Daffodils $1.99 a bunch at my local Whole Foods.
Latest
$12 of happiness
You can ring my bell
That late 1970s/early 1980s disco song keeps rummaging
through my head.
You see, we just installed this darling marine bell at the beach home of a family member.
ring my bell
We installed it to relate to the door, without being too close to interfere
with normal comings and goings.
It has the nicest, most welcoming cling-clang.
Solid brass.
Adorable anchor-motif backplate.
Genuine marine-grade rope pull.
So much more “beachy” than a regular electric doorbell.
You can ring my bell.
Do your toenails match your bath tile?
Well, if you are Suzy, they certainly do!
Suzy, the owner of a brand-new tile center in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida,
showed me that your toes can indeed match your bath tile:
Suzy’s shimmery toes!!!
Suzy is hard at work selecting the tile for the upcoming Maison de Vie,
the showhome opening this summer at WaterColor resort in the Florida Panhandle.
Her company is the lead sponsor of the home:
She gave me a sneak preview of some of the hard surfaces she will be using.
Here is the floor tile she has selected for the master bath:
flooring
It feels incredibly smooth and cool underfoot. Perfect for a beach home.
She will be using this one in the home as well. Loving the soft beach colors:
wall tile
Look at the same tile as above with dark gray grout, for a completely different look:
gray grout
Another display in the showroom:
Q-tile vignette
I fell in love with this gorgeous cross-cut marble piece:
crosscut marble
Here are some other beauties:
This one looks like a coastal sunrise. Subtle and shimmery. And, very glamorous:
shimmery
What about this subway tile with an opacity that sets it apart? Stunning.
opaque subway
Moorish Arch
moorish arch
And another Moorish arch in marble:
marble moorish arch
Here is a new product I saw in Suzy’s showroom, which is green-certified, and makes a great surface used as a bath or kitchen slab. Suzy told me that a local fabricator installed this product for her, called “Pure.” It is a glass product which looks like the whitest marble.
I have seen similar slabs called “Nano,” but was not familiar with the “Pure” brand. I will be keeping an eye on this as the next big thing, and I would love to use this in a bath installation. It really looks like pure white marble:
Pure slab
Suzy, thank you for allowing me to take photos of your beautiful new showroom!
Susie
Can’t wait to see the showhouse when I come to the beach this summer!
This is not a sponsored post, just thought you would enjoy seeing some of the latest trends in the high-end tile market.
A Spring Meeting and Diana Vreeland
set for tea
We set out light refreshments at my ladies’ study club meetings. Yesterday was my turn to host.
We learned about Diana Vreeland.
Our topic this year has been “Legendary Ladies of Style.”
It was also our topic last year, we just loved it so much we kept going!
Babe Paley, Dorothy Draper, Gloria Vanderbilt, Marella Agnelli, Lee Radziwill to name a few.
Someone said, Ellen, you should take pictures of the table.
(There were a few tarts and berries already gone by this point.)
I thought you would enjoy these photos of the offerings:
berries with powdered sugar
chicken salad and pimiento cheese finger sandwiches
mini-cheesecake bites topped with fresh blackberries (top photo)
Mrs. Vreeland would have approved of the huge strawberries.
She absolutely adored the color red.
Fascinating life, fascinating woman.
She “discovered” Lauren Bacall. Now, that was a discovery!
Just for fun
Green Bunny
Easter Eggs
Aren’t these the cutest eggs?
They are a treasured memory from my mother and father to my children, one or two every Easter.
The detail is adorable.
redhead
Purple Bunny
Why your design professional should have a blog
Because—
when you need a chandelier, your designer spots this
chinoiserie chandelier for a song in a local antique store:
And knows that world famous designer Barbara Barry has it in her client’s Beverly Hills breakfast room, guaranteed for a lot more than a song:
Blogging keeps us current.
Style Watch
via Horchow.com
I am really loving the cleaner lines of a full-drop bedspread.
With mattress depths all over the yardstick: 9 to 22 inches deep,
a ready-made option will rarely work, with standard drop
[measurement from the seam to the floor] about 28″.
A good design professional can guide you through fabric and tailoring options.
What do you think?
Theme Overdose
Sometimes, but not everytime, a theme needs MORE.
MORE of the same to get the right look.
A theme overdose, says fellow blogger Tara Dillard.
Maybe Tara will weigh in as to whether a bunny overdose actually works!
Those bunnies are either a huge hit or a giant miss. Not quite sure.
I know that the interiors work.
One of a kind sofa table
Unlike the above example, most sofas are not designed to be
interesting and beautiful in the back.
Sometimes, a sofa table is perfect for adding needed interest and beauty.
Function, too. Think storage, display, or a pair of lamps.
Check out this top, below. A beautifully carved French top, perfect width. Just sitting there waiting.
It hasn’t been there for long. It was once part of a larger piece.
And it won’t last. Nope, not this one. Not at this price.
The sconces on top aren’t part of the piece, in case you are wondering.
It is going to be perfect for someone with a home in the French taste.
I see it going on top of a simple but sturdy wrought iron stand.
Custom made, just enough height to raise it to the exact sofa-table height.
A tiny flip of iron at the foot. Just enough to say, “I honor your French heritage.
But, I won’t try to compete.”
Nothing more. Eyes only on the carving.
And, no pretense of trying to marry a modern leg, made to look old, on this old piece.
Perfect for a country French room, where the back of the sofa meets the eye.
So much more beautiful to hide a visible plain sofa’s back view when possible.
And much more beautiful when you do so with a one-of-a-kind piece,
with room for a lovely pair of lamps. And even some storage space in the three bays.
What do you think?
Marble Etching mystery Revealed!
Have you read, a million times, that marble will etch?
What exactly does that mean?
Having lived with a marble counter on my wet bar, I knew that there were some marks
that just would not come off. After eight years, there were a lot of those marks.
Mostly “rings” from a glass of juice or a perhaps a bottle of red wine.
A lemon slice placed on the counter. Or a splash of tomato juice.
I get it now.
That is etching.
Do you have marble counters?
THIS IS ETCHING:
badly etched marble
Does that look familiar? The above is not my etched counter. Mine was actually worse.
No amount of elbow grease is going to remove etching.
Etching is different from staining.
Marble that has been sealed is resistant to staining.
But, not etching. From my research, I will tell you that sealing marble can not prevent etching.
A chemical reaction has occurred to the marble and it can’t be changed.
A professional marble restoration company needs to be called in.
Look at my newly restored marble bar counter.
It was ground, re-honed and sealed. What a difference!
Color Calling 