Because today was cold and we took the dog to the park and spent more time relaxing, I didn't get started on my clothing project < otherwise known as  Where Are My Winter Clothes ??? > until late.


Because of this ... we didn't buy a drill or do anything about hanging things unless you count the clothes I couldn't  find .. and now I can make more lists and do more research on what I am going to do with our apartment.


I think it is great that this has all come over me at the beginning of Winter .. by Spring/Summer, it should look very different here. That is if I get my way ... anyone married... you know what I mean.


I did some velvet pillow experimenting today and decided that I am just covering the sofa with a new fabric and will quit trying to figure out what goes well with the fabric on it now.
I hate that fabric. I hate that sofa. (stamping tiny foot)


I want my old sofa. Can you hear me whine?


So basically, what I am saying is ... I did nothing much today but change over the closet to winter clothes, which I need more of and add boots to that and a coat.
And I didn't get a drill which might be easier to find than the right boots and coat.


So that is all today ... god I am boring....


Oh and by the way, Thank you to Christina who has a blog called Griege... she has kept me busy .. she has been directly responsible for my not getting excited about  leaving the computer ,  because I was looking through her amazing blog .. Greige  


And thanks to my pal who sent me the Meg Ryan article in Elle Decor ... her beach house in Martha's Vineyard .. yes... I have already figured out that while I do not want a beach house in Argentina, I can duplicate this sort of rustic home... out in the countryside .. yeah .. the Pampas... how cool does that sound ??  


My poor husband ............. 

We were rained in today. 
All day. 
I woke to darkness and the sound of rain coming down hard. 
Then realized my husband was up. It was 9 am ... 
I still rolled over and went back to sleep .. well, for half an hour . 
It felt so good to lie there all cozy in the bed with the Pup snoring away  under the bed .. don't ask ..
We had all the lights on at 10 am ! 
The street was a tiny bit flooded  ... I didn't care, I wasn't going anywhere !
The poor husband, he walked the dog every time today. I stayed home with the towels.
The dog went from fluffy and well-groomed to sort of curly , droopy and sad looking.
If the rain is gone tomorrow, we will have a Day of Beauty and will brush the pup. 
I am sure he will be thrilled.


I had all sorts of plans to do Rainy Day things.
Read a book, polish my nails, do laundry , be productive. such a busy day ahead!


I read blogs.
I did read my book but my attention wasn't   on the story, I got more interested in blogs again.
I did a tiny bit of laundry then checked the blogs.
I made an excellent soup.
Recipe below...


Then Pup and I listened to music and I looked through the blogs and decor magazines and that is about it ... an exhausting day.


Tomorrow, we will see. 
I doubt that it will be quite as exhausting, I am sure Someone will want to get out into the Fresh air... regardless of how wet it is.
That's OK, I have just the right pair of boots to wear .. although I really really want a pair of Wellingtons.. these... ( yes, I am resisting growing up completely)

But then I have nothing against Pucci

                                  If those were poodles on those boots, they would be in my closet already




Rainy Day Soup


1 garlic clove - chopped
1 small onion - chopped
2-3 celery stalks-chopped
fresh grated ginger


2 liters broth ( I used a mix of chicken and vegetable)
angel hair spaghetti ... just a handful


In a little olive oil, saute the garlic til soft
Add the onion, and ginger.
Add celery.
Add broth


Bring to a boil
Add pasta
* at this time you can add cooked chicken or anything that appeals to you*


Let simmer a while then serve.


If you want it especially rich .. throw a bit of heavy cream in while it is simmering.


If you make it, let me know how you liked it  ..

I am over Blogged..  you know, when you take too many, you start to feel woozy, time goes by,you thought you sat down for 15 minutes and your husband wanders in and says , I thought you fell asleep, you have been so quiet. 
I say, quiet for 15 minutes? and he says .... You have been in here for 2 hours.


I have fallen in love with a few decor Blogs and they all seem to be full of white  antiques and white things and mirrors and  did I say a lot of white things ?
I am eyeing my rooms and wondering, would white be better than this pale golden yellow ?
Husband says ... No.
I say I cannot live with painters again so soon so we will skip the total white-out and go for Things that are white .. slipcovers maybe or something .. maybe I will paint this desk white. 
It is  handmade, wood, stained a dark reddish color .. "country" , Argentine style. 
It is possible that  white would be perfect .. or cream .. so the husband doesn't start complaining about All this White !


The bathroom will be painted in 2 weeks.. it is pale yellow ( I didn't choose it, the painter made a mistake ... but his Big mistake was to try to convince me that it was white ... like I am color blind?) 
So the NEW painter understands me and I understand him and CREAM is the color .. 


But then I look at the bedrooms ... the pillows and chairs and I think I need more Stuff.
But I  just made this very strong decision ( they only last a short time) to Not add to the Stuff I already have and to   maybe even  get rid of some Stuff... but the Stuff I need now  is different .. you know ?


And I have decided to get some canvas and start painting again.
If someone has to be putting color back on my walls, I might as well enjoy putting some color on a canvas.
I will do great large pieces and put them on the walls and throw old shawls and scarves over the lamps and pretend I am an eccentric artist from somewhere up North.. 


So back to Blogs... are you aware of how many blogs there on in the web world ? in English ? just English.. god knows how many there are all told!
I cannot seem to stop looking at new ones.


Is there a place I can go for help? 
Blog Therapy? Blog Management ?  A 3- Step program for Bloggers? and Bloggees?


If you have any names, numbers or directions, let me know.
I need help.


I will have a drink while I wait ..

                                                          All Posters . com

The Painter was here today. He is a sweetheart.

He hurt his leg playing futbol ( soccer) .. he will be here in 2 weeks, when he can climb a ladder again. ( does this describe life in Argentina to a T or what ?)

He told me that the bathroom wall and ceiling  - which are damaged from too many water leaks from the pipes belonging to the lady upstairs and   are now growing mold in corners .. my beautiful baño ...weeping... will only take 2 days to repair and paint  . Phew . that's a relief  !

He will also climb that ladder in my laundry room and paint  the ceiling where the lady upstairs had a leaky pipe also and the ceiling has a constellation of mold ... you know, like when you stare at something long enough  you start to see shapes and faces in it ? that is the laundry room ceiling .. right now it is a Rorschach test .. some days it is a Butterfly, some days it is , oh , I don't know ... Satan? 

Now don't think I am finally cracking under the strain .. more likely my brain cells are damaged from all the mold I am breathing and the stress of looking up all the time to see if yet another leak has sprung or another flower of black mold is appearing along the pretty white molding.

I am thinking of having the bathroom painted white .. cream actually. With white white tile and the "rustic " marble floor and the dark wood cabinet with the white sink, I think that will work best.

And then along the way, The Husband will barely notice the addition of a black and white Toile Roman Shade in the window. 

I am starting to notice that every photo I have , somewhere in that photo, is a part of a Pup .. head, foot , tail, he always manages to get into the picture !

There is nothing like a nap.

Taking a nap.

Taking a nap and being left alone by dog or man and knowing that you can just lay there and relax or go into a deep sleep with dreams .

I don't get enough naps, do you?

One of the things about a good bedroom is that it invites you in and makes you want to curl up on the bed, loll around on that chaise or just enjoy bedtime. It should be soothing and quiet and have a lot of soft surfaces.

I have never been a fan of ultra modern anything but bedrooms? never.

Living with a husband, I have to control my urge to over-pillow. I like a bed piled high with pillows.. the ones for your head at night, the ones that make it look pretty and the ones that might be used for support if you were wanting to slip into the back of the house where it is quiet and read a good book or browse a good magazine without ( many) interruptions.

My bedroom is half-way there.

I have the bed.

I have the nice oriental rug and a big french window and a big octagonal mirror over a lovely Arts and Crafts dresser and lucky me, in the Dressing room, I have another dresser and all my closets etc.

So the Bedroom is really mostly just for the bed.

I want to make mine even more cushy and cozy. Winter is coming fast.. we will be turning on the heat soon. I want to warm it up in there. Right now there is the silk quilt from Pottery Barn and the pillow covers to match .. the pale green comforter cover  ... cool quiet colors.

But I want to add some more silk and more ultra comfy ... somethings.. that is where I need help.

I love all the decorating blogs. I find a new one each day that I love.

Today I saw  This .. from Southern Exposure.. a fabulous blog.
It made me want to take my arts and crafts style bed and put a padded headboard on it..
I am liking the color also .. I use pale greens, agua will do too .. pale ..

Then I saw this .. Fresh Home ..

But is anything more appealing than a really nice hotel room ?

My apartment is French style, the bedroom has a chandelier .. so I am going to have to work with the French luxury look ..

I will be hard at work, studying all my design magazines.. while I lie on my bed ..with Pup nearby, there is no getting away from that fact ... my bed is his bed.

My list of Decorating Blogs has outgrown my list of Fashion Blogs.. this is not a good sign.
Even worse if I were to tell The Husband .
He is sort of relieved that I am not chattering away about clothes and shoes and bags and scarves and the myriad other clothing thoughts I have at any given moment ... poor man... this is what happens when you leave your home country and go live in a place where they speak another language and you don't get that close to them right away ... the Wife starts treating the Husband like her girlfriend.
And he deals with it like a Champ!
He makes an Excellent girlfriend. But I won't tell him .. let it be our secret.


I found  Southern Exposure .. Thanks to the lovely blog Little Green Notebook ..
I have already tried to find a basket in the house that would hold toilet paper, I have tried to figure out how to get a bathtub that size into my bath .. Where I live , that bath would have to come up the outside by ropes and be brought in through the bedroom French doors but then might not get through the doorways to the bath .. so I think I am outta luck there in all directions. 


This is most likely all a direct result from being deprived of my (at least once a week) visits to Restoration Hardware, Bed Bath and Beyond, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn  and all my Home Decorating magazines. 
Yes, I can get those online, but they aren't the same .. Back then.. my mail would come, I would take the newly arrived House & Garden ( now gone for good) and sit on the sofa, tea cup by my side, Pup close-by and slowly savor each page, each article and each recipe.


Leading to the end result of our selling 2 homes because of all the ideas I got and used and  decorated ( staged ) those homes so well, that they sold within weeks.


I have to see if that works here .. eventually .. I am too busy with it as a work in progress now. 
Here we have the Kitchen Before :

and Kitchen After:

The Second Bedroom Before:

And After :

So you can see, I might be deprived but thank goodness for the World Wide Web of Decorators !

This is SO not my kitchen.

But it should be. I love this cottage kitchen style .. Mine is too "elegant" .. I thought it would be a nice change from the all white with family in mind when decorating. Now it is just the 2 of us and I thought black granite and cherry cabinets and stainless steel were elegant and grown up .. 
But they lack warmth and don't appeal to me anymore.
This  is my kitchen .

Of course there are things on the walls and more baskets and the Eiffel Tower on top of the cupboards but it just doesn't have that feeling of coziness that the kitchen above has.
So I am thinking along the lines of How to Make the Kitchen Cozy .. 
Cottage style ?
French country?
Move ?




********
In response to Tricia's comment on color / light / cabinets..


The walls show up white in the photo but they are pale yellow. 
The tile by the stove is white though.
There is only one large window but at the back of the room on the corridor, so I can't use darker/stronger colors, it darkens the room too much.I had thought of going with a coral color .. or mustard yellow. The cupboards were all made by a carpenter and are wood, so I am sorta stuck with them. We are considering colorful antique (Art Nouveau) tiles on the wall facing the fridge.. and more colorful things on the walls ( big colorful things ) and new chairs at the counter, with provencal fabric or toile cushions.
I saw an antique Circus poster and thought that would look great on the wall to the left .. We dropped the ceilings but they are still over 12' high .. I also saw a giant clock .. but worried that I might find myself watching the clock obsessively ..

It is raining.
The only thing to do is go to the huge mall and perhaps browse a shop or two .. one might contain handbags and the other might have bedding. I can never get enough pillow cases and throws and a new comforter cover sounds good.
Oh ... and make up .. I want some new lipstick .. and perhaps a sample of perfume I have my eye ( nose) on ..


And then there is that shop that sells things from India and Indonesia .. pillow cases covered with tiny mirrors and embroidery and totally useless but beautiful things to leave lying around on tables .. it might be a very nice rainy day ..


It stopped raining so we took Pup and went to a park, stopped at an outdoor cafe by the Decorative Artes Museum and had lunch .. then home. . 
Now it is raining again .. perfect timing.


Here are some shops you might like to browse in .. where I like to browse and pick up odds and ends..


Morph



The Buenos Aires Design Center

Shabby Chic



I keep thinking this is the way I want to change my rooms. I just saw on  her website , a brown velvet slip-covered chair. I have to do that .. I can do a printed fabric ( cotton) for summer and the velvet for winter.


Not sure of color but pale brown/cocoa sounds good to me right now. Or old gold .. I have a collection of Chinese blue and white porcelain, it looks good with yellow/gold .. maybe pale brown.


So while I did nothing of note today- unless you count eating scones, fighting off a huge male German Shepherd that was thankfully muzzled but still intent on having "relations" with my male dog .. walking in fresh air for hours , cooking a really tasty and easy meal of Sorrentinos with a creamy mushroom sauce with fresh tomatoes .. and topping it off with an Alfajore ..  
Is there any better invention than Chocolate? ... I did find time to fantasize over doing some changes in the decorating of our home. 


If only the pool and roses were possible too !

Today we saw a film. .."The Ghost Writer"
In the film, people with great amounts of money lived in a house on a beach .. it was supposed to be in the US but in reality, the house was in Denmark. 

I gave a little thought to the idea of living in Denmark if I could have a house like that !
Modern, but spectacular with the sand, sea grass then the ocean right outside the windows.
Very dramatic .. very cold. 
Which ended that idea but did make us think about where we would like to live , Sweden ( my husband just finished the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) , I said Holland / Amsterdam sounded fine .. then it gradually wandered south to London or France .. Paris winning again, when we have these conversations.
A little French country works, don't you think?

So if I am staying here for the time being, I can continue my decorating in a French theme ..


although I do like the idea of these Swedish rooms washed in light with not a lot of dark colors..

But for now, winter is coming here, warm and cozy will be the Theme...

I have this book. If you can find it where you live ... and you like French Interiors, get it, it is a pleasure to look through and inspiring ..

 
The husband is feeling better but his Nurse Ratchett thinks he should stay in and stay warm and let her take care of him. Which really only involves asking him if he wants more coffee, tea, soup etc. He is the Best of Patients ! Just leave him alone to suffer .. he will quietly read and get well with a minimum of fuss.
Not like some other people I know... the one who wants to lie in bed, moaning and coughing and making pitiful noises ...  


Pup needs a bath in a bad way. He smells like a dog .. quelle horreur ! So he is lying here keeping an eye on me and making sure that I go nowhere without him .. little does he know that we are now leaving the house to take him for a few hours of torture, so that he can look and smell like a flower... or at least like a clean doggie again.


I will make it up to him .. treats and allowing him on the bed and all sorts of loving and sweet talking. He always seems to forgive me ... I secretly think that dogs are really angels.. they only love you and always forgive you .. and listen to you and never judge. An Angel.. yep. 


Photos will be posted later.. of the Purty Pup !!


too bad we don't have smell-o- vision !

Monday ... shopping day ... but not the sort that I had in mind.
The husband has a cold. It is grey and chilly out and if we had a fireplace, we would be sitting in front of it all day. But since we don't, we sat in front of the television, reading, napping, and shopping .. for groceries.
I bought all the makings for an excellent Chicken soup.
I will cure that man with my cooking ! or else.
So my plans for browsing the boutiques have been put off.
Tomorrow.. maybe a mall... maybe the cinema .. we will see how the patient is in the morning.
That's all for now, your's truly, Nurse Ratchett.

Monday Monday .... Shopping day ...


I am thinking ( while it is still Sunday) that Monday might be a good day to go shopping.


Winter is on it's way and I need clothes .. 
Don't we all need clothes each time the new season rolls along ? 
Of course ... I have clothes ! 
But I need the newest fashion clothes. 


The girly tops and feminine fitted coats and maybe a new pair of boots and ... well, you see what I mean.


All the fashions from Europe have arrived ... they are there ! waiting for me.


I also need to buy groceries.
Even a fashion victim needs to eat.
The shops here are showing such nice stuff ... it is so easy to walk past the windows and just say, I want that ! 
I'll take that ! 
I need that ! 
I will look smashing in that color !!

There is Patio Bullrich 


There is Paseo Alcorta... 
I think this one is my favorite ... and there is a Carrefours, I can buy groceries too. 
There ... two birds with one fashionable stone.

And then there are just the shops all along the streets


Puro Diseno




 Mishka shoes


Maria Cher


  Tramondo

Watch this, you can see what they do here in regards to Style and Fashion .. 

* we were at a flea market in Palermo and a girl came up to me and asked if she could take my photo, she liked the way I had "put myself together " ... we won't go into how long it took and how much thought went into it ... but I was gratified that one person noticed... who knew, she took my photo for a Street Fashion Blog ! *

Street Fashion - Buenos Aires/

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Chocolate ( I use chocolate chips, chocolate syrup and anything else chocolate)

3 cups milk

4 cups soft bread cubes ( I mix breads, I have used stale scones, biscuits, croissants, french bread)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs well beaten 

1 teaspoon vanilla
Butter to grease the baking dish 

Combine  milk, sugar , vanilla and eggs.

Add chocolate chips, chunks, anything else.

Pour over bowl of bread ( should all be torn into cubes/chunks)

Pour into baking dish. 

Bake at about 350º for about 45 minutes.. You want the custard to set but you want it moist.

When you remove pudding from the oven, now is the time to pour chocolate sauce/syrup over it.

Serve warm, if extra calories are needed, serve with a good vanilla ice cream .. or butter pecan if you want to die happy.

    

So much for the urge to cook.


We took the dog for a walk and went past a place we used to get take-away each weekend. Until we just got sick of the stuff. It has been a long time since we had ..... Fresh Rigatoni with Spicy Putanesca , with a few Polenta Gnocchis with sauce on them too .. One serving will immediately make you go lie down and moan from Fullness and Contentment.


So .. The Husband ordered it all to be delivered tonight ... that took care of that Cooking urge ( if there was one lurking in there to begin with ) .
 I am sure Julia would understand.
Even she had to take a break sometimes and just have a pizza delivered or pasta putanesca. 
Really .
The Take Away business here is booming. 
I think it has Been Booming for some time .. especially for those who no longer have a full time maid who cooks. Or those who work full time themselves.
Or those who cooked for 30 years and decided one day that someone else can do the cooking from now on.
Or those who are new here and just trying their best to blend in with the locals.


Dessert will be Chocolate Bread Pudding that was made last night and keeps calling me every time I walk past the kitchen .. but I am strong .. 
I will wait until after dinner.. really .. that little taste earlier was just making sure it did well overnight in the fridge.

It did.

Cooking !


What is it with cooking and cold weather?


So ....  it is getting to be Fall, the nights are nice and chilly, and the days are good for long walks and plenty of fresh air, resulting in one needing a good hot home cooked meal.
Soon it will become a need for a nice restaurant meal. 
But for now, I am enjoying making those dishes that were too hot to make all summer.


Pasta is right up there but I am making things like Chicken , Tomatoes and Olives with Polenta.
Or homemade pizza.. with cheddar and feta mixed on top with green olives. 
Remember, I live in South America where for some reason, green olives are a required ingredient of pizza and I fell right into that habit. But mine are better, mine don't have pits.


Tonight I went Hog Wild and made a Chocolate Bread Pudding. Loaded with "secret" ingredients. 
It was so good, The Husband said it made him nauseous. But in a good way. 
You know, when you eat too much sugar and you feel icky ?
So I guess, that is actually ... a Good Thing?


I have gotten hooked on the world of Food Blogs. Cooks, my god, the world is full of cooks and most of them sound like they actually know what they are doing !
I have a few favorites but I must be careful, if I look at my favorite food blog list of favorite blogs .... then I get lost in that list and add to my list and then, well, there you have it.


I will soon be the Fat Mad Housewife..

Why couldn't I get hooked on Fitness blogs ?


Here are some of my favorite cooking/food blogs.. as of tonight, by tomorrow I will have more.. I see there is no end in sight .. I am lost.


Framed ( her photos are amazing ... you can really spend some time looking at this blog)
http://framed-mylifeonepictureatatime.blogspot.com/




101 Cooks
http://www.101cookbooks.com/


My First Kitchen
http://www.myfirstkitchen.net/aboutkendra


Joy the Baker
http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/


Saffron and Blueberry ( My attention was caught by her photos, look at the snow and tree on her bread pudding recipe blog )
http://www.saffronandblueberry.com/




Smitten Kitchen ( don't you just want to say Smitten Kitten?)
http://smittenkitchen.com/


The Little Teochew
http://thelittleteochew.blogspot.com/


Cooks , in my mind, are like a sisterhood .. we all do it, to some degree or another, we are all good or bad at it, enjoy it or don't ... but we all know about cooking.  So if it is such a large part of a persons life, cooking and eating are, you know ... then blogging about it and reading about it just seem to be a natural thing to do .. and I like to think that in this world of everyone for themselves, that I can be supportive of something else out there, like me in some way, if only in the way that means, we cook ..


If you have a favorite blog for cooking, do tell me ! I will add it to my list .. 


Bon Appetit , as a wonderful lady used to say ~

Need a Light ?

When you buy an apartment here, you get the apartment. And of course, various aspects of the building, but unlike other countries , the seller takes everything and leaves the bare shell of the apartment for you.
No kitchen appliances, no air conditioning, no lights . Of course, some people will make a deal and leave something for you but apparently, everyone takes their Stuff with them and the new people come in with their Stuff and that is the way it goes.


So when we arrived from The Other World .. we did have furniture and dishes etc but no appliances and no lights.. we did bring some lamps that mean something to us but nothing else.


So , lucky for us, we got to go shopping in a huge city full of shops of every sort that sell lights.
Old ones, new ones, cheap and ugly ones and some mighty fine expensive antiques too.


There were a few that were so tempting and we tried so hard to be strong and not give in to temptation.. there is only one that I keep remembering as the One that Got Away .. pretty, isn't it ?

But boy did we have fun shopping. We went to neighborhoods that are just one antique shop after another, flea markets and malls and streets where every store is lighting.


Now.. our apartment is in a 100 year old French (style) building with 15 ft high ceilings and molding galore. It was made to have chandeliers , nothing modern, nothing cold and abstract, this apartment was made for curlycues and ornate ... in moderation .. but still ... 


So here is the outcome of our months of hunting and searching for just the right light for each room.
The kitchen is the most modern room ( and the bath ) with black granite and cherry cabinets. But the high ceilings and molding are there and it requires something important in a small foyer like space     when you come in the door.. 

I love looking Up at the light, it is an amazing Art Deco Milk Glass   ..


The living room has the need for 2 ceiling lights and that took the longest, what to put there that would go together or that we could get doubles of . While we were still looking for only antique lighting, we thought that maybe we would have a chandelier over the dining table and not actually chandeliers in the living room.
So we found this for the living room.

This has a great story- or so we think.  We found a set of this sort of light in an antique shop. The same shop that had the Light that got away.
But the price was incredibly high and we decided to keep looking. We came upon this light at the Mercado de las Pulgas (flea market) and wished they had two. So while walking around all the aisles and looking into all the various vendors areas, there was another one, just like it ! They are almost identical, you can't really see the difference, but we have two.


The Dining room table is Thonet and modern with a glass top and dark dark wood. We thought this light worked really well with the dark wood and glass. It's French, that's all I know .. black and gold enamel on brass.

The Hall light needed to be pretty because ... well, you have to walk down the hall to get to any other room and I see no need for anything to be just useful, it can be pretty too.

And it is ..
The bedroom lights took the longest . They had to be perfect. I found the chandelier for the  second bedroom, this room where I blog at my little desk each day, at an antique store in the part of town that has a gazillion antique shops .. I intend to buy tiny little red pleated shades for the bulbs.

And then there was just our bedroom and dressing room lights to find. The dressing room light is art deco frosted glass, I have no photo.
This is my bedroom light. 

I love my bedroom light. I clean them myself, did I mention that ? Yessirree, I climb a high ladder and spritz and wipe and clean and take care of them myself.
Only because the housekeeper is shorter than I am and can't reach. And also because they are so beautiful and I feel like we discovered each one , like a treasure. So it is my responsibility to take care of my treasures.


Can you picture what it is going to look like when or if we ever decide to move ? I am taking my lights with me. 

Sofa so good !

Today I am looking at my sofa .. a big heavy thing and wishing I had chosen one just like the one I used to have .
So if I cannot have the one I used to have ... it lives with my sweet friend who sends notes and tells me how the sofa is .. I will have to cover this one and make it more soft and inviting looking .. and feeling.

Here is the sofa ( chenille & raw silk pillows )

And here are some ideas for fabrics and cushions to make it more inviting .. It is huge, it just needs softening up .. I am totally loving the idea of chocolate brown velvet.

I am also not averse to aqua but then , maybe this style in brown velvet and I can use this color in some pillows..

There is another look that is similar ... both would look great in chocolate brown velvet, no?

But then I worry that with the wooden floors, will there be too much brown ? If I used this color will I see dog footprints on the seats ? The dog stays... so ... I like the big cushions on this below, cushy .. snuggle in with a good book, good man, good pup ... that sort of thing.

I knew I should have saved that chair and just re- upholstered  it ..

Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall ...

Mirrors, I can't get enough mirrors.
We have mirrors from Europe, from  Mexico , from antique shops in the Berkshires, upstate New York, flea markets in NY City, auctions in New Jersey  .. all kinds of mirrors.


Browsing one of my (too) many Design and Decor books  and  magazines.. yes, I have magazines but I also buy big books with grand photographs or grand residences ... so I can copy everything ! or be inspired.
I love all the Design and Interiors Blogs too ... I will list a few of my favorites ....


Little Green Notebook


Nice and Easy Antiques


Newly Wed Diaries


Habitually Chic


Tearing Up Houses


Shabby Chic


So ... browsing this great book, I found an apartment that a man has pretty much filled every room with mirrors or something mirrored. When you walk in the door, there is a small collection of antique mirrors on the wall. The Dining room is wall papered in some print that would give me nightmares if I lived there , it practically gives them to me just looking at the photos, but he has mirrored furniture !! the better to go insane looking at that wallpaper.


But  his bedroom .. now this is the room that got me .. and the bath ..


They took rectangular mirror, no frames, looks a little old and mottled .. and covered a huge section of wall with them. They all fit, snug against each other, it is not framed or finished, it is just a collage of mirrors and it is brilliant !
In the bath .. he has a small collection on a wall and then a huge standing mirror .. one of those rooms that you walk into and keep your hand on the wall so you don't walk into something.. like a mirror.


So of course, with the mirrors I have and the amount of huge great empty spaces on my walls .. this is just the thing I need to help liven the space up, cover some blank wall and not cost a fortune ..


So that is one of the things I will do.


In the guest bedroom ( my office) I am going to paint mirror frames white and hang them .. with some art. But in the Master Bedroom, I am going wild with the mirrors all together.. I have to figure out where to find those unframed old mirrors but I am going to do it.






I think the kitchen needs a big mirror, to remind you of how you look before you leave the house .. some people don't have those .. I highly recommend it.
Others will thank you for it .. even if you can't hear them.


I have to find some spot in the dressing room for a mirror .. of all rooms in a house, a dressing room should be the first to be mirrored but there is hardly any wall, everything is built-ins..


Photos ? yes, I can show you some .. see what we can do with this place ... hope you will have fun with me, I know I will have fun.
The Husband is never that quick to say ... Oh this will be fun ! but I know he will eventually admit that ... he had fun. With mirrors !

These are the mirrors, room photos later....


This old mirror is larger than the photo looks and really really old .. Movers broke the original glass. . yes, I cried.


The one below is from Stockbridge, Mass and also very old.


The big one with Pup is hanging on a wall over the dining room table. Pup can no longer admire himself in it.