Garden chairs before and after

I caught this view on the freeway, driving home from a client. Seems so hopeful, I wanted to share.
I did promise the reveal of the garden furniture,
so here is a glimpse of the old - I painted this garage sale find three years ago in orange

and here is the table now

and the chairs

I love the bright hope and energy of the new colors!

a Question of Pleasure

Dog resting. No matter how hard and unwelcoming the surface, a dog know hows to relax.
This boy is awaiting his owner outside the Tipsy Pig in San Francisco.

we are all celebrating Summer!

Finally the hot weather has arrived, and I am in the mood to recreate some pleasure seating in the garden and enhance the moment of homecoming.
The orange set is fading and cobwebby. The walkway is boring and pitifully flower poor. This past weekend I decided to buy a bunch of pots and plants and create an array of potted plants. Funny thing about words and language. When I first came to America, I used to say pot plants and people thought I meant the type of plant you smoke. Now I carefully remember to say potted plants. Which makes me think of potted shrimp (terribly English & picnic in the garden)
Which makes me think how fun it is to create picnic spots in ones own yard.
On a blanket, a rug or with chairs. Much more civilized dont you think?

and this set above outside Anthropologie in Palo Alto, looks so inviting. I feel ready to sit with friends and have an ice-cream sundae.



this floor would be fab in the yard, to rest a patio set, spied this at a cool coffee shop, in a historic building on Ramona Street, Palo Alto.

Here are some other fun ideas to liven up the back yard living room, and next week I will reveal my "Transformation"

Think about how you can use your existing patio furniture and add some fun accessories,
to set up your perfect picnic hideaway - without leaving home.


A colorful rug can add so much to a concrete floor or hard dirt like this fun rug
from Patio Shoppers

What about an interesting table? like this one below found on Etsy and created by
Timothy Adams Designs






a cool light like this one below





some outdoor art
like these Reflect Spheres or Breeze pinwheels - same old stuff with a modern twist







and no garden spot would be complete without some plants, like these lush beauties



Enjoy!

Making an Entrance

Summer Joy captured in Kalk Bay, South Africa, looking up to the hills or down to the ocean.

We are almost into April. 2009
and spring has sprung, the grass is riz.


Goldie has been out in the yard, digging, rolling and keeping her eye out for other furry folk.
as you can see in this photo, Goldie is all about enjoying life, and wearing hats, or eating hats.

Since she is outdoors, and the sun is shinning, I decided to move on out and mow the lawn. It was getting pretty wild out there. So I was out cutting and mowing, and thinking about how lovely it is to entertain when the weather smiles.

Entertaining at home is the new IN place to be for meals. I read all about it, all over the big wide web. So I decided to explore ways to go about making an Entrance.

First impressions count, or so the cliche goes. and Cliche or not, its all true.
What better way to get people to sit up and notice your style, but with a brightly painted door,
a cool seat, or some wild art. Or all three.

None of these changes need to cost. Sometimes you just need to move things around.
A bit of paint can do wonders, and it is a cheap fix.
Fabric strips can make a colorful door curtain, old plaques or mirrors on the wall add interest.

And a couple of stylish items I ran into on my trip, down south, got me thinking.

Its all about the details.



How about fabulous eye candy for the soles ?
A new door mat - I spotted this one at Cost Plus Website.

and look what else there is to capture the imagination before crossing the Threshold :


another key element in making a statement is Numbering with style,

I spotted this on my way to the airport in my home town Pretoria:

make a statement by creating a colorful pathway, this one spotted in Kalk Bay, Cape Town

If you have gates, or if you have a place to hang gates,
look what fabulous things you can do with these:
a gate in Kalk Bay, captures my heart



and here is one that is pretty and functional in Fresnaye, Cape Town

a chair or some plants add whimsy and color, this one below I spotted in Del Mar, CA
what a clever way to repurpose a broken chair!

the simple folding chair below spotted in Mountain View, Pretoria

add some color with plants, spotted in Del Mar, California


or some fabulous art like these painted ostrich eggs

add some seating like this amazing grouping spotted in Johannesburg Airport, on my way out,
too bad I couldn't fit it on the plane, in my hand luggage:

There is a simple way to make your doorway charming and inviting:
Add some color and some items you love.
Group for effect.
Leave some empty spaces
Create a meandering path to wander down.
Add seating, lights, texture and art.
Then invite some friends over for fresh lemonade & cookies, or cocktails and nibbles, to admire your handiwork.


Below is an example from a client :

The before shows Safe & BORING

THE AFTER :
The front door is painted green to match the letters
The bench has acquired Red and green cushions (OSH), above the postbox we place a metal plant container with fake ivy (TJ Max)
The client; wrote to tell us how some blue birds had made a nest and were coming back and forth to feed their babies.
To break the window, a lovely white std Gardenia(OSH) in a red pot,(Target) with an inviting red green and orange mat(Target) to add some zing:

Write and tell me all about how you make an entrance and enjoy that wonderful moment when you step into your own oasis!

Makeover and repurpose, with Art that moves you

A key element of a space is the art.
More important than the actual content - and I hope you choose art you love, is the how where and why of hanging art.

Hang art at eye level - its there to be enjoyed and should be part of the rest of the stuff in the room.

When you have lots of small pieces place together to make a big impact - just we did here above at a Move-in makeover (the client moved in and we set up the furniture, the art the accessories - place looks fabulous in a few days of moving)

You can group photos of family or photos of your pet or pets.
Here is a classic family photo - Goldie is ready for touring and partying - a perfect picture to usher in the warmer months.

Using found objects or creating your own is another way to liven the walls. I am always on the hunt for thrift store art, interesting signs or even items from nature. There are not enough walls or time, for all that creativity that awakens and awaits...

I took this photo below in an old diner in San Francisco. You could do a series of interesting restaurants, or a row of food or pictures of plates or utensils. In fact in this restaurant, the most fascinating part, for me, was that they have plates from The Whitehouse china collection. What a feast for the eyes. I did try take some plate photos, but they did not come out well.
However plates grouped by style, type or color can also work as wall art. As can kids art, labels, collections or travel shots. Be creative, and enjoy the process, as well as the effect. Even if you are not arty, photos are a great way to find your style.



Below, in a client's home, we grouped a handful of small oils to make a statement. The top picture shows the wall before, with the original art group. The middle oil is large and none of the work is set to advantage.

In this photo above, the After, you see the same wall, with the small pieces artistically placed, to give a richness to the space. The furniture and art now work in unison, to reflect the style of the owners.

In this client's home below, we placed a large Chagall poster on a wall to add drama & color! Previously the wall had been empty, and this poster had been hiding behind a screen. Because the piece is large, and this is a corner that does not get much use, we could drop the artwork low, to really change the feel of the room.


Turns out that dog walking is good for humans too - who knew? I can enjoy the color and form that nature provides, when I take Goldie out for her constitutional. Of course to her, every blade of grass and leaf, tells a story about what four legged creature has passed by, and lifted its leg or brushed against, leaving a trail of smells that seem to delight, and inspire her black wet nose to twitch and breathe in deeply. On one such journey I caught the branches of this white tree against the blue sky. Already leaves are budding where the bare white arms once posed. Actually its pretty funny, me holding the camera, for the perfect shot, while Goldie tugs on the leash, in a hurry to get to that next sniffing pole or to roll on the grass in pet abandon.another one of my passions, or is it obsessions? is food, I love to look at food, taste it, and enjoy it. The best part is taking pictures of all that delicious food - group a bunch of your photos or tear out from magazines and frame or create a collage. This was the waffles my daughter made from scratch in our waffle machine we acquired way back when. I think the waffle maker has been used about twice. But the waffles were absolutely delightful, and I love the contrast of the blue plate and the waffle with berries...looks good enough to eat.
I leave you to ponder on what is on your walls and why. Now that spring is around the corner, perhaps it is time to refresh your nest with new art. Rotate your pictures to change your point of view. Get rid of the pieces that you really don't like.

Art is life, life is art, live a little, with art to inspire you!



Note :I will not be blogging for the next two weeks, but I am out looking for new inspiration.

Pearls of Ice

The weekend has come and gone and Monday Night is back.
The last week of February.
which has got me wondering about the meaning behind the month.
It so happens it is fascinating lore, brought to us by wikipedia :

February was named after the Latin term februum, which means purification, via the purification ritual Februa held on February 15 in the old Roman calendar. January and February were the last two months to be added to the Roman calendar, since the Romans originally considered winter a monthless period. They were added by Numa Pompilius about 700 BC.

Historical names for February include the Anglo-Saxon terms Solmonath (mud month) and Kale-monath (named for cabbage) as well as Charlemagne's designation Hornung. In Finnish, the month is called helmikuu, meaning "month of the pearl"; when snow melts on tree branches, it forms droplets, and as these freeze again, they are like pearls of ice.

Read more at Wikipedia

Sounds like purity and pearls are the way to go - which brings me to what I really want to talk about - the Artistic Luxury - Faberge/Tiffany/ Lalique show at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.

We spent a lovely Saturday afternoon wondering around, enthralled

The workmanship is exquisite and quite wonderful. The color and designs are incredible.

I found a book that has pictures and descriptions 16 eggs - none appear at the exhibit - they do reflect the beauty and ingenuity of the pieces in the show - check out the lovelies

They are miniature works of art and I was in love! My heart was beating so fast - I could have been the Becky Broomwood(?) in Confessions of a Shopaholic. I felt the surge of adrenalin to buy. Too bad none of these Objects of desire are in my budget.

People are crazy for clothes or shoes - but jewels for body and home are my raisin d'etre.

The amazing work of Rene Lalique - is beyond compare - the jewels, the glass the "dog collars"

the enamel work that somehow goes beyond human comprehension

I thought the dog collars really were dog collars - it turns out that it is the literal translation from the french for chokers. And here I was, totally impressed by the stylish dogs of yore.

After absorbing it all, we then enjoyed the view from the grounds,

before stopping in Clement st to check out Jane Consignment 2249 Clement St San Francisco CA (good mix )

Did you catch the Oscars ?(dont know why the prizes are always males - do you? )

so for us women lets call it Oscarina's and be done.

You know chokers are best when worn at a young age. I bring that up because I thought the choker that Sophia Loren wore made her look bad - and I hated that. Sophia Loren has always been a dazzling beauty with style, but that choker did choke her. It appears however that dog collars are in again.

I prefer to remember my fair lady in her finery at the ball - that elongated neck with the fabulous pearls -not. I guess that would have been too perfect - its something glittery - glass or rhinestones or perhaps diamonds.

I leave you to dream of pearls to fill a girls heart and diamonds to fill her treasure chest.

How can you turn these ideas into rooms? Translating treasures takes elbow grease, but the rewards are sweet.

Vanity mirror sets or even to frame a large mirror.

How about a curtain of pearls?

Which reminds me when I was a child, I was fascinated by the Pearly King and Queen, and here they are in all their glory : more images to look at and check out the Royal Pearlies history

what a room these outfits would make....

Sheer Simplicity

Valentines day has come and gone.
I wanted to share my sweet dog Goldie's valentine look - she is ready for LOVE. She is singing the blues cos she has nowhere to hang her bag of bones, love is thataway.

and when I think about Love, I think about what is truly essential in life -its all about keeping things simple and focusing on friendships and feeling good.

Organizing your closets - giving away the excess for another person to enjoy.
Good vibrations all around when you shed the weight of all those possessions.
The unbearable LIGHTNESS of being.

Living clutter free and loving it Having space in the closet where nothing hangs, having drawers that are empty.
Space on the bookshelf and room in your garage to park a car.

a space in the garage to use with impunity.
a camping shelf or a ski area.
Perhaps creating a fantasy room within the garage for the family to play in.
an Art center at the ready.
A stage for shows. or a craft center.

Make room for life, and letting go of all those darn things.

When I was young I constantly foraged for items, longing to pack my life full, with the debris of living and shopping and collecting.

Now, now I long for peace. Expanses of empty spaces. Clean living. Bare cupboards.
I am loving that empty feeling now its gone, gone, gone.

Imagine a closet where you use everything at least once. Once a day, once a week once a year.
Buying a few good bold pieces you love.
Buying what you love, loving what you buy, and asking yourself - can I do be do without all this dough bought stuff.
What could I do with my time, if I didn't have to buy, clean, care, for all my things?

I would have time to create living moments. Moving memories.
I could write a song about being free - having nothing left to lose:
the blues that left me cos I went and threw it all out .....
dont need no more magic tools that dices and slices- just a good bed, a candle and a book.
Ok maybe a couple candles and a good light. The sweet luxuries that are fabulous.

If you had to make a list of what you couldn't live without, what would that list contain?

after all this rain is done I will head for the hills in my head.