Showing posts with label antiques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label antiques. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Meet Leo

The pied-à-terre

 
I'm still working on the apartment.
I will be ... forever.
 
But I wanted to take some time to introduce you to my new boyfriend, Leo.
 
Leo is tall, broad, handsome, and masculine - without throwing it in your face.
Leo plays well with others, doesn't complain or insult, and he's completely stable.
Leo is an old soul, and he exudes beauty and sophistication.
Leo is strong, and holds all of my stuff without any hesitation or funny looks.
Leo is Swedish. Scandinavian, actually - and you know how those European men are!
So romantic.
 
Leo came into my life via Craigslist. Such a strange place to meet a new lover, but the moment I saw him and read the ad, we clicked, and I knew that I had to snatch him up quick before someone else beat me to the punch.
 
So, on New Years Day, I drove to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where poor Leo was living in a garage, and brought him back to Buffalo to share my new apartment with me. I know it's fast, and I know you're worried that I might have jumped too soon - but when your heart knows, your heart knows!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

A CDLV Before and After

Remember when our sunroom used to look like this? 


I have to confess that it didn't look like this for long. I really only had it this way long enough for the magazine article, and then it went back to looking like Scott's office. Just about everything in there was sold, including the little blue chest, the leather chair, the sofa, and the ottoman and the basket that was on top of it ... I think that floor lamp is gone too. It wasn't that I didn't like the room this way - I just wanted something different. Not a big surprise right? 

So after a long time of collecting, and waiting until I had the money to have everything slipcovered or made, here's what the sunroom looks like now:


So, not a huge change, right? Or maybe it is? The curtains are the same, made from a Ralph Lauren suiting plaid, the wall color hasn't changed (MSL Ash Bark) the main rug, one we picked up in Turkey is still there, but I took up the cowhide - mostly because I was sick of tripping over it! 

The main change is in the furniture. The camel back sofa was upholstered in a beautiful natural cotton, and I had my slipcover maker make a cushion in both the cotton and an espresso velvet. Two pillows in the same natural cotton were a must have - but I splurged on a beautiful mossy green silk from Brunschwig & Fils and then had some Samuel & Son's trim attached to both the front and the back in those rusty reds that are found in the living room and dining room. The bolster pillows may look familiar. They were in the dining room once upon a time.

The sofa had three cushions when I bought it. so I had them replaced with one single cushion, which I find to be much more comfortable. This is the room we watch television in, so we need a cozy lounging sofa, this fits that bill for sure! 

The ottoman is an old one ... and isn't ugly under this beautiful slipcover, it just didn't work for my vision. So when I found this fabric (Ralph Lauren) which had that natural cotton base, and rusty red and green window plaid, I knew it had to be used in the sunroom and on that ottoman. I've left it without a tray or basket, or bowl, or anything because of two things: 

1. I'm trying to cut back on clutter. EMPHASIS ON TRYING! 
2. We use it for propping up our feet. If I'm lazily watching television, the last thing I want to do before and after is rearrange artful clutter. 

Moving on, that chair is new. I got a smoking good deal on it, and because it's so deep, it makes a wonderful little television watching chair. Next to it I brought in a directoire table in brass that I used to have in the living room, and atop it a beautiful copper bowl I was gifted by a sweet, sweet, friend - is filled with tangerines. 


 Isn't the pattern on this magnificent? 

Next to the sofa, an old tool box painted green acts as a library table. 


This is where some of my design books are for ease of reading when I'm not in the television mood but still want to spend time in the room. Again, I"m trying not to clutter it all up ... but I'm a more is more kinda guy! 

For drinks or the occasional bowl of popcorn there's a blue and white garden stool next to the sofa, in front of the library table that does a great job of being useful and beautiful. 

As I finish up in here - I'll do a new tour of the room with close ups on the special finishes that I chose in the slipcovers and give some stories behind the accessories. But since I've not been a very good blogger lately, I wanted to post a quick little something from CDLV to let you know that I haven't forgotten about you - and please, don't forget about me! 

Monday, July 22, 2013

Daydreaming over Daybeds

Do you ever find yourself drawn to an antique or thrift store? You wake up, with things to do that  do not
include leaving the house, and yet your inner shopper says: "There's something you need at 'name that store'" ... and then a little while later, it says: "And it's on sale!"

Well, that's what happened to us today. After we met our friends for brunch in Lewiston, Scott and I were supposed to go home and continue cleaning and perfecting the house for my mother's visit this coming Tuesday. But there was that voice ... and we popped into a little antique store on the way home. 

I wandered aimlessly, up stairs and down stairs, all around and outside not finding what I knew my inner shopper was sure I needed desperately, when I hear Scott call me from the basement of the store. I walked down and there he stood, pointing...


At this!!! Ok, not really THIS ...  I followed his finger to an antique jenny lind daybed, all dismantled leaning against the wall. "Is this the right size for your office?"  YES! I think so! It's exactly like the daybed used by Phoebe Howard above, featured on the cover of her book, The Joy of Decorating. 

I've never shown pictures of the home office ... I should get in there and take some pictures of that room, but it's an awkward, narrow space, that I use as an office, cross bottle studio, and blog central station. It's also where I keep my magazine collection, and design books ... so I have always said I wish I had an antique daybed, because they're so narrow, and therefore a great fit for the narrow room. That way I'd have a comfortable place to sit with my magazines, design books, and laptop. BAM!, there it was! And ON SALE for $91.00!!

I didn't take a picture, and right now it's leaning against the wall ... not very inspiring. It needs a cushion or two, and some pillows ... and I'll do a big before and after post when I get it all done. But, today, I thought I'd check in and let you jump on my daydream cloud ... all about daybeds! Enjoy: 

Design by Vicente Wolf, ELLE Decor

Design by Myra Hoefer, Veranda Magazine

Design by Eleanor Cummings, Kay O'Toole Antiques

Design by Phoebe Howard, Joy of Decorating 

Design by Phoebe Howard, Designer Visions - Somethings Gotta Give, House Beautiful

Design by Alessandra Branca, ELLE Decor

Design by Frances Merrill, 2013 New Trad Designer, Traditional Home

Design by Mark D. Sikes, Lonny Magazine

Design by Alessandra Branca

And, in the event that you missed having photos of CDLV, or the garden this week, you're in luck! My sweet friend and blogger Mimi at A House Romance has put together a wonderful interview of me!

A House Romance

Can you believe it!? I am so honored, and I can't believe how thorough she was in putting it all together and searching through nearly 5 years of blog photos to get great stock of my house and designs. Please head over there to take a look and read the interview, and say hi while you're there! :)


I'll be back with some daybed news ... soon! 

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

LOVE ... Antiqued Mirrors








Whether a genuine antique or just fauxed to look like one - I'm in love with antiqued mirrors! The perfect addition to any room, wouldn't you agree?