how to keep your paperwhites from flopping over

A friend gave me some paperwhite bulbs just after Christmas, and I had great luck with them for the first time thanks to a trick I discovered while poking around on "The Google". First, a photo of these lovelies in bloom. Then I'll share the simple trick that has kept them looking great.

If you've ever tried forcing paperwhite bulbs, you know that the biggest challenge is that they keep growing, and growing, and growing...until suddenly they become so tall and heavy that they can no longer stay upright without help of some kind. Mark, who gave me the bulbs, tells me that he always grows them in a tall glass container, so the sides can support the top-heavy growth. I've seen others try tying a ribbon or some raffia around the cluster of plants, with mixed results.

But here's the amazing trick I discovered while surfing around to see what tips I could find online: All you have to do is get your paperwhites a little drunk.

Yup. The key to gorgeous paperwhites is ALCOHOL. Get the bulbs started as you normally would, with a bed of pebbles and water coming just to the bottom of the bulbs. (If the bulbs sit in the water, they'll rot.) Then just keep them watered until they develop growth a couple inches tall. At that point, drain the water out and replace it with a mixture of 1 part hard liquor to 7 parts water. Use something like gin, vodka, or rum -- nothing sweet. You can also use rubbing alcohol, but you need to dillute it more. Then just keep watering it with that same mixture. Your room will smell a little bit like a distillery, but your flowers will look fabulous!

Click here to read the white paper from Cornell's Flower Bulb Research Program, explaining how and why this works.

If you want to try your own hand at forcing paperwhite narcissus bulbs, you can order them online from White Flower Farm.

snow day recipe: spicy hot cocoa

It's a snow day here in Virginia, with eight inches on the ground already, and the snow still falling. (Very unusual for us!) To celebrate the winter weather, here's a perfect recipe for a day like today. I tore this out of a gardening magazine (of all places!) almost ten years ago and have been enjoying it on special wintery occasions ever since.

Spicy Hot Cocoa
Blend 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp fine-ground pure chile powder, 3/4 tsp ground cloves, and 1/4 tsp salt. Add 2 cups water, and simmer for 4 minutes. Stir in 6 cups milk and reheat. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract, whisk, and pour into warm mugs. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

featured designer: angie hranowsky

Inspired by a November post on Paloma Contreras' La Dolce Vita, Viv over at ish & chi recently featured this beautiful design by Angie Hranowsky:

 

It prompted me to head to the source and take a look at some of the other projects pictured in Angie Hranowsky's interior design portfolio. What a delight! Although some of the details vary from client to client, she has a consistent and distinctive style featuring bright spaces, clean lines, and a cheerful yet soothing color pallette. Dusky purple, for instance, plays a recurring role in her spaces, often serving as a "neutral" in the room -- as you can see for yourself in some of the lovely examples below. Visit her website to see many more photos of her interiors, as well as examples of her graphic design work.

 

 

 

a pre-fab that will make you drool

This past weekend's Wall Street Journal featured a full page ad about the German pre-fab "Huf Haus" distributed in the U.S. by dotGreen.

Oh. My.

I knew that pre-fab houses these days have improved greatly over the pedestrian designs and poor quality common in the past (with the exception of those adorable little Sears bungalows, of course). But these open and light-filled beauties are homes anyone with modernist leanings would lust after. Assuming a good distance between you and your closest neighbors and/or a HUGE budget for window treatments. (Unless you like a healthy dose of exhibitionism in your daily routine!)

According to the Huf Haus website, what makes the glass exterior walls and the soaring interior spaces possible is the post and beam construction, which "frees the designer of the constraints of load-bearing (and thus dividing) walls".

To add to its appeal, the Huf Haus features sustainable design and eco-friendly materials and technology.

 

 

 

 

You can find many more photos at the website, along with an explanatory video and a virtual tour.

One challenge with a home like this, though, would be how to humanize the spaces. I'm sure a really talented designer could pull it off, but at the moment while these interiors are gorgeous to look at, I can't exactly picture myself feeling comfortable lounging around in my pajamas. :)

What strategies can you think of for making a house like this feel comfortable and inviting?

inspiration from window displays

Speaking of Anthropologie's great window displays, here are some photos courtesy of olanky1, anthropologie+you, Colorfly Studio, eli the bearded, platinumblondlife, and Royal Sapien on Flickr.

Consider this as just eye-candy, if you like. But a couple of these have stirred some intriguing ideas for me about home decorating possibilities: hanging miniature bird houses from a tree branch in the corner of our guest room, perhaps, or using chicken wire as the foundation for some interesting wall art -- e.g., weaving colorful strips of fabric through the holes. (I did mention we had no money left for real art, didn't I?) And those marshmallows pose some definite possibilities for holiday decorations come December! Any other fun associations, anyone?

beautiful baby bedding

I spotted this lovely photo on Holly Mathis' interiors blog. The picture is from the Spring 2010 Serena & Lilly catalog. Although this bedding features applique, not ink, the look nonetheless reminded me of some of the hand printed linens I featured recently. I love the serene and naturalistic quality of both the linen and the entire room. (Aren't those origami birds fabulous? They remind me of the kinds of brilliant window displays that Anthropologie often features at their stores -- so simple, yet such impact.)

new house photo

Our architect, the fabulous Scott Broaddus of spb studio, sent me this photo he took recently of our house. It's much nicer than any recent photos we have, so I thought I'd share it here. (Click on the picture to bring up a larger version.)

If you're in the Richmond area and looking for an architect for a project of your own, I'd definitely recommend Scott. He has a creative eye, a collaborative approach (unusual among architects, from what I hear!), and has done some construction work himself and so understands the process from both sides of the table. His website is under construction, but hopefully will be up soon at www.spbstudio.com.

rain chains

I first learned about rain chains reading Nature on View, a book full of gorgeous photos of Japanese-inspired homes. Used instead of a downspout, they transport the water from your house's gutters down to a drain or rain barrel. They are a very common feature in Japan, and one I'd like to add to our own house one day.

This image is from chaim zvi on Flickr. If you visit the photo page, there's a link to a video of the chain in action. To see more examples, go to the Rain Chains Gallery I curated on Flickr. Or you can also see another example of a rain chain at Duke Gardens on my post about the visitor's center that inspired the (re)design of our house.

hand printed linen

I bought some of these beautiful napkins from "bloomsong" on Etsy for my sister for Christmas:

I love the contrast between the quality of the natural linen and the simple cream hand printed flower. The style doesn't quite work with my own decor, but it's perfect for my sister's gorgeous home. (Perhaps someday she'll let me post a few photos of it on this blog!) These napkins inspired me to go looking for other hand printed linen things, though. Here are a few of the lovely things I found:

These clean and contemporary linen napkins were made by Elisabeth Bentz:

This is one of several similar throw pillows available from Three Sheets:

This art quilt was printed and sewn by lottahelleberg. It's a one-of-a-kind creation available on Etsy. Snap it up fast, or I might end up buying it myself to hang on my bedroom wall!

Also via Etsy, this pillow cover was made by inklingprints:

As is clear from the examples above, Etsy is a great source for beautiful handmade items. If this post inspires you to create a free account so you can purchase items on Etsy, please consider putting my user name (kiziah) in the "referred by" section so I can get credit for sending you and earn a few points toward my own purchases there. Thanks!

Margaret McCurry house

In addition to the visitor's center at Duke Gardens, this cool house designed by architect Margaret McCurry (and featured in Architectural Digest) also had an influence on our home's (re)design...

...particularly in our selection of these stunning mesa red awning windows from Jeld-Wen:

our architectural inspiration

In working with our architect to design our house's new exterior, we looked at a lot of photos of contemporary houses, but also at a lot of pictures of barns, barn-like structures (e.g., the beautiful Luck Stone showroom), and barn-inspired houses. We liked the idea of drawing on the "agricultural vernacular" (as Architectural Digest might put it) in the style of architects such as Margaret McCurry.

But nothing completely clicked until a visit to Duke Gardens while I was at Duke University heading up a two-week leadership institute for gifted high school students (see my consulting website to read more about this and other projects I've completed). Bob and I loved the look of the visitor's center there, took a bunch of photos, and gave them to our architect, the creative and collaborative Scott Broaddus of spb studio. Scott came up with a terrific design inspired by the photos, and together he and I tweaked it until it became what it is today. Take a look at the before and after pics of our exterior, and see if you can see the resemblance.

windmill pillow

How cool is this hand printed sueded windmill throw pillow from DwellinStyle on Etsy?!

a musical afternoon

To me, a house isn't completely a home if there's no music in it.

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Raphael and I knocked off work a little early to play some Mozart together. In my barren living room (we're waiting on our sofa to be delivered, and we still need to do something about curtains for all the new windows), we worked our way through two piano and violin sonatas, both of which I'm now in love with:

Sonata for Piano and Violin in G, K. 379: It starts with a slow and reflective first movement (adagio), that flows right into a stormy second movement (allegro) that features this fabulous interplay between the two instruments. But perhaps the coolest thing about this sonata is that the last movement is a set of variations on what we would swear is Pachelbel's Canon! (And speaking of Pachelbel's Canon, you have seen Rob Paravonian's hysterical "Pachelbel Rant" on YouTube, right?)

Sonata for Piano and Violin in B-Flat, K. 378: There's a lot going on in this one. But my favorite part is the last movement, a playful rondo with a rapid middle section that Raphael thinks sounds like bunnies running around in a field!

portfolio favs: Robert Stilin

Here are a few more of my favorites from interior designer Robert Stilin's portfolio. I just love his work! Visit his website to see more of his work and to watch for a store that's supposed to be coming soon (I can't wait to see what appears there!)...

house beautiful

I really enjoy House Beautiful magazine. My mother-in-law got me hooked when she gave me a stack of her old issues last year. Many of the rooms are not my style, but I nonetheless find it fascinating to read the interviews with the designers, to hear about the thinking behind their design choices.

My all-time favorite room in the magazine (so far), has been this family room designed by Robert Stilin, which was featured in the February 2009 "Makeovers" issue:

As with many of the other things in his portfolio, I love the use of natural fabrics, the calming colors, and the way he combines clean and contemporary lines with cozy and classic elements. There's nothing pretentious about this room. And doesn't it just make you want to curl up on the couch under a soft blanket and take a nap?

modern quilts

We have this cozy blue quilt from West Elm in our guest room (in person, the color is much more interesting than it appears on the screen -- more of a smokey gray-blue), and I love it so much I was tempted to buy a second one in charcoal gray (also a better color in person) for our bedroom when our Richmond store was closing and everything was 40% off.


In the end, I restrained myself. But it got me thinking about contemporary quilts and wondering about what other lovely things might be out there. Here are a few great quilts I came across while poking around on Flickr:

"Plain Spoken Quilt" by sheagatzi:



"Work Quilt #2" by Victoria at The Silly BooDilly:



"Love Beads" sewn by "Army of Tea" from a pattern from the book The Modern Quilt Workshop:



"Rainy Day Quilt" by r0ssie:



"Rainbow Strip Cot Quilt" by o-cherry-sew:



"Modern Munki Munki Martian Quilt" by filminthefridge: