10.24.2012

TANGIER FINDS






TROUVAILLES A TANGER

My abanjá partner Abbie found this outstanding picture in Laure Welfling's store in the kasbah of Tangier, a stunning stash of unique pieces. Her husband GP is the artist of this extraordinary piece and Abbie wants to hang it in her Aspen Colorado house. 
What a contrast it will make with snow and mountain views in winter! 
Abbie's design sensibility goes definitely outside the box...

au revoir.




10.23.2012

GOOD BYE TANGIER







A BIENTOT TANGER
The "yellow" bathroom in the house with our abanja Berber Towel.

The Tangerina Hotel, the one place to stay in tangier if you want charm, views and the friendliest welcome on earth..

Tomorrow, back to settling into the new place in Paris. 
Well, we have appliances and wifi. That's a start. 
Now to find the right light fixtures (very modern this time around!) and the right place for putting my multitude of pictures. And to have closets and shelving installed everywhere!

I did find 2 great carpets in Tangier. An almost square one for the entry hall and a long runner for the corridor going to the master bedroom and the office, both in warm off-white/beige with a typical diamond line-pattern in black.

Here comes the fun part!
au revoir.



10.16.2012

GOOD BYE PARIS RAIN HELLO TANGER





AU REVOIR LA PLUIE, BONJOUR TANGER

It's off to Tangier for a week today, to check on our production, on our new samples for the January show and for some photography on the beaches and terraces of Tangier. 
I am meeting my business partner Abbie there and we should have a great week.

Now, what are the chances the apartment will get finished while I'm away? 
If only...




au revoir.



10.14.2012

IN THE END A DECISION WAS MADE....








IL A FALLU PRENDRE DES DECISIONS

When it came down to 3 choices, we decided not to take the apartment with the breathtaking view. It had a terrace and the Sacré Coeur was right there at every window. BUT, small rooms and tacky details everywhere.

We also turned down the nice place on a fabulous street. Very close runner up BUT an empty kitchen, no bathtub -and no space for one later- and one room short.
We also decided not to go for a quiet dead end. Not sunny enough.
We decided that, in spite of being Eiffel Tower-less and terrace-less, the place with the light filled rooms, great moldings and details, laundry room/mudroom (a miracle in Paris) and classic Parisian style was what we needed.

The street is nice and the building is very classic Paris. Nothing grand but nothing bad either. A nice Paris "Haussmanien" building. (From architect Baron Haussman who transformed Paris in the late 19th century in order to give the city large avenues and light filled streets).

In the balance also comes a couple of stunning sites:
Gare du Nord, in an area admittedly in need of a little gentrifying...
and l'église St Vincent de Paul, an imposing church, oozing with charm. 

So, there you have it. Our new home, our new neighborhood and tomorrow a new beginning! 
And also a lot of work putting everything in it's right place, making everything fit in new surroundings, making tons of necessary purchases and making sure the contractor is on board for all installations: shelving, added cabinetry, accessories and lighting.

Oh, and one more detail. 
On Tuesday I go to Tangier to keep an eye on my weavers...I hope the wifi will work and the new fridge is running before I go or I will have a very unhappy camper at home. 
And I do mean "camper". 
For a while anyway.


au revoir.



10.12.2012

MOVING ON MONDAY!!






LE JOUR J ARRIVE!
As our move is being delivered on Monday and Paris apartments most often don't come with appliances in the kitchen, I need to get a fridge, oven, dishwasher, microwave, toaster and electric kettle etc. ASAP. I want steel and they must fit in the cabinets (yes, miracle, this place has cabinets at least ; not all but most...)
So today's job is appliance hunting. Darty here I come.Priorities, priorities. 

Hope they deliver quickly, but I am not very optimistic.
Wish me luck (and energy...)

au revoir.

10.06.2012

INSPIRATION AND REALITY






L'INSPIRATION ET LA REALITE
This was a corner of our bedroom in the US. Everything you see in the shot came with us to Paris -well, is still in storage somewhere in Le Havre, France..., except the 30's vanity on the right.
Here in Paris our bedroom will be almost the same configuration, with a French-door style window instead. 
Luckily the entire apartment is painted a very pretty shade of Farrow and Ball Shaded White, so that's a great start.
In the new place everything will fit, though I will change pictures around and I have to find a curtain rod with arch shaped ends, as the window side wall of the room has beautiful rounded corners. Very pretty but a sight challenge in the rod department. I am not complaining however...
Oh, and the ceilings are almost at 9 feet high. That, I love. 
There it is, the first sneak peek into our "Installation à Paris". 


au revoir.


10.02.2012

PROBABLY THE "BEFORE" OF OUR "BEFORE AND AFTER"...





Peut-être bien le "avant" du "avant/après"...
to be continued...


au revoir.