feathers

I’ve been feeling a bit withdrawn lately.  Not melancholy or somber, not even mild depression or sadness.  It’s more like I have a desire to hole up in my own little world and hibernate.  I have also been feeling a strong desire to go out and shop for sweaters. Perhaps these feelings come with the time of year and change in the weather, I don’t know.

I do know that in my head I tell myself, as long as I don’t pick up the phone or send out emails and texts, I’m on my own little vacation of sorts from the real world.  It’s like this fantasy world I go to where I get to believe that as long as I don’t communicate with anyone…they don’t exist and therefore I don’t have to be responsible.

Obviously, this fantasy doesn’t go on for very long, but something I have been fantasizing about a lot lately are feathers.  Fluffy soft pretty feathers…

healthy holiday

My girlfriend Kim co-wrote a book you may have heard of called Skinny Bitch.  She recently wrote her first solo cookbook, I mentioned it in a post a few weeks back.  It is called Skinny Bitch – Ultimate Everyday Cookbook.  Kim asked me to contribute a little piece about creating an inviting and eco-friendly ambiance in the kitchen.

The book turned out to be gorgeous and incredibly informative with great, easy to cook recipes.  I highly recommend it and think every house should have a copy.

There are a number of recipes for the vegan and non-vegan that would add to any holiday meal + it’s a fantastic holiday gift!

Ok, enough with the plug.  Go get this book!!!

sunday bedroom bliss…

I’ve been really into images with feathers lately and am always a fan of white.  This image has been sitting on my desktop for about a week and I just can’t stop looking at it.  Don’t you love love love?!?!?!?!?!?!!!

holiday table inspiration 2010

happiness is a new sofa…or is it?

We just did a bunch of work at our place including fixing up our sofa.  We’d been living on a threadbare, flattened, little person- handprinted, lopsided excuse for a sofa for a while.  I was pretty down about it, I mean, I’m a designer, my sofa should not look like we just hauled it in from someone’s alley.

I love the sofa itself, but the old tattered linen that was barely holding on had to go.  It’s a simple classic low modern sectional with no arms, a tightly upholstered deck and low back. It’s super comfy and would look great in a number of different spaces.  Definitely a keeper.

Then there was the question of whether to upholster or slipcover and what fabric to use. Michael wanted to upholster with another heavy neutral linen.  I wanted to upholster with something outrageously expensive from one of the showrooms in the PDC.

We ended up having slipcovers made in a very washable white denim.

Not what Michael wanted, and not necessarily my first choice, but here’s why I did this…

1. My boys are a mess and while white does get dirty, the heavy white denim can be washed and bleached and washed and bleached and washed and bleached…

2. While my boys are young I don’t want to worry about upholstering in a $100 per yard fabric that I am going to be freaking out about every time someone glances in the direction of my sofa.

3. Slipcovers are cheap and can be removed and changed easily, did I mention that they are washable and bleachable?

4. I can always have the sofa and cushions upholstered in a nicer fabric and then still use the slipcovers while the boys are messy little monsters.

So we do all this work and it’s like a brand new house and Michael and I are sitting in the living room and I look around and I think to myself ‘whatever’.

Don’t get me wrong, all the work we did made a huge difference and I love it…but I really thought the key to my happiness was surely a new sofa…

 

 

Shanghai sofa Poliform

Crono Simplice Sofa from B&B Italia

Chemise Sofa by Piero Lissoni for Living Divani

Polder Sofa by Hella Jongerius for vitra.

Vladimir Kagan sofa for Ralph Pucci

Lampert Sofa by Jonathan Adler

 

there’s that green again!

this time in an AMAZINGLY inspired Miles Redd designed interior…delish!

brooklyn bridge.city hall

I just read about this amazing old abandoned subway station on the Huffington Post.

Dating back to 1904 the City Hall Station was closed in 1945 due to lack of use. For years it was completely closed to the public, but now, riders of the 6 train can see the station by staying on the train after the last stop and riding it around as it loops through the station.

CIRE TRUDON

O. M. G.

I was recently in a little shop in Silverlake and came across these AMAZING candles from Cire Trudon in France.  They are seriously like an orgasm in your nose.

They were laid out on a table under little individual glass cloches and each one was better than the next.

I was shopping with a client and she was literally looking at me like I needed to take these candles and get a room.

My 2 favorites are by far the ABD EL KADER The a la menthe – Moroccan mint Tea and SPIRITUS SANCTI Encens – Incense.  I mean, they really are all amazing, but if I had to choose just 2, these would be them…

Dating back to the 1600’s and becoming the official royal wax manufacturer in 1719 these candles have a beautiful history and each scent is accompanied by a sweet little story.

And they don’t have paraffins and all the other yucky dangerous stuff that newer wax candles have in them.

This is the kind of luxury (steeped in history) that you can get for under $100.  I’m in.

CIRE TRUDON shop Paris.