Time for a Re-Do

It wasn't perfect--but I finally was happy with how my office/guest room was looking. Just as I was sitting back and enjoying the colors and the fuzzy sheepskin and thinking I was done in at least this corner of the house...came the news/realization/reality that it would soon have to be transformed into a baby's room sometime before the end of Oct.

We're having a little girl, so I was a bit concerned about leaving the room blue. Though I spent three sweltering hot days last summer painting the room and don't have the heart to do it again. I told this blue dilemma to an artist friend who said in the 19th century blue was the color for a baby girl and red for a baby boy. So the blue will stay--I can paint pink polka dots on it if I'm feeling the need to be conventional. The sheepskin rug will stay and the white chair in the corner. Just need a crib, changing table and...what else...I have to read books about what a baby needs!


I like this crib a lot from David Netto's collection. It's a bit pricey. This changing table, dresser also from David Netto looks great too. It's a whole 'nother world of stuff...I'm going to research now and wait to buy anything until the nesting instinct kicks in...

More on Rice Salad

Lily just sent me this link to Mark Bittman's article on Rice Salad in the NYTimes today. Timing is perfect, I was just about to make another one as we have houseguests coming this weekend and as I said here a week or two ago, it's the easy crowd pleaser. This article gives some new ideas.

Photo Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times.

Prouve School chairs and table

Someone left a comment with the good point that school chairs are great if you're school sized. These Jean Prouve designed chairs would be a top choice for full sized school chairs. Above are the Prouve tables and chairs we have in our dining room. It's a bit of a sore subject because I really love working at the table even though I have my own desk upstairs (the table was designed, after all, for the University of Paris). Prouve's standard chair and gueridon table are so comfortable to work at though and make me feel like I'm in the library. So even though they are our dining table and chairs, I often have them cluttered up with my papers, computer and so forth. Both table and chairs are available through Vitra. Below is the chair in red. It also comes in black and the table in a few variations.

"Catching the Light"

Here's an article I wrote for Dan's Papers on the East End of LI about circulating light around a house. I love the idea of having a bunch of convex mirrors in a room--must think about how to do it at our house.

School Chairs

Lily sent me this link to Apartment Therapy because she knew I'd love the school chairs in the photo above. And I do. The kitchen, photos, etc are from the blog House Obsession. I'm loving the whole kitchen re-do of course in particular the school chairs. What is it about them?

To picture frame? Or not...

These are, I realized, the only two framed pictures we have displayed on table tops in the house. They're on a table in a little seating area in our dining room--one wedding picture and one of the Swayambunath Stupa in Kathmandu that I took a million years ago on a semester abroad from college. It's my opinion that there shouldn't be too many framed pictures on table tops or in rooms such as living room, dining room--sometimes I think these two are even pushing it. Other, more out of the way places that we've put photos are:

Framed on a wall in the bathroom. The funny thing about doing this is guests spend a long time in the bathroom looking at them.


W. put family photos in the shelves above his desk. (Sorry photos are dark and W.'s office is still painted this lavender color that makes photos look dingy, must repaint soon!).

My mother pointed out on a recent visit that W. didn't have any photos of me above his desk (I hadn't noticed!). She quietly suggested I place one there, which I did.

What do you think about picture frames? Do you think too many on tabletops look cluttery?

Pocket Renovator at Hatch

It was such a nice surprise this morning to, as usual, check out one of my favorite blogs Hatch and happen upon a posting about my book The Pocket Renovator. Thanks so much!

Tango Dreams

When W. and I were in Buenos Aries for our honeymoon in 2005 I spent half my time gazing at him with goo-goo eyes and the other half of my time with my nose pressed to the windows of real estate offices looking longingly at all the great inexpensive apartments for sale--I was coming from a NYC perspective and $50,000 for a great apartment in a cosmopolitan city seemed too good to be true. I concocted this not very realistic fantasy where we could get a few people together and go in on an apartment. I figured we could spend a few months per year there and have short term rentals when the apartment was empty. I had to be reminded that, alas, we have jobs and it wasn't a very practical idea. Anyway, this article I saw in the NYTimes has totally reinvigorated this IDEA. It's still not practical for our lives but a girl can dream...of the pampas, patagonia, weekend trips to Uruguay, and hanging it all up to learn Spanish, take tango lessons, and work on those paintings and novels.

We stayed for a couple of nights at the Faena + Universe hotel--I'd recommend it. You can't see in the picture above but Simon LeBon of Duran Duran fame (HUGE in my 1980s adolescent world) was doing the breast stroke in the pool just behind me. I think he was trying to keep his tousled hairdo intact. Also, you can't see, there was a flock of deeply tanned totally glamorous Brazilian women lounging poolside right next to us--so in this picture I was feeling rather pale. But Simon was rather pale too so it was okay. Point is: lounging poolside at the Faena + Universe is a recommended activity when in BsAs.

We went for an overnight trip to Uruguay--just a short boat ride from Buenos Aries...old cars, old school charm.


This is an alpaca at the zoo in Buenos Aries--I think he looks like Yoda from Star Wars.

And this is grafitti that was on a wall in Palermo Soho.

School chairs

I have a thing for old school chairs. Maybe it's because I'm only 5'2" and they're just comfortable to sit in. Maybe they remind me of being in school, which--dork alert--I really loved. In an office, a kid's room, or in an art space I think they're fab. The one above is on ebay, details here.


I have a chair identical to this one! I love it. I found it in a dumpster on 13th Street in NYC and dragged it home. The dumpster was outside a nursery school that was going out of business and they were throwing away everything (though I bet I wasn't the only person who took some stuff home). I love the orange of this chair--it makes a perfect seat for visiting children or even an adult. The color makes a great splash tucked into a corner somewhere. This ebay sale is pick up only--so if you live near Ross Texas check the sale out here.


Above is a new similar version (for those who are not near Ross, TX). It's available through Schooloutfitters.com

And stools too! Ideally I would find an old stool discarded from an art room somewhere. New can work too. Click on the stool image for more details.

Chic Eco-Fabrics from Rubie Green

Thanks to a posting on Decor8 yesterday I saw the Rubie Green web-site for the first time. The fabrics are fab, stylish and chic as well as green--made using organic cotton whitened without bleach, printed in the US with inks that have no VOCs, and made using a process that requires very little water. I love all the prints, though am leaning towards the portobello as a favorite this morning.

Old and Green

Last September we insulated the ceiling of our unfinished basement, with the idea that it would pay for itself in a couple of years. We were wrong, it just about paid for itself in one year and I swear it isn't just because we turned the thermostat down to 55 at night (we did that before). What might have also helped (and which was quite inexpensive) was putting thermal socks on all the hot water pipes that run through the basement to radiators and taps, spraying foam insulation to seal cracks in the basement, and also putting ugly plastic over particularly drafty windows (all available at Home Depot).

A few things made me think of this on such a beautiful sunny day in July. One was this article from the Guardian about making older houses more efficient.

The other was that I realized we only have half a tank of oil left (it heats our hot water) and that refilling just half a tank will cost around $500 to $600. I'm wondering what it would cost to install a solar water heater--seems like it would pay for itself in at most a couple of years at this rate.

Even though it's a warm sunny day, now is probably the time to start thinking about what we can do to keep oil consumption down next winter...I'm looking at pellet stoves, though don't know where in the house to put one. There are also some ideas I had to give up on: retrofitting our 1880s Victorian house with geothermal heat, which would entail some seriously expensive digging and drilling; I priced out retrofitting our first floor with radiant heat and it was going to cost about as much as a new car, not something that would pay for itself too quickly. Anything that won't break the bank to keep from having to refill that oil tank more than we absolutely need to.

Ode to Rice Salad

I have a summer dish that I'm going to declare my specialty for the summer of '08. Last week I made a huge bowl of rice salad then promptly departed for NYC the following day leaving W. home alone with enough rice salad to sustain him around the clock for three days. Needless to say he was looking forward to a rice salad hiatus by the time I got back.

We were having a few people over for dinner last night though and rice salad is so easy, so good, and leftovers just get better after a day or two. Oops I did it again, another gi-normous bowl that fed five last night and there's enough left for another dinner party tonight. It's an inexpensive crowd pleaser--what can I say. Below is my recipe, which I wing depending on what's in the fridge, and links to a couple other recipes that look good. Last night I doubled this recipe--thus the excess.

My Rice Salad Recipe:

Cook one to one and a half cups of Texmati or Basmati rice (so it ends up being about 3 cups of cooked rice)

While it's cooking chop up:
Red pepper
Green pepper
red onion
scallion
Cook a package of frozen peas and run cool water through them.
In total there should be about three cups of chopped veggies and peas.

Make half a cup to three quarters of a cup of salad dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, juice from half a lemon, hearty pinch of salt and pepper, and a heaping tablespoon of whole grain mustard.

Put rice in salad bowl and let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Add veggies and toss with salad dressing. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or so before serving.

Other rice salad recipes that look good:

From House & Garden 1962
From Gourmet 2000
From Bon Appetit 1994

Happy 4th of July! We're going over to the Vineyard for the long weekend so will post again Monday.

Perfect summer moments

I had the first perfect summer moment last night. Our hydrangeas are at that absolutely ideal peak...the flowers are still a little green and not yet so heavy they weigh the branches down. A week ago they were still just thinking about it, and by next week they will be still beautiful, but fully bloomed and realized.

THEN for dinner (we have house guests staying) I made potato salad from Barefoot Contessa at Home which is becoming my favorite cookbook, especially for such great summer dinner dishes. Additionally, I deviled some eggs--which is so old school and always hit. I like to use some mustard and lots of salt and pepper in addition to mayo when mixing up the yolks. A sprinkle of paprika on top looks good and adds flavor.

Last but not least was baba ganoush, my newest cooking trick. It's so easy and so summery. Broil an eggplant on high (poke some holes in the skin so it doesn't explode). Once it's soft and the skin a little crisp take it out, cut it open and when it's cool enough put the meat in a colander to drain (try to avoid the seeds). After it's drained for a bit, throw in blender with one small clove garlic, juice from half a lemon, salt, and 3 or so tablespoons of tahini. Voila. Serve with mini pita breads and carrots. Leftovers of all of these are perfect for lunch the next day.

Anyway--we had a late relaxed summer dinner on the porch, cut hydrangeas on the table, candle light from a hurricane lantern, good company, and it was to me what summer is all about.