My Faux Limestone Wall Treatment Project

In between posts of interiors, vignettes, gardens, and other images that I find fun and whimsical, I sometimes share pictures of my own designs for the homes of various clients. 

Recently I decided to do a faux limestone treatment on the hall walls of my own home. The house has 12 foot ceilings so I knew it was going to be a "project" and one I would never be able to take with me. Since we will definitely be here for a while longer, I decided to commit to the project.

This house was built around 1900 according to my neighbors. It is in a lovely location with The Historic Irvine McDowell House and park within walking distance up the street, and the Million Park behind. Also at the end of the street is the Watson estate built in the mid 1800's. The estate is empty now, but is maintained with a fund set up by Emma Watson before her death. It has beautiful walled English gardens in the back complete with old roses, peonies wisteria that has overtaken an old oak tree, aged boxwoods, mazes, fish pond, statuary and old iron benches. The gardens are old and almost overgrown. My son grew up playing in what he thought was his own "castle" garden. 

Anyway back to the topic of the post......my faux painting project.

Tim helped me with taping off the grid. It was horrible looking with all the blue painter's tape marking the blocks. I really appreciate him and the fact that he let's me do some pretty crazy things around the house. I know he gets tired of hearing me say "just trust me".

I wish you could see this french tapestry. It is beautiful in person and is hanging on a gorgeous rod that I neglected to get a picture of. I started to take another one for this post but have no excuse other than laziness for not doing so 

Here is a closer look at the wall and some of the needlepoint I do. It's my therapy!! Unfortunately I don't see as well as I use to so don't do as much. None of you ladies have that problem do you??

Christmas 2011
Anyway here is the finished product. Is it perfect? No. But I am proud of it and glad I did it. I will hate to leave it if we leave this old house. I would love to hear from any of you who have done a similar project!

The Paris Apartment Of CoCo Chanel

With my love for all things French and of course beautiful interiors, it only makes sense that eventually there would be a post about the Paris apartment of fashion icon Coco Chanel. Usually fashion designers have wonderful decorating sense and Coco Chanel's Paris apartment reflects this. This is certainly not the first blog to show some interior pictures, but I believe you will enjoy this home tour and collection of interesting facts about the lady herself!

s'il vous plaît entrer

Probably the most famous address in all fashion, 31 rue Cambon, the House of Chanel.

Gabrielle "CoCo" Bonheur Chanel

Enter the front doors of 31 rue Cambon at the street level. There are four floors. The haute couture dressing rooms are on the second floor, her apartment is on the third, and her workshop is on the fourth. 

Here is a photo of the famous faceted mirrored spiral staircase that Chanel designed. The stairway is still covered with cream carpet, while the walls are lined with panels of mirrors. It connected all four levels of her apartment and made it possible for her to stand in one spot and see what was happening on every floor. It is the same staircase that Coco would hide on so she could see  the audience’s reaction to her collection during the show. It is also where her models presented her collections in the past.

Here you would have found your hostess, waiting with an invitation that few people ever received. It was a treat indeed to be received as a guest at her apartment. Whenever she went to her apartment on rue Cambon, there were orders to spray Chanel No. 5 around the stairway so her signature scent would greet her.

The Chinese screen used as wallpaper in the entrance hall features camellia flowers, which were Chanel’s favorites and often used in her designs. The camellia flower was also very important to Coco Chanel. It symbolized purity and longevity in Asia and was very prevalent in her designs. 

Although Coco Chanel was a long-term resident at the Ritz, she used an apartment at 31, rue Cambon in Paris for entertaining. Chanel’s apartment seems to reflects her tastes for all things luxurious and opulent. Quite different from her fashion creations which were generally simpler and reflected an uncomplicated elegance. 

The salon of Coco Chanel's Paris apartment. Every crevice and corner seems to ooze luxury from the the ever-present camellia flower to the gilt, the black lacquered surfaces, and the Coco-designed, suede sofa. 

Her rouge-infused, Orient inspired home continues to be a staple in our Parisian dreams. 

Decorated in deep reds, rich golds, and Oriental themes, the elaborately decorated apartment is filled with expensive antiques. 

She is said to have hated doors and obscured  them with Chinese screens. Coco Chanel was famous for owning over 32 Coromandel screens that decorated her 31 rue Cambon apartment in Paris. In some areas she applied them to the walls like wallpaper. "I've loved Chinese screens since I was eighteen years old..... I nearly fainted with joy when, entering a Chinese shop I saw a Coromandel for the first time. Screens were the first thing I bought," she said.

The monochromatic chandelier complete with interlocking 5's and C's. She was told by a fortune teller than her lucky number was 5.

Some of her prized possessions.

Her mahogany desk, which is etched with the scratch marks of an icon. 

This little bird cage was a prized possession and the inspiration for the Chanel No. 5 commercial featuring Johnny Depp' s lovely ex, Vanessa Paradis.

The chaise where the famous picture of CoCo Chanel was taken.

The iconic photo.

Scattered about the apartment are the lucky symbols of a deeply superstitious woman such as a frog with its mouth open, pairs of Japanese deer and wheat motifs (a sign of prosperity). 

Chanel lived here until her death in 1971, and everything has been frozen in time.

The roof of the building is said to have some of the best views of Paris.

Coco Chanel was a Leo and collected lions because they were her horoscope symbol.

The dining room. On the table are some of the many lions that are scattered around the apartment.

It's all very opulent, sophisticated and elegant, and yet the apartment isn't a large or grand space. In fact it seems intimate.  If you were to visit the apartment you would notice that  an important room is missing. She didn't actually sleep here. There is no bedroom in the flat.

Instead, she kept a private suite at the Ritz across the street. Every evening Coco Chanel followed the same pattern. She left her apartment and walked five minutes across rue Cambon where she entered the Ritz through the rear door to retire for the night.

Each morning, she crossed back to No. 31 where she got back to work...... surrounded in a mist of expensive perfume.

Decorating With Vintage Bicycles...A Fun Story

On the first day of my son Zach's spring break from school, I decided it would be fun for us to go for a bike ride. Now mind you, I had not been on a bike in 15 years. I had recently purchased an old bicycle at a yard sale and was anxious to "get some exercise".  

After telling Zach, "you never forget how to ride a bicycle", I took off  with dogged determination.

At the end of the street is a path you can take to get to a lovely park. As you leave the street, you have to maneuver up a higher than normal curb and onto a dirt path. Well here is where the story takes a tragic turn. Forgetting the aforementioned rule of balance, I rolled up onto the curb.......and stopped . Gravity said "Lisa Farmer, come on down" and as Zach described it, in slow motion, I complied. And then Gravity said......"gottcha"! Within 5 minutes from the house, I had shattered my right (of course it HAD to be that one) elbow and lay there a crumpled mess with elbow and dignity destroyed.

I knew I was not going to be riding anymore so started thinking of how I would teach my bike a lesson. I would either put it up never to be ridden again.....

or use it in some sort of  demeaning way. Bicycles are meant to be free after all.

Maybe I would make a gate out of it.  That would teach it a lesson!!

Or donate it to be melted down and used to create the worlds largest bicycle.

But after months of healing, I began to see the beauty ....

and usefulness of  bicycles again.

And remembered how much fun it was to ride double with a friend.

I remembered that bicycles can be so romantic.

 A great way to go on a picnic!

And how much fun you can have just riding along with the wind in your hair.

So I decided to forgive my bicycle and maybe give it an honored place in my garden,

 lean it up somewhere for all to admire,

or make it a part of my interior design.

I could even bake it a cookie to show just how sorry I was for the neglect.

After all it could have been worse.

Sadly, before I had the chance to make amends, someone stole it from my porch. I can only hope they saw it's vintage beauty and gave it a place of prominence in THEIR flower garden. If not ..... I hope Gravity  decides to come calling again!

I hope you had a good time!!