Plug In Pendant Lights

Why do manufacturers think we want these? Do we?

I think a hard wired pendant lamp is best, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something.

Short post. Just wondering.

The Well Placed Accessory

While poking around on Facebook, I noticed the The Ritz-Carlton in the right hand navigation list, asking me to like its residences in downtown Baltimore at the Inner Harbor.

I don't like pages on FB easily, but I will take a peek. I have no idea who the photography credits belong to or who is responsible for the design of each of the rooms below, but I hope I find out. Yummy yumminess - why am I living in the suburbs again? Oh - because I love my house, too, and will even more once it's finished. And kept sparkling. Note to self.

But I digress. The Ritz-Carlton Residences at the Inner Harbor Baltimore:

 That wallpaper in the kitchen. Swoon.

You can see floor plans and get other details here.

One thing that always strikes me in model home rooms is the sense of restraint (well, usually). The well placed accessory carries so much more punch than a bunch of clutter strewn about. This is not a skill I've mastered. I really need a ten thousand square foot house to accommodate my need to shop and bring home decorative accessories. Seriously - I just bought an oil painting today. It's ridiculous.

If I ever hire a designer, I will really only need them to edit and place my accessories. If I ever become a designer (shh! latent dream!) this will be my number one challenge - the biggest thing I need to master.

The second biggest thing will be to squelch my desire to do something myself when I know good and well I need to hire a professional, but I am quite certain that's another post.

I'm Still Here

Work has consumed a lot of time lately, so my projects are suffering, but I'm still here. Hope to get a few pics of a few things up and running on a few posts soon.

Meanwhile, isn't this pretty?

From Decor Pad

Eye candy gets me through the busy times.

Have a great day.

At This Very Moment....

My husband is installing new cabinet pulls in the kitchen. I cannot tell you what a difference this small fix makes. Will have to post about it.

Yes, this is our Friday night. We are rockin' and rollin' people.

You Learn Something New....

I have already run into four thousand problems with my doorknob idea.

They are not the problems I assumed I would have.

I assumed that, because I was buying vintage doorknobs, I might have a problem fitting them onto my modern doors, which already have holes and whatnot cut out to support the existing doorknobs. So I measured once, then measured again, then chuckled to myself because I figured I was beating some system and as long as the math added up, I'd be fine.

Welp - totally forgot about the different doorknob types.

There are passage/dummy doorknobs, which exist only to pull or push open a door, and have no locking mechanism. There are privacy doorknobs, which do have a locking mechanism. There are more types, but these two are sufficient detail for the problem I've encountered with my beautiful vintage doorknob set. It arrived today.

'It's beautiful. It's vintage. It fits over the existing hole.

It does not have a locking mechanism, and I only have exactly what you see above. You see, that vintage doorknob is designed to be used with an actual key. See the keyhole? It's not decorative. It once worked.

Therefore, the interior fittings do not have the locking thingie that goes in the doorjamb. I have no single doors that are passage only and don't require a lock. Not a single one. I have two sets of french doors, one of which has passage doorknobs, but...the set above is not just passage. The knobs have that... stick thing... that needs to go into a hole in the door. And I'm not sure I'm up to the task of carving out a doorknob hole, plus it would leave raw metal sticking out one side if I tried to divide the set to use on both doors.

If this is not making any sense, it's because I need to go to bed. Bah, humbug.

Thomas Pheasant

I love him.

Well, I love his work, to be clear, having never met him and already being quite in love with someone else, my husband. But if both my husband and Thomas Pheasant were standing in my driveway, begging me to allow one of them to design my living room, I'm afraid I'd have to send my husband off on an errand.

In my defense, if they were both begging for a kiss, my husband would win.

I can't remember who or what introduced me to Thomas Pheasant, a DC based designer that I would love to just answer the phones for, because I know his offices must be splendid. I mean, look:

Yes, that's him, but it's the lamp I can't tear my eyes from. And I love that he found that horse, which is slightly ridiculous, and brought it into that space and poof! Now it's fabulous.

All his rooms just feel like spaces I could be in for a long time. So that's why I love him.

Er, love his work. :)

All images from Architectural Digest.

One of the things that stands out about his rooms, to me, is how he blends traditional leaning items with modern. This is my life's goal, as I am married to a man who loves modern items and, design wise, is in fact somewhat of a minimalist. Compare this to my traditional leanings, complete with braided trim and rooms stuffed with furniture, books and art. 

I believe that a harmonious relationship is reflected in your environment as well. I remember reading an interview with Jennifer Aniston, immediately post-Brad, in which she noted that at least now, she could buy a comfortable couch (apparently Brad likes hard, angular furniture, while she is more slip covered Shabby Chic. At least that's what I gleaned). Therefore, it wouldn't be fair for me to bury our house in antique, sculpted armoires atop Persian rugs, even if they are hand woven and unmatched in beauty by any other type rug in the world. Ahem. The least I can do is toss a clean lined armoire on top of the Persian rug. 

And that is something Thomas Pheasant would do. Albeit better.

Decision: Doorknobs

When I started this blog, I said I was going to focus on getting small projects completed, so I could then move on to large projects. So far, my posts have been a mishmash of both... certainly, replacing one lighting fixture is a small project, but replacing the lion's share in the house? That's a larger project.

So I guess I should redefine small, which in my mind are projects I can mostly do myself. Larger projects, like replacing our exterior siding, and while we're at it, the windows, building a porch, renovating the kitchen, renovating our master bathroom, repainting the entire interior, landscaping, installing drainage, replacing the garage doors (this list is starting to depress me, so I'll stop): those things are for some nice contractor to worry his pretty little head about, with my just picking out materials and colors.

So, in the small project vein, I'm happy to report that I've decided what I want to do about doorknobs. Actually, I'm returning to my original desire, which was to have different vintage doorknobs throughout the house.

I do love me some vintage doorknobs:

Image: Lovetoknow.com

Images: http://atincupchalice.com

It would probably be less time consuming and slightly less expensive to find reproduction doorknobs, but I don't want reproductions. I want the nicked, tarnished, flaking paint patina of a doorknob that actually lived in an old house once. This will require some extensive eBay hunting, patience, and yes - learning how to test paint for lead. I might have to have paint removed from some of them.

I'm therefore quite happy to report I won my first vintage doorknob on eBay this morning.

I'm pretty sure this is the new handle for the coat closet downstairs. It's the closest door to the front door, and I've (pretty much) decided to just go one door at a time, working my way through the house.

I should be done in five or six years. :P

Can't wait for my doorknob to arrive!