The Holiday Weekend Alameda Flea Market Trek...

I got up very early for a Sunday morning, especially one after all the Fourth of July celebrating around here, and drove the 40 minutes across the San Francisco Bay to the Alameda Flea Market. So who needs the Paris fleas if you can just come here? I arrived very early, 6:15 am, and the skies were dark and brooding, the temperature hovering around 50 degrees and a lot of dealers still setting up their wares. Coffee in hand, I headed out to find my old friend Lauren, who was set up at spaces X-5 and X-6... for her colleagues at Patine. Later, I rounded up Therese Long from La Dolfina {her wonderful blog} and we had one wonderful time together!

look at Lauren's pillows, made from antique linens her colleagues find in Europe... 
are they not wonderful!

you can also buy yardage of gorgeous old European linens of every weave 
and suble color changes...

that's the always-chic Lauren showing customers a bowl... you can see how early in the morning it was... and those structures in the background are giant lifts for unloading giant cargo ships that come into the Oakland harbor...

Lauren, remember your good old friend before you sell this... I'll come running... LOVE this old French table and it would be perfect in my garden... should have grabbed it on the spot!

and the little green wooden folding chairs that used to
be seen all over France... I'll take four!

here is a good view of Lauren's French tubs... baby bathtubs on iron stands, a large adult sized zinc tub, a wonderful old rake and a great looking nice tall zinc wine bottle holder for all those empties!

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a few rows away (there are 800 separate vendors at this monthly flea market!!) I found the wonderful
green-ness of Elsie Green... {rumor has it she once did styling for Pottery Barn}...  what is it about
all that gorgeous blue green paint and jars that stops one in their tracks?

Elsie's chocolate jars from Paris, wire baskets from France, beautiful dahlias...

look at this wonderfully casually chic table setting... old tin cake molds
hold old glasses that hold a place setting of silverware.... rustic runner
on wooden table, more white dahlias in big chocolate jars, and look...
she clothespinned the napkins to each chair! could anything be
more charmingly summer-fresh?

and speaking of cool, what about these Paris park chairs, in varying shades of
mint and citrus greens.... love! someone snagged these eight...

from Elsie Green's charming website!

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of course, I had to stop over at Trinidad's to see what the
latest container from France contained....you know his
shop, Atelier de Compagne... check out the number
of followers on his FB page!

Trinidad's collections before the sun came up (top) and after it
is beginning to blaze down on us marketeers... don't you love that
bust? and those mirrors,  fabulous!

be sure to check Atelier de Campagne's website...

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no visit to the Alameda Flea would be complete without checking out Big Daddy's
latest offerings... and his merchandising is so much fun.... love them or not, these
old green chemistry jars with red wax seals have tons of panache... and his
version of the painted-board-strips-turned-art is quite sophisticated, non?

you know me... if there is a sunburst mirror within twenty miles, I will find it and I will photograph it.... Big Daddy has a huge one in gilt wood mounted on old rustic grey boards, the ultimate in chic!

this wonderful huge old Coca-Cola sign will make quite a statement in a large, airy loft
in San Francisco somewhere....

this is from Big Daddy's website... love the old yellow olive oil jugs and all that white & gray...

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had to drop in on this shabby chic set up.... love the ticking bags she is selling... and all the painted furniture.. greys, whites, creams.... and of course all the silver.... and yes, that lady is wrapped in a small blanket, it was very chilly in the morning before the fog burned off....

I  still go weak in the knees for silver... always have loved it .... 
it's the Southern Girl in me.... 
and her display is quite charming....

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Marianne Sloan's Treasures

When I got the call three weeks ago that my mother had been taken by ambulance to hospital I didn't rush across the continent to home right away... after all, my aunt, cousins, nephew and niece were close to her and could keep me updated. But after just a few uneasy days I jumped on the quickest flight I could get and came to her.

She's elderly... 94. She had choked, and she is now in Rehab getting all kinds of therapy. I have entered that world where I am the parent and she is .. sort of... the child. Her future is really unknown.. she may stay in Rehab for 100 days, or she may be released in a week. She wants to go home. I am spending a lot of time at her home, trying to put together a plan that will keep her happy for her last years.

She is strong, alert, sturdy and stubborn! She is lovely, charming and utterly unique. She is quite smart and takes a dim view of those who try to patronize her!

I took a few minutes today while the rains fell outside and with my iPhone, took pictures of all the things that are so precious to her in her living room, the same one she has inhabited for the last fifty years. When I look at her collections, her colors, her artlessly chic way of arranging her things; her love of silver, of sculptural things from nature, of found objects that appeal to her.. I suddenly see myself!

my mother... by the way, her name is Marianne Sloan... loves silver, and especially loves

sea shell motif in silver...as you can see!

my father brought this silver figure of an Asian
peasant with a detachable walking stick home to
my mother after the Korean War

my mother had a thing for gargoyles after

living in Paris as a child; this is one of her favorites;

in the back are two jugs from Constantinople where they lived

when her father was a director

for the Near East Relief effort; an old

glass hurricane to the right

in her secretary I found this piece of driftwood sharing space

with two old tiles she loved, and my grandmother's

silver napkin ring from her girlhood in Savannah

on top of the long bookcase are my mother's mantel clock and her Minton soup tureen

the triangle is the flag that draped my oldest brother's coffin when he
died as a young man; the large framed baby quilt
dates from 1834 and was handmade
by my mother's great, great-grandmother

the abalone shell interior looks beautiful with

Mom's japanese parasol, blue glass jug

and silver framed portrait of my

beautiful grandmother Amie

my mother put these silver balls in this

old hanging lantern several decades

ago; they have been here ever since!

her collection of shells and old bricks smoothed by the sea that have washed

ashore greets you when you come in

my mother's passion for driftwood in fantastic shapes along

with her love of simple windows.. never one for anything more

elaborate than osnaburg curtains... are actually quite

contemporary in feel!

my mother's grandparents along with a

little German angel and a small

Venus de Milo are tucked together

in a corner of her secretary

the rain splashing on her front walk,

and the same welcome mat that

has been there for decades!

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thanks so much for visiting!... Kit

Astonishing...

Does anyone else find this room as gorgeous as I do?

it speaks to me of springtime, hope and beautiful beginnings

I could spend a lot of time here...

***

via San Francisco Magazine (print, not online)

article and photography direction by Diane Dorrans Saeks,

also of The Style Saloniste

this is the Nob Hill home of architect

Andrew Skurman and

his wife Francoise Skurman;

Andrew designed the amazing table base;

Francoise's silver adorns the table filled

with peonies she arranged;

together they collected the painting

by Cy Twombly's son

***

painting: Fall of Icarus by Alessandro Twombly

table base fabricated by Tom Dixon

Mars chairs

Provence Glassware: Diners en Ville, Paris

Empire candlesticks: Odiot, Paris

Bernardaud porcelain

Puiforcat silver flatware

Silver pieces French heirlooms

Etching: Bromphenol Blue, Damien Hirst

Photography by JD Peterson

***

thanks for visiting .. Kit

The {Rustic Chic} Oranges of Christmas

A Christmas tradition from my southern childhood, creating pomander balls by sticking cloves into oranges (or, more quickly, into limes and lemons) then hanging by ribbons or piling into a silver bowl, is a soothing, low key way to spend the rare quiet evening during the hectic holidays. I spotted these yesterday at Emily Joubert in Woodside, one of my favorite go-to shops for rustic elegance and naturally decorative things.

Pile these lovely creations into a silver bowl for chic and thrifty

elegance...photo courtesy of Emily Joubert in Woodside

The word pomander comes from the French "pomme d'ambre, meaning apple of ambergris." The ambergris was placed in decorative cases of gold, silver, ivory, or wood and worn around the neck or waist to protect against evil spirits and to sweetly scent the wearer. They originated in 16th Century France. Today they are a stunning, thrifty and chic way to add fragrance and atmosphere to a citrus-inspired Christmas!

An antique silver pomander,

of spherical form on domed foot,
divided into six segments released
by a turning top,
the exterior depicting dense foliage and flowers,
the interior engraved with hatched floral motifs,
each segment numbered and with slide-off cover

The Low Countries,
circa 1640

courtesy Wartski

This little lemon is covered completely

with cloves, and thus, will last

for years, giving wonderful

scents to closets and drawers.

Should you wish to gather the family around a fire and good music, with perhaps a raclette and some Nouveau Beaujolais for sustenance while you create, Organic Made Easy has a post on just how to make scented pomander balls!

Raclette, yum!

Nouveau Beaujolais

Single pomander gracing silver branches

courtesy of Gail Bartel, That Artist Woman!

***

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Christmas Decorating: I'm Thinking Ruby Red Grapefruit

Every Christmas presents to me an irresistible new opportunity to create, decorate and design for all our family and friends' gatherings and celebrations. This year, keeping things simpler and slightly more recessionista-friendly, I looked around my home for inspiration from things I see in everyday life.

I see citrus: grapefruit (both the outside golden with a blush of coral, and the inside deep ruby red), oranges, the citron green of my draperies. I see silver, gold and stars. An orange tree outside (ok, I live in California).

That's it! I have my inspiration, now down to work. Ollie, thrilled to have me puttering around the house all day Sunday, keeps a watchful eye on me!

The (potted) tree is inside and ready for lights and decorations. I spent 4 hours polishing silver (I'm a Southern Girl after all!), I found my citrus-y accent pieces, votives in great ruby color, and the perfect shade of poinsettias (chez Home Depot!). I even practiced making some lemon petit fours for the holidays (that caterer-daughter of mine sets the bar pretty high)!

So we are getting there! We are excited we have near- and far-flung family coming to visit and stay with us over Christmas, and we will be seeing lots of friends we haven't seen much this year. I still have a lot of decorating, cooking, gift-wrapping and merrymaking to do...stay tuned and I will show you as the tree gets done, the decorations up, the parties created!

A la prochaine!

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CONTACT:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design