Las Benditas de Key West

This week, Terry and I attended an art show featuring a portrait of me!

The artist, Michael Philip, is a dear friend of mine. He and his partner, Doug are members of our wine group and we've known them as long as we've been in Key West.

Michael did a show like this with portraits of, I believe 14 women in New Orleans with great success, and he decided to approach the director of The Studios of Key West (TSKW) with a similar idea for a fundraiser using their space. TSKW is a large, beautifully restored armory building now housing small studios for artists and several gallery spaces.

He proposed that they invite 21 women, Las Benditas, to be models for portraits in a specific style. The "subjects" would pay a fee, and then the night of the opening they could buy their portrait or someone in their "entourage" (oh yes - I left out that part. each of us had to invite ten people to attend the opening) could buy it for a certain price. After that, the show became public and anyone could purchase a portrait for a higher price. They loved the idea and their board approved the choices.


I was selected to be one of the 21.

Needless to say I was truly honored to be included in this group of women, most of whom do a lot of charitable work and contribute to the community in other ways that I don't.

I was pretty nervous the night of the exhibition since I knew the style of the portraits was to be "Cubism and Neo-expressionism." We had had an initial interview and picture taking here at the house and talked about things that were important to me, inspirations, colors I love. All kinds of things to help him portray me not as just a face but also as an inner person. It was a fascinating process. He did this with all of the women and then proceeded over the next six weeks to produce 21 portraits. A monumental achievement!


The opening was a huge success. The gallery was so packed with people you could barely move. Luckily the "Las Benditas" were allowed in first to have time to find their portraits and be photographed. In case you're wondering, the name means "the blessed ones" so you can see why I feel so honored.

I can't thank Michael enough for including me in this spectacular event. And in case you were wondering, we did purchase my portrait. I have already selected a place of honor for it in my home.

Today in the Shop...

Just a few images of some of our current favorites:




As always... Everything in the shop can be shipped. If you see something of interest, e-mail us (stylekeywest at bellsouth dot net) for pricing information!

Anxiously Anticipating Trad Home

From the inaugural issue of Lonny, we've been blown away by the level of creativity, content and straight up brilliance in what appears to be a revolution of online style magazines.

While the features devoted to contemporary and "edgy" decor don't quite fit with our own design aesthetic, they still wow us with their risk taking irreverence, approachability and sly introduction of new concepts, lines and colors based on older, more traditional styles. To a certain extent, this exposure to such different design philosophies has kept us from becoming too set in our ways - it's made us consider new things...

We also still hate a lot of it.

But isn't that what style is all about? Seeking out what works for you and consistently finding inspiration in both expected and unlikely places? To each his own - but pay attention to each other...you might learn something?

Still - as far as the online magazines go, the scale is tipped toward the cutting edge. Not so much that they lose us completely - but enough that we often like "the idea" of a design - or possibly specific elements of it - rather than the design itself.

And this makes us feel frumpy.

And NO ONE likes feeling frumpy.

But a new online magazine scheduled to debut, April 12 on lonnymag.com may just offer a perspective more in line with our own design sensibilities. Lonny founders Michelle Adams and Patrick Cline are teaming up with the publishers of Traditional Home to produce Trad Home, a digital issue of the glossy - one that covers "Young Traditional" spaces.




Per Michelle Adams: "We think this will appeal to the reader of Lonny, but it will be an entirely different product. You could say it will be a more grown-up version."



Much like the more contemporary and "mid-century" leanings of new design that we see so much of online, Traditional Home sometimes loses us with their opposite spectrum of palatial estates, frequently featuring swag window treatments and overstuffed everything. While we relate to much of the content in each of the highly diverse sources, we're often a little on the fence.

Perhaps this new project bringing the two together will be where we find our niche. We're very much looking forward to finding out this Spring!

Sources: Curbed, Habitually Chic, Media Bistro, Simplified Bee and So Haute

Images: Bonesteel Trout Hall, Jamie Herzlinger, Megan Yager Design, and Sarah Gilbane Interiors

Artist Shirin Sahba's Colorful Narrative

Nothing brings color and personality to a room like art. And almost any design sensibility would welcome the joyous work of Shirin Sahba.

Her vibrant canvases have the graphic quality of textiles while simultaneously telling a story about the people inhabiting her magical representations of the world.

Here are a few breathtaking examples from her website (first the full canvas, then a detail image):











It was hard to select just a handful! To see more, visit her website and her blog, Limonana.

Monday Color: Valentines Day Pink!

Happy Valentines Day!






Hope your Heart Day is as lovely as these images.

Okay - I have to ask. In the third image...is that a big pink exercise ball in the background? Still a beautiful arrangement, but WEIRD!




Images via: House Beautiful, Janet Hill, The Pink Pagoda, This is Glamorous, Veranda

Pantone Chip Cookies!

Move over chocolate chip cookies. We're looking at you lemon squares. You can just get over yourself already macarons! You have all been eclipsed.

The mac daddy of all cookies has officially arrived:




If only they were as easy to make as their less sophisticated relations... If you have the time and talent, you can get a tutorial from the designer, Kim Neill HERE.

Have a great weekend!

Found via Design*Sponge.

When Strange Things Happen to Normal Rooms

Recently a space was featured on The Decorista that made me think.

I know! These are the things that keep me up at night...

Anyway she was charmed by this home because of its quirky personality and use of color. Two decor perspectives that we wholeheartedly embrace.

Whether it's to our liking or not, we can't dispute the quality of a well thought out space that expresses the owner's unique style. This image displays a fun, youthful and somewhat irreverent arrangement that works.


But while I find THIS image just as aesthetically pleasing (if not more so) for its use of color and textiles, it simultaneously perplexes me:


At first glance, it's fine. But upon closer inspection, there are two elements that are kind of bizarre. First - the low chairs that are paired with that table.

They're like beach chairs and convey a sense of casual comfort. But what happens when you decide to take a seat? Do you have a beverage in hand? Where do you put it in between sips? On the table which now offers a surface area at eye level? I'd probably just use the floor. So why bother with the table?

Well the answer to that seems obvious. It's less of a table than a pedestal employed to display a large ceramic zebra.

That zebra has been haunting my dreams.

In all fairness, the table also features a lamp and what appears to be a stack of decorative books. But the zebra is the real star of this stage. The proportions are just wacky.

I'm all for fun accessories and art. But when it comes to ceramic wildlife, a good rule of thumb is to keep the percentage of surface area used at less than a quarter. Otherwise, the animal takes on a somewhat larger than life quality. And you never want an accessory to look like it could leap off a table and canter down the hallway.

So as appealing as this cozy corner may initially appear, it has some serious problems when it comes to functionality.

Sometimes designers can get so caught up in concepts and whimsy that they forget about the people using the space and their potential preference for not looking up a ceramic zebra's nostrils while retrieving a cocktail positioned somewhere behind their left ear.

A cautionary tale indeed.