color consults: gray II

Gray clothes, walls, furniture. Great.

White kitchen cabinetry and gray marble countertops. Fabulous. Beautiful. Classic. Clean.

Christopher Peacock's kitchen via Traditional Home. How great would a bowl of oranges look on this countertop?
This is how my next kitchen will look, except for the dog and chairs. And the baskets.

I can hear the gasps right through my laptop. Marble!?! in the kitchen!!! it'll stain! it'll scratch!!

a slab of Staturietto Marble (Italy)

First, let's address staining. Sealers have come a long way. Properly sealed marble is no more likely to stain than granite.



a slab of Bianco Carrara (Italy)

Next, scratching and scuffing. A shiny high polish finish on a marble countertop will show every scratch and etch. A honed finish won't.

If marble is too subtle, or you're a diehard granite fan, here are two very nice gray granites.


Moon Night from Brazil. Dramatic. I could easily see this stone with contemporary cabinetry.



Verde Wave from India. I really like the movement in this stone.

These slabs are from Boston Granite Exchange, one of the largest importers on the East Coast. They have a huge, state-of-the-art warehouse full of beautiful stone. They'll ship anywhere.

Thanks for reading,

Linda Pakravan

if you'd love to have a home you love coming home to, contact me!

Louis XIV and His Furniture, In a Nutshell

Louis XIV. Louis Quatorze. Sun King. French Golden Boy. Leonardo DiCaprio.


Hollywood's golden boy and my mental hook for Louis 14.
I like the song, "Here Comes the Sun" too.

In 1643 Louis Thirteen dies. His son, Louis (aka Leonardo DiCaprio) is only 4 years old. His Mom, Anne of Austria

(actually she's the daughter of the King of Spain) is appointed regent but hands power over to Cardinal Mazarin.

The next 17 years are one expensive war after another. Plus a couple civil ones.

Mazarin dies in 1652. Louis/Leo is now 23 and officially becomes Louis XIV. Mazarin left him with a bankrupt France and unhappy citizens. What's a young King to do? Create jobs; just like James Carville said, it's the economy, stupid.

Royal workshops employ cabinetmakers, carvers, metal smiths, bronze casters, upholsterers, weavers, sculptors, artists galore, and a mirror factory to compete with Venice. All in pursuit of Louis' dream, Versailles.

Hall of Mirrors at Versailles (no lounging about in chairs here)

But, like history, furniture styles evolve from something. We don't go from bankruptcy to the Hall of Mirrors overnight.

Early on, Louis/Leo's chair would have a high back and an "H" stretcher -- just like his dad's, a Louis Thirteen. Homey. Conjures images of sitting by the hearth.


A pair of early Louis 14 style chairs from Trianon Antiques in Boston, walnut, 1900's.
This style of stretcher and foot is called os de mouton, or mutton bone. 
I've grilled many a leg of lamb; I can't recall the bone. I'll pay more attention next time but 
with the grill buried under 4 feet of snow, it won't be soon.



Change the stretcher to an "X", give the carver artistic license, call in the goldsmith for a little gilding, ask the weaver for a fabulous fabric, and voilà! a once ordinary chair is now grand and majestic.



Via Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Furniture. 
We will be hard-pressed to find a chair like this outside of a museum.

In fact, everything and every surface receives the grand and majestic treatment. The Louis/Leo 14 style is really "state" furniture. Never intended for practical use, but to impress visiting ambassadors and remind the aristocracy of who's really in charge.


  

A monumental wardrobe by Andre Charles Boulle, the Louvre.

And he was in charge for more than half a century until he died in 1715.

Two more Louis to go, 15 and Louis Philippe.

What do you think about this style?

I love the chandeliers. And the gloves.

Thanks for reading,
Linda Pakravan

if you'd love to have a home you love coming home to, contact me!

Gray

When it comes to fashion, gray has been a wardrobe staple for centuries. 

Able to shift from grunge to gorgeous, gray does it all.

Traditional, and I do like traditional.

J Crew's Bird's Eye Tweed

Grungy grays, the perfect dress down palette.



And you thought gray wasn't sexy?

Sophia, Princess Palatine, around 1658,
from Emile de Bruijn's brilliant blog Treasure Hunt  

Out of the closet and on the wall, gray is incredibly versatile. Gray deserves all the current buzz and attention lavished on it in the press and blogs.

Gray knows no cultural boundaries.



Exotic. The Om Khaltoun Suite at the Mena House Oberoi, Cairo

Makes an elegant dinner partner.

One of my top 10 favorite rooms, Gerald Pomeroy's dining room for the 2008 Boston Design Center Dream Home.

It can be worldly, sophisticated.

I love this town house by Steven Gambrel.

And here's a combination rarely seen in Hollywood....calm AND glamorous.

  Jan Showers

 

Edgy. Bold.

And traditional.

Blue Gray paint from Farrow&Ball.



Have you noticed how colorful color looks with gray?

Do you think gray is too dark for your walls?

I've heard "too dark!" once or twice ----- especially when there is a glaring lack of lighting 

in the room.

When the sun sets, lamps are a wonderful thing.

Thanks for reading,

Linda Pakravan

if you'd love to have a home you love coming home to, contact me!

Hope this is how your Valentine's Day made you feel!

Last Valentine's Day our daughter rescued an abandoned, starving and unsocialized little dog. We named her Pumpkin.

In March, still a little bedraggled, but gaining weight and eager to learn.


Pumpkin last summer. Medical issues are mostly behind her, she's playing

and sniffing out chipmunks (never caught one)




filled out nicely by Halloween, just in time to pass out candy

                                                 and just looking adorable for Thanksgiving.


  Pumpkin's personality is as endearing as her little face. She's sweet, affectionate and likes to be held.



And this Valentine's Day my husband gave me these beautiful roses! 

Thanks for reading,

Linda Pakravan

if you'd love to have a home you love coming home to, contact me!

color consults: sunshine

our front yard, 4 feet of snow coated with ice thick enough to support the weight of an adult. really.


My front yard (today) is exactly why yellow makes me happy.

In the grips of New England winters and far too early sunsets, yellow gives a room cheerful attitude and reminds me that Spring will come. Really.


design and photo by Linda Pakravan

These wallpapers act like interior sunshine. Perfect for overcast New England winters.


design by Anne Paige, photo by Gordon Beall via Traditional Home

 Or there's always paint.

Sherwin-Williams "Lemon Twist", SW6909



 Maybe you like yellow in small doses like Vicente Wolf and Laura Casey?


Vicente Wolf http://www.vicentewolfblog.com/

Laura Casey Interiors via Maria Killam's great blog Colour Me Happy

If you want the small dose look, and it is fabulous with mostly white and touches of black or gray, then I'd suggest these as a starter:

 Vellum's  Astor Canisters

What's your take on yellow?

Thanks for reading,
Linda Pakravan

if you'd love to have a home you love coming home to, contact me!

local talent, Lynne Klemmer

This is the first of my "local talent" features.
Today, artist Lynne Klemmer of Lexington, Massachusetts.