Mellow Yellow

I love a beautiful bathroom....and yellow makes everyone happy.
Roll into one of these spaces first thing in the morning... it may be hard to leave.
Yellow, or mimosa is the it color this year so, I'm featuring a few yellow bathrooms that offer
lots of new decorating ideas to glean from... Enjoy.....

The yellow and read check tiles add a French or Spanish old world charm.

image: House Beautiful

Yellow warms the stainless sink that dominates this space.

image: HGTV

Yellow with a retro feel


Yellow and rustic...how fun !

O No Domino !

I Can't Believe it! A domino effect is happening in print media, especially shelter magazines. Domino is folding. The Conde Nast publication launched in April 2005 had been
rumored to be on the chopping block. Now it's official....How sad... Are hard copy publications on their way out? They've definitely hit a snag and this economic downturn isn't helping.
All you design bloggers....hang on to your back issues of everything... Print media seems to be going the way of the dinosaur.

White House Style

Now that Michael S. Smith is in charge of decorating the residential quarters of the White House for the Obama's we expect to see some changes....Personally I can't wait! I absolutely love change especially when it comes to beautiful rooms. Based on his work Mr. Smith coming to Washington is a good thing! His style is often heaped in tradition but with a lighter more modern touch. I've never seen one of his rooms I didn't absolutely love. Refreshing, light, serene, modern are a few words that describe the feel of his work. I like the term modern
traditional. I want to know what his plans will be for the Yellow Oval Room on the second floor of the residential quarters. This room dates back to before the Roosevelt days... not Franklin, but Teddy. I'd love to see it come more fashion forward... It may be hard, but I can wait.

Yellow Oval Room: 1909

Yellow Oval Room: 2006

This Michael S. Smith room is heaped in traditional
style yet it isn't heavy. The color pallet is light and sophisticated.

Laura Bush host a guest in the Yellow Oval Room
on the 2nd floor of the residential quarters. This room has evolved
over administrations.

President Obama isn't changing the Oval office decor...at least
not now...stay tuned

Outgoing First Lady Laura Bush invites incoming First Lady Michelle Obama
to tour the White House. The fan window makes a beautiful focal point but the feel of
the west hall sitting room could use an update....2008


The Regan's host Prince Charles and Princess Diana in the
Yellow Oval Room: 1985

The Kennedy's in the Yellow Oval Room: 1963

Giant worms, 'Hella Puppies' and something in a cage

Friday we had a Weekly editorial retreat at the Palo Alto Art Center. For me, the setting was perfect. It reminded me why I do what I do.

On the way in, we snatched a quick look at one of the current exhibits, "Tales From An Imaginary Menagerie," contemporary art filled with animal imagery. You got your lovely peacocks; your giant worm in bed with a pretty girl; your female artist cross-dressing with live caterpillars for a mustache. I like it when the art center chooses art that grabs you with its quirkiness and keeps you there until you have a deeper thought (or walk away in disgust).

Weekly calendar queen Karla Kane and I had to titter at "Unnatural Selection (Hella Puppies)" (pictured above), a freaky cast of aqua resin characters by Walter Robinson. Cute pugs, I thought. No, hippos. No, the Olsen twins and a subtle damnation of cloning and of Botox -- or any "medical" procedure that makes us all look the same.

In a corner, a video installation (watch my snippet of it below) called "Caged." Artist John Slepian says his work can inspire "empathy, disgust, and fascination." It made me think of that literary fear we all have from time to time: that we'll be falsely accused of a crime and locked up.




As we repaired to a conference room for our meeting, we could hear pianists practicing in the nearby auditorium, as well as the delightful soprano Yolanda Rhodes, whose lush voice rippled through the wall like a spring waterfall. The music added a certain drama to our talk of lead-writing, blogging, and video-shooting for dummies (i.e., reporters and editors).

All in all, not a bad staff meeting, with the art contributing color, quirkiness and beauty to our world. It almost made up for the fact that the only Internet connection we could get at the art center was dial-up.

(In Palo Alto? Really?)

Model Inspiration

Today I needed inspiration. It was overcast and cold all day when I decided to get out with my camera... I pulled on my knit brown hat, gray wool coat and jumped in my car. I headed to close by communities I'd passed many times and knew there were model homes waiting to fill me up with inspiration and ideas. The following beautiful models are pictures I took at Courtland and Ryland Homes in northern Virginia.

What a wonderful organic setting!

Most models stick to neutrals, but the ethereal blue adds a soothing touch.



Who wouldn't welcome hydrangeas on an overcast day?



A swag valance frames the window beautifully.



Chairs should always make a statement.



What a wonderful reading corner in the living room.



Patterned accent pillows add visual interest to a solid couch.





So... the next time you're stuck on a project or looking for a bit of eye candy....
try a bit of Model Inspiration.

Black and White Style

Decorating with black and white always seems so sophisticated and glamorous.
These are some of my favorite rooms stored in my design files. These rooms give me inspiration and a place to draw from for creative ideas.... I hope you like them as much as I do.


Black wing chairs with white welting... Hounds tooth accent pillows add a punch - Century Furniture





If you want to bring a bit of whimsy to a traditional space..... How about a black and white cow chair?.... It relaxes the room.


Still in love with black and white?... Bring in custom draperies in "Fern Tree"
fabric from the Kelly Weartsler collection by F. Schumacher


Black and white animal print accent pillow pop the white settee - The Drawing Room


Love the designs of Windsor Smith


Brown can always be switched out for black... Brown on the rug, walls and bedding bring harmony to the space.

My top ten arts events from 2008

Each January, it’s a kick to see what films Weekly critics choose as best and worst. This year, I made my own list. While the rundown isn’t comprehensive (I never have time to see everything), it is diverse: plays, concerts, exhibits, etc. Consider it my Top Ten Arts Happenings of 2008, in no particular order. I've limited my list to the Palo Alto area or we'd be here all night.

Theater production: “And Baby Makes Seven,” theatre Q
Pitch-perfect performances by Annamarie MacLeod and Katie Anderson -- and a moving, hilarious script by Paula Vogel -- made “Baby” a devastatingly entertaining evening of theater. Anyone could identify with Vogel’s matter-of-fact portrayal of an unconventional family. But no one could play multiple personalities fighting over a peanut butter sandwich like MacLeod. (Pictured above, from left, are MacLeod, Matthew Lowe and Anderson.)

Painting/print/photo exhibit: Richard Diebenkorn, Cantor Arts Center
This show of Diebenkorn’s views of Santa Cruz Island, rich with unhurried lines, gave us an affectionate look at this renowned American artist and insight into his periods of figurative and abstract work. In a lovely touch, the Cantor included photos of Diebenkorn taken by Leo Holub, who founded Stanford’s photography department.

Basket exhibit: "Intertwined," various artists, Palo Alto Art Center
This traveling show from the Arizona State University Art Museum kicked the notion of a basket on its head. There were creations made from steel nails, salmon skin, staples, bamboo and wire. My favorite was the poker-faced “Stickman,” a 6-foot-tall man fashioned in twigs and plastic ties by John McQueen.

Movies: Bette Davis film festival, Stanford Theatre
More than 75 years later, there’s still nobody who beats Bette. The Stanford Theatre gave us a treat in presenting her earlier works from the ‘30s, such as “Of Human Bondage,” “The Man Who Played God,” “So Big” and “Dangerous.” A Weekly reader wrote in to share a favorite Bette line, from “Cabin in the Cotton”: “I’d love to kiss you but I just washed my hair.”



Sculpture exhibit: Mayyur Kailash Gupta, Aicon Gallery
Whimsical, wistful wood faces fill Gupta’s sculptures. The Indian sculptor held his first exhibit in the United States at Aicon this summer, bringing images with a strong sense of play. (Pictured above is Gupta's "Guardian II.")

Painting/print exhibit: Arthur Krakower, RS Gallery
Krakower’s upbeat personality shines through every example of his considerable artistic skill. Even when his subjects turn melancholy, he uses such rich colors and a generous hand that you have to be cheered. His best title: “The Geraniums Were There When We Fell In Love.”

Scenic design: Kuo-Hao Lo for “Copenhagen,” Palo Alto Players
The tilting black grid of a theater set, dotted with a particle pattern, added tension and perspective to this Michael Frayn tale of two Nobel physicists. Weekly reviewer Diana Reynolds Roome wrote that Lo’s design at the Lucie Stern Theatre “brings the characters in and out of focus as they move about, fading in and out of the conversation.”

Timing: Jason Arias, Jonathan Ferro in “Rough Crossing,” Dragon Productions
I love playwright Tom Stoppard’s silliness and wordplay here. What kept cracking me up in this production was the flawless timing of two of its actors. Arias didn’t miss a beat as a stuttering man who kept inadvertently dropping bon mots at just the right moment. Meanwhile, Ferro, playing a steward trying to get his sea legs, kept up such a convincingly swaying rhythm that I got queasy.

Interactive concert: Sing- and play-along “Messiah” at Stanford’s Memorial Church
It’s amazing to hear your voice, blended with crowds of others, echoing in MemChu. Two other things make this “Messiah” the most fun: an eclectic mix of musicians and their instruments, and conductor Stephen Sano. Stanford’s choral studies director, Sano is welcoming, professional and simply delightful.

Choral music: Chanticleer’s holiday concert at Memorial Church
Exquisite harmonies and the clearest, purest tones imaginable. I go to this holiday concert every year, and this was the best I’ve ever heard. Lovely early music, lively carols and a powerful new soprano, Gregory Peebles. And who can resist the sweater vests?

In the Workroom

My spot for straight stitching

I'm in the workroom with Mary so I haven't had time to put up a decent post.
This project must be installed this week, tricky fabric too, so I've been helping out and hope to
post the finished installation by FRIDAY !!... just got a call from school... sick
kid...got to run... check back by week end...Fay

Mary pressing brown banding

Mary checking our progress...this project is labor intensive but it will be Beautiful.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

I can't say that I'm sorry to see 2008 end. I'm ready to turn the page. 2009 offers so much promise. In the beginning we may have to search deeply to see it, oh, but it's there. We will have to make mental and spiritual adjustments about who we can become as a nation but I believe we are ready.

This year I will look for inspiration in more places....seasons, light, color. I will look for projects that challenge and excite... It's going to be a good year!