Making a List

Trouvais kitchen counter

My list of to do’s is in near constant flux…

And it’s pretty messy over here…

Trying to tie up as many loose

ends as possible…and put off the rest

so that I can get to the serious business

of decking the halls…

Trouvais December roses

The drip drip drip in my bathroom is not

the plumbing…it’s herding the cats…

electrician…tilers…carpenters…

The day the plumber hoists that

toilet from where it sits outside my

garage to its final resting space…

well…I sure hope it will be in 2010!

Trouvais dining room

Over Thanksgiving break my son enjoyed resting his bean-pole

frame after a family meal on my outdoor bed brought in from the cold…

By the time all my major projects are finished the bed will be able to

make its way back outdoors.  Though…I have to say…I kinda like the

idea of taking a nap or going through a tall stack of design books in

my dining room… perhaps a little espresso and pots de creme to

fortify me as I work my way through the visual feasts of

Vicki Archer’s French Essence or Suzanne Rheinstein’s At Home…

 

Trouvais front door

Outside our front door…a garland waiting to drape the entry…

and a San Francisco Flower Mart bouquet… info here

Holiday forecast: messy with a touch of pretty

to be continued…

 

In the Details

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Antique Swedish

Porcelain kitchen at Thureholm…

Decorated in the 1740s

Walls, sideboards, doors decorated with scenes from

the Orient as a backdrop to the family’s collection of

blue and white porcelain imported from China…

 

antique Swedish porcelain

 

The recess above the decorative ledge was designed to hold a cup.

Busy these days on details and struck by the beauty of every

curve, every hue of this room….

 

The Swedish Room

Lars and Ursula Sjöberg

Photography Ingalill Snitt

 

Lars Bolander’s Swedish Design

Another view…page 9…

here

François & Co

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Francois & Co

In San Francisco today to look at tile and stumbled into

this gorgeous space…the showroom of François & Co

Founded in 1997, with manufacturing in Atlanta, Georgia,

François & Co has showrooms in Atlanta, New York, Beverly Hills,

Winter Park…and the San Francisco showroom that just opened this Fall…

more here

 

Francois & Co San Francisco Trouvais

 

Beautiful fireplaces, walls, floors…

Francois & Co Trouvais

 

Up close…the authentic look of antique carved limestone…

http://www.francoisandco.com/

Columns, kitchen hoods…

all made with a technique called  Scagliola…

Francois & Co San Francisco Trouvais

Have you ever heard of Scagliola?

“…it is a technique that was developed during the 17th century by impoverished

Italian monks…searching for an economical way to restore their monastery and

discovered that an aggregate of travertine, marble and limestone chips (Scaglia

in Italian), stabilizing agents and pigments could be combined to form a material

indistinguishable from the original stone. Using binding agents and natural

pigments the chips of stone were crushed and mixed to create a paste that was

applied by hand, layer after layer into a mold. After the product was dry, it was

sanded and polished all by hand.”  More info here

Francois & Co San Francisco Trouvais

Their Innova collection of hardwood floors

recreate the look of antique European floors…


Francois & Co San Francisco Trouvais

They have a beautiful line of mosaics…here

and this empire tub made with the Scagliola technique…



Francois & Co San Francisco Trouvais

At around $9500…not exactly a budget

tub, but a wee bit better than solid marble…

Beautiful website will get you dreaming here

François & Co

Decorative lime plaster wall in first photo done by

artist Olivier Garnier…

See his portfolio and publications  here

 

Happy Thanksgiving

Trouvais Thanksgiving kitchen

Pie crust…pumpkin puree…

cornbread…freshly picked apples and

roasted chestnuts and dried cherries…

chopped celery and onions…fresh sage leaves..

It’s over the river and through the woods to

two grandmother’s houses with two pumpkin pies,

two kids home from college, and a large quantity of

bespoke cornbread stuffing.

Hope you all have a wonderful day…

Surrounded by friends, family and lovely memories….

 

Thankful for Surroundings

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Astier platter with dried lavender Trouvais

Very thankful that Linda Merrill of Surroundings here

asked me for a holiday tip for her Holiday Style Guide…

It forced me to slow down, look around, and enjoy a little

holiday project in the midst of the holiday rush…

After enjoying a Summer of bee bobbed lavender… the tall wands of

“Provence” lavandin here drifting languidly on summer breezes…

the harvested stalks are hung upside down ’till dry, then stuffed in

wall hung baskets and vintage florists buckets…

rows of Provence lavender

Memories of Summers past (miss my lavender strolls)…

In the Fall I “thresh” the lavender on an old sheet

on the kitchen counter and collect the lavender buds…

The scent in the kitchen is intoxicating…

Trouvais photo of kitchen

 

Even the bud stripped lavender wands are

beautiful…and I bundle sets to be thrown on the fire…

Silk scraps fpr sachet Trouvais

Hunt through my collection of fabric scraps

and pink them into 4 inch or so squares…

backing the fancy with the plain…

(the scent travels better through the linen)

Any store bought potpourri would work as well…

lavender sachets Trouvais

It’s that time of year to be thankful for our surroundings…

our people, our places, our memories….

Thank you Linda for pulling together such a great

holiday on-line magazine full of great holiday tips

and gift ideas from across the design blog world!

To appreciate Linda’s Surroundings and get

some tips for your own, click below…