A Tale of Several Kitchens

Originally, I planned to scan images of my "great design change",  but then all my past Christmas issues reared their lovely heads.  You do know that I have saved past favorite magazines in monthly order, and  bring them out and peruse them as the seasons and months change.  Well, it's Christmas season and my "great design change" will just have to wait till the new year.  Hope you enjoy the following favorites apropos of the season.

1990

So Martha-style with this collection of vintage bowls.

The pine and poplar woodwork from above reminds me of the following kitchen from 1974 in

the first post I ever published - colors and busy-ness.  

Onto 1999 and Martha in Maine.  Not much kitchen here, but lots of Christmas cheer.  I love every image I've seen of her house on Mt. Dessert Island once owned by Edsel Ford.  And I love Maine.

Great wreath and entry.  Also love her red spode.

Martha's wonderful old transferware.

Close up of living room table decor.

A much cleaner look appeared in Elle Decor's Christmas issue with Tricia Foley's Long Island home. 2002

So calming after Martha's color and warmth.  Article explained the coffee table below is a recycled coffin cart.

Tricia Foley's home reminds me so much of one of Hugh Newell Jacobsen's design on Nantucket.

Love her kitchen.

With her bedside branches here and tulips on dining table, seems like Elle Decor wanted a break from all that Christmas color.

But we are right back into that color with an issue of Sphere's Cuisine and a favorite Nantucket home from 1978.

First a bit of Nantucket seasonal and nautical flavor.

Now to the Maddens' home, guests and cuisine.  (They have since moved from Nantucket to Cape Cod and I posted images from both homes in my July 20, 2012 post.)

Appetizers and needlepoint.  Erica Wilson is one of the guests.

Love all her Canton ware.

And New England holiday fare.

Guests and hosts at the table with antique Canton and a corner cupboard to die for.

Finally, dessert.  Such a great old house and antiques and Christmas cheer.  

Then in 1991, Gourmet published this sweet Nantucket dining area.

I was so inspired by the fish on this little tree that I did the same thing in our kitchen's eating area.

And lastly, from a 1998 Gourmet.

A cheerful brunch.

Can you tell how much I wish these magazines were still being published, how much I miss them?  Do love many Veranda's and the new Milieu, but am so glad I saved so many of my old favorites too.

By the by, do you remember after my last post on Nancy Braithwaite, I expressed a wish that she would write a book on her own design??  Well, she is going to in late 2014 and may entitle it Simplicity.  Can't wait, if I could preorder it now I would - just a little heads-up for others who love her work.

Have a lovely holiday and I'll be back in 2014 with my promised "great design change" posts.

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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Last post, I promised to continue with more on my favorite southern designers, but have decided to wait till spring to continue.  I most likely will travel south this spring which always inspires my southern design love.  But most importantly, my path has strayed from the chronological journey of my design aesthetic.
Somewhere chronology got lost in the shuffle. Next post and for many more that path will continue, but today I need your opinion on a very tiny decision but one that is important to me.  It's time to change my pinterest image for the winter season.  This same image will also be the desktop for my imac, iphone and ipad for several months - kind of makes me feel all connected and organized.  What follows are images I saved in a "desktop" folder long before I ever heard of pinterest.  (If I miss crediting original owners, my apologies.)  See which you like best.

Last year's which I really like.  Not too Christmas-y and sort of Zen-esque.

Along the same idea, but maybe too busy.

Speaks to where I live and how beautiful winter can be.

Not forgetting the fauna in all this winter flora.

Too Christmas-y maybe?  Remember this image will appear for several months.

Some lingering apples in my upstate New York.

A more zen feeling again.

Still love an antique feel, but would it work till March?

Warm and cozy, but too Christmas-y for January and February?

Really Christmas-y, but I love the toile garland.

A much more quiet and neutral Christmas feel.

Love the vessel here, but too Christmas-y.  Right?

Since my blog focuses a lot on kitchens and food, thought the following might work for my pinterest winter image.

Love pomegranates and this one is beautiful.

The following images are places I love even in the winter.

The last group are more unniversal winter images, but all remind me of winter at home.

A kind of quiet, Wyeth feel.

Could be the barn just down the road.

Beautiful winter, anywhere.

And last.

So what do you think?  The images really do reflect a journey through antiques to warm and cozy to neutrals to spare to food-iness to New England - a journey I seem to be following if somewhat haphazardly.  I would love to know your favorite image.  Sometimes it's just fun to make a small decision.  Such is this one. 

Next time a designer that changed my aesthetic as much as Hugh Newell Jacobsen did and my image decision-

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