To Laminate Or Not To Laminate

I ran upon this home while looking in the New York Social Diary.

I was instantly drawn in because I love Venetian Mirrors.

Above this classic beauty coupled with edgy chairs.

But this is what I really wanted to post about.....

the kitchen chairs and table.

The chairs are 'Louis' and the table is an old industrial table.
Don't these chairs look sparkling clean and white?
Is this very practical for a eat-in kitchen / family room with more than a few kids?
Sure it is......

Now you say, "but those chairs are white?" ,

"how is that practical?"

Laminate your fabric.

You can have 

white if you want it!!!

It is amazing....

you can spill dark grape juice, 

paint, markers, spaghetti sauce, or anything else those pesky little and big ones might spill.

Just wipe it off.

No stains. Ever!!

I love the crazy light fixtures above.

'Anything Goes'

I am not sure if the floors are Macassar wood

or Brazilian walnut or what, but it is stunning $$$$

Macasser on left and Brazilian walnut on right (or 2nd)????

How would you like to have this terrace off your master ?

Robert and Cortney Novogratz are self-taught designers (Robert was originally a stockbroker and Cortney trained as an actress) who have been enviably successful at finding bargain properties, reading the taste-zeitgeist very well while renovating them and then selling them on for fat profits. But there is another dimension to their lives that grabs almost all the attention: the fact that they have seven kids under the age of 13 – all their own, including two sets of twins—no blended family here. They’re like the Waltons of the West Village, if the Waltons were hip that is. Not surprisingly, they have a book out and their own reality show on Bravo, 9 X Design, coming to a small screen near you very soon You too will get a glimpse at the four washing machines, entryway that resembles a kindergarten cloakroom, and the magically uncluttered surfaces in their spacious, art-filled house on the West Side Highway—move over John and Kate.

*Okay..........here is my big question to you;

Do they look exactly alike or what?????

If you switched their heads of hair they would look the same. No?

What did you like most about this home?

credits:http: click here
They have written a book.
The Book: Downtown Chic

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Ft.Lauderdale,Design Service, Window Treatments, TurnKey Interior Design Service,Paint selection, Floor-Plans,Online Interior Design,
Design Center of The Americas, D.C.O.T.A., Downtown NYC townhome, fabric lamination

Stone Crabs For Andi

The pink dot on the right

 is where I come from. Boca Raton, Florida.

The pink dot on the left is where we went to.

Everglades City.

For Andi's birthday her boyfriend flew in from Sweden.

And her father, myself and some other family friends headed over to Everglades City for some stone crabs,conch fritters, soft shell crabs, and key lime pie.

This is where the stone crabs come from for the famous 

'Joe's Stone Crab' on Miami Beach!

We have to drive across the state through this.

Doesn't it look pretty from the air?

On the ground .....

But this is what it really looks like.

If you like weeds , snakes and gators.....

this is your kind of place.

Pythons and gators galore and fighting for turf.

Have you heard about all the 'loonie birds' 

that have let their pythons go free in the Everglades?

Talk about irresponsible....

Well, it is a real mess.

But this is no mess.

This is the gold of Florida.

Our state prize.

Maine has Lobster, and we have stone crabs.

Don't freak out.

But, can you tell me what this is?

I will give you a hint.....it tastes like chicken.

That's my girl!

She loves her stone crabs!!

Not the stuff that 'tastes like chicken.'

I surprised her with a birthday cake.

Okay peeps,

what do you think?

Is he cute?

They met while being counselors at summer camp last year.

They are going back again this summer.

  He is in college in Sweden, and studying law.

I like that.

*But let me get back to where we were......

FLORIDA'S LAST FRONTIER "EVERGLADES CITY and CHOKOLOSKEE, at the entrance to the Western Everglades, were two frontier outposts until 1923 when Barron Collier made Everglades City the seat of Collier County and supply depot for the construction of the Tamiami Trail. Prior to the boom, this isolated region was Florida's last outpost for fur trappers, plumage hunters, Cuban fishermen, and people with a disdain for modern civilization."

There is all kinds of history about this area. 

Great stories.

The towns people actually killed the town bully.

The people that were 'wanted by the law' could safely live here. 

It took law enforcement about 2 days to get out here.

A real city of outlaws in a lawless environment.

The man in the black and white picture....

this is a wax model of him

Note the fly swatter.

This place is uninhabitable from the spring months to fall.

There are mosquito's, nats , 'no-see-ums' (these are really bad), 

I just don't know how they did it for an entire lifetime.

I had enough of the glades in this short visit.

I love nature, but not 'Everglades' nature.

To me is it scary.

Imagine being lost out there.

*Snakes, gators, panthers, and yes, we have panthers.

We took a few last pictures and packed up and headed home.

Hope you enjoyed our day trip.

Would you 

drive through the everglades for stone crabs ?

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....
Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Ft.Lauderdale,Design Service, Window Treatments, 
TurnKey Interior Design Service,Paint selection, Floor-Plans,Online Interior Design,
Design Center of The Americas, D.C.O.T.A., Stone crabs, everglades city

How 'Green' Can I Be?.

I saw this galvanized sink

in a post on Millie's Blog,

'The Laurel Hedge' last night.

I really, really like the look. I have always been drawn to industrial touches.

In addition, the sink made me think of

a time when I was a wee little kid

still living in Texas at my grandmother's house.

She had a washtub or a rotating washing machine

Out in the shed in the backyard.

The thing I remember is being fascinated by 

' THE WRINGER'.

Those 2 rubber rolls that you put the fabric into.

You would then crank the handle and the fabric would come out the other side completely squeezed out.

So wrung out that it was amazing to me.

Sort of like magic to a little kid.

But I remember the warning.......

don't get your fingers caught in the wringer.

OUCH....

hence the saying;

'He's been through the wringer!'

I think I did something just like this .....

1907 - 1920 

www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

Doesn't she just look glamorous with her modern machine ?

The Wringer

You can buy a new wringer here.

And strap it onto your fabulous new tub.

Here are some alternatives to the shiny silver sinks.

I think these are so adorable. There are a 'bazzillion' designs.
Check it out.

Are you ready to go green again?

Things were uncomplicated.

I wondered when I would see this in movies.

How did they ever do this????

It looked to me that they were clothes lines on pulleys.

What do you think?

Were they?

I think a cute new tub hooked up like the first image, 

with a brand new wringer would be great for hand washed items.

...But the whole load?

How far are you willing to go to be 'green.'

All I can handle is a bit of hand wash.

Many of the images in the post were from people's sites who want to live 'off the grid.'

The term off-the-grid (OTG) or off-grid 

refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

I am perfectly happy 

living 'on the grid.'

Renee Finberg 'TELLS ALL' in her BLOG.....

Interior Design, Palm Beach, Boca Raton,Ft.Lauderdale,Design Service, Window Treatments, TurnKey Interior Design Service,Paint selection, Floor-Plans,Online Interior Design,
Design Center of The Americas, D.C.O.T.A.,Clothes Wringers, galvanized tubs