Where I want to be... Where I am...

Have you ever played that game with yourself... This is where I want to be... This is where I am? Well, if you haven't. I have. I do it all the time. Even when it seems as though the points between the two are insurmountable.
Currently, I'm running that drill through my head as I think about my backyard!! On this issue I, and my DH are in this together. I've committed myself and him to changing the complexion of our smallish townhouse backyard into something that's more than a wish. I'm not ashamed to let my blogger friends know...This is where I am....deer running through my unfenced yard eating the tops off my multicolored day lilies. I have a beautiful deep purple butterfly bush, day lilies, Shasta daisies and a few other perennials. This is the spring to make sense of this yard and add structure to it....but first, I better add that fence... Take this journey with me as we turn our yard into an extension of our lives. In my minds eye I can see entertaining in a well planned and planted deck and yard. Ok, the challenge is out there to myself... Come back and check out updates as I travel to... where I want to be.

This is Where I Want to Be

images: Traditional Home

This is Where I am

Great Chairs

I love chairs... all types of chairs... skirted, slipped, tufted, in leather, cotton, velvet... all kinds of fabrics....florals, stripes, damask, and natural organic cotton. I love a great feminine desk chair....a comfy reading chair with an ottoman... a vintage living room chair. I like the idea of using upholstered chairs at the dining table. When extra seating is needed for the living room just pull chairs from the dining room and enjoy after dinner coffee with family and friends. Check out a few of my favorites...which one captivates you?

Arhaus

Traditional Home (vintage inspired)

Arhaus

Le Petit Cabinet de Couriositas

Australian Vogue Living

Arhaus

Thibaut

Traditional Home

Cow Boy Chair-Arhaus

Gone Gardening

Taking today and tomorrow off to work.... especially in the garden. I'll be back Monday... Fay

Washington Post Blog Watch

Congratulations to all the blogs mentioned in the Washington Post Blog Watch!!

Thursday, April 24, 2008; Page H02

Our picks to click this week:

Over at The Newlywed Diaries ( http://www.newlyweddiaries.blogspot.com), the discovery of a robin's egg in the front yard inspired a posting about vintage egg prints and the color blue. Lots of lovely photos, including one of a light blue-wallpapered hallway adorned with floor-to-ceiling egg prints decorated by local designer David Mitchell.

So Haute ( http://www.sohaute.typepad.com) strikes again with a roundup of favorite eco-friendly finds, including furniture, fabrics, rugs, wallpaper and linens.


In observance of Earth Day, The World According to Jessica Claire ( http://www.jessicaclairesworld.blogspot.com) posts on a versatile trash bin that stores all waste and recycling in one compact container. (It also can double as a kitchen island and be customized with a butcher-block top, a towel bar and chalkboard front.)

Terri Sapienza

Style in India

This post is in response to a request. I have a reader who wants to know more about how to bring elements of Indian style into her home. My suggestion to her, if you want to bring bits of this culture into your home, you better not be afraid of color. Some of the most beautiful print fabrics rich in jewel tone colors can be found in India. Although I haven't had the pleasure of visiting India one day I hope to. In lieu of catching the next plane to Mumbai I can shop for imported fabrics from there or utilize my local designer fabric shop for Indian inspired prints.
Drape a bed, table top, or your favorite lounger. Add an abundance of pillows to the lounger or the bed. The look will invoke comfort and romance. Dark wood is also in abundance in furniture and flooring and don't forget to layer the floor with several area rugs. The same colors found in fabrics can be added to walls and accessories to pull it all together. As I always say... make it special, but most of all... make it your own.

Midpeninsulans here and there

Spring means the plein-art painters and photogs are out in force. (Try crossing Gamble Garden without tripping over a lens.) Local artists are also out exhibiting in many venues beyond the Midpeninsula. Here's a sampling:

* Several local plein-air painters are gearing up for "A Breath of Plein Air," an exhibit opening May 2 at the Leonard & David McKay Gallery in San Jose. Palo Alto pastel artist Mary Stahl is showing "Receding Bay Waters" (above), together with two other PA artists, oil painters Lin Ching Peng and Karen White. Other oil-favoring locals in the show are Agnes Derbin-Caulfield and Will Maller of Los Altos, Rebecca Osgood of Stanford, and Lucy Sargeant of Los Altos Hills.

* Visions of Tibet abound in the art of Los Altos doctor-painter Ming Jing (Mike) Wang, whom I profiled in the Weekly last year. He's currently taking part in a four-artist figure painting show at the Triton Museum of Art, called "Narrative Realities."

* Laurie Naiman of Palo Alto is in a show of 61 photographers at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado. "Tired of Waiting," the photo on the center's press release, displays Naiman's signature witty style.

* And closer to home, Palo Alto itself is on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Italian photographer Gabriele Basilico has turned his lenses on several Bay Area cities. Our city of the tall tree is included in these celebrations of the American asphalt jungle.

Quiet Rooms - Darryl Carter Style

I love a Darryl Carter room. His designs offer one a place to enjoy, "the quite room". In Washington, DC where Mr. Carter's design business is located, the pursuit of power can leave one regularly exhausted, there must be a place to find serenity and solitude. These rooms, mostly in Carter's Virginia country getaway offer such an escape. Upon entering the house the eye and soul can rest in the many shades of white. This home is full of natural light and most other lighting comes from Mr. Carter's collection by Urban Electric Company. Other Darryl Carter projects include his new furniture collection with Thomasville to launch in stores this fall and an upcoming coffee table book, "The New Traditional".

images: Elle Decor

Washington Post Blog Watch

This year a show house returns to Washington, DC after its absence in 2007.

The year's event benefits the Children's National Medical Center

The house, at 3014 P St. NW, will be open Saturday through May 11. Hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20; more information at http://www.dcdesignhouse.com. The house will also be one of 10 open for the annual Georgetown House Tour on April 26. Tickets for this one-day tour are $45; more information athttp://www.georgetownhousetour.com.

Blog Watch

Thursday, April 17, 2008; Page H02

Our picks to click this week:

Didn't make it to the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show in Chicago last weekend? Not to worry. The Kitchen Designer ( http://www.thekitchendesigner.org) gives you a front-row seat with several posts (and lots of pictures) on the show, including a visit to the Sub Zero booth and some notable products, such as a series of mosaic tile from Ann Sacks and a Fisher & Paykel refrigerator drawer that can also be used as a freezer, a pantry or a wine storage unit.

In the spirit of the recent warmer weather, head over to S o Haute ( http://www.sohaute.typepad.com) for a look at some swanky and inspiring outdoor spaces. Our favorite: the lone wooden swing on the all-white porch overlooking the ocean and hillside. Sigh.

Terri Sapienza

Being Bette

Last weekend was the Odd Couple of movie weekends. For starters, Weekly film critic Tyler Hanley looked at me like I was nuts when I said I'd seen "21." Yes, it would be nice to get that 2 hrs, 3 min. back, but there were a few bright spots.

Kevin Spacey, bless him, could be fascinating reading a Menlo Park Planning Commission agenda. And the kid in the lead role, Jim Sturgess, nicely refrained from chewing the aces. I love an understated performance in an overblown flick. What I don't get is the appeal of Kate Bosworth. Blank face, vapid acting; the most interesting thing about her is the fact that her eyes are two different colors. Maybe she was just yawning at the script.

Why the Odd Couple of weekends? Because the second movie I saw was "The Man Who Played God," direct from 1932 to the Stanford Theatre and starring Bette Davis. Yes, some of the performances were dated and overwrought. Yes, the leading man, George Arliss, was apparently wearing lipstick throughout the entire film. It didn't matter. Arliss was sensitive and honest, and Bette Davis is always so natural and compelling that you hardly look at anyone else. You believe anything she says, are with her through every cliche of dialogue, and long to wear a hat like she does. On her, acting seems just like being.

The Bette Davis film festival continues through June 6 (that's what the Stanford's website sez at this point). Check it out. And while you're at it, imagine a dream film with Bette Davis opposite Kevin Spacey.

Photo from the Stanford Theatre's website, www.stanfordtheatre.org.

John Adams: Federal Style

Is anyone watching the HBO series John Adams and loving the historic interiors as much as me? Though the focus of the series is the early survival of our new Republic and its second president, the plot for me are the room colors, wallpapered halls, and swagged window treatments with multi-colored fringe. Wasn't it George Washington, in the seventh episode, dining with Mr. Adams in a beautiful dining room with a minimalists backdrop, or was it Thomas Jefferson?...All I noticed was the soothing blueish white of the walls, the crisp linen table cloth, silver utensils and the gracefulness of the Chippendale dining chairs. The look was stunning... I had to pause the scene and study the decor. I was also stunned by the wood horizontal blinds and swag valances. I had no idea horizontal blinds dated that far back. It appears window treatments have just come forward from the 18th century. We're still using the same technology...pulleys for blinds and shades.
What we are viewing is the emergence of what we now term Federal style. It's roots are firm in British design but there are also strong French influences. Federal style exudes strong symmetry with the internal floor plan as well as window placement in the exterior. Federal style is more refined and curvilinear than its predecessor Georgian Colonial style. It includes decorative swags, garlands, urns and introduces more detail to furnishings and fixtures. Some additional features are: Tooth-like dentil moldings, oval shaped rooms, Palladian windows (Italian), and recessed interior wall arches.

John Adams home in Quincy,Mass

Asian Style

When asked about ideas for a bedroom with Asian Style elements I think of natural materials in furnishings and flooring. Bamboo, Teak, Rosewood and Mindy Wood are woods used in various parts of Asia from China, Indonesia and Japan. In terms of time periods one can draw from a 19th century British Colonial look to a traditional Asian inspired theme. Color, especially reds and oranges are also important as well as earth and water elements....It's up to you...what I want to visually communicate is an idea to inspire you to try some of these touches in creating a bedroom that's your sanctuary!

Washington Post Blog Watch

Blog Watch

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Our picks to click this week: Cottage Living magazine has three new blogs:

Petal Pusher ( http://www.petalpusher.typepad.com/petal_pusher), outdoor guidance from the magazine's gardening expert;Front Burner ( http://www.frontburner.typepad.com/front_burner), dedicated to kitchens and cooking; and our favorite, Dear Cottage Living
( http://www.dearcottage.typepad.com/dear_cottage_living), which concen- trates on curb appeal. Readers send in exterior shots of their home, and the Cottage Living crew offers tips to make the outside as inviting as the inside by using paint, architectural elements and landscaping. Images to illustrate their advice are included.

Terri Sapienza

Color vs. Pattern

I love color and lots of it! I love pattern equally as well. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive. Lots of color and pattern in the same room, especially a small space, must be used skillfully. There must be a common denominator that link the two. In other words there must be harmony. If this is a skill you haven't mastered in decorating your home or that special place you set aside for yourself I suggest you study your creation and find something that pulls it all together. It could be a singular color in both the pattern and the textured fabric that help create a bond. It could also be a repeated pattern within various colors of the fabrics....whatever it is don't be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new....That's the way to develop any skill...even in decorating.

Image: Red River Interiors

Image: Red River Interiors
Image: Traditional Home
Image: Australian Vogue Living

Gone Gardening

It"s been a busy week and I've managed to get a post out every day! I'm taking the weekend off and will return Tuesday........hope to have completed some upgrades to the site by then... Fay

Hydrangea - "Together"

Image: Washington Post

Washington Post Blog Watch

"Barry Dixon's Look", and how to get it, is a great feature on one of my favorite interior designers... Check it out in the Home & Garden section of the Washington Post.
(click: art & living)

(Copyright, Edward Addeo, From "Farrow & Ball: The Art Of Color")

I look forward to the Washington Post "Blog Watch" every Thursday.

Congratulations to fellow design blog winners!!

Blog Watch

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Our picks to click this week:

Making It Lovely ( http://www.makingitlovely.com/) certainly does with a guest room redo that transforms a dark, oddly shaped space into a colorful, cozy and light-filled haven. Before-and-after pictures included.
Decor8 ( http://www.decor8.blogspot.com/) teams up with Turquoise ( http://www.turquoise-la.blogspot.com/) for some e-consulting on a Florida reader's cramped office space. The bloggers offer advice on paint, flooring, lighting, windows and furniture (specific links provided). One of our favorite suggestions: the blue resin accent lamp from Target.

Terri Sapienza