Tag Archives: design books

Things We Love

November 20, 2009Uncategorizeddesign booksMrs. Blandings

At one point I emailed a fellow blogger whom I admire a great deal. Frustrated and antsy, dissatisfied and disgruntled I lamented every room. “I love everything, but what is wrong?” “I think you need more stuff,” or something similar came the reply.

Hmmm…yes. Good stuff. It needs to be culled and collected, gathered and grouped. Never a fan of minimalism, I practiced it for a long time as it did not seem wise to place good things in the reach of curious, and often sticky, fingers. But here, the cup does not runneth over, but the vintage is so good.

Images from The Way We Live with the Things We Love by Stafford Cliff and photographer Gilles de Chabeneix.

Paint the Town

November 10, 2009Uncategorizeddesign booksMrs. Blandings

Rose Tarlow says in her book, The Private House, that she can obsess about fabric. She often drives around with it on the dash of her car so she can think about it some more once she leaves the office. I shouldn’t drive around with fabric samples in my car as they usually end up trampled by soccer cleats. But, I leave books open on my desk for weeks at a time. Picking things apart. Turning them over.

I’ve been stuck on this image (top) of Albert Hadley’s living room. Arresting in its composition, but also remarkable in the use of this painted canvas. It’s just painted blue. Anyone could do that.

I had a friend ask me to paint canvases for her like the ones in my hallway. I assured her that even her children could do that for her. She disagreed. But the panel, top, and the screen, above, and the chairs, below, anyone could do that.

It makes us copy cats, of course, and not design legends, but I never had “design legend” on my list of aspirations anyway so no harm done.

We can draw a lot of inspiration from the high-end magazines even if our budgets are low-end.

All images from Style and Substance, The Best of Elle Decor. Photography from top, Fernando Bengoechea, Simon Upton, William Waldron, Pieter Estersohn and Eric Piasecki. While all the other images could be translated with basically a coat of paint, the bottom image did inspire me to buy a (not inexpensive) sink. I had seen it originally in Pastis and was giddy to find it sourced in Elle Decor; it solved the problem of three boys and one sink quite well.

Its publisher has decided to focus its energy on Elle Decor while retiring Met Home. I subscribed to Met Home and enjoyed many of its features over the years. Best wishes to its staff members.

Roots of Addiction

October 15, 2009Uncategorizeddesign books, Musings from the Dream HouseMrs. Blandings

You know those stories about celebrities who give their children controlled substances? And how you read these accounts and wonder, “What were they thinking?”

Well, my mother was a little guilty of this. When I was small and we lived in Atlanta my mother made a very good friend while we were on the playground. I, in turn, became very good friends with the friend’s daughter as these things sometime happen.

While my parents’ house was an ever evolving array of tasteful yet jazzy (probably department store) finds, Krissy Livengood’s parents’ house was not.

Krissy Livengood’s parents had a pair of Wassily chairs. When I walked through their living room I was mesmerized by the slats made of leather. With every visit I’m quite sure her mother anticipated wiping my grimy fingerprints from the cool chrome. I could not resist running my hand along that silvery steel.

They were wonderful. I was in awe of those chairs. In my memory the room where they resided was always quiet, but perhaps my ears were ringing. While everyone else found it so intriguing that Krissy’s father had one blue eye and one brown eye, I thought that merely a quirk of nature. The thing that made the Livengoods interesting – fascinating even – were those chairs.

We moved from Atlanta when I was eight, but the chair addiction was firmly established. Imagine my delight with Judith Miller’s new book, Chairs. Over one hundred chairs, beautifully shot by Nick Pope, on big pages, presented in chronological order. Truly a chair lover’s dream.

And a terrific red cover. Almost as good as having a Wassily of my own.

P.S. Mrs. Livengood, in true Southern fashion, has passed her chairs to her daughter. Who now goes by Kristin.

Chairs by Judith Miller was provided to me for review by the publisher, Conran Octopus. All photographs by Nick Pope. The Wassily chair is fourth from the top.

In House

September 23, 2009Uncategorizeddesign booksMrs. Blandings

Speaking of Mitch Owens (I was yesterday), I’m sure you know he has a new book coming out. What? No? Indeed. In House profiles diverse examples of exceptional individual style. Or so I’ve heard. I am standing at the mailbox daily twisting my beads waiting for my copy.

The photographs are by Derry Moore, the 12th Earl of Drogheda, whose work has appeared in Architectural Digest and Nest.

Owens is an editor-at-large for Elle Decor and has written on design for the New York Times, Architectural Digest and Travel and Leisure. Though I’ve heard that someone said recently that you don’t need a writer to wax poetic about design – all you need is pictures – I disagree. I want someone to tell me what it feels like to be in that space. When I read Owens’s articles he makes me feel like I’m sitting right next to him on the sofa. It’s lucky I’m not because I can never keep my mouth shut. Which is why I am telling you right now – pre-order. Here or somewhere. I’ve heard it will knock your socks off.

Jacques Grange Interiors, Pt. 2

September 3, 2009Uncategorizeddesign books, DesignersMrs. Blandings

Sometimes the blog gods smile. Sometimes they look down on a simple girl from the midwest and say, “What the heck?”

Word came from on high yesterday that I could, indeed, post these images.

Click on them. Revel in them. Because, truly, I can just see myself sitting in this chair, jazzy tunic over my swim suit, dashing off a note to a friend saying, “Please come if only for a day or two. It’s just delightful.”

All photos by Nicolas Matheus from Jacque Grange Interiors by Pierre Passebon (Paris: Flammarion, 2009.) I am reiterating here that I requested permission to use these images. I don’t know what would happen if you borrowed them, but it could be ugly. I’m just saying.