Kilian, Color and Divine Design

What do the names in the title have in common??  Every year, the Boston Design Center puts on an extravaganza called Design Boston.  It's three days of design seminars, food, awards, food, "meet and greets"..and did I mention food??  And this year, they added perfume into the mix!!!  (Into the seminars...NOT into the food!)

All of the seminars were good, but three stand out - "Forecasting Colors for 2012" with Jackie Jordan of Sherwin Williams - an unveiling of the colors and their inspirations for the coming year.

Blue

Neutrals

Green

Red   (All color images from Wikipedia)

"Candice Olson on Design" - star of HGTV's "Divine Design" let us in on her approach to design.

"At the Nexus of Art, Commerce and Storytelling with Master Perfumer Kilian Hennessy" (so yummy!) - not only did we get to listen to his dreamy French accent, we also heard about his inspirations for his scents and we got to sniff him...uhh, I mean them...Sorry, I got distracted....

Kilian Hennessy (photo pilfered from the internet)

                       And now you know WHY I got distracted.....Is it getting warm in here??

OK, back to the post....Let's concentrate on Kilian today... (so easy to do..)  Kilian Hennessy is a blend of the families of Louis Vuitton and Hennessy Cognac.  Now that's what I call good breeding!

His perfumes are inspired by the different stages of love and passion - "Prelude to Love", "Beyond Love", "A Taste of Heaven", "Liasons Dangereuses" and "Cruel Intentions" are some of the scents in his collection.  (Still getting hot in here...) According to Kilian, "Black is the only color."  His perfume bottles are sleek black glass with a silver name plate, nestled in a box of black satin.  Each box has the impression of a shield because, he says,  perfume is your "protective armor".  The boxes also come with a lock and key that hints at the "secrets" within!  He is the ultimate in chic!

By Kilian perfume Bottle

  

After the seminar, we got to try out all the scents at the perfume bars.  Citrus, powder, floral, honey, tobacco, (tobacco???) yes, tobacco!  And they all smelled so wonderful! We were also served Prosecco and French hors d'oeuvres.  Between the perfume and the Prosecco, my head was spinning!  We took away scent cards so we could keep them all straight.  I am sitting at my computer 2 weeks later and the smell of perfume is still wafting into the room...yum....!  You can find his perfume at bykilian.com.

Wow, this post sounded like a commercial! ( I volunteer to be the spokesperson!!)

Next post I will tell you all about Candice Olson's approach to design.  So stay tuned!

"Happiness is like perfume: You can't give it away without getting a little on yourself".  - Unknown

No Words Necessary....

A Chair Reborn

Sorry I haven't been around in awhile.  I've been taking a sort of "hiatus" while I helped my elderly in-law's pack up their house to move.  Living on four levels made life very difficult for them, especially since my father-in-law just had a knee replaced.  They are moving to a lovely, one level, retirement condo.  But all that is for another post.

Fitting very nicely into my motto of "Recycle, reuse, re-purpose!", I want to show you how you can extend the life of a beloved piece of furniture or make over "that hideous piece Aunt Zelda gave us."  (We all have one of those!)

My favorite client, Karen, had an old chair that had great bones, but it had either been seriously abused or spontaneously combusted!  We called it the "Green Chair", mostly because it was green, or had been in a previous life!

Green Chair - What pain!  What misery!

As you can see, "Green Chair" needed some serious help!  First step - have the upholsterers take off the current fabric.

Stripped and awaiting a new coat!

Next, take the chair frame to the refinisher.  The legs were pretty chewed up, so they had to be sanded down and restained.

"All better!"

While all this was going on, Karen and I were on the hunt for fabric.  We found this wonderfully soft velvety fabric from Pindler and Pindler - Sorrento in Sugarcane.  It made a nice, neutral backdrop for all the animal prints we were using in the room!  Remember my previous post "It's A Jungle Out There!"  http://thefocusondesign.blogspot.com/search/label/Animal%20Prints.  Same room!

We also needed a fabric for a pillow, and out came another animal - Osborne & Little's Serengeti!

Osborne & Little fabric - Serengeti

Once Green Chair had a fresh coat of stain and revitalized legs, it was back to the upholsterer for its final makeover.  This chair has traveled more in a few weeks then I have in my whole life!

                                                  And now the final unveiling.....ta da!!!

The Chair...reborn!

                                               
                                                  All new and stylin' !!  And Just to recap.....

Before

After

What a difference some love and attention (and having good workrooms) makes!  Instead of clogging up the landfills, this chair now sits proudly in the living room for many years to come!


Stay tuned!  This project is almost done!  Final pictures to come!


"No animal should ever jump up on the dining room furniture unless absolutely certain that he can hold his own in the conversation."  Fran Lebowitz

Short and Sweet!

Short and sweet....relates not only to the size of this post, but a piece of furniture I designed for a client.  In a previous post entitled "It's A Jungle Out There", http://thefocusondesign.blogspot.com/2011/04/its-jungle-out-there.html, I talked about using animal prints in home design.

My wonderful customer, Karen, needed more seating in a room we had already designed.  She wanted some footstools that would fit under her coffee table so they would be out of the way when not in use.  Her living room, which is still a work in progress, is the room I'm using multiple animal prints in.  Karen, being Karen, likes to carry theme and colors from one room to the next.  Her family room already utilized the taupe and black color scheme we were carrying over to the living room.  She fell in love with this darling Cheetah print from Kravet.

Kravet 16476-81 Cheetah

I looked in a bunch of my furniture catalogs, but the footstools I saw were either too high, too low or not the right style. A quick phone call to my extremely talented upholsterers, Armand and Roger, and we were in business!  They would construct the frame and upholster the piece with the specs I gave them AND the price wouldn't break the bank!  All I had to do was send them the fabric, the legs, and a workable drawing or picture.

I sent Armand and Roger a semi-workable drawing.  My sketching skills are sketchy at best!

After a few conversations, we decided that since the legs I found were shorter than my sketch, we would cover a larger part of the base with fabric and still have the "crown" on top.

Turned bun foot with tenon from Van Dyke's

 



I found some great legs online.  Van Dyke's Turned bun foot with tenon was the right height and the right feel.










A few weeks later, Armand and Roger dropped off the world's cutest footstools!!  Boys, you outdid yourselves this time!

Focus On Design Cheetah Footstool

Focus On Design Cheetah Footstool

Focus On Design Cheetah Footstool

Now my customer has the size, shape and fabric she wanted!  I can't wait to see her face when I deliver them!  Of course, if she reads my blog, the cat (or cheetah!) is already out of the bag!

"Enjoy Life!  This is not a rehearsal!" - Unknown

A Path Less Traveled...

Did you ever look for something...sometimes for hours...only to find it right under your nose??  (How did that get there??)  In a previous post, I mentioned getting out of your "own backyard" and "exploring your neighborhood".  It was meant more as a metaphor for exploring the regions where you live.  Well, I guess I took it literally.

I have been living in my home for over 7 years - a semi-rural suburban town about a half hour north of Boston.   I live on a busy street with no sidewalks.  Neighbors are about an acre apart, so houses aren't on top of one another and chances are you may only know one or two neighbors.  

My street

My husband and I used to love walking around the town when he lived in Gloucester, MA.  The one thing we didn't love about our home is that there is no place to walk unless you drive to get there.  Kind of defeats the walking purpose!

One day last year I noticed a pathway that was to the right of the road in the above picture.  (My driveway is on the left in the center of the picture.)

The Pathway

"Self", I said..."Wonder where the path goes?" I assumed it went behind a neighbors house into their backyard.  Then one day I saw some mini-bikers get off the street and go down the trail.  Hmmm....interesting....  Another day, I saw a horse trailer parked beside the path.  Double hmmmm!!!

"Husband, its time we explored the path!"  So one nice summer evening, we entered "The Path".

Well, it was like Alice falling into Wonderland!  This beautiful dirt path went on and on!  At first we were walking through forest.  Quite peaceful, except for the insects who decided we were going to be dinner!  Did Alice have to deal with mosquitos??  (Where is that "good ole fashioned" pesticide when you need it!)

At one point, we came to a gate.  Why was there a gate in the middle of the forest??  And the gate was closed.  "Are we trespassing?"  No sign.  So what's the worst that can happen?   What would Alice do?  Open the gate and walk through!

The Gate

Now we came across some wetlands.  Marshy overgrown areas with a lot of dead trees.  The big beaver lodge to the side of the path was an indication of what was going on.  Beavers, being beavers, will build dams.  Unfortunately, they will divert the flow of water to areas that aren't supposed to be wet - hence the dead trees. 

Moving on in our trek, we were stopped by a small brook that blocked our way in two places.  Always the industrious one, my gallant husband picked up several rocks and laid them in the brook so I could step on the stones without getting my sneakers wet!  I love this man!

 Brooks and marsh gave way to more forest - but deeper and darker forest.  Maybe we should have left a trail of breadcrumbs to mark our way home?  (Of course, the "one way" dirt path that led us in was a dead give-away for the way out!)  But I did feel like we would come upon the evil witch's cottage at any given moment!

And on we trudged, seeing no houses or signs of civilization.  Just the distant hum of the cars on the main road.   But we did see some interesting vegetation!

Strange looking 'shroom!

Mushrooms!  Ok, now I'm getting hungry!  Time to turn around and head for the refrigerator!  We mentally marked our ending point - where two double trees were standing - and decided to return at another time - armed with hiking shoes, food and BUG SPRAY!

Wetlands

What a delightful evening!  We could have been doing this for seven years!  Who knew we had this wonderful nature trail right across the street??  Talk about a "V8 moment"! 

So moral of the story?  You'll never find something unless you look for it....  And those paths in life not taken - TAKE THEM!!  You never know where you'll end up!

"All of life is a journey - which paths we take, what we look back on, and what we look forward to is up to us.  We determine our destination, what kind of road we will take to get there, and how happy we are when we get there."  - Unknown

Fresh From The Farm

It's finally here! For months we have eagerly anticipated the opening of the Middleton Farmer's Market, located in the Angelica's Restaurant parking lot. And I have to say, it does not disappoint!

The market has a strong emphasis on organic goods and the farmers are only allowed to sell what they grow on their land. It's all part of a campaign to promote healthy eating and living and it supports New England farms and businesses.

Even though we are early in the growing season, there was an abundance of fresh produce - garlic, lettuce, beets, squash - with a promise of much more variety as the growing season progresses.

Heron Pond Farm - South Hampton, NH http://heronpondfarm.com/index.php

Also thrown in are vendors selling delicious cheeses, jellies and relishes, homemade pasta, plants, candles, herbs,and baked goods. And if I'm not mistaken, I think I saw some lobsters and meat for sale!

Sandra Hunt from Vermont Gourmet Candy Dish - www.vermontcandydish.com

As I walked around the stalls, I got to meet the friendly vendors, very eager to talk about their wares - the origins, history, their location and how their products are grown or made.


My first stop was at the West River Creamery Stand from Londonderry,Vermont. http://www.bennetts1815.com/WRCreamery.html.

The owner had several different cheeses to sample. I walked away with a Cambridge cheddar and a Smoked cheddar.  They were delish!!  Next time I'm trying the Marinated Feta!

"Neighbors" - West River Creamery and Vermont Gourmet Candy Dish

The Vermont Gourmet Candy Dish had a variety of jellies, caramel, chocolate sauce and a yummy corn relish that I purchased and served on top of sliced chicken for dinner that night.  In the words of Rachel Ray - "Yum-O"!!


Michelle Splaine of Valicenti Organico www.gimmiespaghetti.com offered up a bunch of flavored homemade pasta.  Lemon Basil Linguini - couldn't resist!  Served it tonight with a light olive oil-lemon sauce.  Two days into the market and I've already put on 10 lbs!!

Michelle Splaine from Valicenti Organico

The Soup Guy (nothing like Seinfeld's Soup Nazi!) served up steaming pots of soup and chili.  www.facebook.com/thesoupguy

DiMauro Family & Sports Chiropractic of Middleton trying to keep our spines in line!
http://dimaurochiropractic.com

Jennifer Hickman of Kittredge Candles

Beautiful display, beautiful scents...Had to purchase a Mediterranean Fig and Ocean Mist candle from Kittredge Candles of Andover, MA.  Check out their animal shaped candles! www.kittredgecandles.etsy.com

Gluten Free Oat Brittle from 19 Steps Bake Shop

 Gluten Free Oat Brittle from 19 Steps Bake Shop in Haverhill, MA.  Their motto - "Worth the Walk".  And it was!  www.19stepsbakeshop.com.  I should have asked Lauren Suszczewicz, the owner - "19 steps from what??"  And while I was at it - "How do you pronounce your last name??"  Questions for next week!

Susan Davis

Susan Davis of SUZ Bath and Body in Boxford, another local business has all kinds of handmade soaps and soy candles.  Just what you need after a hard, stressful day!
www.SUZworld.etsy.com

Annarosa's Breads - Salisbury, MA

My last stop was at Annarosa's Breads, 175 Elm St., Salisbury MA  978-499-8839.  I have a weakness for fresh bread.  A tasty Baguette came home with me and was totally devoured for dinner, along with the corn relish I had purchased! 








 
I didn't get to all the stands, but that will just keep me going back for more!  So any of my local readers, please come out!  Spend some time and spend some money on good, wholesome, local products!

Middleton Farmer's Market - Angelica's parking lot on the corner of Route 114 and Route 62, every Wednesday, June-October, 3:00 - 7:00.

"One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well." —-Virginia Woolf

"Fred!! Stay Out Of My Bed!!!

Fred - Photography by R. Palazola

 Just to be clear, I'm talking about my GARDEN beds!  As you remember from previous posts, my "pet" groundhog, Fred likes to take nibbles from my vegetable garden.  While I don't mind feeding the menagerie in my backyard some seeds and nuts, I draw the line at sharing my vegetables!!  Especially before I've had any, myself!

Raised Planting Beds

My wonderful husband has built me some raised beds for my vegetables.  The idea was to build the bed base and add pretty latticework later as a deterrent to my vegetarian varmints!

Ringleader of the Squirrel Squad - Photography by R. Palazola

Just to introduce you to a few....we have the Squirrel Squad - at least 3 or 4 gray squirrels that feed at the base of the bird feeder at any given moment.  They mostly mind their own business and just munch!

Alvin - Photography by R.Palazola

Then there are Alvin and his brothers...and cousins...and aunts and uncles...nephews twice removed....you get the picture...

King of the Hill - Photography by R. Palazola

One of my favorites....King of The Hill, a little red squirrel that will chase anyone and anything away from his food.  He's called King of the Hill because he will climb the birdfeeder, grab a mouth full of seeds, sit with his back to the feeder surveying his kingdom and makes sure no one interrupts his meal.


Once the raised bed bases were constructed,  I spent a weekend hauling dirt and planting vegetables and herbs.  The latticework would have to wait until the deck was finished (a honey-do project that was taking longer than expected).  So in my infinite wisdom, I stapled some plastic poultry fencing around the first tomato bed.  That should stop the little critters!  Two more beds to go....Ooops! I ran out of fencing.  I must have bought the 15' roll instead of the 25'.  No matter...the second bed had seeds and since nothing was growing yet, that would be safe.  The third bed contained some hot cayenne pepper plants.  That should be a good enough deterrent!  WRONG!!!

Raised Beds With Poultry Fencing - Photography by R.Palazola

 The next day when I checked on the plants, my pepper plant was seriously lacking in the leaf department!!!  FRED!!!  (I think I heard a burp from somewhere in the yard...)

Nibbled on pepper plant

 Time to put up the rest of the fencing.  HA!!  Try to get through that!!

Wait, what's that????  THE BUTT END OF A CHIPMUNK DIGGING IN MY TOMATO PLANTS!!!  What was I thinking???  Maybe Fred couldn't make it over the fencing, but for the chipmunks....piece of cake!! (Or should I say, "salad"!)  I looked at the chipmunk and he looked back at me as if to say, "Woman, you are interrupting my lunch."  He finally scampered up over the fencing and out of the bed.  Damn!  Not only do I need a wall protecting the plants, now I need a roof too!

Butt end of a chipmunk AFTER he left the tomato Plants - Photography by R. Palazola

Well, I was done for the day.  As I packed up my gardening tools, I heard a faint sound coming from the holes in my lawn.  Do chipmunks really laugh??


"Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches." (The Squirrel of Windsor)