The Royal Treatment

A dear friend whom I haven't seen in a while is coming to visit on Friday night.  We are both anticipating the evening--a girl's night, lots of talk, staying up too late and reminiscing.  I wish she were staying longer than one night and if my guest bedroom looked like this,  maybe she would.

If you are a fan of Carolyne Roehm's designs, you may remember these images from Veranda magazine.  I remember being stunned by not only the gorgeous photos and colors, but by Roehm's meticulous attention to detail.

 

The hostess anticipates everything a guest could want or need. Bed linens are ironed with French orange blossom water.  The guest room is made extra special by a sterling silver pen, water carafes by Dior and fresh flowers.  Even a packet of tissues is luxurious when wrapped in extra fabric from the room's decor.   

Pretty blue mints are offered in a silver dish along with cookies.  

I'd like to find a pretty silver cup in which to keep my pencils (and an orchid or two). 

 

I'm feeling a sense of hostess inadequacy on my part...... 

 

 Bottled water from England awaits on a silver tray. Like Roehm, however, I do have plenty of felt-tip pens to offer my guest. 

 

The linens look so crisp. 

 

More accouterments for the lucky guest.

 

Although my guest room is not as well-appointed as Roehm's, I do have a bottle of French orange blossom water (for cooking--I'm not sure why) so I'm going to try ironing the pillow cases with sprinkled with orange blossom water. At least it will make ironing more enjoyable. 

 

Carolyne Roehm also has a beautiful website (new?), which you can find here for more gorgeous photos and inspiration.  It also includes new photos related to the original Veranda guest room article she wrote.  

 

Happy Weekend, a little early

 

 

 

All images from Veranda magazine.  First photo by Sylvie Becquet.  All other photos by Carolyne Roehm.



My Favorite Kitchens

Here's a brief tour of my favorite kitchens from Pinterest.  White cabinets rule these days, don't they?

 

Source

This is my favorite of the group.  Creamy cabinets, white marble counter tops and a gray stone (limestone, bluestone, Belgian stone?) counter top on a dark gray island.  Plus, that's a Lacanche stove back there.  Isn't she a beauty?

 



Darryl Carter

You already know how I feel about Darryl Carter.  He can do no wrong in my book. 

Darryl Carter

Well, actually, as much as I admire Darryl Carter's taste, I would replace these stools.  They look good because they echo the color of the beams, but they don't look comfortable do they? 



David Kleinberg via Veranda

A crisp white kitchen with black accents.  Pretty ceiling detail too. 

 

J. Randall Powers via Elle Decor

Such interesting chairs and stools.  I like these very much. Creamy white cabinets again.  

Source Unknown

My guess is that these are honed black granite, slate, or engineered stone counter tops.  Sorry, not much of a guess is it?  I wish I knew the source of this kitchen.   

Khachi Design Group

 An interesting note about this counter top.  Apparently it's not marble, but Cambria Quartz in "Torquay".  It looks like a good alternative to marble.



Source Unknown

And just for fun, I consider this to be the little black dress of kitchens.

Happy Weekend

 

Black and White

Some of my favorite things from Pinterest, here

If my favorite images are an indication of my favorite colors, then black and white are the winners.  I'm not a shoe person, but the few pairs I have are black.  My favorite bags are black and I dread putting them away in the summer.   Black sweaters and white shirts overtake my closets. Winter is longer when it's still cold in May and my black coats keep me warmer longer than they should.   

There's not much black outside of my closets.  As much as I'm intrigued by Cy Twombly, would I want a black painting in my home (even if I could afford it)?  Or would I curl up on the sofa with a black throw?  Some say that black is the punctuation mark in a room.  If that is the case, my rooms are run-on sentences.  Loads of white, no black.

So, maybe I should add some black to my rooms, although it seems strange with the hot, hot, hot weather in Boston right now (this is not a complaint).

So that is all for today. A random post about black and white.

Maybe the heat is getting to me.

 

Choices

Darryl Carter

The reason why I blog is apparent when you compare  this photo to the photo in my previous post.  At times, I am drawn to spaces that are bold, unique, and exciting.  More often I'm drawn to spaces that are understated, quiet, and calm. Beautiful, but safe.  It is hard to choose between them and with a blog, I don't have to.


 

Wow



Renea Abbott of Shabby Slips

Caution is the hallmark of my personality.  I'm most comfortable playing it safe, following the norm, sticking to the rules. Once in a while, an event or experience pushes me out of my comfort zone and reminds me to stretch a little.  Sometimes a beautifully decorated room has the same effect on me too. 

  I've been flirting with leopard, but I've only got pot holders and cocktail napkins.  That's not enough to get the pulse racing, is it?  Although animal print calls for restraint, if it's done right (like here) it can be both daring and tasteful.  So the napkins will be put away when the leopard sample arrives for pillows.  If there were a sweet pair of chairs to be found in a consignment shop and I could get up the nerve, they might get the leopard treatment too.  But then the pot holders would have to go and I'd be in over my head.

Spring Flowers

One of the first things I did yesterday morning after being cooped up all day on Friday was to buy three bunches of yellow tulips. I wanted to brighten the living room with spring color.

The small chair in the background was recently reupholstered in taupe mohair and I think it turned out quite nicely.  The chair had been my grandmother's, was originally covered in a nubby rose fabric, and later, a red ticking stripe fabric (which never really suited the chair).  I'd reupholstered it myself in the ticking stripe more than 12 years ago, when I took an upholstery class.  I'd had visions of turning all sorts of furniture in new pieces by upholstering them myself.  Although the class was a good experience, I never ended up reupholstering anything myself after this chair and another wingback that's in storage. It was a long class that went on for weeks and it seemed as though it would take less time to prepare oneself for childbirth than it would to recover a chair.  Needless to say, I took the chair to a professional for its mohair cover. 

Thank you for your kind comments on my last post.  I hope you have a good week ahead.  I've been working on a project that doesn't involve furniture or fabric, but has taken a lot of time and experimentation.  Hopefully, if all goes well, I'll be able to share it soon.



Out of Focus



Carolyne Roehm

I have been behind in my posting and ever since the beginning of the week, I--and nearly everyone else in the city---have found it difficult to focus on much of anything.  I usually don't do posts about the tragic events that go on in our world. My blog is about light-hearted pleasures--decorating, design, beauty so it's best to keep ugliness at bay.  The Internet, "social media", and live television present plenty of opportunities for people to find the information they need.  I usually don't feel the need to add my voice to the noise.   

But it's been a terrible week here and I count my blessings that my family, friends, and colleagues are all safe.  So while it's been a scary and unprecedented time--we're currently in "lock down" and not leaving the house--I understand that there are others who are going through unimaginable suffering from this event.

Hopefully peace and some kind of normalcy, whatever that may look like in this new world, will return to Boston soon. My thoughts are with all of those directly impacted by this week's tragic events.