News and New Stuff ...

Cross Bottle Guy Cross Bottle

 

Oh my! What a busy, busy week it's been! I feel like when I'm not working my tail off at the office, I'm in the studio creating, leaving very little time for the transformations I'm looking to make in the apartment living room. But, slowly but surely, I'm getting there! This weekend I loaded a beautiful lot of my handmade cross bottles onto the Cross Bottle Guy website, including the one above made with crazy large Swedish teardrop prisms. Take a look at all the beauties uploaded on Saturday here.

 

I was lucky enough to find the bamboo pavilion style chairs I was thinking would work well in the re-envisioned, more laid back, living room. There were 6, plus a table so I bought the whole set, even though I'm not quite sure how they'll be used, (or if they'll be used).  Only two of the chairs have their original caning, the rest of the chair seats have been covered over with a thin plywood stained the same color as the chair. I assume that over the years, these vintage chair seats were damaged, and that was the least expensive fix. It doesn't look bad - it will just require cushions. Which got my mind going on fabric.

 

Design by Jeffrey Bilhuber

 

Probably one of my favorite pattern pairings is ikat and animal prints. Jeffrey Bilhuber did an excellent job illustrating this in this Manhattan townhouse. Silk velvet Scalamandre le Tigre was used to upholster a club chair, and ikat pillows added even more pattern and color in the space. I loved the look even then, and I keep returning to this pairing for inspiration in the new space. I loved living in my all white look, and I still do, but I am craving a little more color now a days.

 

I've also been thinking of using ticking on the chair cushions, with small boudoir pillows in the animal print. Then perhaps suzani on a secondary piece of furniture that would flank the sofa (where the giant ottoman used to be).

 

I'll be heading to Brimfield mid-May, and I'm hoping something there reaches out and helps wrap this all up. So, until then, I'll futz and putz and hopefully we'll get through this without any bumps or bruises!

 

Til' then!