putting my demons to rest

or more perhaps more appropriate- "shhh- my demon is resting".

isn't he adorable?

maison21 never really thought he'd say that about a cat. kittens are adorable, for sure. but a growed up cat? not so much. in fact, even though we've owned cats for many years, m21 has always considered himself a dog person at heart- that is, a dog person until our lil devil, richard, came along. now m21 is a committed dog AND cat person! don't get m21 wrong- he loved richard's predecessor, the regal, talkative and completely blind, miss kitty, very, very much. but maybe it's because he's had richard since he was a kitten, whereas miss kitty came into m21's life as an older adult cat, but somehow with richard, maison21, for the first time , truly "gets" why some people are cat crazy.

richard is funny, playful, loving and completely unpredictable. cats get a bad rap for not being as affectionate as dogs, but not richard- he demands our attention as much, if not more, than his big sister, mona. he just loves being near maison21 (as well as his big sis)- if he's within a couple of feet of either one of us, you can often hear him contentedly purring away, just happy to be in our presence.
if m21 picks richard up when he is completely passed out, like the first pictures of this post, richard immediately responds with a deep rumbling purr- even before he opens his eyes! awwww.

the only difference m21 can see between the two animals and their bond with him, is that where mona never leaves m21's side and would probably prefer to play exclusively with him (though sometimes she will give in and wrestle with her brother), richard, on the other hand, is content playing or hanging all by himself, just as much as he loves being with mona and m21. it cracks m21 up when m21 is downstairs puttering around in the kitchen to hear richard upstairs, jumping and running around like crazy- getting up to god knows what kind of mischief (occasionally followed by the sound of something crashing to the ground). 16 pounds thumping on a hardwood floor is surprisingly loud when you are directly underneath!richard walked into our life 2 years ago sometime in june- maison21 didn't really note the date because he was never planning on keeping him around, instead hoping to find richard a loving home with someone- anyone- else. richard didn't even have a name for the first week he was around- we called him 'lil no-name so we wouldn't get attached. so while we don't know the actual date of richard's birth, or even the date of the anniversary of our first meeting, we do know it was sometime in june, so now that's when we celebrate his special day.

happy birthday, big guy! you 'lil devil, you!

pretty and classique: the finest rooms

every so often, maison21 will grab a vintage decorating title from his little stash- just to peruse in a spare moment or two, and he almost always comes away with inspiration. the last title he pulled from his shelf was "the finest rooms, by america's greatest decorators" (viking press, 1964) featuring essays and photos of rooms by billy baldwin (and edward martin), rose cumming, marian hall and diane tate, mcmillen inc., mrs. henry parish II, george stacey, smyth, urquhart and marckwald, inc., and michael taylor. some of these names we all are familiar with, and some are unknown (at least to m21). it's always interesting to view period decor no matter if it's by a "name" or not and it's easy to see why some names we remember, because their rooms really do withstand the test of time.

a drawing room by mrs. parrish, from "the finest rooms"- so you think kelly wearstler and jamie drake invented the use of bold colors? think again...

as maison21 flipped through the pages, he found himself with inspiration he wasn't even aware he was looking for: he recently had to present some flooring proposals for a client's entry way, and thought the patterns in the stone floors in the first picture by billy baldwin and the wood floors in the second room by mrs. parish could be interesting options for the floor in question. whether or not these options get used in m21' current project or no, he's filed them away for future use.

this stair and entry were designed in the 1930's by mr. baldwin- love the birdcage!

this mrs. parish decor is a little too traditional for m21's taste, but the dark and light wood flooring pattern is a classique.

maison21 also thought he'd share these photos of an over the top sitting room and bedroom by rose cumming- you've probably seen them before, but it never hurts to revisit them. so gorgeous.

totally cluttered and totally wonderful- and that paper!

the metallic papered walls in the bedroom are simply stunning. no art hung, and none needed...

if you ever run across a copy of this out of print book, maison21 recommends you snatch it up, and get inspired, just like m21 did.

weekend score!

maison21 is loving his newly found white ceramic and brass, neoclassic urn lamp by royal haeger- we're guessing that it's from the 1980's (dot-matrix printer label underneath, so it's gotta be at least 20 years old, right?). m21 purchased this ginormous lamp to grace his new home office- the one he will be making out of his guest bedroom any day (really, it's happening- right along with the refinishing of the floors and the painting of the kitchen. swear.)

whether or not it ever finds a home in the m21 atelier, it's kinda glam, no?

when animals attack!

(warning: the following photos are graphic and violent in nature. mature viewing is advised).

maison21 was doing a little surfing on the internets today, catching up on his blog reading when he heard sounds of a scuffle behind him. he turned to find two innocent little faces looking up at him:

what? we weren't doing anything...

then without warning, richard proceeds to bite mona, right on the schnoz: "it's on, bitch!" (well, technically, she IS one you know...)

a full fledged assault ensues- richard jumps on mona, and wraps her in a headlock, and viciously attacks her with more bites to the nose.

a brief respite in this heated battle between two of nature's fiercest predators. "blink. no you blink..."

then it's mona's turn to attack, pinning richard to the floor with her vise-like jaws of death.

as suddenly as the violence broke out, peace reigns in the bedroom again (mona thinks she might have heard an intruder downstairs, so she called an official time out).

maison21's two fierce little gladiators continued on like this for about another 20 minutes or so, until worn out by their death-match, they called it a draw and took a nap together on the bed.

aren't they adorable?

ps- your eyes do not deceive you- the hardwood floors on which this battle was pitched are seriously f*cked up. in the business, we call that "a delightful antique patina" and charge you extra ;-) m21 will be refinishing them as soon as he finishes painting his kitchen...

(yeah- right- like that's gonna happen anytime soon! maison21 makes other people's homes prettier for a living- the last thing he wants to do on his day off is start projects around the atelier- put pretty flowers in the room to cheer things up- yes! deal with estimates, sub-contractors, dust and chaos- no thank you!!!!)

decorator classic (or cliché?)

sometimes a classic really is a classic for a reason. way back when m21 was in design school (well, not that way back- he went back to school for design in his mid-thirties), m21 carted his projects around school in a hand-me-down land's end canvas tote. it served him well into his first job and then into his own private practice, and he probably would still be using it, if he didn't leave it on a train somewhere between connecticut and new york.

deciding that a canvas tote was a decorator cliché, m21 then replaced it with a succession of what he thought were chicer choices in messenger-esque bags, but after the strap on his last fashionable gray flannel man-bag broke for no apparent reason and maison21 was reduced to using a hideous nylon number more suitable for a teen bike messenger than a middle-aged decorator, m21 had to reconsider what is a cliché and what is a classic. the land's end tote really is a timeless classic with good cause- it's nearly indestructible, can handle a pile of marble samples without breaking a strap and easily can accommodate large or bulky items too, like a couple rolls of wallpaper, or a throw rug. like an old volvo station wagon, it ain't the prettiest thing ever, but you KNOW it's gonna get the job done, and last forever, to boot.

so as a little gift for his recent bday (amongst far too many items he treated himself to), maison21 ordered himself up a new land's end canvas tote in classic black and white (they come in so many color and style options now, it's dizzying, and they are so inexpensive, you'll smile as you enter your credit card number). this time, maison21 monogrammed his bag- so maybe, just maybe- when he absentmindedly leaves it on a train (or plane, or wherever), someone actually might turn it in, rather than keep it for themselves. after all, who the heck else could have the initials "M21"?