Meet Buster Barman

I am Buster Barman.

My Dad is JOHN BARMAN.

Here is my Dad. 

John Barman

with Ali Wentworth, one of his Manhattan clients.

I know a kid  thinks that their Dad's are handsome....

but, my Dad is.

  And he is a design genius too!

These are just a few of the design jobs that my dad has done.

This one is in N.Y.C.

And that's where I live with with my Dad too.

I will show you my house in another post 

if Renee will let me, 

Buster Barman,

come back and do this  'guest blogging' 

bit again. 

*ask her to have me back when you leave a comment.

Have you seen a black sofa like this one?

I always thought that the colors in this room were scrumptious.

Renee said that she loves the colors, the antique chairs, including the all the other 

eclectic touches that make this space a design winner.

This is an old job....

you can tell from the quality of the picture's reproduction.

I had to scan this one from an old magazine.

But it was published. And that is something!! Right?

My Dad is great.

Check out the dining chairs....

they don't match, but they match.

This a cozy spot.  I can't remember where this shot was taken....

but 

I seem to remember taking a well deserved nap on those red stripes.

Sometimes watching Dad work makes me tired.

Speaking of tired, my paw and my index toe is getting tired from all this typing.

Cool huh?

My dad, John Barman did the Manhattan apartment of George Stephanopoulos and his wife, Ali Wentworth. Their art collection includes a work by Peter Dayton and a series by Jeffrey Lewis in the living room and a Donald Sultan painting in the dining room beyond. Armchair and sofa fabrics, Bergamo.

(architectural digest)

My Dad,  John Barman installed paneling in the dining room, 

then painted it bright orange. I love it!

Below you can go to a home in Ohio that my Dad did.

It was in Architectural Digest.

And let me just say 

that I am intimately familiar with the grounds.

They are Lovely. Don't you Agree?

Buster Barman

click here to see the whole Ohio Farm

I know a kid might think that their Dad can do anything, 

that nothing is impossible, that no mountain is too high, 

but it is true when it comes to my Dad - John Barman.

Would you guys like to say anything to 

'Buster Barman?'

* be nice....remember....

it is his Daddy.

Should I have Buster back for another post?

Buster is interested in design and has told me that he has much to say on the subject.

John Barman  
click here for some Architectural Digest.
credits: www. whiteglovetransportation. com

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., Buster Barman, John Barman, Architectural Digest

I SPY......BUBBY BLISS

BUBBY : Jewish grandmother, endearing term
****************************************

This is a new one for me!!!

I have shared with you how tough design is in Florida right now,
but have I shared how tough it is when you work in a furniture showroom 
and about 20% of the clients walk in.....
or hobble in..... 
and ask to see the recliners????
UGH!!!
I say...
"is this it?" 
"this is what it has come to?"
Will I ever REALLY design again?

www.pridefamilybrands.com
Here's the kicker, I want this recliner.
When I am basking is the Florida sunshine.....
I hardly ever can get really comfortable....
THIS IS AN OUTDOOR RECLINER MADE OF ALUMINUM.

Would you ever own one of these?
I am sure if it were upholstered in a fabulous fabric, and hidden under a flowering shade tree....
it would be more palatable. No?

It should retail for about $3000.00 ( high retail )
*a realistic purchase price is less 30%
go here to see the outdoor furniture trend in South Florida

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., Outdoor furniture trends, Aluminum Outdoor recliners,i spy

Bebe, Papa, Mom, and Me

In my last post I had mentioned that I wanted to keep things light...........hah!...not for long.
Today my morning started off as it usually does, with a walk around a pond in my neighborhood.
There are ducks and other giant (4 feet tall) birds there as well. They come from the Everglades which is just west of me about 5 miles.
At the same time I talk to my mom who is is Maine. It helps the walk go by more quickly, and sometimes she exercises at the same time.
She is always telling me to bring bread for the ducks.....my excuse is that;"I am always on such a tight schedule....."
This morning I did.
I had today off just as most of America did.
So, there was no rush.
I was on the phone with my mom and was describing the ducks and this HUGE bird.
He was so friendly. He was looking right at me, and I was talking to him, and he kept getting closer and closer.
BTW, the bread was all gone by now...he didn't want anything from me, he just wanted to meet me I guess. hahahah
Right before he flew away he was only about 6 feet from me. Amazing.
Anyway, we finally decided together (but mostly because of my mom's knowledge of nature) that it must be
a Blue Heron.
It was.
All this natural beauty without a timer running in my head was almost more joy than I could bare.
I have put a couple of pictures at the bottom of this post of the big bird.

The day went on, and as I promised myself,
I basked in the sun with a clever book, called ' BLINK.'
But lying there with the breezes rolling over me and the sunny blue sky above me,
I drifted in and out of a sleepy - dream state. Ever been there?
Dozing....I was reeee-laxed!
I got to thinking about how life passes by faster sometimes than we want it to.
My gosh..my daughter is 22!!!
My mother and I are getting along famously today. Mothers and daughters can have a tough time of it.
It is common, I know.
And with 'me being me', and 'mom being mom'.....well.... we have had some bumpy rides.
But is seems as though; 'NO MORE!'
Today my mom is a blogger and we have so many funny things to discuss........: )

This makes me happier than you can imagine....but she is far away.
Could blogging be the NEW CURE ALL for what ails you?
Now I want to garden with her, go antiquing with her,
watch her corny old BLK & WHT Turner Classics with her.
I want to be with her on her birthday, which is this April 7th. 
I can't. And I am not happy about it.
But today I got to thinking of an Easter Day when I was about 5.
It was spent with my mom's mom,
at her home in Texas, where I spent the first 5 or so years of my life.

My beautiful sweet, gorgeous, classy grandmother 

who I called Bebe all my life.

*That dashing fellow is my mom's dad, who for the short time that I knew him called him Papa.

I was just laying with my eyes closed imaging us all together again.

Everyone in their prime...and at their peak of beauty and health.

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday that was filled with love and happy times.

XXXs

*the big bird below

The Blue Heron

picture credits:

www.originalbirdart.com

julielomoe.files.wordpress.com 

P.S

 I  SPY

Debra from 5th & State

has done a surprise post about something she found 

that is fabulous. It is a quickie post.

That is what I SPY is all about.

go check out the design element that she found!

click here 

                                   


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.Blue herons, Bebe and papa, i spy

Random Easter stuff...

I have Sunday off, and I plan on basking in the sunshine.
Here are a few pics I found to put in this random Easter Post.
Don't try and make sense of it.....I didn't.
And it shows.

I am trying to keep things light.
That's what I need right now.

 

A Paris Easter Window.

2 clowns

Breath...and just remember....how important is it really?

This is what is important.

And this!!!

This little girl is too cute and sweet for words.

Well, maybe;

"HAPPY EASTER."

xxx's

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., Easter

Hitchcock Chairs And A Lazy Susan

No. Not this Hitchcock but this

HITCHCOCK.

American Sheraton Hitchcock-type painted and stencil-decorated rush seat side chair. Connecticut Valley, circa 1820

American Sheraton Hitchcock-type painted and stencil-decorated rush seat side chair. Connecticut Valley, circa 1820

'

Hitchcock.

These are very old, and very costly.

"The earliest Hitchcock stencil read "L.HITCHCOCK. HITCHCOCKS-VILLE. CONN. WARRANTED". But here's the catch. Unlike most Hitchcock stencils you may have seen, the original stencil DID NOT have the "N's" backward in "CONN". That little glitch did not appear until 1832 when the company, after a run of bad luck, had been through receivership and emerged in a new corporate form known as the Hitchcock, Alford Company. The "Alford" was Arba Alford, Hitchcock's brother-in-law. During this phase of production the first stencils with backward "N's" appeared, not really surprising when the bulk of the work was done by laborers who could not read or write."

Lambert Hitchcock (May 28, 1795, Cheshire, Connecticut – 1852) was an American furniture manufacturer, famous for designing and mass-producing the Hitchcock Chair.

Hitchcock was the son of John Lee Hitchcock, an American Revolutionary War veteran who was lost at sea in 1811. He attended the Episcopal Academy of Cheshire, now known as Cheshire Academy, and was an apprentice to woodworker Silas Cheney. In 1818, he opened a furniture factory in Riverton, Connecticut, then called Hitchcocksville. The factory at first made chair parts. Soon, however, Hitchcock, influenced by Connecticut clockmaker Eli Terry, began mass-producing simple, affordable chairs and selling them throughout the United States. Instead of painting designs on the backs, he used the relatively new and easier technique of stenciling. By the late 1820s, the Hitchcock Chair Company was producing over 15,000 chairs a year.

Although an innovative manufacturer, Hitchcock was an unsuccessful businessman. His company went through receivership in 1832, with his brothers-in-law joining the business under the name Hitchcock, Alford & Co. In 1843, he sold his interest in the company and started a new company in Unionville, Connecticut, which also failed. He died in 1852 with little money to his name.

In 1946, John Tarrant Kenney came upon the abandoned Hitchcock Chair factory while fishing on the Farmington River. He wrote a biography, The Hitchcock Chair, and started a new Hitchcock Chair Company in the same location. That business lasted until 2006, when it was forced to close due to competition from low-cost overseas furniture manufacturers.

Sad.

I have always had a thing for Hitchcock Chairs.

Martha Stewart has come out with her own version of Hitchcock chairs.

They are manufactured by Bernhardt.

I have a set myself that I use in my kitchen off and on. 

I have several sets of chairs that I use in my kitchen.

I like to mix it up.

You can pick this style chair up at consignment stores if you look, they are there.

And if you paint them, and cushion them in something fun

you will have a great fresh look.

P.S. by nature these are very comfy chairs.

If you were interested in the round table with the Lazy Susan....

info under pic above.

Some people really love the 'Lazy Susan' thingie.

Do You ?

Do any of you remember the kitchen table in

My Three Sons ?

It had a 'lazy susan.'

Do you like Hitchcock Chairs?

I have included the interesting site below.
To read the whole fascinating history go here.


credits: wikipedia 
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., Hitchcock Chairs, Lazy Susan's