::Surroundings::

Skirted Roundtable: Inspiring holiday favorites AND a holiday giveaway!

2009-12-11T16:40:00.001-05:00

Join Megan, Joni and I as we chat about our favorite holiday decorating posts and resources from around the internet. PLUS, we've got a holiday giveaway!

Listen here!

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Guest Blog: Sandra Goroff-Mailly on vintage lamps

2009-12-11T00:24:00.000-05:00

I worked with Sandra Goroff-Mailly as we were booking Judith Miller on The Skirted Roundtable. She mentioned this fantastic vintage lamp that she'd found and had restored and I asked her if she'd share her story here on ::Surroundings::. Thanks Sandy!

While other dealers were covering their tables with plastic tarps, an older man way in the back seemed unfazed by the rain. He rearranged the items on his table, still unpacking the back of his station wagon; it was only 8 a.m. Sunday morning. I was in Arundel, Maine at one of my favorite outdoor flea markets. I watched as he unwrapped something intriguing from dampened newspaper; my pulse quickened as I raced across the field to investigate. With rain comes great bargains as the dealers who remain are eager to make the day pay before the weather drives all the shoppers away.

A very dirty opalescent, hobnail lamp base -- partly round, partly pear shaped tapering at the bottom (probably from the 20's or 30's)came into view. It had twisted, dried up and tattered ends and an assortment of electrical apparatus separate from the base that I had never seen before. My heart began to race -- the shopping equivalent of love at first sight. I don't usually weaken at the sight of hobnail but this example was particularly alluring with leaves and poppies done in subtle shades of mauve and powder blue against an off white pearlized background. I made an offer. The man countered and back and forth we danced. We settled on $35 -- a great deal, I thought, though I kept a straight face hiding my delight until I was back at the car with my niece. While I hadn't a clue how the lamp would work -- if it could ever work again, I could clearly see it on the table by my bed and sighed a smug happy sigh as I gently laid it on the back seat. I was giddy all the way back.

I love vintage lighting and even more fun, transforming vintage shapes and items into one of a kind lamps that mix so beautifully with any period. My collection includes torch lamps, perfume lamps, mid century, art deco, rings of saturn lamps and an assortment of this and that found over the years.

I am no electrician for sure and not mechanically inclined at all. I routinely take my finds to Anne at Concord Lamp and Shade. I love her enthusiasm when I walk in the shop -- no matter what challenge I put out before her on the counter. And so it was with my hobnail lamp base. Anne immediately directed me to a variety of shade possibilities, exploring the various heights and design, and together we sorted through a myriad of finials (I love finials). We picked out the softest ballet slipper pink shade and a slate blue and pewter finial. They would rewire my odd little lamp and sort through the wires and antiquated pieces for a fair price and I would pick it back up in about a week. My dirty hobnail lamp base had come a long way from the parking lot in Arundel, Maine to an honored spot next to my bed.

Here is a photo of that little lamp transformed along with some of my vintage perfume lamp collection.

Sandra Goroff-Mailly is a long time Boston based national and international literary publicist and voice actor, with a specialty in art, design, style and antiques. Clients include antiques and collectibles expert, Judith Miller, Erica Hirshler, Curator and Head of American Paintings at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, architect Jeremiah Eck, Garrison Keillor, Colin Cowie, Provincetown artist, Anne Packard and many others. Sandy is an avid collector who delights in vintage lighting, carnival chalkware, costume jewelry, art deco, finials, hood ornaments, whimsical ephemera, vintage green and turqouise and an irrestible smattering of this and that." She has also handled promotion for Skinner Inc., The Brimfield Antique Show, Chris Van Allsburg, Maurice Sendak, fashion designer, Zandra Rhodes, the Kovels and the Boston International Antiquarian Society. Sandy does photography and watercolor as well."What I love most about going to flea markets," confides Sandy, "is that you never know what you are going to go home with."

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Something's Gotta Give Inspired Rugs on sale now!

2009-12-08T14:48:00.000-05:00

One of the hallmarks of everyone's favorite movie set "Something's Gotta Give" is the blue and white striped flat weave rug that was the perfect anchor for the living room design. The story goes that the set decorators actually sewed two smaller rugs together to fit the space and you can definitely see the seaming in a few shots.

My friend Jerry of Aspen Carpet Designs created a line of rugs inspired by the one used in the movie and the have become huge sellers for him. He sells them in different shades of blue and is planning on discontinuing two of the colorways and has put the last three up on Ebay at great prices!

This Ocean Blue colorway Beach House striped rug comes in 8'x10' which you can view here or 9'x12' which is available here.

And this teal and white striped version is 8'x10' and is available here.

And here's another rug from Aspen Carpet in a Craftsman/Prairie style design that is also up on Ebay at a great price. It's 9'x13', custom hand knotted in wool and you can view it here.

If you do decide to purchase any of these rugs, let Jerry know you saw them here and let me know too - I'd love to see photos.

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Merry Marketplaces - Shop till you drop around New England

2009-12-06T08:01:00.000-05:00

Downtown Crossing Holiday Market - 11/24 - 12/24

SOWA Antiques & Vintage Holiday Marketplace

SOWA Holiday Market - December 12-13

Seacoast Fine Art & Gift Market - December 11-13

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Christmas Inspirations: Oh Christmas Tree, Tiny Christmas Tree (aka Tiny Tannenbaum)

2009-12-04T12:16:00.006-05:00

via Midwestern Living

When I was little, we had an antique Christmas tree stand that belonged to one of my grandparents. [Edited to add: my Mother reports that her father bought it just about when she was born in the late 1920's.] It was magical. It was also quite the fire hazard. It was a round, green painted tin container that had slots for three large light bulbs (traditionally yellow, red and green). The tree bolted into the center and water was held within. Well, you can imagine what happens over time when water comes in contact with tin. Add to that some frayed wires and we were living on the edge. I loved crawling under the tree and looking up. The warm glow of the big colorful light bulbs was both comforting and thrilling. I felt like I was hiding out from the world.

Do you have your Christmas Tree yet? I am still deciding what type of tree I want this year. I have to admit that I'm not much in the Christmas spirit yet. It's been a very long year for all of us. For me, it's meant the loss of my father and a difficult business environment, but it's also notable for my new relationship with New England Home magazine, my seemingly never ending kitchen makeover, the Skirted Roundtable and all the exciting people we've spoken with, and all the friendships I've forged. You know... all the stuff of life. The good, the bad and the please God, never again.

I don't get a tree every year but I am thinking that this year I could use one. Some years I've just done decorated wreaths hung on my big picture windows, and other years I've had an eleven foot tree with tons of lights. I'm thinking of going smaller this year. Small and sweet just might do the trick.

via Midwestern Living

via House Beautiful

via Midwestern Living

via Coastal Living

via Country Living

via Coastal Living

Source unknown

Do you have your Christmas Tree yet?

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Skirted Roundtable: Chatting with Judith Miller

2009-12-02T12:19:00.002-05:00

Decorative arts and antiques expert Judith Miller joined us this week at The Skirted Roundtable. We talked about her new books Chairs and 20th Century Design as well as her work on the British version of The Antiques Roadshow. Judith's body of work in the area of antiques has pretty much no rivals and she's written over 100 books in her career. I have long referred to her books on Period Detail and Style and know you will love listening in on our conversation. Click here to listen!

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Linda's Kitchen: The Backsplash

2009-11-30T17:12:00.000-05:00

And so, the kitchen makeover is slowly heading towards the final stages. The big work this weekend was to put up the bead board backsplash and on the soffit above the cabinets. The nasty part of the job was that we pulled out the 25 year old exhaust hood over the stove and pulled out the stove so we could clean behind it. Well, it wasn't as bad as I feared, but it wasn't great either. Am hoping to have the new appliances in shortly and so the time had come to face the dust and grime of many years.

After much debate about what to do with the backsplash, I decided to stick with the beadboard motif that I started on the side walls. Ultimately, in a small space, I do believe that the fewer mixed elements the better. Between the black and white checkerboard floors and dark cabinets, it seemed that adding a totally different backsplash wasn't the best choice. Also, in all honesty, this is the least expensive option as well. The existing backsplash is the same off-white formica that covers the counters. Unfortunately, the builders ran the backsplash up under the cabinets, so removing it is well neigh impossible.

As I've written before, I'm using embossed beadboard wallpaper for this job, which did not stick to the formica, so we had to prime with the trusty Zinsser primer. Same with the wood soffit-it required a coat of primer so the paper would stick. So we spent all Sunday priming, measuring the paper and hanging it. And, I love it. One thing I do like is that the the vertical lines makes the under cabinet space-which is only 15"-seem higher.

I'm now in the process of painting the backsplash, soffit and walls. I'm using Benjamin Moore's Cloud White in a semi-gloss. Now, honestly, it's not hugely different from the actual white beadboard, but as you can see in the photo, there is some difference. The backsplash is painted up to about 10" off the back corner (where my short arms can't reach). The reason I selected this color is that it matches the white Formica counter top, which I can't afford to replace at this time. It was important that the walls and backsplash color didn't make the counter top seem dingy by comparison. And, I must say that I really like the light counters with the dark cabinets. The final step will be to apply a polyurethane sealer to protect the backsplash from water and staining.

(before the backsplash was installed)

Here's a little collection of inspiration photos:

Image from Better Homes & Gardens via Nest Egg

via This Old House

via Country Living

via Nantucket Beadboard

via Flickr

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"The Blind Side" Movie Decor

2009-11-30T00:25:00.000-05:00

I have a new post up on ::Silver Screen Surroundings:: on the set decorating of the new movie "The Blind Side". Read the post here.

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The Skirted Roundtable - Alessandra Branca joins us!

2009-11-25T12:28:00.013-05:00

This week at The Skirted Roundtable: Megan, Joni and I are joined by the fantastic interior designer Alessandra Branca. I'll admit that I wasn't familiar with her work until we had her booked on the show, but I am now such a fan of her design style and her personality. Her personal warmth and love of life come through in her deep laughter and her strong yet feminine interiors.

Have a look:

Alessandra has a new book: New Classic Interiors and 100% of her proceeds are being donated to a series of children's charities across the nation. You can order a copy on her website and 100% of your purchase price will go straight to one of her designated charitable organizations.

Meanwhile, have a listen here.

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Look Up: The Connectictut Capital Cupola

2009-11-24T00:26:00.000-05:00

Look up - as Meg's Dad would say.

When I was doing some research today, I was looking at some info on Wikipedia about Hartford, Connecticut. How seriously amazing is the state capital rotunda, designed in the high Victorian Gothic style by Richard M. Upjohn.

This statue in the capital building is called the "Angel of Resurrection" and was created by Randolph Rogers in 1878.

Yup, another place on the ever long list of places worth seeing.

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The Bricklayers Contest at Velvet & Linen - Voting starts today!

2009-11-23T13:00:00.002-05:00

Brooke Giannetti at Velvet & Linen has been running a fabulous contest where three (yes THREE) of these Brickmaker's tables will be given to the top three vote getters. Contestants were asked to send in a photo of where the table will go should they win and she received 170 entries. Brooke asked a group of fellow design bloggers to make the first cut down to the top ten. We were asked to select our favorite 5 entries and I can assure you - this was no easy task. So, without further ado - here are the top ten. Voting is taking place over on Brooke's blog - with the deadline by November 29th.

#3 Melissa L

#11 Susan D

#16 Katie D

#27 Suzanne K

#29 Brandy O

#32 Carolina C

#69 Gary P

#80 Teresa A

#96 Kari B

#155 Mary Elizabeth H

Go here to vote by November 29th and good luck to all the contestants!

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A New England Fall Harvest House Tour

2009-11-21T18:09:00.028-05:00

I did a quick drive around my town this afternoon and shot some pretty local houses that are decked out for the Fall/Thanksgiving season. By the end of the weekend after Thanksgiving, most of the pumpkins around Duxbury will likely have been swapped out for Christmas sparkle, so I was glad I finally had time to do one of my favorite things - a drive-by "shooting". I have to admit that I'm getting pretty brazen about driving right up to the door and taking photos. I keep waiting for a scowling head to pop out someone's front door at some point.

This cute little Greek Revival farmhouse is located right near the historic John Alden House and I love the wreath, urn and pumpkin display.

This is a town of "tasteful" displays in general and there were many instances of tiny pumpkins lined up along the lintel over the front door. It does add an easy and nice pop of color.

This new construction shingle house sits hard by a river on a beautiful setting with great views. I love the plethora of pumpkins just piled up on the steps. It's very "bounty of the harvest" looking, isn't it?

This old shingle house look beautiful no matter what the season. I really like the naturalistic look that simply morphs from season to season.

Pimp my mailbox.

This is the historic King Caesar House, which is owned by the Duxbury Historical Society.

And again, we have the little lineup of pumpkins across the pediment.

I love these green pumpkins with the pops of color from the red berries.

If I'm on the ball, I'll reshoot all these homes closer to Christmas when they are sure to be decked out in holly galore!

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Linda's Kitchen: Ahh, the joys of restocked cabinets!

2009-11-19T08:43:00.000-05:00

And so, my kitchen cabinets are finally painted (woot!) and I'm no longer picking through grocery bags for food and measuring cups. The joys of clean, organized and freshly painted kitchen cabinets cannot be overstated, let me tell you!

A little recap. My kitchen makeover has been basically a Sunday afternoon project. So, ~~I've~~ we've (can't forget my fantastic volunteer staff!) been working since August. Here are the nasty knotty pine cabinets that I started off with. Lovely, no?

Lot's of cleaning and priming ensued.

I painted the insides of the cabinets with Farrow & Ball Cooking Apple Green (with thanks to Brooke Giannetti at Velvet & Linen for the inspiration!) This is Brooke's living room below, I just loved the backs of the shelves. She used F&B's Verte de Terre, which I looked at, but eventually I settled on Cooking Apple Green as it was a little less gray.

So, here is a test section of the Cooking Apple Green - which I am totally in love with!! I also tested the idea of upholstering the shelves in burlap. The main reason (aside from trying something new!) was that the shelves are nasty particle board, which I thought wouldn't take the paint well. The results of the wrapped burlap shelves was mixed - some areas were nice an tight, but other's not so much and the end result wasn't as tailored as I wanted.

I was also thinking I needed to line the cabinet insides with paintable paper - again because of the liberal use of cheap particle board. However, in the end with good priming, they looked best simply painted.

As for the exteriors of the shelves, while I veered wildly back and forth between a black paint or a lighter green, I ended up compromising with myself and went with two Benjamin Moore colors: Essex Green with Black Forest Green as the second coat. Both coats were sanded with a fine steel wool with "holidays" left in the paint to achieve an aged look. I also wanted to keep the shine to a minimum. This paint is an exterior trim paint, so it should stand up well to kitchen wear and tear.

Here are the cabinet doors all finished and lined up waiting to be re-attached to the cabinets! Although I have a very small kitchen, there are still seventeen doors! And only two drawers. Don't ask.

Of course, the final element with the cabinet doors is the hardware. There are so many beautiful choices out there! I decided that with all the work involved in painting the cabinets, ~~they~~ I deserved something special! After all, my manicure was sacrificed for the cause!!

In August, I was at an event at the Roomscapes Luxury Design Center in Rockland, MA (see post here) and fell in love with a set of crystal knobs on display.

I thought that glass knobs were a great idea to add sparkle and lightness to the dark cabinets (not that they look bad on these beautiful cream cabinets either!). So, I started searching for the perfect knob for my slightly distressed, but not too shabby or 'kountry' kitchen cabinets. Something that bridged the divide between upscale and, well, budget.

There are some seriously beautiful cabinet knobs out there!

Swarovksi "Baldwin" knob - at $38 per knob (on sale). Total for 20 knobs: $760. Considerably more than what I've spent on the kitchen to date. So, nope.

These totally over the top Cache knobs and escutcheon's sport Swarovski crystals and are fabulously jewelry-like. And, honestly, at $30 per set, not bad. But, not the look or price tag I seek.

These Quartz Crystal knobs are pretty, but still, at $20 each, we're looking at $400 for the kitchen.

These very pretty German Crystal knobs are beautiful and I love the facets - sparkly! Currently priced at $15 each, we're in the $300 range for the knobs.

These Restoration.com glass knobs are lovely - elegant and simple. At $11.80 each theyre a $230+ budget item.

Vintage inspired "Astoria" knob at $6 each. $180 for entire kitchen.

Of course, glass knobs come in a variety of fabulous colors! These from Looking in the Attic are also about $6-7 per knob. Pretty, but I don't like the visible post.

So many choices, so little budget. So, of course, when looking for a bargain, I headed over to Ebay and found these pretty little vintage inspired knobs:

Love them, love everything about them. And since I couldn't decide, I picked two different styles and are using them both! Here is a link to the oval knob , unfortunately, I can't find the link to the flower, but it was the same seller. At less than $2 each, the final cost was a trés budget friendly $50 for the whole kitchen, including shipping.

And all put together!

There is still a lot more work to come. The soffit over the cabinets needs to be painted, as do the walls (not shown in pic), and the backsplash needs to be dealt with. And, all new appliances are coming in a couple of weeks, courtesy of Ferguson Appliance. I think the stainless appliances will be a nice balance against the dark cabinets and I'm looking forward to my checkerboard floor NOT being reflected in the shiny black dishwasher and stove fronts!

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Ten Things About Me

2009-11-16T03:07:00.000-05:00

One of my new favorite bloggers - Greet LeFevre of Belgian Pearls blog has tagged me to share ten things about myself. I feel like my life is a pretty open book and I don't have any deep dark secrets to share, but here goes:

1. I play the flute. My first love was music and I hold a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance. I teach flute students each week in a local public school and at the moment have 17 private students ranging in age from 5th - 10th grades. I love teaching - the kids keep me on my toes and also keep me playing! I am performing in a Christmas concert in a few weeks, which I'm looking forward to. Below is a recording of a recording of a recording (in other words, please forgive the sound quality) from a concert I performed in my town. The piece is called "3 Carols for Christmas".

2. I've been to Paris 6 or 7 times, but have never been to Washington, DC. This is a photo I took from the cafe at the top of Printemps department store in January 2008 when I attended Maison et Objet.

3. I sew. When I was younger, I made many of my own clothes from winter coats to suits to jeans to ballgowns. Now, every time I try to make clothes, I make a mess of it. But I do still sew pillows and sometimes small window treatments. This project below was for a segment on local TV station WHDH called "Room for Improvement" where people wrote in looking for help with a space in their home. I did this master bedroom on a budget for a nice local couple.

4. I suffer from "I-can-do-that-itis", but I do not knit. I pretty much try any kind of craft project, except knitting. This is a detail of a group of decoupage wall tiles that I made last year after seeing some similar on another blog.

4. I prefer photography to other art forms and my favorite local fine art photographer is Anne Henning and I have two of her pieces. The one of the left with the pink fuzzy umbrella was taken in Paris in front of the oldest umbrella shop in the city. The one on the right is a landscape of Tuscany. Of course, this quick snapshot does not do justice to these painterly photographs that are printed on watercolor paper. Just amazing.

5. I cry easily and often. In truth, I tear up at least once per day. Both when I'm happy, frustrated or just moved by something beautiful. Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring" makes me cry. So did Van Gogh's "Starry Night" when I saw it at The Musée D'Orsay - I just stood there and balled like a baby. And I've never been a Van Gogh fan, but something about seeing the iconic piece in person was incredibly powerful and moving. Interestingly, Norman Rockwell makes me tear up as well.

6. I'm a twelfth generation American. My ancestor - Nathaniel Merrill - came over with his brother John from Essex, England in 1633 and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, which is north of Boston. Of all the places I've lived (and it's been many), Newburyport was the town that has most felt like home to me and one day I know I'll move back there. I lived there from 1995-2000.

7. I know nothing about sports and care less. Except that my maternal Grandmother's uncle, Tim Keefe (1857-1933),was a professional baseball player and is the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a pitcher and played for the Mets, Giants and the Phillies during his career. And, he was nicknamed "Sir Timothy" because of his gentlemanly behavior.

8. I'll never live in a neat and orderly home. I'm just not that person. Wish I were, but I'm not. I'm organized, but still cluttered.

9. My favorite color is green - any kind of green, any shade, ever since I was about 5 years old. I have to stop my self from over-doing the green. Although, interestingly, I haven't used tons of green in my decorating work. My second favorite color is pink - a fact I've only recently accepted about myself.

10. I'm an extrovert, yet shy. I can talk or perform in front of a large crowd without being nervous (well, not too nervous) but walking into a room with a small group of people who I don't know well? Horrors. I still go to business events thinking I might turn around before I get there. Usually, I go inside. And then have a great time.

So, that's a bit about me. Thanks to Greet for asking me to participate. You can read about her 10 Things here.

And now I must turn this around and ask some others to participate. I've decided to ask bloggers who I don't know much about personally but enjoy their blogs. We can all learn about them together!

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A 1920's estate in Milton, MA

2009-11-12T23:40:00.011-05:00

DeShazo Estate view from the gardens - photography by Jean Donohue, courtesy of FBN Construction

New England Cable News (NECN) Dream House just aired a two part segment on the fabulous DeShazo estate in Milton, MA. I've been lucky to have attended a few industry events at this spectacular 1920's brick mansion and thought I'd share the video and some still photos of the property. It truly is like stepping back to another time. The house is 11,000 square feet and has thirteen working fireplaces, original wrought iron work, a circular stair, carved wood ceiling and original butler's pantry.

Click here to view part 1 and part 2.

Photo by Linda Merrill for IFDA

Photos by Linda Merrill for IFDA

DeShazo Estate gardens. Photo courtesy of FBN Construction.

DeShazo Estate view from the gardens. DeShazo Estate gardens. Photo courtesy of FBN Construction.

Edited to add:

My friend, the fabulous photographer Jean Donohue sent along some interiors photos she'd shot of the house. I've tried to take inside pics, but failed miserably. Yep, once again, the professional is really the way to go!

Click on the pics for a larger view! If you'd like more information about Jean or her photography services, please email me and I'll pass you her contact information.

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Evolution of a floral arrangement

2009-11-13T11:48:00.000-05:00

Last week, I wrote about the big gala for the New England Design Hall of Fame. I was lucky enough to snag one of the gorgeous floral arrangements which were done by Winston Flowers.

My camera got a workout with this arrangement! I love the combination of deep red roses, burgandy calla lilies, deep rosy orange lilies, deep red brain flower (is that really the name?? icky), the drapey red flower (don't know the name) and purple/blue/green hydrangea.

So, it's been a week and while most of the flowers in the arrangement are still glorious, there is a kind of tiring out of the arrangement. So, I was thinking that it was time to disassemble the large arrangement into some smaller ones to kind of freshen things up.

Meanwhile, I popped into a local Salvation army store yesterday and came across this small silverplate flower bowl/candle holder piece that's maybe 8" wide by 6" high. For $4.99 and a little elbow grease (very tarnish) I have a sweet little addition to my silver/floral display collection.

It also has a handy flower frog set inside.

I'll also be using my silverplate tea pot purchased last year at the Hell's Kitchen Flea market, made famous by Eddie Ross.

And, so I started taking apart the arrangement. It's quite a feat of construction!! Most of the flowers were held in place by a webbing of chicken wire set inside the bowl. Some of the lilies were too short, so they used the little water viles attached to the stems and tucked inside this amazingly dense arrangement.

And, the empty bowl with chicken wire, which I'm going to hold onto for the future.

And here are the results - from one large arrangement has come three smaller ones. And very flowers were actually thrown away.

(And for those of you following my kitchen reno, what do you think of the new painted cabinet interiors? I still need to get the shelves painted, but this is a sneak peak of the paint color etc!)

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Gratitude: The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month

2009-11-11T10:08:00.001-05:00

Flanders Poppy tile - Verdant Tile Company

Courtesy of Bee MacGuire
Obtained From TheMcCrae Museum of The Guelph Museum

My Boy Jack ~ Rudyard Kipling

“Have you news of my boy Jack?”
Not this tide.
“When d’you think that he’ll come back?”
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Has any one else had word of him?”
Not this tide.
For what is sunk will hardly swim,
Not with this wind blowing, and this tide.

“Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?”
None this tide,
Nor any tide,
Except he did not shame his kind —
Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide.

Then hold your head up all the more,
This tide,
And every tide;
Because he was the son you bore,
And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!

This 'n that

2009-11-10T00:58:00.002-05:00

I was interviewed for a story about working with an interior designer that appeared on The New York Times online. Thanks to Camilla McLaughlin spoke with me, Susanna Salk and others about the process of working with an interior designer and what we bring to the process of designing one's own home. Specifically, my virtual decorating service was profiled. Click here to read the entire story. Fun!

Sad news came today that Hachette Filipacchi announced the closing of METROPOLITAN HOME magazine. The December issue will be its last. Sadness. Ironic given the line on the cover "Comfort & Joy". Sadly, Editor-in-Chief Donna Warner and her staff will be let go. According to the press release, they will be putting all their juice into Elle Decor. We interviewed Margaret just last week on The Skirted Roundtable and spoke with her specifically about how her thoughts on the continued success of ELLE DECOR. Very interesting. You can listen hear. My thoughts go out to Met Home's editor-in-chief if twenty-six years Donna Warner and her staff. The streets seem paved with displaced shelter mag workers these days.

On the kitchen front, I have the first coat of paint on the cabinet fronts (Ben Moore's Essex Green) and ceiling (F&B's Cooking Apple Green on the ceiling and inside the cabinets - it's fantastic!!). The second coat on the cabinet fronts will be Ben Moore's Black Forest Green, with a little antiquing thrown in. The cabinet doors are all finished (yay!!) and I'm just waiting for the new knobs I've ordered to come in. Very excited to show you those! )In case you're wondering, the soffit above the cabinets is going to be finished to match the rest of the walls in the kitchen.) The photo above shows the spaghetti dinner I cooked for Rob (my volunteer staffer is back on the job!) and I - while the paint was still wet!! Nothing like boiling water right underneath the wet paint!!

Speaking of cooking, this space is going to look a lot better with these babies:

And finally, Grayson Handy, whose book FLOWERS FOR THE HOME I reviewed yesterday shared with me a couple of additioal pics of his dachsund Romeo, whom I've developed a huge crush on. So, I thought I'd share the cuteness. Photos by Ellen Silverman.

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Saturday afternoon: Painting, tea and reading!

2009-11-07T18:06:00.000-05:00

So, with the time change, Saturdays are so short! My kitchen makeover is moving slowly along and my "volunteer" staff has been AWL (absent with leave) for the last couple of weeks, so I've been on my own. I've done a lot of painting and today I finally tackled the backside of the cabinet doors. The front sides are all done (the big reveal to come soon!). With the light rapidly going away, painted (Ben Moore Black Forest Green) away outside on my back deck.

It's quite chilly today so by the time I was done, I was ready for a little pot of tea and warm apple spice bread. I also got caught up on some reading. I've never heard of this Luxe Interiors + Design magazine, but it came in the mail today, so I flipped through that, Elle magazine and the new book Flowers for the Home by Grayson Handy. Totally gorgeous!

The nice folks at Rizzoli had sent the book several weeks ago and I've been drooling over the cover alone!

I've done some floral arranging, but I'm hampered by the complete inability to remember flower names and how they need to be treated. So, while I know what I like, I really do leave the work to the professionals. If I need an arrangement for a client or a shoot, I describe what I want in terms of color, texture and size.

"Flowers for the Home" isn't just a picture book with pretty photos of pretty flower arrangements - although Handy's arrangements are beautiful and Ellen Silverman's photography is to die for! The book is broken down into locations that have inspired the author: China, England, France, India, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, the American South and Tropical Rainforest. He then breaks down each section into regional inspirations, a color palette, a signature arrangement (with instructions in the back of the book for how to make that arrangement - flower by flower) and a resource section.

Of course, France always inspires me.

Okay - all together now: awwwwww (btw - Mr. Handy's dog Romeo is the spitting image of my dachsund, the late, great Tiny from my childhood).

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in floral arranging, or even just beautiful photography!

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New England Design Hall of Fame Gala 2009

2009-11-06T12:06:00.002-05:00

This was a big week on the New England design scene with the gala dinner and induction ceremony for the New England Design Hall of Fame. I wrote about the inductees earlier this week and wanted to share some of the party pics as well!

Cocktails

Getting ready for dinner

The view from my seat. Note the centerpiece is the same as at the top of this post - I brought it home! Glorious work as usual from Winston Flowers.

Alexis Contant, VP of the Boston Design Center (center) toasts the newly inducted honorees, from left to right: Gary McBournie, Jeffrey Katz, Cheryl Katz and Douglas Reed.

(left) Stacy Kunstel, Homes Editor, New England Home Magazine and (right) Alexis Contant

Marilyn MacLeod (Lee Designs), Teresa Burnett (Willow Designs, Inc.) and me

A bad pic of moi and a lovely pic of Katie Dammann, Marketing & Special Projects Director for New England Home Magazine.

Again, a huge congratulations to all the honorees - Maryann Thompson Architects, Gary McBournie (interior design), Cheryl & Jeffrey Katz (interior design), Stephen Stimson Associates (landscape design), Reed Hilderbrand Landscape Architects, Dalia Tamara (kitchen design). Read more about the inductees here.

And finally a thank you to New England Home Magazine for putting together this wonderful event and raising the level of awareness of the wonderful New England design community.

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Skirted Roundtable: Chatting with Margaret Russell

2009-11-06T10:56:00.000-05:00

This has just been a crazy week (aren't they all!!?) and I'm trying to catch up with postings and the news.

This week, Megan, Joni and I chatted with Margaret Russell, editor-in-chief of Elle Decor about her background and career, her twenty years at the magazine and the design industry today. I have to say that I am so enjoying doing The Skirted Roundtable and the opportunity to chat with some of the most amazing people in the design industry today!

In this interview, we asked Margaret to select three rooms that were among her favorite photoshoots and images from her new book Style and Substance: The Best of Elle Decor so that we could chat in specifics about what makes a room work in life and in a magazine.

Hampton's Living Room (an SGTG inspiration?). Design by Victoria Hagan. Photo by Reed Krakoff.

The best selling Elle Decor cover is also the cover of Margaret's new book Style and Substance:The Best of Elle Decor. Photo by Michael Mundy.

Margaret is also one of the busiest people in the industry and has lent her support to many fine charitable organizations over the year. Currently, she sitting on the boards of the Alpha Workshops, which provides training in the decorative arts to those living with HIV/AIDS, and to God's Love We Deliver, which provides meals and nutritional information to those living with life-altering illnesses. She is also beginning to focus her considerable attention to the issue of arts education for school children. For ten years, she was active with DIFFA (Design Industry Foundation Fight AIDS) and the annual Dining By Design events. I first met MR at the Boston Dining by Design event two years ago. We ended up literally face to face in a very crowded space and let me tell you, she's even prettier and younger looking in person that in photos!

So, thank you Margaret for spending a great hour with us! Click here to listen!

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New England Design Hall of Fame 2009 Inductees

2009-11-03T00:50:00.002-05:00

I'm getting very excited for this week's New England Design Hall of Fame awards dinner, sponsored by New England Home Magazine. The ceremony and gala dinner for this year's honorees is being held at the State Room, which sits high a-top the city of Boston.

I wanted to share some information and photos of this year's inductees. Congratulations to all!

Maryann Thompson Architects

Gary McBournie, Inc. - Interior Design

C&J Katz Studio - Interior Design

Stephen Stimson Associates - Landscape Designer

Reed Hilderbrand Landcape Architects

Douglas Reed

Gary Hilderbrand

Dalia Kitchen - Specialty Design Award

Dalia Tamari (center)

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Topiaries

2009-11-01T16:35:00.001-05:00

Halloween has passed and Daylight savings time has ended at here in the Northeast it's dark by 4:30. And cold. And the leaves are quickly turning brown and falling down. We haven't yet had a hard freeze, but once that happens, we're done with pretty blooming things until the crocuses start peeping up out of the dirt. It's one reason that we like our evergreens here - at least something has a bit of color outside the window. I am particularly taken with with topiary gardens and harbor a strong desire to grow (sculpt?) one some day. Here are a few inspiration photos...

from Edward Scissorhands

Topiary in Beijing via Hatch: The Design Public Blog, via More Ways to Waste Time

How cute is this? Unfortunately I lost the source...

via BBC

artist Simon Garden

via Black Barn Farm Topiary

Topiary Garden in France

via My Duck Soup

via Folly Fancier

Costa Rican topiary via ElleMondo

via The Presurfer

And one for a touch of snowy wonder...

via Flickr

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IFDA New England Designer Showcase Winners!

2009-10-30T01:16:00.002-04:00

Steve Twombley, Publisher, Design New England Magazine, Media Sponsor

Susan Shulman, Winner, Best Kitchen

Beverly Rivkind, Winner, Best Living Room

Teresa Burnett, Community Service Recognition Award Winner

Wayne Southworth, President, IFDA New England Chapter

Rebecca Wilson, Winner, Best Bedroom

Edwina Drummond, Winner, Best Showhouse

Donna Terry, Winner, Best Dining Room

Gail Ravgiala, Editor, Design New England Magazine

Last night was an exciting evening for IFDA New England as we celebrated our membership and our first ever Designer Showcase Awards. I sit on the board of directors for our chapter and was on the committee that created the Showcase Awards. Here are my fellow committee and board members:

Chris Kay, me, Karen Lovejoy

Joanne DiFrancesco, Karen Lovejoy

I wanted to congratulate the winners and showcase each of their beautiful designs (yes, even though I didn't win myself for this design!)

Best Dining Room

Donna Terry, Interiors by Donna Terry

(click here to see larger size)

Best Decorator Showhouse

Edwina Drummond, Edwina Drummond Interiors

(click here to see larger size)

Best Living Space

Beverly Rivkind, Beverly Rivkind Interior Design

(click here to see larger size)

Best Bedroom

Rebecca Wilson, RW Interiors

(click here to see larger size)

Best Kitchen

Susan Shulman, Susan Shulman Interiors

(click here to view larger size)

Congrats to all the winners!!

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Linda's Kitchen: Cabinets, Colors and Cooking

2009-10-26T01:12:00.002-04:00

I had a great meeting with the nice folks at Ferguson's on Friday. I've never shopped for kitchen appliances for myself before and it's fun! Paul Gillis was my sales guy and we spent quite a while looking at various products and their features. My kitchen is tiny, so my appliances also need to be fairly modest. I'll have more on that process in a future post once the final selections are made, but I wanted to share a few images from their showroom.

Here are some beautiful - and huge - Viking appliances. The red fridge is pretty eye catching, as is the double oven range. Those wouldn't even fit in my front door, let alone make it into my kitchen!!

Here is a refrigerator and freezer built into the cabinetry. I do love this look, I have to admit.

And, speaking of cabinetry. This weekend was basically D-Day when it came to painting my kitchen cabinets. After months of dithering and questioning myself - do I want black or green kitchen cabinets. Guess what I've decided on?

I decided on a very dark, nearly black, green. Once I started painting my cabinet insides with Farrow & Ball Cooking Apple Green it just felt right to go with a deep, dark green exterior. So, I headed off to the paint store and selected two possibilities - Ben Moore's Black Forest Green or Essex Green. These are part of their exterior trim line and should (hopefully!) be very durable for a kitchen cabinet.

Black Forest Green

Essex Green

Now, clearly these two colors are very close and this is where we start questioning ourselves. While I'd been planning on going black all along (after a short detour towards lighter green), I got chicken committing to the Black Forest Green, so ordered a quart of the Essex Green in semi-gloss. I got it home and opened the can and pretty much knew that there was too much green and too little black. So, I started painting some of the cabinet box exteriors (we took all the doors off last week). And yes, as I feared, too green. Ah, what's a girl to do. Well, first, I texted Rob to find out what time he was going to be here today and then to tell him about the color. And then I decided to see what he thought and moved on to cleaning and de-glossing all the cabinet doors. That was a fun Saturday night...

So, today, in the light of day, the Essex Green was still significantly too green, but I decided to use it as a base coat for the cabinets and use the Black Forest Green as the top coat. It's my own personal formula. Well, it's an experiment.

Here's the lineup on cabinet doors on my deck with one coat of the Essex Green. I want a slightly aged look, although not too "shabby country". Once the paint was mostly dry, I sanded down the sheen with a fine steel wool, which also pulled off some of the paint. Next step will be a coat of the Black Forest. I'll then see how it's looking. I am thinking of a final step of waxing the cabinets.

On other fronts, we primed and painted the entire insides of the cabinets, both uppers and lowers today. A second coat is needed on the uppers and then the cabinet exteriors can be painted the dark green.

These home improvement projects really get me thinking about my dear Daddy. As I wrote about him a couple of years ago on Father's Day, my Dad was the ultimate DIY guy. Growing up, I knew there were carpenters, electricians, painters and plumbers out in the world, I'd just never met any because Dad did it all. So, when I tackle a multi-part project such as this kitchen makeover, I really miss him terribly. He would have loved this project and every time I think about cutting a corner, he's whispering in my ear - do it right! So, as I was ruining my manicure sanding my cabinets today, I knew that I was doing as I am told. And the end result will be better for it.

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