My dream house!!

I absolutely love this house, inside and out! I feel like it would lend itself perfectly to a simple, no-frills lifestyle that I covet living here in the Big Apple. I grew up in a big old country house, and I'm sure one day the tug on my roots will be too strong to ignore.

so, so beautiful!







Love this simple bedroom








Images via Country Living

Juxtaposed: Dwell and Traditional Homes

It really is great that people have so much inspiration when it comes to styling their homes. I don't have anything particular to say, other than I'm sometimes very surprised when I see either an extremely classically styled home or an extremely modern styled home that people actually live there. I guess this is because I've never been in a home with such a focused aesthetic.








I love the cabinet in this room and the outdoor table put together.

Images via Traditional Home




I like the console diagonally and all the plants on it- softens the place up a little.


Wow - I wonder if that kitchen is always so organized...

Images via Dwell

Coming Soon: More Driveways for 10th Street or an active retail corner?

At Monday evenings Preservation Board meeting, the board approved the Robert's Brothers proposal to demolish buildings at 919 & 923 Locust, and proceed with their proposed redevelopment which will feature an Indigo Hotel. What remains to be seen though is what will be built on the site of the demolished buildings. Previously the Robert's Brothers had proposed leaving the corner of site at the intersection of 10th & Locust open for a new semi-circle driveway in front of the new lobby structure.

At Monday's meeting however, Virvus Jones of The Robert's Companies and Mike Killeen, the architect for the project presented a revised version of the proposal. The new version has the driveway covered by a roof and the facade of the new structure continuing to the corner of the intersection along Locust. There would be an opening in the facade from the Locust sidewalk to the covered driveway area, and along 10th street the structure would be completely open. While this is an improvement over the initial proposal, it still contains the unnecessary driveway, which leaves the entire 10th street side of the project dedicated to the automobile.

Directly north of the proposed hotel driveway entrance is an alley and the Renaissance Hotel parking garage, which has a large truck driveway leading to the underground loading dock and a pair of driveway entrances for the garage itself. This means if the hotel driveway entrance is built replacing the building at 923 Locust, there will be nothing but solid driveways (and the alley) along the east side of 10th Street from St. Charles Street south to Locust.

Driveways could stretch from St. Charles Street all the way to Locust

During Q & A after presenting to the board, Virvus Jones explained that parking for the hotel would be had at either the 9th Street garage or the Renaissance garage, but that they did not really expect many cars... so why build a driveway in front of the hotel entrance? Prior to voting, several board members expressed concern about the driveway (having seen photos I supplied of Indigo Hotels in other cities without driveways in front). Mary One Johnson however called the large covered driveway at the Renaissance "elegant"! While the Robert's Companies are not bound by law to return to the board with a final design, there seemed to be some indication that might do so voluntarily.

The "elegant" covered driveway at the Renaissance

After the meeting, Mr. Jones thanked me for my input, and agreed that more retail along 10th Street in place of the driveway would bring more revenue to the project. He indicated that he would talk to the Roberts about the possibility of not doing the driveway.

Street. There would be some additional storefront and demising walls needed, but the Driveways do not produce rent income. Also, since the commitment has already been made to roof over the entire site, there is not much added cost to change the driveway space to additional retail. It would simply be a matter of moving the curved glass wall out to 10thadditional retail revenue would outweigh this nominal cost. The Robert's have already included retail in their plan, and have the opportunity to build one of the more "urban friendly" Indigo Hotels in the country if they make the right decision and build more retail instead of an auto oriented entrance.

Before and afters....

If there is one thing I love more than a beautiful room it is seeing a 'before' picture of it. I find it so inspiring to see a plain old room (or an eyesore in some cases) being transfored into a thing of beauty. It is making the world a better place....one room at a time.

So here are some of my favourite before and after transformations - from the very talented Nancy Fishelson. From reading other blogs I can tell I am not the only one who is a big fan of her work. I love her liberal use of white, her simple wooden furniture, and her taste for texture and simplicity. And she has an amazing eye for potential, judging by these photos.

before

after

before

after

before
after
I just want to pack up and move to this charming little home.



NANCY FISHELSON'S HOME IS FOR SALE!!


You can actually buy a little piece of Nancy's paradise - her current home is for sale for $US1.795 million. It is called Rosebush Farm and here it is...

before

after
You can view more photos of Rosebush farm on Nancy's website http://nancyfishelson.com/

This must mean Nancy has another house she is working her magic on. Can't wait to see the results.

I'm not in the market for a new home, so perhaps I should just buy this beautiful rockinghorse from Nancy's website instead?

all images nancyfishelson.com

It never ceases to amaze me how many amazingly talented people there are in this world.

Well I'm off to a Halloween Party, hosted by my lovely and talented friend Fiona who has gone all out this year - she's even made gravestones for her front garden. Can't wait to see how it all looks.

Hope you enjoy your weekend!

The Master of Art Nouveau

I thought I'd just share some drawings from one of my favorite artists for a little change of pace. Alphonse Mucha influenced more than just drawing and painting, but was involved in the design of jewelry, dishes, and other home decor. Enjoy!


(click for a really close-up detail)

Serving and Table wares by Mucha
(click for a really close-up detail)

A biscuit tin
(click for a really close-up detail)

An advertisement
(click for a really close-up detail)
Images via Mucha. the Triumph of Art Nouveau by Arthur Ellridge

Main staircase of the Maison Horta, Brussels,
designed by Victor Horta, begun 1898. -Love the banister


Door detail of Gaillard display cupboard,
with typical Art Nouveau motif of the coup de fouet.

Images via http://www.artnet.com

Amelie's adorable apartment! Lots of pictures!

I was watching Amelie the other night, and decided I had to write about her apartment. Probably the first thing that stands out is the palette- almost everything is warm red and oranges, with some green and blue here or there. For a "woman of almost 23" her apartment is very put together, and looks as if she's lived there for years and years. Being introverted and a little bit isolated, it makes sense that her place is much more than a crash pad, but her save haven. She also has great taste in art and wallpaper!


Her whimsical bedroom




The entry way...*love* this wallpaper



Her kitchen...I'm guessing it's only the wall behind her that is red, and then the other walls are tiled.

Even her windowsill is cute.




The living room. I really like the blue lampshade



I love that she has a dresser in the bathroom.



Images via Hotflix.net and Screencaps