Happy Waitangi Day*

If you live on the West Coast, you know that we have been battered with one winter storm after another, dumping tons of rain and lots of wind down on us :(, making life a little miserable and dull for us, and certainly too grey!

So when I heard the big yellow orb in the sky would be out that day recently, I called my favorite client and headed immediately over to the sea, to see if it was true. We drove all twelve miles to our favorite place to take a break from life, Half Moon Bay. This is what we saw and what we did that day:

wow, the sun breaking through the clouds while the winds still

whipped the seas to 12 foot waves and pushed the fog inland

my back to the sun showed the mists lifting, at last!

we turned around to head down the coast for a little lunch,

where we ate, well, clam chowder

(Daniel Webster's Recipe Here)

after lunch we peeked into the window of a cool store I hadn't visited before

ABODE

where I found the perfect bergere that would look great covered in:

George Smith nautical knots in linen, or

my other favorite George Smith linen blue print...or

even this beachy sand colored geometric would look very cool on the bergere

I even found a Valentine for my honey!

(what man wouldn't want a silvery heart thingy?)

* Waitangi Day is the day that New Zealand celebrates its founding February 6, 1840!

the gorgeous coat of arms for New Zealand

I think many of us would like to be there to help New Zealand celebrate today!

{all photos except New Zealand taken by Kit Golson with iPhone}

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in 2010, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

When The Saints Go Marchin' In...

found at Perch. ask them about it

...I won't be in their number....I'll hop the St. Charles Avenue streetcar north to the Garden District. From there I'll walk towards the river's bend, pausing at the Garden District Book Shop on Prytania Street for a browse and a chai latte before heading a few more blocks past Commander's Palace to Magazine Street...heaven on earth for this California-transplanted-New-Orleans-native-designer-with-a-love-for-all-things-French, old-&-chic!

I'm reasonably sure any true-blue designer would meet me there this {Super Bowl} Sunday! We'll leave the ponderous and dark shops of Royal Street with its period antiques (splendid!) for the lighter mood up on Magazine. And we'll leave the serious business of cheering on the Saints v. Colts for members of Who Dat nation!

No better place to lighten the mood than Perch. There we'll meet up with blogger Valorie Hart & designer Jack Mayberry decamped among all the very hip and chic furnishings. If we're lucky we might even see Girl, the sweet shop doggie!

ask Jack or Valorie about this fabulous lamp at Perch.

lighthearted mix of happy, non-wintery colors and mood at Perch.

this is the way to add the all-important set of horns to your

large, blank wall....find it at Perch.

I love the fruit prints on the wall and the mix of pillows...kept

from being too sweet by the hip lamp

a large metal tree sculpture over a bed, with

beautiful chandeliers... at Perch.

this very cool turquoise glass chandelier could

come home with me anytime!

the exuberant and vivacious Visual Vamp herself (Valorie Hart)!

photo taken by the fantastic photographer Chris Golson

Hi Valorie!!

the very talented and chic designer, the sweet Jack Mayberry; photo

taken with my iPhone, that's why it's not in great focus, sorry Jack!

after all that design work, let's go across to the fabulous Sucre on Magazine Street

for French macaroons......

...and a cup of this!!!

Now, if you do find yourself somewhere wonderful on this Super Bowl Sunday, and if you are rooting for the Saints, you just might want to hedge your bets and bring along a little of Emeril Lagasse's Jambalaya for the crowd, followed by the world famous White Chocolate Bread Pudding from the Palace Cafe in New Orleans. Sorry, you'll have to make these yourself...click on the links for recipes!

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in 2010, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Saladino + Vermeer = {Absolutely Brilliant}

Is there anyone who doesn't love Vermeer today? The Girl With the Pearl Earring has almost mythical powers of enchantment, mystery, wonder; dubbed The Dutch Mona Lisa, it inspired the movie starring Scarlett Johannsen, a visual feast. When interior designer John Saladino set out to design a Manhattan condominium in SoHo for the Veranda Magazine Showhouse, he chose that painting as his inspiration.

Now, many of us might choose a painting for design inspiration. But in the hands of the brilliant Saladino, the subtlety, the evocative details, the refusal to compromise yielded a vision that resonates with 17th C. Dutch Neoclassic sensibilities...while managing to stay fresh and modern....pure genius!

Saladino may have thought: "If Vermeer could produce luminous paintings out of the gloom of northern European Amsterdam, then I can harness the grey light of Manhattan's canyons and create a softly glowing SoHo interior"!

I love these pewter plates from Arte Italica, but mostly I adore

the wall finish: scratch-coat plaster suggesting the layering of time

Saladino's inspiration painting yielded a palette of creamy whites,

deep taupes & rich pewters with touches of lavender and periwinkle blue throughout

the serene and intimate setting is enhanced by the 17th C. style

furnishings with the linens carefully draped over the table; modern draperies

and gorgeous antiqued flooring by Exquisite Surfaces set the tone

nailheads on antiqued leather suggest

17th C. Holland

this stunning stairway in antiqued flooring

also by Exquisite Surfaces

again, the antiqued floors set the tone for the old bench, while

the huge mirror captures all available light and sends it back into the room;

deep blue-grey wall and old tapestry create atmosphere

a delicate, feminine feeling for the dressing table

with delft-pattern rug underfoot

softly atmospheric light in a beautifully designed sitting room

Saladino's use of lavender and periwinkle blue works brilliantly

against the soft neutral palette

All Photos by Antoine Bootz

Images Courtesy of Veranda Magazine

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in the new year, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Oh My....

A little tile mosaic artwork, anyone? These opulent bathrooms are best suited for a penthouse in Dubai, but when I ran across them on the Kitchen Exchange blog(written by the talented Peggy Deras), I had to share them with you. They are the work of Italian mosaic factory SICIS.

We all need a little visual escape in this cold, grey January with our thin little post-holiday wallets hardly able to even buy a giant-sized Neutrogena Rainbath bottle for our shower....and here it is!

this blue color and flowering vine motif is so gorgeous

this one almost has an Anthropologie-like feel,

with its sprig of flowers gracing old-style footed tub

this one has the tasteful, tamed down Calvin Klein minimalist look

whoa! .... a little gold Victorian Gustav Klimt naughty girl look, anyone?

bordering on tasteful, if this were wallpaper, it's an almost accessible look

I have to confess I love this one!

butterflies & giant lilies

calling Sarah Jessica Parker's designer...yes, that is a bathtub

shaped like a high-heeled shoe

and so is this Japanese-girl-of-Shijuku-district look

a bathroom for a truly frivolous and flighty supermodel?

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in the new year, it's :

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design

Kreativ Blogger Award

I'm delighted to be given the Kreativ Blogger Award by Terri at The Countrypolitan. Her gorgeous and sophisticated blog is about the fusion of rustic elegance and cosmopolitan styles..which I love! Many thanks for this honor and for placing me in the company of my fellow bloggers of distinction!

As part of the award, I am asked to reveal 7 things about myself..so here goes:

1. I think I can sing, but I really can't. I want to be Whitney Houston or Etta James or Edith Piaf, or even Willy Nelson (ha!).

2. I adore the sea (a psychic once told me I was a sea captain in a past life!) I love walking by the sea with my husband and dog Ollie as often as we can make it over to Half Moon Bay.

3. I have floated..literally!.. in mid-air more times than I care to remember (I worked for NASA). Ask me sometime just how it made me feel!

4. I adore flea marketing, designing, shopping, traveling with my amazing daughter Lisa!

5. I love old French linen fabric that I can use & wash in the machine 'til it's soft as velvet.

6. Sometimes I dream in French, preferably Southern French!

7. I get verrrry cranky if I don't do something creative every day.

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The wonderful blogs I pass The Kreativ Blogger Award to:

1. The Provence Post : Julie is the go-to source for happenings in my favorite place on earth

2. Decor de Provence : perfectly captures the essence of the Provence life I love

3. Oliveaux : stunning inspiration for design

4. Fabulously French : where you can browse and buy old Provencal things

5. Hidden in France : Corrine is an incredible writer with an eye for whimsy

6. The Brocantess : wonderful spirit and images

7. Visual Vamp : Valorie is vastly gorgeous and entertaining

8. Annechovie : I can't get enough of her beautiful watercolors

Be sure to check out all these great blogs!

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in the New Year, it's:

Kit Golson Design

for elegant, sustainable and pragmatic

Chic Provence Interior Design