Tag Archives: Designers

Photo Gallery

March 11, 2008UncategorizedDesigners, ProductMrs. Blandings

I’ve had a lot of time to read over the last few days. One little gem that caught my eye was this photo display that appeared in the Kansas City Star on Friday. Barbara Cosgrove (you remember Barbara, she makes wonderful lamps) developed a system to display her family photos without having to mess with volumes of frames. She mounts them to a heavier stock, drills a hole in the top, and hangs them in the hall of her home. Apparently, they are a great hit with friends and neighbors; they flutter as you walk by.

Barbara Cosgrove.

Charming.

Great Spaces

February 28, 2008UncategorizedDesignersMrs. Blandings

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but one of the great things that has come my way since I started blogging, is the opportunity to write a column on collecting for our local shelter magazine, Spaces.

It’s a great publication, and while I have been trying not to scan images from current magazines, (oh, except I have all week) I think this one is worthy because it’s local, and most of you are not. And believe me, here in Kansas City, you can live here for twenty years and not be a local.

The images, above, are Linda and Brian Johnson’s garden house. The Johnsons use this retreat year round. Part of the appeal of this story, outside of the lovely design, is the fact that they featured these, basically, outdoor rooms in the winter.

The other garden house in the feature, images above and below, was conceived by landscape designer Patrick Kappelmann. Guess who collaborated on this little gem?

Architectural salvage. Wonderful urns. Great iron. Well, if you’ve been paying attention to my little antique shop romance, you will know, it’s Christopher Filley and his partner Rich Hoffman.

The table is a glazed terra cotta piece modified with a marble top. The antique chairs are iron.

I’d love to have a campaign bed in the sitting room off my bedroom, and only hope I find one as fabulous as this red, 19th century piece. The console was constructed from balcony surrounds from Buenos Aires. The tile is Portuguese.

Is Mr. Blandings jealous? Heavens, no. He knows I’ll always come back from Christopher. With a table. Or a lantern. Or an urn. He just looks the other way.

A Recipe for Happiness

February 11, 2008UncategorizedDesignersMrs. Blandings

When you are aesthetically focused it affects lots of things others might not realize. When darling #2 broke the big melamine bowl, Mr. Blandings set out for a replacement. As is typical of my better half, he went looking for one bowl and came home with four. A set. Different colors! Fun!

As I was making cookies for the previously mentioned bowl-breaker’s birthday, Mr. Blandings asked if I would ever use any other than the yellow bowl. Naturally. I’m not married to yellow. It was just the best choice for the chocolate brown dough.

But, my affinity for yellow is a bit out there, and I have had a recent inquiry as to my favorite rooms of yellow, blue and white. Now, I think there are “blue” girls and you either are one or you’re not. The closest I come to blue is this smudgy turquoise, but that crisp blue and white, well, that can be the perfect antidote to the winter doldrums.

Colefax and Fowler: The Best in English Interior Decoration, Chester Jones.

This is one of those classic interior images. It might be a bit difficult to see on the screen, but there is a touch of yellow in the cloth. The sofa fabric is Colefax and Fowler and one of my favorites. Colefax and Fowler, and specifically, the late Roger Banks-Pye has put yellow, blue and white to great use.

The images, above and below, are Banks-Pye for Valentino. He carries the scheme from one room to the next by reversing the way he handles the blue and yellow. In the study, the “yellow” of the bookcases (here a burled wood) stand out against the blue of the walls. The connecting living room then flips; the wall color a smashing yellow with the blue in the upholstery and ceramics. Gilded frames and sisal rugs provide consistancy in both rooms, as well as a bit of high/low tension that typify Banks-Pye’s work.

Banks-Pye makes easy work of these three tall, but separate windows. This Colefax and Fowler toile is close to my heart because of its prominent sunflowers. Sunflowers are the Kansas state flower. If you ever have the opportunity to drive across the western part of the state in the summer you will be rewarded with field-upon-field of home-grown sunshine. There is wonder in those swaying stalks with their giant yellow flowers. I don’t think you could be in the presence of sunflowers and not feel your spirits rise just a bit.

New Orleans designer, Patrick Dunne, in Southern Accents On Color.

Purists, I’m sure, would disagree, but blue and white pottery can be had at very little cost, and it makes a great impact on wall and tabletop.

Memphis designer, Bill Eubanks, his own home, Southern Accents On Color.

Bill Eubanks chose this bright yellow because he thinks “vibrant yellow light in a room will give the appearance of light even if there isn’t actually a lot of natural light in the room.” Amen.

Barclay Butera, Inspired Styles.

Here, Barclay Butera gives a modern lift to the traditional English take on the combo. Painting the brick of the fireplace surround white certainly gives the room a lift. Leopard carpet is a fresh addition that still reads “yellow.”

If you’d like your yellow, blue and white with a little Hollywood Regency twist, you can follow Kelly Wearstler’s lead. Both of these images from her book Modern Glamour: The Art of Unexpected Style.

But if I were going with one designer’s interpretation of this combination, it would be Michael Smith.

Subtle and stately.

Elegant, but no less interesting.

The tiger carpet and pillows are a fantastic counterpart to the blue of the walls and upholstery in this bedroom. So fresh.

By the way, if none of this is helping your winter blues, you can always turn to chocolate. The cookies for the middle boy were a great success. The recipe comes to us from one of the number-one-son’s friends, so they are affectionately known as:

Alex’s Excellent Brownie Chip Cookies
1 package brownie mix
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie pan. Mix ingredients. The batter will be a bit thick. Bake 8 -10 minutes.

If these don’t lift your spirits, nothing will.

Eight is Great

February 5, 2008UncategorizedDesigners, Vintage DesignMrs. Blandings

These were the dishes in my mother’s house while I was growing up. The plates and bowls, too, were octagonal. Even cocoa was served in these elegant cups. I can still feel that angular handle on my first two fingers. I stumbled upon them not long ago in a dusty antique mall. Ironstone International. An inexpensive pottery. I’ve seen it in yellow and white, and while I think I want it, I never commit so something must be holding me back. But it’s not the shape. The shape, I adore.

David Hicks for John Panchaud, David Hicks, Designer.

My parents got divorced when I was eight (hmmm….) When my mother moved back to her hometown, she took the opportunity to re-invent herself a bit. I recently added David Hicks: Designer to my library and I can see that her new home was greatly under his influence. And Hicks, well, he liked an octagon.

David Hicks for the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn, their home, Baronscourt, David Hicks, Designer.

Mr. Hicks sketched enthusiastically and was influenced by tiles and frescos and murals in his grand and grander tours. Geometric shapes, including the octagon, pop up frequently in his work. (Get it? Pop?)

Steven Gambrel had a vintage Hicks carpet in his apartment featured in House and Garden.

Michael Smith, Michael S. Smith, Elements of Style.

Michael Smith incorporates these octagonal, in-laid tables in a lot of his designs.

Michael Smith, Michael S. Smith, Elements of Style.
And you certainly don’t have to keep them on the down-low. Octagons work beautifully incorporated in mirrors…

Eric Cohler, featured in Inspired Styles.
and lighting.
Stephen Sills and James Huniford, a midwestern home, Dwellings, Living with Great Style.

If the vintage Hicks carpet is not in your budget, these Barbara Barry octagonal vases would glam up the sideboard in a heart beat. (What say, Valentine?)

Barbara Barry featured in, Inspired Styles.

Rose Tarlow, The Private House.

I must say, Rose Tarlow tops the heap with this table. Rose herself says this table, originally from Kew Gardens, England, “is one of the most rare and facinating pieces of furniture” she has ever discovered. And, Rose, she knows.

While I can’t commit to the dishes (do you think there is some pent-up memory of scrapping, loading and stacking?) this little Cowtan & Tout number (Beverly, Canary) never seems to make it out of my memo bag. It goes well with cocoa, too.

A Perfect Gentleman

January 31, 2008UncategorizedDesignersMrs. Blandings

Thomas Britt, Architectural Digest, February, 2007.

So when my friend, Tom Britt, called me back yesterday…hmmm? What? Of course he called me back. I didn’t mention it? I said he was from Kansas City, so naturally he would be gracious and lovely and have impeccable manners. Naturally.

All images Mr. Britt’s Long Island home, Architectural Digest, August, 1991.

It was a perfect Kansas City moment, in fact. When I saw the 212 area code I thought it was my big city friend calling from work. Even after Mr. Britt (you don’t think I would have called him Tom, do you?) began to speak I thought it might be my friend pulling my leg. Because he would do that.

The library.

But, no, Mr. Britt graciously apologized for not calling earlier. You see, when he lived in KC, he was great friends with Mr. Blanding’s aunt. If you knew Mr. Blanding’s aunt this would come as no surprise to you. She’s beautiful and stylish and has the most perfect posture I have ever seen. And a movie-star gorgeous husband to go with.

The Living Room.

Anyway, Mr. Britt confirmed that his client had seen the paper in his Long Island bedroom. It is a vintage Woodson pattern. Being great friends with Murray Douglas (who happens to own Brunschwig & Fils) he asked her to recreate the pattern for him, which she did.

A guest bedroom.

So, the paper is, in fact, Brunschwig & Fils, but custom, which is why no one in this country or abroad could identify it. Mr. Britt says there are other folks interested in it as well, and, if Barbara lets us know how many rolls she needs for her bedroom, he will make arrangements to have it made.

The attic guest bedroom.

A perfect gentleman. I expected nothing less.

Hold on to your hats. A “Moroccan tent for dining and entertaining.”

The article references the silver paper in the master bedroom, but, alas, no pictures.