Celebrating the Centennial

January 22nd marks the Centennial of Flagler Railroad and all of Key West will be celebrating.

Artist Pat Anderson does paintings of cottages in the upper Keys and the Caribbean. And in honor of the Centennial, she's done watercolors of Style Key West which happens to be located in the old train station.

These paintings are also featured on good quality tee shirts and skimmers that we'll be selling in the shop.

On the night of First Thursday in January, we'll displaying Pat's art in the shop, so be sure to stop by!

Some Much Needed Color

As much as I enjoyed writing my first post about Elle Decor's 2012 A List - I really need a color fix...

Ah - that feels better. We shall see what the list brings us this week...Until then!

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Elle Decor's 2011 A List - Designer #1: BassamFellows

Last year, I thought it would be fun to write about Elle Decor's "A List" of designers. And it really was.

Here is the first image featured in what ended up being months of posts:

Jeffrey Bilhuber

Pretty right? I and when I started, I thought it would be all about my preferred "pretty."

Not so much.

So in addition to being fun, this exercise was also somewhat of a learning experience.

I challenged myself to focus only on what I DID like about the designs - and to then write about it. This is counter intuitive to my usual "in or out," "yea or nay" approach to finding beauty in the world.

And I would assume that most could say the same. Do you love every designer's personal aesthetic? I don't. In fact, I often exclaim things like, "that's hideous!" and "why would anyone want to sit in a giant brass hand?"

But in trying to find at least one appealing element in some images that seemed custom tailored to make me gag, I experienced something rather extraordinary. I started finding myself drawn to new designs and ideas that I would have once labeled: "not my style."

And since I've been making a lot of "not my style" statements lately...I think it's time for another round of "what DO I like about this?" And what better place to find designers and perspectives than Elle Decor's 2011 A List?

So without further ado, today's spotlight is on BassamFellows.

Here is what Elle Decor says about them:

Handcrafted, organic, and rooted in nature: Australian architect and designer Craig Bassam and Scott Fellows, a former creative director in fashion, describe their style as “Craftsman modern.” A gorgeous wood grain is often all the ornament they need, whether they are designing spare interiors for the James hotel in Los Angeles or renovating their own Philip Johnson house.

This is already making me feel uncertain. While I can appreciate beautiful wood grains and organic elements, the description very clearly omits any reference to color. These are not going to be colorful spaces, are they? Also? "Spare" is not an adjective that describes most of the interiors that I love... So the challenge begins!

First - some pictures.

There aren't exactly tons of images out there for BassamFellows, and their own site only features one residential project (the rest are office, retail and hotel spaces). So to say that there wasn't a lot to choose from would be an understatement. On the upside, it certainly streamlined my photo selection process.

The first thing that strikes me about all of these spaces is the focus on bringing the outdoors inside. And oddly enough - this is very similar to the Key West culture of outdoor living. No - you won't find many Conch houses with glass walls - but it's not uncommon to see walls of French doors leading out to patios and porches.

I love the way the rooms are filled with light. And I can easily imagine spending a quiet afternoon reading and sipping tea, glancing up to see that I'm surrounded by trees.

While this definitely isn't the decor that I would want in my own house, I would thoroughly enjoy visiting those rooms. And I think that may just be the core of this challenge: being able to appreciate and enjoy spaces that you wouldn't necessarily choose for yourself.

One thing that I'm going to do a little differently this year, is that I am going touch upon elements that don't appeal to me. Just a little bit - and primarily because I would LOVE to hear your thoughts too. Tell me why I'm wrong - or just offer another perspective. Help me broaden my decor horizons.

So here is a bit about what I don't like:

The lack of art. Whenever I visit a home, I love to look at what the owners choose to put up on their walls. It's such a personal element of decor. Not just anyone could live in that house.

And while I have learned over the years that contemporary furniture can be very comfortable...those hard benches and backless stools are probably better for looking than sitting.

Of course, an architect and a furniture designer are bound to be far more conceptual than most when it comes to interiors... So I understand that the structure of the rooms themselves and the pieces of furniture within are an expression of art. Still - it feels a little impersonal to me. A little cold. And honestly, I wonder what those rooms really look like on a random Saturday afternoon.

Thoughts?

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Seahorse Rug Finds from Highpoint Market

Yesterday, I showed you some chicken-themed accessories (which look MUCH better than they sound...) that my parents saw at Highpoint market. While chickens don't exactly scream "ocean side cottage" they are definitely part of the Key West culture.

But I can't imagine ANY cottage on the beach that couldn't feature rugs like these:

Pretty - but not too girly, these rugs offer a nautical spin on the graphic styles so popular right now. And really, they aren't so specific that a non-beach venue wouldn't work.

What do you think? Do you have to live by the ocean to display a seahorse rug? I say no as far as these two are concerned. Can't wait to see them in the shop!

Chicken City USA

If you haven’t been to Key West, then you may be surprised to know that it has a lot in common with third world nations… the island is overrun with chickens whose ancestors were survivors of the cock fighting parlors that were popular (and legal) during the early part of the 20th century. Here are two photos of chickens that were taken around the former shop on Margaret Street.

So, as you might expect, residents and tourists are fond of owning things that remind them of chickens. Last week, when Jo and Terry (they're my parents - if you're new here) were at the furniture market in Highpoint, they saw a number of “chicken items” for sale:

And after much deliberation (and pricing considerations), the following were selected for the shop:

LOVE that last one! So colorful.

Tune in tomorrow to see a couple of sea-inspired rugs that will be making an appearance in the shop soon!

More Tea Inspired Pretties

Remember how I was saying that it's getting cold here in the DC area? Well - we've surpassed "chilly" and moved on to "freezing rain with a 100% chance of afternoon snow." Not the most auspicious start to our Halloween weekend (which includes a neighborhood party for the kids tomorrow - OUTSIDE).

So I'm trying to make the cold outside translate into cozy INSIDE. And tea help. So it's no wonder that I've been dreaming of pretty tea tins.

I've always loved this kind of packaging. And using them for floral arrangements provides a great opportunity to display them in your home.

Hope you are staying warm wherever you are! Unless you're in Key West - where I'll offer you an iced tea and cross my fingers against hurricanes.

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Hot Cuppa

As much as I'm enjoying the fall foliage, I do wish I was in Key West on chilly mornings when no additional layer of clothing seems to help me feel warm!

So this morning, a hot cup of tea is in order. Wish it was in one of these colorful Kate Spade mugs!

Happy Monday to you!

P.S. That's a lot of exclamation points for me... And sadly, the excitement over these mugs has not warmed me up. Think I'll stick with tea.