Sponsor Love: Welcome, Furniture From Home

I'd like to welcome Furniture From Home as a new sponsor on ::Surroundings::! This online business carries many styles of furnishings for the entire home.





Their site also has useful tips such as how to purchase furniture online, and a Guide to furniture care. Furniture From Home also offers blanket wrapped delivery and set up (except certain smaller items are shipped via commercial carrier).

Thank you again, Furniture From Home, for sponsoring ::Surroundings:: - I greatly appreciate your support!

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Feather your nesting table

I'm a big fan of flexibility in furnishings - especially these days. The ability to get more use out of one product is very appealing. Nesting tables fit right into this concept, plus they can be so pretty!

1. Zwello.com 2. Maitland Smith 3. CB2

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New blog header

Out with the old...

In with the new...

So, I was busy procrastinating today and decided to create a new blog header. What do you think?

I wanted to keep the angelic looking bust that I photographed at Maison et Object last year - I feel like she's become my blog muse. My Father never liked the sad Fornasetti face I had in my older header so in his honor I switched it out for the montage of Fornasetti faces. They are still a little somber, but not so sad. And finally, I added in the fantastic chandelier called Raindrops and Roses by Spina that I photographed at M&O last year as well.

I just felt a desire to redecorate a little. I guess I was inspired by Patti at Liberty Post!

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Do you know where I can find....?

I often receive email inquiries (and sometimes even phone calls) requesting information about a specific blog post I've done - do I have additional information on some aspect of a design, for instance - this request from a reader who is searching out information in piece of art used in the movie "The Parent Trap". And, of course, there are many inquiries about the set decor in the movie Something's Gotta Give based on my posts here and here - always a popular topic!

But, I also sometimes receive inquiries about products or topics I've never posted on, which results in some time spent searching in the internet for answers. I do like the search process, however. It's like solving a little mystery and as every blogger knows, one link leads to another and who knows what kind of interesting idea for a post will come out of it.

This week I received the following inquiry:
I am looking for the circular sectional sofa that was in Domain home Fall collection august 6,2007 issue. Does it come in white or off white color and what company can i purchase the sofa. What is the price also.

Now, a little part of me was tempted to just reply back that I had no idea, sorry. But, we wouldn't be blogging if we weren't willing to do research and provide free information with little chance of profiting from the work - so I thought, it's a challenge, what can I find out.

First, I went to the Domain Home website and searched through their sofas and came to the Pearson 3 piece curved sectional.

Domain, a Massachusetts based furniture company founded by Judy George, has gone bankrupt and their stores are now closed. Their website is still up, however, But, this sofa is listed as only being available in stores. Kind of a dead-end. Meanwhile, once I saw the image, I remembered the catalogue because I really liked this sofa!

OK, so, here I am with the image of a sofa that can no longer be purchased through the company. What to do? Well, we go to Google Images and search on various key words: curved sofa, round sofa, and half circle sofa - and after looking at about 2000 images, I finally came to this image:

From this website. Now, this is a very close match. The only difference I see is that the back legs are thinner.

This sofa is the Eero Half Circle Sectional Sofa by Rowe. Rowe sells to stores all across the country, so I then googled Eero Half Circle Sectional Sofa by Rowe which led me to pages of stores around the country which sell this sofa.

This is the information I sent to the person seeking the Domain sofa. Since I didn't know where she lives, I figured she could take it from there. I haven't heard [yet] if she's had any luck, but hopefully will hear something soon.

Anyway, I just wanted to share this as I thought someone might find the information useful.

Interestingly, during this search, I found an image of this sofa below. Heller Furniture had been asked to provide a price to make this very piece for a designer who was doing a hotel. The firm hadn't sent Heller this nice photo - they'd received a poor fax. Too bad we didn't try googling it for this nice, clear image - it would have made things much easier!

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Travel Tuesday: Thoughts of my Irish Family, three hotels and a blessing

Happy St. Patrics Day everyone. I'm Irish Catholic - and yet I've never been to Ireland and my family has no idea where in Ireland my family comes from! All my Irish ancesters came to America in the early 1800's.

I wish I'd know my paternal Grandma - the alliteratively named Marie Margaret Mathews Merrill - for one thing, I'm named for her (my middle name is Marie) and for two she was reportedly a fantastic seamstress. My mother told me recently that my Grandma had made a beautiful Irish wool plaid skirt that made the rounds of all the little girl cousins back in the fifties and sixties. I am the youngest of all the cousins, but unfortunately, we had to pass along the skirt to my oldest cousins' daughter, who's only four years younger than I. No idea what happened to it.

On my maternal Grandmother's side, we had Timothy Keefe (b. 1857-1933) , who was my Grandma's uncle. Tim was a baseball player and is actually in the Baseball Hall of Fame!
Uncle Tim was a pitcher and was credited as one of the first pitchers to use the changeup. And thus concludes my entire knowledge of the sport of baseball. Family legend has it that Tim married a New York Showgirl, much to his Irish fathers displeasure and she was paid off to disappear. Don't know if it's true, but it sounds good!

Here are some beautiful hotels that maybe if I ever get there I will be able to visit!

Bellinter House

Standing majestically on the banks of the River Boyne on the rolling landscape of County Meath, the hotel eudes period glamour. The House meticulously preserves its classic Georgian heritage while enhancing it with the best of modern Irish design

There's such a moody feel about this hotel. I love the attention to the details and the photographic lighting throws some really interesting shadows.
Wouldn't you love to cozy up on the Chesterfield with a good book and a cuppa?

Okay - so this image has two things I'm sick of - a mounted head and a bust. But, at least they are presented in a unique way!
Do we think the headboard is covered in a fabric? That repeat is just insane!



The G Hotel in Galway was designed by Galway native Philip Treacey in a classic over the top Hollywood glamour style. While I love the design, it doesn't feel "Ireland" to me. Maybe because I've never been there that I'd be wanting a more traditional old world feel.



Ok ladies - watch how you sit at the bar!

Don't you feel like you'd fall into this rug and not be able to climb out?

This room is possibly beautiful in person, but it loses something in translation.


The Coopershill Hotel in Sligo is housed in a beautiful Georgian style house build in 1774. Now, this is what I'm talking about!


I love the tiles, hate the window treatment!
More mounted head...

Loving this pink dining room! That sideboard under the wall o' plates must be 10' wide!

And, for my Irish Daddy, an Irish Blessing:

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

And may you be in heaven half an hour before the Divil knows your dead!

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Shabby Chic in Liquidation

Home Textiles Today is reporting that Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic is liquidating its assets. Here's the text of the release:

Shabby Chic will soon begin liquidation sales, according to documents filed last week in the federal bankruptcy court in Los Angeles. The sale will not include intellectual property, which will remain in the hands of Shabby Chic operator Rachel Ashwell Designs, Inc.

Hilco Merchant Resources will handle sales of Shabby Chic merchandise, which does not include goods held by licensees, sublicenses and concessionaires such as Target, which offers a sub-branded home collection under the name Simply Shabby Chic.

Sales are expected to conclude in early June.

The company was founded 10 years ago and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late January. According to bankruptcy court filings, Shabby Chic operated eight stores, a distribution center and a manufacturing center. With the exception of two New York stores, all other locations were in California.

Rachel Ashwell said in her blog in January about store closings in Chicago, Illinois; Natick, Massachusetts; Austin, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Corte Madera, California
"As always, all employees worked with dignity till the end. From the time they knew their time of employment was limited, until the end, they closed the doors of Shabby Chic as gently as possible. Many customers were confused and concerned. "Is ShabbyChic going away completely?" "Why, what happened?" Questions I cannot fully answer. But I know in my heart I am doing everything possible to save as much as possible, and the support of so many continues to fuel the engine. All of your comments posted are heartwarming and enabling me to clear my mind to reestablish my creativity. My biggest fear is of letting the "business take that away." But I wont let any of you down, in how I will pour my heart into my new book. Cracks make for character, and authentic character makes for soul. I think you will all be pleased in the results. Still some stores and e-commerce remain open, selling floral inspired everythings, including our new sleepwear collection."

So, it's looking like all the stores and merchandise on her website will be going away. Do we think this is purely because of the economy or a change in taste? Or possibly it was the watering down of the brand once it was sold in Target. Did you ever see the Simply Shabby Chic items in Target? Simply awful and too pricey. Bad workmanship, mismatched patterns, cheap fabrics. Other designers have sold in Target such as John Derian with great success. The products were budget, yet well done and would encourage a shopper to possibly "buy up" to the luxury level of the brand at some point.

What do you think and will you be hoping for some great buys on the liquidation of Shabby Chic?

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Meet The Designer: Thad Hayes - The Tailored Interior

I had the opportunity to chat with Thad Hayes whose work has been captured in the fantastic new book The Tailored Interior, published by Rizzoli. Thad's work is so clean and edited and the book is a feast for those of us who appreciate symmetry, clarity and elegance.

From modern sleek to traditional glamour - Thad brings his clean aesthetic to each of his projects.



I very much enjoyed chatting with Thad about his career, his background in landscape design and and his belief that this is a great time for young designers to thrive - despite the economy.

And a great tip: Every six months, Thad reviews his own home and removes a few things from the space. It's a great way to keep things fresh and well edited.

So, please enjoy my chat with Thad Hayes and if you get a chance, I highly recommend picking up the book - or asking your local library to order one asap!

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