I Love A Good Sale

Earlier this month, I mentioned that my friend David, owner of McLain Weisand, was having a sale. I had planned to camp outside the shop to be there when they opened at 10 this morning. Unfortunately, work got in the way, so I had to wait until lunch. Luckily, my friend Lulu did some reconaissance work and reported that it would be well worth my while to get down there, post-haste!!

The first thing I snagged was the wonderful mug with the engraved pictures of chairs on it. It's by Christopher Vine Design out of Australia. The mugs come in a nice round box and would make a great little gift.

As I browsed around, Lulu grabbed me and told me that the treasures were out in the workshop. David makes a lot of beautiful reproduction furniture and this sale was clearing out some floor samples, as well as some of his accumulated "stuff", so there were some great finds! I picked out two pieces of wrought iron swirls and and then later went back to look at some other architectural ironwork from Miss MA. These are about 2.5' long and were $2/each.

There's also a wonderful sink that I found that might work in Miss MA's beach house that she's building. This sink is porcelain and has gold ribbon and reed pattern surrounding the bowl. It's by a company called Sherle Wagner and they have some other gorgeous bathroom fittings and fixtures.

However, the real killer piece was the most incredible square chandelier that was hanging in the workshop. It's covered with a scrim of dust because it's hanging in an actual working workshop.

My other favourite part of David's shop is his amazing curved book-cases, filled with design and decorating books that he uses as references when building furniture. Here, David and Lulu are discussing David's dog.

Great sale, lots of fun and I could have bought a ton of stuff!

Be a Winner!

We've got a couple of medalists and contenders here in Baltimore. Our Katie Hoff grabbed a couple of Bronzes (YAY KATIE) and Carmelo Anthony is still playing b-ball for the Redeem Team. But the biggest winner, aside from the incredible Michael Phelps, can be you!

Be sure to add your name to the comments, either below or here, and be entered to win a first edition of Dorothy Draper's Decorating is Fun! I will be picking the winner tomorrow evening during cocktail hour and Connor will thump out the winning comment number with his tail.

Thanks for playing along, and good luck!

Restoration Hardware Warehouse Sale

There's a Restoration Hardware Warehouse about 25 miles outside of Baltimore and every three or four months, they have a sale, which is well worth the drive. As I wrote last year, the place is huge and the bargains were plenty. This is my surreptitious shot, since they didn't allow photography.

They had lots of their summer furniture on sale, as well as furniture for the bedroom, living room and bath. Most of it was more than 50% off. Since my house is only 11.5' wide, not a lot of RH's furniture fits in it.

I found the deepest discounts in the area where the smaller items were. They had loads of crystal Christmas ornaments, originally $12.00 and now a mere 49¢! Needless to say, I bought a bunch of them. They will be a great thing to add to bottles of wine that I take to holiday parties.

You know I love decorated tin plates, and RH had a great set of four of them decorated with vintage circus motifs, which will be perfect for giving to my brother's three children (3 and under!).The plates were 75% off their original price.

The best buy of the day were the four Belgian linen pillow covers that were originally $44, but that I picked up for a mere $1.99. They're a great honey colour, and will be perfect with my yellow living room furniture.

When I was leaving, I checked license plates in the parking lot and they were from all over the mid-Atlantic area. If you're looking for something from RH, I think it's worth the drive.

Decorating is FUN!

One of my favourite songs is called Seven Seconds. Dido and Youssou N'Dour sang it at Live 8 in London, which I watched from the city center in Cardiff. That's a roundabout way of telling you how long it took me to find my first treasure at Book Thing on Sunday. Seven seconds... Seriously.

The decorating section had already been cleaned out and all of the 1970's issues of Good Housekeeping had been taken. But I walked over, and there, in all of its silver-edged glory, was a 1939 first edition of Dorothy Draper's Decorating is Fun. I had found a copy a little over a year ago, but this edition is different. It is on heavier paper and has a silver-edged spine. Unfortunately, neither copy has the original dust jacket.
I know you're all just terrifically jealous of my good luck at Book Thing, so I am going to give one of you my original 1939 first edition copy of Decorating is Fun. If you're interested in winning this book, just post a comment and on Friday, Connor the wonder dog will tap out the winning comment number with his tail.
I did also find some other interesting books including Meubles & Ensembles (Pieces of Furniture & Units) Style 1900, filled with loads of photographs of Art Nouveau-style furniture. It was published in 1968 by Éditions, Charles Massin, and is all in French.

Don't forget to enter your name to win the Decorating is Fun book!

Baltimore is Not Just "The Wire"

I worry that most people's image of Baltimore comes from the HBO show "The Wire" or the old network show, "Homicide: Life on the Streets". Both shows portray a small segment of the city, but there's really so much more to life here. I've tried to show you some small bits and pieces of it, and here's one more:
We have an old wooden frigate that is berthed at the Inner Harbour called the Constellation, the sister ship to the Constitution in Boston. This weekend, as part of the commissioning ceremony for the The USS Sterett, the Navy's newest $1.3 billion guided-missile destroyer, the Constellation left its berth and took the three-mile trip to the other side of the penninsula.
It was just the most gorgeous evening, with temps in the low 80's, no humidity and a nice fresh breeze. As the Constellation left the Inner Harbour, I began snapping photos, and then followed the ship out to the little dock at the end of the street where I used to live.As the sun was beginning to set, Constellation headed out to Fort McHenry, birthplace of the National Anthem, where they were flying the huge 30 x 40 foot flag.

It really was just a spectacular evening and I am so pleased I could share it with you.

As always, thanks for reading!

Michael Phelps

This is the historic theatre, just down the road from where Michael lives. Yes, we are very proud!

I just want to give a shout to fellow Baltimorean, Michael Phelps, who is going for a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games. My niece swims at the same club where Michael got his start and loves the idea that they swam in the same water!

Pete's Grille, where you could find Michael eating a huge breakfast after his morning practices, is just around the corner from the Book Thing.

One down, seven left!

Two down, six left!

Three down, five left!

Four down, four left!

Five down, three to go!!!

SIX DOWN, TWO TO GO!!!!
SEVEN DOWN... ONE MORE TO GO!!!

DONE!!! EIGHT GOLD MEDALS!!! HOW INCREDIBLE!

YAY Michael!!!!!

Bottom image: Getty

Blue Porch Ceilings at the Post

Several weeks ago, Terri Sapienza at the Washington Post put out a call for blue porch ceilings and I answered it. But due to over-zealous spam filters, we didn't connect until Tuesday, when she'd already written the article. The posts I did last summer, here and here on the blue porch ceilings at Tivoli House where I work, are among the most highly viewed pages on Pigtown*Design.

The colour we chose for the porch ceiling paint is Duron's Bluebell. The hex code is #A7D2E9 and the RGB values are 167, 210 and 233. I think it is a great colour for the porch and works perfectly with the fieldstone and pale yellow paint on the trim.

Here are some more pictures of the blue porch ceiling.

Be sure to read Terri's story on blue paints!

The Englishwoman's House

The Book Thing is such a lottery. This week, there was certainly quantity, but neither Kitchenography or I thought there was much of quality there. However, I did manage to find a book, sans dustjacket, called The Englishwoman's House (1984).
The book is a collection of essays from prominent Englishwomen who write about their houses. It was edited by the very interesting Alvilde Lees-Milne and photographed by Derry Moore, also known as the 12th Earl of Drogheda. The foreword has been written by HRH Princess Michael of Kent.
Amongst the houses and essays featured are Mrs. Laura Ashley, Rhydoldog in Powys, Wales; Miss Barbara Cartland, Camfield Place, Hertfordshire; The Lady Diana Cooper Little Venice, London; Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire, Chatsworth, Derbyshire; Miss Jean Muir of Kensington, London, Daphne Fielding, The Laundry, Avon and others.

Let's hear what these women have to say about their houses...

Laura Ashley:My own attitude towards decorating an old house is to find out all one possibly can about the house and even, if possible, the colours used.

Barbara Cartland:
More than anything else, what one needs in one's house is the right atmosphere...

Diana Cooper:
I found a house in Bloomsbury, a quarter not the legend it became, for £90 a year, with Adams mantlelpieces and the right window-panes and a charming garden with forest trees.

Deborah Devonshire:
You can sit in the drawing-room on the first floor and be unaware that a thousand people are in the house at the same time. So well built is it that the faintest murmur, like a distant sea, is all you hear.

Daphne Fielding:
Like Mrs. Tiggywinkle of Beatrix Potter fame, I live in a laundry - the old laundry of Badminton House, owned by the Duke of Beaufort. It was built in 1662 - a sundial marks this date.

Jean Muir:
Once you have eliminated all the things you don't like, you get down to the bare essentials and the formula that is perfect for yourself. The effect of white space is to amplify any other colours in the room.

McLain Wiesand SALE

I got an e-mail from David at McLain Wiesand the other day, telling me that he's having a sale on August 15 & 16. I wrote about David's beautiful store a few months ago, and as I said then, every time I drive by the store, I see something wonderful in the window.

David says that the store will be open from 10 to 5 on both days and that they will be selling samples, floor models, all stuff in the showroom, and antiques, parts, hardware and things he's been squirreling away.

I know where I will be on Friday, August 15 at 10:00 a.m. - coffee cup in hand!

Hope to see you there!

Design*Sponge BizLadies Seminar

A friend of ours writes for the incredibly successful Design*Sponge and told me about a seminar that they were having in Baltimore. It's an occasional meet-up for artists and designers interested in marketing and selling their own wares, either through an actual bricks-and-mortar store, or on the web, either in an Esty shop or a dedicated website.

The event was held at the American Museum of Visionary Arts and attracted more than 150 guests. There were four mini-seminars on marketing and public relations, retail tips, legal and accounting issues, and pricing and wholesale suggestions. Everyone rotated between the four speakers, including Grace Bonney, who spoke on PR. Hers was the best presentation, mostly because she does this all of the time and has it down to a science.

All of the information has been compiled and is available here. Most of it was good practical advice, nothing earth-shattering. But if you've just come from four years at art school and want to market your art and designs, then this was probably a huge help. If you're like me, a seasoned PR professional, I know it to my bones!

I didn't take pictures during the event, but did take some of the gardens at the Visionary Arts Museum, which is an amazing place.