lotus bleu

On San Francisco's Hayes Street, this sliver of a shop calls out a welcome from half a block away with brightly colored awnings, front door and delightful window displays. Once inside you will start thinking that it's time to chuck the cool white decor and go with guaranteed-to-make-happy yellow/orange/greens/reds: felt rugs from Nepal, wool and cotton rugs from Madeline Weinrib, handmade alpaca throws from South America, heavenly cotton bedding & napkins & dishtowels, fabulous ceramic lamps and as you see here vintage furniture reupholstered in delightful high-spirited fabrics. The store's design team is always ready to help with custom orders -- you want to re-cover your craigslist dining chairs in shocking pink, they can turn them into show stealers!

Holiday window shopping

Treat yourself and stop to admire the beautiful shop displays-- that's what I did early this morning (even though it was dark and raining), stopping in front of Primo Regali in San Anselmo, all bright lights and glittering wares. The small shops have the best windows: check out Stripe in Santa Cruz, it looked beautiful today too!

This book makes it tough...

to choose a color concept for a room. "Paint the Big Book of Natural Color" by Elizabeth Hilliard and Stafford Cliff is page after page of breathtaking rooms and sources of inspiration: the deep Mediterranean blue walls of a home on Santorini with window frames the color of cumulus clouds; the gray of stone gargoyles on an ancient French cathedral brought into an elegant bathroom in England; and humble whole wheat bread, toasted rich and maybe a bit charred,used as an accent color in a folk art museum in Sweden. Oh and the whites are just as compelling: the color of birch tree bark, the pale face of a barn owl, a morning"s frost. I've mentioned books by Stafford Cliff here before and each one is a treasure. Take a look and tell me, what do you think?

Borrow this book!

Today I found a book at the library by one of my favorite interior design authors, Stafford Cliff, and I am thrilled! It is called 1000 Home Ideas and like his earlier The Way We Live, this book has hundreds of gorgeous photos, organized in subject areas such as "Openings and Closings" (doors and transitions), "Shelf Life" and "Stylish Storage" I've shown a page from "Steps and Bannisters" here. The "Walls of Wonder" section shows displays of things people collect and/or use every day such as workboots, cutting boards, wooden kitchen utensils. Believe me, these are NOT sterile Pottery Barn interiors!

H&M Home World Premiere!

When we were Stockholm one of the first places I went to on the big shopping street is the new H&M home store. It's the first and only one anywhere so far! It is on the second floor of one of the (many) H&Ms in Stockholm. There are no stacks of merchandise from which you serve yourself. Instead you take a little refrigerator-type magnet that has the picture of the item you want and take it to the register. Then a staff person gets you the item (I didn't see them do this because I didn't buy anything). Interesting how that will work out. The displays gave me the feeling of being in a museum, gazing at beautifully lighted and cleverly mounted exhibits.

more Swedish style: outlets and switches

Here you see some electrical work in our Stockholm apartment. Why did I take these photos?? Because here is proof that it is entirely possible to add switches/outlets to an old house without ripping into the walls! I have always wanted another lamp in our bedroom but the outlets are already maxed out. It doesn't bother me to see the wires running along the trim...so add this project to list!

Swedish style

We did a home exchange in Stockholm recently and how beautiful was this heating stove in the living room. Beautiful glossy white tiles, in a room bright with light and white paint, I came home inspired...and am painting the dining room walls white, no more "peanut shell" which the walls have been for years Today I bought a can of Benjamin Moore "White Dove" in pearl finish, a step up in glossiness from the eggshell I had been using. Will see!

another good book...

Here's a book full of great photos and ideas of quick decorating fixes. "Speed Decorating" by Jill Vegas is great for people who are putting their house on the market and need to spruce it up fast but it offers lots of inspiration for anybody tired of their same-old rooms.. I have known for a long time that the inside of my closet needs patching and painting ( pieces of, what? wallboard? are falling to the floor) but the thought of tackling that job was too forbidding to entertain. Her book inspires -- I can do this nasty job! Now the project is on my list.