New Towels

My order of new towels just arrived from Gattle's [(513) 871-4050]. They are made by Matouk; the style is "Milagro". The pile is very thick but not particularly long, because this sort of ornate monogram is better on a shorter pile. I like the simple, narrow selvage edge; when the towel shrinks it is less likely to distort the shape.

I always order bath sheets - I much prefer them to the smaller bath towel . And I order an equal number of hand towels, also monogrammed. Washcloths I order plain. 

New towels need to be laundered before use or they'll leave bits of lint on you as you dry off. The tags say no bleach; no fabric softener; use warm water.

For as long as I remember I have had white, monogrammed towels, but this is the first time I have had a three color monogram! I love it! They are SO very traditional; I am enjoying swimming against the trend tide on this one. I had a simple block-style monogram on a set not long ago and I got bored quickly.

Usually I ask Grace or Beth to help me at Gattle's; they are experts on all things linen. 

Ellen's Entrance Hall

 The new trellis wallpaper and a butterfly painted on the woodwork.

 The stair carpet has a serged edge. Notice the small frog.

 A leaf and a lady bug on the newel post.

This is the third time I have decorated Ellen's front hall. The first version had a simple rose and cream paper selected to coordinate with her existing beige carpet. The second round got a black background Stark carpet with pink, yellow and blue flowers. We then changed the wallpaper to a yellow on yellow stripe, and we added a black tole light fixture.
This time around we decided to ditch that black carpet and replace it with a really beefy sisal runner up the stairs, and NO CARPET at all on the hall floor. And we  had a talented artist paint scattered flowers, bugs and a few dog biscuits  in a pile (she has three annoying pipsqueak animals). There are butterflies painted on the casings and lady bugs mixed in the design. The wallpaper has been replaced with large scale green on cream trellis pattern. We are going to put the black tole fixture over the poker table downstairs, and move the crystal light from the dining room into the hall.
There is a beautiful tall case clock against one wall, and a round Queen Anne table in a corner. Altogether it's a traditional entry in a lovely country home. And now it is lighter, fresher, and more playful.

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.)

Details

The kitchen cabinet with sliding glass doors and twelve labeled drawers.
Napkins inside one of the drawers.

The drawers of this cabinet in my kitchen are all labeled "Napkins", "Flatwear",  "Placemats" or "Et Cetera".  The four "Et cetera" drawers hold platters, bowls, and serving pieces. I asked an artist with pretty handwriting to make the labels, and then I laminated them. The labels are really useful, and I like the way they look. The four top "Flatwear" drawers are lined with silver cloth from Guardian to prevent tarnish. The cabinet-maker supplied the liners, but you can just google "pacific silver cloth".  There are numerous sites that sell custom sizes of inserts or just the fabric, which comes in many colors.

Weathervane

We recently returned from a ten day trip to Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, and one of our stops was at Acadia Weathervanes, in Trenton, Maine, where we purchased this watering can weathervane. We also bought a molded horse weathervane, and a hip roof cupola, with a copper roof. The weathervanes and the roof will be treated  chemically to "age" a greenish-gray patina. The horse will top our old stone barn, and the cupola and watering can will go on the kitchen end of our house. They should arrive sometime next month. I'll need to get the cupola painted white and have it all installed by the roofers, I guess.

There were a number of fabulous designs at this shop. My favorites were the Golden Retriever, the racing bike, the golfer, and the guitar - none of which particularly applied to us. Acadia Weathervanes; 1-800-698-5538; and www.acadiavanes.com

My Kitchen Window Box at the End of Summer

These are the last few days of my summer window box, which I have really enjoyed. I love the colors of white, pink and lavender with our gray farmhouse. It was designed and installed by the talented Roseanne Bohan of Kendrick and O'Dell landscapers. Tracey Meade designed and supervised everything else that is outside my house, and I call her my Garden Guru. She has done a splendid job. Rose and Tracey were just here at my house, and we walked around and reviewed how the plants were doing, and what needed tweaking. Rose will be planting a new window box for me soon for Fall. There will be cabbages and peppers - it will look very festive, I think. 

Rebecca's new master suite

Rebecca and Peter are redesigning their master bedroom and bath by combining it with an adjoining sitting room. The new space will include two large closet/dressing rooms, a sitting area, and a bath. Bookshelves will flank the fireplace; there'll be a Herez carpet in each room, peachy-apricot walls, and fabrics will be yellow, coral, green and a dab of blue. We will be making a yellow upholstered headboard. I want to use a stripe silk for the bedskirt; Rebecca is leaning toward the floral chintz we are using for a chair and Euro square bed pillows.  The house is an old Tudor, with a lovely garden (Rebecca is a master gardener). It will be beautiful bedroom! Maybe it will be finished by Thanksgiving.

The Most Useful Piece of Furniture

Let's say you have an empty apartment: living room, dining room, bedroom, bath and kitchen. Where do you start? What is the first piece of furniture that you should buy?

The bed, of course. The biggest size you can fit attractively in the space, the best quality mattress you can afford, and all the accompanying linens required for your comfort and pleasure. And that's all I'll say for now; we'll get back to the bed at a later posting.

So, okay, what I really want to talk about is the second most useful piece of furniture: a chest of drawers. And if I were to select my favorite of all styles it would be an antique English, mahogany, bow-front chest of drawers. There is nothing cutting edge here; it's a style that has been around for a couple hundred years.  It's also an elegant classic that adapts well to many settings.

And it's versatile. You can put in the entry hall (store gloves, scarves, umbrellas, the dog's leash), or the dining room (store your placemats, napkins and silver flatware). It can anchor a living room, topped with two slender lamps flanking a mirror or painting. (Store coasters, candles, cocktail napkins, barware, games, photo albums.) But you'll put in your bedroom for now. You'll line it with subtly-scented drawer paper. After you move to the condo with the custom dressing room you can try it in the baby's room.

It will be perfect there, too.

The Hanger Project

When I decided to upgrade the hangers in my closet from plastic to wood, I went to Organized Living and purchased walnut shirt/dress hangers and walnut pants hangers with clips. These are sold in packages of three. I didn't count my  clothes, I just bought a couple of shopping bags-full. It looked like a lot of hangers. This will get me started, I thought. I can always go back for more, if I need them.

After four return trips, I started to seriously cull my clothing. I learned to evaluate my wardrobe: Is this garment really worthy of a nice wood hanger, or should I pitch it? Lots and lots went into the give-away pile and I miss none of it.

 The result is a well-organized closet, with shirts hung by color, ranging from light to dark, everything facing the same way, all the pants evenly spaced, all the bathrobes hung in descending order of thickness. 

 This project - purchasing the hangers, taking the clothes off the mismatched plastic hangers, getting that dammed cardboard off the new ones, hanging it all up, finding shopping bags for the give away clothes and all the old hangers, and finally trying to find people who were willing to accept my old plastic hangers (The Wire Hanger People) while pretending to be mildly grateful - took several weeks.

Please Come In

Well, I decided I needed a little needlepoint "Please Come In" sign to hang on my front door for a cocktail party we gave in May. I haven't done needlepoint in years, and I was surprised to find it to be such a pleasantly soothing activity. It has, in fact, a distinctly soporific effect, which may explain why I didn't finish this project until July.

No matter. Our two hundred guests managed to find their way in and out of our house without signage.  

Still, the unfinished sign seemed to call for a door knocker on which to hang it. I found this one at finegardenproducts.com, made by Michael Healy.  It has a dark bronze finish and looks like a Nantucket lightship basket. The florist, Del Apgar, filled it with pink spray roses and ivy for the party. They were stuck into water-soaked Oasis foam, so the arrangement lasted for several days.

The caterer, La Petite Pierre, arranged crab claws and shrimp around an ice sculpture of our old stone barn, and we served flutes of Proseca with a dash of Chambord and a fresh raspberry, because I always enjoy a pink beverage.

There were also pink flower cookies and cicada cookies made by The Bonbonnerie. We had been expecting the cicadas to be swarming, but, happily, they did not arrive in full force for another week.

 

Here are some other ideas for pink beverages:

Watermelon juice and vanilla ice cream: puree watermelon in a blender, pour into a glass over vanilla ice cream. Add a straw.

Pink Champagne. I like Schramsberg.

Strawberry-orange-banana smoothie: put a scoop of ice cubes into a blender; add a ripe banana, and a handful of frozen strawberries.  Cover with orange juice and add two packets of Splenda. Blend.

 

 

Peach

Last year I found incredible peaches at Costco, of all places. I peeled them, sliced them, squirted them with lemon juice, and sprinkled them with brown and white sugars. They were tart and sweet, silken and slick, slippery and juicy. Perfection. This year I discovered a cache at Sam's, having been tipped off to the find by another peach freak. Once again, they did not disappoint. The whole trick is to buy them nearly ripe. They should have that peachy fragrance, and be firm and just slightly yielding to touch. Here in Ohio I haven't bought a good peach in a supermarket in years. So Big Box stores - the new farmstand?
There were beautiful peach roses at Costco yesterday. Here they are in an Old Paris pitcher in my living room with its peachy-coral grasscloth walls.
And, staying in the same color family, I made baked salmon for dinner this evening. So simple. Here's the recipe.

                                                               Citrus Salmon

Salmon

Tangerine and lemon slices

Fresh dill

Olive oil, kosher salt and pepper

Put the salmon on aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Top with a large sprig of fresh dill. Layer thin slices of tangerine and lemon on top. Fold up the foil into a sealed packet. Bake at 400 degrees for about twenty minutes.

Emma's House

Our Office

The New Bedroom Scheme

I have been decorating for Emma and her family (husband, three children) for more than ten years. Now we are redecorating the master bedroom, which was the first project I did for her. Over the years we have decorated every room in her house, and now we are circling back to the bedroom for a fresher, brighter design.

Originally the room had dark green wallpaper, light green and white patterned Stark carpet, and chintz curtains in a yellow, red, pink and green floral pattern. There was bullion trim on the sofa, and tassel trim from Brunschwig and Fils on the valances. The curtains had blackout lining, and there were dotted swiss sheers underneath. That's all gone now. 

We started the process of selecting a new scheme for the room at my office, where we have stacks of fabrics, trims, carpets and wallpapers from which to choose. Emma has an art background, wonderful taste, and is not a bit afraid of color. We played with different color combinations for hours, focusing primarily on a blue and white scheme. We pulled carpet samples - large scale trellis patterns to be paired with a broad stripe in blue and cream silk for curtains, and printed floral linen and small embroideries for upholstery. In the end Emma said, "What about yellow?"  I said, "I like yellow." 

And so, all the blue schemes were scrapped, and we started over with yellow in mind. We have since replaced the elaborate curtains with white Plantation shutters, and installed a nubby yellow and white wool carpet and yellow strie wall covering.

 Fabrics have been selected to recover a small sofa, two club chairs, a large French-style chair, a foot stool, a chair for her dressing room, two large chairs for the hall, a large ottoman for the bath, and two small side chairs. There will also be two silk cloths for round tables flanking the sofa, new lamps, and numerous new pillows. All of this - fabrics and furniture - has been delivered to the workroom with my instructions for reupholstering.

The room also includes antique English mahogany pieces: end tables, a linen press, a chest of drawers. The bed is an Italian, black four-poster, hand-painted with a floral design. It looks wonderful against the yellow walls.

The new color scheme is yellow, white, pink and green, which, now that I think about it, is much the same as the old bedroom. But the emphasis is different, and florals are few. The overall effect will be, I think, fresh and crisp within an elegant and traditional setting.