wallpaper removal

Everyone seemed to love the pink and gray post yesterday and especially this entryway by Tom Scheerer. It features grisaille wallpaper in shades of gray, a Wiliam IV pier table, and a pair of coral slipper chairs by Billy Baldwin.

My favorite touch is the pair of sconces with lampshades covered in the grisaille paper and lined in coral pink. I am generally not a big fan of patterned lampshades, but these are very much an exception. I do love lining lampshades in pink silk - the pink makes the whole room glow.

An even easier way to get that flattering soft pink glow - pink lightbulbs. BTW, they are considered specialty bulbs and not covered by the phase-out of incandescents. My favorite are the 50/100/150 Slyvania that I order by the box here. I use them in every lamp in my house.


I have added a new Pinterest board on Pink and Gray here and you can follow me on Pinterest here.

From time to time, I love to post on emerging trends I perceive in interior design. These are not the hot trends written up in shelter mags, but looks I start to see repeated in rooms that I feel work especially well with Chinoiserie. Last year I did "Trending" posts on -

*Pineapples
*Malachite
*Purple
*The Big Chinoiserie Lamp
*Antelope
*The White Elephant
*Brushstroke
*Mudcloth
*The Return of the Skirted Table
*Combining Pink and Orange
*Black Windows

My first emerging trend for 2014 is combining pink and gray. I believe that gray is here to stay as an elegant, versatile, and sophisticated neutral. People will be looking for new ways to use gray and I absolutely adore this combination. Here is some inspiration -

Gray with hot pink -












Gray with coral pink -






Gray with pale pink -

So many of you have asked to learn more about this wonderful blue and white space. It is a butler's pantry created by Kellie Griffin Interiors for the 2013 Atlanta Symphony Decorators' Show House and Gardens. The damask wallpaper is Cole & Son Albemarle Aldwych and the fabulous blue and white Chinoiserie toile window treatment is Brunschwig & Fils' iconic Le Lac. I love the Chinoiserie grandfather clock! I have hunted down more photos of the room to share with you. It's very strange, but almost invariably I love the butler's pantries in these show houses the best and they are often done with Chinoiserie.

Cole & Son Albemarle Aldwych

Brunschwig & Fils Le Lac

What are you up to this weekend? Last night we saw the incredible movie Her. Have you seen it yet? The color palette was exquisite—everything was dusty pink, orange or red—and the story was so compelling. (As the NYTimes review said, she's just a voice, "but oh what a voice.") We really loved it. Also, thanks for all your fun comments this week—it's so nice to be back! Hope you have a good weekend, and here are a few great posts from around the web...

Kate Middleton is just as awkward as the rest of us.

This twitter account made me laugh.

LOVE the color of these boots.

What it's like to be a contestant on The Bachelor. (Answer: Crazy.)

Are you Type A? I'm busted.

What a gorgeous dress from the Golden Globes.

Seinfeld and George were spotted at Tom's restaurant!

Kids winning at hide and seek.

(And why children cover their eyes when hiding.)

The prettiest pink lips.

My mom gave me this book for Christmas and I'm excited to dive in.

If you want to keep your New Year's Resolutions, rephrase them as a question.

What it's like to be a parent, according to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

Directors reveal: The toughest scene I wrote.

A few people asked about how to handle winter blues. Here are seven ideas, and apparently taking Vitamin D really helps too!

(Images from the movie Her, via Diana)

What kind of accent do you have? While growing up in Michigan, my brother, sister and I picked up slight Michigan accents. We'd say things like "maahm" instead of "mom," and "caehr" instead of "car," and "Bab" instead of "Bob." After living in New York for twelve years, I've basically lost it, but sometimes when I drink too much wine, it can randomly bust out again. Yes, Michigan!

George Mason University collects speech samples from around the world, and everyone has to read this paragraph: "Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station."

Have you taken the fascinating dialect quiz that has spread like wildfire online? What answer did you get? (It pinpointed that I was from Michigan.) And in the video above, actress Amy Walker does 24 different accents (some are better than others). The California one made me laugh out loud.

What kind of accent do you have?

P.S. What British people say versus what they really mean, and Toby in conversation.

(Speech archive found by the brilliant Kottke)

This past fall, when I was feeling bummed out, Alex and I started a tradition to try to cheer me up...

When we would lie down in bed at night, we each had to say:
* two things you're grateful for overall
* two little things you enjoyed that day
* one reason why you're glad you're married to the other person

It was so nice to end the day with this little chat, and we would tell each other anecdotes and compliments that we might not have otherwise. And it really was a pick-me-up! Even though I'm (thankfully) starting to feel better now, we're planning to keep it up.
Do you do anything like this? Gratitude journals are supposed to be awesome. (Here are six surprising tips about how to keep one.)

P.S. Encouragement and the no-complaining challenge.

(Photos from our friend's cabin a while back)