As St. Paddy's Day gets ready to blast on by with all of the green beer and green drunkeness that accompanies it, I, too, have been thinking about the color green. It figures prominently in Wicked, now whooping it up at the Landmark Theater, and — not coincidentally — it's also my favorite color. Although I've confined myself to painting just three rooms in my house green, that's only because I have to live with somebody else who has strong feelings about blue.
In honor of the most wonderful color of all, I thought I'd look around locally and see what might be on offer shopping-wise to green up your world this weekend.
I bought my Grassy Green Toothbrush holder at Mongrel and not Urban Outfitters, and I happen to keep pens in it on my desk. In fact, it never occurred to me to take it home. This Jonathan Adler Colored Glass Bottle Table Lamp from Shades of Light is a beautiful deep green and would look lovely on my bedside table, near my green-and-white duvet cover. Soft, comfortable and weather-proof, La Diff's green Philippe Starck-designed Bubble Club Sofa is also ultra-cool and looks like it was carved from a single block of polyethylene. One of the most useful things you can buy for your kitchen is a pair of locking tongs. Green-tipped ones from Sur la Table are even better. Ruth & Ollie says, "The Moss Vase is probably one of the coolest pieces of glassware that we have!" And I must agree. These Scenic Dessert Plates from Anthropologie would look even better on the wall than under a piece of cake. It's all about the storage, baby, and this Stow Green Leather Storage Ottoman from Crate & Barrel has got you covered. An organically shaped, handcrafted Melon Shaped Bowl is glazed in a mossy, drippy green by Richmond's Paul and Kate Studio.
I look at the jungle in the backyard of my turn-of-the-century house and I can see (through the vines) English boxwood as old as my house. Daffodils spring up each year in swaths as well, and clearly, there was intent behind where the azalea bushes were placed.
Some have waited all year in anticipation. For others, the date's snuck up on them. The Curtain Call Home & Decor Consignment Sale is finally gearing up for 2010.
Curtain Call is an enormous consignment sale blowout of high-end draperies, furniture, rugs, pillows and just about anything else you can think of that goes in the home. You can drop off your items this weekend, March 6 and 7, from 1 to 5 p.m., in back of Victoria's Secret outside Willow Lawn. Items need to be new-ish, in excellent condition and clean. The folks there will price your items and you'll get 50 percent of the price after your item sells.
The best part of consigning, however, is that it grants you the opportunity to attend the special preview sale that's for consignors only.
The rest of the sale will run next weekend, March 13 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and March 14 (noon to 5 p.m.) and into the following week, March 17 to 18 (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.), and March 19 to 20 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.). Wrapping things up, on March 21 everything will be 30 percent off (noon to 5 p.m.) as well as on March 26 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
For all of the details, follow this link.
Last week, designers got a chance to take a look inside this year's Symphony Designer House and to decide which space they'd like to transform.
We visited the Rothesay Circle house along with all of the designers and were immediately impressed — and overwhelmed. It's a massive home — 6,708 square feet — on eight acres right by the river. It's the kind of old-fashioned mansion that you really never see anymore — or at least, you never see them as private homes. It has a smoking study, servants' quarters and a butler's pantry as big as my kitchen — and the kitchen itself is restaurant-sized. In fact, the landing at the top of the stairs might be a little larger than my living room, and this house's living room is aproximately 24 feet by 24 feet (that would be 576 square feet for those of you who don't want to do the math).
I really would love to just swoon a little over the numbers (the master bedroom is 23 feet by 24 feet, and the guest room is 20 feet by 26 feet), but suffice it to say, this place is enormous. Built in 1913 and designed by Duncan Lee, with grounds designed by Charles Gillette, Rothesay was acquired by the owner's father, George Anderson, in 1934. It has remained almost entirely intact since then and is a virtual time capsule of a way of living that doesn't exist anymore.
Twenty-eight of the rooms will be transformed, and eight local landscape architects began working on the grounds in the fall. Richmond magazine would like all of you to come along for the ride as we chart the house's transformation. We'll be updating our site with behind-the scenes stories and photographs in the upcoming months until the house gets unveiled at the Gala Preview Party on Sept. 11.
We hate mistakes. We hate it even more when we make them.
In the March/April issue of R•Home (on newsstands now), in the article titled "Craftsman Classic," we inadvertently credited contractor Steve Chenault with the fabrication of the newel post and bannister in the foyer of the Stonewall Court house we featured. In fact, Tim McCready of Bankston & Bailey built and installed not only the newel post and bannister but also the window seats, the cherry mantel and the porch handrail as well. We apologize for the error.
