Posting Pink

October 1, 2010Uncategorizedpost pinkMrs. Blandings

White walls, bright walls. Rugs over sisal? Yes! Rugs over sisal? Horrors, no!

Curtains. Drapes.

Less is more. More is more.

We are bombarded with conflicting advice. Excellent and entirely different recommendations can come from two beloved sources. I am haunted by Van Day Truex’s pronouncement that kitchens must always be white, which if white is right and not is wrong, deems me forever wrong.

In the past year there has been a lot of conflicting research on how best to detect and treat breast cancer. Self-exam, mammogram, surgery, chemo. And the thought of it all is so scary. No supposition for most of us, but often a very near reality. Anxiety can lead to immobility.

Talk to your doctor. Find the best path for you. It’s a little bit like painting the test swatch on the wall – everyone can agree on this. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Talk to your doctor about the best course of action for you. More information is available at the National Cancer Institute and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Other bloggers are Posting Pink today: you can see Style Court’s here, Maxminimus here, Pigtown Design here and Victoria Thorne, Pretty Pink Tulips, House of Beauty and Culture, pve design, To the Manner Born, Eddie Ross, Tartan Scot Casapinka, A Bloomsbury Life, La Plates, Simplified Bee, beachbungalow8, Katiedid, Little Augury, Art by Karena, Nick Olsen, girl world decor, Peggy and Fritz, Absolutely Beautiful Things and Easy and Elegant Life.

All images are from the beautiful new book, Mary McDonald: Interiors, courtesy of Rizzoli New York. Photography credits are as follows from top: Melanie Acevedo, Miguel Flores-Vianna, Acevedo, Flores-Vianna, Dominique Vorillion.

Points of Interest

September 29, 2010UncategorizedProduct, Vintage DesignMrs. Blandings

My plate is full to overflowing and when that happens my thought process, which is not all that linear to begin with, starts to pop like corn. It’s a sort of crazy connect the dots, though the end product looks more hypotrochoid than picture. Unfortunately, those symmetric lines and loops are a little harder to translate into words. So, this draft has sat, unattended, for the last three days. I plan to give it a go and if it seems a jumble forgive me; my life is currently a jumble.

As a lover of needlework I fell right into Olympia Le-Tan’s clutches in World of Interiors. Combined here is a passion for creation and stitching with a love of first edition books. How could she go wrong? Handiwork of nearly every kind appeals to me because of the work itself – the time devoted, the process – and the role of the stitcher. It has largely been women’s work and past-time and hobby and it is interesting to see the craft translated from busy-ness to business. And art.

Oddly, at the time I received the issue I’d been trolling the pages of old HGs with the same sort of nostalgia most people feel flipping through their childhood photo albums. Open on my desk was a story of a home decorated by Pierre Le-Tan (Olympia’s father) from April of 2003. The living room is still remarkable fresh, though that was not the page that stared back at me just inches from my right elbow for over a week.

I had meant then, and still intend, to research Line Vautrin who created these fanciful bronze boxes, right and bottom (the painting on ivory is by Le-Tan.) I did hit Vautrin’s site and expected to cull images and information, but at a time when I am winnowing my list to things that must be done it just seemed that I could point you there from here.

As near as I can tell, it takes about a minute and a half to read one of these posts, and I can’t suppose the lack of them makes all that much difference, but things may be a bit spotty over the next couple of weeks. I just wanted to let you know and hope that you will, please, stand by.

Images from top, World of Interiors, October 2010, photography by Bruno Suet; next and bottom, House and Garden, April 2003, photography by Francois Halard.

Off the Rack

September 23, 2010UncategorizedDesigners, needlepointMrs. Blandings

A quick heads up. I know that not everyone makes a point to pick up World of Interiors every issue, but there is a terrific piece on Anna Wintour’s second Long Island home designed by Jesse Carrier in the October issue. Terrific. And if you think it’s a coincidence that I chose an image with a huge needlepoint pillow in it, you would be wrong.

Image, World of Interiors, October 2010, design by Jesse Carrier; photography by Eric Boman.

Off the Rack and Bracelets I Did Afford

September 23, 2010UncategorizedBracelets I Cannot AffordMrs. Blandings

Hey! Look at this! For the next five minutes, and completely by coincidence, I am in style! Of the moment! Only I’m not just “wearing it now,” I’ve been wearing it for years. “It” being this gold link bracelet, that was originally a necklace, which I wrap twice around my left wrist where it clicks and clinks against itself and my wide watch. Just as Vogue says I’m supposed to. I have a friend who has asked for it nicely while looking up over dark lashes. I’d give her a kidney, but not the bracelet.

Being au courant will be fun while it lasts and frustrating when it turns up “over” by spring.

Maybe then I can get a deal on that Diane von Furstenberg bracelet for H. Stern. Because more is surely more.

Vogue feature, October 2010, by Filipa Fino.

Men’s Club

September 22, 2010UncategorizedDesignersMrs. Blandings

I saw an astrologer a couple of years ago and one of the things that he told me that pops into my head now again was that this is my first life as a woman.

My first best friend was Krissy Livengood, but the next was a boy. Hard to believe, but Phillip Kent and I caught tad poles and played kick ball and had sleep overs, and ever since I’ve felt more relaxed, less on guard, in the company of males. We did have a minor misunderstanding about rock concerts, but it was mutual, and our parents were very patient as they sat in his backyard and listened to us as we described each specimen in our collection.

Women are often a mystery to me and the girl code is something that I feel like I’ve never unlocked. Women tell me things and I believe them. They say, “Don’t come,” or “Don’t cook,” or “It’s not dressy,” and I think that they mean it, but I find myself standing in my kitchen five phone calls later still trying to determine if it is better to go or to cook or to slip on a strapless.

Men are easier, usually. They are more straightforward, mostly. They can be crafty, sometimes, but even then it might work out to one’s advantage.

The design in all of these images is the work of artist, Frank Faulkner. I initially found Faulkner’s work trolling Stephanie Hoppen’s Perfect Neutrals; the first two images were found there, photographed by Simon Upton. The last two are via his site. You can see Faulkner’s current residence on Pretty Pink Tulips here.