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Support Dallas Contemporary
Be a part of building a Dallas landmark. Join Victory Park on Wednes
day, May 14, from 5 - 9 for complimentary drinks and food (you know, we love that), and 10% of all sales will go to benefit Dallas Contemporary. There are so many reasons to do this, I can’t think of a single one not to. You’ll be able to explore the cool and unusual shops, it will probably be a stellar evening, and the food and drinks are coming from really great restaurants - not beer and hot sauce. And in the words of Homer, that’s Haven’s Homer not the other: “Dallas is the 9th largest city in the US, of the top 25 , it is the only city without a dedicated contemporary art space. These are the images that define our time, please help us raise funds and awareness for this extraordinary project.”
What Can’t Eve Reid Do?
Eve Reid and daughter Claire, lounging at home, were on our first cover. That was eight years ago and the image still holds up as one of our best, don’t you think? Since then, she married Sotheby’s chairman Warren Weitman, bought an apartment in New York, and as an investment, purchased this fantastic example of 60s modernism by architect Glenn Galaway, who trained with Philip Johnson. Galaway designed this house for himself and it stayed in the family until Eve and Warren bought it last year. It’s a time capsule of design from the era, with the original paint, flooring and cabinetry. The kitchen hasn’t been touched. Eve put some money into it — shoring it up basically by fixing the roof and a few other necessary improvements. They located the original blue prints and documented it on paper and in photography. Read all the mod details in our November Architects’ home issue.
Meletio Electric: So Much More Than Just Current Events!
But the Preston/Forest location is shuttering, while Frisco and Harry Hines stores get better and better. Whole story over on DallasDirt.
Get Framed This Weekend
The Latino Cultural Center and Contemporary Culture, Inc. presents a fabulous art framing workshop encouraging the use of art as a teaching tool this Saturday….FREE! (more…)
Botox May Not Be As Safe As We Thought…
For your face, that is. I know this is not directly home-related, but many of us have sought the scalpel or needle to keep our faces and bods as chic as our decor so I found this article very disturbing especially since I’ve had Botox injections – Botox may not be as safe as we thought it was. Don’t freak: the study is not conclusive, but apparently some studies in Italy now show that neurotoxin can spread to the brain. Great: mine needs all the help it can get.
Laura Hunt In Town, About Town
Ran into Laura Hunt today with Luce Churchill (Mrs. Winston Churchill III) at Neimans downtown, wonder what they are up to? Mrs. Churchill is a Belgian-born jewelry designer in from Palm Beach for a few fun days in Dallas.
(Photo credit: Shiny Shots Palm Beach Daily News)
Chaos
Candy, it occurs to me that we are crazy to think that we can control the natural order of the universe. Was it Einstein who said that the world is constantly attempting to fall into chaos, to decay and disintegrate? If only we would let it.
I think of my white leather sofa as I write this.
The Seven Year Itch
Do you think homes, like marriages, get the 7 Year Itch? While Rebecca has been battling mites, I have had a week of fix-up repairs. One of the reasons why I wanted a new home was that I, a confessed obsessive compulsive, was weary of repairing my circa 1939 home. I could no longer deal with the phone calls and waits and missing parts that could not be found and surprise bills, the plumbing we nicknamed the “aneurysm” and a constant trickle of water from an upstairs shower that still makes me scout water stains even on hotel ceilings to this day. Now my home is 7 years old. Things are starting to need replacing. We had the plumber out this week to fix a drain, a faucet and replace the garbage disposal. I think there may be a small crack in the spa. Last week the tree lights were out but that may be due to the storm. Still I wonder: maybe it’s time to ditch this old house for a fresher, younger model…
Savannah College of Art and Design Coming To Dallas?
A Reader over at DallasDirt asked me this question, and I pose it to you: has anyone heard that Savannah College of Art and Design is choosing between Dallas and San Diego? If so, are we doing anything to nudge them our way, nudge nudge? Apparently they have worked preservation miracles in Savannah.
Antiques Road Show Heads for Dallas
We are currently hard at work on the May/June issue of D Home. As you may or may not know, I’m responsible for the calendar section, and I usually procrastinate as long as I can in writing it. Not so, this time. I even had the perfect opener: Antiques Roadshow is headed for Dallas in May. But after talking to the good people at PBS, I’ve learned that I can’t run it in that issue. The problem: you have to get your tickets by April 20. No ticket, no entry. Jump for the skinny (plus my prose), for those who care.
More Combustible Candles
I found more dangerous candles recalled in January, 2008, this time from Pottery Barn. These, similar to the outdoor candles recalled in 2006 by Ikea, have combustible wax, which can cause the whole thing to burst into flames. Good times.
Bunny Williams is Just Like You
[Bunny Williams and John Roselli]
Bunny Williams came to town last week to give a speech and slide show about decorating at the DMA to a jam-packed, sold out crowd of women. I never expected anything Williams said to haunt me a week later (I mean, we’re talking about decorating here) but it has. Seems she and husband John Roselli bought a vacation house in the Dominican Republic, which Williams couldn’t wait to decorate. It was her first house with Roselli that she would get to do from scratch. Roselli, an antiques dealer of some international renown, had tons of furniture in storage so they shipped it down. Then, even though she’s Bunny Williams, one of the world’s greatest decorators, Roselli pitched a fit about the print fabrics and the lively colors she planned to use. He wanted neutral. They argued back and forth, as husbands and wives will do when decorating a house. The next series of slides Williams showed were from the vacation house: rooms filled with antique furniture upholstered in whites and beiges, with similarly colored walls. “I didn’t get to do what I hoped to do with the house,” she said with a hint of sadness, “but I like how it turned out.” I didn’t believe her. Williams pointed out the colorful antique Susani throws and the smattering of embroidered pillows on the sofas that were her contributions. My heart sank, and I wondered how many women in the room that morning nodded silently to themselves and understood.
Birch Bark Candle Warning
Talk about insanity. These Chinese-made Target birch bark candles were recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission back in 2005. It would appear (and logically, I might add) that the bark wrapping catches fire when the candle burns down. I stumbled across a scary press release by accident this morning from the furniture manufacturer, Roost, who posted a Federal recall of its own Chinese made birch candles, some three years later in November 2007. That’s last Christmas, folks. If you remember, Crate & Barrel and Pottery Barn both sold birch bark candles during the holidays at stores in Dallas. How much do you want to bet they were also made in China?
I just tried to find the birch candles on the Crate & Barrel site, but they’ve been replaced by something more appropriate for spring, yet equally as potentially flammable — candles wrapped in natural jute and reed. They look chic, but don’t assume these candles have been tested by the government before they were put on shelves, or that they’ve been treated to keep them from catching fire. Especially if they were imported from China. Look at what happened with the birch candles — the CSPSC issued its first warning in 2005 but they are still easily found on the market.
I’m going to call Crate & Barrel’s corporate headquarters next week and find out if the new jute and reed candles have been treated to make them safe. I’ll report back.
Meanwhile, got a candle-bursting-into-flames story of your own? Email me.
Tax Day Surprises
Will Kolb of Sherle Wagner reports: “We are opening a second showroom in New York at the D&D Building. Our flagship showroom at 62nd St. is quite a destination point, but the company felt it would serve our clients if while at the D&D Building…they could get a taste of everything we do. In addition, we are opening a showroom in the Houston Design Center sometime at the end of the year.
All of our wallpapers are hand screened and printed as opposed to the industry standard of using a rotary device. Each is printed in limited batches to insure quality. Obviously, repeats are different for each paper…however, our art width is usually 27” (with the occasional variance). We sell in double rolls and are quite competitive price wise with an average of $80-$125 per roll (this is the cost to the trade). P.S. Just a little secret to pass on to your readers…Sherle Wagner has a price increase (5-10% across the board) coming on April 15th…so…if your readers have been dreaming of a Sherle Wagner product…they should do it now before the increase. We have ALL of our new papers here in the showroom….and in addition they can be viewed on our website at www.sherlewagner.com (click on wallcoverings..the then click on New Introductions).”
Interior Designers: Seeking Economic Protection???
That’s what it says in this not so flattering Wall Street Journal story…hmm wonder who designs THEIR offices…
Art in Bloom
I imagine all the showrooms were empty yesterday, because every decorator I know was at the Art in Bloom luncheon at the DMA to hear New York designer Bunny Williams. On Sunday, she had a flower arranging demonstration for about 40 people - down and dirty with piles and piles of fresh blossoms. My friend Tesa Turner said they all really turned out pretty great. She talked about containers at the luncheon - she collects all shapes and sizes and that determines the flowers she uses. A tall metal cylinder calls for baby’s breath (sans roses, I hope), a rustic pitcher needs sunflowers and a fat green raku vases will have different kinds of greenery. In other words, she makes it look impossibly easy. And, get this - she uses fake boxwood on her mantle when she’s not entertaining. As she said, “No one would ever expect me to use fake flowers, so I can get away with it.” We all came away with some good ideas.
Pearls Oooo La La
See why I have to hide my cc’s?
What Time Is It?
Time to go shopping at Ceylon and Cie today and tomorrow… Christine and Laura, I’m giving you my credit cards for a few days because I LOVE BAUBLES!
Bunny Williams At The Home of Peggy and Carl Sewell
The breathtakingly beautiful home of Carl and Peggy Sewell, to benefit Art In Bloom last evening. I am still on a high from meeting Ms. Williams, a New Yorker who told me everything’s getting torn down in Manhattan, just like here. And I’m on a high from being in the Sewell home, its proximity to Prather Creek in the honeypot of Highland Park, terracing and gardens. Pink tulips and the white azaleas just make this the time of the year when living in Dallas is the bees knees. I digress: architect Wilson Fuqua was at the event last night, and he told me some interesting things about the Sewell’s circa 1915 Hal Thompson masterpiece:
Wilson helped Peggy and Carl when they bought the home 14 years ago– Peggy took New York designer Mario Buatta through — but get this — the home’s architect prior to Wilson and the Sewell’s was a very contemporary-loving high profile architect in town. If you can picture this, there was a white enamel Herman Miller table in the dining room among other mod and mid-century modern pieces in the home. Thankfully, no one touched the latticed sun porch which is among the finest sun-porches in the southern U.S.
The Crespis lived at 4726 Drexel Drive for awhile while their estate on Walnut Hill Lane was being built. The Crespi Estate is now, of course, the home of Tom and Cynda Hicks and family.
RE: House Porn
Oh Miss Christine, you are so clever, trying to up your page views by using one of my fave terms. House porn can be clean or dirty, depending on the eye of the beholder. (Like there’s something that turns all of us on, though what turns me on may not waggle your button — I’m totally talking Real estate here.) My my even the W carries JimmyJane products in their squeaky clean minimalistic gift shop. I have been asked where the term originated, my guess is out west, likely LA where all the sins of the world conceive, like unaffordable housing and adjustable rate mortgages, and that Mama at the RealEstalker has something to do with it but gosh, I hate to give her any more press lest she start pickin’ on our Texas hair again. (Don’t touch that link!)
Charlotte Moss Loves the Mews
Famed designer Charlotte Moss had this to say in the latest edition of House Beautiful: “When I’m in Dallas I always make time to visit The Mews, two antiques collectives. I always find something unusual — a carved gilded chandelier, a chinoiserie box, Moroccan leather desk accessories, a tiny mirror — all sorts of surprises that will finish off a room perfectly.”
House Porn In The Air
I’ve been pushing to do a story on interior design of private jets for some time now… so what do you think of this?
What’s New In Countertop Materials?
A question posed over at DallasDirt.
No Walks for a Week
The neighborhood is safe for a week, I’m going to Buenos Aires, so I’ll be walking there. And probably commenting on the design and architecture. By the way, at the Best Builders party, a really nice young man named Mark Danuser, principal of Tatum Brown Homes, asked me to go for a walk with him and Betty Lou Phillips. I’ll tell you about it when I get back.
Sneaking Out The Sneakers
I don’t know if you are, like me, constantly trying to streamline your home from clutter, but for me it is a constant battle. We accumulate so much stuff, and my husband is a rat-pack: like these Stan Smith tennis sneakers he refused to let me donate or recycle. So yesterday I spent all of $12 on this display box and mounted the blasted things. They are going in his office, high on a shelf where no one can smell them. But he can see them 24/7. The things we have to do…
Some People Really Need Those Tall Ceilings
http://dallasdirt.dmagazine.com/2008/03/13/rumor-has-it-a-very-tall-bball-player/
Neat Freaks: Survival of the Cleanest
Of course the shrinks will say we are looney — I admit to be a compulsive clean freak — but catch the line about how this is a genetic disorder that may have helped our ancestors stay alive. (Running out to buy more Lysol wipes…)
Ann Schooler Teaches Us A Trick Or Two
About design: Check out our video over at Regent’s Park…
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