Oh Dear

If you have a spare $250,000 laying around -you could buy this....ahem....'castle' in Kansas....on ebay HERE...... ya - i'm scared - i wish there were interior pictures!!! Be afraid....be very afraid, and yes, this is for REAL! Someone built this! I think they got the architect's plans mixed up with their kindergardener's drawings. It's not all pretty around here at architect design....

Continue Reading... Label: ebay, Real Estate

Turquoise and red

Some new turquoise and red accented rooms for your viewing pleasure today :-) Alexandra Rowley va desire to inspireA white hallway with turquoise window frames and a red chair at the end!maybe more pink accents than red -but notice the little red vases on the mantel, so chic!

How about this light turquoise painted kitchen from a vintage magazine with red painted interiors! Maybe the red adjoining flooring and toekick is a bit much.......

PS - to show how much I love the red - here I am as a little boy with my red shoes!

Continue Reading... Label: color combinations

Carnegie International

The Carnegie International is held once every 4 years at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA. The exhbition was started by Andrew Carnegie in 1896 to bring bright 'on the cusp' artists to public light, per his love of modern art. Each year there is a theme and this years was 'life on mars'. Artits were invited to submit a piece that speaks on these questions.

ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE?

DO ALIENS EXIST?

OR ARE WE, OURSELVES, THE STRANGERS IN OUR OWN WORLDS?

Many incredible artists have particpated in this event over the years -the 'greats' of the art world so to speak - including in recent times. Whistler, Miro, Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, Pissaro, de Koonig, Magritte and Pittsburgh's own Andy Warhol to name just a FEW.The museum then has the option to purchase the pieces for its own collection.

This was the 3rd carnegie international I have attended and I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed this year - surprisingly so. The past 2 exhibitions have really opened my eyes to the depth of modern art. However, there were a few pieces I did enjoy.Ryan Gander's piece was simple enough, a bunch of crystal balls with sheets of paper etched into the center spread out over a gallery floor. However, upon looking closer, you could examine the room through the balls, distorting your view of your surroundings; a 4th dimension as it were.
The most interactive and 'fun' work was by Thomas Hirschhorn, entitled 'signals'. A whole gallery was transformed into a cave through cardboard and packing tape-like you were on mars. you walked under, over and through it. Scattered among the rooms were artifacts of our society that made you wonder: if we moved to another planet, are they worthwhile? Pornography, tabloids, sociology, different types and styles of governments, trash in the form of empty soda cans, books and knowledge. While on the surface a fun house, this had depth and was really thought provoking. The 3rd piece that attracted my attention was by Friedrich Kunath and was untitled. It was the silhouette of a man with luggage, walking towards the line drawing of a very modern house in ruin; behind it was a beautiful, almost atomic sky. This painting tugged at your emotions, you could feel the yearning for home and for the past. It showed a dismal view of life, despite the colorful sky - a lost soul.The fourth and last installation I'll mention was by Richard Hughes. While he had a few pieces shown together, the one that caught my eye was 'the aura of a savage man - signals'. The walls of the gallery were shown with many layers of paint, stripped and chipped away to reviel the layers beneath - a beautiful rainbow of colors. This felt like modernity and mankind stripped away, left to rot. There was beauty in the decay.I must say that quite a few pieces felt like afterthoughts. I didn't see a connection to any of the questions posed, and they raised no thoughts or emotions. Parts of the exhibition felt like a garage sale; were the artists clearing out their storage units? While it wasn't the best I've seen, I must say it's still worth visiting.
the rear courtyard, an installation piece was played out here

All photos are my own or were taken from the offical website listed above.

Continue Reading... Label: artists, pittsburgh

dressing rooms

One feature that I really love in a house is a dressing room - a little private space thats all your own to make yourself pretty or just escape from it all! I think for my own I would like to have my desk in there surrounded by cupboards housing all my clothes -perhaps a small tv and a window looking out to a garden. I guess what I'm really after is a den / closet! They can be masculine or feminine as seen above

I especially love mirrored closet doors like these below. a dressing room from James Radin via 'cote de texas' last month.

Do you think it's silly to have a dressing room like this or important, obviously a luxury? I suppose there are many places one can escape to -where is your refuge?

Continue Reading... Label: Interiors

BridesHead revisted - revisited

I saw Brideshead revisted last night, the movie I blogged about a week or so ago HERE. A few people have asked me what I thought about it, so I'll cover my bases here. I'm not sure what I thought of it. On the one hand, it was a visual feast - the filmography was reminicent of Atonement I think - beautifully shot. The 'sets' were of course magnificent -how could they not be as they were shot on location.
However.............You know how I wondered how they could fit 8 hours into 2 hours and 15 minutes? They cut out about 3/4 of the story - it whizzed by me like a motorcyclist on a suicide mission. You never got a clear understanding of many of the characters as they were confined to one-liner transparent characterizations. The beauty of the book and of the miniseries from 1981 is that they explore these characters, flush them out (the miniseries perhaps more in depth than the novel in some ways).
However, I realize if you have no prior experience with Brideshead Revisited -you might not notice. If you see it and think something is missing however -IT IS! But definitely go to see it if only for the sets and costumes alone - and also the brilliant Emma Thompson who is marvelous - gurlfriend can ACT!

Continue Reading... Label: movies

Carnegie Museum of Art stair

closeup of the carnegie museum of art -new and old wings with the Cathedral of Learning in the background.

This past weekend I was in Pittsburgh and visited one of my favorite places: the Carnegie Museum of Art. I used to work there so it holds a special place in my heart - plus the building is BEAUTIFUL. You might recognize it as the 'ballet school' in flashdance.Probably my favorite space is the Main Stair. It's a truly awe inspiring space as you can see here.At the base of the stairs. This used to be the front entrance to the museum, now it is lost in the shuffle of the building. Imagine the first impression this made when first walking into the building!Then up to the 2nd floor, truly the main floor with the art exhbitions -the Piano Nobile.Looking up the third floor where the anthropology collection is (not my cup of tea, did not visit this time). This space has the most amazing natural light thanks to the light colored marble that encloses it as well as a ceiling full of skylights. Most of the space in the museum started out as being lit by natural light (nothing beats it!) Now, only the main halls retain this feature.

The museum has some even more astonishingly beautiful spaces, but this will have to suffice for now; you've probably already seen them in flashdance! I will blog later this week about the Carnegie International exhibition, the reason I visited the museum.

Continue Reading... Label: pittsburgh

dreamland

In the August 2008 issue of World of Interiors is probably the best 'boat' chandelier I've ever seen (complete with little lifeboats!).
Designed by Jean-Gabriel Domergue in the 1930's, the fixture dominates the owner's library. If I had a library, this is just the type of fixture I would want! Something playful and beautiful; you could of course make the corelation between knowledge and travel if you want to be really 'deep'. Check out the beautiful ceiling in this library as well as the labels on the bookshelves! What a great room (but i would have used more subsantial shelving, also in white, and organized the books a bit more!

Continue Reading... Label: Interiors

monotonous.......

mono-toney-ous........While I love bright colors, I must admit that I have a penchant for quiet, subtle rooms. My entire apartment is shades of french grays and cool grays. I'm really loving this Warren Smith room today and the subtle degrees of gray. I never noticed how strong I liked a quiet room till flipping through my clipping files the other week - I wondered 'Am I boring?'. So what do you think -color, or not to color?

Continue Reading... Label: Interiors

Project Runway #2

So, did you see Project Runway on Wednesday: the green challenge? I know I'm posting a few days late. The green challenge...I don't get it really.I think it's great they were green but how is that a 'challenge'? It limits the fabric choices, that I understand, but they didnt' get to chose their own fabrics, so what's the difference? I loved that the models were the clients and that they also chose the fabric. Hey, it's a challenge, designers, so it's CHALLENGING! I thought a few of them really stepped up to the plate this episode - we're starting to see who is a good designer and who is good tv. As you probably know (if you've read this far into the post you probably watched the show!) Suede won the challenge. Were you as shocked as me? I would have sworn he was in the running to be cast off! However, he made this super cute party dress with a fun skirt and used the shiny awful fabric in a unique way! This will be available on Bluefly.com soon for sale!
My favorite dress (that no one really talked about) was this one by Terri. Isn't it adorabe and well made? Such a sassy model too!

Crazy orange Blayne created this fun 80's cocktail dress out of the hot pink fabric that he hated; but I think it turned out really cute, don't you?
This is what I call the window shade dress.....it looks like those french style sheer blinds you see in funeral parlors and 'victorian' recreation homes. Shame on you keith! And it's so short, it's like the blinds are half way up! I guess you have to give it points for creativity -and it would hide a baby lump (or two!).
This dress seemed to come in second place, by Kenley. This was probably my 2nd favorite dress -as the judges said -it was drop dead chic.
The biggest shock of the night to me was Korto. I thought she was the designer with the most talent and best abilities.....then this.......It was well made -but those fins are awful.... they make a model look hippy!! I had such high hopes :-(
The judges didn't seem to like this little number by Leanne. I thought this was super cute though! They said it had too much going on, well....yes......I think though that it's different and cute: i love the pockets. The only change I would make is to have had the model put her arm through that last loop instead of over it like an epulet. Still -it's an adorable little 'romper' (I believe that is the term for this time of garment.....besides it's so fun to say....or write).

Continue Reading... Label: television

Thank you!!

I had a package waiting for me in the mail today. Patricia from PVE and her friend who works at Wiley sent me a care package of two books to thank me for guest blogging! This made my day :-) Honestly, I was so excited to guest blog that it was thanks enough (but I will still keep the books!). Here they are on my coffee table waiting to be read!The first book has stunning photographs of buildings from the turn of the 19th century in Paris. This book explores where the period's stunning architecture came from and how it evolved from its predecessors. It's really interesting in that it studies a lot of the 'not famous' buildings that you don't normally study -I can't wait to dig into it further!!The second book, and my favorite because it has floor plans (I could look at floor plans all day long, it's an addiction) is about the work of Baillie Scott and is entitled 'the artistic house'.

Scott had a long career as an architect from 1892 till 1939 in the English Arts and Crafts style. This book is wonderful -the homes in it are just magical and so special. I especially like that many of the homes have been altered somewhat and you see the evolution (pvc drainpipes and all!). He is credited for being one of the first architects to use the 'open floor plan' so popular in the last century and opening the house to the garden and outdoors. 'Blackwell House'

These houses pictured are charming, not overbearingly large and many little nooks and corners full of delightful detail. Like a lot of other idealistic architects of the time period, he was obsessed with the idea of perfect houses for everyday people -workingmen.1901 - Baillie Scott -interior

Thanks so much again, both of you!!

Continue Reading... Label: Guest blogging

This is real!

Okay, so this is how I imagine this conversation went!

Bakery Employee: 'Hello 'dis be Walmarts, how can I help you?'

Customer: ' I would like to order a cake for a going away party this week.'

Bakery Employee: 'What you want on 'dat cake?'

Customer: 'Best Wishes Suzanne' and underneath that 'We will miss you'.

Continue Reading... Label: just for fun

Open Shelves

Lately there has been a lot of talk about open kitchen shelves in blogland and I have very mixed feelings about them. I do like their look, but you'd have to have very cohesive dishes to make them work and what about dust? While going through my image files I came across this one though which worries me indeed.This is undeniably a beautiful kitchen. But a few things worry me. Shelves in front of windows? Whats going on there? Like -take your dusty shelves and put them in the BRIGHT light. Also, I don't like blocking windows in general like this -you can't enjoy the beautiful view!

Also, this is obviously a renovation of an older house -but do you really need to block the windows with the cabinets? You can see that the windows go BELOW counter height - YIKES. Thats just a formula to get dust and crumbs stuck down there - plus looking at the house from the exterior -those windows will look WHACK. What do you think? I love the look of all the white dishes though, those huge windows (A shame they block them with counters, dishes and shelves) and the TALL ceilings!

Continue Reading... Label: Interiors

Mamma Mia!

If Sex and the City was the best movie of the summer, then Mamma Mia is the MOST FUN! It's always really upsetting to me that my favorite movies get LOUSY reviews....including this one. Well don't listen to the critics -this movie is good fun! Sure, it's a bit campy and corny but it's a musical. Isn't it a law somewhere that musicals need to be a bit corny and campy and hilarious? Trust me -this is one to see if not just for the BEAUTIFUL scenery of Greece! I need to go to Greece!The one thing I could do without is Pierce Brosnan in the movie. I LOVE me some Pierce Brosnan (my favorite 007) but the man is not a comedian and can NOT sing. The only time he got laughs were when he tried to sing (no joke, for real). Everytime james bond broke into song (or a silly outfit) the entire audience broke into laughter!Meryl Streep is the real star of this movie. She can sing very well (was trained as an opera singer in her teens!) and as we all know she can ACT supremely. I am not embaressed to admit she brought a tear to my eye a few times. And I won't give anything away, but stay for the credits; one of the best parts of the movie happens during the ending credits. Also -the soundtrack is amazing (of course). The cast brings some great ACTING to the songs - great updates of Abba classics! check that out too!all photos courtesy of the main movie website linked above.

Continue Reading... Label: movies