putting the "felt" in silk felt soil

What can I say -- these wool cuffs by Kelly Mulloy, (featured by the fantastic Houston shop, Greenergrassdesign) are just brilliant. They come in men's sizes too, and I think one of these could definitely look very sexy on the right guy. (Oh, and by the way-- remember when I mentioned how much I like saturated colors? Love. Them.)

prints, painting: the amazing jane d'arensbourg

Minutiae, 2002, Enamel Fingerprints on Glass, and Metal


Blot I, 1999, fired-on enamel paint on glass



Live and Well 2002, shellac and ink on paper. 5'x 9'

Jane D'Arensbourg's work is such a lovely, odd, uncanny fusion between the smudgy, circuitous lines of the fingerprint, and the stark and graphic lines made by pieces of coral. Wow. Stunning.

The last piece reminds me of one of my favorite prints, Galileo Galilei (Slate), 2001, by the sculptor and sometime-print-maker, Richard Serra:

Drink up

"Thou, silent, spicy form dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold, Sweet Pastoral!"

My ode to Blenheim Ginger Beer-- the sweetest, spiciest, roughest, toughest noon-time drink I know.

outside in: chinoiserie garden furniture indoors

No one does the preppy/bad-girl/anglo/chinoiserie mix better than Kelly Wearstler... this image is from her gorgeous Viceroy hotel in Santa Monica, which I have had the pleasure of visiting a couple of times.

In that vein, so it seems, is this potting desk from Mecox Gardens-- the chinoiserie feel, the celadon green color. I think the piece might be fairly simple to reproduce on one's own... certainly the color could be experimented with on various items- headboards, closet doors, and such.


It also got me thinking about bringing outdoors design inside; when I lived in England for several years, I really saw that the distinction we make in the States between indoors and out isn't made as much there, because gardening is so much a part of life, even for the ordinary home-owner in a suburban area. The conservatory peeking out of brick houses is a very common sight...

But as for me, a gal in the city, I would be happy with just a potting desk as a console, or even a ceramic garden stool or two around the living room, as functional little sculptures, shots of color, or accents of white.

new use: child's blackboard table as coffee table

There is something about chalkboard paint in the kitchen and in entries that I just love-- it adds such a sweet, playful element. This Offi chalkboard table is 18", just a bit over the height of a normal coffee table; it also could be cut down slightly if low is the way you like it. Wouldn't a pair of these would be perfect in the living room, where you could invite visiting friends to draw away to their hearts' content? (especially with chalk ink, which isn't dusty like regular chalk.) Bonus: the bowl in the center of the table could be used for everyday items-- remotes, and such.

white on white (and a little gray)

The American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan is having an exhibit called White on White (and a little gray), that I am longing to see. Though I naturally gravitate towards rich, saturated colors -- dusty cocoas and indigos and apricots and guava and shrimp pinks -- the New England girl in me somehow is also very attracted to the most spartan, neoclassical of palates...white enamelware and unbleached linen and bare, wide-planked wooden floors.




These corbels, (from the wonderful architectural salvage store Nor'East) belong to that spartan side... I just love them and wonder what one could do with them if one doesn't happen to have a building in need of structural support! They remind me of the pieces of white coral that adorn people's coffee tables and dressers in magazines... they also remind me of Georgia O'Keeffe-esque skulls ... Maybe they would look elegant on a console, proudly retired to the realm of the decorative?

cherry season in montréal

I haven't been to Montréal very recently, but my friend Aliki lives there with her husband Yves, and they have two cherry trees in their backyard, one sweet, one sour... She makes the most delicious jam from the cherries and I have this feeling that being young and married in Montréal with cherry trees in your own backyard must be one of the best kinds of young and married there can be.

luxury: a louis xv bed with caning

to bed, to bed! mmmmm....

actually, an article in Oprah's At Home magazine quite a while ago featured fashion designer Tracy Reese's home, and she had a cane bed from Ballard Designs, (piled high with silky Indian throw pillows and pink ticking) that I quite liked. Since then, I've been keeping my eye out for real antique beds with caning... I just love this particular one (from the Ebay store From Global To You), but it's certainly not a "deal," however beautiful.

luxury: long low dresser

a while back, design*sponge asked readers for an affordable long, low dresser... i cannot say that i've found such a thing (except on craigslist, which i recommend wholeheartedly-- somehow danish modern pieces seem to turn up there at very affordable prices?). And this month, Domino has a very intriguing article on small spaces, in which the owner installed IKEA kitchen cabinets low to the ground, as a credenza. Int'g idea!

However, all pragmatics aside,


i have found the dresser of my dreams, in white lacquer.

antique celestial map

love this print by asa smith, from smith's illustrated astronomy, ny: cady & burgess 1848.

would love to hang it above the bed... kind of an adult version of the glow-in-the-dark stick-on stars that used to be on your ceiling as a kid!

New home. . .

Right now it's not ours, ours. But soon! it is really perfect for us, with beautiful old windows, lots of light, and a really nice feel to the place. With a creaky, antique elevator just down the hall.

I never thought it would happen this fast, but we found it and couldn't pass it up.

Have given all my old copies of Domino a new look, and right now am really inspired by vintage maps, the faded, golden, buff and cream tones of Carolina Herrera's Madrid apartment, old black and white photographs, and golden, grey chinese silk screens... it is so exciting, the chance to really do something with a place, to make it your own.