Maison de Campagne

I am researching authentic Provence remodeling projects for new clients here in California. This couple is ready to create the certain feeling of an old maison de campagne in Provence, a la Coté Sud, in their home. Translating the Provençal look from the south of France to south of San Francisco will be a collaborative effort with my clients, who are themselves transplanted French citizens. I am so excited to work with them!

Coté Maison provided a wonderful jumping off point today. This featured home carries many strong characteristics of the renovated Provençal maison, such as use of the existing stonework, exposed ceiling beams, stone floors, polished and waxed concrete, iron door and window frames, and lots of re-use of old wood and materials. A completely relaxing atmosphere is created devoid of fussiness or extraneous embellishment for a simple, chic and livable home.

detail of the coffee tabletop arrangement

stone floors and walls, touches of linen,

leather seating and exposed beams all

express a simple chic Provençal life

the guest room is upstairs, thus the wooden floorboards; the

iron bed is a flea market find; the overhead beams are

lightened to a soft grey so they are not overbearing

the chic and simple Italian shower, open to

the room, is partitioned by an old found

wooden shutter and finished in concrete

the roughness of the limestone sink and the cut stone

floor is offset by the 19th C. gilded round mirror

the rustic long farmer's table in the dining room

has rusted metal lights hanging overhead, chic

wire-frame chairs and an old porch chair

from Cuba

weathered Cuban rockers with cowhide rug and very rustic

coffee table softened with the pearls; note the simple cantilevered

bench with the linen cushion

the concrete floor and iron framed doors

lead you directly into the garden outside;

old wood and wicker create comfort

***

thanks for visiting! Kit

How The Men Do Antiques: Coup d'État

If revolution is in the air, then ground zero for establishing a new order in the world of antiques and interior design is surely Coup d'État * in San Francisco. This cutting edge point of view is expressed in overscale, unlikely pieces recouped from the industrial salvage yard, given a bit of polish (maybe) and a functional lift, then placed in spaces alongside interpretations of the classical and the modern.

Visiting the Potrero Hill showroom is a bit like entering the collective movie sets of Eyes Wide Shut, all the Harry Potters, Around the World in Eighty Days, Clan of the Cave Bear, and Alice in Wonderland. You will not see the gentility of Scalamandré and deGournay fabrics and wallpapers here, not even a whiff of Minimalism, Queen Ann, French Country, nor the whites and greiges of Gustavian chic. There is nothing delicate or spare in this repertoire. There is a lot of muscle in this Industrial Antique Recoup look.

Yet the genius of this showroom are incredibly intimate settings that invite touch and lingering. I think there is a lesson here for us designers to carefully and deliberately use texture, symmetry, lighting and comfort to invite people to draw in close to each other, to gather around face to face. It's a big scary world out there! Let's cozy up together.

such talent and vision to create an Art Deco setting

from rusting industrial salvage!

a surprising and stunningly feminime

lacy Venetian mirror is found in one corner

Beowulf meets Industrial Art Deco

could you cozy up to this sculpture

in your living room :)

the San Francisco shipyard is the source for

this dining table with nailhead detailing

no simple antelope antlers adorn this wall... half of

the animal is literally leaping into your room

and yet, the huge scale of the potted ponderosa pine creates

a desire to group together beneath its boughs and gather

around the antique kilim stools and the red wine velvet linen sofa

the perennially beloved sphere above the

jewelmakers' table cut into amoeba-like shape,

surrounded by reinterpreted klismos and wing chairs

a nod to the prosaic: green and blue pottery ware... but

displayed on a grand scale

no ordinary wing chairs, these could have seated

Captain Nemo on his day off

Coup d'État

Darin Geise, owner

111 Rhode Island Street

San Francisco, CA 94103

415-241-9300

* A coup d'état (English: /ˌkuːdeɪˈtɑː/, French: [ku deta]; plural: coups d'état)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow

Vintage Navajo Rug: UpCycle-able?

I was quite distraught about this.....

valuable vintage Navajo Rug of mine that

got damaged in storage

estimates to repair the damage were in the

thousands of $$$

...until I saw these!

really fun sofa and chair upholstered

in antique Tunisian kilim fragments...

very chic in this room!

from Cote Maison

none other than the beloved French interior designer Madelaine Castaing

loved these tribal rugs too and used them with abandon!

from Jeanne-Aelia, my dear friend at Through the French Eye of Design

French designer Pierre Yovanovitch used kilim remnants

to add texture and drama to a simple interior

from remodelista

a very "kilim-like" Missoni fabric upholstering the

venerable Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman

from 3rings

Now there isn't an ottoman or chair anywhere that's safe with me! Wouldn't my damaged rug look fabulous as a pouf? or covering a clean-lined modern chair like this one?

What do you think? Ideas, please, brilliant readers!!

{from Kit}

Before & After: A Little Chair

I love antique Japanese and Chinese fabrics and have several in my collection that will make gorgeous cushions. Then out in the shed one day, I found this old French country chair I had stashed out there years ago. In sad shape, but very sound. So this weekend, I repaired the woven seat, and gave the frame a new life with cool glossy green paint.

Now I'm trying to decide which silk to go with for the cushion. What do you think? The black, the coral, or the purple?

chair after with black embroidered

silk from Chinese jacket

detail in this black embroidered

silk from Chinese jacket found at

an estate sale locally

chair after with gorgeous vintage Japanese kimono

fabric in coral, green, yellow, blue

a bolt of kimono silk found at local

consignment shop

chair after with purple Japanese kimono silk

purple Japanese kimono silk

given to me as a gift in Japan

***

the old French country chair when I found it in the shed

the chair half painted with glossy green paint

An Ancient Farm in the Italian Countryside

Every summer for two whole months, an Italian architect from Bologne takes himself and his family to the haven he created out in the countryside of the Pugliese peninsula (Italy's "boot") in a peaceful setting in harmony with nature. Can you imagine a simpler, more elemental escape than this renovated 17th C. farm situated among the olive groves, cactus and red earth?

Now, I know that this is not Provence, however it is spiritually very close & I think I could happily spend a summer month or two here..how about you? I mean, Nice is only a few hours drive northwest!

a rustic old table inherited from a grandmother, and

wooden chairs found at a brocante and painted in a khaki-brown color that

harmonizes perfectly with the colors of nature; the stairs

leading up to the vaulted loft give the feeling of

folded paper and the built in banquette is covered in striped linen

in the living room, limed plaster walls are one of the only

concessions to modern techniques in this otherwise authentically

traditional renovation; old hollow tree sections hold logs

for the fireplace, an old leather chair found at a flea market,

and a wooden stool found in a consignment shop furnish

this room with a serene and minimalist atmosphere

in the guest bedroom, the same limed plaster walls; a giant tableau made from

a light garland used in the local village in the form of a star is mounted on

white fabric and framed; it now functions not only as art, but take s the place

of lamps by infusing the room with a soft light; a large fish trap and small taboret

are used for bedside tables in this elegantly spare and simple room

keeping the renovations as simple as possible, the architect

opted for an Italian, or "walk in" shower with no other

partitions except the small wall separating

it from the bedroom; a Sicilian basket and an old

wooden ladder store bath products and hang towels

a monumental concrete table was placed outside

to create a convivial and welcoming atmosphere for friends and neighbors;

for dinners that continue late into the night, old strings of

light bulbs were made into these suspended pendants; in the spirit of

"recoup", the old wooden chairs are painted each a different color

ok, check out this "outdoor kitchen".. built into the stone walls,

it features a sink made from an ancient olive mill found nearby, as well

as two burners from an industrial site .. can you imagine the dinners

you could cook here? there's also a wood-burning oven nearby just to

round out the fabulousness of this amazing kitchen in "plein nature"

not to be overlooked is the outdoor shower built in the shadow

of an ancient olive tree near the aromatic herb garden

planted with rosemary; the shower is copper and

the water is warm...heaven!

extending the master bedroom outdoors is the terrace

built over the ancient ovens; a small stone wall makes

this the perfect place to spend time taking in

the magnificent countryside

***

from Marie Claire; translated from French by me

(in case you couldn't tell!)

***

Pugliese flag

the farmhouse is located out on Lecce between the

Adriatic and the Ionian Seas

Rustici Leccese

donut-sized concoctions of mozzarella,

bechamel and chopped tomatoes baked

inside phyllo dough

Yum!

(I can't find the recipe, anyone know how

to make these?)