Patricia sent some wonderful images from her “party” file as inspiration for the patio.  This is helping as thinking of it as a place to have a party certainly piques my interest.

You have all been so generous with your advice.  We are just getting started, and you’re right, it looks a little bare.

In an effort to avoid more custom expenses, these striped pillows from Pottery Barn might provide a bit of pop.  The umbrella, too, adds to the Draper-esque feel, though the one from Z Gallerie, top, is irresitable with it’s jaunty tassels.

But my biggest concern, the one that has me scouring the net, is darling Rosie.  She was welcome to sleep in the sun on the old cushions, but seems to know that that is a “no, no” now.  But, adorable pup, she certainly cannot be expected to lounge on the ground.  Heavens.

This charmer (the bed, not the Boxer) might be just for you if you admire the style of Mies van der Rohe or Marcel Breuer.

Butterfly chair in the family room?  Rover might enjoy one as well.

Blandings tend to be more traditional when it comes to canine accoutrements.  This will likely do the trick for the lollipup.

So I need to order Rosie’s cushion first.  In black and white, of course.  Sometimes it’s hard for me to think outside the Boxer.

Not long ago, Patricia van Essche sent me a present. I do love presents and I keep going back again and again to admire this one. House and Garden’s Complete Guide to Interior Decoration, Sixth Edition, 1960 is a treasure trove of timeless rooms. The book is beginning to fall open on the page with the image above. The section is titled “The country look: a union of elegance and ease.” Many of us aesthetically focused folks quest for those things that are a union of elegance and ease. We can certainly see why the editors chose this room to illustrate their point.

A converted mill is the charming setting for this “flock of lightly scaled chairs” and while the mill itself might not be so easy to come by, many of the elements of the room are available at the click of a mouse.
Bronze and crystal chandelier.

The chandelier is one of the most dramatic touches and oh how it swings from the yards and yards of chain that suspends it.
1940’s Chinoiserie wall clock.

The clock in the image is lovely, but on my search I ran across the Chinoiserie one above and could not resist. Octagon, too, and Roman numerals. It’s great to have a piece in a room that has both tones, silver and gold, so you don’t feel locked into one metal or the other.
American illuminated globes.

The globe and the armillary sphere provide graphic, masculine accents to off set the feminine lines of the chairs and the ceramics.
Chinese Famille Vert lamp.

The book describes the room as having rough pink plaster and red tile floors, this Famille Vert lamp would work nicely with the warm tones of the space.
Period Louis XV French farm table.

“Furniture is seldom elaborately inlaid or ornamental in the formal manner.” hence the French farm table as desk.
Set of eight French chairs.

19th c. beechwood arm chair.

This over-scaled wing chair is stunning, but does not wear its original fabric, so one would have to choose between the drama of the piece and
Louis XIV style chair, early 19th century.

perhaps a less dramatic model with the original needlepoint.
Early 20th c. Samarkand rug.

Early 19th c. John Brewster portrait.

Instant ancestor.
Bronze and crystal sconces.

Ann Sacks Rose Clair tile.

A wonderful designer/shop-owner/showroom-owner here in town sent me an email regarding MacKenzie-Childs following Monday’s post. She wondered if I was aware that the founders, Victoria and Richard MacKenzie-Childs, were no longer involved in the company that bears their name.

I was not. But I was thrilled to read her story about meeting Victoria and Richard on the ferry boat that they call home. They have a new company, Victoria and Richard, that produces pieces as extraordinary as the first.

One of the things that drew me to the original MacKenzie-Childs pieces was the use of color, of course, but also their joie de vivre. It is pure joy to see folks who love what they do and then see it reflected in their work.

The line includes dinnerware, serving pieces, glassware, rugs, lamps, garden accessories, furniture and, yes, jewelry.

And, the pieces have engaging and delightful names. The jar, above is Crewel Love.

This charmer is Striped Socks.

Both of those and Laddie, above, are available as lamps as well.

A demi-lune planter could come in handy is so many spots.

And then, there is this. You have to click the picture so you can really enjoy it because the detail is so amazing. My friend, Joye, told me when she met the MacKenzie-Childs on their ferry she felt like Alice going down the rabbit hole. Victoria was doing dishes and greeted her as a favorite relation. She could see views of the Statue of Liberty in one direction and the Empire State Building in the other. No surprise that sometimes dream houses float.

Yesterday morning the two older Blandings boys had orthodontist appointments. (Are we going to have to hear about her errands all summer?” Well, maybe.) As is usually the case, I ran into a good friend and got to catch up while my two were being evaluated and hers was being fitted for a new retainer. Broken. Ouch.

After she left and before I was called back to see what sort of damage genetics had wreaked, and what sort of residual damage that would cause to my checkbook, I had a chance to flip through O Home.

I didn’t get far before I stumbled on these lanterns from Juliska. I have liked their glassware from the get-go, though thought they suffered from a bit of over-exposure for a while.

But these are dreamy. I like them individually, but they seem to want to group, no?

The round sea urchin looking one would be great fun at the beach either in a dressing room or a few over the kitchen island.

I love the starkness of the clear glass with the detail of the embellishments. And no detail has been lost on the function; the bulbs are brilliant.

As was my mother who always said, “You should be an orthodontist. They work 3 1/2 days a week, get paid up front – and how many orthodontic emergencies can there be?” She knew as she had shuttled me and my sister back and forth through inherited cross bites and common crookedness. Thank goodness that light bulb did not go off. To think I almost missed the fame and fortune of being a former grade school auction chair.