Reviews

It was a very good weekend, sunny, a little cool but lovely. There was time to catch up reading the reviews in the New York Times and The Times in London

Being a movie buff all my life, I love reading about the new releases and the one that is receiving much attention is The Tree of Life by Terrance Malick. It won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Festival and it looks to be a movie experience, full of reflection and memories. In the many facets that go into making a film, one part that I have found always helps to tell the story is the lighting. I think Stephen Speilberg is very good with this and all the old black and whites.

In the review I read in the NY Times the production designer Jack Fisk explains how they searched for the right house of the period, the 50's, in Texas and then shot the film all by natural light. For interior shots they would film in the middle of the day and outside scenes were shot in the afternoon in the falling light.

Source: nytimes.com via Kelly on Pinterest

In the article the simplicity and the pared down aesthetic in Edward Hopper's paintings was the another inspiration they had in designing the sets and for the type of house they found. And also I am sure, the quality of light; the shadows and streaming sun light.
  

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You know how I find natural light important to the designing of interior space, it was a delight to read how this team of film makers have incorporated it into the story of this family. 

I have yet to see this movie, but looking forward to it when I am with my family in a few weeks.

Orange and Pink

Hand blown glass lamps, Porto Romano

Orange and pink Ikat and tie and dye patterns for chairs, curtains and sofa for a beach house.

I like to have the lamps part of the color scheme and hand blown glass, the best.

Afternoon Light

Afternoon light has a golden color, warm, relaxing and lets you know it is time to wind down. The late sun streaming through the Venetian blinds creates a dramatic pattern of light and shadow. It is a beautiful quality of light. This is my sisters house in Florida.

The Flower Market

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Yesterday on a visit to Brick Lane, we biked over to the flower market on Colombia Road.

The street was fragrant with the many types of flowers, bunched up and sold "2 for a fiver"

The Unmade Bed

World of Interiors, June cover photo, Ricardo Labougie

When we were growing up, we were taught always to make your bed in the morning. My Mom would say if you were not able to get anything else done in the day, make your bed, it will always feel tidy and organized.

I have been aware over the last few years, the unmade bed is shown in magazines, across blogs and in advertising catalogues. Photographers and stylists have left beds unmade, messy and pillows rumpled. Each photo shows a bed evocative of a long Sunday morning with coffee and the New York Times or the tender moments of reading stories to your little ones and most pleasurable, shared intimacy with your lover.

In photos for portfolios, magazines and advertising, the bed used to be smooth as a board, with a neat stack of elegant pillows. I was thinking of where the ideas of messing up the bed came from and remembered Tracey Emin exhibited her bed at the Tate Gallery for the nomination of the Turner Prize in 1999.

Tracy's bed tells a different story, one of profound sadness with the mess around the bed of refuse of personal matters, it speaks of the inability to care for oneself or others after relationships fall apart.

I always thought Tracey should have written the story and let our imagination fill in the sordidness, but now the materiality of it is an interesting contrast to the sumptuous and dreamy beds that are used to awaken our feelings of intimacy.

  A beautiful bed painting by Maggie Sinner

I still make my bed everyday, I like to pull the covers back and get in between clean sheets each night.

Sample Boards

I was delighted yesterday while searching for fabric samples at Chelsea Harbour Design Center to come across this sample board at Marvic Textiles with a hand drawing of chairs and a window. "Who did the drawing?" I asked. Terri Pomeroy said she did as we fell into a conversation about drawing, the drawing board and how we were taught: on the drawing board.

Knowing how important computer drawing is, particularly for alterations and on large projects it is necessary. But a hand drawing reminds me how it  can evoke a scene with as much imagination and a touch of what?  heart, soul.

A lovely drawing and a lovely sample board at Marvic Textiles by Terri.

Moon Light

Source: ikea.com via Kelly on Pinterest

I have always liked the paper lantern and for the money, you can't get a better quality of light: soft, diffused, ambient. It adds a piece of sculpture to the room. When lit it resembles a full moon.


It has a simple basic shape, a large circle, which distributes light evenly around the room. The variations of this shade are endless made in glass, plastic, layers of paper and so pretty in color.

Source: imgspark.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Very pleasant light over a dining table, much more flattering than a spot.

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Good even light over a work space.

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Dramatic grouped together in a large space.

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Festive, fun and romantic moon light.

The Coffee Table

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     Rectangle, painted wood, cabriole leg

The coffee table is an expressive piece of furniture, it is social, we gather around it with family and friends. We talk and tell stories, watch TV, share time together. We place our drinks there, a glass of wine, a cup of coffee or a cup of tea. It will be where we reach for canapes or cakes.

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Square, bronze frame, glass top

There is not a definitive style for the coffee table, its' style is as limitless or limited as your budget and imagination. The only limit I would put on it is the height. 18" or 46 cm is best, so it reaches the height of your knees when you sit so it is easy to reach for your drink or your laptop or your magazine or to reach for the..... which shape, which size, which material is determined often by the size of your living space and how much space you have in front of your sofa.

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Rectangle, steel frame, glass top

When we are not entertaining it is pleasant to have a bowl of flowers, a collection of coffee table books, the latest issues of your favorite magazines, des objets trouve, nothing too high because you want to see the person sitting across or adjacent to you.

Source: imgspark.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Round, wood

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Rectangle, upholstered

Carrara marble top

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Mirrored

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Packing palette, casters, a bucket of white paint

 

Miners railroad train cart, glass top

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Electric wire spools, a bucket of white paint

  In many conversations this week with my family, my sister was telling me she has to find a new coffee table, unhappy with the present one she was undecided what she should get. I think a guide, as always, would be to get the tape measure and measure how much space do you want to give to a coffee table and the next thing to consider is how much entertaining do you do.  A couple of things to avoid are:

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Much too low

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Much too big

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Noguchi table, always works with traditional or modern, sculptural, beautiful.

More Flowers from Yesterday

Thanks

Honeysuckle Orange

 

This morning I received a honeysuckle, these colors, orange and green, accents of a soft yellow inspired this color scheme of linen, silk and velvet

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Glass and Light

Source: juliettesinteriors.co.uk via Kelly on Pinterest

There is a console table, marble top, placed behind a white velvet sofa. Further behind the table is a bay window. The noon light comes through this window, I want to place two crystal lamps with white linen shades on the table. When the sun comes through the window it will refract off the crystal and send rainbows around the room.

Source: indiajane.co.uk via Kelly on Pinterest

Source: indiajane.co.uk via Kelly on Pinterest

Which will give the best effect?