Tuesday Room du Jour: Gwyneth Paltrow

In honor of my previous post, today's Room du Jour comes from House Beautiful's feature on Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's Hamptons home. How much do you love Gwyneth's Madeline Weinrib chair? Feminine without being saccharine, edited without being cold - I love this home.

Culture Roundup: On The Road Again

Lately there are so many great things being released I feel like I have to touch on one of my favorites with you. Aside from the recent release of Sex and the City on DVD (re-live Carrie's Apartment Makeover) and the impending release of several great books from Celerie Kemble, Domino, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, there is a new show on PBS that I am enjoying so much I have to share it.

Mario Batali and Mark Bittman stroll the streets of Spain, Photo courtesy yumsugar.

Food is my other ancillary passion in life. I love good food; cooking it, enjoying it, and learning about it, and Spain - On the Road Again, a new show on PBS has really caught my attention. Celebrity chef Mario Batali and a gang of foodie friends (including Gwyneth Paltrow and NYT Food critic Mark Bittman) pile into a convertible and eat thier way through Spain on what is honestly some of the best television I have watched in ages. For those of you saying to yourself "hey, isn't this a design blog?", worry not - the show touches on the scenery and art of the country as much as it does the food.

One of my best friends spent the summer in Spain and though I was jealous of him then, watching this I realize I should listen to his advice and go there myself. The first episode takes us to Toledo, and while the show does take you through foodie attractions Anthony Bourdain-style, what I really like about it is that there is actual cooking demonstration and recipes to correspond. It has inspired a trip to the grocery store on my behalf to cook some new things that I can't wait to eat.

I encourage you all to tune into PBS and find out when the show airs in your area, or to simply download it on iTunes and enjoy it that way. If I have any fellow foodies out there amongst you design junkies, I want to hear what you think.

A Brief History of Ginger Jars

Back to our regularly scheduled programming! It feels like forever since I have had regular content at The Love List, and while the Home Tour was fun (can't wait for next year!), I think it's high time we re-focused, don't yall? Why don't we begin today with a little history lesson...

Blue Ginger Jars are scattered through the home of designer Anna Spiro's mother - on the table behind the sofa, one can be seen holding a beautiful Frangipani flower arrangement.

Ginger Jars, a perennial favorite among decorators, are steeped in centuries of Chinese culture and history. Different colors, sizes and styles denoted separate occasions and uses, including the evolution of the popular "fishtail" jars we often see and use today. Some jars were used for basic provisions such as salt, oil, and yes, ginger - while others were designated as gifts for the Emperor (a yellow 'pearl' jar was appropriate for this use) and were even suitable as urns.

More beautiful blue and white ginger jars can be spied in the home of Cote De Texas' Joni. Photo courtesy Pigtown Design, via Better Homes and Gardens.

The use of the Chinese character for "double happiness", which appears on many blue and white ginger jars, suggests that they were often given on special occasions (such as weddings) and were intended to last a lifetime.

Nick Olsen, Daily Dose design blogger and uber-stylish assistant to Miles Redd, has a beautiful white ginger jar in his apartment. Photo from Domino. By Paul Costello, November 2006.

Covered jars, similar to the ones we often see, were popular through the Quin Dynasty. True antique jars will often show signs of wear, as they were used then as we use canisters now to store our flours and sugars. It is very difficult to find jars with their original, matching covers.

Popular incarnations today vary as much in price range as in use. This Christopher Spitzmiller Lamp retails for a cool 2110.00, while these lovely blue and white jars from WS Home range in price from only 125.00 - 375.00 . Ebay is also a valuable resource.

Ginger jars barely scrape the surface of the vast history of oriental porcelain, which was actually invented in China. For further reading, please have a look at this useful guide to different symbols found in porcelain patterns, porcelain grades, and more facts about it's origins.

Blogger's Home Tour Wrap Up: Part 2

The Home Tour wrap up continues today instead of Friday due to a bad 24-hour flu had going on - not fun at all for you or I, because it delayed the rest of the best! Without further adieu..

You are looking at Rubie Green HQ and the home of the talented Michelle Adams. Can you tell this lovely lady used to work at Domino? Oh please, you have seen this shot over and over again but my eyes still aren't tired of it.

Karen's staggeringly glamorous home has so much to take in - no detail has been overlooked and her flair for upholstery really puts her in a league of her own.

Picking only one image from Chris's home proved to be difficult, but I love everything happening in this photo - from the orange flokati rug and the reupholstered rawhide Pottery Barn chair to the gorgeous pierced lamp and the art brought home from a trip to Vietnamn, these guys have an extraordinary eye. I was happy to help welcome them into the Blogosphere!

A lot of you fell in love with Cassandra's kitschy tablescape, and I did too! I love the original painting she found at a nearby antique store, and using a painted mirror as a dressing table tray was such a creative idea I used it in my own home!

Leslie's green office curtains lend a little drama to her clean, well-edited home. Her style got rave reviews from the minimalists in the crowd.

What were your favorite parts of the tour?

Blogger's Home Tour 2008 Wrap-Up: Part 1

A huge thanks goes out to all of the Home Tour's enthusiastic, stylish, and clever participants! Here I have rounded up what I think is the best of the tour for y'all to enjoy in case you missed any of these wonderful homes. Below are highlights of the most popular and most commented photos from throughout the 4 week tour today and tomorrow.

Mrs. Blanding's gorgeous home office garnered a lot of gushing readers' "oohs" and "aahs". Everyone agreed the piping on her estate sale chair was perfect finishing and a great compliment to the Benjamin Moore "Heritage Red" she painted her walls in.

Kyle is our resident designer and an extremely talented one at that - his idea to install tin ceiling tiles on the wall behind his bed got everyone talking! I also loved the vintage Sears & Roebuck chair he had reupholstered in a gorgeous trellis.

Erin's tour was hugely popular! But the room that really made you take a second look was her great-looking pantry - all her handiwork. My favorite detail is the Jonathan Adler papered backs in her cabinets. This is the kind of touch that lets you know Erin's a pro.

Chris's warm, handsome Virginia home was such a great mix of heirloom pieces, great antique finds, and an excellent eye. This area was really stunning - proof that masculinity can come across in a room with style.

Who didn't totally love this little corner in Kristen's home? Her funky style got lots of buzz and cross-posted to many other blogs. The adorable Made By Girl poster is such a great touch above a vintage chair she painted herself.


Stay tuned for part two of the roundup, and tell me...

What were your favorite parts of the tour?

Teaser...

Tomorrow wraps up the 2008 Blogger's Home Tour. I will have a wrap-up for you of some of the best highlights and two bonus tours for you as well! In the mean time, have a scroll through all the homes and visit the blogs of all the fantastic bloggers who participated this year. See you tomorrow!

xo Jess

Blogger's Home Tour: I'm Making My Debut!

I'm so excited to finally share my home with all of you. I just moved into this new place in August, a three story townhouse right by the hustle and bustle of campus (yes, my room mates and I are students - two victory lappers and one grad student). Being at this point in my life naturally means budget budget budget! My bedroom is set up loft-style to allow space for friends to sit around and talk - we've had many a wine night here already. The door you see opens right up to the street and we are two blocks from all the bars, so as you can imagine my room has become kind of a hangout.

This is where I spend the majority of my time when I'm in my room - I do all the work for Poppy Seed Design right here. I'm a neat freak, so yes, my desk really does always look like this! My garden stool was a 50 dollar Homegoods find and I love it! It acts as extra seating on those aforementioned wine nights, a step stool, a footstool, and in this picture I have a pretty plate set up to hold odds and ends. The desk is a Parsons desk and the chair is a Louis Ghost. For details about whats on and in my desk, check out the Blogger's Home Tour Flickr set!

I set this IKEA Lack shelf low so it could function as sort of a console table. The John Derian for Target tray is a drop spot for sunglasses, keys, and my blackberry. The orange Hermes box holds odds and ends while the brown iomoi box has my address labels in it. The "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster was purchased on etsy from sfgirlbybay. The shoes are Kate Spade and J.Crew.

The pillows are John Robshaw and on the back of my couch is my favorite cozy cashmere throw. The zebra rug is from Urban Outfitters and under the coffee tables is my stack of Vogues and Dominos. I lost a lot of my Domino back issues when I moved and I miss them so much :(

A close-up of my coffee tables - IKEA Lack tables. The roses are in a cute Mint Julep cup and the books are all from my collection - I'm the proud owner of a first edition signed Tom Ford book. Another Hermes box and some John Derian for Target coasters rest here as well.


Goes without saying I am DYING to hear what all of you have to say about the space and I can't wait for your comments!

And finally, I need some advice. I scored this great looking Draper-esque X-base bench on ebay, but now I'm at a total loss as to what fabric(s) I should reupholster it in. Piping? None? Now that you've seen my room, I'm taking suggestions :)

Blogger's Home Tour: Alkemie's Karen Defines Eclectic Glam

Alkemie's Karen has one of those bold, graphic, and totally glam homes that few of us are brave enough to pull off. The rooms began with a free, and by Karen's account "frightful" sofa found on Craigslist that she had reupholstered - after one go-around with tufting and the like, Karen got hooked to the point where she plans to open her own online shop in the near future.

When she began, she had no plan at all - she started with her couch and a coat of paint and everything evolved from there. She has everything from Rococo chairs to midcentury modern dining chairs because what she loves is so diverse, the only thing she can do is buy what she loves and find a way to pair everything together in a way that's somehow cohesive.

"Black Crystal base lamps with white silk shades are from Ballard Designs. Very heavy because the base is solid crystal. It comes also in a clear base. The Sofa was done in lilac cotton velvet from Alexander Latimer (fabric company.) It was a throw away because it was in such bad condition, so I got it free and got the upholstry company to pick it up directly from the guy who was getting rid of it. It had to be completely redone from the inside out, new springs, cushions, the works. The black Louis ghost chair was a second hand find on Craig's List, and the red velvet tufted wing chair also a find on Craig's list but redone in Raspberry Red. Mirrored end tables from West Elm."

"Duvet was from Smart Bargains.com, or was it Overstock.com? I always check both sites for bedding. They have a nice selection of colored flokati rugs too. The brown large pillows and lamps from Z gallerie, small silk pillow in yellow and red from Cambodia."

Thanks Karen! Be sure to drop by Alkemie and have a look at her gorgeous uber-glam taste. For more photos of Michelle's home, including additional rooms and detail shots, check out the constantly updated Blogger's Home Tour Flickr set here. Feel free to subscribe to The Love List to keep up with new homes as they are posted!

Blogger's Home Tour: Michelle's Manhattan Gem

When Michelle Adams of Rubie Green and MABelle moved into her first "real" New York apartment, she couldn't wait to decorate- she wanted to create a space that was serene and relaxing, but also totally fun and chock-full of her favorite pieces. Michelle started out by building a foundation of basics such as furniture, rugs, draperies and shelving in neutral colors, which then allowed her to inject her favorite patterns without making the space feel cluttered.

Once she got the basics down, she then filled her home with her favorite pieces - be it something silly she found at a flea market for five bucks, or a really great piece of art. She is a hardcore bargain shopper, so almost everything in her home is purchased from outlets, flea markets, or sales. You may have seen Michelle's home featured in Jonathan Adler's Happy Chic contest, (which she won 3rd place in!), but here is a fresh look at one of my favorite homes.

"Believe it or not, you are looking at my kitchen! Haha, it's a good thing I don't cook! I decided instead to store extra linens in my cupboards, and make the hallway into a gallery wall of my favorite images. I've mixed goofy flea market paintings with inexpensive Etsy finds and photos of my friends and family. I've even got my parents prom picture hanging up! I love how it tells guests a little bit about my life, and is also highly decorative. "

"Here's my teeny bedroom! As you can tell, it doesn't get any natural light (bummer!) and it's so small that I had a hard time taking a decent photo! The headboard was custom made for a Rubie Green shoot and I'm IN LOVE with it! It's actually much higher than it appears, but since I have no storage space in my apartment, I had to put the bed on raisers which makes the headboard appear shorter. (Just wait till I move one day...it will be gorgeous;) The Ikea bookshelf is also one of my favorite pieces, and when I moved into my new place I had the choice of getting rid of this large piece (ummm...yeah right!) or squeezing it next to my bed. So I chose the latter. The goofy ceramic horse on top makes me happy- I found it at a flea market and my dad cannot understand why I hang onto it. I tell him that true love is blind."

"The left side of my living room makes me happy :) My favorite chair from Williams Sonoma Home (which again, I scored for $66 bucks at the outlet!!) is upholstered in my very own Rubie Green Mary print, and is the first piece of furniture that I've ever had professionally upholstered! I had plenty of things upholstered for photo shoots at domino, but never for myself so it felt very...grown up to finally do it for my own home :) The bookshelf also makes me happy- it's the Sapien bookshelf from DWR and people are always afraid it's going to topple over! So I chose to put a delicate bird statue on the very top! In the nook next to it, I placed a West Elm Chunky Parsons Console which was slip covered for a domino shoot (one of the many perks of working there!) and now I hide all my office uglies under it like my printer and supply bins. It's also nice to run cords behind it without having them in sight. Speaking of cords, the Jonathan Adler Bel Air Lamp is something I absolutely treasure, and I scored it for $100 at his annual sample sale! Finally along the walls, I have framed some of my favorite pieces of Rubie Green Press"

"In the photo of my living room above, I hit up the Pottery Barn/Williams Sonoma Home outlet for most of my larger pieces! The curtains were a whopping $11 each, the rods about $15, the red bamboo chair $66, etc etc! My rug and coffee tables were also steeply discounted finds at the PB outlet, and I scored my little lucite side table for $40 at the CB2 outlet on the same trip. I pretty much did a victory dance all the way back to my rental car! The artwork above my sofa is also very special to me. I asked for the Milton Glaser "I heart NY" poster for Christmas, after seeing it in Elizabeth Blitzer's home featured in domino. The piece in the middle is an original watercolor that I scored for $40 at the Elephant's Trunk flea market. Finally the piece on the bottom is a print of Beacon Hill that I picked up at a print shop in Boston. Boston makes me happy so I always like looking at this print. "

"Here's a close-up shot of my shelves, which I set up since I love to create small vignettes! I filled my three shelves with my favorite pieces, which make me happy. The bust is from Oly (yes, I'm a bit obsessed with Oly if you haven't noticed!) and the necklace draped around it is from my all-time-favorite store, J. Crew! I picked up the little red and cream box to the right while I was in Florence this summer at a paper store called Johnsons & Relatives and the Laduree box is a treasure I begged my friend Lauren to get me on her recent trip to Paris! It was filled with macaroons, which we ate in about ten minutes...! The framed fashion print is actually a postcard from IKEA (not kidding!) that famous fashion illustrator David Downton licensed to them a few years ago! I hope to one day have enough money for an original work from him. Lastly, above you can see a glimpse of my all-time-favorite tray! It's a faux snake print by Two's Company, and I picked it up at Global Table in Soho."

"Here's a close-up of my coffee table! I'm in love with this shot of Audrey Hepburn, and also love how the colors all compliment each other. The lacquer box is from my domino days from Pacific Connections, as well as the Annick Goutal candle. The nautical bottle opener is something I picked up this summer in Capri for $9 at a souvenir shop. "

Thanks Michelle! Be sure to drop by Michelle's blog, MABelle and have a look at her fabulous earth-friendly fabric line, Rubie Green. For more photos of Michelle's home, including additional rooms and detail shots, check out the constantly updated Blogger's Home Tour Flickr set here. Feel free to subscribe to The Love List to keep up with new homes as they are posted.

Love Note

The final homes on tour and the tour wrap-up will resume tomorrow. Lots of Poppy Seed Work to do! :)

Blogger's Home Tour: Chris and Mike's Northern Exposure

To send y'all off into the weekend right: Stylenorth's Christopher Jones is new to blogging but not to home décor. He's been hooked on shelter magazines for years and more recently on home style blogs. Being a Canadian, based in Toronto, Chris was frustrated by a lack of web content about his local market so he bit the bullet and started stylenorth.com in June 2008. Chris's ultimate goal is to grow the site to the point where it incorporates micro-sites for other Canadian cities, much like Apartment Therapy. Enjoy this very special tour of Chris and Mike's absolutely stunning home.

"Current décor trends embrace eclectic interiors that mix styles and eras; it's nice to be trendy but my partner, Mike, and I, would do it anyway because this really is our style. The vintage Italian Louis XV sofa was the first piece we bought together when we began to purge his stuff and my stuff in favour of our stuff. We loved the sofa because the smooth, tight back and single seat cushion felt like it could work with modern pieces. The orange flokati rug was a $200 Craigslist purchase and is the stylistic jumping-off point for the rest of the room. Mike found the drapes at Value Village for $20. When we spotted it in a vintage clothing store, the coffee table base was badly pitted brass that we stripped with metal polish and steel wool; we subsequently found an exact match on 1stdibs.com for $4,800!"

"Another view, another find: the Hollywood Regency mirror and the Moorish-looking lamp both came from a favourite junk store, $25 and $20 respectively. We painted the mirror with a $4 can of gloss alkyd from a Habitat for Humanity Restore. The art deco light pendant came with my first house; the amber and cream coloured glass depicts a stylized lotus flower-gorgeous!"

"Mike and I found the Louis-style fauteuil at Pottery Barn, a floor model reduced 60 per cent because the piping was badly finished. We bought a complimentary stool at an antique shop then had the set reupholstered in a $200 cowhide from Tandy Leather Factory. The silk painting is from Vietnam."

"Mike had these beautiful cockpen chairs when we met and we reupholstered the seats to match the sofa. The square backs and open arms influenced us to buy the Pottery Barn chair because the shapes were so harmonious. The pierced porcelain vases are souvenirs from a trip to Savannah, GA."

"Mike and I love chinoiserie. In addition to this beautiful 1940s breakfront cabinet that we found on Craigslist for $500, we also have a pink lacquer cabinet upstairs in the spare bedroom that sports lots of Chinese-style fretwork. The 1960s Italian gilt chandelier is hung with amber-coloured, glass pears and apples; we won the piece at auction for what we had agreed would be our bid ceiling ($800, plus 20 per cent premium). The black glass drops were originally clear but we switched them out to compliment the room. The table is another Craigslist find ($300)--the custom piece sits on a marble base with a cast-brass tripod depicting three Chinese dragons. The original top was white marble, beautifully trimmed in brass, but the 60" diameter was too large for the room; we traded it out for an oxidized gold-leaf top found in a junktique boutique. The cowhide is a reference to the chair in the adjoining living room and plays off the black and white Staffordshire dogs in the corner."

Thanks Chris! The rest of you, be sure to drop by stylenorth for a little northern inspiration! For more photos of Chris and Mike's home, including additional rooms and detail shots, check out the constantly updated Blogger's Home Tour Flickr set here. Feel free to subscribe to The Love List to keep up with new homes as they are posted.

Blogger's Home Tour: Cassandra's Small Space with Big Style

coco + kelley's Cassandra is an LA event and interior stylist with a great eye and a small budget. Her influences are constantly changing and she looks for inspiration in every aspect of life: travel, fashion, nature, interiors and architecture, graphic design, and simply trusting her instincts all lend to her design aesthetic. She loves to mix mid-century modern with a little bit of glamour while still keeping it warm and approachable. She likes to keep larger pieces fairly neutral and mix it up a lot with accessories - she says that makes it easier to change color schemes and looks depending on her current state of mind. Cassandra is one of my favorite bloggers and I hope you find her home as inspirational as she is!

"Welcome to my teeny tiny apartment in Los Angeles! For the record, I hate the carpet. (I hate ANY carpet!) But what are you gonna do? The space is very small, and the kitchen very boring, so I’m sharing with you my living room, dining area and bedroom. Of course there is the infamous “Keep Calm” poster in the original red. The chair is Ikea, and a style I never thought I would buy, but I wanted something more modern, light and with texture to sit across from the couch, so in went the chair. It’s actually quite comfy and I like that it’s unexpected. The pillow is dark grey sheepskin from Empiric, and the most comfy throw in the world from Pottery Barn. "

"I found this original piece at the ‘Antique’ store by my apartment. I had to have her - she’s sassy and classy. I painted a framed mirror from a thrift store in pale grey to use as a little vanity tray on top of my desk. The brass birdie is from ebay, and the votive holder from a Seattle store, Twist."

"One of my favorite pieces in my home is this vintage bar cart I got when working at Empiric. I love the mid-century clean lines and details like the brass handle and acrylic wheels and top. The candlesticks, ‘Bar’ sign, books, and empty liquor bottles were all thrift store finds. I’m a huge fan of plants in the home ~ even on a bar ~ so I had to add a little palm for a dash of life and color. Plus it was an easy way to pull in the framed prints."

My couch is also from Empiric - I love love love tufting. It gives an otherwise very simple style much more character. The blue silk pillows are from a store in Seattle called Tableu. I fell in love with the deep color and gorgeous texture instantly. The rose pillow is by Thomas Paul, and the grey was another thrift store find. The two tables are Ikea, and the alabaster bowl from my own Etsy shop!

"The overall view of my teeny bedroom. I was inspired by the colors in the throw pillow (from Anthropologie) so I redesigned my bedroom around it. I used the black and white fabric to create a ‘headboard’ and cover the hideous wall heater that is positioned off center above the bed. Then decided to go really graphic with the green and white fabric as a cover to the very light grey duvet. Both fabrics from Ikea. lamp on the right is a mix of goods – the base is from Target and the shade is Anthropologie. Normally when I style a room, I remove all electronics, but in this case I gave you an ‘as is’ view of my world, Ipod dock included. The bedside table is Ikea, but it’s gorgeous. It’s from their office collection so the quality is higher, and the drawers are bright white lacquer and handles acrylic. I love it. "

Thanks Cassandra! The rest of you, be sure to drop by coco + kelley and say hello! For more photos of Cassandra's home, including additional rooms and detail shots, check out the constantly updated Blogger's Home Tour Flickr set here. Feel free to subscribe to The Love List to keep up with new homes as they are posted, and hey, if you'd like to participate - you aren't too late! If you have a blog and would like to be a part of the tour, please see the info kit (available on the left sidebar) for more information.

Blogger's Home Tour: Leslie's Room Somewhere