modern office

A photo I snapped recently at Perlora in Pittsburgh. Love the lettering! These decorative elements would make even a cubicle feel sophisticated...

recent living room additions

Slowly but surely, we've been putting our living room back together following the renovations. Or perhaps I should say a living room, as it's changed quite a bit in the transition. Whenever it finally gets to the point where it's looking close to done (hmmm, is any room ever really "done"?), I'll tell the whole story, complete with before-and-after pictures. But meanwhile, here's a quick update on a few of the recent additions to the room.

New Sofa: Previously we had a futon as our primary living room seating; that has now been moved into our guest room. (We have a guest room now!) So it was time to buy a genuine, grown up sofa. This one from Precedent was purchased at a discount from Greenfront Furniture. I'm delighted by the fabric, which is a nubby blue/gold combo that ties in with the color scheme that's emerging in the room and also works with the old rug (from Capel) which we plan to live with a while longer. The cats have already decided that the sofa was purchased solely for their own entertainment and comfort. We've been employing various strategies to keep them from turning it into a scratching post, but there's no keeping them from sleeping all over it. As a result, it's already looking quite a bit slouchier than it did when it first arrived at the beginning of March.

New Chairs: We've spent hours looking for the perfect chair and have not yet found it. (Except for one we spotted at Perlora in Pittsburgh for just under $2000. Needless to say, we decided to keep looking.) This pair of chairs from World Market is our temporary solution. Bought on sale at $130 a piece, they provide us with seating that we won't feel too bad about passing on to someone else if that perfect chair does in fact turn up in just a few months. The pillows (also showing evidence of feline squishing) came cheap from HomeGoods.

Wall Art: Purchased from the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh, those fun clay objects on the wall next to the CD towers were made by Florida artist Meagan Chaney and are abstract interpretations of flowers and sea urchins. I'd love to add more of them eventually, but for now the budget dictated that we stop at five. (Although they were considerably cheaper at the store in Pittsburgh than they are if you buy them online. Shouldn't it work the other way around?)

Coffee Table: Not here yet, but should be arriving soon. I've been in love with this West Elm coffee table for some time, but we couldn't bring ourselves to buy it until it went on sale. It will replace our old, worn mission-style coffee table we've had almost 20 years. I have a glass table from CB2 serving as my desk in my new office, and I love how big it makes the room feel. I'm hoping this coffee table will have the same effect in our living room.

Richmond loft tour

What a full and fun weekend I had! My friend Susan was in town to join us for the French Film Festival, and while we were at it we did a fair bit of touring around Richmond, enjoying things like the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, Agecroft Hall, and charming Carytown. One of the main events of the weekend, though, besides the film festival was the Downtown Loft Tour sponsored by Venture Richmond. And how could we miss that?!

There were two lofts on the tour of which I was particularly fond and that I will feature in more depth in the coming days, but for now here are a few other shots that Susan and I snagged during our tour...

These last two photos are not lofts that were on the tour but are instead architecturally interesting buildings that were nearby one of the lofts we toured in Richmond's gallery district. The first building is a former firehouse that is now the home of Gallery 5, and the second is a former dairy that has been turned into apartments.

lego art

Here's another interesting artist who was featured at the recent Talk20 event Bob and I attended at 1708 Gallery here in Richmond. Brian Korte makes mosaics -- both large and ENORMOUS -- from tiny little lego pieces. He does a lot of portraits and corporate logos, but also some other subjects. And not only is this guy a talented artist, but he also has a big, caring heart and is trying to use his work to help make a difference in his community. More than a few of us got weepy during his talk.

more great barn-inspired structures

I've posted on this topic before, when I featured some of the work of Mell Lawrence Architects. But a recent Houzz ideabook by the wonderful Becky Harris has inspired me to share a few more images. First a few of my favorites from Becky's ideabook...

contemporary exterior design by dc metro architect Blackburn Architects, PC

eclectic exterior design by other metros architect Birdseye Design

eclectic entry design by san francisco architect Mark English architects, AIA

modern exterior design by seattle architect Rhodes Architecture +Light

And here are several others I dug up elsewhere...

"The Dairy House" by Charlotte Skene Catling

 Urban Barn by JAS Design Build

The Farm Project by Mike Meire for Dornbracht

Timber Frame Home Addition via Post and Beam Living

a twist on open shelving

Speaking of cool shelves, my friend Ali recently sent me a link to a post on Apartment Therapy's re-nest featuring this unique take on open kitchen shelving. Practicalities aside, isn't it gorgeous?

nifty shelves

Spotted these cool shelves in a wonderful restaurant in Pittsburgh this past weekend. Would they look as amazing without the fabulous collection of glasswork? Perhaps not. But they'd still be pretty darn cool. I love how they've made the functionality of the movable shelves a highlight of the design. And that red edge on the otherwise natural wood shelves adds such personality!

If you're ever in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, I highly recommend Coca Cafe for an interesting and delicious Sunday brunch!

Pittsburgh Cultural District

As you may recall, Bob and I were in Pittsburgh this past weekend for a wedding. While we were there, we spent a little time touring around, revisiting favorite spots and places with special meaning to us. One of the places we went was the Cultural District in downtown Pittsburgh.

My very first job out of college was working for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, an organization whose mission was to revitalize a former red-light district downtown near the convention center and turn it into a cultural destination. At the time I worked there, the Trust was one of those organizations that had an inspiring mission but a dysfunctional organizational culture. So it has taken me a while, but after twenty intervening years I can finally visit the Cultural District and just feel happy feelings about the fabulous things that have been accomplished there, and my teeny tiny part in that.

Here are a few of the pictures I snapped with my phone while we were strolling through the District...

A mural by Richard Haas on the side of what was formerly the Fulton Theater (now the Byham). When I worked at the Cultural Trust, I did research about public art in other cities and collected photos and information from various artists that the Trust was considering for projects in the Cultural District. I also was in charge of the grand reopening party for the Byham Theater after the Trust renovated it.

More public art. Although frankly this one looks to me more like a Transformer than art. But I think it's intended to be an homage to Pittsburgh's many bridges.

New theaters, very clearly designed by Michael Graves. We were just beginning to talk about these when I worked at the Trust in the early 1990s.

Mister Rogers holds a special place in the heart of every Pittsburgher, even those of us who only lived there for a few years. I sat through a bunch of other announcements and ads (for some very cool theatrical and musical events coming soon to Pittsburgh) in order to see Mister Rogers come up again on this kiosk and to hear about the "sweater day" being held in his honor.

This little park used to be a parking lot when I lived in Pittsburgh.

A handsome new restaurant in the District.

real small art

One of the particularly moving talks at the Talk20 event Bob and I went to last week was by Richmond artist Tiffany Glass Ferreira, the founder of the Real Small Art League. She shared the story of the origins of the Real Small Art project and how it has evolved over the years. What began with just Tiffany herself leaving tiny works of art around the city for people to find and take has now evolved into an international initiative involving multiple artists, venues (including geocaches), and distribution methods to accomplish random (and not so random) acts of artistic kindness.

Here are some examples of "real small art" featured recently on the blog for the project...

things to come...

You can't actually tell from my recent posts, but a lot has been going on in my life lately that is fairly blog worthy...

• Our new sofa finally arrived a couple weeks ago, and it looks quite handsome in the custom fabric we chose.
• We bought a pair of upholstered chairs on sale at World Market to complete (for now) the living room seating arrangement.
• We very quickly (thankfully!) learned a helpful trick about how to keep your cats from turning your new furniture into scratching posts.
• We held a fun musical event here the very day after our sofa arrived. (We were beginning to panic that we'd have no where for our guests to sit!)
• I bought some happy fabric from a fabric outlet here in Richmond to make slipcovers for our very worn dining room chairs. (God knows when I'll actually get around to sewing them, though.)
• We recently framed some art we'd acquired over the last few years, and it's now up and looking (mostly) great.
• We've rearranged the furniture in our upstairs spare room, including turning the twin bed into a day bed with a lovely selection of pillows from Target and West Elm.
• I've added some accessories that completely delight me to the upstairs bath. It still needs real window coverings (we've got temporary paper ones up), a glass shower enclosure, and some art for the walls, but the space is really coming along.
• We just spent the weekend in Pittsburgh (we went up for Bob's uncle's wedding), and we saw some cool art and interiors while we were there. A little bit of art came home with us too.

I have a number of photos related to the above, and plenty to say on most of these topics as well. But I've been really behind lately due to the recent computer crash. And now I've been called in for jury duty tomorrow, so that's one more day lost during a very busy time with my consulting work.

But hang in there with me, and soon I'll get those photos and updates up here for your viewing/reading pleasure!

this is almost enough to make me love pink

From a beautiful post over at Fric and Frac, featuring lots of interiors decorated with flowering branches...

a wonderful wine cellar

Wine is likely to have a renewed presence in my life this month. (Sadly, I've felt a little too busy of late to be sampling any wines.) Bob and I are spending some time this weekend and next with two different friends of ours who are both serious wine enthusiasts. Which means we're sure to be tasting some enchanting wines while we're with them.

In anticipation of this pleasure, I share with you this gorgeous wine cellar that appeared in one of the featured ideabooks in Houzz recently. Just add a cozy sofa, and I think I'd gladly move into this space permanently! I love the simple lines, the warm but soothing colors -- and that "paneled" wall!

modern wine cellar design by san francisco Fulcrum Structural Engineering

oo-la-la! purple

Perhaps it was my excitement about the annual French Film Festival that will be taking place again soon here in Richmond that inspired me to sign up for an email subscription to a newsletter from Coté Maison, the parent company for a number of French language decorating magazines.

My rusty high school French is doing a poor job making much sense of the text in these emails. But the pictures translate just fine! Pretty colors charm in any language.

And that's what I found in today's issue. The lead article featured various photos illustrating what a charming addition purple can be to your home's decor. Yes, purple. I was never a big purple person, but I'm beginning to come around thanks to the many beautiful dusky hues that are showing up these days. Here are a few lovely shots from this issue...

gratitude

I spent the day doing meaningful and enjoyable work.

Afterward I sat in a cafe with the doors open and the Spring air wafting in.

Bob and I went to a fascinating and inspiring event tonight -- Talk 20. Eight people working in creative fields gave talks. Each had 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide, to share the ideas and projects they're pursuing. It was stimulating, inspiring, funny, moving, fascinating. (Don't be surprised if you find a few of the ideas/images emerging here over the next week or so.)

On the way home tonight, as I crossed the bridge to our side of town, the river was glowing the most luminous blue I've ever seen.

Life is beautiful.

Ted Muehling's home, still beautiful today

Here's another gem from Sally Schneider over at The Improvised Life. Searching through the archives of "cool spaces" on the blog, I found a link she shared to a post over at Automatism, featuring a late 1990's Maison Française article about the home of jewelry designer Ted Muehling. I love love love the simplicity of the spaces and how simple everyday tools and found objects are transformed into art.

This is my favorite photo. For the others, hop on over to the original Automatism post.

Sally Schneider's kitchen

Sally Schneider is a writer, commentator, entrepreneur, former chef, and the driving force behind one of my favorite blogs, The Improvised Life. She recently shared a couple cool posts about her kitchen, which I thought I would share here.

From her personal website, this image shows Sally at work in her kitchen with James Peterson. Unless you read The Improvised Life, though, what you wouldn't know from looking at this photo is that the cabinets in this kitchen were moved from her former, larger kitchen and reconfigured in her new home. Since they didn't all fit into the new kitchen, some of the cabinets are now serving as stand-alone furniture after being fitted with a new top.

And speaking of new tops, the top for the island in her kitchen is a clever contraption made from plywood wrapped in zinc. It fits snugly over the existing granite top (which wasn't working well for food photography), but can be moved when needed.

If you want to read more about these creative kitchen transformations, here are the links to the posts:

• Kitchen cabinets as furniture
• Convertible surface for a kitchen island

Meanwhile, here are a few more photos of Sally's kitchen/cabinets (by the talented Ellen Silverman) to inspire you.

Liberty of London travels to Target

As you may have heard, Liberty of London and Target have teamed up to offer a variety of fashion and household items that combine Liberty's high style with Target's low prices. The collection debuted yesterday and features everything from bedding to bikes to bathing suits covered in Liberty of London's trademark florals.

There's a little more pink than quite suits my tastes, but it's nonetheless fun to see these playful patterns splashed over such a wide variety of products. Here's a small selection...