Well, I have a new addiction that involves the internet.
Oh dear! “Pinterest”!!! It is a genius idea! One can see a sublime picture on a post or blog or magazine, or whatever, and you can “pin it” just like that! And that is saved on your “inboard with its information of where it came from! And people can follow you if they like the same things you do!
I haven’t figured out how to put the photo information on my blog , but I will! You can go to my “Pinterest page” and find it there; but my next “Favorites”, I will be posting the credit!
I try to do the right thing by the photographers and bloggers who provide such delectable images! I just have to learn!
I will begin!!!I hope you enjoy my picks!
Above is one of the most beautiful canopy beds I have seen! There is so much attention to detail !
The fabric on the canopy is embroidered “Chelsea Editions” and it is on a hard valance with wonderful trim!
And the lining is divine as well!
The coverlet folded at the bottom is also Chelsea; and with the antique tapestry pillow….just heaven!
The bedroom itself is lovely; note the faux painted paneling on the fireplace wall. Very subtle and pretty.
Also note the slightly “tattered” rugs on the neutral carpeting. I love old worn rugs. (Even on their “last legs”!)
Patina!
Here is a marvelous idea! A collection of botanicals applied to the wall as wallpaper. They seem out of the same book!
This reminds me of a “Print Room” in England, but has such a young and fresh look!
There are reasonable books of botanicals ; and I love this unusual and lovely “bringing the garden inside!” idea.
Very original! Lovely with the Swedish furniture which I adore!
It is also very artfully arranged!
From the crown molding down to the “base shoe” on the floor! I love that some are going up and down, and some “sideways”!
Wow!
Silk curtains in two chic and beautiful colors! One on each side of a window!!
This is another really original idea that I love! I have always loved unlined silk taffeta curtains! These in two fabulous colors! Orange and shocking pink!! Brilliant idea!
These remind me of my favorite “Steven Stolman” long taffeta skirts!!!
(By the way, the multi-talented uber-creative Mr. Stolman is the new President of the wonderful fabric firm Scalamandre!) Bravo!!
Bravo to my friend Steven! He will be a real “shot in the arm” and they are very lucky to have him, in my opinion!
They have always had the most beautiful of fabrics! From all over the world!
The best of luck to the fun, funny, and deserving Steven!
Imagine walking in the door and seeing this!
This is so beyond! Jean Cocteau did these wall murals in the 40’s (maybe 50’s?)
at his friend’s house in the South of France!
Apparently, they are all still there! How lucky can you get?
“Yes; Jean, you may draw and paint whatever you want on the walls!”
“All over the house?!”
“Yes, Jean, keep going!! Don’t stop!!!”
(By the way, this is not luck!)
This is friendly, this is encouraging, and this is a patron of the arts!!!! The definition!
I have a friend, Bob Schulenberg who has been to this house and seen them!!
Oh my heart! I think I would crump on the floor and die happy!
I might have a heart-attack!
Now we move from the South of France to Virginia……….to another “patron of the arts”!!
We need more of those!
I am never envious…….(honestly, hardly ever). But this “potting room” that belongs to Bunny Mellon got me awfully close!
What a wonderful and talented artist who must have had the time of his or her life painting this entire room! I am sure much of it is personal and meaningful to Mrs. Mellon. This is an artist’s “dream come true!”
And a “patron of the arts” dream come true also!
All four walls are covered (lots of secret doors and cupboards! Exquisite! Have you ever???
See what I mean about “Pinterest”?
There are so many wonderful blogs with all the photographs taken over many years!
(This is one of the close-ups that show the incredible detail of these four walls of a very big room!)
And you can collect them! Like my 100 notebooks of sheets
torn out of magazines that I finally had to go through!
I would have suffocated years ago if I had tried to save all the magazines…..Yikes!
Someone would have discovered me under there! The enormous pile!
How divine is that potting room……and the basket of lettuce and greens from the vegetable garden
on the center table…….just sent me over the edge! Lordy!
So gorgeous! And so down-to-earth! So beautiful for all of us!
Changing the subject!
This is a lovely poolhouse (I made a typo and called it a “poorhouse” on “Pinterest” (HA!! Hardly!!!) Lovely aged barn wood…(rescued from a falling down barn)..and then….on the other side….
Stone and double-hung windows you can walk out of! My socks flew off when I saw this! Honestly.
I didn’t film it…but it did happen! (Should have had my iPhone nearby) They flew off!
And then the inside of that poolhouse! ( Back to back fireplaces.)….one inside; and one outside! (scroll back!!)
Who has seen such a brilliant room? In Every way! scale; comfort………see the back to back sofas? One facing a view; one facing the fireplace? Fabulous! (I guess I didn’t invent that 25 years ago! I thought I made it up!!) But it is a great invention!
I know that John Cottrell from Los Angeles was the decorator! I am so proud of him!!
Bravo John Cottrell!
Brilliant beyond!
Moving right along !
You can tell that I really love original things. Well. This person stripped off the old (and probably hideous) wallpaper. Before going on…stopped to look! (most people don’t use that moment…….stop to look midway through…very important, that moment. ……..)” Wow! That looks so interesting! Let’s leave it!” (Very “John Saladino”….my friend and compatriot!)
(When stripping walls of hideous paint…..he stands there……and at the point….it looks perfect :..he says……”‘STOP!”)
And he knows the “second” to say it! And the wall is so beyond perfection and has the “patina” far beyond…it is indescribably beautiful. And he knows the very second! And he is always right! (Quite a talent!!)
So unusual. and I love the mushroom stool. Original, charming and patina!
This is an iconic picture of an iconic house! This is an example of “If you must put the fireplace in the middle of “the view” You MUST do this!
this house was designed by John Woolfe for a wonderful decorator and tastemaker! For James Pendleton and his wife!
The fireplace had to be centered in the middle of the lovely “view! so John Woolfe figured out a way to have the fireplace have two flues! and a window above it! And it works as a fireplace!!! It is my very favorite fireplaces I have ever seen in my life! From the fifties! Yikes!So the fireplace does not block the view!(This house has been owned by the producer Robert Evans for many years!)It is my very have fireplace ever in the world!
It remains an iconic house and pool and poolhouse!
Moving right along…………..
Let’s look at some doors…….I adore doors….and I think they are often overlooked…..as does one of my favorite blogs:
“An Aesthete’s Lament”
He showed the doors below……..all mismatched toile……and a darker toile around the closet doors. Brilliant. Original. What an unusual use of antique textiles. I love this!
now I am on to doors! Why leave doors plain?
I am so admiring “AL’s” choice of doors to feature.
Why not? put mismatched antique toile on some interior doors………(my next house will be my last; and I will!!!)
This toile fantasy above is my very favorite……….Lordy!!!
My friend Radisha will come to hand-paint my favorite birds on my doors!!!
(I owe all this door information to my friend; An Aesthete’s Lament; who was the very first blog I followed!)
Thank goodness he is back blogging again!
I will end with a dream!
Below you will see a “walk-through bookcase”!
Someday……I will find a place to have one! Our house is “bursting with books”
And I always want to live in a house bursting with books!
My daughter was telling me today about the new “hot kindle”!!!
I’m sure she is right…..she is so very smart……but I still want books I can hold and turn the pages over……..call me old fashioned….and call me old…..but I love books! and I love bookcases!
I want this one……a “walk through bookcase!”
So lovely!!!
And the stepladder is handy!!
I hope you enjoyed my pins!
22 Responses
Love, love, love those two colored curtains. That is all I can think about at the moment.
Oh, Penny.
You and I could have the best, and longest, lunch ever! Through these pictures, you have described my style perfectly. I put the most divine bed by Patina in a client’s bedroom several years ago. Truly swoon-worthy. And an artist who occasionally works for me has painted murals and door frames, and claw foot tubs, and ceilings all through my house. There are stacks of books, the real ones, everywhere… even the dining room is lined with them. Yes, we would have fun together.
That last photo reminds me of the classics section in Hatchard’s bookshop in London!
I am so addicted to pinterest!! I am a daily user! Those yummy candy coloured drapery is my favorite image with the sweet lilac slipper chair.
xx
callie
I need to have one of those bookcases!
I adore herbariums. We put a grid of 12 on our Powder Room wall in Oxnard. They were just simply framed in glass and no frame (just tape).
Since there was no frame, we attached them to the wall with a hot glue gun. I guess we can’t move!
Oh, and I’m sure you know that I’m a Pinterest addict!
xo
Brooke
Oh, I guess I meant simply displayed, since my herbariums weren’t framed!
xo
Brooke
We all love your herbariums….Brooke! and your book!! And every single post of your blog!
We can’t wait for the book-signing up here in Santa Barbara!
I am glad you appreciated the bed!
Oh dear Lord! Mr. John Hackett was the decorator of this entire room…..(and probably; house!)
I am a hopeless newbie at blogging….and I am so sorry ……how do I give you proper credit? I adore your bed!
(obviously!)
I totally appreciated the bed (obviously) and am learning how to credit!) John was responsible for the bed, and the divine walls…..etcetera!!
thank you!
Hi Penny,
Love your blog, so much fun to scroll down
to see your fantastic pictures and stories!!
Love it!
xoxo,
Janice
Penny,
I share in the passion for fine craft work. It is wonderful life to live among these hand made wonders. Lucky for us that pinterest exists, kindle, books (love the bookcases too), blogs, comments that share when creativity happens. Look how much we grow from learning as we go. Amazing.
The quintessential New England barn reincarnated. The architect, Gil Schafer is classic. Cottrell’s interiors are a delightful foil! Brilliant!
Cheers,
John
I agree! So happy to hear from you!
I greatly appreciate all the info I’ve read here. I will spread the word about your blog to other people. Cheers.
Penny, so informative and you had me giggling and laughing at the same time. Love your sense humour, and yes I have had moments when my socks seem to fly off also!!
Off to explore Pinterest.
Nella
Me too!! I’ve had to put a self-imposed time limit on my Pinterest browsing, but to tell the truth it really isn’t working. It’s also nice to know that all my faves are kept safely stored away from my dodgy PC that’s just about to turn up its toes. Lovely, lovely images Penny, big sigh.
Millie xx
That bedroom takes my breath away. I can’t stop looking at it. Whenever I visit your blog, I get such a treat. Thank you for your wonderful taste and style! Hooray!
Penny – the second picture – of the print room is a friend of mine’s house in Houston. that room is a small room off the living room. The room was papered in images taken from a book – in black and white. once the pages were pasted on the wall, they were then hand colored by an artist. the room is magical with antique Swedish busts on pedastals in the corner and a large antique birdcage, along with an antique swedish settee. Her daugher was recently married and sat in the settee in her wedding dress for her portrait. her decorator was Carol Glasser and they brought in Katrin Cagrill from England to assist. thought you might enjoy hearing about it.
Joni
since I posted this……..out of the woodwork (oh no I mean blogsphere) comes a fount of information from Joni of “Cote de Texas” one of my all-time have bloggers! (an enormous national star) She knows the house! In Houston! And she knows that these prints from a book (at least I got that right) were pasted to the wall and were in black and white! An artist came and water-colored them; and then lacquered them to stay there! Good grief! How exciting! I think they were from an ancestral home……..(I might be making that part up I am so excited!
I will keep you posted……am asking Joni……more pictures? Apparently there are “busts” in this room! Oh please!!
XXOO
Penelope
ohmilord! are there more pictures????
This is the incredible gift of blogging and the internet!
We all have to realize none of this was possible before.
this was round 2 “Pinterest” right? This what a called “like a print room”! Hand colored on the walls……boy…..there is a lot of major talent flying in and out…and living in Houston!!
thank you , Joni. That is one of my favorite rooms I have ever seen! I will credit the people tomorrow! Thank you!
Are you aware you have a photographic memory? I thought everyone did…..no 2%. Lucky me my Mommy told me when I was 6 or something! Thank you so much Joni!
No kidding ! None of this would be possible without the internet…..and more importantly….without bloggers!
Thank you thank you!!
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