Decorate A Dream House - A Belgian Castle

Written By: Patricia Lynne
Editor: Sarahjoy Crain

In my current SB Journal entry I'm imagining I'm "Decorating A Dream House" in the Country Of Belgium. Actually it is a castle.

A castle - in its simplest terms - is a private, fortified residence.

My DreamHouse Castle has a moat - history tells us is a ditch with steep sides, and could be either dry or filled with water with its purpose being to keep the walls of the Castle from being undermined from invading armies.

My DreamHouse Castle has a great tower, sometimes called a "keep," and this is where a dungeon would be located. The great tower was the strongest part of a castle and most strongly defended, and the last place of refuge if the outer defences fell. You may be surprised to consider that the keep was not left empty in case of attack, but was used as a residence by the lord who owned the castle, or his guests or representatives.

















My Dreamhouse Castle is located in the very small Country of Belgium, approximately the size of Massachusetts. Belgium's total area, including surface water area, is about 19 square miles. It shares borders with four Countries:  France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

To continue reading this article, click here.

---

SATC Carrie's Apartment & Cosmopolitan Cocktail Recipe

---

 Mr. Big:  Should we get you a diamond?

Carrie Bradshaw:  No, no... just get me a really big closet!

---

In real life as our actual use of space changes, oftentimes it prompts change in our home - in the design and layout of our living spaces.

As a designer I wanted to see Carrie's apartment in the Sex and the City Movie.  Wondering, as Carrie evolved, would Hollywood be consistent
in her apartment, would form follow function.

For the SATC Movie, it was thought Carrie's apartment should reflect a more organized, more mature Carrie, that she'd no longer sit on the floor at her coffee table, working on her laptop. She also may want to have Big over for dinner, she may require more entertaining areas.

---

To Continue Article, Click Here And To See Cosmopolitan Cocktail Bonus Recipe

Dinner On The Rooftop - 30 Stories High At The Kimberly Hotel

You enter the express elevator at street level and you are whisked thirty stories up to an urban oasis, way atop Manhattan ..... Viola!
It is a roof top, called 'Upstairs,' and it is so very unexpected.  Don't you love when that happens!

"Upstairs" (at the Kimberly Hotel):

~ 4,000 square foot, roof top, thirty stories up and offering outstanding food and drinks
~ "Upstairs" has retractable glass ceilings and walls - and - ambient heated floors, in consideration of weather
~ 360 degree view (the iconic Chrysler Building as always is the star of this show)
~ living green walls, cascading down bronze panels, framing the surrounding cityscape from every possible angle
~ a fresh spin on old Hollywood-glamour, vintage theatrical lights and strings and strings of incandescent bulbs, floating overhead, emitting an intimate, sensual mood
~ a room that is as elegant and inviting in the winter months as it is sunny and sophisticated in the summer season

The "Upstairs" by AIA award winning design firm De-Spec, in association with architect Frank Denner , Pentasia Design and lighting designer Brian Orter presents an outdoor rooftop design that literally overwhelms the senses at every turn.

An evening Upstairs will be an experience
like no other, focusing on refined service
in a relaxed luxurious setting, offering its
guests a one-of-a-kind rooftop experience
and the desire to come back.

I love the lead designer's approach to the 'Upstairs.' As explained by De-Spec lead designer designer Farnaz Mansuri:

"Upstairs follows a characteristic approach to our work,"

"Rather than objectifying the architectural solution,

Space is choreographed to rooduce the desired experience,

and so in essence 'experience' is designed."

Deliberately shying away from outdoor lounge-style furniture typical of most rooftop bars, "Upstairs’" furniture was carefully curated from renowned houses such as B&B Italia, Knoll and Moooi. The "Upstairs" rooftop offers clean lines and elegant form that at once seem hyper-modern and neo-gothic, inviting guests to relax and unwind in an environment that exemplifies subtle, urban sophistication.
Did I mention the chefs? The food?

Executive Chef Gwenaël Le Pape has worked with such culinary masters as Jean-Georges Vongerichten and celebrity Chef Anthony Bourdain. Raised in Brittany, France, Chef Gwen has cooked all over France, Miami and New York, most recently at Maison d’Azur in Miami garnering three and a half stars for the South Beach eatery under his direction. Here are a few samples of Chef Le Pape’s signature dishes:
Seared Steak Tartar
Spiced Duck Cigars with Pomegranate Dipping Sauce
Truffled Mac &Cheese and
Baby Lamb Lollipops with Ratatouille
In addition to great food, the bar will feature a sumptuous list of specialty cocktails featuring modern takes on tried and true classics. (From the Kimberly Hotel's Upstairs website.)

---

Thirty stories up, the "Upstairs," of The Kimberly Hotel - I am so..... goin' there for a tasty lil' treat of a night!

If you like the Kimberly Hotel and the restaurant on the rooftop, Upstairs, click here to see my "Decorate A Dreamhouse, Manhattan Brownstone."

Outdoor Showers - Perfect Way To Cool Down

A vacation home our family stayed at had an outdoor shower and and the family used it all day long. It's the perfect way to cool down when it's hot, and you can put them anywhere, from lawn to roof to beach to deck.

According to Ross Sicote of Walpole Woodworkers, a firm specializing in custom yard and garden features, "A shower outdoors is one of those things that seems odd at first, but when people see them at someone else’s place, they end up wanting them for their own backyard,"

Here are some playful looking outdoor showers, from stand alone to wall mounts.

---

From Orvis, this outdoor shower is easy to install on any deck or patio. Hooks up to an outdoor hose spigot, and can be easily adapted for hot water. Made of water- and weather-resistant nyatoh wood."

Minimalist Outdoor Shower From Atelier Tradewinds:, a small,Belgian Company, "The acacia wood frame is set on a couple of nylon gliders so that the shower can easily be moved. The shower tube itself is made of galvanized steel; a simple tap attached to the tube regulates the water pressure."

Jaclo offers these above two outdoor showers including other forms of decorative plumbing.

There are essentially two kinds of outdoor showers — stand-alones and wall mounts. Stand-alones attach to flexible hosing and are mobile. Wall-mounts are stationary. Deciding whether your shower will be a portable or permanent installation is the first step in deciding what type of shower will work for you. The very simplest of showers can be hooked up directly to a garden hose. Shower seekers can craft their own using fittings, tubing, and a showerhead, or purchase a shower package from any number of retail outlets.

Summer will be here soon ~ stay cool!

Decorating A Dreamhouse - Boston Back Bay Brownstone

Written By: Patricia Lynne

Editor: Sarahjoy Crain

In my current SB Journal entry "Decorating A Dreamhouse," I'm imagining that I'm living in a vintage, Victorian-style, brownstone,like this one, in Boston's Back Bay.  Lovin' It!

Architecturally the area is dominated by elegant, Victorian-style brownstone buildings. It's definitely upscale, the Back Bay and neighboring Beacon Hill, are all a part of the prestigious Back Bay of Boston, Massachusetts.  La dee dah, I'm livin' the sweet life! 

---

We're going inside now so please join me as I write in my SB Journal on Decorating My Dreamhouse interiors of my Back Bay Victorian Style Brownstone. My home.

---

To continue reading this article, click here.

New Products I've Found

---

The Stray Dog Shop says they have 'fetching home accessories ........ ' and that they do. I loved the whimsy of this pendant lamp. To find some silliness today, check them out.

---

Recently my family traveled to Laguna Beach and we found a new art gallery to add to our favorites: Fingerhut Gallery (they also have a location in Sausalito).

What drew us into this gallery was a seven foot tall bronze Cat In The Hat, and then we were greeted by hundreds of beautifully-framed serigraphs of Cat In The Hat art.

Green Eggs and Ham - 50th Anniversary
Hand-Pulled Serigraph on Paper
Limited Edition of 295 with 155 Collaborators’ Proofs

Said Dr. Seuss, "I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” I so love this quote and concept! Rock on, Dr. Seuss artwork fantasyland!

With this in mind, go here to savor more time with more wonderfully Seussian characters, linger with each, recal your own connection to these lasting messages, enjoyable memories and life principles passed along through them.

Click here to see more of Cat In The Hat artwork from Fingerhut Gallery and remember, they have a shop in Laguna Beach and Sausalito.

But in the above very same Laguna Beach, California Fingerhut Gallery I found the following artpiece. This exquisitely-painted folded screen by Chinese artist Jiang Tiefeng is on display in the same shop where I found the comical and crazy but noteworthy Dr. Seuss art, I found artwork by Jiang Tiefeng including his painted folded screen.

I personally stopped in my tracks and snapped away with my camera: here it is:

In fact however I apologize for just being able to give you an image from my digital camera. I would much prefer to bring you the artist's own professional photographic representation, but I wasn't able to come up with it.

I love folding screens and I love this one. (Click here to see one of my previous articles about folding screens, including some in world-wide-known, historical locations.)
With permission of Ms. Marguerite Bartel of the Fingerhut Gallery of Laguna Beach, I include the folding screen here. The shop's phone number is 949-376-6410; Fingerhut publishes this product for artist Jiang Tiefeng (the screen is priced very reasonably).

---

If decorating isn't easy for you or if you are in need of some particular interior design assistance, our designers at the Something Beautiful Shoppe will be happy to work with you - working with professional helps assure you get the look you deserve while helping eliminate costly mistakes.

Mr. Important Design Firm Debuts Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Nightclub

This is a photo of a womens' restroom

- at the recently opened Vegas Hard Rock Hotel & Casino's nightclub Vanity! Rose-gold lips, framing perfectly pearlescent teeth, and an impossibly aqua eye, shimmering with makeup, face off over the sinks.

From Interior Design Magazine: "Charles Doell calls himself Mr. Important Design—a name as exuberant and outré as his nightclubs and restaurants." Definitely a headliner that recently debuted, for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino nightclub Vanity in Las Vegas, Doell went the limit."

Further from the magazine, "The club is a phantasmagoria of shiny and sparkly surfaces. Take the canopy above the dance floor: a flamboyantly undulating form aglitter with 20,000 crystals. '“Risk-taking is now standard operating procedure for many large players in the hospitality business,” he says. “We completely love that.”'



Click here to see a slide show with more photographs; they're fabulously over the top.

---

If decorating isn't easy for you or if you are in need of some particular interior design assistance, our designers at the Something Beautiful Shoppe will be happy to work with you - working with professional helps assure you get the look you deserve while helping eliminate costly mistakes.