From the Stacks: Georgetown 2002

How can I live in the Washington DC area and be so unfamiliar with the brilliant work of Robert Sidney Brown and Todd Dyer Davis of Brown Davis Interiors? Hope you enjoy this gem - the Hollerith House in Georgetown, featured in Sotheby's Domain, Winter 2002. 

A Complete Departure for Me

Besides a pillow sham or two, you would be pretty hard pressed to find floral patterns in my house. That's why I shocked myself when I chose this riot of blooms for the curtains in my newly painted (almost finished, bookcases left to go) library/dining room.  I really want this room to be fresh and airy.  As soon as I got home, I held the fabric against the Farrow & Ball Calke Green walls and was so pleased with how they complemented and contrasted...

But as you know, whenever you depart in a different direction there's bound to be some second guessing.  I started asking myself, "Floral, really, are you sure???"  So I googled floral drapes and this is what I found.  Yeah! Floral - can't wait!  (Fabric from the amazing Haute Fabrics in Marshall, VA.  More on my trip out there later in the week.) 

Image from Julia Reed's New Orleans home via Wall St. Journal  here, photography by Paul Costello.  These arm chairs are covered in Claremont's Georges Le Manach Montefontaine Gris.

**Just noticed the velvet on this chair.  I also scored some gorgeous green Schumacher Mohair for my room at Haute too.

Anne's Windowless Powder Room Transformed

My friend Anne transformed her windowless powder room into an airy, beautiful gem of a space.  Notice how she mirrored the wall behind the vanity floor to ceiling, expanding the feel of the room and making the custom demilune vanity by Lars Hansen the focal point. A polished nickel European bottle neck trap was used instead of a standard trap.

The room itself is not rectangular, but has sharply angled walls, so all off Anne's choices, from flooring to the gorgeous New Ravenna Jaqueline tiled floors, bring in soft rounded shapes.  Love the Waterworks opus facet with its egg-shaped crystal handles.

The set of framed intaglios is by Evelyn Avery and they are stunning to view in person.  The circles in the frame pick up on the centers of the flowers in the tiled floors.   Hope you enjoyed this tour of my friend's powder room!

Eye Candy & Painting Chaos

Posting about House & Home's 2013 trends, Powell Brower Home featured this interior under the trend Fearless Mixing. Although I'm not a huge fan of orange, I find the mix in this room most interesting.

While the "mix" in this room is just plain crazy.  When I paint, everything in the perimeter of the room ends up in a jumbled mess in the middle.  So far I'm loving Calke Green in our library/dining room- hoping to have it all done this weekend.

Gearing Up for Green and White

Thanks to everyone who commented and encouraged me to go ahead and paint my dining room Farrow & Ball Calke Green.  I'll be starting Sunday am - after my son heads back to college in Boston.  I've gotten quite used to having him home again so it will be good to have something to accomplish.  Although this green isn't quite the same shade, I love it paired with all this white.  Images found via stylist  Katrine Martenen-Larsen, photography by Stuart McIntyre, more images here.

Panoramic Murals

Have you seen the panoramic murals from Paul Montgomery Studio?  My favorites are from their Tropical Views collection.  Someday I hope to have an old house in Maine where I can have one of these installed.  

On another note, have you heard about TGIW instead of TGIF?  That's how I feel this week, happy to be half-way through.

This Is How It Starts...

Would you believe me if I told you my interest in green came a few months before Pantone declared emerald as the color of the year?  It started with the remnant roll of smokey green fabric I found. Then I peeled off the book cover of California Country Style and was even more smitten.  A bit lighter than the fabric, it's very similar to the green in these Jasperware glasses I love.  So combined with a growing fatigue with the last five years of dark brown walls in my library/dining room, I'm planning a change.

So up went some sample patches of Farrow & Ball Calke Green and I think I'm about to take the plunge.  From BM North Creek Brown to a strong green - keeping all the trim and built-in bookcases in the room white.

Dark brown curtains will be replaced with something much lighter - maybe even a pattern.  The dining table and metal console are no longer here (these are old pics), replaced with our original dining table.

So, what do you think? Am a I crazy to want to go green?

From the Stacks: 2007

Do you notice the equestrian boots peeking out from the sofa in this Toronto home built in the 1920's?  Designers Christine Ralphs and Michelle Lloyd Bermann (and the stylists for this shoot) were ahead of the curve when this feature ran in Canadian House and Home's April 2007 issue. (photography by James Tse)  Hope you have a great weekend!

Going to Scotland in March - Advice??

Usually we head to sunny St. John USVI for spring break but this year we're up for an entirely different kind of vacation - we're going to Iceland and Scotland.  Do you have any advice for us?  (myself, Dan and our 9th grader)

We'll be landing in Iceland on a Sat. 6:30 am  for a one day/night visit and then we'll leave Sunday am, arriving into Glasgow by 10 am.  We pick up a rental car and head to Edinburgh where we'll be staying for three nights in a 2 bedroom flat located on the Royal Mile.  We'll leave Edinburgh Wednesday am and don't have to be back to Glasgow for our departing flight until Sunday afternoon (5 days/4 nights).  I'm a huge fan of Aspiring Kennedy and have made notes of her suggestions for Stirling, St. Andrews, Portree and the little village of Luss.   My friend Anne also recommended Oban.  We definitely want to head up to the Highlands and don't mind the idea of inclement weather, in some ways I find myself hoping it will even snow!

Is there a grand country manor or castle you stayed in that you'd recommend?  Any sights we shouldn't miss?  Thanks for any and all ideas.  Michele xo

Eye Candy: SummerHouse Style

Lisa Palmer and the designers of SummerHouse have taken a grand, elegant home and infused it with warmth and scale.   Aren't those butterscotch banquettes dreamy?

Notice the texture the carved bureau adds to the space.

Also love the color scheme in this less formal, light filled space.  To see more of their gorgeous portfolio, head here.

Farrow & Ball Carriage Green

I'm still stuck on Canadian designer Michael Angus and now his office with these gorgeous green walls - Farrow & Ball Carriage Green 94.  This first appeared in House & Home Condos 2009 special issue, photography by Michael Graydon.  Do you have any dark green walls in your home?  I think I'd like some...
(p.s. - just realized the post I did yesterday on his apartment was a duplicate of one I did in 2010!)

Michael Angus' Apartment Tour

Sometimes a video tour of a beautiful space is even more satisfying than the photographs.  I think that's  the case with Canadian designer Michael Angus' apartment, housed above his Toronto design store Angus & Company.  For the full tour head over to House and Home online tv here - I've already watched it three times, studying every detail.

ll

ll

My 5 YEAR Blogiversary!!!

5 years ago on New Year's Eve I started this blog, hard to believe that much time has passed!  This picture of our bar cart in the family room was one of the first pics from my house that I showed.  Of course, none of this is here now.  As all design aficianodos addicts know, things in your home are constantly changing.  Although this has me wondering where did I store those sconces and what would they look like sprayed matte gold?!  Anyway, I digress.

Friends who don't blog, or read blogs for that matter, don't seem to understand why I keep doing it. Doesn't it take alot of time and energy?  Yes, I say, almost as much as golfing, minus the club dues and green fees.  They nod politely as I explain about the personal connections blogging brings, both in-person and virtually.  They share a strained smile when you start talking excitedly about the design event you were invited to or the newest book just published you can't wait to get your hands on.

And all of that's ok because I know why I keep doing it.  It would take me more energy not to blog than to blog.   That's what hobbies and passions are about.  They're self-interested pursuits and this one, fortunately, brings with it connections with all kinds of wonderful people.

To all the fellow bloggers and designers I have met over the years, thank you.  I would attempt to list everyone here but I know I would leave someone off and would regret that.  You are all amazing, interesting, fun and kind people, thank you!  To all the people who read this blog and boost my ego with page views, thank you!  Your emails over the years have been absolutely wonderful.  I am ever grateful that you spend a bit of your valuable time here at My Notting Hill.
  Finally a huge thanks to my husband and children, Ryan and Julia, for not just your support but your encouragement of my blogging hobby.  In particular, I'm nominating Dan for a Blogger Husband of the Year Award!  Back in 2009 while enjoying New Orleans (love that cabbage necklace), he took time out to...go to visit Valorie Hart at Perch and take pictures for my blog!  xoWell, I had planned to do a retrospective of some of my favorite pics and events from the last five years but I'll have to save that for another time. It's a new year in 2013 and time to look forward!  Hope this finds you well and Happy New Year!   Michele xoxox