Back to The Bachelorette ... You haven't gotten an update for a while!  As I mentioned earlier, we've been on hold ... but hopefully we'll be back in the swing of things soon.  The to-do list includes cushions for the dining chairs, pillows for the sofa and chair, a chaise for the office/second bedroom, and rugs.  We already have the fabric for the cushions and pillows, but I've been keeping an eye out for the other things.  The Bachelorette wants the chaise to serve as a restful place to read or meditate, but it needs to fit the space (obviously enough) and also be easy to clean (as her dachshund is likely to be fond of the chaise as well).  Well, a Ballard Designs catalog arrived in the mail over the weekend, and I think I found the perfect piece.  I need to check the measurements, but the size looks about right and the style is perfect.  The price is good, too - Ballard Designs offers a trade discount, and every bit helps.  I love the piping on the slipcover; it really gives the slipcover a much more custom look.  Either the khaki or the chocolate will look great.  The walls are painted Restoration Hardware's Atmosphere Blue, the trim is Benjamin Moore's Simply White, and the ceiling is Restoration Hardware's Seafoam.  What a comfortable little space this is going to be!     

Photo from Ballard Designs

I owe you all a big apology!  I have been completely AWOL from blogging, and I am so sorry.  I can sum up the reason in four words:  Twins Out of Preschool.  Henry and Charlie sorely miss their teachers but are loving the variety of activities we've engaged in over the summer so far - including many trips to the pool, their first movie, "riding" their new bicycles, and so on.  I'm enjoying the time with them as well, but finding it hard to fit everything in fewer hours.  But I'm back ... and the month of July brings a fun summer camp for the boys.  So here's to blogging ... and patient readers!    

Thanks to an article in The New York Times, I discovered One Kings Lane a little while ago.  One Kings Lane is a members-only website devoted to sample sales for home furnishings and accessories.  They send you an email when a sale starts, and the products are sold first-come, first-served for 72 hours only.  Pretty cool concept, huh?  I was a little skeptical - seriously, how good could it be? - but I thought, "hey, it's worth a try!"  Well, let's just say that I'm impressed.  There have been more than a few things that I've coveted, and unfortunately, a couple have sold out before I've gotten there.  But I did manage to score this Dransfield and Ross table - in red - for a superb price!  It arrived today, which happens to be my birthday.  So happy birthday to me!  I had planned to put the table on a stairwell landing, but I'm thinking about using it in the living room instead.  I'll share a picture once I've gotten it set up!  Let me know if you are interested in joining One Kings Lane and I'll send you an invite.      

Photo from Horchow

I'm planning a whole series of articles on paint - I've been fascinated by (what I perceive to be) the growing rivalry between Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams - but I have to get this posted now!  Sherwin-Williams is having a fantastic deal - from June 12th to June 14th, save 30% on paints and stains and 20% off painting supplies.   Assume that the paint you choose is $35 per gallon - well, with savings of $10.50 per gallon, that is going to add up quickly.   So, if you are planning a painting project, mark your calendar so you don't miss the fantastic deal.  As far as I can tell, the only catch is this - you must have a registered Preferred Customer account, but I'm pretty sure that is no more complicated than getting a Harris Teeter VIC card. 

One other special to mention - Jessitt-Gold Interiors, the "to the trade" version of Smith+Noble, is having their first ever sale through August 6.  Depending on what you purchase (through your designer), the prices are 15-20% off ... which should get passed to you.   

Let me go on record as saying that you can completely transform a room with a few gallons of paint and appropriate window treatments.  Happy decorating! 

I love the feature articles in fashion magazines that show you how to take one piece of clothing and transform it into several different looks.  I'm all about versatility, and I love pieces - clothing or furniture - that serve multiple purposes or that are appropriate for a variety of settings.  So welcome to my version of those articles ... we'll call it "one chair, three ways!"   So check out this chair - Laura Kirar for McGuire Barrel Lounge Chair.     

It's attractive, isn't it?  Well, I'm clearly not the only one who thinks so because I have been seeing this chair everywhere.  First, I spotted it in the Architectural Digest Greenroom at the 81st Annual Academy Awards.  Here, the chair gives off an "updated retro," sophisticated yet almost groovy vibe as designer Stephen Shadley channeled "a chic 1970s pad atrop the Hollywood Hills."  

Next, I spotted it in "Summer Loving," a feature article about the Long Island home of Veronica and Jamie Beard, in the June 2009 issue of Elle Decor.  Now - while this house still celebrates the seventies - it does so in an entirely different way ... and the chair (in the lower right corner) is Palm Beach all the way!  Can you believe how different it looks, lacquered white and with brightly patterned cushions?     

Finally, I spotted the chair in the season finale of Ugly Betty (love that show!).   Unfortunately, I can't find a still shot, so you are going to have to use your imagination.  Picture it - the swanky NYC apartment of Wilhemina Slater, co-editor-in-chief of Mode magazine.  The apartment is sleek and fashionable, bold and fearless.  From the looks of it, you know better than to mess with its owner!  The chair is lacquered black with red cushions.  Think black patent Manolo Blahnik stilettos with red lipstick, and you've got the vibe.

So there you have it - one chair, three entirely different ways ... yet utterly fantastic in each setting!  Now that's the mark of fabulous design ...    

Photos from McGuire Furniture, Architectural Digest and Elle Decor

As part of my tear sheet organizing project, I'm making my way through some back issues.  A few of the Architectural Digests - including the February 2009 issue - hadn't even gotten the first look.  So imagine what I'm thinking as I read this letter from the editor: 

"So you think you can decorate?  You probably can't.  Think you have great taste?  You probably don't.  Think you have style?  Think again.  So what is this rant about?  Two things.  One, let the decorator do it.  Let the architect do it.  They have created hundreds, perhaps thousands, of rooms.  How many have you done?  Don't delude yourself.  They can do it better." 

"Now I'm going to seem to contradict myself.  It may be true that you want to do your own home your way, regardless of what anyone may think and regardless of whether it's 'good design.'  Well, you're right, too.  My other point?  Do it the way that's comfortable for you." 

"Now, how to resolve these seemingly conflicting viewpoints?  It's fairly simple.  Some people really care about a beautifully designed residence.  Others don't.  Perhaps you're not particularly visual and are convinced you pay no attention to your surroundings.  Wrong.  You do.  Even if you're not consciously aware of it, you're affected by colors, scale and lighting, by furniture and whatever is on your walls.  So maybe you don't 'have taste' or even have 'bad taste.'  So what?  It's not a character flaw." 

"Perhaps the theme of this letter is this.  Do what you want to do in your own home.  As I mentioned earlier, a professional decorator can create an interior space that reflects and complements you and may even improve the way you feel and the way you live.  A fine architect or interior designer will almost certainly enrich your life and subtly allow your best self to come forth.  The really interesting idea is how people choose to live.  Some homes are photogenic, perfect to be featured in a magazine.  (This one, for instance.)  Some are not.  Both are cherished by those who live in them."

"And that's the way it should be." 

- Paige Rense, Editor-in-Chief

Meow!  Hiss!  I see a catfight brewing, because it takes a lot of nerve to write that ... even if she does believe it.  I would paraphrase Paige's statement like this - "if you hired a top architect and designer to do your home, great; it must be fabulous ... maybe even fabulous enough for Architectural Digest.  If not, I'm sorry, but it is most certainly atrocious.  But if you are comfortable there (cough, cough, clearing of throat), good for you.  I'm glad not everyone cares about how they live." 

I think her comments are a touch arrogant and more than a bit obnoxious.  Am I being too harsh?  I'd love to hear what you think.  As for me, while I love a beautiful environment, I prefer Coco Chanel's philosophy:  "It's not houses I love; it's the life I live in them."  Now that is a woman with the right attitude.       

I spent a long time this evening trying to organize the disaster known as my tear sheets (basically, just the pages I tear from magazines because I find them inspiring or interesting or useful).  I read so many magazines that I have pages and pages and pages of tear sheets, and - despite several attempts - I have yet to find a successful way to organize them.  For a slightly obsessive-compulsive soul such as myself, the disorder drives me crazy!  Fortunately, I think I've hit upon the solution ... hence tonight's activity.  It's so fun going back through the tear sheets because it's almost a stroll down memory lane.  I remember when I tore out a house by so-and-so, or when a certain type of product was just hitting the market, or why something struck me a certain way.  All of this is to say that I stumbled across a column by Dominique Browning, the editor-in-chief of our dearly departed House & Garden.  Oh, how I miss that magazine!  I always loved Dominique's columns, but this particular one really hit home.  See, when I say I am slightly obsessive-compulsive, maybe I should just say that I can be really particular about things.  Reference my earlier posts about attention to detail!!  Everything has to be just so, or I feel off.   When I read this column, however, I decided that my problem is not that I suffer from OCD, but instead that I suffer from design-obsessive-disorder!  So enjoy this little excerpt ... and my own confessions ... 

"I've come to realize that the design obsessed are a different breed of cat.  I'd put myself in the 'mild' range, diagnostically speaking - though certain people who have had to contend with my urge to reupholster and rearrange their furniture might vehemently disagree.  But you should see what life is like for the truly afflicted.  Four A.M. [online] shopping trips for gueridons don't even put you in contention.  The design obsessed leave no stone unturned - literally.  Everything, and I mean everything, must be just so.  This means that the breakfast table is set with an interesting mix of gorgeous china; that the coffee cup, if that is the object with which your day starts, is exactly the correct shape for soothing the hand and holding the heat; that the morning playlist streaming from the iPod fits the mood of the day; that the bath oil for the morning soak comes in a streamlined bottle, so that the tub's ledge doesn't have that clinical CVS look; that your jewelry on the vanity table is arranged in a seductive way; that the family schedule is displayed in an elegant and readable manner; and that, when you finally get yourself out the front door (painted just the right shade of muddy green you see in France), the car you drive - which, by the way, happens to be the largest and most important accessory in front of your house - speaks to your aesthetic sensibility both in terms of looks and efficiency.  And that's just a superficial glance at what life is like before 7 A.M. ... Pity the design obsessed.  It is hard for us to understand how much it hurts them, literally, to see poorly articulated road signs, or badly appointed restaurants, or ugly storefronts."  

- Dominique Browning

Here's how I knew that this was speaking to me.  I have practically laser-level vision and it really, really bothers me if a painting is crooked.  My picture frames and objets (yes, I used the French on purpose) are placed at a certain angle, and I can tell if they have been moved.  I use a tape measure to make sure a pair of lamps on a buffet is exactly the same distance in from the end of the buffet.  When my twin boys were small, I had their daily schedule printed in baby blue ink and placed in a large silver frame on the kitchen counter so everyone knew exactly when they were supposed to be doing what.  I refuse to consider certain shampoo brands because I find their packaging to be so offensive.  I could go on, but I'll spare you further detail.  So what do you think ... should I seek professional help?