for the right fabric. We started with twenty or so contenders in browns and beiges, pinks, greens and blues - even a plaid


and soon there were more - many, many more - bags of chenilles, stripes and damasks in hundreds of hues. We narrowed down the palette to a range of blues and greens from pewter to denim to seafoam, and the pattern to a simple solid. I asked twitter and facebook pals to vote for their favourite, which helped narrow it down to four front-runners.


There was one fabric, a heavy-duty woven chenille, from the new range of fabrics by Kravet, the Kravetsmart that I loved above all others; it just felt right - soft but really hard-wearing. It's teflon-coated 102,000 double rubs so it should be bullet (or cat) proof.


I had to wait to see all the blue toned swatches but the end I chose the colour I'd always had in mind - a steely-blue that compliments the warm tones of the wood floors, ceiling and beams and the soft shade of the sandstone wall and echoes the bluestone fireplace and patio outside.

And now the fabric- all 46 yards - has arrived, the sectional is awaiting collection and the renovation will soon be underway. In a few weeks I'll be able to reveal the newly upholstered seating area... I can't wait!

By Land or By Sea*... with the help of a glass of Pinot Noir

A couple of creative bloggers and their significant others joined The Guy and me on an international voyage with an American twist at CREW Kitchen* in Huntington Harbor (Halesite) last night. An evening of hilarity and great food with a glass or two of wine (and beer) ensued, followed by a quick trip to Holland and the Scottish Isles back at Beach House. I didn't take my camera with me (bad, bad blogger) so you'll have to rely on the photo essays of the Fabulous Graphic Designer and the Amazing Artist and Author for the fully illustrated version. Did we have a good time? Today I'm making restorative Chicken Soup while my liver has a chance to recover, so yes I think it was simply splendid evening...
*Five course tasting menu - choice of all meat or all fish, or do what the renegades do and mix and match; there's also a wine flight pairing. As always, the staff are super-accommodating - and the crab balls come highly recommended!
*Decor at CREW by the Awesome Designer, Julie Napoleon Brown

The big bed bust or the super kitchen table steal deal

The DWR Annexe sale in Secaucus last weekend had plenty of bargains - there were lots of King-sized beds on sale, including the Matera that I loved, and all these tables that I've previously considered to replace our cafe kitchen table were substantially reduced. Not that we were looking for tables on Saturday but we were there and they were there, so...


This oval Saarinen had a black marble (Nero) top, too dark for our house - and we decided too big


This round Saarinen had the white Carrera top but it was the same size as the present kitchen table - too small


I was leaning towards the Matthew Hilton Cross table but it was only available in bleached oak - too light


The Warren Platner table that I didn't even consider because The Guy had vetoed it a few years back. The same Guy who called me across the room as I was checking the beds out. He had his whole hand on it and I think he would have licked the top if anyone other than a salesperson had come near him. He wasn't going to give it up. What could I say? It's the right period (1966), right shape, unique, classic, eco-friendly (Greenguard Indoor Air Quality Certified) and Warren Platner worked with Raymond Loewy just as Andrew Geller had done. Bonus - it has exactly the right dimensions for the kitchen. SOLD!

Flat caps

The fence is finally up, all the blue plastic chicken wire has been removed and the old gate has a new set of hardware with self-closing latches. Dogs are securely on one side and the landscapers/pool guys/tree people don't have to lean on it to ensure it latches properly. Polly is, I think, a little sad that she can't get out on her own to go and greet the neighbors but I'm relieved. More importantly no small child can get into the backyard unaided.


The minor niggles - design issues really - like having to put in three different heights, 4', 5' and 6' on the west, east, and south sides, and three different styles so they'd tie into existing fence panels, have worked out better in the practical application than I could ever imagine. It helps that the grade rises by a foot in places so the panels are stepped anyway; we're also fortunate you can't see the whole fence from any vantage point either because of all the plantings.


In fact on the east and south sides you can see very little of the fence itself, just the flat caps I chose to top each post. Those things are fiendishly expensive but as The Guy says: The devil is in the design details.

Great Taste

Apparently an upholstered bed will work in a modern, mostly wood room. Check out this gorgeous house for sale in Vancouver


The bathroom is pretty awesome, too


and I'm seriously in love with the kitchen.
Apparently the house was used as a location for a new film that has something to do with a popular TV series. Julia has the details...

Hah!

So with The Great Interview Experiment comes the payback - the bit where someone interviews me. That sorry task fell to the very thoughtful and amusing Ozma whose blog title sums it all up: Hah!. You should check out her blog - you never know who you'll run into in the comments section...

Q&A: The Great Interview Experiment

Neil Kramer of Citizen of the Month is celebrating bloggers by challenging his readers to interview one another. I was interested to take part because I figured it would be a great way to find blogs on topics other than houses and design - and I scored lucky. Meet Nat (and her brain) from Ottowa, an "urban working mom" who runs, writes and quotes lyrics. I asked her seven questions to find out why she communes with the interwebs and what makes her tick. I hope she excuses the final question, I didn't ask it just because she is Canadian...

What made you first want to write a blog?
Honestly, I haven't a clue. Well, the first blog was on LiveJournal. A friend of mine sent me an invite. I don't think I stuck with it for very long -- it was mainly to keep up with my other friends online. I was going through some dark times, I suppose it was an out. A quiet spot to make sense of it.
Now, I blog because I write silly corporate stuff all days and there are editors and people who say "Yes, but we think we want to say this instead... " and did I mention the editors? Blogging me allows me to say what I need to say. (Within limits naturally -- thou shall not get Dooced.)
I write because I don't think I'm all that creative yet part of me needs to create. I don't know how to write music. I can't draw. But once in a blue moon, the words flow. (Waspageddon is an example of not much thought -- just flow.) I just throw words together on a page. Part of me needs to create... so this allows me to do that. And get feedback... god I love the comments.
And where else can I was poetic about Cohen or go on ad nauseum about how much Pearl Jam rocks or that I found this terrific little band called Great Lake Swimmers (maybe they aren't so small anymore). And every one shares their passions and loves... and there is a bit of a dialogue created.

Do you have a specific audience (or person) in mind when you write?
I am completely self-conscious about the blog. I am self-conscious about my writing (less so the corporate stuff.) As a result, I try not to think about readers. If I think about the readers too much I get freaked out. And I try to please. The blog is not so much about my readers, it's about me. (Selfish eh?) It's about me and the words. Maybe it would be a better blog if I thought about it.
That being said, I love love love the comments and the feedback.. and the friends I've mad through blogging. Amazing group...
I have met many bloggers of late, mostly from Ottawa. It forced me to reconcile the blog voice with the real voice. If you'd asked me there weren't much different. But I suppose... in real life I don't have a delete key. And my loud obnoxious voice doesn't come through...
I did Blog Out Loud Ottawa, this summer and found that people were open and receptive. (Although I must admit three of my good friends showed up and I just about died.) I would in fact do it again. Even though it scary and out there. I love bloggers I really do. (Not normally this sappy.) Such is the life on extroverted introvert. It opened up a new world of things I'd like to do...

You're obviously a really busy person. Do you try to set aside a particular time of day to blog? Do you micro-blog?
I actually don't think I'm all that busy. When I think busy I think, for instance, Barrack Obama is busy. Me, I'm just trying to find a bit of work/life balance. (And failing miserably at it this week.) I would be less busy if I had more time. Right now I'm off kilter. I know how to make it better. But it involves starvation which the other members of this household might have an issue with. I want to live the life I've imagine... unfortunately, it will involve a tonne of hard work, and yes, a lot of time. I read somewhere about an author writing her first book between 4 and 6 a.m. because it was the only time she had. That's busy.
All this being said. I don't want the blog to feel like something I have to do. Often it's just a sentence or something happened. Or a song that I adore. A great night with a friend or time with The Boy. I write when I feel like it. The goal is to write three times a week. (Embrace the contradiction.) Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. But if I have things happening I can't blog about going on (like work for instance), I find it hard to write anything at all. (Hence the drop in frequency.)
I do micro-blog: @natsbrain on Twitter -- micro or macro I tend not to do much of either with regularity.
I am however a total Facebook junkie.

When you read blogs do you look for those written by people with similar experiences to your own or are you looking to escape your world?
Wow. Good question. A little of column A and a bit of column B. I don't think I read blogs to escape, it's like reading I read the blogs to catch up. Hilly moved to Florida or Allison has squirel issues. I get vested in their lives. Then again, some blogs I read just to read.
This spring I ran a 200 mile relay with a group of runners. The head organizers were from the heart of McCain country in Arizona. I'm a bleeding heart liberal (small l) from Ottawa. In their books, I'm sure I nearing the communist end of the spectrum. Running and blogs brought us together. Suprisingly it worked and we had a really great time. I'm not sure where else I'd meet people like that. So you don't have to think like I do but common goals and activities make it easier to understand where people are coming from...Maybe that's why I love the running blog. (I used to have a running blog but it's been on ice while I heal my heel.) Blogging has allowed me to meet people I would never every meet otherwise.
My favourites are usually really good creative writers. The writers I'd like to be. As it turns out, Mayberry Magpie (on my must reads) work in the same field and both run. There is Stella who has a boy too. Then there are any number of people I read for various reasons... they make me laugh, they inspire, even if, in real life, we'd have nothing in common. I love the great story tellers.

What three things make your day better?
I suppose The Boy, The Man don't count eh?
So things:
-- Great big velcro hugs from The Boy. I want to carry that feeling in a pill, I could take whenever it all gets too much.
-- iPhone, people and music in one. Stupid how much I love that thing.
-- Coffee. Really. I love coffee.

Are you running to or away from something?
Depends on the run. Sometimes I run to run. Sometimes it's an excuse to listen music really loud on my earphones.

Big Leonard Cohen fan or huge Leonard Cohen fan?
Does a size 14 make me big or huge. ;) I'd say big. Odd fact, Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man is the only CD I have in common with my grandfather. We both related to him on a very different levels. Let's sit in that thought...

Mid-November 2009

Back yard at peak fall colour


Willow Pond


Bay Crest Beach Association

Head of design?

I am seriously re-thinking The Guy's role in the design/decor decision-making process. Yesterday I took him to look at the last of my selection of walnut beds.... and we came home with a table. The table is gorgeous, and of course it was on sale, but I swear that when I first suggested it eons and eons ago he rejected it out of hand - this weekend he has to have it. Meanwhile he's still holding fast to that upholstered bed. Who is this person and what has he done with my man?
No details on the table until it's delivered - which will probably be mid-week. Until then, how about a nice Fall photo?


Hermes, who cares not a whit for design, is on the fence.

Santa Monica Evening

The quintessential Santa Monica beach experience in four shots:


Santa Monica Pier


Filming an Italian movie on the beach - the girls in red swimsuits, the boys playing volleyball and all Frankie Avalon look-alikes - Baywatch with a touch of sixties teen Beach Movies


One of a whole salad of vegetable-mimicking seaweed


Dipping toes in the cold Pacific ocean
Have I mentioned how much I love the west coast?

Getty Museum

With all the reupholstery/renovation/yard/maintenance drama that's been happening on the home front I completely forgot to post some of the photos from LA where we ended up after our trip to Palm Springs. So, with minimal commentary, this is what we packed into 4 hours one afternoon...


The breathtaking architecture that is the Richard Meier designed Getty Center


The juxtaposition of rough and smooth surfaces


The Robert Irwin designed Central Garden at The Getty Museum - a growing maze in a water-filled arena. Stunning!


More hard/soft shapes and textures


Feeding my Magritte obsession


The plaza at the end of the day.
That's just the exterior, the Getty collection is just as stunning - as anyone who saw last week's Project Runway 6 will attest to. More from California tomorrow.

Homes for the Holidays

I couldn't leave the whiney, moaning post up front any longer - on to brighter, more positive topics. The wonderfully creative author and painter Nadine Bouler of Bouler Design Group dropped in to Beach House yesterday bringing an invitation to the opening of her latest show Homes for the Holidays at The Ripe Gallery on December 5th.


Her last show explored houses as emotions and the new works are also house-themed. The paintings are intricate, atmospheric, whimsical in a good way, with just a hint of danger. Almost as soon as I saw the butterfly landing the aqua villa I said "I should ask you to paint this house", and as simply as that a project was born. I can't wait to see what Nadine has in mind for Beach House - which angle she'll choose to portray, if it will be a night painting and which animal or insect will find it's way into the frame. Whatever she decides I know we'll be able to see in it far more than just a house... which is, perhaps, just a little disconcerting.

Iron Moan

Yesterday at twilight I dug up the iron form around the rear driveway, bent it into a small hoop and hauled it to the trash collection point. Today is plastic and metal recycling day and I'm hoping it gets picked up, otherwise it'll sit there until the regular garbage collection. Even after five years of separating the trash I'm still not sure what gets recycled where. In Europe we had a list, a long long list and woe betide you (in the form of big fines) if you put the wrong garbage out or left a yoghurt pot unwashed in the regular trash. But at last I knew what went where on which day!
Of course the solution to my dilemma was to leave the freakin' form where it was but frankly I'm fed up falling over it (when I don't remember to carefully step up) every time I walk the dogs. In 2004 the owner's son had mentioned we should get the landscaper to knock it back in and I'd hoped he'd volunteer or magic elves would take care of it, but that never happened. Fast forward five years to when I told the landscaper we were resurfacing the drive and he suggested I get the asphalt guy to rip it out. Nope that didn't happen, either!
As I walked up the drive with the dogs in the late afternoon there was a chill in the air and I knew the warm weather we've had this week wouldn't last. If I didn't do something about it right now it would have to wait until Spring. That was the breaking point. I fetched a shovel and took all my frustrations out on 50 feet of metal. Why was I so miffed? The lovely deep asphalt you see in the photo that we had laid a couple of weeks back, on a sunny day with no rain in the forecast so it would have time to cure, well the weather guys got it wrong and it poured and poured, leaving puddles of sealant and exposing holes in the drive - in general it's a big gray mess. Actually it's a big gray mess covered in leaves and acorns and it will stay that way until March when the asphalt guy will come back and redo it. Until then I can look forward to it being covered in several inches of snow and impenetrable ice... and of course I have that lovely photo to remind me what it will look like when it's finished.

Unique Animal

The Guy nixed half the bedroom inspiration. I had done all the prep work, all he had to do was tell me which of the three options he liked the most. I don't think he quite understood his role in the mission to redo the master bedroom/bath. Or maybe he decided "master" meant he was in charge of decorating decisions? I don't know, but he took one look at the George Nelson sconces and said "Huh? Yeah. NO"! A totally visceral reaction that was so loud he had the sales guy and two customers chuckling away. I was unamused. He then showed zero enthusiasm for any of the gorgeous walnut beds I'd been lusting after and eventually, after looking at and lying on a zillion beds in a few thousand stores (ok I exaggerate but it was a long day) he pointed at one across a room and said "That one".


"That one", the Hoffman at Room and Board, appeared to be everything he always said he hated about furniture - especially bedroom furniture. Firstly it was upholstered - he has allergies and we have a bunch of kitties that leave fur everywhere. Wooden and leather furniture you can wipe down with a cloth but fabric? All traces of dust or kitty have to be removed with a vacuum or roller-ball. Every. Single. Day. Then there's the style - it has buttons. The Guy hates trim of any kind and that includes buttons. I decided he was so hungry he must be hallucinating so I dragged him off to Mercer Kitchen for some lunch, where, I swear, he spent 90 minutes talking about the damn bed. I have to admit his reasoning was good - there was already a lot of wood in the room and sitting up to read in bed would be more comfortable.


We went back after lunch to see if his feeling for the bed was true love or a mere infatuation. The temptress had more tricks in store - we he could choose the upholstery, including the retro inspired fabric above and the legs and it fitted with the Grove night tables, a pick of mine that he likes. When he found a mattress that felt like his beloved Swissflex he was sold; apparently he has never felt like this before. Not even the salesman's remark that Long Island is a unique animal and we'd have to pay extra shipping to have it delivered to the Incorporated Village deterred him. He has to have this bed. Is this a mid-life crisis? Should I be worried?

* Hi to all Homedigz visitors. All other visitors, go check out the Thanksgiving Blog Party over there

An Attractive Nuisance

According to the source of all legal stuff I need to know (and a shedload that hadn't even entered my realm of consciousness), fences fall into this category of tort law. I do think it's less of a nuisance than before - to get in now you'd have to scale the sheer 5' panels to get in the back yard, there is a spring latch so landscapers/tree guys/pool guys can't leave the gate open, plus there are no stray nails or screws to tear delicate skin. And the gate has a puzzling pattern of reinforcing strips that some may consider attractive - is that a coat-hanger or a Christmas tree? On the other hand, has all the nasty blue plastic wire been replaced? Not yet. But by next week three-quarters of the yard will be secure. And the ugly metal fence on the north side? Well, that's still under discussion...

Design Rules Winner

As all the design tips and comments, including the last, which was obviously born of a scarring design experience, seemed worthy of winning the book giveaway, I decided it would be fairest to randomly pick one winner.


Using an olive green card (great color for Fall) and a humble biro (groundbreaking design), I enlisted the help of The Guy to draw one name from the pile.


The winner of the Elaine Griffin's manual to successful stress-free decorating Design Rules: The Insider's Guide to Becoming Your Own Decorator is... drum roll, please...


Napoleon Woman. Congratulations! Email me at modernemama at modernemama dot com and I'll pass your details to the publishers Gotham Books/Avery | Penguin Group USA. And thanks to all who took part.

Fixtures and Fittings

I ordered a few fixtures and fittings for the master bath this afternoon. Actually, I think they are all fixtures because we'd have a hard time unhooking them from the wall if we ever moved - things like faucets, shower heads, shower base, tub spout, medicine cabinet, towel warmer, sinks and a magnifying mirror. I've always wanted a wall mounted magnifying mirror that swivels and now I can finally have one. Of course there will be arguments about how high to place it so it serves its purpose as both make-up and shaving mirror but my argument will be: The Guy can bend or stoop to shave, I can't jump and apply mascara at the same time.


After a lot of soul-searching we've picked out the cabinets. I still lust after the $3600 chocolate leather and chrome floating vanity with the $1400 porcelain top for the bathroom but even with the $20% discount that's a lot of money and because of the way the plumbing is laid out the waste pipe and connector to the vanity in the dressing room would be visible - not a high-end look! That damn wastepipe also meant no drawer vanity was going to fit, so, taking a suggestion from Design Rules* I headed to the kitchen cabinet department at Ikea where I found a solution: Nexus Brown/Black sink and drawer cabinets.




The total cost of a 42" and 72" vanity is less than half the cost of the countertop so that frees up the budget for Caesarstone tops in Misty Carrerra, Pebbles or Dusty Stones. And there should be enough for some blinging cabinet hardware, too. So, if you had to choose, which of these lovely but expensive handles would you pick to go with the tiles and other fixtures?


Schaub Bistro pull in Espresso/Polished Crome. Kitchen Designer Paul Anater mentioned another Schaub handle on his blog and after I'd recovered from the pricing shock I did as he suggested and poked around their site where I found this italian-influenced beauty at half the price.


Haefele center Handle in Polished Chrome. I love the hammered finish but it is almost twice the price of the other option. Still it's a small space so I wouldn't be going over budget either way.
BTW, these are both 5" handles - not one giant handle and one for wee elves...



* Contest to win a copy of the decorator's lifesaver ends Sunday 11/8. Don't miss out!