Modern Design Home Decor: May 2014

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Downton Abbey Film Locations

Highclere Castle is the primary film location

for ITV's popular Downton Abbey television series

Highclere Castle is open to the public select days each year

wikipedia

Although I won't have a chance to visit Highclere Castle,

I recently had tea at Byfleet Manor

(aka Lady Violet Crawley's house in the series)

Not too far from London,

this private home opens to the public for tea parties, special events, and pre-arranged tours

The original portion of the house was built in 1670

in the location of a previous palace belonging to Henry VIII

Two wings were added later

and each lived in by different residents today

The Hutton family resides in the middle portion,

which is used for filming

Most filmed room for 'Dower House' of Dowager Countess of Grantham (Maggie Smith)

A great story unfolded thirteen years ago...

With a newborn in her arms,

Julie Hutton watched in horror as her dog ran off and bit a man

who turned out to be a judge

As you would expect,

a policeman came knocking at her door to take the dog away

The policeman took pity on the emotional new mom and did not take the dog,

and impulsively the Huttons bought Byfleet Manor with its fenced yard

(which she saw in a flier)

in an effort to save their pet

It worked - the dog was saved

Years later, a stranger knocked on their Byfleet Manor front door

and asked if the house could be used for filming a television show

(Downton Abbey)

They said yes

and interestingly all 'Dower House' scenes for the season are filmed in just one day

(plus one day to clear out the room and another day to put it back together)

Here's a peek at the Hutton's beautiful garden within the 24 acre property

and one of their pet pigs

I find this animal lover's story to be a great reminder -

When life sends you a lemon,

it could be for lemonade

- images my own, excluding first one -

Links: Highclere Castle, Byfleet Manor

(an unsponsored post)

Thursday, May 29, 2014

LIGHT NEUTRALS

If you are looking for something to lighten and brighten a room,

try a light neutral.

FINE DINING

A formal dining room in a home is the perfect excuse to get a little

dramatic

Drama in the form of furnishings,

lighting

architecture

color

OR ALL OF THE ABOVE

Taupe is often mistaken for other shades of brown. A true taupe has no visible red undertone. It is a cool brown - leaning a little to the blue or lavender side of brown without the traces of yellow or orange you will find in a warm brown or a chocolate.

It is usually grayed down a little - like a Weimaraner. In fact as dogs go, Weims are true taupe - even referred to at times as gray ghosts because of their taupe hues and light eyes

THE BEAUTY OF NATURAL THINGS

BLACK SEA CORAL FAN

Nature is the ultimate artist.

MAKE MY ROOM LOOK LIKE THIS!

Introducing a new service....

MAKE MY ROOM LOOK LIKE THIS...!

I collect photos of beautiful living spaces... they inspire me

Sometimes I find one that is just exactly how I want a room to look.

Or pretty darn close.

THE COLOR YOU CRAVE: GRAY

Choosing a color you are going to live with for a while is intimidating

Especially facing hundreds of tiny squares of color

at your local paint store

via

Throw into the mix lighting, undertones and the fact that the color you see on your computer screen can be completely different than the one you bring home...

Read more »

Monday, May 19, 2014

GARDEN TOUR

I love Spring in Southern California.

Actually, I love Spring anywhere.

I also love gardens, green, flowers, outdoors, outdoor living spaces... you get the picture...

So when my bfs decided to take advantage of one of the Spring garden tours in the area

I grabbed my camera

We invaded gardens from Tustin, Irvine, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and Mission Viejo areas

Visiting Gertrude Jekyll's Home

So, wow.

This week I visited the Godalming home of

the most famous garden designer of all time,

at least in my mind

- Gertrude Jekyll -

(pronounced GEE-kul)

Not only was she THE garden designer for wealthy Edwardian homeowners,

she was an artist, writer, photographer, and propagator

(1843 - 1932)

Think of the opulent era of the Titanic

Being an artist and photographer,

she came to landscape design with a fresh eye

While formal French and Italian gardens had been in fashion,

she introduced the revolutionary herbaceous border

Americans would describe as 'the English Garden'

She included plants that grow well in England

such as the rose, daylily, foxglove and lavender

She was interested not only in flowers,
but also texture, structure and leaf shapes

A border that is a little bit messy with drifts of flowers,

not tidy or formal at all

Uniquely,
Jekyll also played with color schemes seen in her famous all-white gardens and

all hot and all cool colored borders

Ms Jekyll also came up with the idea of cozy garden 'rooms'

and a peek into another room through a hedge

This tireless woman had a team of workers

help manage and cultivate her 17 acre property

She grew all the plants she installed in her customers' gardens,

so her plantings still grow all over England today

When WWI rolled around,

customers no longer had money to spend on her designs or plants,

her designs grew out of favor, and her workers went off to fight in the war

From donkey carts to potting sheds, Jekyll's house was a working home

Finding herself with a sharp decrease in income,

she did have a bit of luck

Although she never visited America,

a high demand for her services started coming across the pond

which created a resurgence in her business

This is probably why she is the only historical garden designer

I had heard of before I moved here

She left a legacy behind in America with Munstead Lavender

being one of the most common lavender varieties sold in the US today

It's named after her home, Munstead Wood,

where she propagated it

After Jekyll died,

her property was divided into five parcels and sold off

Much of it was turfed over, and some transformed into a tennis court

Fortunately the current owners of her home realized the treasure they had

and restored the gardens to their original state,

thanks to the documentation in Jekyll's photographs and plans

Some of the original trees still stand

and the gardens feel original
Ah, such tranquility and beauty

In fact, Jekyll created the gardens before she had the house built

She had a very successful partnership with the famous architect, Edwin Lutyen

He was in great demand for designing country homes
and she designed the gardens for his houses

He designed Munstead Wood too

So amazing to brush against

such a tireless and innovative woman

- photos my own -

Visitor informaton: Lutyens Trust

Friday, May 16, 2014

KITCHEN TRENDS

I'm a little kitchen obsessed right now.

I'm starting my own remodel, and a couple for clients as well...

So, be prepared to drool a little,

(but hopefully not on your keyboard)

and immerse yourself in some truly beautiful kitchens…

Thursday, May 15, 2014

NO EXCUSE FOR BORING WALLS

With the abundance of good quality prints both online and in shops

and our own digital cameras and easy to use editing tools,

there is no reason for boring walls

NONE

WHAT APPEALS TO YOU? DESIGN STYLE

 We are often drawn to a photo of a room in a magazine or online

without really knowing why

Something about it appeals to you

you may not realize exactly what it is until you look at the room more closely.

WORKING IN COLOR COUNTRY - HOW PERFECT IS THAT?

I just returned from working with clients in St. George, Utah.

ST. GEORGE, was always a town we 'passed through'

or stopped to gas up on the way from California to visit family in Salt Lake.

I am not a fan of the desert,

but our glimpse of the town was limited to the gas station with the easiest freeway access.

Mostly it was hot.

Like a furnace.

CHOOSING COLOR TO GO WITH EXISTING DECOR

When we finally get around to updating our homes,

we usually start with a fresh coat of paint.

Normally this requires finding a current paint color that will still go with our existing upholstery or drapes, while still giving us the updated fresh look we want.

Alice In Wonderland - Oxford

Hello, lovely readers

How you filled my heart with joy

with your kind comments on my last post

Thank you :)

I'm still tackling my 'must visit' list

as our final weeks approach

This one had been at the tippy top for years and did not disappoint -

a tour of Oxford through the lens of

'Alice's Adventures In Wonderland' (1865)

I just have to share!

Christ Church College at Oxford University (where Carroll taught)

Oxford University math lecturer, Charles Dodgson,

wrote many literary and mathematical works

His pen name was Lewis Carroll

and for many years his colleagues didn't piece together who Lewis Carroll was

It is speculated that Dodgson/Carroll was somewhat embarrassed

that he was writing children stories although they were successful

In fact
Queen Victoria requested a copy of his next book,
which turned out to be about mathematics
(probably not what she had in mind)

To set the scene,

Oxford in 1864 was an elite university filled with boys and men

It must have been a strange place for
the Dean of Christ Church's three young girls to grow up

One of his daughters was named Alice Liddell

(pronunciation - rhymes with 'fiddle')

Lewis Carroll would take the Dean's three girls on little day trips

in a rowboat up and down the nearby River Thames

and have picnics

He told stories during their journeys

One day, Alice insisted that he write down his 'Alice' tales

And so his first manuscript was called

'Alice's Adventures Under Ground' (1864) which included his own illustrations

- later renamed 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' -

Where Carroll would have launched a rowboat

And so this week,

we had the ultimate book club adventure

With Mark Davies, an Oxford local historian and author,
we followed Carroll's and the girls' footsteps on a walking and boat tour
(even afternoon tea on the launch)