This is one the library at Hearst Castle, that I guess WRH used as his personal study. I went up to Hearst Castle in March with my parents and this was my favorite of the rooms. I'm not really digging the chairs though. I sort of hate that needlepoint stuff.

NYT Farmhouse Tour

A few snaps from a farmhouse profiled last fall in the New York Times Homes section. It's in the Catskills and it has a variety of anatomical and naturalist influences. There are certain aspects of the decor that I'm not too keen on - the living room was way cluttered, and the bright yellow walls in one of the rooms are alarming - but there are a few parts that I think are tops.

I really love old mirrors and the silvered glass/old silver collection clustered in front of this mirror looks quite nice, although my Teutonic upbringing has instilled in me a real and healthy fear of clutter, knick-knacks, and "collections" for display. Although my father does have a silver-glass madonna in his library. As for the other picture, I'm digging the anatomical model, especially displayed on the vaguely gothic revival table. I'm not sure what the hand model on the wooden display stand is doing poking out of what looks more like shower curtains than regular curtains, but I like the combination of the pale/yellowed anatomical hand on the wooden display.

I'm not digging the column, and I think whatever is on the table below the skull painting is ugly, but I like the collection of heart models and the cow head and skull artwork. Also, I don't know why there is a white cable sticking out of the wall. You'd think they would have taped that down, or photoshopped it out of the final prints. They would have if I was in charge...

Aquascapes

I discovered aquascapes while browsing the internet at 4am (which is a regular happening for me since I'm jetlagged and keep falling asleep at 6 in the evening). They're amazing little underwater terrariums, and they don't necessarily have to have fish in them (I feel guilty about having fish as pets since they don't have the whole ocean. Although if my aquascape works out maybe I could add some of those tiny little shrimp to it).

I'm going to hit up the fish store in my neighborhood to check out my options. I might still have an old fishtank in my garage from when I had slider turtles as a child. Anyway, here are some links for aquascape sites:

Amano Takashi: photographer who creates what he calls nature aquariums
Aquatic Plant Central: people have posted a bunch of how-tos along with photos of their own aquascapes
Aquarium Design Group: resource and shop for aquascape materials
Aquarium Design Group Aquascapes: original aquascapes created by the ADG (the top two pics of this post are from this site).

more terrariums

My obsession with terrariums will not end. I'm really digging the lightbulb terrarium full of moss that I saw on Apartment Therapy, which I have been haunting as of late. I'm going to Home Depot today and I hope that they have charcoal and moss and lightbulbs and venus flytraps (that's another story though).

I have to start going to weird garage sales and flea markets so that I can find weird glass things to make into terrariums. The teapot idea is pretty charming.

Eegh tiny ferns! I'm in love.

source: apartment therapy

Practical Magic

Like everyone else I know, the house in Practical Magic gave me a serious decorgasm. The kitchen and pantry, the conservatory, ugh they were so perfect. And totally fake. It actually gives me some perverse sense of satisfaction that the exterior was a shell and the interiors were built on sound stages because at least I know someone isn't living in my dream house.

It's actually surprising that there aren't more - or larger - images of the film and its set on the internet, but then again, the internet sucked in 1998. There's a whole fansite devoted to the house, but the pictures are itty bitty, so why bother?

Anyway, I felt compelled to post a handful of pictures. I kind of wish I could watch the movie again, without having to watch it. I thought it was actually a not-particularly-compelling film with the exception of the decor. I like witchy stuff (example: my teenaged obsession with the Salem witch trials and my repeated viewing of the National Geographic interactive salem website during breaks at school - yeah, I was pretty cool).

That kitchen makes me weep with desire. I want it! Desperately. Even if I hate the idea of having to use a kitchen island for all of my cooking and having to walk 20 feet to get from the stove to the sink.

Anyway, part of my reason for posting this was to link to a post over at Hooked On Houses showing a kitchen based on the Practical Magic set:

Check out the other pictures at HOH. I think I'm going to watch Practical Magic on mute on Chinese YouTube.

la fee verte & andy paiko

When I was a teenager I had a peculiar fixation on absinthe. I wanted to get my hands on a bottle of it desperately, and I made a few attempts to find the "real stuff" on my vacations to the old country, but I never found anything that passed muster. By the time absinthe came back again a few years ago, my interest had waned significantly, but as it became popular I grew some kind of aversion to the whole thing. There will be no anise-flavored faux-sinthe for me; I mean, why bother if the thujone content is so low and every frat douchebag can (and does) get his hands on a bottle?

In spite of all that, I still have an interest in the whole elaborate ritual associated with the drink. I like the spoons and carafes and fountains, and if I was to say, come across a few slotted absinthe spoons in some Parisian flea market, I'd probably bring them home with me and find a place to display them.

Below are some spiffy fountains by Andy Paiko, who does some really spectacular glasswork. They've been featured a few times in the Douglas Little for Better Homes and Gardens spreads, which you can find at DL's website's press section. I have a serious thing for those bell jars. If only I had a mansion to display them in, and some fussy little thing to display in them. There's a picture of Paiko on his website, and he's pretty cute. Not that I've got a crush on him or anything.

caged

I'm obsessed with vintage cage lights, and I can definitely see having gobs of them in my house if they weren't $1,200 apiece. Just another example of something utilitarian and industrial becoming a luxury status item 100 years later. These pictures are all from Rewire, which has some beautiful old light fixtures, not only from the 20s but also mid-century pieces.

This last one is a chandelier put together by the Rewire people from a selection of cage lights. For some reason this reminds me of something out of a Martha Stewart Living Halloween issue. I should go dig up those old magazines, they weren't half bad.