Interior Vignette

Isn't this adorable?  My mom was visiting yesterday and painted this little vignette of my living room.  I think the painting looks better than the actual room.  Nice job Mom!

Paneled Living Rooms

A client recently asked me to design some paneling and a new mantel for her living room.  She and I both wanted to do something a little different from the normal colonial wainscotting with a chair rail and raised or recessed panels.  Here are some images I found which put a twist on the paneled room.  The room above is by Manuel De Santaren.  The large scale panels, muted colors and modern light fixtures give this room a modern sophistication.

This room by Van Day Treux is one of my all-time favorite rooms  I never get tired of the color scheme and the layout of the art.  I also really like, in this particular case, that the trim and walls have been painted the same color.

This slightly more formal room by Thomas Pheasant doesn't really have paneling, but he has gracefully framed the mantel with a pair of pilasters and an architrave. 

This is a beautiful living room by Katherine Newman Designs.  The paneling is very tailored and she has cleverly added both fabric and mirrors to the panels.  You can see the detail better in the photo below.  It's a beautiful detail.  I also really love how she mixes great light fixtures, and modern peices with the formal paneling.

Great art too.

This is a bedroom by Katherine Newman Designs.  But this simple fabric paneling could look really great in a living room as well.

This room by Victoria Hagan has paneling and a mantel that are very similar to what my client has now.  I really like this look, but I'm afraid it will be just a bit too casual for my client.

The overall look of this room by Barclay Butera is more beachy than we are going for.  But I like how the panels end just below the ceiling and the grass cloth continues from the wall to the ceiling.

This paneling from Martha Stewart Living is a little bit more historical looking than the others.  But I like the pilasters on either side of the mantel.  And the full wall of raised panels is a really nice look.  But I don't love this green.

This is a great mantel, aslo from Martha Steward Living.  The paneling is really secondary.  But the paint color is quite pretty and so are the light fixtures and chairs.

Garden Inspiration

Happy Mothers Day to all you moms out there.  My favorite thing to do on Mothers Day is to visit the New York Botanical Gardens or White Flower Farm in Litchfield, CT.  But this year I won't be able to make it to either place.  So a couple of gorgeous photographs from Barbara Israel Antiques are going to serve as my inspiration as I putter in my garden.

Cinderella Story 2.0

After...

Before...

This was a particularly satisfying renovation.  How many of these awful, 1960's tract houses have you seen?  It was great to be able to transform this one into a more authentic looking farmhouse colonial.  There are thousands of these houses out there.  Wouldn't it be great to transform all of them?  One down...

 

The critical changes which helped to transform this house were: a new, steeper roof; replacing the existing wide exposure siding, which is so dated,  with 4" cedar shingle siding; adding roof overhangs with crown mouldings;  replacing all of the existing windows with more veritical ones; and adding the front porch to give a friendlier front to the house.

A Feminine Architecture

Is there such thing as a Feminine Architecture?  I remember an achitectural critic posing this question, while I was a student.  Unfortunatley I can't remember who it was.  But seeing this new Chicago building, called  Aqua by Jeanne Gang,  made me think that yes, absolutely there is such a thing.

This tower is unique because it is not focused on the verticality or monumentality of a typical skyscraper.  Ms. Gang uses thin concrete balconies almost as countour lines in a map, to create undulating waves which become the surface of the building.  The soft, accommodating form of this tower differs  fundimentally from the more, hard edged, phallic like, archetype of a skyscraper.  Thus argueably creating the first feminie skyskraper.  As Paul Golberger points out in his article in the New Yorker Magazine, Ms Gang's use of curved forms has more to do with function, and less to do with whim, or a fascination with using unique shapes generated by

high tech computer programs.  The undulating surface actually acts to break up and difuse the notoriously  high winds of Chicago, eliminating the need for a device which stabilizes most tall builings against the sway and vibrations caused by winds.  The difusion of the wind also allows for balconies on all floors of the builing.  A typical skyscraper doesn't have balconies above 60 or 70 stories because the winds are usually too strong at that height.

I am totally enamored of this building. It has gotten my attention by not being an attention grabber.

photos from Studio Gang

As soon as I saw Aqua, I immediately thought of the fashon designs by Leanne from Season 5 of Project Runway. Her designs are so architectural, yet they are flowing and not stiff or linear.  Leanne's fashions and Aqua have a similar understated and feminine beauty.

I love the shapes and the colors of these creations.  Obviously they have less to do with functionality than Jeanne Gang's Aqua Tower, but I think they share an optimistic, architectural outlook.

Beach Glow

This article in Veranda magazine really caught my eye.  I love the soft blues and greens of the interiors by Susan Ferrier against the austere, almost graphic background of the architecture by Mcalpine and Tankersley. It's like a beautiful soft peice of sea glass set against the back drop of a sandy beach.

You can just barely make out the Buccellati silver seashell on the books of the coffe table.  Definitely one of my favorite accessories.

I love how this painting by Michael Marlowe echoes the various shades of the fabrics.  I wonder which came first, the painting or the fabrics.

I love the use of long, full wall sheers in a beach house.

I love the playful use of glass tile and the arched ceiling in this kitchen. It's casual yet spunky, and not at all boring.

 All photos by Tria Giovan for Veranda Magazine

Go Green

My latest issue of at home magazine  arrived at exactly the right time. I was just starting to get anxious to start working outside in my garden. We have finally had a few warm days here in Connecticut, but everything is still brown. These inspiring verdant gardens were exactly what I wanted to see. If only my garden looked as fabulous as these do.

All photos by Stacy Bass for at home