I think I truly mourned when G.F. McGregor’s in Rockland Maine closed. You know how you find that very small handful of shops in your life that truly inspire you? They are curated and merchandised to perfection, and you just want to move in? That was how I felt about G.F. McGregor’s, but yesterday, I found a shop to fill the void.

My aunt bought some gorgeous Thomas Paul pillows for our family place in Maine (much to my chagrin, as I could have ordered them at DP), but when I asked her where she’d found them, she sent me to fourTwelve Home in Rockland. Formerly just the clothing and accessories boutique, the shop acquired the space next door and opened up a home store.

Home Goodies to the left, Clothing to the right…hey, there’s my Mom!

This shop combines just the right combination of historical preservation and regency glamor. The original wooden floors are painted light gray with a tiny hint of green/blue in it. The original exposed brick walls are painted white. The ceilings are covered in white tin tiles, and the exposed pipes are painted white. That’s where the the old patina shows through; everything else is shiny and fresh. It is a perfect balance. There are fabulous light fixtures hanging in a line down both halves of the store, there is oversized floral wallpaper in the dressing rooms along with benches, there are gorgeous mirrors and mirrored furniture, there is a large velvet ottoman in the boutique (it looks like it came straight from Nanette Lepore’s closet), and there are little peacocks peeking out at you here and there from the tops of shelves.

Included in the home items were John Derian decoupage, Jonathan Adler vases, Thomas Paul pillows, Bob’s My Uncle sea life plates, emu furniture, funny books, gorgeous soaps and bath items, those cool Caspari long match matchbooks, and a fun array of letterpress cards. It’s a perfect stop for accessorizing one’s own home or for picking up a great gift for just about anyone for any occassion at any price point.

By the way, among all the great articles of clothing they had in there, I kept pulling out the cutest pieces and they were all by Beth Bowley, whom I hadn’t heard of before. It turns out she is the owner, a Parsons grad, and she launched her clothing line in 1998.

Overall, the decor reminded me of the jewelry available in the store. The newer lines are very delicate, and handcrafted from silver and gold. In addition, they have a wide array of vintage pieces that are unique with some hints of funk and a few well-earned signs of age. It’s a new inspiration I know I’ll keep in the back of my mind whenever I am decorating.

This just in from the fabulous Vanessa de Vargas of TurquoiseLA. If you are in L.A. this weekend, be sure to catch this sale!

We are delighted to invite you to our premier designer tag sale, a HIGH-END DESIGNER SHOPPING EVENT!! Please feel free to forward this to your friends and contacts!!

The Designer Tag Sale is an interior designer yard sale/tag sale organized by interior designer Vanessa De Vargas and design editor Vanessa Kogevinas. Hosted by entrepreneur Amy Swift (SMARTY.), the sale will feature over ten top Los Angeles designers selling items from their personal inventories including small furniture such as side-tables, lamps, rugs, pillows, art, accessories and more at incredibly low prices! Nothing will be over $200 and prices will run as low as $5.

Designers include Molly Luetkemeyer, Ron Woodson, Jamie Rummerfield, Lindsey Dann Miller, Vanessa De Vargas, Paula Smail, Carla Lane, Jennifer Culp, Michelle Workman, Krista Ewart, Kelly Van Patter, Erica Islas, Jonamor Décor, Stephanie Visser and Cory Pernicano.

Confirmed vendors are Sobe, Elixir G, New Editions, and Yelp who will be participating as a media sponsor.

Free gift bags will be offered to the first thirty attendees and will include items from Henry Road, Bueller Designs, Blue Pool Road, Yelp, Fauna Pet and C Magazine’s newest issue!

There will also be a raffle with gifts from Apartment Therapy, Kreme wallpaper and Anney Friday Jewelry. Complimentary entertainment will include Elixir G Margaritas, Yvonne’s Gluten-Free Cookies, light passed appetizers and beauty treatments. DJ New Berlin will be spinning.

Any non-purchased/left-over designer inventory will be donated to Biet T’Shuvah, a local Venice residential treatment, spiritual and education center.

The Designer Tag Sale will also feature free mini-consultations and appraisals by designers so we ask that you bring pictures of your home and furniture items if you wish to participate.

Entry fee is $10. Cash only please.

We look forward to your participation and support, and thank all of our participants, without whom this event would not be possible!

Check out our blog for websites and more info!!

 

Designer Tag Sale logo and invitation designed by Tatiana Kogevinas.
All rights reserved.

After seeing Kristen Bell’s Hollywood home in the last issue of In Style, I decided to try and find out more about her designer, Stacey Vurduris. She has a few of her projects up on flickr, right here. Below are a few of my favorites, which feature great texture achieved through using beautiful tiles:

To see more of Stacey Vurduris’s work on Flickr, click here. Her website is here. The Kristen Bell In Style spread is here. Here’s a peek, God I miss Veronica Mars!

First three photos via flickr. Last photo by Francois Halard, via In Style via StaceyVurdurisDesign.com.

Last night I found myself marking “add to faves” on almost every single one of laurasmera’s pictures. I’m a HUGE fan of clawfoot tubs, especially black and white, and this bathroom knocked me out. At first I was not digging the green tile floors, but they are growing on me:

Here is another clawfoot in a much more minimal bathroom (from laurasmera as well):

Speaking of clawfoot tubs, I have been failing miserably to enlist many members in a clawfoot tub Flickr group. If you have any clawfoot tub pictures, please add them to the group pool!

Thanks to laurasmera for adding so many great shots to Fresh New Spaces.

I had been meaning to stop by City Issue for about a year and I finally did on Monday. Perhaps I sensed the danger; I wanted everything in this store! There’s been a void since Victory Vintage downsized (you can still find a booth at Kudzu), and City Issue will definitly help to fill it. Filled with Mid-Century Modern pieces, the set decorator for Mad Men could completely outfit offices of Sterling and Cooper from this store. It was the first time I’ve ever seen a George Nelson desk Paul McCobb wine rack in person:

Here’s the weirdest lamp I’ve ever seen:

Fabulous modern woodstoves without the mess or fuss (they are electric):

There are many foundry mold patterns to choose from. I love the way they have arranged them on this wall; the colors are so well-balanced:

I could go on about this place and post about 15 more badly-shot camera phone pictures, but I’m going to edit myself a bit. There are dozens of Danish Modern pieces, driftwood tables, original lamps by  Mark Harding Designs, C. Jere sculptures, vintage ceramics, original artwork from the mid-century as well as exhibits and art openings of current artists. There are pieces by Thonet, Eames, Dunbar, Dansk, Aalto, Saarinen, and many more iconic designers. The store is in a great location (across Highland from Fritti; 325 Elizabeth Street), it is expertly merchandised, the owners are as nice and helpful as can be, there’s a mascot inside some days, her name is Ernie and she’s a sweet pup, and most importantly, they are HAVING A SALE THIS WEEKEND, tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday. I have been trying to stop myself from picking up the driftwood tables and a Scandanavian Modern sofa:

To see all of the inventory, go to cityissue.com. Even if you aren’t in Atlanta, you can call the store and have items shipped. They will also search for items that you are seeking and cannot find. To register for inventory updates and upcoming events, click here.

We already knew that the set directors of AMC’s Mad Men are geniuses. On this week’s episode called “Jet Set,” we find Don Draper in California in an amazing modern house in Palm Springs. Does anyone know which house this is? It was decorated to perfection – a white background, warm wood accents, colorful glass bottles and lamps, red womb chairs, a Saarinen tulip table, red foo dogs, modern paintings, funky screen walls, striped glassware, perfectly styled bookshelves, wall sculptures and light fixtures, an amazing pool area and even a light blue telephone. Here I sit late on a Sunday night taking pictures of my television set because the AMC.com gallery does not have any good shots of the locations and sets.

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Not everything that makes a room appealing costs a great deal of money. Some things cost a lot of money, some very little, some none at all. These are the details that make the difference between a perfectly nice room and one that is full of life and charm.

For instance: I’ve always believed that architecture is more important than decoration. Scale and proportion give everlasting satisfaction that cannot be achieved by only icing the cake.

-Billy Baldwin in BILLY BALDWIN decorates*

Isn’t it amazing to see how many of the elements Baldwin used are still popular today? The man sure knew how to arrange a tablescape as well! Details, details, details!

*hmmm, by the way, I cannot quite tell from the amazon.com link above if the book is being re-released soon. The listing I found implies that it is, but I could not find out anymore information about it.

quote and  photos from BILLY BALDWIN decorates

I was so obsessed with Candace Bergen’s office at Vogue in The Sex and the City movie that I almost took a picture of it in the theater. Turns out I’m a big chicken and I was afraid I’d be arrested for bootlegging or something. Thanks to Traditional Home Magazine, I now have the image to share with you:

Check out those AMAZING Dorothy Draper chests! I count three of them. I was focusing so much on them, I didn’t even notice those fabulous chairs, the elegant desk, the seemingly out of place modern chair, and that weird gold deerhead thing in the top left corner. I don’t know what ages more gracefully – Draper’s chests or Candace Bergen.

Every so often I receive these big tempting catalogs called “Neiman Marcus: The Book.” As an added bonus, there is often a copy of INCIRCLE entree*. The only times I ever yearn to be rich are when the Hartsfield-Jackson security line for serfs like me is endless and I long for my own jet, and when I flip through entree.

This photo was taken by Kevin Garrett, who scouted out the best places to stay in South Africa for the magazine. It is the lobby of The Saxon Boutique Hotel in South Africa. I love the way the baskets are composed, and the color and texture they give to the wall; texture tells the whole story in this room.  It seems very Vicente Wolf, whether it be something that would inspire him or something he would design. 17-hour flight in coach or not, I have been dreaming of going to this place ever since I read his article.

In fact, I couldn’t help but thing of  the Kelly Wearstler Santa Monica Viceroy Hollywood Regency version of adding texture to a wall with “native” round objects.  She keeps her color palette neutral (albeit what I call “Wearstler-crisp”) as well:

photo one by Kevin Garrett for Neiman Marcus INCIRCLE entree

photo two from KWID.com

*I can’t for the life of me figure out how to put the little thingee over the second “e” in entree. I can’t for the life of me remember what the thingee is called. Is it a tilde? I took Latin and Spanish, not French!  And “Intro to BASIC” instead of “Intro to HTML” or “Typing for Dummies”.

For a lot of designers, writing is a lost art. People have become lost in archispeak and are unable to describe a room or tell a story. This week I’ve been thoroughly enjoying a delicious memoir written by one of the best known decorators of this century: Billy Baldwin Remembers. I’m kind of kicking myself right now because it starts on amazon for about $10, and I paid $45 at that unfriendly Savannah book store, but it was worth it. You are a fool if you don’t hop over there (the title’s the link) and scoop this one up right now.

The book starts with some of Baldwin’s early inspirations and experiences. He describes the “stars in his crown;” iconic ladies of style like Nan Kempner, Babe Paley, Diana Vreeland, Jackie O. and even Garbo. Even better, he dishes the dirt about clients from hell, their peculiar habits, bad taste, lack of manners, bizarre requests and overinflated self importance. Read the rest of this entry »