Wallflowers

Look at all the pretty flowers, not decals but 3D representations. For all styles and all budgets:


High end designer decor from Amy Lau for Kip's Bay House 2009 via pointclickhome.com. This photo really doesn't do the installation justice. Visit wallcovering firm Maya Romanoff to appreciate the achievement of Amy Lau and paper artist, Jo Lynn Alcorn or tour the townhouse now until Sunday, May 17th.


Malin Lundmark painted steel Flower Hooks. $58 for three @ Abitare


Wallflower Wall Decor from Umbra. Available in pink, kiwi, white, and black $37 per set of 25 magnet mounted polypropylene flowers.

This post was written as part of the Hooked on Houses blog fest. Julia is having a Grey Gardens obsession today. Grey Gardens is in the Hamptons on the south shore of Long Island, right at the other end of Suffolk County from Beach House but it's all Long Island, all the time.. I'm also upcycling it to Fifi Flowers Design Decor because it's the eco-friendly thing to do this week AND because she's drinking champagne in Champagne, France.

SIlver Score

Huge and heavy candlesticks. They look more like chrome than silver but they were in the clearout section at Marshall's when I went to buy sheets and so cheap I had to bring them home.

The Last Days of the Empire

Hey. how's this for an ironic design statement. As the glory days of the American Empire are waning (more cars were sold in China last month than in the USA for the first time; this will be a marker in the history classes of future generations) Williams-Sonoma is offering a selection of home decorating items in the British Colonial style. Think Caribbean colonial rather than the Raj, with the exception of this elephant table, pineapples and botanical prints, breezy lemon and palm tree greens. I'm not sure if the white ceramic animal trend is over yet, it's here, there and everywhere at the moment, but I have kind of a hankering for a grape-bearing elephant.

Blown balls

The Awesome Designer would like me to post a clarification, if not an outright correction to this post. Apparently, the balls in question are not crystal but blown glass. That's right folks, and I am happy to tell the internets that the post title should read Blown Balls!

All Fall Down

We weren't planning on taking the tree down until Sunday but it had other ideas. I'd just finished cleaning up from New Year yesterday morning when I heard the crash. No animals were anywhere near the tree when it fell to the ground so we can't blame them and I closed off the room pretty smartly so they wouldn't get cut paws from the shattered ornaments. Lessons for next year: Make sure the tree is centered before you decorate it and keep it well watered; the poor thing was bone dry. Surprisingly though, it had lost hardly any needles until it hit the floor; it looked as fresh and green as did when we dragged it in two weeks ago. The tree ornaments, however, didn't fare so well. In the end we lost most of the hand-blown icicles, all the red glass ornaments and a couple of the hand-painted ones. I was amazed the whole lot didn't smash but we'll still be looking at a couple of dozen replacements next year.


We removed the rest of the decorations at the same time. The house is pretty bare now but the Satellite bowl looks good in its new home.

Incredible Inedible Gingerbread House

I sent out all the Gingerbread House cards to friends with children and a couple of big kids I thought would appreciate them but secretly I really regretted not keeping one for us, I wanted to play with stickers, too. Well, thanks to a kind neighbor we received one of our very own and as I didn't have a five-year old handy I decorated it myself. I don't think you can tell, can you?

Solstice Tree

Sometimes I can be a tad sarcastic about life in the 'bay but I can't fault our local firefighters. Knowing we would miss the annual tree sale while in BA, we gave them a handful of dosh and asked if they'd pick out a 7'-8' tree and deliver it. When I got home there was a huge tree hidden around the side of the house (in case of tree thieves, I suppose) but I didn't realise how fantastic it was until The Guy came home from Sao Paulo and we were able to erect it. Thanks Halesite Fire Fighters.


We finally decorated it this morning. Yes. I know it's leaning left but don't you think that's appropriate in this house? Anyway it's very festive, just don't call it a Christmas tree!

Wildlife at the Bar

Stylish and adorable. Just the thing to go with all that alcohol, although these guys have such haughty expressions I think they might be judging me if I used them for their intended purpose.
Black shot animal glasses with carved pewter heads from Goody Grams via Generate.

Nuts!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Perpetually Merry Modernist Tree

The Richard Babcock designed Possibilitree from DWR: Limited. Only seven were available and they seem to have been snapped up quickly. DWR:Limited is just what the name suggests - a limited run of items, vintage and modern, with a different one available daily for the next three weeks. Enjoy!

White Bouquet

Happy Monday morning!

Calorie-free Gingerbread House

Do you think I'll make a better Gingerbread House with this holiday card and its stickers?


With luck it may end up like this. Lots and lots of luck, that is. And a steady hand. Hmm, don't hold your breath. I think I'll just send them out.
Available from MoMA at a huge discount if you buy any three packs of cards and are a member.

Cake or pity?

Houseblogs.net is having a Home for the Holidays Contest, with a real live prize, so I was flipping through my photo files to get inspiration for this year's holiday decorations when I happened upon this gem from our first end-of-year holiday at The Cool House back in 2004.
No, a two year old did not produce this monstrosity, I did it all by myself. What's worse, I used a kit. Deeply, deeply sad.
The houseblogs competition ends Wednesday November 19 2008, so get yourself over there quick if you want to enter. Me? I'm off to hang my head in shame.

Saturday Morning Quote

Today's prize for the most dumb and/or insensitive remark made in this economic climate goes to ex-"Top Chef" host and cookbook author Katie Lee Joel:

“I love real estate. To me, real estate is the ultimate tchotchke. We have five houses; we like our real estate.”
New York Magazine

Most Americans just have to worry about one house, the roof over their heads, but for Katie Lee Joel houses are just collectibles. You can enable her to pick up another real estate ornament by dropping by her book signing tour (if you're quick you can catch her at the Book Revue in Huntington, NY tonight). And with 81,312 homes being repossessed by lenders in September I'm sure they will plenty for her to choose from.

You want to know what kind of tchotchke Katie owns?


Thanks to Domino Magazine you can view her Manhattan townhouse, where she arranges her smaller tchotchkes


Then changes them (and the chairs) out for something more soothing in brown.
And there's more about her Long Island houses over here.

Pixillated

Suddenly they are everywhere, Pixel designs. But remember where you saw them first - master bedroom October 2004


The Pixel Couch. Designed by Cristian Zuzunaga for Kvadrat, July 2008


Pixel by Habitat bed cover, London, UK, NYT Spring 2008


Pixel by Habitat, UK curtains. Fall 2007.


And I am totally in love with these Tetris tiles, inspired by the video game. Custom made where? The UK of course.

Flat screen convert

We did it, we drank the Kool-Aid, followed the pack, joined the 21st century, whatever you want to call it - we bought a flat screen HDTV small enough to fit in the media center. In our fantasy world it looks something like this photo.
In the real world we don't sit staring at a blank screen so let me tell you this thing ROCKS. The sound is awesome, I can read the titles from across the room and the colors are so dynamic I sat and watched two movies back-to-back before I could get my open jaw to close. So this is what the digital revolution is all about.

Iris

There are hundreds of species of Iris and they one of the most recognised garden plants. Not only beautiful but useful too, the dried rhizomes, orris root, are used in medicine, perfume, gin and as an ingredient in the Moroccan spice mix Ras el hanout.
Iris was the Greek Goddess of the rainbow and the iris comes in hues of blue and yellow, red and even white. The yellow flower is the symbol of Brussels, you see it everywhere there, on public transport, outside hospitals, they even held La fête de l'Iris at the start of May this year, while the fleur-de-lis was the symbol of the French monarchy until the Revolution put an end to that. And the government of Quebec has Iris Linné as its emblem.
These gorgeous blue Iris (Iris Germanica?) came from Trader Joe's on Long Island. They are The Guy's favorite flower, but we don't buy them often because they fade so fast. Luckily, we have this photo and a blog on which to post it, so enjoy!

We're softening up

I seem to have been a little remiss in keeping you up to date with the master bedroom decoration. (You thought I was going to say master bath remodel, didn't you? Now, we're just not going to mention that, ok?)


Some weeks ago on that pillow buying spree at the Pottery Barn outlet out east I picked up a huge bargain and casually tossed it into the cart. It was a super soft 5' x 8' wool rug that we thought could go in our room. As it was 40% off $199 I thought it was too good to miss. And when we got it home and actually walked on it in bare feet, it felt so luxurious that I knew I was going to have to go back and get the larger size to go under the bed.


So last Saturday before the unfortunate lobster incident we stripped the soft top off Beach Car and headed back to Tanger Outlets to get it. Can you imagine my joy when I found out that the 10' x 8' was the same price as the smaller rug we had purchased three weeks before? No, the price hadn't been reduced. They were selling both sizes for the same amount. I don't know why. I don't question the sale gods, I just thank them.
Lovely, silky 100% wool rug that will keep my toes warm when I step out of bed this winter, I love you. And for only $120. Thank you very much, it's perfect.

Modern History

This French Restoration bedroom circa 1823 looks so modern it would fit right into my house today. Part of House Proud: Nineteenth-Century Watercolor Interiors From the Thaw Collection, at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in Manhattan. The exhibition runs until January 25 2009.
via The New York Times

Sale stuff, is it really saving?

I decided things needed sprucing up in a non-power tool, no drama way. So I went sale shopping and got a whole stack of cushion covers last week and all were under $16. Four of them were $5.97 and one was a super-steal $3.97 at Pottery Barn. Funnily enough the one I thought The Guy would really hate is the one he likes the most. Who knew he liked floral prints?


They give a different vibe to the pink sectional, plus they disguise the cat fur, too. Extra bonus - it's certainly cheaper than re-upholstering the whole thing. As I was on a roll I also got around to hemming the bedroom curtains, at last.
Although I'm very pleased with my mega bargains, if I actually dared to add up what I've spent since January on soft furnishings, drapes, pillows, bedding I could probably have afforded a trip to Maui, or at least a relaxing day at a spa somewhere...