What I Love This Week



This lovely baroque (not an art major so don’t call me out on that) painting was purchased by me many years ago at this fabulous interior design warehouse called DeCondes. Seriously, this was the ONLY place in Salt Lake City, UT where you could walk in on a Saturday morning and be offered champagne with cheese and crackers. Which if you think about it is a very savvy business strategy because the line between $10s and $100s can get a bit blurry after two glasses of champers on a virtually empty stomach. What feels like a finely honed artistic sensibility is actually a good buzz.

The alcohol is aided by the fact that these people had some pretty amazing and unusual art and such a huge amount of it. It’s an old warehouse with tiny rooms, cavernous rooms, and even hidden rooms, each decorated in a different period and style. They cover it all, from fabrics to crystal to pens, statuary, furniture, wall art, you name it. At the very least it was an incredibly fun way to spend an afternoon.

Anyway, on one of these sprees (we only made two after I bought J a cashmere upholstered office chair that looks like a throne and promptly realized we were out of control and I can buy my own champagne) I saw this little gem hanging on the wall and fell in love. I immediately thought of Marie Antoinette or some other woman of nobility. A woman who lounged. Who slept in silk negligees and drank chocolat in bed before her maid came in to dress her. So romantic! Of course, the wildly ornate frame helped sustain the fantasy.

It now hangs in a perfect alcove in our bedroom directly above my vanity (overstock.com because it can’t all be fancy and period). It even has a spotlight which I often turn on in the early evening so I see the painting in the dark when I come to bed. All that is missing now is the perfect high backed chair upholstered in the same raspberry velvet as in the painting. Won’t that be lovely?! For now I use a ratty kitchen chair because I am willing to suffer until I find this grail and complete my feminine lost-in-time tableau.

Do you get like that when decorating? When you see so clearly in your mind’s eye what you want and how it will look that you simply cannot compromise? And on a more practical note- any ideas on how to clean a gilded (I think that’s what it is) frame? A bit of grime is authentic but we’re moving past that stage and I’m not sure what to do.

Comments

  1. straight from shutting the office door to champagne!!

    Yes I have exactly what I want in my mind and so often have to compromise.

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  2. I am a new follower of yours and yes I do see it in my mind and have trouble getting my plan out of my mind come see me at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

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  3. I LOVE the painting and the frame! Left to my own devices, I'd decorate the whole house in all deep red and purples, with lots of rococo art and velvet colored furniture.

    I've always wanted a vanity but my very large coat tree (aka jewelry display center) takes up too much space in the bedroom as it is. Maybe a spot in the attic would work. It's terrible to have to compromise.

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  4. Love it! Usually I just have what I want in my head and never find it. You're lucky you found it!
    I'm a new follower from the Over 40 Blog Hop!
    Hope you'll hop by and visit my blog too!
    Nice meeting you!
    nancy
    http://stylendecordeals.blogspot.com/

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  5. That's really beautiful.

    I think as far as cleaning it goes you might need to get some advice from a professional. I don't know a lot about it but I'm pretty sure there are different types and if you use the wrong thing you can end up taking the gilt off which would be a real shame.

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  6. Sarah- I think you're right. There's a good framer near our house so I may go in and ask them. So far my only attempt has been to use an eyebrow brush and gently swipe it- with limited success!

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