Newport Idyll Rich, Rich, Rich

As New England cities go, Newport, RI is definitely one of the crown jewels, if not the Crown Jewel. And, among the well-preserved Gilded Age "cottages" and high-brow nautical haze of Lily Pulitzer, seersucker, whale belts, and wide-brimmed straw hats, there is an occasional glimpse of modern design and unexpected whimsy. Witness 41 Degrees North, which looks as though it secretly floated up from South Beach, Miami — gleaming white finishes, and bits of snobbery included.

Wall planters in the banquet dining area.

Life is a banquet...

At the other end of this great space, I found an oversized chess set.

Chess anyone?

I waited for 10-foot-tall Alice to join me for a match but she was a no-show.

It's your move.

In addition to being a great Sunday brunch spot (try the lobster sliders and a mimosa or two — delicious, delicious), 41 Degrees North is near lots of great shopping opportunities.

Shopper in hot pursuit.

Another Newport highlight was touring Kingscote, one of the smaller Gilded Age mansions on Bellevue Avenue, originally built in 1839 in the Gothic Revival style, and designed by the architect, Richard Upjohn. It was later enlarged by the renowned firm of McKim, Mead and White to include a new large dining room featuring an unusual cork tile ceiling, and opalescent glass bricks by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Kingscote front facade.

Other unusual features include the thick moldings over the windows. These molding details also appear over the inside windows as well.

I also enjoyed the great privilege of visiting the Tennis Hall of Fame. An exceptional friend of mine scored tickets to a very special luncheon, the induction ceremony, which featured Guga, and Jennifer Capriati, and tickets to the tennis matches held on the following day. The luncheon was held at the wonderful Horseshoe Piazza, a Victorian masterpiece also designed by McKim, Mead and White.

Horseshoe Piazza window trellis.

These highlights served as the ingredients for the perfect summer weekend, darlings. It's no contest: "Love all."

Dirty Vintage Treasures Done Dirt Cheap

July's Brimfield Antiques Show was uncomfortably hot, but offered plenty of nostalgic looks at childhood classics like Gumby and Pokey...

And Buster Brown and his dog Tigh...

Buster Brown throw rug

Of course, no day out in the country would be complete without...

Shouldn't the last word be "COOKIN'"?

I also found a few bargains I couldn't pass up, beginning with a great selection of picture frames. Prices ranged from $1 to $5 each...

13 1/2" x 17" blue painted wood, probably 1920s

13 1/2" x 18 3/4" gold leaf painted wood, age uncertain

9" x 10 1/2" silver art deco, wood, probably 1930s

8" x 10" tropical green painted wood, age uncertain

Then, because I can never have too many skinny ties, two for $5...

The tie on the left is All Silk, and has an interesting geometric horse pattern...

I also found this "new" looking checkbook cover on a friendly $5 table, which might be from a 1970s Sears catalog, or similar...

The most interesting "Why Did I Buy This, and What Will I Do With It?" item was this industrial looking light. The dealer told me it might have been inside a chicken coop. I asked her if it worked, and she said she wasn't sure, so she reduced the price from $15 to $10. I liked its minimalist design, and the attached swivel clip makes it especially versatile.

Industrial light awaiting magic

I ended up clipping this to the ceiling light fixture in one of my closets, which hasn't functioned in quite some time. I ran an extension cord along the inside of the closet, which is plugged into another extension cord in the room that operates by a button you press with your foot. Yankee ingenuity at its best? Yee haw!

Little Things Mean a Lot of Dots

This was the first decoupage project I completed for my class back in May, which I meant to post much earlier. I think of it more as an "art" project rather than decoupage, as it doesn't consist of layers of paper. What I most like is that it has a fun sense of self-reference, borrowed from French trompe l'oeil.

Inside with actual bow tie

The box is clear hard plastic, which is generally a good surface to decoupage. I photocopied the top and bottom of the bow tie itself, cut them out, and used acrylic gloss medium to attach them to the box.

Then, my teacher came up with the great idea of spray-painting the inside of the box silver.

Inside

Next, I placed another photocopied image of the bow tie on the inside top and bottom of the box.

For the final step, I used the tip of a pencil and dipped it in burgundy acrylic paint to apply dots to the outside top and bottom of the box — and voilá!

Top

Bottom

To Like & To Behold

This dining room/kitchen appeared in a recent issue of House Beautiful, and I find it nicely refreshing because:

A. There's no chinoiserie wallpaper with vines or birds. (Nothing against chinoiserie, but it's way overused in dining rooms).
B. There's no oriental rug — better yet, no rug at all. (Nothing against rugs in dining rooms, but really, do you want food to stick onto a rug or carpet?)

What I really like are the chairs. Apparently they were painted to look old, and expertly done. But I especially like the chair cushions featuring one fabric for the tops, and a completely different fabric for the bottoms. It's such a great detail.

I also adore this Vintage by Hemingway Design wallpaper collection I saw in a recent edition of Interior Design magazine, especially the 1930s-inspired Deco Diamond pattern. It's so chic and elegant.

I picture a movie star wearing a black fishnet-covered hat, sipping a sidecar and smoking a long-handled cigarette. Care to join me, Darling?

Day of Coupage: The Game Changer

This work is kind of a companion piece to Ballerinas Having Flown (see previous post). I call it The Game Changer because the two men in the boat are confronted with potential obstacles, such as the erupting volcano to the right — plus their boat is perched precariously atop a bridge. Maybe they're jewel thieves (see sequins in boat) trying to escape with their loot?

I started with an 8"x10" canvas board and painted it titanium white (acrylic), with just a touch of potter's pink. I considered sponging the paint, but decided I like the way the deep colors of the wallpaper pop against the white.

Then I used my "Vista" vintage wallpaper sample, cut out the different pieces and laid them out on a white piece of paper. The difficult part was layering the pieces onto the canvas board to exactly match my original layout. (I photographed my layout and printed it out to recreate the pieces on the canvas). I applied the pieces using acrylic gloss medium, then added the blue sequins to finish it.

I used one of my fancy stick-on labels from Florence, and placed it on the back of the piece.

Day of Coupage: Ballerinas Having Flown

This is another project I finished from my decoupage class, which I call "Ballerinas Having Flown."

My instructor, the excellent Jenn Sherr, took this photo of the work in progress.

Pretty Ballerinas decoupage

I started with an 8x10" canvas board and sponged it with acrylic paints in manganese blue, unbleached titanium, tint white, potter's pink, quinacridone carmine (burgundy), and iridescent bronze. I don't quite have the sponging technique down, but I took a small piece of sponge, dipped it in water just enough to dampen it, then I blotted it with just a little bit of paint. Then I took a piece of dry sponge and blotted and blended the paints together.

The ballerinas, flowers, leaves and ribbon are all from the same sheet of vintage wallpaper, The Ballet.

As I was cutting and placing the wallpaper pieces, I decided it was just too pretty, and needed a little edge, so I added the "disembodied" ballerina in the upper right. To finish with a little bling, I placed shiny blue sequins in strategic places, and voila!

Ballerinas Having Flown

The sequins happened to come on a wired sprig with a gift from my friend Patty D., and I think they add just the right touch, like little exclamation points (and maybe a little naughty whimsy — oh behave!).

On the back, I used acrylic gloss medium to attach a label (it's actually a beautiful sticker label I bought in Florence years ago).

Back label

Since the piece is a standard size, I decided to frame it, and now it's hanging in my bathroom — which happens to be blue and pink! Applause, bow, pirouette, curtain.

Ballerinas Having Flown, with chocolate metal frame

Day of Coupage: Pimp My Sneaker Ride

I just finished taking a fun, 6-week decoupage class at Cambridge Center for Adult Education, and completed a few projects. The most involved project was my pair of Nautica sneakers purchased at Filene's Basement back in the day.

Sneakers Bourgeois

The first step was covering the bottom rubber sides and lace holes with blue painter's tape, then stuffing the insides of the sneakers to maintain their shape.

Then, I ripped newspaper into small random-shaped pieces, and using acrylic gloss medium, I glued two layers of the newspaper onto the sneaker, smoothing it over with my fingertips.

Sneakers Well Read

After applying the newspaper, I sprayed the sneakers with Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic coating. I did this outside so I wouldn't choke on the fumes.

Sneakers Take A Shine

Next, I ripped white copier paper into small pieces and applied two layers in the same way I applied the newspaper.

Sneakers White-washed

After spraying this layer twice with the Krylon coating (I allowed at least a day and a half to two days between sprays), I applied my first layer of the design — the Earth layer. The grass layer consists of images I took out of interior design magazines. The flower layer is taken from a birthday greeting card my aunt gave me years ago. I xeroxed the back and front of the card and cut out the flowers individually.

Sneakers Aglaze with Earth layer

My design theme is Earth and Sky, and for the Sky I xeroxed photos I took of my Christmas tree a few years ago, including vintage star lights and ornaments. The black and white moon faces on the toes are xeroxed from a great postcard I bought at a card shop in Manchester, VT years ago. The black stars are from a photo I took of the star mirrors on my Hollywood wall.

Sneakers Etoile Magnifique!

After applying the Sky layer, I sprayed the sneakers twice with Krylon. For the finishing touches, I used acrylic paints — cadmium yellow medium and manganese blue — to fill in any gaps in the design.  Then I removed the painter's tape and painted the tops around the lace holes with cadmium yellow. And, serendipitously, I found electric blue shoe laces as I was browsing in J.Crew, and they worked perfectly with my blue and yellow color scheme.

Voila! Sneakers Magnifique! C'est si bon?

Sneakers Pimped Out