stuck in a groove
hi guys, how’s la vie? j’espère c’est en rose! it’s already the weekend and there’s a lot going on around here. it’s time to decide about taking the store. turns out it wasn’t very hard to get and is a great opportunity. of course i hear the negative and lots of people are telling me not to do it. yes, it’s one more responsibility but the truth is that having a store type of place is something i’ve always enjoyed cause it can be a warehouse, showroom, office and workspace. i’m going in on it with a girlfriend who sews so that will be fun. plus i can do what i love which is travel and shop, restore and display. working on the web has been great for a few years and i don’t knock it, but i do love being around pieces that speak and transforming them with paint or upholstery.
bookforum.com sylvia beach and james joyce 1925
i started looking up shops that are legendary, and of course, shakespeare and co. in paris came up with this image of sylvia beach and james joyce so i’m tying the store into my post today which once again focuses on what i can’t get enough of right now, the great minds of the 1920s. hope you don’t mind another indulgence in this infinite era. i spent way too much time surfing just now but i liked it and hey, isn’t that why we blog?
i stumbled on to way too much but loved every minute of what i could save.
gartersandlace.tumblr.com bernice abbott by man ray 1921
reading up on so many great lives
centroduncan.it isadora duncan
writers, dancers, actresses
can you believe this shot above is actually two well known women of the 20s, dunja barnes and solita solano?
i was looking for stores that were memorable (above was madeleine castaing’s and is now laudree).
photo by sollis.se/2010/11/there-is-always-beauty-in-mystery
via topsyturvystyle.com madeleine-castaing
i started looking into madeline and one thing led to another. so many amazing designers were cutting the edges at the time! i love the mirrored pieces of course, and the chevrons, the bold patterns and stripes.
Cecil Beaton’s sister, Baba in syrie maugham’s ‘party room’.
claystephens.wordpress.com glamour-syrie-maugham-all-white-rooms
lilmisscatterbrain.blogspot.com elsie-de-wolfe
stirredstraightup.blogspot.com rose cummings
ana-lee.livejournal.com gertrude lawrence
well, that’s enough from me today, i have to stop or i won’t ever work. or play! have a great day et nuit!
keeping my word
citified.blogspot.com/miles-redd
hi guys, comment toutes les choses c’est soir? it’s been pretty hectic around here. getting stuff done and trying to organize, strategize and prioritize. tonight it’s another early shut down. this is just a quick hello and also a nod to those who were searching ‘dressing rooms that look like boutiques’. anyway i vowed 10 pm. signing off~have a great night mes amis!
corners of the world
erin fetherston’s paris apartment
you can really do a lot with a corner.
bonjour everybody. Ça va?
how’s your week going?
i’d like to talk to my subscribers for a sec. i hope it’s not too intrusive that i’m posting every day, but i realize it may be a bit much. it’s part of a wordpress challenge to blog every day for a year. i thought it would be cool to try it and see where the year goes. but if you don’t want to deal with it, i won’t be offended if you unsubscribe. (brokenhearted but i understand)! i get way too much mail in a day and am sure you’re overloaded too.
so i guess, that said, i’m gonna get guilt free and just dance like no one is watching and enjoy my daily posts since i do love having a creative outlet. tonite i’m into posting the weekend’s decor clips instead of storing them in folders as usual. use ‘em or lose ‘em, mostly but i’d like to enjoy ‘em. like the good china.
it was totally random that they’re all corners. ok this is not a full corner but still, it’s a vignette with a whole lot going on. love the feathers!
now this is a corner!
not to change the subject but this i’m sending a big shout out to shabbyblogs.com. these talented and generous girls give away their wonderful work to use for free. i just added their icons to freshen up my sidebar:
they have tons of great buttons so if you’re looking for a lift, check them out.
i love this badge of theirs below. it would be fun to give out as a blog award.
finally, i also wanted to thank the selfless graphics fairy who had this on her site:.
which i used for this:
thank you so much for your generosity ladies, you make the world more fun!
ok well i’m actually going to sign off and head out for a late dinner. have a great night and thanks for all your love and support. it means everything to me!
setting the stage for new hollywood glamour
above images via munna
hi all, happy sunday! i hope you had a wonderful weekend. it’s a great time of year when there’s not a lot of pressure and there’s time to just chill. still, i’ve had nagging thoughts about the upcoming maison objet show in paris next week. it’s the event to hit to get inspired and check out great design from all over europe. somehow i just can’t justify it since i haven’t even cracked open the bags of vendors, pricelists and business cards from the show in september. till tonite, that is!
images below from christopher guy
i’m starting with a couple of my favorite designs (ok more than a couple) that remind me of the 20s and 20s. sleek and moderne with a bit of whimsy, dorothy draper meets jean harlow to create the ultimate cocktail. i find that era of furniture delicious… maybe i’m just obsessed!
most of these pieces seem to have walked right off a movie set, i love films like dinner at eight, swing time, top hat and so many others that had such gorgeous backdrops. there’s more to see every time you watch them!
anyway i guess these were my interpretations of it tonight. it was fun to go through the designs and start to update my site by adding to the collection.
obviously there’s an infinite world of design out there but i stick with my little niche in the boudoir. i love the smaller furniture and the intimacy of it.
well this is the tip of a giant glacier. maybe you love furniture and playing dress up with your boudoir as much as i do, so i’ll keep on digging through the piles of papers.
i can’t help but feel our grandma’s really knew how to live. they had such great muses and icons to look to for their inspiration though, how could they go wrong? i guess the least we can do is pamper ourselves and create a little niche of our own. a place to feel pretty and special, set your own stage and be the glamour girls we truly are!
frames via tpa
well i better run, it’s almost midnight. have a great night and suite dreams!
a remarkable gentleman
hey guys, how’s life? mine’s good but trying to fit it all in is hard. how does everyone get so much accomplished? how do you? do you set a schedule?
well tomorrow morning i’m heading over to my friend, joseph’s place. he lives in miami beach too and we’re both ny transplants. we’re working on a project together, (shhh, the bachelors’ version of the paris apartment)! he let me shoot him even tho he was sooooo tired!
i just wanted to share a few shots i got from the hipstamatic app on my phone. if you don’t have it, check it out, you can change film and lenses and get an infinite variety of effects really easily.
he and his apartment are superchic. this was a couple days after a party so it’s not up to his standards but as you can probably still see he has great taste. it’s one of his many gifts besides decorating, refinishing, nickel plating, dipping, lacquering, painting, and constantly creating. he’s going to spill his tips for decorating and entertaining impeccably and affordably. his muse is cary grant. need i say more?
anyway that’s it for maintenant! i blew off the app last night so i have to do double time c’est soir. have a bonne nuit!
and so to bed
bonjour everybody! i hope you’re having a good week and getting stuff done. i’ve been pretty good at staying put but did drift off tonite for awhile on my favorite new site, pinterest. it’s a great way to veg and get out of my biz head. it’s unbelievable the creativity, styling, great photography and passion out there! here are some of my favorite bedrooms. i’m trying to stay focused so i’ll put together dressing rooms and baths another day! in the meantime, check out some of the links to the sites if you get a chance, they’re loaded with a ton more eye candy. some i’d never heard of but am glad to know, even tho that means straying into dangerous territory. oh well, that’s the beauty of having infinity at our fingertips, right? have fun!
carolynquartermaine via alifemorefabulous.blogspot.com
for more on this one check out trouvais.com. it’s the 17th century home of Gael and Francesco Boglione who created London’s Petersham Nurseries. images via Vogue Living Australia May/June ’09
i can while away the hours
bon soir everybody, i hope you had a good week and tgif!
i’ve got the apartment to myself for the next month and plan to make the most of it.
it’s weird when you get off track (my bf was here all week) and don’t remember where you quite left off. for that i always turn to the camera card and see where i was last. i forgot about my trip to palm beach the other day.
i’m working with a dealer who’s got fabulous stuff but no tech, so we’re working with my online shop and his great goodies! this is the back room where some pieces need work. he wants to put new mirror on this, says his clients don’t like that ‘old stuff’. i could have cried!
he knows where all the great estate sales and auctions are. i hope no one shines up this patina.
i’m a sucker for black lucite
and slipper chairs but ouch! the 80s upholstery on this 30s frame is so golden girls but i die for the lines!
another vintage mirrored vanity. he wants to change this old mirror too but i say no!
he’s pretty frilly himself. this is behind his desk (above)
and he has a thing for pink chairs. me too.
as you can see this is a fairly girly region of our fair country. sometimes it can even feel a little sunset boulevard and i start to wonder if maybe it’s a bit much. but i do love fun, dramatic furniture. i think about the ladies who used these pieces in the teens, (the flappers) twenties, (the vamps) thirties (glamor girls)!
total non sequitur: the shot below has been on my desktop since last week. it’s madeleine castaing from a new book about her that a friend mentioned. i know i should know her but know tragically little. turns out she loved playful furniture and decor too and is someone i’d love to study.
(NOTE: i just realized this is not madeline! it’s Syrie-Maugham who i know even less about)! oh well it started a roll!
this is the new book out on her: World-Madeleine-Castaing
what a legend
Antique shop of Madeleine Castaing in Paris (7th arr.) at the corner of rue Bonaparte et Jacob
Juin 1960. © Roger-Viollet. Photo by Francis Hammond for The New York Times
now a laudree
enfilade18thc.wordpress.com/category/marketplace-goods-services
apparently everything she touched was magic, her home, her store, interiors, even the shutters. this blue was her favorite.
topsyturvystyle.com/2009/04/magic-of-madeleine-castaing.html
i’ll have to dig into her legacy. she’s completely inspiring me!
littleaugury.blogspot.com/2010/08/emily-in-madeleines-world.html
incredible how everything is so refined
and exquisite
thestylesaloniste.com/2009/06/eternally-chic-french-antiquaire-and.html
Evans Eerdmans, author of Regency Redux, describes the Castaing look as a “unique blend of Neoclassicism, Proustian Romanticism, and pure wit.”
my girlfriends lynn and janet had a brush with greatness when the found a set of 6 of ms. castaing’s chairs at vignettes! but that’s another night. for now bonne nuit et bon weekend!
Don’t be intimidated by audacity. Be audacious — but with taste… Don’t get taken in by fashion. A secret: love your house; love makes miracles. - Madeleine Castaing
she claimed a color
hey guys i just googled ‘schiaparelli pink’ looking for her exact color and this image came up. it made me think of you so i’m just stopping by right quick!
i hope your night is just getting started has a lot of what you love in it!
there’s a lot going on
hey guys! it’s getting late and i promised to announce the winners of the book today. so with just a couple minutes left and a trip to the random number generator, out goes quick congrats to blogger courtney khail (above), and
the french mouse who’s beautiful feather pins can be found on her site. i love the talented bloggers i meet every day!
on another note, just wanted to say thank you and update you on the latest collaborations now in the tpa boutique.
welcome to joy from savvy city farmer who hand makes these grain pillows!
and the ladies from oomph with their gorgeous collection of little jewels. it’s all just in the first stages so not a lot is up yet. it all takes so much time!
the latest to come in is mandy of a la parisienne who took this shot.
last but not least, i wanted to give a heads up that melissa from reverie daydream is offering free shipping and 15% off everything in her site to tpa readers, so if you need a good guy’s gift or just want to get inspired, head over to see her collection of artisan works. she sent me this candle below and it’s just divine!
ok that’s it, more tomorrow~
sweet dreams!
you’re cordially invited
hi guys, happy friday! i hope you’re ready to have a family and friend filled weekend with the ones you love.
i’ve been putting this off because, well, maybe i was a little nervous.
that is, till my blog bud renee fineberg called to say she’d be coming to an event i’ve been invited to host an afternoon for FCL in Pierre Deux at the DCOTA next thursday. i was thrilled to be invited but had no idea what an incredible day it’s going to be or that it was market week. having renee there is going to make it so much fun cause she’s a blast and knows the showrooms inside and out. now i can’t wait to explore the DCOTA and see all these legendary designers in person. if you’re in florida, i hope you can make it!
i’ve got to put a little presentation together so that’s gonna be my homework this weekend. for now it’s chocolate ice cream and then crashing early. bonne nuit and beaucoup d’amour!
