Evening

In a previous post I mentioned the moving Evening. It's a film, based on a book by Susan Minot, about an old woman who relives and rehashes past events in her life while suffering through dementia. Boy, that sounds really dark and heavy. Well, actually it is in some parts. But it was shot at Howard Cushing Jr's Newport Beach, RI home. Here's some pretty pictures to start off the week.


Look at the cute little seat in the entry. There's another one right across from it, as well.


Oooo, potted hydrangeas. That actually might work for me.

Just in case you missed it the first time: a better picture of the seat, plus Hugh Dancy's feet!

Love the blue on the ceiling!

Art Influenced by Life? Or the Other Way Around? Part I

Cote de Texas, one of my favorite blogs, recently posted about beautiful movie sets. And since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and all that, I thought I would do the same. I've actually had this idea for a long time, but it's taken me hours, and hours, and..well, I won't bore you with my exciting life on Google. But, anyway, it's taken a long time to find pictures of my movie. I thought about screencapping it myself, but that would be tedious. So, I found a lovely blog, Surroundings, that did it for me! Yippee! I <3 Google! Ok, enough about my love affair with an internet search engine and onto some pictures. Da Dum!

My favorite movie set ever is The Holiday. This movie features three completely beautiful homes that make me drool. (Interestingly enough, it's by the same director and production designer of Cote de Texas's favorite movie Something's Gotta Give.)
First, let's take a look at the cute little Rose Cottage.

They actually built this cottage for the movie. It's amazing that they could make it look so old! How can I do that to my house? With a budget of around $45?

Here's Iris's Bedroom:

I love the stacked books on the bedside table. I have that too, though not necessarily as a design fixture, but as a "books I'm reading right now" fixture. Who knew I was being clever?

Living Room:

I love that cupboard. But look at that TV, hidden behind plants. That would SOOOO not work in my house. I do love how they juxtaposed the modern side table with the slipcovered traditional arm chairs.

Not the dog, silly, (though he's cute, too) but the ottoman!

But my favorite shot of the cottage is this:

I love all the layers on the side table. And the contemporary B&W photos on the mantle. Which you could view better if Cameron would move her head! Hrmph.

Grant's house:
His house is so lived in, I love it. Totally true to life, though very well decorated.


I am such a sucker for built-ins. I really need some of my own, so I'll stop coveting ones I see on TV. These are a great color, too. Like a dark gray, not quite black.

Now onto Amanda's digs in LA:

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this home. I thought after viewing this movie for the first time that I really needed to mix up my look. It's influenced me more than I realized.

Entry:

You never really get a good look at her entry chandelier, which always bums me out.

Media Room:

Would I be sued by Nancy Meyers if I duplicated this room completely? Should I have not admitted that on a site read by millions? Ok, tens? Ok, okay, ones?

Living Room:

Look how much seating there is! It makes my living room look absolutely pitiful, like I'm very, very lonely. I love the idea of a chaise in the room. My family room is actually a very similar layout. This shot gives me great ideas for furniture placement. I also love the matching sideboards.

I love the dark upholstery mixed with the white.

Here's a chair in my master bedroom. I feel this purchase was highly influenced by The Holiday. What'd'ya think?


Here's my entryway. Look at that sisal rug! Just like the entryway in the movie. (Though about 1/10 the size.) Ignore the Christmas tree. See, I told you I had this post idea for a while. And while we're at it, what about that slipcovered wing chair? Look familiar?

And here's my mantle, an homage to Iris.

So, as you can see, not only do I love watching this, I want to move in. And I'm doing my best to make it so. I actually have a lot of other pictures on how I was inspired in their Christmas decorations, but I'll leave that for another post closer to Christmas time.

Please check out Surrounding's posts about the two girls' houses. She shows you where to get the same look!

The Beloved Fairy Door

Dear Little Redhead Whose Name Will Not Be Mentioned In This Blog,

Hello, my name is Gossamer Willowfly and I’m your new neighbor. Can you find my door? I’ll give you a hint: it’s very small and pink. Do you know why it’s so small? Because I’m a fairy. That’s right. My family and I moved in last night and we’re so excited to meet you! I left you a basket so you can get to know me better. I found a doll that looks just like me. And I’m giving you my favorite thing to do: bubbles! I’m also giving you my favorite candy. I wanted to eat them myself, but my mom said I had to share. I hope you like them.

My family and I are Speckless Fairies. That means that we live in neat and tidy surroundings. That’s why we moved in here, because it was so beautiful and clean. I hope you can keep it that way.

I hope we can become good friends.

Love, Gossamer

P.S. Don’t try to open our door. It can only be opened with Fairy Magic!


Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

Something I've Been Struggling With...

Don't worry. I promise I won't jump. It's not that big a problem.

No, it's not my weight. I don't want to talk about that.

No, it's my design aesthetic. Yes, I admit it. I've been confused about what type of style I have. But, "How can this be?", you ask. Well, simple as this: I love beautiful things. In all shapes, colors and textures. And, apparently, design styles. So, it gets confusing when trying to decide what direction to take when decorating. Especially when living in Texas. It's too easy to be pigeon-holed into French country or Traditional here. It seems like that's all there is to choose from. Especially if you like to go to Canton as much as I do. All of the sudden, I've taken a new look at my house and have been dissappointed in what I see. And that's rather depressing. So, I've been trying to evaluate where I am and what I'm trying to accomplish and what I really like. Well, not just like, but love.

Now, don't let the previous paragraph deceive you. I've always known that my style was hard to define. In the past, I've really envied my friends who were a certain type of style, straight across the board. In years gone, I've defined my style as Parisian Apartment
/Euro Eclectic
with French Country
thrown in for fun! But with my recent self-doubts, I've been wondering. Not to mention the fact that I have my house in my head, and my house in reality that are competing with each other. Stop fighting, you guys! Why can't we all just get along?
So, I went to HGTV to enter the DreamHouse giveaway (Oh no! Did I just lessen my chances?) and clicked on the Find Your Style page. This is what I am, according to Karen McAloon*: Sophisticated. Honestly, I think that's the first time anyone's ever described me as such. It said that I was mixed and liked traditional elegance with modern lines. I actually find that fairly accurate. Here's the problem, though: They didn't show any pictures or ideas for help. So, there we have it. Katrina is sophisticated, and still confused.

But, all kidding aside, I'm focused now. I now just have to concentrate on finding romantic, simple furniture and lots of sparkle. Luckily, my dining room has stayed on task, and not veered off into undesirable territories. I'm going to try to use this as a jumping off point to tweak the rest of the house.





And by the way, Happy Easter!


*Pay no attention to Karen's picture. It's spooky. They tried to whiten her teeth and just made it very scary to look at. Like Ross and the blacklight.

Maybe I Like Gothic More Than I Think...

Last night Jenni and I saw Definitely, Maybe. I was floored at how much I loved this movie. If it hadn't been the last showing of the day, I would have just rooted myself into the seat for another viewing. As it was, I could hardly fall asleep for thinking of all my favorite parts. It's by the same people who did Notting Hill and Love Actually. If you liked those movies, you'll like this one, too!

First of all, let me just say that the previews were outstanding. Never before have I seen a movie where every single preview shown was already on my "ready and willing to see it" list!






One of my favorite scenes in Definitely, Maybe was a fight. Loved it! And it made me realize that I actually love that type of scene. i.e.,

There's just something about a man confessing his love that makes me melt!

Another great scene I came across this past summer was from Evening.

Hugh Dancy has a scene/movie stealing moment, but it's not necessarily pretty.

And, of course, there's this:

And if you don't recognize this picture, go and rent North and South right now!

So, though I'm not the biggest fan of Gothic romance novels, I'm thinking I don't mind a little angst now and again.

I Hate to Admit It, But...

Have you ever looked in the mirror and scared yourself? Well, that's exactly what happened to me last night. Yes, after a few days of not washing my hair, who know I'd turn into this?
Only scarier. If I were truly self-actualized, I'd post a picture. But I'm not. So there.

Onto prettier things...

I took hubby furniture shopping on Saturday. I always try to get him to go in February, because Oprah once said that's when they have the best sales. I'm always hoping we'll end up making an impulse purchase. It's happened once. I think he's onto me.

Among the many projects in my house, I'd like to re-purpose my formal living. We never use it, so I thought it'd be better as a library. I'm wanting four upholstered chairs surrounding a round table. I found this at Pottery Barn:

It's only $1, 349! (And that's on sale!) Times 4. That's (getting out calculator)$5,396 just for the chairs.

I found these at IKEA for only $249:

But hubby hates IKEA. Sigh.

So, Saturday we went to the new Robb&Stucky near our home. I found these:
(Well, not these exactly. These are from Room Service Home, but I couldn't find the ones I liked on Robb&Stucky's website. Picture these in cream, and cuter.) They're only $2259! Wait. I'm going up. I'm suppose to be looking for less expensive, not more! What to do? What to do? No. Seriously. I'm asking you. What should I do? Because now, I'm totally in love with these! And the shape and size is so unique, that it's not like I can go and slip cover a thrift store find. (Crying now.) Oh, well. It's not like this is in the works anytime soon. I still have to do my gameroom, the backyard, the front patio, french doors in my master bedroom...Ok, now I'm really depressed.

Redhead Prostrate

Mother and Child by Frederick Leighton

This was me, yesterday. I was sick with the stomach flu. Except, instead of a sweet daughter feeding me fruit, picture three sweet girls jumping on the bed. Ugh. I basically slept all day and made my husband come home early from church so he could take care of everything else. Luckily, at 10:35pm, I woke up and knew it was over. I ate a couple of muffins and went back to bed.

Today, I feel fine, but weak. Not eating for 36 hours can really do something to you! On the plus side, I lost over 4 pounds! But, as effective as that weight-loss plan seems to be, I think I'll pass.

One of My Favorite Days

Valentine's Day is tomorrow, and it's been on my mind a lot, lately. Maybe it's because pink and red are two of my favorite colors. Maybe it's because I love buying little gifts for my family. Oh, and maybe it's because I was in charge of the decorations for our church's annual adult Valentine's dance! Ack!

Well, whatever the reason, I love thinking about Valentine's day. My mother always made V-day very special. I didn't realize how big a deal we made it until I went to college and was flabbergasted at roomies who couldn't've cared less about Feb 14! My mom devoted an entire drawer in the kitchen's secretary to V-day. She saved all the cards with pink or red or flowers on it that people gave her throughout the year. She bought doilies and construction paper and we all made Valentines for each member of our family.

Ummm....mine never turned out this nice, but you get the idea.

Then, that night we would eat in the dining room (always a sign of something special) and after the table was set, we'd each take a turn and put our handmade Valentines under the plate of the person we were giving them to. Mom always gave us a special gift on top of our plate, usually something red. One year she gave me red "unmentionables"! Score! Another year I got red suede shoes.


Now that I have my own family, I'm trying to create special Valentine's day traditions. We usually have a special breakfast, and we like to bake sugar cookies. (Especially since the only cookie cutters I own are heart shaped!) Well, whatever you do tomorrow, I hope you show and feel the love!