run run shaw creative media centre. hong kong

wallpaper.com

bathroom by zaha hadid

brocadehome.tumblr.com

flatiron building by eastern design office. japan

yatzer.com

Winter?

Reading the forecast there was snow mentioned.... End of October, are you kidding?!

I think I will need something  for the season!

What do you think? And the place to go with it...

Or this?

And I love this!

From the Milli Collection. And the equally incredible timeless Stephen Gambrel! You can find it here and here!

To see some of the winter weather around here check out my other site! It's rather hard to believe!

All images via Milli collection and Stephen Gambrel websites.

cathedral fold by axis mundi. france

“The design is composed of a series of unfolded arches which rest on a submerged ‘Latin Cross’ floor plan. A bas-relief of an abstracted Gothic cathedral will emerge on the eastern facade when the sun rises, and will gradually disappear during the course of the day."

theinspirationgrid.com

New treasures

I scored two lovely treasures. I found a beautiful tea pot and a lovely silver tray for the holidays!  My source for many hunts is Etsy and you can easily follow me there. 
From Falcon and Finch came both: The tea pot looked like nothing much upon first seeing it, but I loved the shape.


This is what I'd gotten:

And the result after some really hard polishing: On the bottom it reads 1883 
B. Rogers Comp. silver on copper 1200. And silver shiny it is now. The two dark parts on the handle seem to be bakelite.

The Reed and Barton silver tray was already beautiful, I just gave it a once over and voila! Perfectly ready for coming parties!

A little green next to it....

Right at my window!
And here one more look at the tray and tea pot!

I just love it!

PS: Don't forget to check out my House and Living part, where my latest post is all about recommendations for children's and teen books! Think holidays!

Have a wonderful last October weekend! Halloween is coming too! 


: )







First image FalconandFinch, last four by V.Zlotkowski

mainz markthäuser 11-13 by massimiliano & doriana fuksas. germany

archdaily.com

nuragic and contemporary art museum by zaha hadid. italy

zaha-hadid.com

Autumn

This autumn has literally fallen over me, too fast, too unexpected. I know, I know, you might say, how is this possible? Halloween is just around the corner? School has began two month ago, summer far behind!
But it's all good and true, yet the summer had been lingering in my mind and mood. 

Looking every morning out of my breakfast/lunch/dining/room window, seeing the sun I have ignored the dropping temperatures. But now I begin to feel the season. We had to bring our oleanders and ficus tree inside, the hibiscus is still holding out, but it's days are numbered too.

There are fat pumpkins reminding me every day that we are at the end of October. I shudder. Still, I walk in shoes without socks...
I haven't decorated for fall, as I usually do, and so far Halloween just looks from the outside in.

Today, walking through the garden on a somewhat blustery morning, I rescued the last fallen Dahlias, glorious yellow and pink tipped beauties, together with some reddish blue Hydrangeas they now brighten my spirits and smile at me: 

Look at the glory of autumn!


We have been out for long walks with the dog, numerous 'last' sittings on our deck with hands around hot tea and still I had not felt fall.

Now suddenly I see the turning leaves, some trees almost bare. There are mountains of leaves on every corner in our neighborhood and I can smell the occasional firewood burning.
Oh, summer....my old friend!
Autumn has sneaked up on me, just as the years have. Perhaps I am holding on to that feeling of summer, realizing that my hair grows more gray under that layer of color.
Unlike fall, I do not become more colorful as I move into my next season.... 
But it is also time for bringing in the harvest.

I am slowly falling in love. I just need to change my mind set a little. Embrace the cooler air, the light falling golden through transparent trees. The mist in the morning and the high, star filled skies at night.
The promise of an golden autumn!








All pictures by V.Zlotkowski

installations by do-ho suh

‘reflection’, 2005

‘paratrooper I’

'some/one’, venice art biennial, 2001

designboom.com

primo quarto bookcases by giuseppe vigano

homedsgn.com

It's Friday

Sometimes I need a little boost on Fridays, when I feel I want to hang loose but I can't....

So I collect some sunshine and preserve for later!


Happy weekend!










Picture my own window ledge.

dune house by jarmund/vigsnæs arkitekter

contemporist.com

Connected

I have a longing interest for all things past. History, ranging from literature to art and architecture, from
grand homes to cottages, from antiques and vintage items to private treasures. The list is endless.

I am drawn to old china, transfer ware, blue and white Meissen or Delft, old silver, cutlery, dishes, old photographs and letters, books of course and many pieces, which do not always fit easy description.
Just look at the beautiful clock my husband brought back many years ago from Amsterdam. Somebody made it it, had it sold to a Dutch family, it was sitting on a mantle, chiming their times high above the canals....and finally it found its way to America! A small house in New York.
Although unknown to me, I think of all of them.

All these things hold beauty and collective memories. When I gaze at an old picture I am moved towards these times, try to imagine the lives and circumstances. It fills me with compassion and melancholy of sorts.
I love the stories I hear. I feel like a collector of worlds. Its looking into mirrors.

When I touch the handle of the wonderful silver coated coffee pot, I bought on eBay a few months ago, I think not only of the friendly woman who sold it and turned out to be of German decent and her mother, whom the pot belong to, but also the times it has been used. It is an elegant piece, used perhaps at weddings or birthday parties?

Now it sits heavy and pretty on my window ledge and gets used again at parties and just recently was a centerpiece at my birthday.
If these pieces only could talk...

I particularly love old silver. The knowledge of how many hands have held on to the knives and forks, the circumstances under they were acquired, the places they have been...
I bought vintage silver from Connecticut and the Midwest, china from Florida and photographs and letters from Brooklyn. 

I have old roll clothes, used for pressing bedding and tablecloths from Germany and France, wooden candle holders from Belgium and vintage chandeliers found on City Island in the Bronx, NY.

And the books....well, this is another story!

There are also new things from our times, well made and precious to me. They also will be things of the past one day. I am keenly aware of this. 
For that reason I try to look for lasting things, well made furniture, fewer but better.
I am less interested to collect as much as possible anymore. Though I used to...
Now I look for the quality and our needs. What sense does it make to have a cupboard filled with china I never use?
I am a collector of things, but I have learned to be selective.

I am also a caretaker, a keeper of things close to me and I will pass them on. There will be again some one to take them from me, when I am gone and just my touch and memory will remain. There will be a story added. This connects me and I love the thought of being a part of the long chain of time.







All pictures by V.Zlotkowski