concert room of sanssouci palace in potdam, germany by eduard gaertner, cooper-hewitt museum
After the Louis chair guide, a number of you commented that it was really the rococo style that made your heart flutter. I promised to delve into the style in greater detail. And I keep my promises! Here’s the ins and outs of rococo. Rococo is really all about the two C’s – curves and comfort! Beyond that, there are three characteristics of rococo style: - Curved lines
- Exoticism
- Forms suggesting rocks or shells
madame de pompadour by françois boucher, c 1757
We can’t talk about Rococo without talking about Madame de Pompadour. Louis XV was known for his love of two things – hunting and women. Madame de Pomadour was born Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson and she was one of a string of royal mistresses (Only titled nobility could be presented at Versailles so the marquisate of Pompadour along with its estate in Limousin was purchased for her). In her role as royal mistress, Madame de Pompadour was challenged to keep an easily bored Louis XV entertained. In addition to the countless suppers, festivities and shows, de Pompadour distracted the King by embarking on a series of building and redecorating projects. The Petit Trianon was one of Marquise’s projects. She commissioned the neoclassical building from architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel. 
2 photos of madame de pompadour’s private apartments: Ethan Robey
As part of my graduate studies, I had the opportunity to study 18th century French decorative arts in Paris. (I might have mentioned this before!) One of the unexpected highlights of the trip was a visit to Versailles as our French instructor had worked at the chateau for 35 years and was able to get us into all the private rooms (I even saw Louis XIV’s bathroom!). One of the highlights was Madame de Pomadour’s private apartments – this was not on the regular tour. The rooms were small and intimate as was the fashion, and perfectly coordinated in the Rococo style. (Don’t you love her little alcove bed? They were called lits de travers and were introduced in about 1740.) I should add that this is only one example of Madame de Pomadour’s taste. She had many apartments in a number of different residences. After her death, it took a team of notaries working for a full week to compile a list of all of her possessions! 
Looking to bring a little Rococo into your home? I’ve rounded up my favorite Rococo-esque items – everything from Pamela by Samuel Richardson (a favorite of Madame de Pompadour) to rococo-esque drawer pulls!
CLICK HERE for the rest of the post – including facts to know and my favorite books about Rococo (and Rococo roundup with 25+ items!) after the jump! read more … October 13th, 2009 - 12:00pm 
[image by john lampard of disassociated]
today’s city guide is all about one of my favorite cities in the world- amsterdam. my best bud bryan lived there for years and we were fortunate enough to visit him a few years back for my birthday. the architecture, the gorgeous yellow light, all the public parks- it was such a gorgeous city to visit in the summer. today d*s reader jennifer wolfe is walking us through her favorite spots to eat, drink, shop and site-see in amsterdam. if you’re lucky enough to be visiting, be sure to check out jennifer’s guide and grab yourself a paper cone of fries with mayonnaise for me. that’s right- mayonnaise- i like the way the dutch think. thanks again to jennifer for sharing her recommendations with us. as always, if you have a favorite that’s missing feel free to add it in the comment section below. CLICK HERE for the full guide after the jump! read more … October 13th, 2009 - 11:00am 
today’s biz ladies post comes from tiffani jones of second and park. tiffani runs a copywriting and content strategy business as well as a web design agency and is here today to share the ins and outs of successful project management. since i’m currently facing a pretty intense project deadline myself i will be soaking up every last bit of her advice- and there’s a lot of it. tiffani will walk you through how to organize projects, break them into tasks, assign work and- my favorite part- handle some of the pitfalls that can stand in the way of a happy project ending. thanks so much to tiffani for her great advice!
CLICK HERE for the full post after the jump! read more … October 13th, 2009 - 10:00am 
nicole hill gerulat is a commercial/advertising photographer who specializes in lifestyle and food photography. you’ve probably seen her work in some of your favorite magazine – just this month, she had a photograph in martha stewart living! it’s a job that she is uniquely qualified for. not only did she attend the brooks institute of photography, but she is also a graduate of the french culinary institute! when she’s not taking fantastic images, nicole is teaching others how to do the same via her art weekends in dc, nyc and in utah! (my photoshop skills could seriously use an art weekend!) {thanks, nicole!} -amya
[those are my own cowboy hats --i was raised with horses! the sofa bed is from ikea, pillows from cost plus world market, rug from pottery barn, chair and ottoman from down east, paint color: martha stewart valspar (lowe's) "surf" ]  frames and shelf from ikea, prints are my images (with the exception of the large horizontal on the top row), cushion from anthropologie, painted school chair was bought at the beehive bazaar 
the kitchen is julia child-inspired! my husband made the pan rack. the utensil holder is from ikea. rug from ikea. my goal – based on my mom’s and aunts fridges – is to have pictures covering every inch of space! i’m almost there! CLICK HERE for the rest of Nicole’s sneak peek (including all the images on one page) after the jump! read more … October 13th, 2009 - 09:00am 
today d*s guest blogger and artist extraordinaire elisabeth dunker is sharing some images from her everyday life. i love getting little glimpses of people’s days and this certainly looks like a beautiful one. click here to check out all of elisabeth’s images…
*ps: i’d like to plead “book insanity” for deciding to round all the corners on post images for the past two months. i don’t know what i was thinking. today we resume with normal, non-rounded images. sorry for the momentary brain lapse… 
October 13th, 2009 - 08:00am 
back in 2004 when jenna of whimsy & spice was apartment shopping with her partner (in life and business), mark, she never dreamed that she would end up in a new construction building, particularly in a neighborhood like park slope which has such beautiful brownstones. they were already living in the neighborhood on the top floor of an old townhouse but after going to endless open houses, but this apartment had the key features they were looking for: space (1350 sq ft), 3 bedrooms, good light, an open, airy feel, a bit of outdoor space (2 balconies), no renovations needed, a great public school district and most importantly, an elevator for jenna’s back problems (which eliminated carrying groceries, a heavy baby and a stroller up 2 flights of stairs). she says the trade-off is that it has no architectural interest and the bathroom and kitchen fixtures scream mid-2000 construction, but they’ve worked on making it a comfortable home that they’ve grown to love and will serve as the (eventual) base of operations for whimsy & spice. i love how jenna’s experience in graphic design adds so much to their business and home – such great style. click here for more images of this lovely home and here for jenna’s delicious recipe for peach ginger ice cream blondies! {thanks, jenna!} -anne
[above: This wall is on the north end of our apartment in between a window and sliding doors to the balcony. All the furniture are ebay finds, the pillows are ones I made from Hable Construction remnants and the print is a tour poster from Small Stakes. ] 
In general our apartment is fairly neutral. The living room has very pale gray walls, a rich velvet blue chair from Room and Board, a bluish-gray sofa, also from Room and Board and black and yellow accents.
The bookcase was the first major piece of furniture I purchased after I finished grad school. I bought it at a furniture store on Broadway in the Village and we use it to separate the living room from the dining and kitchen areas. The main space is just one big room. Sometime last year I banished all toys from the living area but kept the toy kitchen so the kids can cook next to Mark. The kitchen is on the other side of that narrow black wall.
This wall is opposite the couch and features another chair I got on ebay. It arrived with the ugliest, brownest upholstery you can imagine so I immediately started working on covering the cushions literally a half hour after the chair arrived.
CLICK HERE for the rest of jenna’s sneak peek after the jump! read more …  October 12th, 2009 - 01:00pm | 
