James and Frances Cagney with Joan Blondell

On another note, how adorable is that little stool Mr. Cagney is perched on?

Happy weekend, friends!

Or how about… how many things other than shoes can you make with a shoe form?

You remember the Brothers Dressler?

I spied this shoe form doorstop at a Williamsburg restaurant.

But truly, the best ideas for purposing shoe forms come from Grace over at Poetic Home.

Ignore the blurry spots in ALL the photos… these are just ghosts. Or else I had a spot on my camera lens.

BC took a lot of video of me in my “natural habitat” some of which will be included in a little vaca video I’m working on. I forgot to take many pictures, so I pulled some stills from the video footage. I’ll include some of BC’s commentary below, as seeing an antique store through his eyes is infinitely more amusing.

BC: “What do you do with those?”

Me: “Remember when Anna asked on my Facebook page, where she could buy grainsacks to use to reupholster furniture? Well, this is where!”

Me: “I wonder what these (large safety pins) were for?”

BC: “Giant Diapers.”

Me: (giggling) “Adult diapers?”

BC: “No, diapers for Giants. Or ogres. Ogre diaper pins.”

These are white linen wrapped french readers. With real french words inside. Which BC made me read to him and then we made fun of the horrible french accents we’ve been sporting since Europe. On a side note, I’ve always loved seeing book collections with the same color covers and wondered how this could be pulled off. I wonder what if the colors of my books (without the book jackets) would be all the same?

Ah! He makes his first appearance on SG. This is BC. I didn’t ask permission to use his likeness and he won’t know that I’m doing so until he reads this post on the train tomorrow. But doesn’t he look comfortable on that grain sack covered down pillow and mattress?

Me: “Oooh, you should make this your desk chair”

BC: “That looks like a (bleeeep) hazard, cut your (bleep) trying to sit in that.”

I thought these 1950′s french magazines were super cool. But what to do with them?

I’d tear them apart to make wallpaper!

My new pet, the Day of the Dead carving.

A neat little boat chaise.

These lockers had shelves already built into them. I always wonder how people utilize old lockers without building shelves inside. I guess in some cases they don’t!

Cool snake carvings that would be awesome grouped on a wall.

And a magnificent birdcage!

On the way out the door, we met the owner of the Hudson Super Market, Able. He told us that the 7,000 sq. foot space was filled with antiques from all over the world. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it’s actually a kind of collective, featuring the inventory of 12 different dealers. Now it makes sense why each section was so clearly defined.

While everything was really interesting, my favorite collection was the Industrial French one in the front. The dealer responsible is Stephanie Lloyd and there’s more of her eye candy inventory available on the website.

Image via Stephanie Lloyd gallery on Hudson Super Market

BC and I left Friday afternoon to spend the weekend in Hudson. Our trip began with dramatics; we missed our train, a long story which included my yelling at multiple Amtrak employees. We were in dire straits by the time we walked from the train station to The Croff House.

But greeting us upon our arrival was Russ, of the B&B’s two charming owners, and his daily afternoon treat of fresh-baked goods and lemonade. I believe I entered my own personal heaven. And apparently, my heaven is done up in the Second Empire style.

The main distinction between Second Empire and anything else is the Mansard Roof. (Yep, like that Vampire Weekend song.) The Croff House tricked me… no mansard roof. But only because the third floor burnt down and wasn’t rebuilt. However, the house next door is a perfect example.

Second Empire style was established in France in the mid-1800′s, just think of all those grand boulevards with the hippy roofs. The American residential interpretation of this was to simply place a mansard roof on top of any style, making Second Empire a whole mish-mash of architectural extravagance.

The Croff House was renovated by Russ and Duncan (aka the most fabulous innkeepers ever) and they did an incredible job marrying a Victorian design style (original to the house) with a warm, modern aesthetic.

images via The Cross House website

Take, for example, the stained glass above a walk-in shower or the antique fireplace with a modern mantle in the Chace Suite, our home for the weekend.

Interestingly enough, the street that The Croff House is on (Willard Place) used to be a private, gated community, lined on both sides with houses in the Second Empire style. Sadly, only a few remain. I’m glad there are people like Russ and Duncan preserving this little slice of heaven… even if it isn’t only for me.

We’re staying at The Croff House, an adorable bed and breakfast in town as it’s more convenient to be within walking distance of the train. However, I came across this amazing cottage called Ten Broeck (located outside Hudson) that I HAD to  share it with you!

So you see, they took an old farmhouse and built a box onto the back of it. The house was originally owned by the Ten Broecks, once the largest landowners in Columbia County.

The box addition is mostly glass.

I would never think to approach a farmhouse addition/renovation this way, but I absolutely love it. So inside…

Upon entering the house, you see that the walls are whitewashed with the original beams in place.

And on the right, separating the living and dining spaces is a concrete wall fireplace.

On the dining side of the wall is an amaaazing wood table. So again, in theory I’d have a difficult time accepting this direction. But they retained the beams and what looks to be original wood floors. The concrete wall addition actually looks pretty natural and seamless, doesn’t it?

Onto the back… I believe this is the spot where the renovation ends and the addition begins. Somehow the age of the farmhouse works with the modern kitchen. Maybe it’s that the kitchen also has those wood “beams” so it reads more like a continuation?

The simple galley kitchen, looking right after you walk in from the living room.

And the bedroom. THE bedroom. Or rather THAT WINDOW!

The view from bed is a sliver of the outbuilding. It’s interesting that this horizontal window doesn’t pull in the light but if the big windows were covered, I’d imagine there’d still be just enough daylight to introduce the morning. Plus, that red paint is stunning.

Finally, the master bath, where modern meets the old claw foot tub. Perfectly balanced.

Smitten, ya’ll. That’s what I am.

Have a great weekend!

Well. If their manifesto doesn’t make you absolutely adore Bokja Designs, then certainly their glorious patchwork inspired unpholstered antique furniture will.

Bokja Design Store located n Beirut

I had to look up Scheherazade and as you can imagine am completely smitten. Oh to be a modern scheherazade! I suppose I do recount the rather absurd tales conjured in my dreams to BC. He’ll hardly make me his queen on account of them, that’s for sure.

These are my two favorites. I especially love the bench and want to place it in a rather stark white hallway. And toss a couple pairs of shoes underneath.

mickey mouse

waiting for godot

It’s true. I’m a complete sucker for re-upholstered chairs.The fabrics on these by Rubbish Rehab are just so cheery.’The red one with the blue bird fabric is exactly what I suggested Cammie do with her salvaged red chair. I really love that red and light blue color combo. Also, metal masonware – so much  personality. This reminds me of the one my Aunt Ann let me keep after we raided her basement at Christmas. Dare I say… I could totally see myself collecting painted metal trays!

When Alex mentioned something about protective gear, I knew he was going about this project hard core. (I, on the other hand, am totally amateur and as a result suffered innumerable stings to my legs from flying paint)

Alex escaped the vapors of Strypeeze by working outdoors. (I think I lost whatever brain cells remained after boxing by stripping furniture in my living room.)

Stripping is tricky, whenever you think you’re almost done… there’s always more. I can’t remember the total amount of time Alex spent on this project, but I know we commiserated on how long it was taking.

How brilliant to uncover such beautiful hardware!

Alex persevered in his efforts and finally was able to get down to the original wood.

Nice work Alex, thanks for letting me post about it!

(Oh and my kitchen table? Still a work in progress. I tried to re-stain the table only to hate the stain I’d picked out. It never ends…)

In celebration of what has become my favorite holiday to celebrate, let’s look at another timeless french icon; the lithographic poster.

In the 1880′s Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec moved to Montmartre and was commissioned to illustrate a series of posters for the opening of the Moulin Rouge. His posters from this series were among the first illustrated posters to become a sensation.

Along with the new century came the decline of Art Nouveau. However, in 1905, Leonetto Cappiello (a young Italian) approached poster design with more advertising savvy, understanding that posters must make their point instantly and focused his message, direct and simple.

Post World War 1, Art Deco design began to gain importance. Shapes were simplified and streamlined, and curved letter forms were replaced by sleek, angular ones. A.M. Cassandre created this poster for the Normandie ship and it was one of his most famous designs.

After World War II, the importance of French posters declined as other mediums became more dominant. However, Bernard Villemot carried the tradition of the art on in advertising campaigns for Bally, Air France, Orangina and Perrier.

In 1988, Patrick Harnet created this advertisement for Taittinger to introduce their new campaign. The image is of Grace Kelly and the message is “The Taittinger Moment.”

Now I ask you, could their be anything more simple and chic?

Source: postershow.com