Pink

Never one to follow the rules of the seasons very closely, my eye has lately been turning to pink interiors. Because I like to balance feminine and masculine elements in my decor, a vast swath of pink would never show up in my house. But there's no denying that pink puts a smile on my face. Whether slathered on the walls or peppered into a neutral palette via cushions and art, pink is an act of rebellion in an adult interior. From dusty to coral to shocking, the hue doesn't matter. It is undeniably girly. And sometimes a woman just wants to feel like a girl.

Images: Achados de Decoracao, Brabourne Farm, Lonny magazine, December 2010, June/July 2010, Feb/March 2010, House Beautiful magazine, March 2011, Living etc magazine, May 2011.

Library Chair

I recently caught the 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice with Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier on TCM and was both amused by the outlandish costumes and salivating over the furniture. Before the film, one of the stars shared how her love of antiques developed while on set. Because the studio had unlimited funds for set design, they had little appreciation for the history that was in their possession. In one scene where Olivier sat behind a desk, the desk was deemed too high. Instead of raising the camera, two inches were sawed off the bottom of the desk. 

In a scene where Mrs. Bennett is lamenting her daughters' lack of good suitors to Mr. Bennett, I so fell in love with a chair that was occupying Mr. Bennett that I had to rent the DVD to get a better view of it. The library chair was introduced to the U.S. in the 1700s by Benjamin Franklin after a long visit to England. The above engraving from Banana Strudel shows how it converts to a ladder just by tilting the seat back forward. The following specimen from Debenham Antiques is the sketch brought to life. Add to this a bay window and a wall full of books and I would be set.

Jewelry Walls

Over the years I've collected so much costume jewelry that I now have five or six different containers -- some of them no fancier than a cardboard box -- to house all of my trinkets. Not being a morning person, I end up reaching for one of the same two pairs of earrings each day and leaving my accessorizing at that rather than digging through my collection for something fresh to wear. For this reason, and because good jewelry really is art, I love the idea of a jewelry wall. Having my favorite pieces on display with framed prints and photos would not only add some inspiration to my morning routine, but it would also give me a rotating gallery of sparkle to dress up my walls. 

Images: Brown Dress with White Dots, DIY Ideas, Because Im Addicted, House Obsession, Fabulous on a Budget, Pinterest.

Book vs. E-Reader

For my birthday recently, I was given a Nook e-reader as a group gift from family. My initial response was surprise and delight. It was one of those things I would never have bought for myself, yet I'd been charmed by the commercials and thought having lots of books on one device was a great idea. My enthusiasm began to wane when the initial set-up process took me a couple of hours (why do wi-fi router manufacturers set a password in the factory that they don't pass on to customers?). When I finally managed to get online, I started looking into my buying options. There were lots of new releases to pick from and a few older options from my favorite authors. Magazines were also plentiful. But when I stepped away from the Nook and really thought through the consequences, it's usefulness to me became questionable. 

The truth is this: I already have a computer (at work and home) and an i-phone (curse those games!) that take up a considerable chunk of my time. In the last couple of years, I've developed frequent headaches from staring at a computer screen. Did I really want to add another one to my life? Though some books have bored me, I've never developed a headache from staring at the printed word. Besides that, shopping for new reading material would just be too easy with an e-reader. I knew that I would end up buying more books and magazines than I already do just because the result would be instantaneous. Good for Barnes & Noble, not so good for my budget. If out-of-print books were on the menu, I might have been more easily tempted. I recently discovered a copy of Yvonne de Bremond D'Ars' "In the Heart of Paris" in a box lot I won at a silent auction and have been absorbed in her engrossing tale of parceling out a house full of antiques to five very different nieces--not something I would come across on a Nook. 

Ultimately I decided to draw a line in the sand, and I drew it at the Nook. The technology wheel is going to keep turning at a breakneck pace and ever-new enticements are going to be put before us. No one will decide for us that enough is enough. It's up to us to decide which devices make our lives easier/better and which ones monopolize our time and energy at the expense of the things that matter to us in the long run. So my Nook is going back to the shop. No doubt I'll regret my decision at some point in the future--particularly when I'm travelling. But when I crack open a book at the end of the day and pick up where I left off, I won't for a minute wish I was staring at a brightly lit screen. Perhaps I'm setting back the concept of a paperless society. But when it comes to books, I can live with being a traditionalist.