Fornasetti Newspaper and MariposasThere is a nice spread called Inspired Irreverence about Temo Callahan's apartment in New York City. Like many creative types, he makes his small apartment come alive in a few kooky and quirky and beautiful ways.
The thing that really caught my eye is his kitchen, and the stove!
An artist friend painted the cabinets, and Temo says he doesn't use the kitchen very much.I am so intrigued by the stove! It looks like newspaper is glued to it! I love using newspaper to make hats, and boats, and wrap presents, etc.
I have never seen a stove decoupaged before, and here goes my own domino effect: If you can make a hat, why not cover a stove?
Pierro Fornasetti was covering Gio Ponti furniture with newspaper way back in the day, his own domino effect of a surreal art play on words. I have been a longtime admirer of Fornasetti.
His son Barnaba did up a Milan apartment, revamping his father's original design of newspaper covered furniture (and floor!) with hand painted butterflies.
I went to art school, and have a little surreal paste pot fun in me too, as you can see by my own kitchen cabinets. The ugly and worn white Formica doors were either removed or covered with trompe l'oeil wallpaper.
Where do the real plates end, and the phony ones start? Ha ha ha.The joke is on me, because I am stuck with a really ugly stove that came along with the house. It works fine, so I just decided to make-do with it. I hate the ugly and impossible to keep clean black glass door, backsplash, and part where the knobs are. I don't think it's much of stretch from wallpaper to newspaper!
So I'm thinking about getting out the Modge Podge and slapping some newspaper on the stove! Maybe some Paris editions! I don't care about the stove at all, so if it really sucks, it may finally be the motivation to get a new one. The dishwasher is a Bosch, and is really in great shape too. I have not been able to find the replacement panel for the worn out front, so it may get a paper delivery too!What do you think? You know I'm crazy, but....
NOOOOOOOO. The Hostess cannot possibly let you do this, not and look at herself in the mirror ever again. I nearly fell houndstooth chair! I stood up but got woozy and tripped over my needlepoint loafers breaking my pearls and musing my bob! What kind of blog friend would I be? Please kindly advise me if this is serious enough to merit intervention and will do all possible to make my- (traditional, old school, camphor and tweeds) self of use to you. Oh dear, dear, dear. :) Hope you're well, Vamp!! p.s. I love it that this thing instructs me to "Choose an identity"...
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of newspaper decoupage, so I say do it! That is, if you don't use your stove. Temo said he doesn't use his kitchen - you can tell by the stacks of books on the counter - and I think the newspaper would get quite messy if you actually cook. Your kitchen is adorable with or without decoupaging the stove!
ReplyDelete-Lana
Crazy/ingenious...you know there is just a fine sinewy silver line between the two.
ReplyDeleteGo.For.It!!
Lovin' your cabinets!!!
Oh Blushing Hostess,
ReplyDeleteI would do this crazy thing just to have the joyful experience of your on site intervention!!!
Is it the look, or the concern for safety and durability? Or is it just plain hideous looking to you ha ha!
I would certainly put many coats of poly-U over said paper.
I have a photo copy of the Fornasetti paper print with butterflies, and could duplicate enough sheets to do a tasty collage.
My countertops are faux concrete/stone. I spread merely a thin veneer of product over woeful "wood printed" worn out laminate. I put many coats of poly on them, and four years later they are holding up (as are the paste pot cabinet doors).
Whlist we do use our kitchen much more than Temo, we are just two oldsters making toast most of the time. Well, maybe an etouffe and a gumbo and blakened cat fish...but we're careful of our phony surfaces, if you know what I mean.
Thank you for your heartfelt concern!
xo xo xo
I love this kitchen as is. Something marvelously new and old about it at the same time. And wonderful that it is not the same sort of thing one sees all over! As to the oven/ heating devices and the potential decoupaging of same: It worries me to discuss these things together. As the Hostess may have mentioned, it was generally a rule that before beginning to cook a big family meal in the Hostess' childhood home, someone would generally alert the fire chief so that he did go down to the Shoprite and get too far afield should the inevitable arise (this is rural horse country after all and Dave was forever wandering off). Now, we always kept the salt and extinguisher handy trying to head these thigns off ourselves but there was the time the cat left his tail on a hot burner when Mother turned away momentarily and then ran off down the hall with his ass on fire (not to worry, he put it out himself on the Oriental rug) and the couple of times the candy boiled over after someone went to the door or that unfortunate thing with the "new turkey cooking method."... but we never saw any of that coming. I feel this is perhaps the one time I see fire disaster in the offing. I don my daughters plastic fireman hat as I say: I will not allow Vamp to be sacrificed - not even for decoupage (the Hostess favorite boudoir wastebasket treatment!). Oh, how I wish I could have my tumbler in hand as I take counsel of my decoupage-stove fears but alas this pregancy thing really sucks. Be well (and fire retardant), Vamp!
ReplyDeletei like this idea.
ReplyDeleteand your idea of using some paris editions is fantastic.
Off topic, but I just wanted to say I love your business card illustrated by PVE :)
ReplyDeleteHi Visual Vamp!I've been dropping in for some time now and loved your kitchen when I first saw it. I too think you should leave it as is. Unless you need a temp change. You could always change it back (I think).
ReplyDeletehi,
ReplyDeletetry brown paper bags from the grocery store. when you apply them to walls they look a bit like leather.
i did the french newspaper thing on a clients family room / eat kithen dining table. it was ok...i did not love it .
but i loved the brown paper bags, and they are thicker than the paper.
i love your site !
It was extremely interesting for me to read this post. Thanx for it. I like such topics and everything that is connected to this matter. I definitely want to read a bit more soon.
ReplyDeleteKeep on posting such themes. I love to read articles like that. Just add more pics :)
ReplyDelete