Even though it is finally warming up here in Tokyo and the cherry blossoms are opening more than a week late, I can’t seem to stop dreaming about summer. Perhaps it is the fact that just about everyone else I know here went off to some tropical paradise or another for spring break vacation, while we remained in quite unseasonably cold Japan. That being said, the girls and I did go up north with some dear friends to do relief work in Ishinomaki, a town devastated by the tsunami last spring. I want to give a shout out to the amazing organization that made our experience possible – It’s Not Just Mud – a small grassroots group that makes it easy to volunteer in Tohoku. I want to remind everyone that the work in northern Japan is still very very far from finished, even though it has basically vanished from the news. Every little bit helps, whether it be real-time work or a donation, and we found that most of all, people were just happy to see us. I have some special stories I’ll be sharing soon!
Many of my favorite bloggers have been posting about Anne Kelly’s new book Rooms to Inspire by the Sea and I think that is what has pulled me back to planning the next round of renovation work and decorating at our beach house. As I have scrolled through whatever images I can scavenge on-line, I can’t help but notice lots of inspiration links between some of the homes in the book and choices I have made or plan to make at our house. Some of the houses featured I am quite familiar with and have seen elsewhere, while others are new to me, but almost all of them have that elusive something special – that truly personal and lived in feeling – that I want so badly to achieve in my own home.
One of the first photos to catch my eye is this lovely porch, although I can’t credit which house it comes from. In addition to the all the green wicker, I love the way they have used accessories to really make this space a room.
I have been furiously collecting vintage wicker wherever I can find it, and let me tell you, it has not been easy. I am constantly laughed at when I inquire for the real thing. These days, all the “wicker” out there deserves those quotes as it is some type of plastic or other unnatural material, touted as being more durable than wicker. I find it ugly and actually it gets weirdly dirty and moldy, so I have been tracking down vintage wicker pieces and painting them the same color green. I don’t know if that would have been my first choice of color, but as the house came with a brand new exterior paint job, I decided to go with it and have been very pleased as the paint unifies pieces from different eras.
While the houses in the book that speak most to me are the Hicks-Wood, Scheerer and Derian homes, this cabinet from a project by Martyn Lawrence Bullard caught my eye.
I am still working my way along with my cabinet, trying to decide how I should improve the interior finish (paint? wallpaper? opinions please!) and some better styling, although I don’t have the luxury of space to display decorative coral. My cabinet needs to be a real workhorse, holding serving and eating china, silver, linens and just about everything we need in the dining room.
Having seen many of the interiors of India Hicks and David Flint Wood before, there is one particular new view that I absolutely adore. Perhaps it is the softness of the palette, the palm fronds, the birdcage-like fixture…I can’t quite put my finger on it. (And remind me to tell you about the amazing birdcage I bought at a recent shrine sale. As always the big question is how to get it on the plane!) My color scheme in the photo above looks a bit one-sided and just the blue grey, but elsewhere in the room I manage to capture many of these soft shades. Somehow, I never have the right shot I want for the post!
Similar in color and feel is this view of Chris Mead and Zoe Hoare’s Hampton home, although it is more literal in its seafaring references.
Moving on, the color in Tom Scheerer’s bedroom photo is perhaps a little brighter in this photo than it is in person, based on previous photos I have seen of the room. I do love the replacement of the kitschy legs lamp he had there before with this coral one.
My bathroom color looks a bit washed out in this photo, but I think you can see an inspiration link anyway.
Steven Gambrel’s moody glass display…
…makes me think of mine, only this one is here in Tokyo, not near the sea. Quite a bit has been added since this shot, and I think it has reached its perfect point. Any more, and it might tip…
Which also brings to mind what seems to be an alternative cover, which comes up when I try to order the book in Japan. I know the floats in the giant clam shell is kind of a cliché but I still love it! Driftwood lamp and bottles too!
The big projects looming at our place are the master bath and kitchen. I think I may have found a good vintage door to use in the bathroom to convert the entry to a pocket door. Love the simple panels, especially on a small door.
And I have been inspired by a friend’s recent renovation…
and by Brooke Giannetti as well…
…to pursue my inspiration photo a bit more and possibly use a free standing over mount sink in the master bath after all. It is so easy to convert a cabinet or table to a vanity this way.
As for the kitchen, watch for a big upcoming post on that. I know I keep promising and not delivering, but I am needing to sort out two posts – one for what I really want to do when I gut the whole thing – and the other the shoestring budget DIY plan for the meantime. This is an inspiration photo from Heather Bullard I keep coming back to that works for either scenario.
The next two weeks are super busy for me – I hope you will bear with me if posting is light – as my elder daughter is having her Bat Mitzvah on April 14th. But I will be posting about the sakura (cherry blossom) inspired party details!
Image credits: 1-2, 4, 6-8, 10 & 12. Rooms to Inspire by the Sea, by Anne Kelly, photographs by Tim Street-Porter, some of the images via Mrs. Blandings or Style Court, 3, 5, 9 & 11. me, 12. V. Felgner, 13. via Velvet & Linen, 14. via Heather Bullard
Annette
Thanks for the heads up on “it’s not just Mud”. And I love the color on the staircase with the mirror!
Mary Doveton
Congratulations on your daughter’s Bat Mitzvah, Jacqueline. I have a suggestion for your china cabinet. How about lining the back with chiyogami. I have used it to line closets and drawers and it is amazingly durable and easy to use. I recommend using double sided tape though and not glue when lining anything with paper for smoothest results. The full sized papers are 60cm by 90cm, so 2 pieces should it. And from around 600 yen per piece they are a much more reasonable option than a roll of wallpaper. There are some amazingly stylish papers available. I’m not talking about those bright pink papers littered with sakura that are so ubiquitous. You probably already know where to get them but I don’t know if you know about this very old shop called Isetatsu in Taito ku that you might like to visit- http://qppp3.exblog.jp/7340594/
Another little shop which I have often bought paper at is in Kawagoe very close to the Hon Kawagoe Station and between a 5-10 min. walk from where the Kawagoe Antique Market is held.
See here http://www.creamall.net/shop/washinoyamada/index.html
Just an idea:).
Tokyo Jinja
Love love love it!! I can’t wait to check out those two shops!
celia Bedilia
I love the feel of these books and photos!
The Vintique Object
You always provide so much on which to comment! I don’t know where to begin. But I will say that that book looks like a must read, that I love the way your metal bucket (what is it?) looks atop your glass cabinet, and I’d say never shy away from fishing floats in a giant shell. It’s classic, not cliche. In my opinion.
Also, I had no idea that the room being reflected in the mirror above Hicks’s house belonged to them. I know that room well and love it! As I’ve said before, your knowledge of all things interior is astounding.
Love your inspiration pic for your kitchen. It has just the right amount of white and wood to make it feel both fresh and cozy at the same time. Love the touches of green too.
Good luck with your daughter’s Bat Mitzvah!
Tokyo Jinja
Camille – Your comments are always so full! The galvanized bucket is actually an antique PA Railways bucket – there is a post on it – and I just love it! Looking forward to our kitchen post after our big event!!!
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Margaret R Lambert
Your daughter’s Bat Mitzvah will be a wonderful family and friends event- best wishes and congratulations!
Mary Doveton made exactly the suggestion I thought to offer, of applying handmade Japanese paper to the back of your cabinet. I think it should be very complimentary to the simplicity of the piece.
I’ve collected mother of pearl handled sterling for years, for our daughter Marina, along with an old shell pattern. If I had a beach house, I’d love old prints of marine life, perhaps jelly fish and octopus. Fossilized sand dollars are nice mixed into displays, and don’t disintegrate as ‘fresh’ ones do. I bought a couple dozen small bottles to collect sand from many beaches, planning to add little inked labels of location and date. Depending on where you go there’s black volcanic, pink coral, green with peridot (also volcanic), white….nice mementos and an attractive display.
Cris Angsten
I don’t care if it is cliche to use the clam shell and old glass floats – to me the floats are an absolute necessity in any beachside home decor! Congratulations on your daughter’s Bat Mitzvah – and I am looking forward to seeing the sakura-inspired decorations!
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