From Julie:

Houseguests, anyone? We love this idea, spotted on Apartment Therapy: Artisan Shepherd’s Huts. Paulus Smith has been a specialist joiner for over 25 years, working on listed and historic buildings. He now spends his time creating meticulously crafted shepherd’s huts from his medieval barn workshop in Sussex; wheels are cast from molten iron using original patterns, floors are solid oak, and all fittings such as door handles and window fastenings are high-quality reproductions. Can be used as garden retreat, spare room, studio, or office. Prices start at about £11,000; go to Artisan Shepherd’s Huts for more information.

"Theatrical color can distract from flaws. Confederate Red draws the eye from the unassuming laminate cabinets in this rental kitchen."

These pieces of furniture which aren’t practical shelving space, are called Dust Furniture and are designed by craft artist Vincent Thomas Leman. Vincent’s work has been described as ‘abstract traditional furniture.’ Each piece is essentially a traditional piece of furniture that is stretched, curved, stacked and stepped to fit his design intentions. While wood is the material employed to make his furniture, Vincent considers his actual medium to be ‘traditional furniture.’ The classical root of each piece helps maintain its identity as furniture and keeps the work familiar and approachable despite the unusual shapes. Environmental integrity is also very important to Dust Furniture.

They take care to use biodegradable packing peanuts during the packaging process, to avoid adding to the landfills. They also use waterborne urethane to coat the furniture, which is a gentle, high quality alternative to some very strong chemicals. One of their mottos is “We like to think that we’re changing the world… one piece of fun, American handcrafted furniture at a time.” Finnaly I don’t think that to many people would buy a piece of furniture like this, but at least you saw an interesting piece of furniture today. If you would like to buy a piece of furniture like this you can visit Dustfurniture or Vincent Etsy Shop - Via

Post from: Interior Design, Home & House Design, Furniture

So it was my birthday yesterday.

I got together with my high school girlfriends (Jeannie, Jeanne, and Robie) and my old college roommate, Gertrude, on Sunday for brunch at Universal Cafe. They gave me this beautiful terrarium--and Jeannie was the mastermind behind the design! Really nice work guys.

At Universal Cafe, Gertrude and I also ran into Cindy, our dorm floor friend...years ago. Which reminds me: when we first moved into our dorm room they so kindly put our names on the door: Gertrude and Margaret (that's my real name). Um, we sounded more like ladies pushing 80 in an assisted living facility than college freshman! Oh yeah, folks were knocking on our door JUST wanting to hang out with us.

And yesterday, I had dinner with my family. And I was surprised to see these paper plates that Marvin bought from the grocery store. I have to say this is pretty cool for Dixie (or whoever makes this), way better than cheesy florals and grapes. Wouldn't this be a nice pattern on fabric?

And this. Well, these snazzy placemats (yes, those are dogs wearing bunny ears) were a gift from my mom. Needless to say, I was speechless.

Posted by Kerstin

Now that summer has officially started, you are constantly reading about the perfect packing strategy, perfect beach read, perfect hostess gift, etc.

For me, summer is simply the following equation:

Havaianas

+

 
margarita

+

Neil Young's Harvest

=

Wherever I go, this perfect storm of essentials instantly puts my mind and body to ease. Come to mention it, it would also make "the perfect" hostess gift. (Sorry, just slipped out.)

What does your summer essentials kit include?

Posted by Bluelines

With a heavy blog heart, we are saying goodbye today.

Bluelines is shutting down, but will remain here as an archive.

We want every reader to know that we have been thrilled to share with you all of the things we've loved,
things we've obsessed over,
and things that have inspired us in every way.

We hope you will stay in touch with us through our own blogs and sites.

Much love and best wishes to all.

http://www.andreyi.net

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The Los Angeles Antiques Show is wrapping up today, and from everything I've heard it sounded like a stellar event. A friend of mine was kind enough to take photos of some exhibitors' booths, which I'm sharing with you today. Looks like we missed a great show!





All I can say is "Wow!" I love this booth designed by Joe Nye. So chic! And notice the stylish use of Nye's beloved carnations.






Those clever owners of Downtown are always ahead of the curve. This year they featured a few pieces by the late Mexican designer Arturo Pani. I believe they are reproducing Pani's designs, including the small scroll table in the second photo.



The very elegant booth of Hollyhock. Notice how the exquisite furniture takes center stage.

today i’m running around like a crazy person trying to meet some print deadlines, finish a few website projects and get everything ready for our trip to savannah this weekend. what i could really use right now is a 20 minute break in one of these chairs with a big cup of tea. sadly, there will be no tea for me this morning. but if you have time to take a break, i highly suggest checking out these gorgeous cameo campaign chairs from anthropologie. they look like a lovely place to take a quick time out.

Have you ever noticed how Chinese ancestral portraits seem to grace many stylish interiors? Once I spotted them in one interior, it seemed that I started to see them everywhere. Of course, the paintings found in the interiors below were used strictly for decorative purposes, and I can certainly see why. There is something very dignified and regal about these portraits, and they also seem to add a little touch of Eastern exoticism to their surroundings. But what we shouldn't forget is that the purpose of these paintings was anything but decorative.

Ancestral portraits were long an important part of a Chinese culture which revered and worshipped family ancestry. From what I've read, it seems that these paintings were commissioned by family members not just out of respect for their forebears, but also out of fear. A disgruntled ancestor might be tempted to become a ghost and make life difficult for the living. In order to prevent this from happening, and to elicit good will and fortune, the portraits were worshipped by family members either in their homes or at family temples. Ceremonies, which at times included offerings to the ancestors as well as kowtowing, were often performed before these portraits.

So with this in mind, here are a few of the interiors that I have found which display these ancestral portraits. In a way, it seems that even today these portraits still command respect and awe, much as they did centuries ago.

(If any of you are experts on Asian art and wish to add to this, please do so by commenting- I would love to learn more about these portraits.)



Frances Elkins used them in a few of her projects, including one of her most famous: the library of Mr. and Mrs. Kersey Coates Reed. I think the portrait looks smashing against the Hermes goatskin paneled wall.


Jean-Michel Frank tried his hand at stage design in this set from "Les Fleurs des pois". The Chinese portrait rather dominates the set.


Yves Saint Laurent was obviously a fan.


Here are a pair of Chinese ancestral portraits in a contemporary setting- the living room of Liz and Steve Weinstein, decorated by Miles Redd (photo from Elle Decor; photographer Simon Upton)

Image at top: A pair of ancestor portraits, c. 1700-1800. From the collection of the Victoria and Albert