Now You See It

June 17, 2011UncategorizedVintage DesignMrs. Blandings

Many of you will recognize this as the dining room from Reed House designed (between 1926 and ’28) by David Adler. The Colonial Revival House notes that Adler’s sister, Frances Elkins, “became heavily involved with selecting interior furnishings.” So, as we finish out the week sprinkled with Chinoiserie walls and screens, it seems fitting to top it off by noting the screen camouflaging some domestic tediousness in the right corner. Not the only sleight of handsome; there is a hidden door on the left.

Image, The Colonial Revival House, Richard Guy Wilson, photography by Noah Sheldon.

The Greens of Summer

June 16, 2011UncategorizedMrs. B at Home, Musings from the Dream HouseMrs. Blandings

When my babies were little Mrs. Green told me, “You can’t put sleep in the bank.” When I had toddlers Mrs. Green told me, “Put the oxygen mask on yourself first.” And a few years later, when summer shifted from splashing in shallow pools and long naps on hot afternoons to swim practice and baseball and two loads of laundry a day, Mrs. Green told me, “Lower the bar.”

She didn’t mean to parent less or lazily. She just realized that it’s better to focus on what must get finished, to be bothered less by the mess and to slow the heck down. So, there are dishes in the sink and likely a wet swimsuit (or two) on the floor, but there is also a final green paint swatch on the wall of the dining room. We all have our own priorities.

Books, clockwise from top, Walls, Florence de Dampierre; The Colonial Revival House, Richard Guy Wilson; A Flair for Living, Charlotte Moss; Interiors, Mary McDonald; Elements of Style, Michael Smith; Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People; Regency Redux, Emily Evans Eerdmans; Wallpaper, Carole Thibaut-Pomerantz.

Lazy Hazy Days

June 15, 2011UncategorizedMusings from the Dream HouseMrs. Blandings

What if I had a month of one-a-days? I tend to use about five images a post so that would put me at about a 20% workload for the summer. (See how I’ve now stretched it from a month to over two?) If I did, limit myself to one image a day that is, I’d have more time to lounge about on this pretty, airy love seat. And love it, I do. Stripes softer than crisp and the Bennison fabric on the wall – pretty as pretty can be. And that punchy little pillow is just what I need beneath my head. (You won’t mind if I prop my feet up on the arm, I hope?) Oh. Except it’s not mine. Bother.

With all this time on my hands, I realize it’s been a long while since I’ve seen East Egg; perhaps this is the summer to go back.

Image, Luxe Magazine, Spring 2011, design Peters & Mbiango Interiors; photography Troy Campbell.

Backing Up

June 14, 2011UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

Hey. Quick question. (How many forty-minute phone calls begin this way?) I have an empty and awkward corner in my living room (we try not to discuss it in front of her, poor dear) where I’d like to have a Chinese screen. Except. Well, except that I tend to like the backs of Chinese screens better than the fronts. That’s the wrong side, right? Or were both sides displayed and those of us who have a quieter bent can just stand where there’s less show? The screen pictured above seems perfect (even outside of the eight-paneled 1840-ness of it.) Would you guess that that is the back? And, can I just appreciate it like a Pilates-toned matron? Or do I need to come to grips with the face-to-face?

Image, House and Garden, April 2003, design, Maxine Harrison; photography, Melanie Acevedo.

New Addition

June 10, 2011UncategorizedDexter, RosieMrs. Blandings

Dexter Shackelford

Born: March 16, 2011

Time: Long past due

Weight: Unknown, though he can eat it in puppy chow

We have all been wanting another Boxer for a long time, but the move (and pure fear) had held us up. Our next-door neighbors have three dogs and it was actually Rosie’s longing at the fence that sent us in search of a new dog.

As with all older siblings, we are telling her that we brought Dexter into our family for her. She is skeptical, but tolerant.

He’s a pain, of course, as all puppies are pains, but also adorable, as all puppies are adorable. He’s all the things that Mr. Blandings remembered as “not that bad.” Up early. Chewy. Unhousebroken. An added bonus is his kicking his bowl around the kitchen when it is empty and he feels it shouldn’t be. And he’s incredibly soft, pounces on blowing leaves and sleeps under my chair when I’m working.

The inside of his ears are like the palest pink satin and his coat is the silk tiger velvet that I will never have. The youngest named him after the Dexter of Dexter’s Laboratory and not the mild-mannered serial killer, though he may have qualities of both. I might have forgotten to mention to Mr. B that his mother weighed sixty pounds and his father eighty, so don’t tell him if you see him. We will just let that part be a surprise.