Confession. I didn’t learn about tramp art when I got my Master’s degree in Dec. Arts History. (Like most art history degrees, all your time is pretty much devoted to memorizing the well-known folks.) Growing up, when there was a lack of ideas for Halloween costumes, my mom seemed to enjoy dressing us up as…
flourish by h.s. blanchard Even though most of us spend the majority of our day banging away at keyboards, there’s nothing quite like a handwritten note. We seem to be far removed from the time when that ornamental penmanship, now reserved for weddings, was once a common characteristic of an educated individual. But even if…
batik designs from the new york public library I’ve been wanting to try my hand at batik for a little while now. Maybe it’s a latent desire to return to summer camp crafts and those tie dyed t-shirts that we all proudly sported until it was time to go back to school. Like tie dying,…
porch from sneak peek: christina flowers of magnolia moonlight see more sneak peek porches below! It has been hot, hot, hot here on the East Coast – a little taste of summer! All week we were waiting for a little rain to cool things off, and I was wishing for a place (other than a…
illustration by julia rothman Our Brimfield trip was so inspiring that I thought it might be fun to look at a frequent flea market find – the spool bed (named for its resemblance to sewing spools) a.k.a. Jenny Lind beds. Do you have a flea market find that you’d like to know a little about?…
beatrix potter, ‘sketch of a greenhouse, fawe park’ (1903) via the v&a’s exhibition: the real mr. mcgregor’s garden If I had an outdoor space, I’d have my hands in the dirt right about now. Instead, I’ve been distracting myself by flipping through books about other people’s gardens and I’ve become entranced with the history of…
Now for the fun part! (Don’t miss the history of this terrific pattern in Part 1!) One of my favorite things about doing these pattern histories is they way it increases my awareness of the patterns around me. This week – working on paisley – I saw the pattern everywhere! [clockwise from left: paisley reef…
illustration by julia rothman I’m still working my way through the pattern history requests! Whew! (We’ve had Toile & Liberty of London, so far!) Today, I thought we’d take a little look at paisley – an Indian design named for a Scottish town. Stay tuned a little later for my paisley round-up! (Thanks for the…
for this liberty of london round-up, i set some rules for myself – no liberty of london for target. it’s not for lack of love – i do have quite a few pieces from the target collaboration (thanks mom!)- but i wanted to focus on some liberty of london products that were a little less…
sources for liberty fabric: purl soho, the top drawer, b&j fabrics and of course, liberty of london After I wrote about the History of Toile, I asked for some requests for other pattern histories. It was a bit of a draw between houndstooth and Liberty – and with the Target collaboration it seems like Liberty…
Richard Saja Now that we’ve examined the history of toile, it’s time to look at modern day versions of this pattern. I have to say that I am totally blown away by the way that designers have been able to make this 240 year-old design feel completely modern. One of my favorite artists, Richard Saja,…
[above: Les Traveaux de la Manufacture (The Activities of the Factory), 1783–84, designed by Jean-Baptiste Huet - 14 different scenes in this fabric depict the copperplate printing process via the Metropolitan Museum of Art] I so loved digging into tartan that I thought it might be fun to look at some other patterns that we…
illustration by julia rothman (a very limited edition of prints are available in the julia rotham shop) Spring is in the air (this week, at least!), which means one thing – flea market season! Here on the East Coast, most flea markets pack up for the winter and dealers go off to restock, but then…
murphy bed illustrations via murphy bed company history After my very first past & past column back in August. I had some requests to address the history of the Murphy bed. It’s only taken 6 months and some nudging from Grace – but here’s some insight into the Murphy bed! image from the Decorator and…
Billy Baldwin certainly loved his brown and his lacquer. Billy once said that every country house needs a dog so I couldn’t resist including a greyhound in homage to the painting in his own home. Billy abhorred leggy furniture saying it made the room feel restless, but I was just not into the box pleat…
illustration by julia rothman I don’t have much of a fashion memory, but when I was looking at Billy Baldwin interiors all week, I kept thinking about Gwyneth Paltrow’s Oscar dress in 1996. I’ve always loved that dress – it was all white, and she just looked clean, casual and effortless. (She also had Brad…
Tartan Round-Up With all this tartan talk, I’ve begun noticing tartan everywhere! And although a little plaid goes a long way, here are a few of my favorites! [image above: long plaid chain necklace $19.99, tartan tape shade $128, audrey wallpaper £35. antique tartan print $120, henning sofa $3,998, ralph lauren chair $649, set of…
image above by julia rothman If you’re thinking of a Scottish textile, chances are you’re thinking about tartan. The design was originally based on a simple two-color check, but today you can find an enormous variety of tartan patterns. So pour yourself a glass of scotch (OK – so it’s only 10am and we don’t…
illustration by julia rothman I find it pretty amazing that we decorate our homes with furniture forms that are thousands of years old. You might know this stool as an x-stool, but it’s also a curule, a Dante chair, Savonarola chair, a Faldistorium or even a scissors chair! (The form tweaks a bit as the…
This column is not about the cozy little cottages that dot the English countryside. Instead we’re focusing on those grand English country homes that were the power houses for the country. When I was younger, in addition to devouring Jane Austen novels, I spent an absurd amount of time pouring through my parents’ copy of…
