Seconds Place

I've seen Christopher Spitzmiller's seconds and they are anything but sloppy. This is a great chance to get an amazing product at a reasonable price. Do go by the studio if you have the chance; it's terrific.

On the Back

Every now and then I'll pull something from the file and discover a really great image on the back of one of the pages. This was one. Eric Cohler found his 15 x 12 brownstone bedroom "very depressing. I decided to fill it with the things I loved best."

House Beautiful, March 1994. Sadly, I do not have the photo credit.

Lost and Found

One of Suzanne Rheinstein's picks for the Enduring Style series was Roger Lussier's Boston Back Bay apartment. I thought I had two versions of his home in my files but I could only find one at the time.

Naturally, looking for something else I stumbled across the later version.

This serene rendition appeared in House Beautiful, March of 1994.

If you think it has been published since do let me know as I would love to see it. Again. And again.

Photography by Thibault Jeanson.

Get Mo Stuff

There is always a lot of chatter about summer reading lists and I love picking up tips from other folks. I just have to put in a major plug for Mo Willems. If you have an early reader Mo's books contain all the joy and whimsy of Seuss without the fatigue of so many pages.

Mo (I'm pretty sure he'd want me to call him Mo and not Mr. Willems) has written a number of children's books following his Emmy-award winning stint at Sesame Street. "Don't Let the Pigeon..." books are delightful and allow your toddler to shout out "NO!" with abandon. The "Knufflebunny" stories tell the tale of a girl and her lovey with delightful illustrations.

But my heart belongs to Gerald and Piggie. They are best friends despite and because of the fact that Gerald is a pragmatist and Piggie cannot surpress her joie de vivre. My early reader delights in their escapades and triumphs as he reads "the whole book."

He giggles with every reading and, I must admit, There's a Bird on Your Head is my favorite and sometimes I beg him to read it to me because I want to hear it.

Out and About - Collections Rare

Hunting and Gathering this weekend I spied a new booth at the Mission Road Antique Mall. I think Collections Rare used to have a smaller spot on the South side of the mall; this larger space let's her owner stretch her legs a bit.

More Whitcomb

An astute reader commented about David Whitcomb's apartment this week. Seems he had a pretty jazzy house upstate as well.

I flipped back through the New York Times Book of Interior Design and Decoration to see if it was in there.

No. But! There were a few photos of the apartment Whitcomb lived in following this one.

Do I love those black stripes on the moulding against the yellow walls? You know I do.

But I digress. The transition from one space to the next seemed to fit with the post at the beginning of the week about the two Albert Hadley projects.

It's an interesting shift and I think one that many people who have an affinity for design would envy. Many of us wish we had a way to explore all the facets of design that appeal.

It's also a fun "I Spy" game to see what moved from one spot to the next and how. These benches, which seem made for the space actually appear in the first living room.

The asymmetrical balance of this room is particularly appealing. (Let's do just ignore that headboard.) As for the country house, Toby Worthington (another astute reader) knew (of course) where it had been published and the book is on the way.

This is from another Whitcomb project. I couldn't help but post it. That linear latticework and the shutters are so chic. And the chintz. Terrif.

Whitcomb's apartments photographed by Daniel Eifert. The sun room was photographed by Robert Perron. All images from New York Book of Interior Design and Decoration.

Look at me! Look at me!

I posted a picture of myself in the margin of the blog Wednesday. I don't like pictures of myself. I never have. They just don't seem to look like how I think I look, which cannot be the case but still they make me blanch.

But last week when I posted my party pic a few folks referred to me as elusive and mysterious. I wasn't being coy; I wasn't hiding. It's just not about me. I'm a middle-aged, medium height, middle income wife and mother of three living in middle America. I didn't go to design school, am not a designer or a design historian.

I'm curious. I'm interested, but not interesting. Men talk around me at dinner parties all the time. Or ask, "How are the boys?" Fairly indistinguishable, there are thousands of women just like me everywhere. There are a dozen in your building or neighborhood. Still, after the comments I thought maybe it's odd to hear the voice but not see the speaker.

I was 4'10" in eighth grade. Paul Steiner deemed me president of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee. Right before my freshman year I received a tragic Dorothy Hamill haircut. The only date I had in high school was to my senior prom and that was with a friend. You are welcome to comment away on how I look, but believe me, I've heard it all before.

More Summer DIY

Recent mentions here and here of covering furniture in paper made me sit up and take note of this desk from designer David Whitcomb's townhouse in The New York Times Book of Interior Design and Decoration. Whitcomb used a small pattern to jazz up the simple Parsons-esque lines.

Which reminded me of Courtney's reference to Nick Olsen's Ikea coffee table photographed by Paul Costello for domino. Nick's tips for such a project? "The pros use wallpaper paste but I slopped on rubber cement! I like it because you can reposition more easily and it's not water-based so thin paper (like the marbleized stuff I used) doesn't warp or wrinkle."

More handy tips and design musings from Nick here and here. Because one blog is never enough.

The Whitcomb image by Daniel Eifert.

Batter Up

By the way, it is bats. The critter guys came and indeed we have a colony nesting under a loose shingle in the back of the house. To further protect their brood they have gnawed a hole in the wall which is why we can hear the scuttling and tweeting so clearly inside.

Bats are protected so their nests cannot be cleared out (interpret that as you may.) They will remain safe and sound until mid-August when all kinds of nonsense will take place. We will basically hint that perhaps they have overstayed their welcome and then install a contraption to discourage their reentering their/our home.

This will take place after our return from a house in Colorado where sightings of mice, voles, bears and mountain lions are not uncommon.

Did I mention that I have a headache?

Bat images found here.

Fabulous Faux

Faux painting took a bad turn somewhere in the 80's (90's?) and the baby got pitched with the swirl of marbleized bath water.

But the Miles Redd designed faux ivory and horn bedroom, above, is a striking reminder that in good hands faux can be fabulous.

There are wonderful examples from back in the day of course. The Manhattan apartment of Kansas City native and decorative painter Richard Neas featured a floor of "large squares simulating the striation of cut agate." Neas painted the treillage at the ceiling as well.

Horn and ivory would take a pretty practiced artisan, but the finish on the floor would be an easy project for any do-it-yourselfer. For a closer look click the images.

Redd images from House Beautiful, July 2009; photographs by Thomas Loof. Neas's apartment appeared in the New York Times Book of Interior Design and Decoration, 1976 by Norma Skurka; photography by Norman McGrath.