Snow Days, DIY Days …

Interior Design
February 9, 2010

So again they are forecasting blizzard-like conditions here in Philadelphia, and other places on the east coast! Perhaps there will be a snow day! While the blizzard may keep people indoors, a snow day is a good opportunity for all those DIY projects that you have been putting aside … you know what I’m talking about, don’t you? (I have been looking to wallpaper an ikea desk in hinson grass cloth for months now).

For those of you without a DIY project, and who are looking for an easy one, look no further than Sheffield Red Hot Aluminum Paint. Oh sure it sounds toxic, and I would recommend leaving a lot of windows open, but this stuff is my go to paint for all things boring. Last week I talked about my love of metallic, and this paint has really allowed me to take that relationship with metallics to the next level.

These little guys were dirty, white, and boring before I got my hands on them. Now they have taken on an almost far eastern vibe.

I absolutely love these tables now! In my apartment in NYC they were great side tables for my loveseat, and in my Philadelphia studio they are my cocktail tables.

I bought this mirror at Home Goods for a ridiculously low price, most likely due to the hideous bronze/gold/cheap finish on it. After brushing on some aluminum paint, I rubbed some portions of it with steel wool to give it a “beaten-up look.”

Now the once heinous mirror is a focal point of the space. Excuse my messy desk, grad student!

The tables and the mirror are just two examples, but my teeny tiny studio is filled with things that I have painted with Sheffield. Piece of advice, windows open, and don’t spend too long on any project–it is strong stuff! Since it is oil based, you don’t need many coats, and it dries pretty fast. Happy snow!

Mean Reds

Film
February 9, 2010

Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you’re getting fat and maybe it’s been raining too long, you’re just sad that’s all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you’re afraid and you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?

Paul Varjak: Sure.

Holly Golightly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that’d make me feel like Tiffany’s, then – then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name!

I apologize to all my friends for my lack of a post this morning. I have been having quite the case of the mean reds, and feeling quite uninspired. But then that mood translated straight into a post! In my “mean red” mood, I got to thinking about Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Holly Golightly’s cure for the mean reds. Unfortunately, since I live in Philadelphia, Tiffany is not an option, so my cure for the mean reds getting lost in books, magazines, and films!

While pondering the cause of my own mean reds, I began to think of Holly Golightly, and her apartment. I’m sure young girls today dream about moving into New York when they get out of college, however, its quite possible that they are envisioning Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment when they think of how they will live. For me, I grew up watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s and thinking how fabulous it would be to have an apartment just like Holly’s–wonderful Italianate brownstone walk-up with high ceilings, big windows, and very little furniture. (look at those striped awnings!)

Despite her lack of a true decorating scheme, Holly’s apartment was my dream. If you go back and watch the film, you will realize that her love seat, is in fact not a love seat at all, but half a bathtub!–look at the hardware! She had about two pieces of furniture, her phone lived in a suitcase, and she slept in a twin bed–but I loved it. Her decorating scheme was a cocktail table covered in magazines, which is a decorating tip that everyone should utilize.

In this photo, from the end of the film, she is set to marry Jose, and has added more furniture to her apartment. But I still can’t get past the good bones of the space–the open but sequestered kitchen, the bookshelves dividing the space, and the latticework column adjacent to the hallway.

Here, to Paul’s left, is a closeup of the latticework that I was mentioning before. Her kitchen was tiny, but it wasn’t a galley, and it had a window! How perfect is that orange dress?

Ever since the first time that I saw Breakfast at Tiffany’s, I have always thought of fire escapes as romantic and inherently New York. When I got my first apartment, I definitely spent some time hanging on my fire escape!

Like Holly, I also made friends in my building from rendezvous on the fire escape.

I always thought that the party at Holly’s apartment seemed like the absolute best time. When I moved into my tiny 5th floor walkup in NYC, I couldn’t wait to have a huge group of people over for the same experience. What is it about having people crammed into a small space that creates such a great time? Again, check out that lattice work … I’m a little obsessed.

Holly’s apartment was never about the furniture or the lighting or what hors d’oeuvres she served, it was about people having a good time. I honestly think that we should all be a little more like Holly sometimes. Stop worrying about whether you have the right cocktail napkins or a chic bar set up and just have fun. The more fun the hostess is having, the more fun your guests will have!

And now to leave you with a quote from the venerable Audrey Hepburn herself,

“Not to live for the day, that would be materialistic–but to treasure the day. I realize that most of us live on the skin–on the surface–without appreciating just how wonderful it is simply to be alive at all.”

Nixonian Nostalgia

Interior Design
February 4, 2010

We live in a recycled culture, and it is never long before something that was once popular becomes reviled–and if you wait long enough, becomes popular again. For a long time the fashion and design of the 1970s was shunned, and more recently has become popular once again. 1970s aspects of interior design that one once might have grimaced at are now coveted. When my grandparents passed away last year, I never believed that I would find anything inspiring in their 1970s decorating scheme. Low and behold, there were a few treasures that I was ready to fight family members tooth and nail for – go figure.

Last weekend in NYC, I was at a cocktail party at a friend’s apartment, an apartment that was previously his grandparents’. This photo above is of the metallic floral wallpaper in the foyer of the apartment. Gold, yellow, and white flowers on a silver leaf background! Totally cool. This picture does not do the walls justice. A few years ago when taupe and minimalism were at its height, I probably would never have fallen in love with this floral, but now bold walls are in!

If you know me, then you know that I am a true sucker for anything metallic. Gold, silver, bronze – you name it, I covet it. My friend’s apartment turned out to be a treasure trove of 1970s era metallic wallpaper. I think this was my favorite, in the dining room. Silver metallic paper with flowers and birds–green, blue, white, yellow – this paper has it all. Its an almost “american” chinoiserie. I just cannot get enough.

Another metallic from the hallway in the apartment featuring blue, green, and white flowers and fruit. I just think these papers could be so chic and unexpected in a modern design setting.Or perhaps wallpapering some folding screens to divide a room. I wish I new the source!

kwid.com

Kelly Wearstler is a designer who takes chances with retro-esque prints and patterns–especially metallics. Here is an apartment she did with walls in silver leaf.

kwid.com

Although I can’t say that my design aesthetic quite matches Kelly’s, her use of metallics is very appealing. Think about how chic a room like this could be with one of the 1970s metallic wallpapers?

kwid.com

Here is another room by Kelly Wearstler, where she uses a retro wallpaper that a few years ago would not have been considered chic. But in this setting, mixed with graphic patterns it takes on a new modernity.

p.s. is anyone as obsessed with the wallpaper in the Nixon photo as I am?