Los Angeles is rarely my destination of choice…however….a friend, a concert and the promise of an Italian meal tipped the scales.
the restaurant
housed in a former bank building, the juxtaposition of grand architecture and contemporary decor…arresting
open kitchen, pantry, and liquor cabinet…all fascinating.
Intrigued by the design elements, I neglected to get a picture of the best lemon pasta ever!!!!
Farrow & Ball paints not only offer amazing color choices…the names are highly entertaining!!!
Pictured: Down Pipe – Sugar Bag Light – Arsenic – Hound Lemon – Mouse’s Back – Dead Salmon – Smoked Trout – Savage Ground – Clunch
Also: Mole’s Breath – Churlish Green – Elephant’s Breath
Love the English wit!!!
Each year Benjamin Moore Paints declares the color of the year…for 2016: Simply White
Defining color as ‘the quality of an object or substance with respect to the light reflected by it’, hence ‘the object or substance defined as white reflects nearly all light’.
In the design world Webster is not the definitive player. The definition of ‘white’ can be in the eye of the beholder…or the imagination of the mysterious person(s) who assigns names to paint colors. Introduced to Farrow & Ball Colours on a trip to England over 15 years ago – before they had a significant presence in the US – I marveled at the variety of colors with ‘white’ in the name…
lime white, old white, wall white, hardwick white, new white, white tie…to name a few…
(variations illustrated here by Essie)
Having always been a fan of white, I feel the pull back to clean ‘white’ walls, trim, ceilings…even floors!
Using white-on-white calls for a nuanced overall design, using texture, weave, and sheen for sophistication and interest.
source: brightcd on Flickr
source: Cottage Living
source: unknown
Are you tempted to go white???
Are you getting a sense of the place???
Really quite small, filled with pieces having lived life alongside their owners, now waiting to bring new life to another space.
Focused, carefully curated, each piece an individual treasure.
Always such a joy to visit Miss Vicki – to see beauty through her eyes.
_________
I’ll be back in August for another family event in Crossroads!!!
Filed under Art, Inspiration, Interiors, Travel
Christmas at Crossroads, of course, included a visit to Miss Vicki at Homepieces in McKinney- always on the cutting edge of casual home design…her unerring eye captures the latest trend…cutting boards!
the tales these boards could tell…
perhaps of the aroma of freshly baked bread…
or of the succulent heaviness of aged fruitcake…
of the hands fashioning their design,
or of the journey bringing them to this particular place;
now looking for a new home and new tales to tell.
Filed under Food, Holidays, Inspiration, Interiors, Travel
‘Right in my own back yard’…a cliche, yes… but so true!
a day trip with a dear friend, mere miles from home
Thomas Aquinas College
on the grounds: Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel
a quiet, prayerful moment spent here…
Ojai Road, Santa Paula, California
Summer reading at Nona’s for my favorite little people!
Filed under Family history, Interiors, Postcards, Seasons
A new challenge is music to a designer’s soul…when that challenge comes mid-project the music is taken to a whole new volume.
Working on a lovely French country home…redoing floors, choosing light fixtures and furnishings, aging ironwork…all in a slightly subdued traditional palette, the client adds a striking abstract painting to the score!
Integrating this piece into the evolving melody, we decided to play to its strengths:
color and more color!
I think the result sings!!!!!!
I recently came across a book entitled ‘Orange is the New Black‘. Although the reference is to prison attire, my mind was sent spinning off into my world of design…...orange is the new red, this is the new that, the living room is the new dining room….really??? To be honest, I had already been toying with the idea of switching these two rooms in my house.
Times have changed…we are older, the children are busy and stretched, their children are young…all of which adds up to early evenings when we are together. We now find ourselves lingering at the dinner table, then calling it a night. So the dining room has taken on a new life….comfortable chairs borrowed from the living room, youth chairs and high chairs corralling small bodies, table top covered with butcher paper, containers of crayons and markers replacing center pieces. An added bonus – a fireplace in the dining room!
The piano still sits comfortably in its alcove, now in the dining room;
the welsh dresser remains in its accustomed spot, anchoring the new living room space.
The chandelier,
once over the dining table, now right at home over the coffee table.
Adding a smallish white fluffy rug here will bring the room together.
Rearranging and repurposing accessories adds freshness.
We have yet to see how the new spaces ‘live’. Reaction to the changes by some family members has fallen short of full-blown enthusiasm; perhaps this will change after the next family dinner……
Filed under Family history, Inspiration, Interiors
Visualizing a beautiful space, incorporating my client’s wishes and dreams, and my concept of bringing them to reality…only part of the job. Conveying my concept to the client is the next step. Much of this process requires words…. words of explanation, description, education, persuasion. Since some of the needed words can be technical in nature, I have decided that a good way for me to grow in this area is to ‘tighten up’ my vocabulary – starting with the words we use about color.
hue, tone, value, saturation…
Webster defines hue: a gradation or variety of color, tint
hue = color
again defined by Webster, tone: a quality of color with reference to the degree of absorption of light, a slight modification of a given color
tone = shade of a given color
value: a degree of lightness or darkness in a color
value = lightness or darkness of a certain color
saturation: the degree of chroma or purity of a color, the degree of freedom from admixture with white
saturation = degree of purity of a certain color
in the classroom we would now be asked to use each word defined above in a sentence……………
‘The value of the tone of the hue is saturated.’
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Susan Wennerstrom | W designs 