Tag Archives: Mrs. B at Home

Dining In

February 18, 2011UncategorizedDesigners, Mrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

Just one more, technically not from the bulletin board, but inspiration just the same. These may be my favorite dining room walls.

This house wants green and blue (and maybe a dash of red.) It does. It has no affinity for yellow, though it holds no personal grudge. This house shrugs at yellow. This house would walk by yellow in the hall and say “Hi, how are you,” but would never stop to hear about the horrific drive to work. It may also be a little vain as it cannot seem to pass up a mirror.

A little mirror, a little fretwork. I just keep wondering if I could do it myself.

Images from Charlotte Moss’s A Flair for Living, photography by Pieter Estersohn.

Inspiration Board

February 17, 2011UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

We had a small cocktail party last Saturday night for the people who helped us move. People who had packed my kitchen, donated boxes, driven my children.

People who insisted, who did things even after I said, “Oh, no, absolutely not – we’re fine!” People who helped anyway.

“Are you settled?” ask friends I see out and about. “It’s done!” said a few who have dropped by.

It’s not done, not by a long shot, but we’re settled. The Wii and PlayStation 3 are absolutely at home and one of the boys has already thrown up here, which is a sort of christening in my book.

My bulletin board is hung and I followed the advice of a reader who suggested a cheap one from a discount store trimmed in grosgrain ribbon.

It was bare for a bit, but is now collecting images and invites and memos.

And, honestly, it’s terrifically fun.

Images, from top, Albert Hadley and Harry Heissmann, House Beautiful, 2010, photography by Christopher Baker; Veranda. I think. I didn’t write it down, like I’ve never done this before. Forgive me, I’m a ding-dong; Pauline de Rothchild’s bedroom featured in Elle Decor, October 2010; Peter Dunham, House Beautiful, November 2010, photography by Victoria Pearson; Christine d’Ornano, Elle Decor, April 2010, photography by Simon Upton; Oliver M. Furth, via olivermfurth.com; Fabric, Hinson – Trixie Red/Black on Off White; paper, Scalamandre, Baldwin Bamboo, Cream and Red on Aqua.

You Lift Me Up Where I Belong

February 7, 2011UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

“Are you settled?” Well, some of us are quite settled. One of us, slightly less. Still, things are coming along. A week or so ago my good friend, David Jimenez, was here for lunch and in a very gentle way offered some thoughts. One of which was, “more stuff.”

Our living room is larger than our last living room. Like something out of Harry Potter, it seems to eat whatever furniture I put in it. I had marked this image from Vicente Wolf’s Lifting the Curtain on Design, as he’s balanced this larger mirror with the door opposite rather than putting a mirror over the fireplace. My living room is similarly configured and this seemed like a nice approach.

(That being said, if an Irish Georgian mirror ever becomes a reality, the whole plan may be scuttled.)

I’ve had this table for a long while. It was one of the (many) things the movers moved from basement to basement. I love it. It is sort of chewed up on one side and two of the legs are shorter than the other pair. The original plan was to cut down the longer legs, but I think Mr. Blandings and I both knew that we would end up with something more like an alter table by the time the leveling was complete.

But after my lunch with Jimenez, I went scrounging for more stuff. The table sort of winked at me from under a pile of stuff in the basement and I agreed to give him a go.

Instead of bringing him down, I decided to build him up. After the gentlemen (plural) at a large, big box home improvement store assured me, repeatedly, that there was nothing with a flat surface and screw thread that could be used to elevate a table, I found these in a small drawer for about $1.50/ea. They were marked “elevator bolts.” They are exactly what I wanted, as the table was exactly what I wanted, though I didn’t know it until I saw it. He’s very happy to be out of the basement and doesn’t even mind a bit if people notice he’s wearing lifts.

Image, second, from Lifting the Curtain on Design; photography by Vicente Wolf; Irish Georgian mirror from Michael Smith’s Elements of Style; photography by Michel Arnaud.

Second Chances

January 26, 2011UncategorizedMrs. B at Home, Mrs. B DIYMrs. Blandings

“Really, it’s not you, it’s me.”

“Just tell me what I can do.”

“Nothing, honestly, we were a perfect fit in the beginning, but I’ve changed. TVs have changed. It has nothing to do with you, but I think we are through.”

“I can change.”

“I don’t know – can anyone ever really change?”

“Just give me a chance. One chance. I’ll do anything. I think you still need me.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

“The thing is, my tastes have evolved. I need something a little more sophisticated. More worldly. Maybe…darker.”

“Be honest, is there someone else?”

“It’s nothing, nothing really. We’re just friends, not even, I’ve just seen him across a room.”

“I have a dark and moody side, I’ve just never felt like I could share it with you before.”

“Oh, my. That little touch of bling is so unexpected from you. Darling, quick, hold my stuff.”

I painted this piece in the bathroom as it was far too much trouble to lug it to the basement and back up. Three cans of green beans held the trash bags in place and all the while I kept thinking corn would have been a nicer accent. There is no method to painting the piece gray first; I had gray paint handy. The gold leaf is easy-peasey; I put the sizing on before carpool and applied the leaf while I helped with spelling. It’s a piece of cake and don’t let anyone tell you differently. It is a horrendous mess.

The only image not mine, Elle Decor, design by Dransfield and Ross, photography by Simon Upton.

Snow Day

January 10, 2011UncategorizedMrs. B at HomeMrs. Blandings

I knew that using the sun room as my office was complete and total genius. I revel in these really good ideas when I have them as they are so few and far between. This, this, was the day I was waiting for. On three walls, encompassing my entire peripheral vision, are windows. It is as if I am in a snow globe; I could not be happier.

It is a large room and the floor is slate tile. Good for dog feet, bad for human feet. In a fortunate twist of fate, the antelope carpet from the old house can be reconfigured for this room. The former office was just a smidge longer and a good bit narrower, but I had saved the remnant and as the room was dark there was no difference in the color. There will be a hopefully not unseemly seam.

The lantern from the front hall of the old house will replace ceiling fan 1. Using skills gleaned from long-abandoned parenting books I have convinced Mr. Blandings, through positive reinforcement, that he will be able to switch them out. “You absolutely can do it! I will help. I swear.” He knows, of course, that this means I will stand by and say things like, “Oh! Careful! You’re going to gouge the ceiling!”

In addition, Cowtan and Tout Papillon Jardin will live in this house somewhere. I know, who knew I’d need the pinky, floral girliness for my own? But I do.

And this is the casualty of the day. Today I was going to start painting an old armoire inspired by this wonderful cabinet. Black paint. Gold leaf. Project heaven. Maybe tomorrow. Today I sit in the middle of what looks like a 1940’s MGM movie set, happy as a midwestern clam.

The image, second, is Todd Romano via the Peak of Chic; the floral chair is an old Cowtan and Tout ad; image, last, is John Dransfield and Geoffrey Ross’s home featured in Elle Decor, July/August 2010; photography by Simon Upton.