HOME DESIGN: February 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

White Wood Bathroom images

White Wood Bathroom

White Wood

White Bathroom

White Wood

White Wood Bathroom

White Wood Bathroom pictures

Wood Bathroom

White Wood Bathroom

White Bathroom

White Wood

White Wood Bathroom

Pure Organization Project #8: Tupperware Storage

I have to be honest with you: I'm fading fast on the organization. I'm sorry I never got Mr.Linky up last week & especially sorry that I haven't been able to check out everyone's projects.

Last week was a crazy week for sure, but I'm having trouble seeing how it's going go get any less crazy now that I'm back at work with 2 little ones at home. SO, in the interest of sanity (my own of course ;) I'm taking a teensy chill pill about the Pure Organization. They won't be every week. (There I said it!) I just can't make it all happen right now. There may be 2 in a row and they may be every other week or I may have a good month and get them all in, but I just need to take some pressure off right now. I hope you can understand & since you're all usually extremely sweet, I'm pretty sure you will ;)

But, I do have one for you this week! Organize & purge the tupperware. This one came out of pure necessity. When all of our tupperware was clean & unused, it got to this:

Eeeeeek! No joke. We'd made a bunch of meals & frozen them for when the baby would be born, but when we ate the meals, we had way too much tupperware! (Add that to the inherited tupperware from family who'd dropped off meals.) Anyway, here was our drawer before: lots of the lids and bottoms had no mates...

And here it is now:

Ahhhhh so much better. I ditched all the mateless pieces (recycled them) and put the inherited stuff in a bag to return, and now it's feeling so much better. The key is this:

I kept one of the mateless containers and filled it with all of the lids for easy matching up. Makes it so much easier! Good luck on this one if you join in!!

xoxo,
lauren

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Francis M. Rattenbury

Francis Mawson Rattenbury

1867-1935

If you ask anybody who visits the city of Victoria in British Columbia what they liked most during their visit they will answer: Afternoon Tea at the Empress Hotel, the Legislative Buildings, the Wax Museum and of course the infamous Butchart Gardens.

Three of these Victoria’s signature icons: the Empress Hotel, the Legislative Buildings and the Wax Museum are remarkable pieces of architectural work by British architect Francis M. Rattenbury.

Rattenbury’s first opportunity came when Premier Theodore Davie approved a competition to design a new set of Parliament Buildings in Victoria. Rattenbury’s designs for the new Parliament Buildings were first shortlisted and then selected from 67 designs submitted for the competition.

Rattenbury used the name “A B.C. Architect” for his design, believing that the judges would favor a local architect. When he arrived in Victoria on March 14, 1893, to great fanfare, nobody questioned whether a 25-year-old architect was qualified for such a large project. The 1898 Romanesque British Columbia Legislature is a beautiful building that has stood overlooking the Inner Harbor for over 110 years, and is the defining structure of the landscape.

The Legislature Building

Rattenbury arrived in British Columbia with little experience but lots of charm and self-confidence. His commission to design the parliament buildings was a great coup, and Rattenbury went on to establish a flourishing practice designing such notable buildings as the Vancouver Court House (now the Vancouver Art Gallery) the Crystal Gardens in Victoria, and several banks and high end residences throughout the province.

Vancouver Art Gallery

Throughout his career Rattenbury worked on all types of buildings in Victoria, Rossland, Nelson, and New Westminster; courthouses in Nanaimo, Nelson, Vancouver and his most well-known work for the Canadian Pacific Railway the world-famous Empress Hotel, which was named in honour of the Empress of India, Queen Victoria.

The Empress Hotel, an Edwardian Chateau-Style hotel was built in 1904–1908 and since then this wonderful piece of architecture has played hostess to kings, queens, movie stars and many famous people. Also known as the Jewel of the Pacific this 460-room hotel was recently restored to its original grandeur, with antique furniture and luxurious décor.

The Empress Hotel

Another great building is The Royal London Wax Museum located in the original Canadian Pacific Steamship ticket office, where ocean liners once arrived from destinations around the world. Its noteworthy the classical lines of architecture. Today the historical past is fitting, since the museum now displays more than 300 wax reproductions.

The London Wax Museum

Rattenbury’s career was dramatic and although Rattenbury was included in the local high society, his private life was very normal. Things changed however, when he met musician Alma Pakenham starting an open affair with no concern for public opinion or for his wife Florence’s feelings. Rattenbury divorced his wife at the age of 58, and married his mistress, Alma, who was 26 years his junior. His behavior during this period of his life was not well regarded by the citizens of Victoria, and Rattenbury soon found himself to be a social outcast and decided to move back to England.

Alma Rattenbury

In 1934 Alma initiated an affair with George Stoner who was hired as a chauffer for the couple. On March 23, 1935, Rattenbury was found badly beaten in his study. Francis Rattenbury died a few days later on March 28th. Both Alma and George Stoner were initially charged with his murder. The trial was a major news story in Britain, giving everything it could have wanted: sex, drugs, celebrity and, in the end, tragedy. When the verdict was announced, Alma was found not guilty but Stoner was sentenced to death. Feeling responsible for both the murder of Francis Rattenbury and the impending execution of George Stoner, Alma committed suicide.

Francis Rattenbury was in British Columbia for only 38 years but during that time he was the most prominent architect and remains till this day one of British Columbia’s most famous.

Today while I was having an affogato date with talented local designer Gillian Ley at the Rogers Soda Shop I decided to write this entry and to honor the work of Victoria’s legend Francis M. Rattenbury.

The architectural work of Rattenbury is majestic without being excessively busy. As you can see in the images each building that he designed for the Victoria Inner harbor has a different architectural style, but they all work together harmoniously creating a sense of history; if you take in consideration that all these building were designed and built in a spam of 30 years. Victoria’s inner harbor is an example of fantastic urban planning by the architect himself.

The architectural detailing in the Rattenbury’s interior spaces are as notable as the exteriors. The woodwork in the dining room at the Empress Room is a master lesson in symmetry and craftsmanship. The Bengal Lounge, other than have the best Lemon Drop Martinis in the city, clearly reflects the atmosphere of the British colonial times with the coolest motion fans I have ever seen. The Dome at the British Legislature is another clear reflection of Rattenbury’s innate talent.

The Empress Room

The Bengal Lounge

Interior of BC Legislature [Photo by Moatway ]

Researching and writing this article made me realize how important it is to honor and remember those who have made our city one of the the best places to live. Sometimes we forget how fortunate we are to have such great and elegant architecture in our city.

I hope that the planners of Victoria realize how important it is to have real beauty around us and that there is a fine line between diversity and trash. Perhaps they will consider replacing some of the sculptures, or should I call them “visual pollution” that have been commissioned in recent years. They seem disrespectful and pale in comparison to the greatness of the city’s architectural heritage.

_________________________________

“ I suppose you got the sketches for the proposed Hotel at Victoria.
It is going to be a whopper if it goes on, and I think it will go on alright.

It will make a decided attraction to Victoria, as we really have wanted a first-class hotel”

Francis Rattenbury letter to his mother, 1903

Sources: Wikipedia, Robert Fulford column, Mini Doc Youtube, GVLP, Canadian Museum of Civilization, The Canadian Enciclopedia

Friday, February 26, 2010

Architectural Photographer Michael J. Lee

This week we sat down with the very talented architectural photographer Michael J. Lee. I (Linda) am very lucky to call Michael my own photographer as well! Michael's unique talent and eye stems from his background as a professional interior designer working for two of New England's finest design firms coupled with a slightly geeky love of technology. Michael shared with us his views on photography, the place architectural photographers sit in the spectrum of design and he shares some great tips that all of us can benefit from!

Below are some of the photographs we discuss in the podcast, so you can follow along. TIP: If you open up the post in second window, you can listen to the podcast and then click on the images below for a larger view.

Linda Merrill/Chameleon Interiors

Manuel de Santaren, Inc.

Anita Clark Interiors

Matthew Donovan Interior Decoration

Linda's kitchen bar set up

And a few more amazing photos:

Ana Donohue

Charles Spada

Days 3, 4 & 5 of the Better Homes & Gardens Shoot

I thought I'd give you a play-by-play of the last 3 days of the BHG Christmas photo shoot at our house...

The photographer, Helen Norman (above), and her assisant Fj Hughes (below) shot the house on Wednesday and Thursday. They arrived both mornings around 8 AM or so. (Just having had a baby, it's really hard to get going in the mornings: getting a shower & getting dressed sometimes feel near-impossible. Justin was really spit-uppy and I made sure not to carry him over the camera equipment... eeek )

I had so much fun working with them! Helen has a great sense of humor (hysterical) and always made sure that we knew what the next meal would be. (A woman after my own heart! But she made a really good point that when you're on a job like this it's easy to forget about meals and then people get cranky & sloppy from being hungry.) Fj has a 3 yr-old daughter and a 3 month old baby girl, so we had a lot in common.

Below, Fj is holding the coco bead chandelier OUT of the shot. (how sad for my chandy! a bit too wild for BHG I think ;)

Jessica Thomas-the stylist- (below) was amazing. The detail that's put into each & every shot is incredible. Most shots took an hour plus to shoot (some less, some more.) You'd be so surprised at how much thought is put into each shot. And I'm talking about a photo of something as small as a Christmas ornament or a plate of cookies. They made sure everything was perfect. No unsightly tree lights or wires showing, etc. It was awesome to watch. A very precarious cookie kept falling over in one shot and we all had to stand perfectly still so as not to move the floor at all. The sunlight kept going in and out of the clouds and Helen had to shoot at just the right time as Fj watched the clouds and let her know what the sky was about to be doing. Craziness. Jessica (below) has such an eye. She made sure that each and every shot had a "story." It was different than it would have been had we been shooting for a 100% design magazine vs a lifestyle magazine. The shots weren't about the furniture or the room, they were more about what's going on in the room: the people, the activities, and Christmas of course. The room is more the backdrop for the story vs. the focus of the story. (But of course the rooms had to look perfect in order to help "tell" the story.)

Joanna Linberg (below) is writing the story. She also assisted Jessica in getting all of the props ready for the shoot and was AMAZING with Christian. (He will be SO sad when he learns that "Miss Joanna" and "Miss Jessica" / The "Homes & Gardens Ladies" are not coming back tomorrow. I've been using them to get Christian to do things: i.e. "Miss Joanna wants you to brush your teeth." hee hee hee) You know when you meet someone and they just exude goodness? That's Joanna. She's so young and has worked so hard to get to where she is.

We were in a few of the photos and Christian did such a great job. He was such a good little kid throughout the whole process & really followed directions well. ("Ok, now go on your knees and giggle." etc.. He had so much fun!)

Below is a picture of my kitchen shelves being emptied so Jessica could style them. I LOVE what she did and am sad to see the things go! She used a combination of my own things, some props from the Meredith prop room and some thigns we found at On a Whim and Lucketts.

On the last day, at the end, we started running out of daylight. Daylight is so important, because if you lose it, the photographers have to light the space and the look is totally different. (not as pretty at all either!) That crazy cookie kept falling over and then it was time for our family portrait. Justin was crying and we had to get the shot as quickly as possible before the sun went down. Definitely felt the pressure but it was so exciting! Ps- I think I TOTALLY scared Jessica before we met. We'd been doing a lot of the prep over the phone/ emails and I told her multiple times how excited I was about the shoot. (She does this ALL the time and so was not nearly there with me ;) When some extra Christmas ornaments arrived for the tree, I got teary (give me a break- I just had a baby!) because they were so perfect. I called Jessica and told her how much I loved them & how excited I was she was like, "Ok," (probably like "what is wrong with this girl?????!" hahah) Jessica is awesome at what she does& just so much fun and I'm honestly surprised everyone's not this nutty around her.

On Day 5 (Today) Jessica & Joanna packed up everything from the shoot & put our house back in order. (FedEx will pick all of the boxes up later this week to send them back to the Meredith Studio and back to the companies they came from.) Jessica & Joanna also (as they did all week long) helped take care of Christian & Justin, and Jessica even made Christian a peanut butter & jelly sandwich for lunch. Finally, we said our goodbyes and Christian waved at our new friends from the window.

Below, here we all are at the end of the shoot. Everyone was so good to Christian & Justin. (Helen below, with my little guy. He loved them all so much. )

I'm really going to miss them all. It was such a fun crazy week. ...Such an awesome experience and I just feel so lucky to have gotten the chance to work with such talented, sweet people. I wish we all lived closer.

And I can't wait to see the spread next November!!! (Feels like forever away!!!)

Have a great weekend!!

xoxo,

lauren

**update** I should clarify that they used a lot of our own things: my urns, cakestands, plates, stemware, silverware, pillows, blankets, ornaments, accessories, etc... but supplemented them all with some extras & of course more Christmas things (Our trees & garlands were long dead) and food. Jessica worked really hard to make sure that the items they brought in worked with my style & blended seamlessly with what we already had. :) so much fun!!

Homemade Granola

Granola is expensive for what it is. My mom and sister-in-law both gave it out as gifts this Christmas. So I decided to make my own, I must say I am a good cook. I can follow recipes and if I don't things more often than not turn out fine. My granola did not turn out okay. It tastes a little like the burnt insides of an oven. I used a recipe from Sharing the Table at Garland's Lodge (it was not the cookbook's fault), maybe it was the peanut butter mixture was cooked too long, maybe it was using a new oven, maybe granola is not my thing. I will try granola again, I will try to get it right. Now what can I do with 10 cups of slightly burnt tasting granola?

Outdoor Wicker Furnitures

With theseason changing many of us are looking at our patio furniture and thinking about different options. In today's market there are so many options available when it comes to decorating outdoors. The outdoor wicker furniture ideas here come from Summer Classics. I like to look around at as many models, styles, and colors as I can before making a decision. Hopefully, you find a style that you like or a picture that gets your mind thinking about decorating possibilities. Via.