Gray

Mrs. Blandings posted several gray rooms on her blog. I adore gray, and, over the years, I have had several gray rooms. In our first home, I decided I loved the beautiful grey rooms of Paulina Rothschild, so, in our third bedroom / office I painted it grey and put up moulding. Even though I didn't own a miter box, I mitered the corners of the moulding by hand. It can be done, but I don't recommend it! I'll post pictures later, but it will take me a few to find them. The living room and hallway of that house were later painted a wonderful shade of grey-brown called ET-69, under Benjamin Moore's old color system. This heralded the start of my love of Benjamin Moore paints. In our second house, which was extremely beige when we moved in, I painted the master bathroom Mozelle, again from Benjamin Moore, as a base to a beautiful and subtle faux finish.
Oddly, in showcase homes, I have painted lamswool, from Pratt and Lambert, but I have never found a place for it in my own home. By the way, I love Pratt and Lambert, too.
It took me a while to find the next gray love, this one is very subtle. When we were applying it, it appeared nearly as off-white as the builder off-white we were covering. But then, as it dried and our furniture came back in, it took on it's own subtle luminosity. This color, in the picture above, is Ashwood. Did I mention I love Benjamin Moore paint?
I have added a picture, the one with the lamp off shows the gray in its true tone. The lamp on shows the paint as more camel.

Small town living

We really don't have to look very far to see why we Americans are so overweight. When I was young I was thin, very thin. Scaring my mama thin. Scaring the doctor thin. But I ate, in fact I don't eat much differently now than I did then. Now I am overweight, worrying me overweight, worrying the doctors overweight. Mostly, I chalk it up to having quit smoking and long ago having quit ballet. Then I started to think about how I am having more trouble walking at my age than my mother did at this same age. My mother, having been raised on a farm with limited access to automobiles, walked a great deal during her youth. Then I thought about when I was young. I walked to the local shopping center and even to downtown. I walked up to the nearby Texaco and back. Most of these trips were two or three miles round trip - thank you google maps! But, still, I am certain that I walked less than my mother did at a comparable age. Now I am worried about my children. the roads around here are all State numbered highways; it isn't particularly safe to walk anywhere, thanks to the impatient jerks who cannot slow down to the speed limit and simply must pass a left turning vehicle on the shoulder. So, they haven't been able to walk to a friends house, to the craft shop, even to school. Will they be able to walk at all at my age?

design blogger's challenge again

Maison 21's Design Blogger challenge, is, well challenging. The chandelier has the onion domes of old Russia, reminiscent of the film Dr. Zhivago.




















So many things impressed me from the David Lean film, not the least of which is the scenes of Zhivago and Lara living at Varykino. Instead of living in the workers cabin, they break into the Summer House. The rooms were covered in snow and dropcloths and were all white. Those rooms and that era were my inspiration for the Edwardian Drawing Room.
















Drawing inspiration from the film, John Singer Sargent's portrait of Teddy Roosevelt, at art.com, and the Londan Radisson Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel at qqq.radisson.com/londonuk_vanderbilt. I created a warm and inviting Edwardian Drawing Room. Beginning with the walls, I choose Monterey White from Benjamin Moore; for the floors, I chose French Limestone, from www.ajstoneworks.com/tile The fireplace is the Chelsea from Mantels Direct, www.mantelsdirect.com/chelseaTC.html.
I chose the James chair from Williams Sonoma Home,www.wshome.com, in sueded Chino, Espresso, to flank the fireplace. Between them, I have placed The Trophy Room's beautiful zebra rug, www.trophyroomcollection.com/zebra/rza.html. Finally, because Edwardian Gentlemen need a table on which to set their brandys, I chose the Genoa coffee table from Target.