Doing Both

Antique+Modern= Antern?

Last week I was back in Richmond and had the chance to walk around one of my favorite furniture stores, La Diff. As someone who has already inherited some beautiful antique pieces, I have not always been in the market for extremely modern pieces.

I love antiques-- the history, the test of time, the character. But then there is this understated, humble elegance to modern that I have really come to admire.

So lately, I have been wanting to figure out how to add those modern pieces in when the time for new furniture comes. I want to avoid separating room by room, and really figure out a way for the beauty of each piece to work together.

Add in my new obsession, TheSelby.com, and the good news is, I have lots of ideas.

1. Identify where the art of simplifying would shine.

Edward Leida's bathroom. I know that men average something like 5 bathroom items where as women average something in the hundreds...but let's start with TOWELS. Should I, at any given time, need more than 4 towels in my bathroom? Short answer: No. These shelves are so clean lined and amazing, while also so tempting for piling up every towel, wash cloth, and shampoo that I own. But if I could store everything else under the sink...voila. This could work with a lot of modern shelving...but leads in to my next point.

2. Architecture.

The doors in Sarah Cottier and Ashley Barber's home. Incorporating the modern in to architecture is definitely a more committed route (not to mention the costs and inconveniences of remodeling), but what if you could just start with the front door. I have always been a fan of antique, solid front doors...but there is something timeless and stylish here.

Or going back to the bathroom example, start with a door to something even less important? Like...the shower?

Enough for now, more tomorrow.

More firsts

My first pair of TOMS shoes. I know, I know. I'm "behind the times" on this. Unfortunately, my stubborn little self likes to be ahead of the times before "the times" turns in to a bandwagon. And for a while there, TOMS was just a bandwagon I could resist. Even if it DID mean free shoes for a child in need.

At least...until these little beauties came along. I could not resist such a gorgeous, charity:water inspired design.

I don't know if it was with their Capt. Planet powers combined, or simply that I felt like it was time, but these guys won over my heart (and my credit card.) Good thing, too. I was starting to worry that I was a terrible person. Crisis averted.

(Alas, dear friends, they are already sold out!)

"Firsts"

My dears, I have put off for quite a long time the idea of "blogging." Typically in life, I am usually for or against, in love or indifferent. Love and attraction have always been organic for me, rarely am I persuaded by argument. My own experience is the true test.

And as such, I enter this blogging world as anonymously as I can. Hoping that my sudden desire to share thoughts with the world will grow on me over time, and that as I experience each post, I will find the joy that many before me have also discovered. Then, with any luck, I might grow more bold and even tell one or two of you dear ones about it.

More than anything, my mission would be to connect you with more beauty in your life, share ways to more easily surround yourself with the good, beautiful, and true. And to show you inspirational images and icons that remind you that having your own style should never be formulaic or expensive.

Where else to begin than with one of the most regularly beautiful things I know? Last weekend, I was flipping through Vanity Fair's article on Grace Kelly. An eternal style icon, Grace Kelly beats out both Hepburns combined for me.

(I mean how gorgeous is she?)
Being summertime, (and the fact that little of her wardrobe translates into practical for someone who works from home) I fixated on her sunglasses.


Like blogging, Ray Ban sunglasses are also something I have put off for a good long while. But, just in time for me to obsess over Grace's classic sunshade shape, Ray Ban re-released their rounded Wayfarer's so we don't have to comb ebay for vintage pairs. Of course, getting your hands on them is actually far more difficult than I had imagined, and I admit that I may have acted rashly at times to secure a pair for myself...(I will spare details, but PLEASE don't attempt purchasing these--or anything--from Otticanet.com, just trust me).

More to share in the future, but this should be all for now...

(Grace in Jamaica from Table Tonic; Grace in sunglasses from engagement pictures via The Royal Forums)