Pet siblings

Does anyone else have pets who act like siblings?? I have two kids and the sibling rivalry is ON but I've noticed in the last week that my dog and cat have a similar relationship. If the dog is outside, the cat cries at the door. If the dog is inside, the cat cries at the door. If the dog gets sliced turkey, the cat screams for it even though she will not actually eat it. If the cat is on the bed, the dog is resentful. If the cat is on the dog bed, he stares until she moves. If the dog smells cat food, watch out. He's on it like white on rice.

I have always wanted a cat and a dog at the same time. But this is too much. Between the cat and the dog, the boy and the girl, the husband and the wife, holy crap. It's a bit much.

Can't we all just get along?!?!?

Let The Dining Room Project Begin!

For the past month, we have been unable to live in our home due to construction on the new garage and living space. It's amazing how few days it takes to truly miss your home. In my case, it was 4 days. And come to think of it, that applies to vacation as well. I'm happy to be in a different spot for up to 4 days, so long as I know I am returning home at that point. Beyond that, I turn into a complete psycho. Ask My Dear Sweet Husband and Kids. They will eagerly agree. OK, so I learned something about my self. I lack a certain desirable grace under environmental pressure. I'm not making excuses. I wish I was better, but it is what it is.

In any event, we came home on Friday. Finally. Praise Jesus, Buddha and Elvis.

Once we unpacked and settled back in, I started looking at the dining room again. Boooorrriiiinnngggg!!

Several months ago I had trolled the Internets looking for some inspiring dining room designs, but too many other projects and commitments took my attention away. Well, now I'm ready to dive in. So just for the record, here's what it looks like now. (Crappy fuzzy photos brought to you by the Apple iPhone 3)

View from the door. It's an entry view room, but not impressive.
Design note: there's some interesting elements, but it lacks any cohesive design.



View into the foyer.
Design note: the Foscarini chandelier is fabulous but is starving for a worthy space. I am maritally obligated to tell you that Patrick chose the light.

View into the Butler Pantry (unfortunately, a Butler was not included in the purchase of the home last year).
Design note: since the dining room is viewed from the foyer, the sitting room and the kitchen, the design must flow seamlessly from one room to another.

View from the pantry toward the entry.
Design note: I'm not sure what this corner wants: a comfy armchair, lamp and table for reading, the bar or ?? 

Right wall of the dinning room. On view upon entry into the foyer.
Design note: I LOVE the bar in this room.  

Table, chairs and Mr. Sailfish.
Design note: JJ paid an arm and a leg for the table and chairs, so they will stay until the kids either fight over them or put them in the estate sale 40 years from now. That said, I'm seriously considering changing the red fabric.

View of the front windows and back wall.  
Design note: the sofa and cover is going into JJ's new living space upstairs, so I won't work that into the design. That said, I like the idea of a curved settee or banquette style bench to add seating to the table.

Princess Tea Party Part Two

A second round of images from the Lady's 5th Birthday Tea Party. I am still getting positive feedback from the party and questions about how to do it. Here's how we did it:

Letters in pastel card stock were sprayed with glue and glittered in coordinating colors, then taped onto satin ribbon. If you are more organized than I, you can order a similar banner from Martha Stewart.com and it will cost a lot less than my DIY version. The flowers are tissue paper blooms.

The dessert table was layered in lace curtain panels. The rest of the decor is a study in "use what you have decorating": paper blooms left over from the mantle, extra fresh flowers, glittered lanterns  that looked goofy in the centerpiece and a Cinderella figurine and slippers from Grandma. The cupcake stand is a cake plate, a silver tray balanced on top a white planter from Ikea.

Clear glass vases and pastel vases from the 1940s were filled with candy and paper blooms. A simple paper bloom garland is draped over a silver mirror left over from our move a year ago. After the tea party, we cleared the tables and made a candy bar complete with go-bags. The kids LOVED it!

Another shot of the centerpiece. Paper lanterns, paper fans, bloom poufs and silvered candleholders strung from the ceiling provide the anchor to pink tulle garlands and paper lanterns in the corners of the room. Cinderella blue balloons hang from pink streamers. It's about as low tech as you can get, but it took a while to hang it all from the ceiling in an ordered manner. Lots of trips up and down the ladder.

Detail of the color scheme.

My Sweet Baby before she dives into her cake. JJ made the cake, decorated with love and topped with 3 different candles. It resembled a small bonfire when lit, so I was glad when she made the wish and blew out the candles.

Sweet Tea Party Princesses. I hope you are looking at a future CEO, Shareholder and Surgeon and not a princess.

The Lady's 5th Birthday Tea Party

The Lady requested a Princess Tea Party for her 5th birthday. I wasn't enthusiastic about buying into the whole Disney Princess theme. I don't really get it, nor do I want to get it. I'm not a big fan of the whole "Prince Charming will make you happy and complete" thing. Not that pure Feminism has panned out all that well either, but damn, can we not shoot for some middle ground here?

I realize I am making this more a statement about me and my feminist ethos than about a child's bday party, but if I'm the role model, I'm damn well going to take it seriously. So, ok fine. I did the princess tea party, but as Sinatra sang, "I did it my waaaaaay". Minimal liscensed materials. Pastel colors. More teacups than crowns. Subliminal messages imbedded in the cupcakes stressing the importance of graduate school, physical and emotional self-defense and a sense of humor.

The sitting room was empty (except for my renovated furniture), so it proved to be the perfect setting. I rented kid tables and chairs and loaded the space with paper lanterns, tissue flowers and tulle.

I checked out some tea party images on the internets and was intrigued by the ceiling centerpiece. So I gave it a shot. This is my favorite part of the room. I may leave it up for a while.

Detail of the tea tables set with vintage tea cups and dessert plates from the 1920s to 1950s. JJ made the Disney princess runner. Tulle in pink, blue and yellow ribbon festooned the chairs. Apple juice was served in lieu of tea.

The cupcake table featured Cinderfella's coach and the Godmother and rodent friends.

Detail of the sweet rosebud cupcakes.

Detail of the Lady's cake.

Don't kid yourself. She's not thinking about a pony or a Bratz Strip/Tatoo Parlor. She is wishing for a solid real estate portfolio. One that will ensure personal independence thoughout her life.

Detail of Ava's First Cupcake.

Sweet Marie. 

Inspired by Tail of the Yak

A couple of weeks ago (or was it months? Where am I? What day is it??) I blogged about a shop in Berkeley called Tail of the Yak. It's a dreamy, magical place (check out the previous bog) and was always an inspiration to me. So while walking in the neighborhood the other day, my eye caught a branch that sparked inspiration. Years and years ago I planned on hanging a branch with small paper lanters over my bed. It never happened. But I did get the paper lanterns and 15 years later, I have hung them over The Lady's vanity.


I added some butterflies to the mix. I think it needs more. And maybe some moss. Man, I hate that vanity light. It was in the house when we bought it and thought it would look ok for a kid's room, but it sucks no matter who sleeps there. It's outta here!

A collection of things I have gathered through the years (the wrought iron roses are from New Orleans, the milagros from Mexico, the floral paintings from flea markets, the moth from Fair Park in Dallas) and new additions from Charlotte.

The Lady's view from below. I think it's a cool shot.

Orange who? Orange You Glad It's Not Brown?

Drum Roll Please......

Here's the end product: a boring wood cube table transformed into a Happy Chic storage space for shoes, dog toys and games. I'm diggin' the orange big time. It's so Palm Springs circa 1968. Not neon, but bold and confident.

I'm not sure about the Ikat basket and cement pot mix. It's eclectic for sure, but until I find another storage piece, Ikat it is.

Check out the Russell Woodhouse Sculptura pieces in the background. I scored on this purchase at a sale over the weekend. Now I don't want to sell them because I AM IN LOVE WITH THEM!

It's funny...in photos the room looks cold, but in real time, it's a room teeming with life and activity. I wanted it to look like an art gallery, and it does, but does anyone actually live in an art gallery? I mean in the exhibit area, not in a cool flat above the gallery. I think not. Not anyone with kids anyway. This is all part of my coming to terms with the fact that I have children and I am not a single woman in an all white loft in NYC.

Maybe a rug is in order. Something I can take to the car wash and hose off after a weekend with my wrecking crew.

Knock Knock. Who's There? Orange.

I bought these side tables from Crate and Barrel last year in a burst of impending house guest panic. I needed side tables for the guest room and didn't want to spend any money. These fit the bill: simple, inexpensive and unobtrusive. But after we moved, I realized that unobtrusive really meant boring. It's a good thing I kept them in the guest room since they inspire narcolepsy. I thought about ditching them on Craig's list, but hey, why not slap some paint on them and see if it makes a difference?

So here's the plan: Bright orange paint in the highest gloss available, then I'll put them in the dining room with a couple of Sansivera plants in industrial pots. If sucks, I'll sell them or put them up in the playroom.



Before: boring. boooorring. boooorrrriiinnnggg.

The antidote: Benjamin Moore Electric Orange.

Child Labor. I know, I know....but she volunteered! Really!

It was bound to happen. Gus is very good about putting the ball in the most convenient location, so it's virtually impossible NOT to throw it.

Nice mustache.

Stay tuned for the final product. They are drying as we speak.

A Dresser with a Past (part 2)

So a couple of months ago, I bought a vintage dresser for The Lady. I thought I'd just go ahead and sand it, stain it and paint it likety split. No problem, right? Well, it turns out all that takes a monumental amount of time. I'd guess it was about 20 hours of work. If the law firm I work for charged it out, it would come in around $6,000. I know this because my spouse evaluates everything by the billable hour. In his mind, this dresser has cost him about $6,300. And he didn't even like it in the first place.

I thought it would be a good idea to remove the veneer from the top of the dresser. This turned out to be a very, very, very bad idea. If you ever feel like removing wood veneer is a good idea, please save yourself the time and energy and just shove wood slivers in your hand and nails, bang your knuckles repeatedly with a hammer, then go to Home Depot and buy another damn piece of evil wood veneer to cover the one that is already there. It will be a lot less painful this way.

Also, be wary of the spouse who offers advice about wood refinishing (especially when he has  NO EXPERIENCE WHATSOEVER), but who does not actually help with the project. This is a passive-aggressive attempt to get you back for all those bitchy PMS moments you've given him over the years. Well deserved? Perhaps. But now you've been warned, so look out.

The drawers were easy to stain and they looked great. Washing the stain out of the dog's tail was not so easy.

It went from shabby chic to pile of crap right quick, let me tell you. I'm sure my neighbors enjoyed the view from their second story window for those 6 enchanted weeks of renovation.

Finally complete. Not bad, huh?! I had grand ideas of hand painting the relief, but I've had it with this project for now, so I called it a day and left it white. I actually like it like this. And that's not just because I'm lazy. Who knows...maybe I'll even install the other cabinet door pull someday.

Our White Trash Disaster

Ok. I know there's only a few of you actually reading this blog (and thank you for that), but I have to admit, I hesitated to post these images. I know that it's an editorial trick to post the absolute worst "before" pictures, so that the "after" pictures are even more dramatic, but this is pushing the envelope on the worst of the worst.

This, dear reader, is my White Trash backyard right in the heart of Preston Hollow.

Let's break it down:

The Good:

Hmm. Let's see....um...the trees. OK. That's something. And, uh, the size of the yard. Yes! Size matters, people!  Nice french doors that will eventually open to a lovely outdoor setting. A mosquito mister system. Now if I can only figure out how to use it. That's about it.

The Bad:

siding on the 2nd floor and garage, wet nasty dog bed, dog poop, crappy brick steps with exposed foundation, dead grass, live weeds, the purposeless brick pillar in the center of the patio area, mud pits (these are essential for the monster trucks my kids play with), no landscaping to speak of save for a few brave trees, plastic Ikea kid furniture and, yes, tile (tile?!) by the alley gate entry. It's an absolute frickin' disaster.

In the coming months, this scene will actually get worse. We will be adding on a garage bay and a second story guest space above, so it will be construction central for the second summer in a row. Serenity now. However, part and parcel of that project is the laying of the hardscape bones of the outdoor room, so perhaps by July, I'll be able to serve a mid-summer dinner on the patio....but the guests will be seated facing the house. HA!

Greenery for the Living Room

I've been AWOL from Domicile for a while. Modern Hindsight has been keeping me busy, but since I cleared all the vintage furniture out of the sitting room, I'm feeling inspired to get back to decorating the house. To wit, the living room needed a little more green. I found this cool planter at Calloways and popped in a succulent...et voila!

The Jade plant reminds me of the California Coast.

Crap. Now I'm homesick again.

The Front Yard (Part 2)



Phase 2 of the landscaping project. Tabula Rasa. Clean beds and compost. I already love it more than before.







The Front Yard Landscaping (Part 1)

Since I started Modern Hindsight, my vintage furniture business, I've been preoccupied with that project and have eased up on the interior projects and focused on the outdoor projects. We decided to do the landscaping in the front yard first. All of the beds would be stripped of everything but the trees. Layers of shrubs, annuals and a couple of new trees would take the place of the the sad little shrubs and groundcover that came with the house.

"Before" the landscaping project.

Truly depressing.

This was actually the best of the worst.

The center section was the worst. Three different hedge shrubs? What was this builder thinking?