Rebecca's new master suite-almost finished

Last fall when Rebecca and Peter began remodeling their master bedroom we planned to paint the walls a peach color. Well, the thing about peach paint is that it can look awfully fleshy. Not so good. Wallpaper, on the other hand, especially a strie or a grasscloth is wonderful in peach. But plain old flat paint, no. So we switched to yellow paint, which is always a winner. As you can see, they purchased lovely Persian carpets. This one is in the sitting area, and it complements the new coral chenille sofa and comfy green club chair (with a swivel mechanism). The new cabinetry has bookshelves (she's starting to collect vintage gardening books and Staffordshire cottages). There are two window seats with chintz cushions (a Cowtan and Tout fabric of wire baskets of flowers), and a black tole tray beautifully handpainted by her mother as a coffee table.
Rebecca was adamant about not wanting to block her windows. She only wanted a valance. This one is silk, with a knotted rope trim at the header, and a two inch fringe at the bottom. We recovered her chaise in the same chintz as on the window seat in the adjoining sitting room. There will be three "Euro" square pillows in the chintz on the bed, later - still to be completed.
The TV is on an articulating arm. It can be pulled out from the wall and viewed from the bed. The TV and fireplace are across from the coral sofa.
More chintz for two pillows on the coral sofa. Still no paintings for the walls, yet.
Rebecca's room is almost finished.

Collecting

Some collections are useful, and some are mostly decorative. My collection of cast iron, flower basket doorstops dating from around 1900 serves no useful purpose anymore. But I really enjoy seeing them all lined up on these three shelves. This is on a stair landing heading down to our exercise room. Many people, when they first see the doorstops are very puzzled. "What are those?", they ask me. 

My theory about collections is that you should determine where you want to put them and ONLY buy enough for that space. Do not be tempted to expand. It just looks obsessive. So if I buy any more doorstops they will have to fit neatly in this space. I will not be adding more shelves. Most full blown collections - which I could define quantitatively as more than three, and subjectively as more than you need - look best when grouped together. Doorstops also look good marched up a stairway, say one or two on each tread. 
When I moved into this house a couple years ago I took all my 1930s quilts and piled them on this yellow arrow back Windsor bench. In a sunny window, where they will surely fade. I really need to get that 3-M film that reduces sun fading applied to my windows. I used to have my quilts hung on walls, draped across sofas, hung behind a bed, etc. I'm sort of over that now. I just like this stack on a bench.
This table holds my collection of vintage silver trumpet vases. There are at least twenty of them, and I use them all the time. It's a lot of polishing, but so worth it. If someone sends me flowers I take them out of the dopey glass florist vase and rearrange them in my silver vases. 

I once knew someone who collected vintage glass reamers. You know the dish-shaped tool with the cone thingy in the center used to juice lemons and citrus? I am sure these objects are useful, and they may have a certain - limited - aesthetic value. But would you really want HUNDREDS of these? This person had them stored in boxes by the hundreds.

 Just say no.

Susie's Bedroom

Susie's new bedroom.
A Roman shade with an embroidered banding in the new bath.

The cream silk curtains have a valance with a picot-edge trim and linen sheers.

Susie's bedroom was a complete re-do. We made a new headboard - with one of my all time favorite fabrics (Travers'  "Wolcott Woven" in blue), and a blue and cream silk check bedskirt with a sweet little banding at the hem. There's an antique mahogany chest of drawers on one side of the bed and a white, Parson's-style desk from West Elm on the other side. The walls are pale, icy-blue paint (a custom mix color), the curtains are ivory silk, and the carpet is a lively stripe in coral, yellow, blue, gray, green and white. The pillows and the desk chair are absolutely my favorite details in this room. The French chair has a hand-painted silk fabric on the back (butterflies and ribbons), and the three "Euro" square pillows are embroidered silk polka dots. There is a mix of bright whites and creams and ivories in this room - a trick that keeps the room elegant and not stark. Susie loves the colors, the crispness, and the luxury this room provides. We are still looking for just the right piece of furniture to go at the end of the bed (across from a wall-hung flat screen TV.)