Trouvais is the French word for “found”. It’s my inspiration file…full of colors I’d like to try or French boiserie I just want to dream about. Initially I paused over whether to keep it private or public. I’m glad I decided to let you take a peak into my little world…I’ve met many kindred souls.

I live in Northern California, above San Francisco, less than an hour away from Napa and Sonoma, Berkeley and the South Bay where I grew up. We bought a 1939 fixer upper (think Edith Wharton’s “The Mount” with your eyes squinted almost shut) that we have slowly brought up to date, taking care to leave remnants like the worn rough-hewn wood threshold between garage and laundry to remind us of the house’s beginnings. We carved gardens out of the sloped hillside with stone retaining walls, tons of Walt Whitman compost (Leaves of Grass…you have to love a literary soil amendment company), and many hours of gardening book fueled hopes and dreams.

My favorite pastimes are reading and research, gardening, early morning flea market jaunts, any venue with architectural salvage. I love exploring the styles of fantastic decorators and the skills they use in playing colors, shapes and textures off each other, as well as discovering “fait main” craftsmanship, found curiosities, and the stories behind wonderful objects in design. I love 17th century Italian, 18th century French, 19th century British, 20th century American and 21st century Rough Luxe style. No sooner do I start delving into one of my interests than a new one springs up. Like weeds, but pretty.

Oscar Wilde wrote: “Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.” I am happily married to my “college sweetheart”, have a 22year old daughter and 19 year old son. I still have my wonderful mother, a younger sister who shares most of my interests, an older and younger brother.Treasures, all.

Update:  Now into my third year, I’ve attempted to organize my blog so that older archives are easily accessible…putting into a more book-like form the accumulation of ideas and dreams. My goal is to have a heavily edited, concise personal journal of  dreamy inspiration photos, the happy finds along the way, introductions to wonderful fellow travelers I’ve met, and the final results of grand and simple plans.  Blogging will take a back seat to actually creating and exploring the non-virtual world, so I might blog a wee bit less. But there are always beautiful pictures to find here at your fingertips…just a quick click away.

Thanks for stopping by,

Trish

To contact me directly you can reach me at Lyonallen (symbol for “at”) hotmail.com