More Patience

I'm doing some remodelling of the blog right now. Seems like each week, a widget gets updated (or rewritten), pics and videos are lost, or I find a lovely new blog to add to the blogroll. However, I am nothing if not regularly striving to be organized. So this time, instead of plonking down with a book and silently fretting about it, I am doing something. It may take some time and might include using posterous. Or not. We'll see.

Regardless, like every thing else, this blog is a work in progress. I'm even thinking of posting some 'before-after' photos of our house, which has undergone (and continues to undergo) a transformation from its previous owners. During our house hunt, I described it to my husband as 'well-cared for' and having 'good bones', but in need of 'a decorating overhaul' as it's decor resembled a Marriott from the 1980s. The early 1980s. Alright for some (clearly); just not our style. And what a boring world this would be if we all liked the same things, eh?

Here's a tease:

the Master Bedroom 'before'

Meanwhile, please excuse the mess. And thanks for perusing; blog you again soon!  tIO x

That's Just Super: the tale of a sofa

You may have the impression that I like sport. And I do. But I've decided that I like the inherent camaraderie, the inveterate optimism of a potential 'win', infinitely better. Therefore then, I think nearly anything can be envisioned as 'a sport'.

Like shopping for fabric, for instance. I am a fabric hound, with bins stacked in closets and swatches tucked into my wallet. I have two bolts of linen for window treatments for a house by the sea I do not yet (and may never) own. And recently I have been considering a 5-hour drive to Baltimore, Maryland simply due to the lovely 'Pigtown Design' and her amazing find there, DeBois Textiles. When it comes to searching for something I actually need - clothing, wall hooks, eyeglasses, etc, I tend to have a clear vision of what fills that need and seek it out until it's been found. I dig-in for the 'hunt' and am nothing if not tenacious. Consider the fabric in my blog banner, for example...

It was 29 December 2000. My husband and I were both first-time home-owners and first-time parents. Our 'college/apartment furniture' had weathered many moves and storms - from Ohio to Virginia to Illinois to New York and back again. One evening, after putting our son to bed, my husband noted: "We have a proper living room now. It's time for some 'grown-up' stuff." I was instructed to hit the Toms-Price store the next day to see what I could find. I didn't have carte blanche, but our tastes being so similar, I knew it would be a productive afternoon. It was. I found this:


with a split cushion and four pillows (my husband is not a fan of the tightback). I took some snaps with my camera, and headed home - along with 14 memo samples - for the approval. The sofa was a hit, but I had made the error of providing my husband with too many fabric choices. Kindly, he asked me to narrow the field. I already had, of course; but I made another effort, and within the hour I had it down to four. We went back and forth for two days and, on New Year's Eve, finally made this choice:

Gleefully, I returned to the shop on New Year's Day, memos and checkbook in hand. Then, the other shoe fell: the fabric had been discontinued by the furniture company on 31 December 2000 - literally the day before. The sales associate and I double-checked codes and information; she phoned the manufacturer and consulted the shop owner. Nothing could be done; I would have to choose a different cover. We didn't have a firm 'second choice' so I rang my husband to get his input . Did he want to revisit the samples I brought home before? Did he want a different color direction? Fewer stripes? More pheasants? Wisely, he suggested we sleep on it. "Surely, the manufacturer will have a bolt lying around somewhere" and we could convince them - on a regular working day during normal business hours - to seek it out and cover our sofa with it. We made the request the next day. One week passed. No bolt had surfaced, nor was one likely to. My husband, who travelled every week, became distanced from the conflict and left the decision squarely in my hands. His goal was less about fabric now and more about having a sofa by Easter.

And so I took to the internet. The sales associate provided me with the discontinued sample and I phoned every contact I had remotely connected to "the trade" to no avail. Desperate, I called England and an amazing thing happened: Sanderson, the fabric manufacturer, couldn't assist me directly but suggested I email Discount Fabric and Wallpaper for help. My email to them had a response within 24 hours: they could get my fabric (directly from the manufacturer) and it would be shipped (for surprisingly little cost) within the week. I was stunned. Our fabric arrived from England by mid-January, the local shop shipped it to North Carolina with the COM order the following day, and our little sofa was perched in our living room by St Patrick's Day.

The moral: Don't stop believing. And if you can't find the fabric you want, there's always more fabric.
Thanks for perusing this blog; blog you again soon!   tIO x

Santa, Baby...

"Dear Santa,
I've been an awfully good girl this year. And any (or all) of these lovelies would be welcome under my tree:

1.2.
3.    4.5.
6.7.   
8.   9.10.

11.   12.    13.
14. 15.


1. Suzanne Kasler: Inspired Interiors 2. Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall: The Garden 3. Birdsong Farm Botanicals: French Clay & Herb Facial Scrub 4. Laura Mercier Sheer Lip Colour: Sexy Lips 5. Pride & Prejudice DVD (Olivier/Garson) 6. John Adams mini-series DVD 7. tsurubride's 'Orwell Silver Fox Clutch' 8. HighStreetMarket's 'Pair of Vintage Brass Candelabras' 9. fussjewelry's 'All That Glitters' earrings 10. Tissage's 'Tuesday Cloche' in grey felt 11. plumcushion's 'Schumacher Chenonceau' cushion in charcoal 12. 2swansNest's 'Scallop edge Cashmere skirt' 13. 'Vintage Volupte Bookpiecce Bangle' offered by SheriesVintageJewels 14. 'Mitsouko' 15. NEVES for DS

Not to be presumptuous but I've included the links to the shops for you, jolly old sweet Nick. Hope that helps.

As ever, looking forward to next Thursday evening. I'll leave the 'milk and cookies' in the usual spot.

Gratefully,
tIO x"


Today's conundrum: Will he read this? Will he click-through? Will any of these gifts find their way to me (or to you)? *places hands on hips, raises eyebrow*

Future conundrum: Do they know it's Christmas after all?

Thanks for perusing this blog; blog you again soon!

Finding Inspiration

Have you ever flicked through a magazine and encountered "the room"? The one that ticks the boxes and makes your heart beat a bit faster? That stays in your mind for years?

Mine was featured in the November 2003 Elle Decor, and technically is two adjacent rooms. And every time I have a design decision to make for my own home, these rooms come to mind: lacquered walls, coffered ceiling, fabric wallpaper, extended wainscoting, round table, covered chairs, painted cornicing, mouldings, and trim. And those floors.

Detail of the dining room

It almost makes me swoon. But I'm studying everything too intently to do that. The rooms were designed by the immanently talented Ellen Hamilton, president of Hamilton Design Associates in New York.

Even the shop front is clever and creative.

While the two rooms above hooked me, it was the designer's personality - and her shop windows originally full of Cath Kidston fabrics - that solidified my adoration. She seems thoughtful and gracious. And she carries a Bean tote:

Thank you for these gorgeous rooms, Ellen. My design fantasies are richer now - and include this beauty from you as well:

Because who doesn't want a treehouse?

Thanks for perusing this blog; blog you again soon!

PS: When you click-through to the Hamilton Design Associates site, be sure to read Ellen's description of the room she designed for the Hampton Designer Showhouse 2009, too. tIOx


All images in this post from Hamilton Designs Associates, 2009.

Pining for the 'Fields

Oh, why can I not find a Chesterfield sectional sofa? In cherry red leather? Like this:

Only not in blue, of course. I would settle for green or chocolate leather, too. Sigh.


Current conundrum: 42'' or 50''?
Future conundrum: When will we have a white Christmas?

Thanks for perusing this blog; blog you again soon!