RSVP Collection No. 58 - Artistry of the Dough Bowl

It's a tradition that was passed down from my childhood to my children. There's a local bread factory close to where we live that emitted the glorious smell of freshly baked bread that you couldn't help but, put your windows down in the car to drink in with your eyes closed (not the driver, of course). I have one other childhood memory that I did not pass down to my kids and that is the same aroma from my Mom's freshly baked bread she handmade often. Why? I've made many of her recipes in my adult life and prepared for my own family, but baking bread was not one of them. More power to Mom!

This sensory memory was brought back during a recent visit to a vintage shop where I saw the largest ever dough bowl! Seriously, it had to have been a four footer. The bread that must have been made in that bowl time and time again, wow.

Once a household staple from first settlers to the early 1900's, no American home was complete without a dough bowl. Ingredients were mixed and kneaded into dough in the bowl, then covered with cloth to let rise. Wooden bowls were preferred as the wood held the heat generated by the fermentation of the yeast.

The more I petted this dough bowl, the more I could see why it was considered a household staple. Hell, I am considering it may be a household staple in my home - but not for bread making. More a bowl that holds inspiration! 

A place in entertaining decor for one! With the proper protective insert - the dough bowl could hold many a bottle of tasty beverages - have you seen such a charming ice bucket? 

The dough bowl as a mood-setter. You betcha! Some dry grain to hold the candles steady throughout the evening is stellar - whether the party is inside or out. Make sure those candles are unscented - don't want to spoil the aroma of your menu. Foliage, whether a permanent centerpiece or ever-changing with the seasons, the dough bowl is that quiet holder of charm.

As rustic as the vintage dough bowl is because of its hand-honed shape - it can feel welcome in a sophisticated setting easily. At home with the delicate orchid. Charming filled with the treasure of our latest reads by our favorite chair. Or perhaps that book is about our favorite hobby and is paired with a magnifying glass to catch every detail.

Keep the dough bowl raw and dull or polish it up with butchers block polish to highlight the story of its age. Feeling this to be a household staple in your home yet? No lie, I've dreamt about that huge dough bowl I saw. Can't get it out of my mind. Just haven't claimed it as mine yet. Perhaps writing a blog post about it will satisfy my attraction. 

Oh and there isn't anything wrong with acquiring a dough bowl to actually make bread! I'm thinking a few warm loaves of rosemary and olive oil fresh bread is perfect! How about you?

Sources: Pottery Barn, Sand & Sisal, Ballard Designs, One Kin Design, Savvy Southern Style, Enchanted Home, Library.Org

When it Could be a Don't No. 13 - Mismatched Sofas

This isn't a happenstance, or at least it shouldn't be. Pairing mismatched sofas in a design is not a rule breaker either, nay - it's pure genius! It's throwing away the cookie cutter of design. It's taking all those beautiful fabrics and leathers you've fallen in love with for your space and realizing you don't have to eliminate not a one of them. it's a standing ovation!

The key elements of design are still present in a mismatch plan. Form is played upon by selecting mismatched sofa styles that compliment each other's structure and shape. Even so far as pairing two different periods together.  (i.e. Midcentury with contemporary or Chesterfield with modern.) Balance is still present in mismatching sofa styles as long as scale is a factor in the selection process. Harmony is apparent in mismatched sofa styles with the fusion of color and texture coordination. 

Proceed with caution, this isn't the answer to compromise. It isn't giving all persons sharing the space their taste tossed in the same room. It isn't a way to say see we can put all our existing furniture together and viola. That's called hodge podge - not great design.

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Breaking this design-by-the-book approach takes a skilled eye, a talent. And the results will be spectacular for sure! Be ready, though, because the mismatch will be necessary in other parts of the room as well. Not overdone, please no! Be subtle - it's a look that isn't noticed at first glance. It's the look that gets the stare and then the sly smile comes. The onlooker notices slightly at first and then takes in the total room design like a "can you find the differences" page out of a Highlights magazine.

A slightly braver approach to a mismatched pair of sofas can be as beautiful as using the same fabric on both while only changing the two styles. It's like dipping your toe into the water instead of jumping right in and that's okay.

There will be pieces in your room that pull this mismatched pair of sofas together. These pieces are the harmony of it all. Consider the area rug and the cocktail table with much consideration. These are the important puzzle pieces to the success of this look in a room, like the last puzzle piece that finishes that 500-piece landscape scene puzzle. This doesn't mean you can't start with the rug or the cocktail table and build the design around them. As a matter of fact, that's where the most stunning rooms most likely begin. Then comfort, texture, and color palette follow - fall into place.

Symmetry is not missing in a space designed with mismatched sofas. Plan this room with love, plan this room with how the space will be utilized by the persons sharing the space, plan this room - it isn't a happenstance. A well-designed space never is!

Whether formal or casual, the mismatched pair of sofas is welcome in both. There are no limitations to this design style as to which room it can or cannot work. Just don't use it more than once in your total home design. 

Live well! Be inspired!

Sources: West Elm, Cup of Jo, Lonny, Design Chic, McGee & Co., One Kin Design, The Spruce, Pinterest

Garden Design No. 29 - Outdoor Privacy

Privacy is a funny thing. It's our desire to be free from being observed by other people. Yet we crave the need to see outward. Block the inward glances into our arena, but allow us to have the transparency to peek outward. It is our need for human connection and hunger of our curiosity, within our discretion.

In this blogpost I'm exploring the cocooning of outdoor privacy and how it cradles us in comfort. A well thought out design of privacy in our outdoor living spaces is important. Keep mindfulness of architecture at the forefront. Adding privacy outdoors is more than just a fence. A fence locks us in, confines us, creates limitations. 

Consider that the application of outdoor privacy is not always necessary in the entire landscape. It is not to create a fortress; rather a serene haven for us alone. The height of the structure, spacing between the frame that provides the privacy, and even the coloration of the barrier all are important design elements.

Watch that the angles and symmetry of the outdoor privacy structure are harmonious with your landscape design. Our pride will want us to allow the world a sneak peek into our world, our joy of the garden - our haven. Suffocation is not privacy. The warmth of the sun, movement of our plantings from the breeze, and music of the rain are all still welcome. 

Although I love pleasant surprises, I love a plan as well. Plan for the beauty of the shadows that will be cast into your outdoor privacy from the sun and moon light. Plan for the view you still have from inside your outdoor privacy because you were attentive to the height and placement of the structure.

Add furnishings for comfort and continuity. Add plantings in well curated pottery. Add accessories with a careful hand.

An oxymoron it may be, but let's call it transparent outdoor privacy. Allow your outdoor privacy to still say welcome...by invitation only. The lucidity can be stunning. 

Outdoor privacy can create outdoor "rooms" that offer up spaces to entertain with intimacy, converse with openness, or party like it's 1999. Use a light hand as to not build too many outdoor "rooms". For the yearn for outdoors is not to close us back in; it is to feel free and breathe deep.

Don't forget the five elements of Zen environments - void, earth, water, fire, and air. These are important for your outdoor privacy. Other elements I highly recommend are texture and placement.

Now here comes my design snobbery. Please step away from the lattice and do not even go near anything plastic as materials for your outdoor privacy.  Keep it natural, organic. Your style interpretation is a must so vintage upcycle if that is your passion and a compliment to your landscape. Modern if that is your fancy. Clarity of expression is top priority. Be certain it is done right and made to last.

Wishes for time well spent in your outdoor privacy. For glorious sunsets and moonlit dancing!

Sources: Gardenista, Pinterest, Iotagarden, Omglifestyle, Homezideas, Vignette Design Blog

Garden Design No. 28 - Modern Container Garden

The phrase "bring the outdoors in" has been used in the interior design world almost to overexposure. I'm inspired to bring the inside out from a modern interior. The organic geometry of a modern interior can bring a breath of fresh air into our gardens. So let's take a look at modern container gardening.

Even if your interior is not modern why not give it a try for something different in this year's garden design? 

Modern container gardening is form over flower. This doesn't mean you won't be enjoying color in your planters. The coloration of modern outdoor plants, and even those houseplants you only bring out in warmer temperatures offer an array of light and dark. Some almost an iridescence and shimmer, compliments of the warm sun's rays.

Grasses are perfect for the modern container gardens. Taller grasses can provide an living hedge and add movement to your gardens. Another advantage of the movement of ornamental grasses in the modern container garden is the sound they bring. Close your eyes, relax and listen, there's nothing like it.

Many recommended plants for the modern container garden are low upkeep. Plants such as horsetail grass, agave, any variety of succulents, mondo grass, evergold sedge green, inkberry and mosses to name a few.

The clarity of the color palette will raise your awareness of the form of each plant. Something often missing when using a multitude of flowering plants in containers. Don't get me wrong I love the traditional flowering garden containers, however rethinking your garden from one year to another can be a delightful surprise.

Sculpture is a must with modern container gardening. I'm partial to forms like round stone orbs in varying sizes clustered with the modern container garden. Or an artful planter and rustic,simplistic pottery.

Repetitive plantings in matching containers keeps the modern container garden polished. Think sculptural, cubism, surrealism. Whether your interior is modern or not, give modern container gardening a try this year in your garden. Even if you decide just a little modern is enough, consider doing it only in the front or back gardens. Transitional design isn't reserved for the interior of our home.

The container selection is an integral part of the modern container gardening. It should be a contrast or compliment to your home's exterior color palette. The plants inside those containers will be striking in matte black containers or warm and inviting in a earthen container.

 

You'll find that some of your favorite outdoor plants can easily be incorporated into modern container gardening. Just keep in mind form and sculpture. Whether single plantings or cluster plantings in one pot remember less is more in modern design. 

A modern garden focuses on sophistication and leans on the simplicity of Asian garden design. It is uncluttered and uses organic, matted, stone and wood to compliment the plantings. Minimalist themes are the secret to modern container gardening.

May your journey with modern container gardening be your new zen!

Sources: Garden Design, Restoration Hardware, The Spruce, Pinterest, Growing Light, Better Homes & Gardens, HGTV, Gardener's Path, Terrazo