Coastal Design in Gloucester, Mass.

Photo Credit: Trent Bell for The New York Times. My Favorite Room!

Home & Garden
On Location: Coastal Design in Gloucester, Mass.
NY TIMES
Published: June 2, 2010
An antiques dealer’s Massachusetts home that is anything but a standard-issue New England clapboard house.

"The 42-foot-long living room has a Moravian tile floor. The oil-on-canvas frieze that encircles the room is from a lodge in the Adirondacks. An Anglo-Indian chaise is upholstered with “guerande” velvet from Manuel Canovas."

My favorite room is the living room featured as photo three in the slide show.

Antique Coverless Book Bundles | Restoration Hardware

Yes, $29.00 for just one bundle of discarded and bound pulp fiction

Antique Coverless Book Bundles Restoration Hardware

First, these books are not antique (more like some bargain bin used bookstore finds of mostly 70s and 80s paperback editions). Second, they tore off the covers and added twine and want $29.00 for five stripped down editions. Third, this product is for someone who has lots of money, not lots of time and has no imagination. At first glance I thought they were simply store props to fill out a display in a rustic French or boatyard manner.

A Decor With Provenance, NY Times 3/10/10

Photo: Leigh Davis for The New York Times
Found objects add inexpensive (free) sculptural elements to a space or credenza. Remember to put felt pads on the bottom to prevent scratching.

Photo: Leigh Davis for The New York Times
A Homasote board from Lowe's ($20) decorated with postcards. Wall art includes both found/collected mementos, which are united together with color, uniformed placement, and a raw piece from the hardware store (Homasote).

Buying coordinated push pins will unify an eclectic collection.

Fashion & Style
Brooklyn Apartment: A Décor With Provenance
Leigh Davis for The New York Times
Published: 20100310

Inside the Brooklyn one-bedroom that is a live-work space for the architects Robert Highsmith and Stefanie Brechuehler.

Big Fern Takes a Holiday / Have Clay Pot Will Travel

December 2009: Fern, a prehistoric plant, surrounded by 20th century lit.

This was Fern as she looked in December after being inside for a bit over a month. She does not look - sadly - this bold or robust now. Wintering in a warm, dry and less humid house did not suit her like the grand outdoors courtesy of my deck. However, she will be going back out there in a couple of weeks. I will post the after winter photo soon. It's the least I can do because I know she will be beyond last season's prime in no time at all. More on fern care.

Spring Time and Easter Home Inspiration

My old living room had buttery yellow walls that provided a happy glow in the daytime and a pleasant warming feeling at night. Rabbits are Ebay finds. Re-productions of classic Germany candy containers. Now, I keep them out almost all year because they are both whimsical and a classic silhouette.

The rabbit sculpture is from the now closed Smith & Hawkins. Although, Target continues selling licensed products from the brand. Items include everything from pots, wreaths to doormats.

Having the plant/shelf stand in the corner and the books piled on the table, the room felt like a mini conservatory/library.

Julia Child's Pots Return Home to Her Kitchen

Smithsonian presents Child's famous copper pots.

Julia Child (Meryl Streep) refines her chopping skills.

Julia Child’s Pots and Pans Are Back in Her Kitchen

Yes, another Julia post. This story continues to unravel revealing new layers like an onion. Julia's editor Judith Jones has a blog relating to cooking and her life in food/publishing. Copper pots are not very common to find when out shopping. Only place I find Mauviel cookware is at Williams-Sonoma and they are joined together with chains to prevent theft. Copper cookie cutters are the extent of my copper cookware/tools.

North Pole Set of Copper Cutters

A copper beating bowl would be fun to have to beat egg whites to perfection in. To keep the copper exterior looking new, use a copper polish or a combination of lemon and salt. Martha recommended using Red Bear Copper Cleaner to clean the copper cookie cutters she once sold through her now defunct Martha By Mail division. Another method, which I have not tried, is to use cheap ketchup with a couple of other ingredients to bring back a gleaming finish. The sticker shock and up-keep prevents copper from being as popular as the enameled, cast iron Le Creuset pots or the much less expensive alternatives by Martha Stewart sold at Macy's.

Straw Birds

I purchased these birds made of natural fibers from Williams Sonoma back when they marked their Easter items down. I did not pack them away when the season ended. Since we have had such a bleak, cloudy month they have provided a touch of vibrate color to a rather gloomy introduction to summer. The hand is a ceramic rubber glove mold that I purchased for $7.00 at the Brimfield Fair.

Orchid Opens

Whole Foods has a great deal on a larger than usual variety of orchids. All varieties are $15.99 and tend to look better cared for than the selection offered at Home Depot. The one I picked out had not opened yet. A week later it is thriving with all the flowers opened except one. This lovely lady is a Miltonia Soquel "Tiffany". These are a nice alternative to the expensive ones delivered through a florist.

Domestic Bliss? Harriet Craig Should Add Calming Lavender.

Crazed,perfectionist housewife Harriet Craig may have been less abrasive had she had green cleaning products. My Earth Day tribute is a day or two late. Harriet could have added calm to her life by using environmentally friendly lavender dryer sheets. I prefer two brands at this time.

Both the wet Method French Lavender and Mrs. Myers Lavender scents are easy on the nose. The Method brand is a stronger scent while Mrs. Myers is more subtle. Though I can only imagine the effect, these staples of the Whole Foods home keeping aisle may have had on our Harriet. I think she may had had more time for pillow talk and relaxing baths thanks to fluffy lavender scented linens and towels.