August 2009 Archives

As I was photographing the house (pictured on Friday's post) and the divine details from every possible angle..... the owners appeared, back from the beach. I explained that I was not casing the house for a robbery, but was absolutely fascinated by their eccentric abode!!! They introduced themselves, Ellen Nora and Gil Goldstein, and invited me in to see their garden.....................more about the Goldstein's, the house, and the  incredible garden tomorrow!!!!!!!!!! 

It's that time again....the roads, beaches, movies, restaurants, and Round Swamp are beyond packed!!  It's the last week of summer and the world is on vacation in the Hamptons!!!! AND I AM JEALOUS!!! So I'm taking matters into my own hands!!! I am going to sit in traffic on the back roads....lay blanket to blanket on the beach....stand on line for the movies....eat dinner at an unreasonable 6PM at Nick & Toni's....and continue fighting my way into Round Swamp!!! Yep. the Accessorator is joining all of you...... AND TAKING A VACATION!!!

These four "gardener musts" are part of a selection of The Best @ Dianne B, a wonderful new on-line store for garden mavens. Dianne B, fashion trensdstter and "garden guru," selected her 10 favorite garden accoutrements and has replaced shopping at the local garden center, with shopping on her chic and stylish new website. Dianne's passion for gardening began twenty plus years ago when she purchased her first house in the East Hampton. According to Dianne, she took "a weedy, woody tangle and created a garden-tour worthy shady exotic acre in her own inimitable way." She documented her path in Dirt: The Lowdown on Growing a Garden with Style, which has become a gardening cult classic. Dianne is particularly proud of the Tool Belt she designed, available exclusively for her site, and the Yard Bag, also her design and exclusive.

I think that one of the most innovative  and unusual gifts for this holiday season is on DB's website....a handmade, stainless steel, Gardener's Shovel, which can be personalized!!!  The shovel, made in Idaho, has a 4' long ash handle and can be hand stamped with up to 16 letters. It can have a monogram or name, the name of your farmhouse or ranch, or a personal message!!! In addition to being the perfect gift for a gardener.....it is the absolutely perfect present for someone who has everything and needs nothing!!!

In 2008 French-born landscape designer, Nathalie Karg, created a company, Cumulus Studios, that invites emerging and established contemporary artists to create functional objects for the outdoors. According to Nathalie "people are looking for whimsy.....gardens should be whimsical." Nathalie's close connection to the art world, she was formally an art advisor, makes her the perfect person to marry functional art and the garden.She has given the artist's complete freedom to create their own personal fantasy, the only limitation being functionality and weather resistance. The result is a delightfully witty selection of garden objects and furniture.

The first collection, previewed this past spring, included eighteen artists. The work is created in very small editions, three for the most part.  The works include.... Rikrit Tiravanija's polished steel and glass ping pong table; Jan Mancuska's metal beach umbrella encircled in text; Mary Heilmann's cabana green table inlaid with broken ceramic; Rob Wynne's mushroom table and chair; Aaron Young's gold chained tire swing; Ugo Rondinone's magical giant scarecrow. One of my particular favorites is this wonderful fountain, pictured above, that is created from tires, by Rob Pruitt. This ecologically correct fountain recycles it's own water, has a simple pump mechanism, and is an edition of 3. I would be thrilled to have it in my garden.......or in the center of my living room!!!!!!

The rest of the pieces in the first collection are equally as inspired.... and according to Nathalie we can expect a new collection for this coming fall!!!!

My affinity for book shelves is a very well documented fact and rolling racks only come to mind for me when I think about packing, changing closets, moving, or the cheapest, fastest way to build a store! But, never have I thought about them both at the same time, or as having any relationship to each other......until I visited my friend Nicoletta at my favorite design store, Rossana Orlandi, in Milan. I think the correct name for these units should be "book racks".....bookcases that can be added to or subtracted from with these shelves that hang on to one another. They can be any length or as wide as you need them to be....just add another rack!! The "shelves" are sold in packages of 12 hangers.... you provide the rolling racks yourself! 

Rossana Orlandi website

Enough said about "the green & growing part"!!! For me, the best and most important part of the magic is the furniture and fabrics on the patio and by the pool. I adore mixing these chic, vintage Indian quilts for pillows and as upolstery, even tho they are not water resistant and have to be covered every night, with the antique wicker. I have been collecting wicker for years, and have painted it black, making it more contemporary and because I hate white in the garden...especially white wicker!!! The pool is surrounded on one side by "ancient" teak lounges that came with the house ten years ago. Every couple of years I add new forest green pads, same color every time, and recently, I have had bright colored Sunbrella pillows made for each chaise. The umbrellas on the patio are also forest green, of course the same color as the lounges!!!  For accent, I have wrapped the stems of the umbrellas in strips of fabrics from old Lisa Corti table cloths!!! I am not drawn to crafts.....but having dressed several thousand store windows I know the value of the neon colored 8" cable ties from Gardner Bender.....they hold all the fabrics in place!!!!  The final touch, no matter what the weather, is covering the dinning table with fabulous printed table cloths from Lisa Corti!!!

I brought these "femme fatals" back with me from my last trip to Barcelona. They are three of the most sophisticated ladies in Spain, possibly ladies of the night!! They are dressed in the brights, this summer palette of choice and accessorized appropriately for their career!!! Unfortunately, as lovely as they look.... to be available for dinner or dancing they have to be peeled off the walls!!! These shapely, but flat, beauties accessorize the streets around the Museum of Contemporary Art!!!!!

This is a glimpse into my most favorite bookstore....Arcana Books.  It is located on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California and it is incredible!!!! I remember a number of years ago seeing the Eva Hesse retrospective at the Tate Modern and having a "must have" moment and calling Arcana, from London, for the catalogue of the show.....it was in NYC by the time I got home, and I even stopped in Paris!!!  I also must admit that the store is in my iphone and has been in all of it's predecessor's as well!!!  I cannot imagine not being able to attach at a moment's notice! When I was living in Aspen, Arcana was on my speed dial....books were being delivered sometimes daily! Another fond memory was trying to make an impression on a "date" and having an obscure photography book delivered after I went back to New York... it was very impressive and I scored a few points, but no second date!!!!

Celebrating it's 25 birthday this year, Arcana, the world's premier visual bookstore, is owned by Lee Kaplan. It's the last of a dying bred, an independent bookstore! It celebrates the arts.....art, design, architecture, photography, fashion, music, and cinema. It's sort of a secret society where artists, art collectors, film folk, and fashionistas find rare, new, and out of print books resting side by side. In addition to the store, Arcana is in the process of listing it's inventory on line. But, there really is nothing like browsing this book mecca in person! I seem to get there at least three times during any one trip to Los Angeles!  It is a MUST for collectors of every kind...books, art, photography...anything that says ART!!!!  

As the "Queen of Collectables" I am shocked to find something I have never collected, much less never heard of!!! When I walked into Maison 24, a  divine shop in Bridgehampton owned by my friends Allison & Louis, I saw these unusual plastic creatures lined up and ready for a bookshelf! I asked who or what they were and was told they are Be@rbricks, a highly collectible, limited edition designer toy produced in Japan by MediCom Toy Incorporated. They  are molded plastic figurines of a bear with an extremely simplified form and a pot belly. There are a variety of sizes, though 7 centimeters is standard, and each has nine moveable parts.... head, waist, torso, arms, legs, and wrists. There are a variety of artists and designers who have created design schemes for the standard molds, including Karl Lagerfeld and Vivienne Westwood. In addition, several famous faces have been immortalized, including Elvis who is in the newest line up. Once an addition is sold out, it is "retired" and becomes highly prized. There are 30 plus pages on e-bay alone!!!! Maison 24 has this newest, most prized edition and several very, very special pieces that are stand outs....a ready made collection!!!

I think of myself as the real mccoy, a true individual, unique, one of a kind.......eclectic & eccentric...but me!!!! I believe that is in part because I am an American, thus given the freedom to be me.... unique, slightly off center, a creative thinker who works with new and exciting ideas. My stores have always been thought of as "special" and I try to do the same on my blog. So, imagine my surprise when this photo on the right was sent to me from the furniture show at High Point....yep, very very surprised, or maybe not!!! 

I spent two years working with a wonderful furniture company in London, Squint, we created a collection of one-off pieces that are available exclusively in the U.S. at my store, on my website, and at Barney's. The chair on the left is one of these pieces. The collection was designed around upholstering vintage furniture with old and new textiles. I shipped two containers from London and set up shop!!! I knew that this was an interesting and unique idea.....and I guess in my heart I knew that it would be knocked off someday!!!! But, I never expected it to be done so fast and in the actual shape of the chair that I had!!! 

  

When I drive in East Hampton, I constantly worry about hitting a deer. The deer population has gotten so enormous, that I spend a great deal of driving time on the look-out for "Bambi & her Mom." Anything to avoid a giant splat!!! All this thinking about deer has resulted in my stopping counting sheep, but rather naming deer to put me to sleep.........deerly beloved, deerheart, deerest, deerling, deer me, and so on!!!!  

There seem to be no way to avoid these creatures whether in your garden, where they dine.....or on the streets that they cross. So imagine my glee when found myself diving behind this truck yesterday!!!!! I think it is so timely for summer 2009 that I took this picture!!! A memory in the scrapbook of Summer 2009!!!

Nothing gets me as excited as an empty bookcase!!!  When I found a pair of these amazing vintage library bookcases in London, I was in heaven and knew I had to ship them home!  Their design is spectacular.... the moveable slate shelves, the side braces for holding books in, and the bar at the bottom that is used as a step-up for reaching books on the top shelf....it all makes me quiver!!! And then I got to do what I do best.....accessorize them!!! I loved them bare, but after I propped & played.....they are magnificent!!!! I can't imagine any room that would say no to these bookcases....especially now!!!! 

This summer's trend, organic farming at home, was started at the White House by Mrs. Obama...... but, here on the East End of Long Island (Amagansett to be exact) the real trendsetters are two delightful young women, Amanda Merrow & Katie Baldwin....."lady farmers!" They have started Amber Waves Farm, a non-profit farm with the mission "to produce organic, healthy, nourishing food for the local community and to provide the public with an educational outlet to learn about the joyful process of growing food by using the land as an outdoor classroom." Their other goal is to reintroduce wheat into the local foodshed. In addition to planting over 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables on about two acres, they plan to plant organic heirloom wheat on approximately four acres. After the harvest of the wheat, next July, the plan is to locally mill the wheat into whole grain flour which will be available to the local community. Wouldn't it be really fabulous if the wheat was milled in the Old Mill in East Hampton!!!

These inspiring and innovative women have created a way in which the local community can join the coop.....by becoming a member of Community Support Agriculture (CSA) you get to buy local, seasonal. organic food directly from the "farmers."  Every Friday, members pick up their weekly basket of organic fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs. In addition you get two loaves of bread, fresh from the ovens at Eli's Market, just next to the farm. A farm newsletter and selection of favorite recipes also appear by email weekly!