Pianos

WARNING: This post is completely unrelated to decorating. Instead, I'm taking an opportunity to share with you a passion of mine that, at 31, I'm finally exploring. You see, when I was a child, I wanted to learn to play the piano. But, I was flighty. One day I wanted to play baseball, the next I wanted to be an astronaut, the following a concert pianist, and ... after a while of my pleading for every little thing that went along with those dreams (including begging my mother to make me a space suit and send me to NASA space camp) Mom stopped indulging me. Instead, she said: "I'll buy you a keyboard, if you stick to your lessons, then we'll get a piano." Reasonable, right? 

No! I was a precocious little thing, and demanded that I have a piano. Since she stayed strong with her no, I never took lessons. Twenty-five years later, I'm starting. 

Of course, part of that precocious child is still in me. One night, I said to Scott, we're getting a baby grand piano. Yes - a friggen baby grand piano! 

The next morning I figured out exactly where it'd go, and I went on Craigslist and started looking for local sellers of used baby grand pianos. I looked at 4, yes FOUR, each of them worse than the one before it. The first sounded like a tinker toy, the second had a poor sound, but a terrible case. The third had keys missing ... literal keys! How do you play a piano with no keys!?!? The fourth I literally walked in, and walked out. I didn't even sit down. Why do people put anything and everything on Craigslist? Some things really should just go to the trash.

Anyway, I decided to look at new baby grands. While I could buy one, I could also buy a Fiat, or a Rolex, maybe take a 22-day European vacation, four cruises, or even refurnish my entire house. So, dejected, I told Scott that I'd never learn to play!

Then, the part of my mother that rubbed off on me (I'm sure she's very proud) said Artie, (because that's what I call myself when I talk to myself) buy a great keyboard. When you learn to play, you can buy yourself a new baby grand. Ah! Mom was right all along! So, $500.00 later, I'm the proud owner of a Yamaha electronic piano.

It has a great sound. Amazing actually. And it'll be a great instrument in my learning. Lessons start in a couple of weeks. So, there you have it ... for an hour a day, for the next foreseeable future, I'll be sitting at that bad boy, tickling the ivories ... so to speak ... trying to make this lifelong dream come true!

Decorator turned Photographer

I love taking photos, really, I do ... but I've never thought of myself as a photographer. Over the years, I've taken some pretty nice photos of my yard and of my home and design work, but I always chocked them up to luck, and a pretty decent camera. So when a coordinator of the Lewiston Jazz Festival called me last Tuesday to ask if I would photograph the event on Saturday, I was both excited and bewildered ... was I really good enough to call myself a photographer and be this successful event's only source of 2014 marketing material? 

What made it even more scary was the fact that I've been kinda down in the dumps lately. My creativity is at an all time low. So, when I showed up, camera in hand, there was a great deal of trepidation.

I started snapping photos, one after the other, until 7 hours had passed and 900 photos had been taken. Then last night, I stayed up for hours checking out the final product, cleaning them up a bit ... and something surprising happened.

I started to feel my mood alter. I was happy, excited, a little surprised, but most importantly something I've not felt in months ... proud. 

Slowly but surely, as I went through all of those pictures I snapped not really knowing if I had enough creative juice to make them worth anyone's while, I learned an important lesson. 

Creative people like you and me, never lose our creativity. 

From time to time, we may find ourselves in a lull. 

We may think it's time to throw in the towel, and do something less demanding and stressful. 

We may second guess ourselves at every turn ... feeling like nothing is as good as it should be. 

But eventually, the cloud lifts, and the brass saxophone appears. 

That creative gene reappears. Bolder and Invigorated. 

So, if like me, you've found yourself in a creative lull, or a moment of the blues ... 

Don't throw in the towel. 

Allow your creative ticker the time that it needs to recharge ... 

and it'll return the favor with a fresh and new perspective that will result in your best work yet ... 

Maybe even in an area you never knew you had talent. 

You're special ... and stand out in a crowd. 

Talent transcends. 

Lull's pass.

And it all gets better.

Promise.

Kate Middleton and Prince William's Royal Kensington Palace Apartment 1A Before and After ... ala Ralph Lauren Home Apartment No. One ... Unveiled!

Well, I told you I'd let you know when it showed up ... and here it is! Prince William and Kate's finished apartment before and after (via Ralph Lauren's vision) Apartment No. One:

The lovely couple, newly wedded. 

The lovely couple, set to entertain at Apartment No. One. 

Narrow room at Kensington Palace Before.

 Becomes a beautiful breakfast room for the future King and Queen After.

Princess Margaret in the Living Room Before.

Where Baby George will crawl about in the New Apartment No. One After.

Princess Margaret's Kensington Palace Dining Room ... Formal and Blue Before.

Prince William and Kate's Sophisticated Dining Room / Library After.

Receiving Hall Before.

Princely Pugs in the Receiving Hall After. 

Bedroom at Kensington Palace Before.

Prince William and Kate's Bedroom After.

A room with a fireplace at Kensington Palace Before.

Becomes a Toasty Resting Place for the Royal Couple's Guests After.

I think Ralph did a brilliant job translating the interiors of the young Royal Couple into the Ralph Lauren Home 2013 Fall Collection: Apartment No. One, don't you? Hope you had fun with this little "play" on interiors! 

Ralph Lauren Home Collections Archive ... PART THREE

Well, this is it. The finale of the Ralph Lauren Home Collection Archive posts. If you missed where this all started, with Ralph Lauren's 2013 Architectural Digest Cover and Story on two of his lovely homes, you can view that post by clicking on the link. Then I tried to catalog some older collections of the uber popular Ralph Lauren Home Lifestyle Collections from the distant past, in PART ONE and PART TWO.

As I put together this post, I keep going back to PART TWO, and my absolute favorite collection, La Boheme: 

I know that this isn't everyone's perfect room. For some the asymmetry is frustrating, and what I call layering is just clutter. But for me, and anyone who has followed along with this blog through all of my many home transformations, you know that this look, is where my heart is. So, I hope, that somewhere in one of these collections that I've searched so deeply across the web for, you've had a similar breathtaking moment where you said, "YES! I found my happy place!!"

Now this time, I'm not posting about a lot of other collections. Fact is, there just aren't many pictures available for the older ones. But in my digging, I did find some clever reuse on the part of Ralph Lauren that just called for feature. Remember the California Romantic Collection from PART ONE? 

It wasn't my favorite - but I do like it. What's great about this collection, is that it's been used before. Before it got it's revamp with neutral Aztec inspired rugs and loosely draped furniture in soft linens ... it was called La Hacienda: 

I think I actually like that one better! Before I move on to the end of this post, I was asked to find the Safari Collection from the 90's. I looked, and found two lone photos. I didn't remember this collection, likely because I was only 8 years old when it debuted, but I sure wish I could find more photos! 

I've had a lot of fun searching for these photos and getting so much Ralph Lauren Home legacy in one place through these posts. As we roll the credits on this series, I can't help but wonder what's next for Ralph Lauren Home. This Fall, he's set to debut what may end up being the most elaborate of collections yet: Apartment No. One. Named for the residence at London's Kensington Palace, which will be home to Prince William and Kate Middleton, who is not yet a Princess - rather a duchess, countess, and baroness. What will Prince William and Kate's Apartment look like in the eyes of Ralph Lauren?

Well, I know this much ... it's inspired by Prince Edward VIII, Duke of Windsor, who served as King of the United Kingdom for a brief period of time in 1936, before abdicating the thrown to marry an American divorcee. His brother, Prince Albert, father of the now Queen Elizabeth, took the thrown. Many of you have probably seen "The King's Speech", recounting in the way only Hollywood can, the life of Albert.

So, adding that to the pot. I ask you this: "What would the apartment of a Prince and Baroness, inspired by the distant philandering, controversial royal relative who abdicated the thrown and avoided Royal life after escaping his destined reality to live a life of peace in France ... look like?"

Well, they've got a great place to start. A recent $19,000,000 renovation of the palace, where Diana raised Prince William and Prince Harry, (Apartments 8 and 9) has updated the livability of the 547 room palace separated into apartments that are occupied by other royal relatives, as they have been for centuries.

The two-year renovation has blended old with new, maintaining the architectural integrity of the palace while making it much more serviceable to today's standards. At least more serviceable than those of the builder's King William and Queen Mary in the late 17th century. The apartment that Price William and Duchess Kate will move in to is known as Apartment 1A, 4-floors, 20 rooms, and prior home of Princess Margaret, Prince William's Great Aunt.

The foyer of the apartment is rich with millwork and a harlequin tile floor:

I doubt seriously that this has changed too much in the renovations. And I also doubt highly that we'll ever get to see much of the finished interiors of Prince William and Kate's home. But knowing that Ralph Lauren, who probably researched the "feel" of this apartment in creating the Fall Collection is using this classic English architecture might help in the vision you're going to create in your head. So will Kate and Prince William's Apartment 1A look like Ralph Lauren's Harrowden Collection:

Or will Baby George, Kate, and William reside at Apartment 1A in something more like Ralph Lauren's Noble Estate Collection?

Well, the creative minds at Ralph Lauren Home will not disappoint us, no matter how they interpret the palace, I'm sure! But I have a feeling that we're going to see a modern mix in the Ralph Lauren Home Fall 2013 Apartment No. One collection. Already, they've marked some accessories on their site with the lifestyle: "Apartment No. One" including:

So, perhaps Apartment No. 1 at Kensington Palace (Ralph Lauren's Interpretation) will look more like his Rue Royale Collection?

I'm sure we'll all be on the edge of our seats, and I will definitely show it off here once it becomes public. I sure hope you enjoyed this last installment and the slight deviation.