Need a Laugh????

My friend Allyson turned me on to my newest guilty pleasure. She introduced me to a new blog called Catalog Living. This genius little treat can be found at http://www.catalogliving.tumblr.com/ and it is fantastic.



Written by a actor/comedian/hilarious person it gently pokes fun of the oddly staged rooms of catalogs. I caught myself laughing out loud several times and one post brought those laughter tears to my eyes. You will know it when you come across it, but it does involve guests arriving by horseback from the beach.



I wish I had thought of this myself, but it would take the fun out of reading what she comes up with. I have often paged through a new Pottery Barn or West Elm and thought to myself, "Who lives like that?????".



If you have ever thought the same thing, you will LOVE Catalog Living.



Cheers,



BBS



image from Pottery Barn that was too good to pass up with the nautical glass jar/globe bookends on the floor. Really????? This image has not yet been used in Catalog Living, but it would be a good one.

My Apologies

I am sorry, I have been a bad, neglectful blogger these past weeks. I am distracted. Work is crazy, My father sold his house and is moving to a yet to be determined location in less than a month, the entire exterior of my house is being re-done due to early May storm damage, and most importantly it is Summer.

While I have missed you all, I have enjoyed several cocktails and dinners with great friends and family Al fresco. I have been taking in Summer. Enjoying it. It has been a great week.

Yesterday afternoon in preparation for the roof to come off my house, I "harvested" my sure to be crushed Hydrangeas. The image above is my Kitchen sink. My house looks a bit like a funeral home right now with 9, yes 9, hydrangea arrangements throughout my first floor, but I love it.



I will be back to my normal blogging self, I hope, next week.....

Have a beautiful weekend!

Cheers,

BBS

Hydrangea Heaven

I am currently in Hydrangea Heaven at my house. I love them for so many reasons. There is such a range of colors, they bloom from now well into the Fall, and they are, frankly, pretty easy to care for all season.

I just love this pale periwinkle color that only comes with the first blush of the blooms. These same blossoms will be a much stronger cornflower blue in just a few days. You can even see it happening in the background of this picture.

This is actually two different bushes on the side of my house. The right one is the prettiest, creamy white in early Summer and will turn a fabulous champagne pink in the late Summer and into Fall. The one on the left turns cranberry and sage later in the season.

This is my hardiest, most faithful hydrangea and it sits at my front door. For 10 years it bloomed all season, no matter what, until last year. We had a late frost and a late, heavy snow fall in 2009, so I am sure that was a factor, but I was crushed.

I was determined to get more than the six blossoms I got last year....How am I doing? I did not cut this bush back in the Fall like I normally do, so I think that did the trick. (I will have to this Fall or I won't be able to see out of my windows.)

I almost lost this one last year, but I didn't pull it and look how it is doing! It will be a bold, fuchsia pink all Summer.

This was my very first Hydrangea and it always does great. It is bright white at first and then turns solid apple green. Just beautiful.

This barely pink one sits next to my side door. The plant is about three times the size it was last year and has so many blooms to come.

This was an Easter plant that was given to me years ago and I decided to plant it. It has never had one bloom since it was planted, but this year I have dozens coming. We will have to see what color it is when it finally comes out.

This was my birthday present this year from my sweet father, thanks Dad! He planted it outside of my screened-in porch (from where I am typing this right now) and I am trying to keep it the pale blueish lavender it was when I got it. I sprinkle my coffee grounds each morning per the suggestion of the garden shop from which we purchased it. We will see......

So I already have cut blossoms in vases in my house and I am a happy girl.

Cheers,

BBS

all images are mine, enjoy!

Gabby

I am not often blown away by new companies. They often look like everyone else. Or they are too expensive. Or they look cheap. I know they will come and go.

Yesterday afternoon one of our reps dropped by and introduced us to a new division of a company we have sold for a while, Summer Classics. SC, like its name suggests is outdoor furniture. Great company; good product. I have a SC sofa on my screened in porch as a matter of fact.

I was surprised to hear that they had opened an interior furniture company and I was shocked when I saw the catalog. It is called Gabby Home and I love the look of it. It is subtitled "Decor with a story" which I love and there are handwritten notes about the pieces in the catalog. Great smokey finishes, they utilize reclaimed wood, and the distressing is wonderful.

There were not many images available as the company is so new, but they have an excellent website. Check it out www.gabbyhome.com and if you would like any additional info or pricing on any of the pieces, please let me know.

Just Beautiful!

Cheers,

BBS

images belong to Gabby Home

And we did it!

With 22 minutes to spare we wrapped the two model homes.....

Here is how the containers with moss toppers turned out. What do you think? I thought they looked great. Nice work Paul.

We really struggled to find the right art pieces to flank the fireplace. I will share a little trade secret, promise not to tell????

We had to make some adjustments to these prints to make them work. They were the right size and the perfect shape, but they were the same. Identical! So we flipped one over to hang it upside down.

And they were still a little dull, so we broke out metallic copper paint and gave them a lift. This also allowed us to make changes to the prints, so they looked totally different when we were done.

Remember, scouts honor, no telling.

The backgrounds were neutral and light throughout the model, so we needed some punch of color. We decided on peacock, orange, and copper to brighten the space. You can see touches of it through the rooms.

The bar stools really completed the island and we added hints of orange and white on the countertops.

We found that fantastic peacock blue vase and added the burst of orange with faux (a nice way to see fake) tropical flowers to balance the piece of art and brighten the area.


Mission Complete!

Cheers,

BBS



all images belong to me.

Model Home X 2

This is how my day started....

Last week one of our best clients called in a panic. He is the developer of a housing project we have been consulting on and they decided at the very last minute to partially furnish and stage two model homes. "Could we help?"

" Sure, of course". We have done plenty of models for this company.

Wait, there is a catch.....It has to be planned, purchased, shopped, and installed by when???? Tuesday at 11:00am. Gulp, sure, we can do it. So we put everything else aside and went shopping. And we did more shopping, and then some more still.

Yes, they were still painting the walls when we arrived this morning for installation.

Paul making an empty niche look pretty.

These are some fab synthetic wicker planters we found on our spree. We filled them with foam and they were eventually mossed. They look amazing!

We added bamboo sticks to the large one for some height. These planters are an inexpensive and effective way to fill an empty corner.

Empty bath this a.m.

Voila.....

Busy, busy, busy.....

Those pillows are my favorite thing so far. They are goldish, copper metallic on ivory burlap. Love.

That is the wall that was being painted in the morning. They are hanging the tv and notice the honed granite mantle that was just installed. Nothing like the very last minute...



I will post the completed pictures tomorrow....Whew, just a few more finishing touches and we will just make our deadline. I feel like I am on a show on HGTV today.

Cheers,

BBS



all images belong to moi!

An Education

After a long day at the office on a Saturday, gasp, I dashed home with Thai take out in hopes of finding a good film in my On Demand catalog. I try, ever so hard, to see all of the films nominated for Academy Awards each year, but there are always a few that I fail to see.

This year, An Education, was one of the films I missed, so I was thrilled to see it offered last night. As I settled in with Oliver and my dinner, I was completely taken in by this film. I did not want it to end.

Taking place in the early 1960's London it is a story of a teenager falling for a handsome older man who not only seduces her, but her parents, into his glamorous and scandalous life.

The acting in the film was superb, but above all else, to me, was the set decoration and costuming.

I wish I was able to find more images from this dinner club scene above. It was dazzling! So chic and sparkly.

Carey Mulligan was amazing and I enjoyed watching her character transform from a school girl into a glam young lady. I loved this auction scene and I think this image captures the transformation beautifully. Mulligan's character, Jenny, is discovering there is more to life than school and studying for Oxford.

Odile Dicks-Mireaux served as the costume designer for this film and the clothing was perfection. I love, love, love the leopard jacket and pill box hat. So 60's.

Emma Thompson has a tiny role as the Head Mistress of Jenny's school and she is wonderful, as always. The perfect 1960's school marm.

The set decorating was done by Anna Lynch-Robinson, who I was not familiar with by name, but have discovered that she did one of my favorite films, In Bruges. She is currently working on sets for Bel Ami, which is based on Guy de Maupassant's short novel and has Robert Pattinson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Cristina Ricci, and Uma Thurman in the cast. I am looking forward to that release in 2011.

I love this scene from a Parisian hotel room where Jenny delivers the best line of the movie. I won't ruin it, but watch for it. It is so humorous and ironic.

I am in love with the dress from this party scene. Actually I am in love with the entire party scene.

I could have filled this post with images from this chic London pad. An "Art Collector", Danny has impressed Jenny with his elaborate and extensive collection. The apartment is so glamorous.
This will definitely be one of those films I re-watch and pause as I go, so I can really take in the decor and design.

I love the simplicity of Jenny's childhood home. So English. So early 60's.

If you have not already seen it, do yourself a favor and rent An Education. You will not be disappointed.

Cheers,

BBS




all images from Google Image and belong to BBC films

Thank you for being a friend

I will admit it. Golden Girls was one of my favorite shows growing up. I still love to catch episodes here and there and I laugh just as hard as when I first saw it. As I type this that catchy tune is running through my head, "and the card attached would say,thank you for being a friend".

I was 13 when the show first aired and I loved that they made growing older look like so much fun. I loved that they all lived together. I found it funny that they dated, and often. I don't know why I found it so funny, but at the time the only Seniors I knew were my married grandparents and their friends. It seemed so foreign to me.

We never saw much more than that condo they shared, but it didn't matter. That was where the laughs happened.

My favorite character by far was Blanche. The mere thought that you could be a "swinging single" when you were older was hysterical to me. Her name, her accent, her clothes, her style; perfect. And she always had the wittiest and smartest lines. She was the best.

RIP Rue McClanahan and "thank you for being a friend".


Cheers,

BBS

McGuire Does Kitchen..Well

Yesterday I was treated to an introduction to McGuire's new Kitchen collection and I was quite impressed.

I was at the Baker showroom for a meeting and we got to see many of these new pieces in person.

This swivel walnut counter stool caught my eye. I love how simple and small scaled it is, yet it is surprisingly comfortable. A new classic.

Don't they look great all lined up????

These slatted walnut chairs would look great with a glass top and metal table.

I really like the entire collection and the finishes are great.

To see more of these lovelies check out http://www.mcguirefurniture.com/ or let me know and I can send you a catalog.

Cheers,

BBS




all images belong to McGuire Furniture and I really hope they don't mind that I borrowed them. I mean I am promoting their product and all, so I really hope they don't.