James Michael Howard

I am very fond of placing small pieces of Antique furniture in bathrooms. I think it adds an element of coziness. It also adds interest and personality to a room which we usually don't think about furnishing.

Ready for another great discount? Why yes, you say! This time your kitchen gets a little lovin’ from Tikoli and the discount is 20% off all products with promo code DECOR8 through November 19th on domestic orders, limit one coupon per customer.

(images from tikoli)

...armoires were originally designed as gun cabinets. That is where they get their name. Later, when the French changed the tax code and began taxing the number of rooms, the aristocracy knocked down closet walls and replaced them with armoires or wardrobes.

The latest solution is the low- to medium-height console, which is not necessarily dedicated to the flat-screen television.

"A console or buffet is a great way to anchor the flat screen, as well as a place for storage.

Even though my spouse affectionately refers to this as “burger helper,” I was thrilled with the outcome of this beef and noodle bake recipe from Cooking Light. It’s not nearly as decadent as it looks. First you saute some finely chopped carrots, onions and garlic with ground sirloin. Add a cup of tomato sauce. Then you mix that together with some cooked elbow macaroni. Pour it into a casserole dish. Then, make a cheese sauce on the stove with one cup of milk, a pinch of nutmeg, a touch of flour and lots of cheese (you can use 1% milk and reduced fat cheese if you care about such things). Pour that onto the pasta mixture, cover that with some more grated cheese and bake for about 20 minutes at 350. Before I added the cheese mixture, I pulled some of the tomato, beef noodle mixture out — it tasted great just like that — and chopped it up in the food processor for Isadora. She loved it! And, when the final dish was dolloped out, we loved that, too. Even better the next day for leftovers! Click here for full recipe. — Angela M.

Posted by Bluelines

While the biggest music release of the season will be Coldplay's Viva La Vida, it's not exactly the kind of album that will prompt non-stop dancing and fun at your summer party.

For that, you will want something that moves and sways. Chuck Brown is a perfect good-time starter.

Known as the "Godfather of Go-Go" (a musical mix of funk, R&B, and hip-hop), Chuck is over 70 and still pumping out exuberant, swaggering songs.

You won't regret picking up a classic like "Do You Know What Time It Is" along with extra ice and bug candles.

What gets your party started?

I'm currently on the hunt for rugs for both my living room and dining room, and the timing couldn't be better. Why? Because Doris Leslie Blau has just introduced the new 2009 Designer Carpet Collection, and most of our favorite designers are featured. Albert Hadley, Miles Redd, Todd Romano, Markham Roberts, and 42 other designers have created modern carpet designs for this venerable company. (That's Mr. Hadley's design at top.)

I really like the range of designs. Roger Jones' carpet is very cool and elegant. Now that one would look great in my dining room, but I could also see it in a icy blue bedroom too. And the other designs? Can't you see them in living room with a Ventry Ltd. sofa, upholstered in a neutral of course, and a chrome or lucite cocktail table? I'm thinking something very Billy Baldwin. What do you think?

(The designer collection carpets are made from various materials including silk, wool, and banana-leaf fiber and come in different weaves. For more information, visit the Doris Leslie Blau website.)


Todd Alexander Romano


Markham Roberts


Miles Redd


Roger Jones of Colefax & Fowler


Veere Grenney

BEFORE:

TWO LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT OWNERS, A GUTTING, AND 14 DUMP TRUCKS WORTH OF FILL LATER:

Hello, Cottage Living, are you reading?  When I missed my flight on Sunday I really lucked out. My friends Sophie and Kent offered me shelter in the 1940’s cottage they have been lovingly modernizing for many months. Circa 200 years ago, their neighbors would have been Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, as it is located between Monticello and Ash Lawn. It is truly one of the most beautiful spots around Charlottesville. It sits between the flood plain of Houchens Creek and beautiful woods, and when you look in out from the back, you can spy neighboring cows. Sophie and Kent are two of my pals from grad school. Kent has his Masters in Urban Planning and both of them have Masters in Landscape Architecture. Kent also has lots of experience in construction with a focus on green building, and Sophie is a kick-ass fiddler and gardener.

I wish I had some interior before pictures to show you, but unfortunately, they no longer exist. The space shown below used to be four dark, cramped rooms: A kitchen, a dining room, a bedroom and a bathroom.  S & K ripped the whole thing open and installed all new windows, which are all Low E, argon-filled sashes. The ceilings, once low and dark, were ripped out, and now they are 10′ high. The beams were restored from the original structure. The space is so peaceful and sunny that I felt like I was in one of the charming chapels that dot the landscape in the country around Charlottesville.

A very small addition that accommodates a new bathroom was added to the house’s original 840 square feet (it’s on the right side of the exterior “AFTER” photo). The floors are reclaimed heart pine, and all of the poplar siding and trim came from the Appalachian Sustainable Development mills in southwest Virginia, all of it harvested from certified-sustainable wood lots in the southern Appalachians.

I love that they used an antique dresser for storage in the bathroom:

Formerly an unused attic, Sophie and Kent opened up to the roofline and created an upstairs loft. Yours truly was not feeling confident about scaling the ladder after two margaritas, but I could see from below that it  added a lot of usable space to the house:

Here are a few more sweet nuggets:

There is a real nature study aesthetic all around the house:

While all of the walls are crisp and white, S & K’s careful editing of antiques, oriental rugs, artwork and objects add so much warmth to the modern space.

Curious about that lamp? The lovely and talented Christina Michas made the gorgeous shade for them as a wedding gift:

The house is still a work in progress, but I kind of dig these little traces of it:

To read more about the project, check out Strata Projects Design.

I wanted to tell you something.  I wanted to tell you that we are out of money.  I wanted to tell you that we are limping along, that we are crawling at a snail’s pace, that we’re inching like inch worms.  I wanted to tell you that when the stock market crashed, we crashed, too.  I wanted to tell you that I am not sure when Peacock Pavilions is opening.  But it won’t be March 2009.  It will be sometime, sometime after that.  I wanted to tell you that I don’t know when it will be.  I wanted to tell you that I am disappointed, that I am very disappointed.  But I also wanted to tell you that none of it matters; that it’s just money - it’s not more than that.  I wanted to tell you that I feel lucky for what I have.  I wanted to tell you that I know that there are so many who have nothing, who have had everything taken from them.  Including their dignity.  I wanted to tell you that I think that this was meant to be.  And I am even thankful for it. Because nothing good -- yes, nothing really good -- should ever come too easily.  I wanted to tell you that I am okay.  I wanted to tell you that I am really okay most of the time.  Except for when I am not.  But those times are not so many. 

I wanted to tell you so much.  But (shyly) I didn’t know how.  But now, now you know….what I wanted to tell you.  

PS Many thanks to the gypsygirl for inspiring this post.