How divine

This is some divine seating if you ask me. By Designers Guild! In good company with Finn - Juhl's beautiful settee...Poeten!

Introducing the Julep sofa!


And browsing todays Wall Street Journal, there I found an extensive and fabulous article about 'The Rise Of The Personal'! Just how I always felt about decorating...
What has been analyzed for months in the blog world has reached now mainstream: UN- DECORATING is the new black! 
It looks pretty to me.


xx
Victoria





Image via designers guild.com

Old and yet so now

What seems already so long ago - our winter break was spent in Woodstock, VT.
There is a wonderful place nearby: Billings Farm. It is a working museum farm, with livestock, gardens and a wonderful farmhouse museum, built for the farm manager and his family around the 1890's.
What was so interesting about the place is the fact that it was designed very forward thinking for the time, with central heating, with running warm and cold water, a airy basement and many of the luxuries of the time.

Walking through the rooms I felt they would easily satisfy residents today, give or take a few things. I was delighted to find beautiful wallpapers.

Just look at this place! It's wallpapers are absolutely now!

The bathroom, with a hand painted sink, very fancy!

Build-in china closet in the dining room.

 I love the pantry! Why don't they build houses today like this anymore?

Look at the incredible coffee storage and grinder!

I loved these rooms, the light and the thoughtful layout.
This is the dairy, they had the first mechanical butter maker in the country!

And transportation....

Enough land to go on a sleigh ride!

More then 120 years ago doesn't seem so old-fashioned at all! I was reminded of images I have seen only recently...

A happy weekend to you my friends!
xx
Victoria



Images above by V.Zlotkowski, Country Home magazine, Zoffany wallpaper and Tribal Home.

Of chairs and boxes and this and that

Good morning! The weather god must have had such a change of heart! Yesterday's sun beckoned us out. We cleaned up the yard, did lots of cuttings and removed dried grasses. We got large sweeps of ready to pop forsythia and today we are having fresh snow...Oh well!

Winter goes reluctantly!

On Saturday we visited one of the small lovely river towns along Hudson and I happened to come upon a moving sale of one of my favorite stores there: The Saffron Trading Company! Oh, I love when this happens....

A small gem of a shop, with mostly Asian furniture, ceramics, baskets, linens and much more.

Due to their move across the street into a larger facility they have an amazing 25 - 50% sale going on. I found a few lovely things, among them these two beauties....

Originally for $260 a piece I scored them two for the price of one! I simply could not pass this chance. They are lovely done, with small carvings in the frame and legs, upholstered in a simple linen. They will be adding useful seating around the dining table, one will serve me at my small writing desk!

I've got this basket and a pretty wooden box, painted in a light blue. $11 and $14 respectively!

The box will hold letters and sits now under a small table next to my work desk!

While cleaning the garage and garden I came upon this little basket, which sat almost forgotten in one of the shelves, so in it came and after a good scrub I lined it with a French linen towel and it holds our daily cutlery. Easy to pick and the kids love to set the table with it.

And talking of table setting, looking through my files I found this site, which I had marked, because I saw so many great ideas popping into my head after finding all these lovely decorative items. Vases, lights, candle holders, party inspirations.

Go check it out here!

That's it for today!

Wishing you a true beginning of spring!

XX

Victoria

Sweet 16

This Blue Lady is turning 16 and I feel she needs a bit of the spot light... I painted her in the late summer of 1995. A few weeks before I got married. My future husband had spent three months in Saudi Arabia, then working for a telecommunications company and I had heard his stories about the women, clad head to toe in black burkas. ( Since we were not married then I was not able to join him!)


There was little to no interaction with the locals, unless you've got invited by some of the executives. And even then women were not allowed. Unless the husband trusted you and you were formally introduced. At home, he told me, the ladies wore Chanel and Dior but still were not seen much! Meals were taken separately. He praised their cooking and their devotion to the family!
Of course I had heard these stories before but having it told by the man I was to marry a few weeks from then it made me shiver.
I am a bit of a rebel and certainly a free thinking woman. And it got me thinking!
This gave way to an idea for a painting. A proud woman I envisioned in a turban, facing the viewer! I was also influenced by one of my favorite painters: Gustav Klimt! It is called: Blue Lady - Homage to Klimt!
This is me on my wedding morning, my friend taking care of my hair at home! Behind me you can get glimpses of the painting, then still not quite finished. We lived in a shoe box studio apartment and painting was done in stages...There was no studio in this apartment...


And so she came about and she has been with us ever since. She hang a long time in my husband's home office, but I thought she might look really good in our living room! She has matured!



Do you have an artwork, which you love to live with? Any good stories with it? Do tell me.....

And have a lovely weekend!

XX
Victoria




All images and artwork by V.Zlotkowski

Sheets of ice

The magical look of the ice glazed trees in the garden...


Reminds me of laces and dresses, glittering and sparkling...



Frills on white sheets and chandeliers dripping with crystals...




The fringes of ice are crowns turned up side down...


Borrowed from the ice queen!




XX
Victoria




All landscape images by V.Zlotkowski, all others via google image

Hudson on Hudson

The small town of Hudson, NY has a great reputation among designers and antique dealers as a destination and treasure trove. Yesterday I got a chance to see for myself! Named after Henry Hudson, it is a small town, right on the Hudson river, a few miles north of Poughkeepsie, NY.
While my family skied at nearby Catamount, I grabbed my camera and walking shoes, bundled up and hit the road. Four hours of uninterrupted store hopping and town walking? Just perfect!


Although it was a snowy day I delighted in walking briskly along small streets, lined with fabulous design and gourmet stores like pearls on a string.



Truth be told I managed only a few blocks. There was so much to see and to take in, I took notes, pictures and was enchanted!
The town has an interesting charm. High design, small cafes, but also derelict Victorian beauties, lost yards and run down streets.


Of course all was only enhanced by the cold and the snow. I do like this mixture - old, new, restored and original.
Hudson on Hudson boosts the oldest functioning opera house in New York State. It's not an Opera at all but a multi- functional space, used for a wide array of performances and events. It certainly looks stately among the small townhouses around.

I quote wikipedia:

"For nearly thirty years it sat vacant, decaying and accumulating debris. When the Opera House was threatened with further decay and possible eventual demolition, local citizens banded together to save the building. In 1992, Hudson Opera House, Inc., was formed as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to restoring the building both physically and to its position as a cultural and civic center.

"

What great spirit!

The program looks interesting and I can feel how culture plays a major role among Hudson's citizens and visitors.

The first shop I came across in my random wanderings was Lili and Loo! Located on Warren Street, it is a small house from the outside but oh, what lies behind these doors: A multi level space with gorgeous furniture, accessories and some clothing.
















After a good 30 minutes I was ready for more. Just a few steps across the street sits the Hudson SuperMarket Antiques and Art!
I wish super markets around here would carry such itms....

After this it was time for a small break at Verdigris, a tea shop, bakery cafe and inn!

Delicious to say the least!

I liked the displayed pottery by Liz Hamann.


A few more quick looks around Warren Street and I had to leave, picking up my exhausted family from their many runs....



I would love this as a studio space for me!

Below: Hudson Home!Beautiful!

Now, I will be back in Hudson,NY next Sunday, since my family is really into skiing this season! If anyone cares to join me...I will explore the rest of town!


xx Victoria



All pictures V.Zlotkowski