home exterior: March 2011

Show and Tell Friday!

It's Show and Tell Friday time once again! This has been a crazy week, as you can probably tell from my lack of blog posts! I can't believe it's Thursday already!
Last weekend I cut my lilacs and then got so busy that I never even got a photo of the beautiful bouquet. It's now sitting on my coffee table all dried up and dead! So, I'm using my photo from last year...it looked exactly the

Un-decorated

Just out is this book, illuminating the latest tendency to undecorated spaces. It is lovingly assembled by Christiane Lemieux, founder and creative director of Dwell Studio. You can buy it here. It's certainly not a new concept, thinking of the gloriously undecorated rooms of the Bloomsbury Group.

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Or the artistic salons at the turn of the last century: Gustav Klimt comes to my mind.

Image (View of Gustav Klimt’s studio on Josefstädter Strasse 21, Vienna, ca. 1912. Photograph by Moritz Nähr. Furnishings were designed by Josef Hoffmann and executed by the Wiener Werkstätte. The painting is Klimt’s Hope II(1907-08), now in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York.)
True, these stand out through their incredible creative energy, but any honestly grown place will always exude it too. Picasso held court, showcasing not only his art, but found objects, ceramics, his children's toys, beach gear next to design proto-types or his latest love...

Image (Picasso's Villa La Californie)

Image (Picasso's last day in Villa Californie 1959, before moving to Provence)

Of course we often just see these outstanding homes of artists or, occasionally, writers.
But this development reverberates with my own design philosophy and once in a while there comes a moment where it surfaces in a trend. There will always be the un-decorating fellowship.
It's a state of mind and for time being maybe even people with order and perfection on their minds will subscribe to it for a while.

Perhaps what's so intriguing is the simple fact that it looks rather naturally lived in, not too groomed and perfect.
In these times, when nothing around us is perfect - and when is it ever - we might answer this by living just like that.
So go on, relax, have that bundle of books you read on the floor next to your bed, coffee table or on the kitchen counter! Make momentous exhibitions on the window ledge of these small treasures you just picked at the flea market or the consignment store, don't paint that old table to a perfect turquoise, less is more! Live happily with what you have and don't take decorating too serious! And let these pillows artfully lounge around your couch.

Image ( from the book Romantic Homes of Ireland (above) and my own work/family
room (below).

Enjoy some un-decorated time!
Until it all changes again and we move on to the next best thing.... ; )
XX
Victoria

Today I love

Painted floors! I have a weakness for painted floors. I love the sophisticated or relaxed look of it, it evokes country side and ease, but at the same time I can see it at an old castle.

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I love white floor boards, Swedish design often relies on it, but also the intricate designs by skilled artisans to faux finish a floor to perfection.

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There are endless possibilities and the only thing that stops me from painting my floors light is the fact that my dog is black and sheds more then I like! And more over, my children are in and out year round, tracking their boots into the front door and way more often into the family room. It would be a nightmare!
But I love them...

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Look at these wonderfully painted stairs!
Done by Karen Oakley, a faux finish painter with incredible talent! She lives in Mystic, CT. If you are lucky it's your neighborhood...

Or these ones!

They can be such fun too.

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And these add some flair to a bathroom, which would otherwise look like any other!

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But honestly, a white painted floor is just wonderful!

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My floors certainly could use some serious refreshing, I might just paint them! Perhaps a sophisticated muddy gray?
What is your take on it?

xx
Victoria

All images as indicated.

How divine

This is some divine seating if you ask me. By Designers Guild! In good company with Finn - Juhl's beautiful settee...Poeten!

Introducing the Julep sofa!

And browsing todays Wall Street Journal, there I found an extensive and fabulous article about 'The Rise Of The Personal'! Just how I always felt about decorating...
What has been analyzed for months in the blog world has reached now mainstream: UN- DECORATING is the new black!
It looks pretty to me.

xx
Victoria

Image via designers guild.com

Old and yet so now

What seems already so long ago - our winter break was spent in Woodstock, VT.
There is a wonderful place nearby: Billings Farm. It is a working museum farm, with livestock, gardens and a wonderful farmhouse museum, built for the farm manager and his family around the 1890's.
What was so interesting about the place is the fact that it was designed very forward thinking for the time, with central heating, with running warm and cold water, a airy basement and many of the luxuries of the time.

Walking through the rooms I felt they would easily satisfy residents today, give or take a few things. I was delighted to find beautiful wallpapers.

Just look at this place! It's wallpapers are absolutely now!

The bathroom, with a hand painted sink, very fancy!

Build-in china closet in the dining room.

I love the pantry! Why don't they build houses today like this anymore?

Look at the incredible coffee storage and grinder!

I loved these rooms, the light and the thoughtful layout.
This is the dairy, they had the first mechanical butter maker in the country!

And transportation....

Enough land to go on a sleigh ride!

More then 120 years ago doesn't seem so old-fashioned at all! I was reminded of images I have seen only recently...

A happy weekend to you my friends!
xx
Victoria

Images above by V.Zlotkowski, Country Home magazine, Zoffany wallpaper and Tribal Home.

A year ago....

A year ago I wrote of stepping stones! It is so nice to read an old post and still find it relevant! There have been changes since then, the stones lay now imbedded in the garden, they are still as beautiful and they remind me daily to smile, exercise and live happily ever after!
Do you go back and read your old posts?

xx
Victoria

All images by V.Zlotkowski

Show and Tell Friday!

It's the first Show and Tell Friday since Spring has sprung! It feels more like Winter here in Northern California though! Cold, wet and very windy!!! I'm so ready for warmer weather!

In honor of Spring, I'm sharing some nests that I've decorated with over the years!
I had planned on sharing my huge bouquet of lilacs I cut from my garden but I haven't had a chance to take a photo of them

Flux chair

Look at this amazing, versatile, hip folding chair!!! Easy and fun could not get any better! You can buy it here!

Costs out of the box: $199!

Genius!

Find out below who designed it!

Douwe Jacobs + Tom Schouten

Flux was created by two young designers, Douwe Jacobs and Tom Schouten of Holland. The concept for foldable, flat and design-friendly furniture evolved during their 2008 graduation project for the Industrial Design Engineering Masters at the Technical University of Delft.

Upon graduation, Jacobs and Schouten decided to start their own company for smart, flexible furniture that appeals to designers and consumers alike. They named their company Flux in a nod to the idea of transformation, change, and flow. With a small start-up loan from the university, Jacobs and Schouten created the prototype of their first design, the Flux chair.

After winning every design fair and contest they entered, and receiving the highly acclaimed New Venture Award and the Philips Innovation Award, Jacobs and Schouten used their prize money to further develop the Flux Chair. Over one hundred full scale prototypes later, the young designers paired with a team of entrepreneurs in 2010 to take the Flux concept international, increase production, marketing, and distribution.