Since this is supposed to be a decorating blog, I always sit down to write intending to impart decorating advice. Apparently, I can't do that. Some magazines advocate taking one item from column a and one from column b, then, voila, you have a wonderful new room. You might indeed but it will be someone else's idea. My posts are very personal and your decorating should be too. I want you to explore your own preferences. If you still like jewel tones, then use them. Admittedly there are ways to update them and a decorator can help you with that. Decorating is just a means to reflect your view of life at the same time creating a space for you and your family and friends to enjoy yourselves. One of my influences is Dee Hardie who wrote a column for House Beautiful. Although she wrote for a shelter magazine, she wrote about life style, not decorating. When I was a teenager, I attended a party at the Hardie's house in the country outside of Baltimore. My mother saved all of the invitations from that summer so I still have the invitation shown above. Directions to the house were hand written on the back. It speaks volumes in it's simplicity. While many other invitations were engraved and written in formal language, this one practically said don't even wear shoes to the party. | I remember arriving at the house where we were greeted with picnic tables covered in gingham cloths set up under shade trees. I am certain we had fried chicken for lunch. After lunch, we rode a hay wagon down to the paddock at the Grand National Race. It was a relaxed and fun party. Interestingly, the mother of the person in whose honor the party was given was another big influence. When I was a child, I spent the night at Margot's house (nearby the Hardie's in the country). Mrs. Kidder was elegantly dressed in baggy linen pants, a big brimmed sun hat, and wellies and carried a garden trug. She went to the garden out back and picked fresh lettuces, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I'm sure it was the first time I ate a salad with home made vinegrette and soft shelled crabs. (Please realize that this was in the early sixties and we were not foodies then,) To this day, that remains one of my favorite meals. Decorating is really about the way you live: creating the ambience that you choose to portray and conveying to your guests what you would like remembered about you. Whether it's picking and eating a meal of fried chicken and fresh lettuce served informally or a formal tea in the parlor, make sure your style reflects you. If you don't know what your preferences are, that's what a decorator or architect will spend time eliciting from you . If I sound like a skipping CD (broken record tells you how old I am), please forgive me, I'll try not to harp on this in the future. Best, Claire |
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I am delighted that the May-June issues of both Architectural Digest and Veranda feature outdoor dining as the month's topic. Architectural Digest has a magnificent photo of the outdoor sculpture museum, Storm King, in the Hudson Valley. I have had the pleasure of picnicking there several times. If you have never been, please put it on your bucket list. Sitting on your luncheon cloth, feasting on apple and brie sandwiches on date nut bread with some homemade lemonade is one of life's great pleasures. You sit atop rolling hills dotted with mammoth sculptures by, among others, Noguchi, Goldsworthy, Nevelson, and Calder. A constant breeze and roiling clouds above remind you of your tiny spot in a beautiful universe. Much to my amazement, I have had several clients in the past who say they never open their windows. Even when they go to the beach, apparently, they spend most of their time shopping or indoors. I don't think fear of the sun is the reason for the hibernation since we have large brimmed hats, improved sunscreen, umbrellas, and even UV protective clothing. Our climate controlled houses have done a lot more to change the social landscape than provide heat in the winter and cooling in the summer. The constant temperature of these houses has seduced and reduced people to a life indoors. It has also served to remove them from the joys of playing and working outside. When I say take time to smell the roses, I really mean, get out there, find a rose, and smell it- after all- hot house flowers are usually not perfumed. Remember, as a child, begging your teachers to hold class outside on the first warm days of spring? There were a kind few who capitulated. These visionaries realized that your mind wasn't in the classroom anyway so they might as well enjoy the day with you. Somehow, small fragments of knowledge found their way through the scent of freshly mown grass. These few teachers also recognized the benefits of daydreaming. Charlemagne is long dead and another day without learning those dates won't hurt. My twenty month old granddaughter, Flora, when she visits, insists that we spend most of our time outside. Unless she is hungry, or wants a nap, she cries when we go inside. We and our German Shepherd, Oliver, (who she calls Aaee) spend a lot of time across the street at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. We roll in the grass, put our hands in the fountain, go up and down the steps, and enjoy the Chihuly reeds. I must say it's the best back yard in Richmond. Many of us have become very disconnected with our world. Spending time outside is a wonderful way to reengage. Do you remember how to make a clover chain? Pick some clover blossoms, make a vertical slit in the stem of one and pass the stem of another through it. Continue until you have a necklace. Did you ever make fairy dining tables and dishes? Take four small twigs of equal size, put a piece of bark on top, and use acorn bottoms for dishes. How about making a boat out of a piece of bark, a twig for a mast, and a leaf for a sail. Dining al fresco isn't only for the fairies. This spring or summer, make it a point to eat lunch or dinner outside. When my children were small, we often had parties in the back yard. I laid out quilts (even tattered ones), threw large floor pillows covered in Indian prints around the yard and punctuated the scene with large Chinese paper umbrellas. Very Bloomsbury Bohemian. Of course, you might want to have a stash of organic bug spray and suncreen in a basket near the guests. There is something playful and child's teaparty-like in preparing an outdoor meal. It needn't be elaborate, you could always go with prepared foods, but the pleasures of a picnic are worth the effort. This year, turn off the computer, shut down the reality TV, and spend some delightful time outside. You needn't even have an activity planned. Yesterday, Flora sat in my lap at her house in the country and we just listened to birds for twenty minutes- a life time for a toddler- but she was very content the whole time. Let me know how you enjoyed your time outside. Best, Claire |
AuthorInterior designer residing in Richmond, VA. Archives
November 2016
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