white on white

Almost every interior decorator I know of--amateur to professional--wants to design an all-white room. I believe it is a true challenge working with textures and patterns to create a visually stunning space in the absence of color. In modern interiors, white often serves as a blank canvas on the walls for showcasing art or interesting furniture, but white works well in traditional settings as well. While I personally need a little sass and pzazz (in the form of color) to occupy my own surroundings, I would love to see if I could actually create an all-white room that doesn't come across as cold or downright boring. Here are some designers who got it right:

Image: elledecor.com

If you're going to do it, do it. The 700-square-foot Santa Monica cottage of designer Brian Murphy is "a massive whiteout" in his own words.

Photographer: Fernando Bengoechea

Image: architecturaldigest.com

Is a white kitchen possible? Architects Michael Gabellini and Kimberly Sheppard prove it is.

Image: Kelly Wearstler Interior Design

Image: apartmenttherapy.com, Philippe Starck interior

Image: New York Magazine

In a Brooklyn brownstone designed by Lyndsay Caleo and Fitzhugh Karol, white permeates the bathroom where even rolls of toilet paper appear as artwork.

Photo: The Selby

Image: Interior Design Magazine

Sagaponack, New York home designed by Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz and Brian E. Boyle.

Before I create that "perfect white room" in my head, I need to zero in on the perfect shade of white paint (Benjamin Moore alone has 140 whites from which to choose). Of course, this perfect shade will cover the walls of my next house, which I don't even own yet...stay tuned.

the competition

Last week marked the first showing that we've had after re-listing our house on June 1st. After some urging by our realtor and the advice of her colleagues, we decided to lower the asking price on our house once again. This weekend, while out on a leisurely stroll with my son, I decided to check out the competition in our neighborhood. Pictured above are two other two-bedrooms/one-bath homes with similar square footage that are for sale in our neighborhood. The one on the left is listed at $5,000 less than ours and the one on the right is listed at $1,000 more (neither house has granite counter tops, by the way). Both houses are located two streets away from ours, but what you don't see in either picture is what you'll essentially find in their backyards. Here's a little hint:

Yes, our neighborhood is lovely, but there are railroad tracks that mark the boundary and trains scoot by at all hours (I wish I had a schedule because I swear there's one that comes choo-chooing around 3:00am every day).

The tracks, which may have a Stand by Me sort of romanticism, are not a selling point in my opinion. Our house is located four streets away from the train, but we can still hear it rumbling in the distance (especially in the middle of the night when the streets are silent). I can only imagine how loud it is to those houses situated much closer to the tracks. We should get bonus points for location, right?

The only other serious competition in the neighborhood is the house pictured above on the left, which is also listed at $1,000 more than ours. It is on the same street as the two mentioned above, but it doesn't have the unfortunate distinction of the train running through its backyard (it is located on the other side of the street). However, what you don't see on the MLS listing is the house next door (pictured on the right). While our neighborhood boasts half-million dollar homes on the most desirable blocks, there are also several "fixer-uppers" scattered on the fringes of the neighborhood where you'll find lawn art and AstroTurf-covered front porches. Our competition has great landscaping and is totally cute on the inside--at least from the pictures I've stalked online--but the rundown home next door and the neighbors across the street who have two or three pickup trucks parked in their front yard at any given time are surely a turnoff to home buyers, no? Of course I'm biased in thinking our house is a better deal, but don't they always say location, location, location...

happy birthday america

In celebration of July 4th weekend, here's a salute to the red, white and blue:

Classic Starship Popsicle

Jasper Johns, Three Flags

Image from Elle Decor, room designed by Jonathan Adler

Image from flickr

The all-American Chuck Taylor decked out in a British red, white and blue

the one

How often have you used the phrase "the one" in your lifetime? Is he the one? Is she the one? Is this the one? On Tuesday my husband received a phone call that someone was interested in looking at our house...could this be the one? Unfortunately, I already have the answer and know that our house is not "the one" for the investors who saw our property. Trying to sell your house in this economy is a roller coaster of emotions from one moment to the next: you're up when Central Listings leaves a voicemail saying there's an agent who wants to show your house; you're down when the feedback from your realtor comes back as "thanks but no thanks."

Since re-listing our house on June 1st, yesterday's showing was the first glimmer of interest we've had. Considering we only had a handful of people look at the house the entire year it was on the market previously, I don't know how many chances we'll have this time around. At this point, the only "one" I'm worried about is the number of one dollar bills that appear in our checking account after the sale, and I guess one is better than none.

summer reading

I love books: I read them; I decorate with them; I give them as gifts. I wish I were one of those people cool enough to give my own books away when a friend asks for a recommendation, but I always want them back. When my husband and I moved to Charlotte from New York City, two-thirds of our U-Haul was packed with boxes of books. We did not have a sofa or a coffee table or a dining room table and chairs (or even a dresser for our clothes), but we had The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, American Psycho, When Pride Still Mattered, every Harry Potter and hundreds more to accompany us on our trip.

As much as I love books, however, they've always created a challenge for me while decorating. I've never been able to find the "perfect" bookshelf, and I quickly become bored with my arrangements. I once found cantilevered shelves from Ikea that I forced my husband to painstakingly hang--seven feet high--around the perimeter of our spare bedroom. The actual effect wasn't quite as magnificent as I had imagined it, and when I became pregnant and we switched bedrooms, the bookshelves had to come down after I had nightmares of one crashing down on my head in the middle of the night. Ten generous holes in the wall and a pint of Spackle later, my husband made me promise to put a little more thought into the next project that involved the hanging of shelves (apparently studs are hard to find).

Since putting our house on the market, we've packed up several boxes of books and moved them into the attic, but I have found a suitable alternative for those that remain in our bedroom:

A tower bookcase is great for small spaces and architecturally interesting. I found ours on overstock.com, but I've seen similar versions from Design Within Reach and CB2. In our next home, I hope to corral all our books together to create a grand impact on a singular design space. Of course, there are no guarantees that I won't change my mind. In the meantime, however, here are some great shelving solutions where books take center stage in a room's design:

I just received my copy of the July/August issue of Elle Decor, and I fell in love with this room from the mid-century Hollywood home of Lynn Harris and her husband Matti Leshem. I want these shelves; I haven't shown my husband yet.

Image from Domino magazine

Image from Decor Pad

Two reasons I'm drawn to this design: 1) the books are color-coated (I once spent hours dividing my books into color groupings to achieve a similar effect) and 2) the reading chair is covered in F. Schumacher's Chiang Mai fabric.

Image from Veranda

Image from Elle Decor

Image from Apartment Therapy

a very merry un-birthday

When you're about to turn two years old, you don't understand the difference between June 26th and July 9th, so its okay to celebrate your birthday a couple weeks early as Catcher did this past weekend in Milwaukee. Amongst dinner with the great-grandma, a day trip to Chicago to visit my friend and her new baby, a Tom Petty concert and a high school reunion, we were able to squeeze in a quickie birthday party for Catcher...phew!

Three cousins plus two next door neighbors mixed in with a little cake and ice cream and a fancy sprinkler in my mother-in-law's front yard equalled an hour-and-a-half of pure birthday bliss. The weather was beautiful; the kids had a blast; the parents didn't lose their minds (note to future self: keep birthday parties short and simple). Although I don't have any themed bits of birthday craftiness to share, here are some pictures from the impromptu yard party:

The shark on the bottom of his trunks may be fierce, but Catcher's not sure if he's ready to take the plunge.

Then again, the water does look fun...

A helping hand from Dad moves the action along.

 The attention span of a two year-old means the fun is over almost as soon as it began.

Cut to the cake...

Yum!

a great place by a great lake

My son is home sick today, it's 97 degrees outside and I need to start preparing for our weekend trip to Milwaukee where we'll party like it's 1995 at my husband's 15-year high school reunion. I'm 35 weeks pregnant, by the way, and the cutoff date for flying is 36 weeks. In addition, Catcher is 23 months, three weeks old and still qualifies as a "lap" baby (i.e. free ticket) on the flight, so it should be an interesting trip.

For those of you who've never visited Milwaukee, I have to say--not because I've been brainwashed by my mother-in-law--that it's actually a nice place and not just the city that made beer famous. A word to the wise, however, is to avoid the months of November - April. Other than Laverne & Shirley, beer, brats and Butchkies, here are some highlights from "the good land."

The Milwaukee Art Museum (MAM) designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava was the first Calatrava-designed building in the United States (go Milwaukee!). Overlooking Lake Michigan, it is truly an architectural marvel. One of Alex's friends was married here in 2007, and we got some great interior shots from the event:

interior view overlooking Lake Michigan

 architectural detail

Alex and me celebrating at the reception inside the MAM

Photo: Best Burgers in Milwaukee

Is that burger swimming in a plate of butter? If you have to ask then you haven't visited Solly's Grille in Milwaukee. Although I'd like to be on board in endorsing this gastronomical wonder, I have to admit that just one (people here order them in twos) left me feeling a little sluggish and underwhelmed. Sorry, honey!

Photograph of Milwaukee's Third Ward by local photographer Jonathan Bailey

In my opinion to be considered a great city, you need a great downtown area and Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward does not disappoint. This is where you'll find your typical downtown delights like trendy boutiques, fashionable urban dwellings, art galleries and a bustling nightlife. Does it sound like I'm writing a tourist guide?

View of Milwaukee from Lake Michigan; photo by Ken Wardius

But perhaps the best thing about Milwaukee is that it's only 90 miles from Chicago. Although both cities are bordered by Lake Michigan, you cannot see Chicago from Milwaukee on a clear day. I fell for that one.