The Designer's Muse

Brass is Back

2018-11-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Polished Brass is Back

Polished brass plumbing fixtures and hardware are back in a big way. We have done a lot of research to find the best pieces for a recent project. Here are our 5 favorites from this kitchen.

#1 Custom towel bar by Wa Hoo. Believe it or not its very difficult to find towel bars in polished unlacquered brass. For that reason we ended up having them custom made by wahoodesigns
They make bistro shelves and some other beautiful products; they did a great job on our towel bars too.

#2 PE Guerin cabinet hardware. If you don't know this company, you should. They make beautiful hand crafted hardware.

#3 Custom hood by Texas Lightsmith. This custom made hood in zinc and polished brass is by Texas Lightsmith

#4 The pendant light fixture and the wall sconces are by Ann Morris.

#5 The faucet is by California Faucets. We were looking for a simple kitchen faucet with a pull out/down spray in polished unlacquered brass. There were not a lot of options, but we liked the Davoli from California Faucets. (the image below is not polished brass).

Green Design: A touch of green for every room in the house.

2017-03-17T13:54:00.003-07:00

A little green goes a long way, in decorating at least.

Here's a little St. Patrick's day inspiration for adding a little green to every room in your home.

Entry Hall

Living Room

Tory Burch

Colette van den Thillart

Phillip Sides

Sarah Bartholomew

Dining Room

Library

Steven Gambrel

Powder Room

Suzanne Kasler

Kitchen

Elle Decor

Bedroom

Stephen Sclaroff

Jamie Drake

House Beautful

Home For the Holidays: Decorating for the holidays with a great looking bar

2016-11-29T11:55:00.003-08:00

Its that time of year again! I like to start decorating my home soon after Thanksgiving so I can start to get into the holiday spirit. A great place to star is the bar.

I'm a huge fan of bar carts. They always look pretty and elegant. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Veranda

Vogue Australia

Oliver Bona

If you don't happen to have a really pretty bar cart, don't worry, a bar on a table or dresser can look great. Take a simple tray, some drinks glasses and some pretty bottles and voila you have a beautiful bar.

David Hicks

Habitually Chic

Miles Redd

Huestis Tucker Architects, LLC

Joe Nye

Mike Thompson

Thom Filicia

If you are renovating or doing an additon, a bar cabinet is a nice thing to design into your project.

Cheers!!!

Design Trend: Living Walls

2016-10-11T12:56:00.003-07:00

We recently designed a therapy office to include a living wall. This has become the hot new trend, and I am so excited about creating one. I'm seeing these living walls everywhere; in the magazines, on the internet, and on the city streets. I don't think this will be a short-lived fascination. The benefits of plants both in our interiors and our urban landscapes are undeniable.

Herb Wall

Moss wall

Moss Wall

String Wall

Vertical Garden

Real Living Wall

Cape Light

2016-09-08T12:04:00.001-07:00

Even on a cloudy day the light at the Cape is magnificent!

All photos by Huestis Tucker Architects, LLC

Creating a Conservatory Look

2016-08-31T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hold on to summer as long as you can by creating a conservatory look in your home.

Below are a few elements I selected to bring the outside in, and give an ordinary room that summer time feel throughout the year.

Clancy Sofa by Arhaus

Ballard Celon Planter

Finial BedsideTable

Giant Clam

Shilo Spool Chair in Courtney

Style Trend: The Big Green Sofa

2016-08-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

All of the shelter magazines are showcasing this new style trend. A big punch of vibrant green is a great antidote to the grays and neutrals we've seen so much of lately. I like the green paired with blue or with gold.

Sarah Bartholomew

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Karen Bow Interiors

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Charlotte Moss

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Daniel Romauldez

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John Jacobs Interiors

Loombrand

Anthropologie

The 10 best plants for your late summer garden

2016-08-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

It's not always easy to keep your garden looking fantastic and colorful during the late summer. Many of the earlier perennials have finished blooming and their foliage is beginning to look spent and bedraggled. I like a garden which looks great all year round, so here are my recommendations for the 10 best plants you can add to your garden to keep it looking beautiful all summer long.

#1 Hydrangeas come in many varieties and colors. The blooms are long lasting and they are generally very easy to care for.

Photograph by Stacy Bass

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#2 Rose of Sharon, in my opinion, is underrated and underused in the modern garden. I like that they bloom and look fresh during the hottest part of the summer when many other plants are looking worn out from the hot summer sun.

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#3 Russian Sage is a great, sun loving, drought resistant perennial that looks great in mass or with other plants in a perennial garden.

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Ina Garten's garden

Beatrix Ferrand society

#4 Butterfly Bushes are great looking but also attract butterflies and humming birds. In my garden they tend to self seed and show up in almost any open space...filling in gaps in my garden.

Potters Road Nursery

#5 Phlox come in such great colors and are easy to grow. They add life to a late summer garden. The only problem is that the deer love them as much as I do. I have a very hard time keeping the buds from getting munched on before they have a chance to bloom.

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#6 Liatris are a super easy plant to have. They are bulbs...plant them and forget them. They look great in bunches next to blue hydrangeas.

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Longfield Gardens

#7 Echinacea is another easy care plant for the late summer garden.

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#8 Lambs Ears foliage has a silvery soft texture which looks great all summer long. These are a great contrast against greener foliage and colorful blooms. I don't care very much for the flowers on the lambs ears, so I tend to cut them off.

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Photo by Clive Nichols

Wohnen und Garten

#9 Dahlias add a riot of color to a summer garden and will continue blooming until first frost. In New England, however they are not perennial and must be dug up in the fall and replanted in the spring.

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Heiress Flowers

Garden of Eaden

#10 Clethra Summer Sweet is another underrated and underused plant which is perfect for the late summer garden. The aroma of a summer sweet in full bloom is absolutely intoxicating. There is a place in my town where they grow wild at the edge of a boggy woody area; the scent is just heavenly.

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Happy Gardening.

10 must haves for the perfect Cape Cod cottage

2016-08-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

Below are the 10 most important elements for the perfect Cape Cod cottage.

#1 white cedar shingle siding and roofing. The salty air turns the white cedar shingles to a beautiful silver tone...giving these homes their iconic Cape Cod feel.

Hutker Architects

#2 Painted trim. White is the most ubiquitous, but I also love the use of blue/green trim.

Nantucket

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Martha Stewart Lily Pond Lane

#3 White chimneys with a black band. The lore is that these chimneys advertised an owner's loyalty to the Tories during the revolutionary war....so approaching ships would know if they were landing in enemy or friendly territories.

Edgartown

#4 Old Fashioned Roses. Climbers like New Dawn or White Dawn seem to thrive in the salty air. They look beautiful on a fence or trellis. Its especially striking to a rose climbing onto the roof of a cottage.

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Jeffrey Bilhuber

#5 Hydrangeas. Any kind of hydrangea; white, blue or pink speak of summer.

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#6 Rose of Sharon. This is another plant which for me is synonymous with Cape Cod. Carefree and blooming in mid summer makes it a perfect shrub for a cottage.

Traditional Home

#7 A porch. To be outside but sheltered from the hot summer sun, a porch is the perfect place to sit and admire the view. No cottage is complete without a porch.

C.H. Newton Builders

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#8 A hedge or a fence. These boundary providing elements provide a bit a privacy especially in tight quarters. They also provide a perfect backdrop for a garden.

Edgartown

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Ferguson Shamamian Architects

#9 An American Flag. Something about a lawn and a flagpole that says summer cottage.

Architectural Digest

#10 A water view. Arguably the most important thing for a summer cottage is a water view. It's like an old fashioned TV....always changing and endlessly mesmerizing.

Huestis Tucker Architects

Beat the Heat

2016-07-26T12:45:00.002-07:00

Much of the country is currently experiencing a prolonged heat wave. I can't think of a better way to cool off and chill out than to take a plunge in a lovely, cool pool. Below are some examples that seem especially inviting to me right now.

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Elle Decor

Four Seasons, Maldives

Greg Shano

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AD France

Perry Guillot

Suzanne Kasler

Hoodwinked: Fabulous Kitchen Hoods

2016-07-19T12:10:00.000-07:00

Below are some of our favorite kitchen exhaust hoods. We designed a few of them, and have been inspired by the others.

Huestis Tucker Architects

We wanted to design something akin to the English style mantel hood, but we wanted to soften it a bit with an arch. The back splash is a combination of tile and stone slab and echoes the arch. The sides of the mantel are full depth to accommodate pull out spice drawers.

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I really like this zink hood. The small X details keep it from looking too rustic.

Brook Giannetti

The mouldings are perfetctly detailed on this mantle hood. Love it!

Brook Giannetti

Another pretty zink hood.

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And another...I guess I like the zink.

Ferguson Shamamian and Victoria Hagan

I love the classic wooden hood cover.

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Love the shape of this hood. I wonder if it's made of wood or stucco.

House Beautiful

Interesting trellis cover above a mantel.

Huestis Tucker Architects with Amy State

Our version of the metal hood, though we designed this one with a slight curve.

Huestis Tucker Architects with Kara Mann

We did this really cool looking hood covered in sheet rock. I love how clean and crisp it is. The real interest lies in the sliding marble slabs which reveal hidden storage shelves.

Huestis Tucker Architects

This is another one of our office favorites. The wooden arches were milled from trees on the site. The backsplash is made of thin porcelain slabs made which look like Calcutta Gold marble.

Huestis Tucker Architects

Simple understated stainless steel box covers the fan.

Jean Allsopp

Pretty panels with herringbone patterned backsplash.

Spencer Churchill Designs

Classic English

Stephen Sutro and Heather Hilliard

This one is so cool. Faux leather panels on stainless steel. Ingenious!

Manor of the Month, Ffynone

2016-07-12T13:49:00.002-07:00

If you've been dreaming of living in an English manor house, this might be your big opportunity.
Grade I listed Ffynone in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales is advertised for sale by Savills for a mere 1,750,00 English pounds, or roughly $2,320,000. Ffynone was designed by the architect John Nash, who is best known for his terrace designs in Regent's Park in London. The extensive gardens and landscaping were designed by Inigo Thomas. The property is a little over 34 acres and includes several apartments, stables, and a greenhouse. Sounds perfect to me!! Check out the full details on Savills website.

Any takers?

As American as Apple Pie

2016-07-01T11:29:00.005-07:00

From Florida to Main, from the smallest of cottages to the largest of mansions, nothing says American Home like a front porch. It is a truly iconic feature of American residential architecture. Below are some lovely examples. Happy 4th of July. I hope you are spending some of the long weekend lounging in the shade of a beautiful porch with a cold drink and a summer breeze.

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Significant Homes

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C.H. Newton

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Elle Decor

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Heidi Milton

Huestis Tucker Architects

Jackson Built Custom Homes

John Hummel

Laura Casey Interiors

Mike and Malkemus

Southern Living

Suzanne Kasler

Veranda

Vickery Hedgewood Home

21 Fantastic Sunken and Walled Gardens

2016-06-29T09:30:00.002-07:00

I visited Highfield Hall and gardens in Falmouth, MA this week. The town has recently purchased and beautifully restored the mansion and the surrounding property. The sunken garden is particularly lovely. Its a great place to visit for inspiration. I love the way enclosed gardens become exterior rooms.

Highfield Hall

Beatrix Ferrand, Cultural Landscape Foundation

Bunny Williams

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Better Homes and Gardens

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Highgrove

Howard Design Studio

Sissinghurst

Veranda

Cool Pools

2016-06-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

It's a hot day here in Connecticut, a perfect day to hang out by the pool. So naturally I thought I would do a post on swimming pools. As I was sorting through pool images to post, I realized I was mostly drawn to the dark, cool looking pools rather than the more ubiquitous turquoise hues. Although the traditional blue green pool is very enticing, I felt drawn to the ambiguity between reflecting pool and swimming pool, of the very dark pools. Below are some that I especially liked.

Ronald van der Hilst Architectural Digest

Estate of David Hicks Architectural Digest

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Curtis and Windham

Fine Gardening

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Mark D. Sikes

Tom Stuart Smith

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10 Must Haves for heavenly Master Bedroom

2016-06-23T13:31:00.001-07:00

The Bedroom is one of the most important rooms in your house. You probably spend more time there than in any other room. That's why it's so important to have a great bedroom. I believe a great bedroom should be a sanctuary; calm, soft, and peaceful. So here are 10 things every great Master Bedroom should have.

#1 Fabulous Color
I tend to like neutrals for a bedroom. The soft neutral colors provide a backdrop or canvas on which you can apply pops of pleasing colors.

Veer Grenney

Luxe Interiors and Design Magazine

Alexa Hampton

#2 A Comfortable Bed

A great bed is crucial. The upholstered headboards are quite popular now. I really like the look and hope it is not just a fleeting trend.

New England Home

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Architectural Digest

#3 Sumptuous Linens

Beautiful linens are a great way to add some color to an otherwise neutral room. New linens are also an easy, relatively inexpensive way to update a room.

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Windsor Smith

#4 Architectural Elements

Architectural elements such as cove ceilings are a great way to provide a bedroom with good bones. Well designed architectural elements will make anything look better.

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Katherine Newman

Lucy Williams

#5 Timeless Furniture

I recommend selecting beautiful quality furniture that will stand the test of time. The night table by Alexa Hampton below is one of my favorites.

Courtney Giles

Phoebe Howard

#6 Excellent Lighting

Great lighting can add interest as well as functionality. Every bedrooms needs a pair of great reading lights. I tend to like lamps better than sconces for the bedroom.

Scott Sanders

Alexa Hampton

Jean Lois Denoit

#7 Cozy Seating

Adding a cozy chair with an ottoman, a bench, or a settee which provides a pretty place to read, watch TV, or just put your shoes on is a must have in every bedroom.

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#8 Thoughtful Art

It may be one of the last things you think about selecting for a bedroom, but in some ways it is the most important. Artwork can pull the whole look together.

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Cathy Kincaid

#9 Fabulous Flooring

A beautiful carpet or wood floors can provide a great base for all of your other selections.

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Steven Gambrel

Architectural Digest

#10 Elegant Window Treatments

Last but not least, great window treatments can finish off the look. Column drapes with a trim edge can give a vertical feel to a room with low or average height ceilings.

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Phoebe Howard

Michael Hampton

Double Gable Homes

2016-01-19T13:27:00.001-08:00

Recently I was looking through my Pinterest boards in search of inspiration for a project. I was surprised by how many images I had collected of double gable homes. It wasn't what I was searching for at the time, but I kept noticing them. It turns out we at Huestis Tucker Architects have designed a few homes with the double gable motif, so subconsciously or maybe consciously I seem to really gravitate toward this look. These homes usually have a slightly casual feel, and are very often Shingle Style, Arts and Crafts, or Tudor Style homes.

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Austin Patterson Disston Architects

Image from Better Homes and Gardens

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Huestis Tucker Architects

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Ferguson Shamamian

Harrison Design

Howard Design Studio

Image from Better Homes and Gardens

Patrick Ahearn Architect

Richard Olsen Architect

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Pale Pink

2014-02-14T13:54:00.003-08:00

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Pale Pink is not just for little girls. The right shade of pink, in the right setting can look really sophisticated. This room is a great example. The pink paneled walls combined with neutrals, moss greens, and some great furniture creates an elegant not girly look.

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I love the mix of antique and modern in this photo, also couldn't resist the pooch.

Angie Hranowsky

Anne Hepfer

This is a great look: a masculine trim combined with a feminine color...results are ultra sophisticated.

Ben Pentreath

I love this English look. Gallery wall with the pink paneled walls.

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David Hicks

Donatella Versace

I love the dark wood furniture as a foil to the pale pink walls.

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A little silver and/or gold also looks great with pale pink.

Madeline Stuart Sofa

Sotheby's

Who can resist a velvet sofa or a pretty jewel? Hint Hint

Winter Whites: Beatuful White Living Rooms

2013-12-17T15:27:00.000-08:00

Architectural Digest

It's probably counter intuitive, but all white rooms look great in winter. You would think they would feel stark and chilly, but in fact they feel warm, rich, and inviting. I especially like the rooms with a touch of gold, mahogany, or a bit of a pale color like pink. It's difficult to pull off an all white room unless you have great architectural details, like paneling or a fantastic mantel. Here are some of my favorite all white rooms.

Alexander James

Darryl Carter

House Beautiful

Kathryn Scott

Thomas Pheasant

Victoria Hagan

Catherine Kwong

Color of The Year: Radiant Orchid

2013-12-06T14:58:00.002-08:00

Pantone has just announced their color of the year for 2014; It is Radiant Orchid. When I read the blurb on AOL this morning, I thought to myself...wait, wait, let me guess. I guessed purple, and I was pretty close...however Radiant Orchid sounds so much prettier than purple. I knew it had to be this shade since all of the most striking interiors have included this color, or something very similar, from accent pieces to entire rooms. Here are just a few wonderful examples of this lively, vibrant color.

Lindsey Coral Harper

Architectural Digest

House Beautiful

Let the Decorating Begin: Five Steps to a Great Holiday Exterior

2013-12-02T15:01:00.002-08:00

Canadian House and Home

You can achieve a festive holiday look for you home in five simple steps.

The first step is a great wreath at the front door. I like the silvery leaves and white berries of this wreath below. A great natural wreath can also provide a wonderful aroma as you approach and enter a home.

Martha Stewart

I like the combination of greens and small golden bells on this wreath.

Martha Stewart

The next step is a garland. Garlands look great around a front door, or wrapping columns, or even draped over the whole house like the photo of Aerin Lauder's home below.

Martha Stewart

House and Garden

The next step is to decorate a pair of urns, a single urn, or even a window box. These elements look great in a summer garden, but also provide a way to bring life to a winter landscape. I love these pretty stone urns with mixed greens.

Canadian Gardening

Pocket Full of Posies

The fourth step is to add a whimsical element. This little holly sprig and velvet ribbon are so simple, yet have a big impact.

The fifth step is to add a Christmas tree in the landscape. I love the idea of looking out through a snow covered lawn to a distant tree, glowing with lights.

Pottery Barn

Going Dutch

2013-10-23T12:11:00.001-07:00

This week I've been researching Dutch door hardware for a particular project. I wanted to get the look and the functionality just right. One of the dilemmas was where to put the hardware. Most commonly the hardware is on the bottom panel, and I think this is the nicer look. However this sometimes means that the knob is much lower than a standard door knob height. Which way would you go; better looking or easier to use?

I love the look of the Dutch door where the top half of the door is glass. This Dutch door softens the look of the formal entry foyer above.

It also adds a human element, and some movement to a potentially static environment.

I love these high gloss black doors. I also love the framed maps beyond!

The top half of this door lines up with the sidelights for a pulled together look on this porch. The whimsical color is also a nice, unexpected touch.

This door has an interesting pattern...Love the porch, the urns, and the riding boots!

The Dutch door makes this formal 6 panel door unique. Note the interesting hardware...it's in the center of the panel??

This Dutch door looks right on this pretty country house...great color, love the old bluestone landing and path! Old New England!

High gloss blue with the vibrant yellow...so sophisticated.

This looks like an old Victorian updated with modern furnishings. Love!

This is such an interesting door. The upper panel looks like an art frame. That's all you need with a view like this.

One of my favorite entry foyers. Love the door, the hardware, the windows, the paneling...It all feels exactly right.

A unique and decorative door...especially pretty upper portion. Beautiful lights, lovely porch.

This mudroom looks perfect with a Dutch door.

Jewelry for Your Home

2013-09-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

First of all I want to apologize for being MIA. I have been so busy with work that I haven't been able to post in months. My last post was at the beginning of the summer when I still had high hopes of taking an actual vacation and getting some relaxation time. Well, that didn't happen and now it's autumn. The kids are back at school and another year rolls on. However my schedule now feels a little bit more manageable and hopefully I will be able to get back to posting regularly. One of the things I've been busy with is selecting cabinet hardware for one of my projects. Hardware is like jewelry for the home. If you get it right, it enhances and completes the look of the architecture. If you get it wrong...well enough said.

The knobs above and below are from Classic Brass. I am completely smitten with the knob above. I love the shape, and it feels as good as it looks. I want to use this for "her" master bath. I love that Classic Brass has little drawings to go with the photos, so you can really see the proportions.

The knobs below are from Restoration Hardware. I think these guys have fabulous designs. And the photography of the items is so beautiful, that always helps sell a product. I rwant to use the square knob for "his" master bath. I love that it's masculine and elegant.

Which way to the beach?

2013-06-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

School's out and summer vacation is upon us. It's time to head to the beach for a week, or better yet, for the summer. This delightful Marin County beach cottage was published in House Beautiful last year. For me, this is the epitome of a beach house; clean and simple architecture, exposed framing..no insulation, no sheet rock, no air conditioning. No one chooses to build this way any more...even for a beach cottage. So there is something special, which harkens back to a simpler time, about this look. I'm imagining, though probably erroneously, that this house has no cable, no TV, and no internet. Hopefully it has plenty of board games, decks of cards, and paperback books. Maybe that's wishful thinking on my part.

Blackberry Winter

2013-06-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Last week we had a cold snap here in Connecticut. Every year around this time, just when you think it should be summer once and for all, we get a very cool day or two. And then I remember, of course it's cool, as my mother would say, it's Blackberry Winter. This is actually a southern term referring to a cold snap when the blackberry bushes are in bloom. In the south, this usually occurs in late May. In Connecticut it is usually the first week in June. Sure enough...when I looked around last week, the blackberries were indeed in bloom. I found some great images of the deep purple black the reminds me of blackberries.