Sometimes, that's all there is in this house...

For as much as we love cooking, not every day is for cooking from scratch. Actually, quite often all we do is to toss a frozen pasta in a pot and combine it with anything left over (fish or veggies) and call it a dinner. I am forever grateful at frozen food for all the times that makes us feel like we actually went out of our way to enjoy a nice meal together. I believe that even for a dinner as simple as a pre-made dinner is worth to put fresh flowers in a vase, light up a few candles and use the pretty things you have and that effortless action will literally lift you up. How about you? What is your shortcut?

Also, some of you dear friends have asked to see photos of our master bedroom wallpaper in progress. I have to tell you that this is the first and last time I'll be installing wallpaper. Never again, never again. But I'm thrilled and over happy with my labor of love's result. The room is completely covered in wallpaper now. There is no turning back and below is a sneak peek.

When you find what you're not looking for

Yesterday while visiting another store I came across with Transit Culture a studio that does everything from product design to Identity Design. The studio itself is worth a visit because it's beautifully decorated and very inspiring. You can see the workers working in the back. I especially love what they do with plaster. Above is a decorative bracket I got, together with one for a client, which I'll convert into a wall table for a very narrow space in the entrance. I'm not sure what I'll do with mine (top image) maybe make it into a sconce? I love it because I'm a definite admirer of everything that resembles Serge Roche's work.
Below are two pieces that I got at a vintage/antique shop around our neighborhood. My husband jokes about me being this store's best client because almost every other day I come home with something I find there. Remember this? You should see my garage. But hey, when you have a vision you have to have the resources... right? I don't have an image of how the ottoman looked before, unfortunately I get carried away with the exiting outcome and always forget to take before pictures. I got it covered in "Melinda" fabric by Alan Campbell in navy on tint and embellished it with a braided jute trim I got at M & J trimming. Bottom image is a black lacquered decorative column I found buried under a few old dining tables.

images by moi

Love...& What I call "semi-customization"

I honestly don't know when I'm going to be able to really enjoy my weekend like any decent person should. To get to read the NYT Weekender on the day I actually receive it, relax and just go out for brunch or walks and not rush to the hardware store would be ideal. Considering the fact that weekends are the only days I can dedicate to my house, I think it's going to take a while. I have a little project to share with you and it falls under the category I call "semi customization." I purchased this table for $100 for my entrance at an antique store in my neighborhood. It wasn't the exact size I wanted but I liked the architectural details of it, so I paid $40 to make it the right size and then took it to a glass shop, usually if they make glass they can make mirror if you order it. Because it was not a specialized mirror place they only charged $150 to cover the entire surface. I decided to cover the bottom with reflective paper instead of mirror so it would not reflect the wood underneath the table. That wouldn't be nice...Finally I covered the ball feet with gold leaves to add contrast.
Now I have to rush to take care of myself, I have a date with Placido Domingo tonight, well and with a few more members of the audience. After that we'll talk about his most recent trip to Munich over a few good drinks.

I hope you have a full of love Valentine's Day!

images by Julie for Belle Vivir

My Home for Christmas

Christmas is almost here and I can't think of a more appropriate time to thank all of you who support and visit Belle Vivir, even when you stop by quietly without letting me know who you are. Without you dear readers I wouldn't be here so, for that thank you. I wish you the best Christmas and I hope that wherever you are, you feel the peace and love of this special time of year. Please find below a few images of our home. This year we kept things simpler than usual. We did not put a Christmas tree, instead I created small vignettes around the house.

I decided to decorate this sculpture by putting poinsettia between the wings but, as Murphy's law would dictate, just when I was going to take a close up of my wingy sculpture one of the flowers decided to fall down.

Inside our Art Deco bar. You can see my lovely nephew's head through the mirror.

All images for/by Bellevivir.

peek into our his/her shoe & coat closet

Good morning, I hope you had a very scary Halloween. Our weekend was a very relaxed one. Many people say that to start decorating a house you should choose the rug and go from there. In my opinion it's actually the closets. Storage is critical and it doesn't hurt if you customize the space specifically for your needs. Once everything is out of the way in its respectively functional space then it's easier to see clearly what you need to make your life more comfortable and easier. Of course it doesn't hurt if every door you open is beautiful or appealing inside. When we moved into this house we lived with our utilitarian closets as we found them for about two to three weeks until I took care of it with a trip to Lowes, Container Store and Ikea. It doesn't take much money or effort to do this. I ended up reconfiguring the closet, turning it into a small walk-in. I painted the walls in a beautiful teal color, which is one of my favorites, got thin rails and spray painted them in brass. I think brass looks stunning against teal or any kind of blue for that matter. The shelves are from Ikea and the shoe racks are stackable that we fixed them to the walls to make them more stable. I think that the beautiful Quadrille fabric on the stool and the bow scarves on the wall encourage us to keep the closet organized. My hubby has long coveted the Mechanic's Beacon light so that is my contribution to the masculine side of the closet.

Below is a picture (sorry, I don't mean to hurt your eyes) of how it used to look like, the coats were removed when I took this photo, here you can see how the rod runs across the closet making it non-functional.

Our outdoor space, After

It seems like Autumn can't make up its mind. Many trees are already changing color and there have been a few cool days, although summer pleasantly keeps lingering. Yesterday was as sunny as it could get, and it felt over 70 degrees, not exactly what you would expect from a Fall day, giving us the best reason to lounge outside on our balcony. If you read my blog you may remember how my balcony used to look like, bottom picture. I painted the floor and walls in two different shades of gray which I see more as a neutral color. Then, my adorable hubby covered the spaces between the side wood with pieces of stud, not to make it look like diamond lattice trellis, but to close it, that's why the pattern may look a little quirky to you. I'm glad Fall is still wavering.

x

My Inspirational Board

In this house, we drink wine and Champagne occasionally. So after a few years accumulating hundreds of corks I decided to recycle them. I got a frame, attached a plywood piece to the back and glued all the corks to turn it into an inspirational board in the Kitchen.

click on image above to enlarge.

Images by Belle Vivir.