At Christopher Filley’s Today

April 16, 2010UncategorizedAntique DealersMrs. Blandings

Working. I was working. But I would have loved to have had Chris wrap this all up for me to take home. You can’t really see the painting that is leaning on the chest, but I haven’t stopped thinking about it all day.

Conscious Joyce

April 15, 2010UncategorizedProductMrs. Blandings

Yesterday was busy. Good busy, but busy. I’m wrapping up some stuff for our school auction, gathering hither and yon for my table for Dining by Design (nudge – you can buy tickets here), finding shin guards and throwing away forgotten Easter eggs.

You know what could make it all better? One of these dreamy new fabrics from Kerry Joyce blowing in the breeze of my open bedroom windows.

These lovely, muted shades would surely make me forget the bat inspection and standardized tests and handwriting camp. (Mr. Blandings may think I need to attend handwriting camp with the convicted, but I think we may both make a break for it.)

I first spied these beauties in L.A. along with this wonderful paper.

Joyce is introducing this line which can be custom colored, or shipped as is to be painted on site.

The images are not on the site yet, but watch this space for the complete collection. The fabrics are available to the trade through Kneedler Fauchere in Los Angeles and San Francisco and Dessin Fournir in New York and Chicago. Joyce’s demeanor is quiet and gentle; I think this comes through on his profile on 1st dibs here.

All fabric images courtesy of Kerry Joyce.

The Other Lunch Table

April 13, 2010UncategorizedDesignersMrs. Blandings

I know all the cool kids are a bunch of Town & Country haters, like Stephen Drucker got ding-dong-ditched or something, but I have to say I think this home issue is a pretty good one. Maybe not life altering, but some good stuff. Let’s see, we have a little Michael Smith,

and an incredibly lovely house by Gil Schafer (I really, really like Gil Schafer);

Katie Ridder, working for her family – that should bring kudos on its own –

and, while not very many pictures of the house, this confection of a desk. Pink shagreen for heaven’s sake, which I can’t get over and I don’t even like pink.

I’ll admit, I subscribe for the jewelry, but all these projects will eventually find a home in my files.

Man, oh man, I haven’t scanned this many images from a current magazine in so long it makes me feel naughty. And a little slackerish. Images from top, Katherine Chez’s house by Michael Smith, photos by William Abranowicz; Sarah and Ozrey Horton’s house by Gil Schafer, photos by Christopher Baker; Connie and Tony Ridder’s house by their daughter, Katie, photos by Luca Trovato, Nadja Swarovski’s folks’ house, which includes that lifestyles of the rich and famous Barbie desk that I am now asking Santa for, photos by John Huba.

I Think it’s a Rug

April 12, 2010UncategorizedProductMrs. Blandings

Oh, for heaven’s sake, she must be kidding. Surely we do not have to go through this dining room thing again.

You don’t. Not really. But one of the interesting comments on the last go round was about the rug. Now, I had originally said that I have no budget. And now, I still have no budget. But the idea of the rug sort of took hold, so I asked Ben Soleimani of Mansour if he had any thoughts.

Mr. Blandings and I have a long-held belief that everyone named Ben is a good guy. Every Ben we have met, anyway. We initially had this conversation in a movie theater when we were first married and it has come up several times since.

We are never surprised when we meet yet another very nice Ben as the name seems to be filled with karmic goodness for us.

So no surprise that this new Ben, Mr. Soleimani, was completely willing to pick a few rugs that might jazz up my space.

He said, in a very nice way, that the room seemed a little dark, a little heavy and that some color and pattern might just wake things up.

This last Sultanabad is my favorite, though I can see how each one would affect the personality of the room.

But, Mansour Modern also offers some terrific choices. The rug from the Chinois collection, above, is particularly dreamy.

And this piece, the Kelly, designed by Victoria Hagan would add a dramatic punch. The exercise made me go back and think again how each element would affect the feel of the room. Perhaps someday my bank account will catch up to all this wonderful inspiration. In the meantime, a girl can dream, right?

For the record, I received no compensation for this post.

Boy Wonder

April 11, 2010UncategorizedDesignersMrs. Blandings

Hop on over to see Nick Olsen’s graphic one-two punch of an apartment at Lonny. I’m not just gushing because he gave Mrs. Blandings a shout out; we are in the midst of a long internet decoromance.