Snow Day 2 of 3

January 8, 2010UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

When Megan and I had first reconnected through blogging, I emailed her an image of these Fornasetti tables and said, “Don’t you want these for that beach bungalow?” And she emailed back, “Someone would just be playing Polly Pockets on them.” To which I replied, “That’s why I’m not getting them; at my house it would be Legos.” The fact that here they sit (as I said they would not) covered in Legos (as I said they would) shows that I know my children better than I know myself.

In other news, this Waterworks faucet is discontinued. However, the Chicago showroom was incredibly helpful and sent three other options for my powder room that will likely flounder for another year. (Are you noticing the twin reflected in the mirror above? Why didn’t I keep the whole feature? We’ll never know.*)

I’m quite sure today will be equally scintillating. Perhaps more so as the boys are insisting we leave the house. Had I not watched the last of the six Thin Man movies that I recorded New Year’s Eve I might put up a fight. As it is, we may indeed have to head out. For Piero’s sake if for no others’.

* Great thanks to Things That Inspire who let me know that this home, which was featured in Veranda in the July/August issue of 2007, is on the McAlpine Tankersley website here. The photo is by Peter Vitale.

Post Script: Mr. Blandings informed me, while never taking his eyes from the football game, that William Powell grew up in Kansas City (he was born in Pittsburgh.) Apparently the elder Mr. Blandings met him at a golf tournament and declares, “He was a very nice guy.” Do you think he saves these things? I mean, we’ve been married eighteen years and nary a peep about William Powell. Who knew?

Snow Day 1 of 3

January 7, 2010UncategorizedDesigners, Vintage DesignMrs. Blandings

The boys went back to school on Tuesday then were home yesterday for inclement weather. The snow did not start in earnest until afternoon, but the temperatures were (and are) in the single digits. Frankly, I’d rather be inside anyway. And likely will be for the next two days. Say hello to school in June.

We did go to the Nelson-Atkins in the morning and sort of kicked around. The youngest Blandings had made a poor choice for breakfast and was “starving” but has somewhere gotten the idea that one has to whisper in the museum, so with the large rooms and high ceilings it was hard to hear the complaining.

When we arrived home, peeling off coats and hats and gloves, my eldest asked me why I don’t like to play Wii with them and I said, “You know, I don’t really like to mess around with electronics.” He responded with a bug-eyed double take.

It’s true that toward the end of Christmas break I was clicking around on the computer every now and again. I forget about things for a while then they occur to me and I will go on an interested but half-hearted quest.

One day started with a quick look for sconces to flank the portrait of Mr. Blandings, Jr., then morphed into a peek into painted French dining chairs and landed squarely with a perusal of Gio Ponti.

I blame Thomas O’Brien for my Ponti pining as the pottery in his apartment was my first glimpse of such treasures. Though I hear he is a nice guy, and not at all a cad, I don’t think he feels a bit of responsibility for introducing me to this wickedly enchanting substance. As if I needed another inky black something to covet.

There is a wonderful, wonderful vase (top) on 1st dibs, the perfect piece to begin any collection. Delightful, indeed, is Ponti’s porcelain for Robert Ginori as well, but these tiles! Oh, how they sing.

All images courtesy of 1st dibs; Gio Ponti pieces seen here can be seen here.

Find Your Marbles

January 5, 2010UncategorizedDesigners, Mrs. B DIYMrs. Blandings

Courtney Barnes at Style Court did an entertaining series on magazine and tear sheet storage a while back. Yep, about six months ago. Or so I thought. It was actually a year and a half ago. Yes, a year and a half ago I read Courtney’s posts and thought, “I need to get on that.”

My magazines were stacked on shelves and as I pulled and replaced them they were all a jumble. The tear sheets are in horribly mismanaged files. Some are actually in folders by the subject that inspired the ripping, “Curtains,” “Product,” “Fabric” and the like. There is a broadly named and useless file brimming with treasure entitled, “Whole Rooms.” Another over-full and wobbly folder contains dozens of vintage features. Nonsense.

So I used a little of my Christmas money to buy lucite magazine holders from CB2 for the current magazines, which has left just the tear sheets to corral.

Thomas Britt covered many books on his Chinoiserie bookcases with cream-colored paper and gilt-edges stickers, but it was his engaging story of learning to marbleize paper as a teenager that has been bouncing around in my head for weeks.

Then I saw this. Stumbling upon things that have not caught your eye before is one of the advantages of poor organization. This charming shelf belonged (and may still belong) to Hitch Lyman, a garden designer and artist, who covered “treasured garden volumes with marbleized paper.” This image appeared in House Beautiful in February of 1998; the shelf may look the same today, though I have no way of knowing. Regardless, I don’t think I have seen anything as charming in months.

But. I’m not a girl with a lot of time on my hands. I can’t go around willy-nilly covering books in my office. And yet. I do need binders. Binders to hold the tear sheets. In fact, I need several, which is why the lovely but somewhat pricey linen ones have never hit my shelves. Last week I picked up several of these cardboard binders and plan to cover the spines with wonderful paper.

I do. I plan to. Stay tuned.

For more information on marbleized paper, check Courtney’s posts here which includes a link to a post by Janet Blyberg on the same. Google turned up several how-to’s on marbleizing paper; Martha shows you how here.

Images of Tom Britt’s home via New York Social Diary, photography by Jeffery Hirsch. House Beautiful image by Richard Felber. Click on the image to see the books, and the “cat scratching post disguised as a chair,” bigger. It’s delightful. Top five paper images from Paper Mojo; bottom two from Paper Source.

Pop Quiz – Robert Couturier

January 5, 2010Uncategorizedpop quizMrs. Blandings

Ah, yes, the esteemed Aesthete did not guess, but rather knew that this was the home of Robert Couturier as it appeared in House Beautiful, February 1998. (I am publishing the answer a bit early as it seems unfair to leave you hanging.) Here is the first page from the story. The lights over the dining table, one of which you can see here, are actually 1940’s Christmas decorations from Macy’s. The lattice on the red walls and the pattern on the dining room ceiling were both achieved with paint.

Here is one of Couturier’s projects that was recently featured in the September issue of British House and Garden.

Naturally, I’m loving all this goldy yellow with white trim, dark floors, sure throw in a little gilt and a touch of black.

Delicious, all of it.

Do be sure to check Couturier’s site and this terrific profile in New York Social Diary which will push you straight over the edge to design crush. If you aren’t already there.

Image, top, House Beautiful, February, 1998; photography by Fernando Bengoechea. Remaining images via Couturier’s site by Simon Brown.

Pop Quiz – 10

January 4, 2010Uncategorizedpop quizMrs. Blandings

“What? First day back and she gives us a pop quiz?”

Well, yes. I realize just because I’ve been off doesn’t mean you haven’t been using your design noodle somewhere else, but I thought we’d get some of the business out of the way.

I sprung the first Pop Quiz way back in December 2007 (you can see all past quizzes and results here.) Here’s the set up – I pull a vintage layout by a designer working today and readers try to guess the designer.

I’ve long established that only thing you take away here is some pretty pictures, a smattering of misspellings and hopefully a feeling that I was very happy you stopped by. Quizzes are the same. If you are the first to name the designer I will credit you when I post the answer later today.

Winning brings the satisfaction of a job well done. Which is less exciting than, say, a lamp, but it’s all I got.

Quoting Edna Mode, “I don’t look back, darling, it detracts from the now.” Sometimes true, but I chose this particular layout as no element seemed to date it. Do tell me if you agree. And, is that door silver leafed in the image top? Oh, how I do like to leaf.