Dreaming

Dreaming. As in they must be dreaming. The very target customer for the things they sell, young women, college girls, romantic Boho types, artists, poets, and dreamers, could never afford to buy one piece of their gorgeous furniture. They taunt us with pretty catalogs. And the clever ones, hit the thrift stores, and craft the unattainable priced things in their own way. So I thank them for the dreams and the inspiration.

Hang a large interesting textile on your wall - I love the over dye rug on the floor

Funny styling - the chair looks so teeny - look for the unwanted old man pictures at the thrift store

Get out the stencils and sponges and rags to do a wall like this

Mix those textures!

You can find Suzanis on eBay to reupholster simple chairs with - The bird wallpaper is to die for, but I use inexpensive fabric stapled to a wall for the same effect - I'm still a Boho girl on a budget - Go HERE

Many of you tell me you don't like the plunder practices of this store. Artists get paid what seems like a large sum because they are so often broke, and the corporation reaps the profits forever. I personally think the whole experience is overpriced, and even their oh-so-clever design ethos is wearing thin in being genuine. What do you think? Oh yes, in case you haven't guessed by now, the beautiful photographs and vignettes come from the Anthropologie catalog.

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Style Addicts

The New York Times has a pithy article about regular folks "over propping" their homes, and of course then posting the pictures of their over propped and over styled homes on a blog or Facebook or Twitter.

If you have at least three of the ten things on their list of over used items, then you are over styled with props making your home a performance. Boo hoo.

It's hilarious. And of course I have a few of the things on the list ha ha.

I am guilty! Bar cart, vintage typewriter, color matched books! All in one photo on a blog!

Here's the list - how many do you have? If you have three or more you are guilty guilty guilty.

• Books arranged by color
• Vintage typewriter
• Edison (light) bulbs
• Terrarium
• Monogrammed towels
• Taxidermy
• Le Creuset Pot
• Bar Cart
• Fresh Flowers
• Vintage Fan

Are you laughing? I beg to differ with a couple of them, like bar carts, which are a staple in homes in the South and used on a daily basis, and fresh flowers, and even vintage fans, which again are useful and so much cuter than modern fans. And monogrammed everything in the South is a way of life, not necessarily a photo-op.

It's there! Hiding in a corner masquerading as a book end, the dreaded vintage typewriter! I confess it's my house!

What's worse, a new fan pretending to be vintage, or a vintage fan? We use it everyday!

Guilty! I arranged some of my books by color - Cute orange chair painting by Annechovie

So all you Dorothy and Dan Drapers out there, keep making your house cute no matter what, and use lots of stuff, and please post pictures. It used to be you had to peep into windows when you took a walk to see how people decorated, now the blogoshpere is one huge fabulous picture window. And you know we all want to see what other people have!

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http://thevisualvamp.blogspot.com
And please become a Follower again (or for the first time) on this new blog

Rita Konig Styles A Model Apartment

Jackson Square in New Orleans
A wig and a dream - Mardi Gras 2011

No that picture is not Rita Konig.
I have the Ash Wednesday blues. Alberto and I had a great time in the French Quarter yesterday (Mardi Gras). It was an overcast day with an afternoon shower. We walked everywhere, danced tango in the street, had a delish lunch at Pere Antoine's, and made it home by 6:30. Check out Alberto's (Paz) Facebook page for photos and videos.

In the meantime, back to some decor posts.

This is an apartment for sale at Manhattan House in New York City, where Rita Konig the designer, stylist, and columnist (Wall Street Journal, New York Times, the defunct Domino, etc.), did up a model apartment.

This view of the living room showcases Konig's love for styling a coffee table
I love the way the bookcases are arranged
The use of trays, one on the coffee table,
and two holding bar items on the sofa table are nice

Funny, but from this angle the coffee table doesn't look as good
Love the little green antique table

Another view of the living room
Nice mix of furniture

The dining area
Love the yellow chairs
What do you think of the paper lantern?

The hall into the bedroom is painted a wonderful blue-green
You just see a peek into the bedroom
I spy a Suzani on the bed

Wallpaper in the bathroom

I like what Rita did. She made a model apartment look lived in and interesting. The mix of furniture and accessories works really well. Do any of you get to style model homes or apartments? I guess it's called staging.

Next time I'll show you what Celerie Kemble did in a model apartment in this building.
It's fascinating that top name designers are doing staging like this. I wonder if it helps sell the apartments.

Curiosity Look Book

Knock knock. It's the case of the creeping curiosities.

Antique hand door knocker from Buenos Aires

As I look around my house I notice there are many curious objects. It probably started when I was girl and wanted to be a scientist. I collected the typical nature specimens we all love as children: birds nests, insects, butterflies, shells, rocks, maps, old books.

Visual Vamp front door

I also loved old and crusty and rusty things, found objects like old keys and bottles, and broken bits of corckery I imagined came from "olden times".

Vignette on the front porch

Specimen charts and natural objects have found their way into mainstream decor accessorizing HERE.

Cholo loves this chair by the window with a sheepskin on it

Step right up and take a tour of Chez Vamp, where every room seems to have a curiosity or three.

The entry table is rusty
Birds, old keys, old house numbers

Rusty old house numbers and keys
Insect and bird antique plate

The door stop is huge chunk of amethyst

The dining room table has cowhide and metal antlers
And hooves on the table legs

A globe, butterfly specimen, botanicals in the dining room

Flower botanicals in the dining room
Sand in the hurricanes

Owl print on a very old vintage calendar
Oyster plate

Even though it is still 90 degrees in New Orleans, it still feels like Fall. A certain restlessness piques me. Recently Alberto and I started a kitchen revamp, and my beloved life size skeleton charts that were hanging in the breakfast area, were removed, rolled up and stashed away.

The living room then - wallpaper mural hides a door

But I missed them, and couldn't think of where to hang them. It's not easy finding a wall space in my house, much-a-less a space for two six foot tall anatomy charts!

Then it came to me! Behind the credenza in the living room!

The skeletons side by side in the living room
The mural is behind the one with the back view

Of course, this invited a whole new look for the credenza, a styling opportunity to use all the curiosities!

Styling with curiosoites

I added an orange branch with a lady head bust, a metal V recently purchased at the new Anthropologie in New Orleans, an antique mercury pharmacy bottle, a large clam shell, a framed letter on sationary with a pelican on it, a framed print of Madame Pontalba (one of the founding mothers of New Orleans). The lamps made from chippy old porch posts add just the right amount of glam decrepitude.

Metal V for Vamp!

Antique mercury pharmacy bottle

The vintage Baker credenza is nine feet long, so there is plenty of room to clutter it up. No matter how many times I self edit, I start to miss the layered look I love and can do in my sleep.
So I say forget it, so I'm a clutter queen.

Bird pillow from Dwell Studio

I also brought the tree print pillow in from the bedroom

Antique mercury pharmacy bottles, a gold wood egg, tortoise shells


An antique painting with chippy paint was also added

The bedroom has a few curiosities too. I took the hide off the couch in the living room, and threw it on the floor.

Visual Vamp master bedroom

There are a couple of trays of shells on an armoire in the bedroom.

Shell collection in leather trays

In the kitchen, with the skeletons gone, photos of New Orleans in the 1940's took their place. I hung them like a film strip. A hide appeared under the table.

Visual Vamp breakfast area now

Here's a look at the then breakfast area where the skeletons hung for a very long time.

Visual Vamp breakfast area then
Skeleton anatomy charts in the kitchen


The skeletons also once hung in the guest room
I bought them in a flea market in Lisbon 8 years ago

Curious little owls on the mantle in the breakfast area

Visual Vamp breakfast area in kitchen now

Curious little details are fun! They make me smile if nothing else.

"Keyhole" on the guest room door
I cut it out from a Fornasetti book

Vintage concrete frog doorstop

The inside of an armoire looks like science class

A mercury glass beetle on a light switch

Is Fall making you restless to revamp and redecorate and rearrange things? Tell us what you are up to, and send photos to me if you'd like to show us. I always love to post what you all are doing.

Tablescape Thursday: Photo Shoot Sketches

Had a photo shoot the other day. More about that later. Right now the publisher wants to keep it under wraps. After the photo shoot was over I styled my desk for my lunch.

Tablescape Thursday at my desk
A girl's gotta eat!
Click on images for larger picture with more details

The same turquoise tray I use for dining (which came from Wal Mart)
Alberto also made me a little table using one of these trays
Painting behind my desk by Jack Mayberry

Tablescape Lunch For One At My Desk
Placemat and napkin from Dwell Studio

I took these photos the day after the shoot. Kind of photo sketches of what happened.

A view into my office from the dance parlor

Photographers take photo sketches to check the composition and lighting.

You can see how hard it is to photograph a red room in natural and low light
Small painting done by Amanda Talley HERE

The chaise didn't end up in any of the shots

The living room photo sketch
Painting upper right by Jack Mayberry

Living room photo sketch
Chair and pillows from perch.

Bedroom photo sketch
Thomas Paul pillows from perch.
Bird pillow and stripe sheet from Dwell Studio
Bedspread by Horchow HERE

Guest bedroom photo sketch
Bedspread and green pillow from Dwell Studio

I recently got a fun and fabulous new light fixture for the closet PVE made famous HERE.

Photo sketch of my closet
I added the damask print grommet top panel, new chandelier flower ball
Pink chair is on loan from Jacky Mayberry from perch.

I also added a few things I have discarded over the last couple of years due to the input I have gotten from bloggers.

Fabulous printed True Grace candles from perch.

For the photo shoot, the skeleton charts came out of exile, and were hung in the kitchen dining area. I always place a carnival mask on the front view, a sort of nod to enjoying life no matter what!

Booga booga! The skeletons are back!
Love them or hate them, they sure fill up a wall!

I added the terrific True Grace candles we sell at perch., in the most beautiful colors. The sconce is tricky, and I had to hot glue the candles to keep them secure.

Kitchen dining area photo sketch
Suzani table covering, trays used as placemats

I also took the collection of fifty or so crosses out from a box stored in a cupboard under the stairs. I have collected these crosses for over 40 years, and not out of any uber religious feeling on my part. I always loved the beauty of them as I would see them in homes and churches all over Europe, and here in the USA in New Mexico. When we arrived in New Orleans, the crosses found their true home. But an adverse reaction to them on Rate My Space, made me rethink them and doubt myself. I brought them back for this book, because I truly think they imbibe the spirit of New Orleans and me. They look so perfect going up this stairway located in the kitchen.

The dreaded crosses ha ha
I love them ! Read more HERE

The crew loved all of it. They took some beautiful pictures of the kitchen. They loved the wallpaper on the kitchen cabinets HERE. But most of all they are loving New Orleans! I am so happy that New Orleans is included in the book!




When the book comes out, we will do a book signing in New Orleans at perch.

Photo sketch of the kitchen
They loved my wallpaper kitchen cabinets shown HERE and HERE

Make sure to visit Between Naps On The Porch HERE for some more great Tablescape Thursday offerings.