Off the Rack

July 19, 2009UncategorizedDesignersMrs. Blandings

I have to admit, as much as I love Kansas City, no one lives here for the weather. It’s been a terrific surprise that while we have had friends in town KC has put on a marvelous show. 80 degrees, sunny, no humidity. Which led to a pool outing/recovery (last night was a big one) and magazine reading today. Jeffery Bilhuber’s Long Island home is in the August issue of Vogue. If you like the rug that he uses throughout (over those deliciously black floors)

they have something very similar at Pottery Barn.

Also, his living room curtains are Le Lac. Just in case you missed it.

Vogue photography by Francois Halard.

Lost and Found

July 15, 2009UncategorizedEnduring StyleMrs. Blandings

One of Suzanne Rheinstein’s picks for the Enduring Style series was Roger Lussier’s Boston Back Bay apartment. I thought I had two versions of his home in my files but I could only find one at the time.

Naturally, looking for something else I stumbled across the later version.

This serene rendition appeared in House Beautiful, March of 1994.

If you think it has been published since do let me know as I would love to see it. Again. And again.

Photography by Thibault Jeanson.

On the Back

July 15, 2009UncategorizedDesignersMrs. Blandings

Every now and then I’ll pull something from the file and discover a really great image on the back of one of the pages. This was one. Eric Cohler found his 15 x 12 brownstone bedroom “very depressing. I decided to fill it with the things I loved best.”

House Beautiful, March 1994. Sadly, I do not have the photo credit.

More Whitcomb

July 10, 2009UncategorizedDesigners, Vintage DesignMrs. Blandings

An astute reader commented about David Whitcomb’s apartment this week. Seems he had a pretty jazzy house upstate as well.

I flipped back through the New York Times Book of Interior Design and Decoration to see if it was in there.

No. But! There were a few photos of the apartment Whitcomb lived in following this one.

Do I love those black stripes on the moulding against the yellow walls? You know I do.

But I digress. The transition from one space to the next seemed to fit with the post at the beginning of the week about the two Albert Hadley projects.

It’s an interesting shift and I think one that many people who have an affinity for design would envy. Many of us wish we had a way to explore all the facets of design that appeal.

It’s also a fun “I Spy” game to see what moved from one spot to the next and how. These benches, which seem made for the space actually appear in the first living room.

The asymmetrical balance of this room is particularly appealing. (Let’s do just ignore that headboard.) As for the country house, Toby Worthington (another astute reader) knew (of course) where it had been published and the book is on the way.

This is from another Whitcomb project. I couldn’t help but post it. That linear latticework and the shutters are so chic. And the chintz. Terrif.

Whitcomb’s apartments photographed by Daniel Eifert. The sun room was photographed by Robert Perron. All images from New York Book of Interior Design and Decoration.

Look at me! Look at me!

July 10, 2009UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

I posted a picture of myself in the margin of the blog Wednesday. I don’t like pictures of myself. I never have. They just don’t seem to look like how I think I look, which cannot be the case but still they make me blanch.

But last week when I posted my party pic a few folks referred to me as elusive and mysterious. I wasn’t being coy; I wasn’t hiding. It’s just not about me. I’m a middle-aged, medium height, middle income wife and mother of three living in middle America. I didn’t go to design school, am not a designer or a design historian.

I’m curious. I’m interested, but not interesting. Men talk around me at dinner parties all the time. Or ask, “How are the boys?” Fairly indistinguishable, there are thousands of women just like me everywhere. There are a dozen in your building or neighborhood. Still, after the comments I thought maybe it’s odd to hear the voice but not see the speaker.

I was 4’10” in eighth grade. Paul Steiner deemed me president of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Right before my freshman year I received a tragic Dorothy Hamill haircut. The only date I had in high school was to my senior prom and that was with a friend. You are welcome to comment away on how I look, but believe me, I’ve heard it all before.