2.28.2011

THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS Part 1: laces and buttons







Les details couture1:
Lacé boutonné

If your chair are destined to be seen from the back first and foremost, take a little time to design them the way you would a dress. With details that sya I am as nice looking when I enter as when I leave. Except of course in this particular case it's almost the reverse. Nice to look at when you come in.


images allaboutdecorating, yournestdesign, dyislipcovers, sara-louise, homefashions

au revoir.



2.27.2011

HOW TO END THE WEEK PROPERLY






Comment bien finir la semaine...
Tell you next week
image bc.edu
Yes, dancing the French cancan is one option.


bon dimanche.




2.26.2011

BATHROOM LADDERS








LES ECHELLES A SERVIETTES
What a simple concept. Ladders are economical and versatile but they do require impeccable folding skills...
images hotel debrett auckland, new zealand, remodelista, ultimatefoodsng

bon weekend.



2.25.2011

THE 50'S: ARTELUCE FLOOR LAMP








LES ANNEES 50: LE LAMPADAIRE ARTELUCE

I was in a shop to have a silver plate teapot re-plated when I noticed a "for sale" sign above a polaroid of a floor lamp tacked to the wall. THE floor lamp I love, the 1950's Arteluce 3 arm "Triennale" lamp designed by Gino Sarfatti.
I tried to sound very nonchalant as I asked what the seller wanted for it expecting something in the thousands like the one I had just bought for one of my clients in a mid century shop in Soho. The answer was would 800 be OK , to which I said "I'll take it for 500". The answer to that was an immediate OK, done.  
I felt I had won the lotto! It sounded like he did too... He probably went home that evening and said to his wife: Honey, you know that ugly lamp from Aunt Mabel you wanted to get rid of? I sold it to a nut with no taste today.
It needed rewiring but apart from that it had all the original part and even the frayed original wire.
This is it. Well, an exact clone as mine is in the basement waiting to be moved to Paris to my son's apartment one day. It's basically "un-shippable".  For less than it cost anyway..

This one is the same one I bought for my client, the grays and cream perfect for her "cement (color) apartment", as we call it.

It comes in all white which is even more versatile and understated.
Great right?
images design crisis, 1st dibs, moffee media








au revoir.





2.24.2011

FRENCH EYE VIEW





COUP D'OEIL
Just something that caught my eye.

The sheer poetic humour. The unbridled character. Designer and client get an A for confidence.
saffronia baldwin



au revoir.




2.23.2011

TORTOISE SHELLS



Les carapaces de tortues

The shells of sea turtles has been used as a fine material to be cut and bent and decorated for centuries all over the world. Originating in the warm tropical seas of Africa and the Pacific, it made its way to Europe and the New World in the shape of spectacles, combs and delightful objects, often paired with silver, and sometimes precious stones and pearls.  In the last few decades, whole shells have taken their place in interiors with stunning effect.

Utilitarian objects

Jewelry and adornments
Bent and cut into bracelets and necklaces

Finely carved as here in Doris Duke's comb collection

adorned with pearls as in this Victorian comb and "tiara"



a smiling/menacing tortoise mask



Tortoise shells as art
on walls

on stands

Breathtakingly en masse at the Tides Hotel in Miami designed by Kelly Weastler

As sea turtles are protected, current designers resort to faux tortoise shell plastic and other imitation materials.


Faux turtoise shell

Alexander Mcqueen's fun clutch

Albert hadley's cupboard

And this faux turtoise coffee table I shot at the Lee Jofa showroom yesterday with my cell phone (it shows)

And if you are totally against the idea of tortoise shell altogether you have options
Faux faux turtoise shell
Jonathan Adler's interpretation in white china.
images saffronia baldwin, house beautiful, brian douglas, o gallerie, shopmania, stylehive, this next, quai branly, blue velvet vintage, the man of style, house and home, beverly hills honeys, the lennoxx

au revoir.












2.22.2011

CORBELS

LES CORBEAUX DECORATIFS

The good news is that corbels are wonderfully decorative, especially when they are old and weathered and take on the wonderful patina of time and use. The bad news is undeniably that to be reused and repurposed they have to have been taken from some fabulous old structure which has been almost certainly replaced by something new and soulless. So we have a catch twenty two here. 
However this is not the subject of this post, but rather the beauty and many functions of corbels.

corbels as lighting

corbels as shelving

corbels as objets d'art

and most strikingly, 
corbels as furniture
images decorpad, brownriggshome, house and home, kaboodle, flickr, underthebo, restoration hardware, the martha blog, 



au revoir.




2.21.2011

CHINESE ANCESTORS


NOS ANCETRES LES CHINOIS

You may have guessed from my profile pictures,  these are not MY ancestors, but they are just as decorative as any portraits of my family's ancestors. 

images iusedtobesowwhitebutidrifted, interiorsforyou, ecxentricitiesinc., kenzo, 

bon weekend.
美好的週末.