Hermes Spring/Summer 2010

I love the Hermes ad on the back cover of the latest Elle Decor.  Hermes' scarves through the ages are one pattern delight after another.

Elle Decor : New Website

Very happy to get the news that Elle Decor just launched a great new website.  My favorite house in the last issue is this one in London photographed by Simon Upton.

Photography : James Merrell

Image candy from James Merrell.

Formica

My kitchen proudly boasts yellow formica that is ages old so its not surprising that I like this art.  Zoe Murphy prints on reclaimed formica and wood using formica patterns, menus and British seaside images.  Zoe also prints on furniture and fabric.

Paint By Number

Went a bit overboard buying up old paint-by-number paintings for the store recently (bottom pic).  Once I got looking for them, I fell in love with their stylizing and age.  Happy to see I am not the only one -- this couple featured on DesignSponge did a great job of recreating an old paint by number on a wall in their house.

Interiors: Molly Luetkemeyer

A collection of wonderful rooms in LA houses designed by Molly Luetkemeyer of M.Design Interiors. Love the way she mixes colors and styles and makes the spaces everything beautiful, interesting and livable. 

Filing and Flowers

I might be more motivated to get through my pile of filing if it inspired me like this pile of paper does.  Talking of inspiration, bought some flowers for the store and for some photos I need to take this week.  Went happily overboard and now have a garden on my dining table.  Bliss!!!

Top photo via sheaff-ephemera . . .

Weekend Dreams

I have visions of jumping into that jalopy with a baguette and a bottle of wine under my arm and heading to a beach for the weekend.

Another place to add to my wish list of places to visit: the island of Groix of the west coast of France. Image via cotemaison . . .

Friday's Fabulous Woman: Minnie Pwerle

Aboriginal art is filled with color, texture and meaning so its not surprising that I love it.  Minnie Pwerle began putting acrylic to canvas in the 1999 and died in 2006 in her nineties leaving behind a whole heap of incredible work including a rug collection which I covet. Just paging through this google image search is a pleasure. 

Images via undercoverpainter . . . and Designer Rugs . . .

Travel/Interiors: Casa Amarelo

I love the designs of French company, Robert Le Heros and this small hotel in Rio de Janeiro called Casa Amarelo looks like a beautiful place to stay.

Travel : Tuscany

My mother just got back from Florence, I thought I would spend Monday dreaming of Tuscany.  Its been a while since I was there by I have wonderful memories of wandering along cobbled streets, loving the language, eating, being inspired by amazing works of art, taking hundreds of photos of sunflowers, drinking caffe freddo, swimming in beautiful rivers, eating.. .

Love this picture of Sienna; the bread and empty plates from ThreeLayerCake bring back wonderful memories of simple delicious food.  The rest of the pictures are from a beautiful hotel I stumbled across called Castello di Vicarello -- wouldn't this be a great place to stay for awhile.
 

 

Friday's Fabulous Woman: Francoise Hardy

Another music favorite, much-played in our store: Francoise Hardy.  Born in 1944, this beautiful, talented French singer and actress is a fashion and style icon who sings in multiple languages.  I love her voice.  Might have to buy her new album which comes out at the end of the month...

Pets are for Life

Love this campaign in Hong Kong: "Pets are for life. Think before you have one." Via a friend of a friend at Oderazzi

Interiors: Kathryn Ireland

Beautiful rooms by Kathryn Ireland.

Photography : TJ Scott

I love having talented friends like TJ Scott.  TJ is a writer/director and photographer whose work is for sale in our shop.  Take a look at the great spread of his photographs in Fluxus Magazine which I am thrilled to have found via TJ.  This online mag is filled with fantastic illustration, art and photography.  I highly recommend paging through the whole thing a few times! See the post below for another talent I found in Fluxus.

Illustration/photography : Andre Sanchez

Insect heaven from photographer/illustrator Andre Sanchez (featured in Fluxus magazine).

Laguna Beach

Glorious weather and whimsy in Laguna Beach this morning.

Friday's Fabulous Woman : Maya Angelou

For living large and with passion; for being published for the first time at age 42; and for writing one of my favorite poems, Maya Angelou is fabulous.  I hear her marvelous throaty voice every time I read any of her work. Here is her poem, Phenomenal Woman :

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Free Shipping in US

Spring is starting to show its pretty face even though there's still snow on the mountains here in Los Angeles. We are celebrating blossoming trees, scented jasmine, yellow daffodils and birthdays with free shipping in the US from now until Saturday March 27 (furniture exempt).

These pigeons and their very many pals hang out every day outside the store watching the comings and goings on the street.....oh the stories they could tell!

Having Fun at Partners & Spade

Now that he and his wife have sold Kate Spade, Andy Spade seems to have built himself one big creative sandbox and is having tons of fun.  Found this article in New York magazine inspiring and love these pics of items in his new store Partners & Spade.

Blooms

Stumbled across this wonderful collection of flowers last week . . . and thought these pictures would make a beautiful start to a week.