When I saw the First Lady’s ensemble yesterday I thought first, “Fabulous!” and then “Eureka!”  the perfect post for today as I have an old layout of Isabel and Ruben Toledo’s loft.  

No, not the one from the Times.  I had originally thought House & Garden, but in examining the fonts (desperate and crazed people do these kind of things) I thought not.  Vogue, maybe.  But the long and short of it was that I could only find this one page.  This one tattered page that I had kept in a separate file because she is wearing a pair of Ted Muehling earrings that I am quite sure I would wear every day if I owned them.  I searched for hours.  Well, a really long time.  

So I cannot offer you what I was sure would be the Holy Grail of design blog/fashion connection.  Instead, I will send you to Vogue for the slide show of another designing couple, Alexandra and Michael Misczynski and hope for better blog karma tomorrow.

The New York Times images are available through the Times, Habitually Chic and Apartment Therapy.

Ah-ha! This was it.  The elusive image that was supposed to be yesterday’s post was not in a vintage design book as I supposed, but a historic room in a new design book.

Just as I was pondering the repurposing of existing pieces for the Dream House I came upon this stunning room from Regency Redux by Emily Evans Eerdmans.  Eerdmans notes, “The Prince Regent’s mistress Lady Hertford further embellished this hand-painted Chinese wallpaper with birds cut our from John James Audubon’s Birds of America, in the Chinese Drawing Room at Temple Newsam.”

Now, you might not think that Chinese paper needed further embellishing, but Lady Hertford clearly did and I applaud her efforts.  This is a handy little do-it-yourself project requiring only Kindergarten skills.  Cut and paste.  Everyone can cut and paste.

You could even paint a little vine.  Vines are easy.  A swirly line and some leaves.  Cut out a few birds while you’re watching TV.  Easy.

Later editions of Audubon’s Birds are currently available on line for under twenty dollars.  Lady Hertford applied her shears directly to the pages and you could, too, if you have the heart to cut up an actual book.  I’m not sure that I do.  I would march my book down to a local copy center, but I’m not going to suggest that here as it may stir up all kinds of copyright debate which would be tedious.
The images from the boxed sets of Natural Curiosities would also make a great impact.
Or you could skip the cutting and use the whole page as Stephen Gambrel did here.

Their silhouette prints would create a jazzy little print wall like the one by Parish-Hadley in this vintage photograph of a New York apartment.

You could easily create a border from plain or patterned paper.

These butterflies from Paper Source would be happy to stand in for this Schumacher paper.

And if you don’t believe me, do check Hollister Hovey’s fabulous Walton Ford screen project here.  Those Hovey girls are talented (this is Porter wearing feather eyelashes for Halloween) but even they make is sound easy.  

I think I have everything covered here, but just in case, two images, top, Regency Redux, Emily Evans Eerdmans, next three birds, Audubon, Gambrel image via Style Court, Parish-Hadley room from Albert Hadley: The Story of America’s Preeminent Interior Designer by Adam Lewis, Schumacher paper, Porter and screen via Hollister Hovey, the remaining images from Natural Curiosities.  And, yes, the Irish Georgian mirror is mocking me.

Or “Some of the Best Rooms of 2008” also known as “A Random Selection of Rooms I Liked This Year.”  I did go back though my files and pulled a selection of rooms that made my pulse quicken over the last twelve months.  Once I had them in one spot I realized most were from December and, shamefully, January.  I considered disqualifying January, but, well, it’s my list and I received the magazines in 2008 so they remain.  My filing system is abysmal, so I don’t mean to suggest that these are not fabulous rooms, I’m just saying it’s likely there was something great from February to September and perhaps I over looked it.  Enough qualifying – here goes.

Image, above, interior design Carol Curtis & Sarah Norwood, photography J. Savage Gibson, House Beautiful, February, 2008.

Kate and Andy Spades’s apartment, interior design with Steven Sclaroff , photography Simon Upton, Spaces, September, 2008; the apartment was previously featured in World of Interiors, December, 2006.

Michael Bastian’s apartment, his own design, photographs Melanie Acevedo, domino, September, 2008.

Pamela Skaist-Levy’s home, interior design Peter Dunham, Bazaar, September, 2008.

Gretchen Bellinger’s home, interior design Andrew Fisher and Jeffry Weisman, photography Joshua McHugh, Elle Decor, November, 2008.

Annette and Oscar de la Renta’s home, with architect Ernesto Buch, photography Francois Halard, Vogue, December, 2008.

A New York apartment, interior design Bill Sofield, photography Simon Upton, World of Interiors, December, 2008.

Miles Redd, photography Paul Costello, domino, December 2008/January 2009.

Madeline Weinrib’s SoHo apartment, photography Simon Upton, Elle Decor, December, 2008.

Marco Scarani and Jamie Creel’s Paris apartment, their own design, photography Roger Davies, Elle Decor, December, 2008.

Home of Stephen Gambrel and Chris Connor, their own design, photography William Waldron, Elle Decor, January, 2009.

Joseph Montebello and Ron Leal’s home also of their own design, photography Tim Street-Porter, Metropolitan Home, January/February, 2009.

It was a very good year.

It’s a combination of things really.  As you know, it was the weekend before Christmas and we were blessedly busy.  Best, best friends in town whom we were fortunate to see Friday with just the right size crowd; large enough to be lively, not so large that we didn’t get to really catch up.

Saturday was a milestone birthday of someone especially dear.  Oh, so much fun, but up much too late both nights.  This old dog was up to her old tricks but it does take her a little longer to bounce back.

And it’s cold here.  Really cold.  Unusually cold.  Four degrees.  Four degrees is a ridiculous temperature.  So I stayed in yesterday and painted a chair inspired by Madeline Weinrib’s home in Elle Decor, December, 2008.  Yes, I know I’ve posted it before, but I just can’t stop thinking about her deft combination of blue and black.  I don’t know that I’ve done so well, but this room was looking a little brown.  I moved some rugs.  I made a plan to paint the playroom.

It’s supposed to be twenty-two degrees today.  Maybe today I’ll get out.  But maybe not; there’s still plenty of paint in the basement. 

Image, top, by Simon Upton.