the perfect stripe

on a recent trip to walnut wallpaper, maison21 fell in love with what he considers the perfect striped wallpaper- villiers stripe from zoffany. a little modern, a little traditional; a little graphic, but without being loud; ever so slightly textural due to an over-printed horizontal striation with a bit of a sheen. m21 thinks it's the perfect foil to update traditional furnishings, or conversely, to take a bit of the edge off contemporary, and he can't wait to use it in a future project.

sculptures at habité LA

our friends over at one of m21's favorite antique galleries, habité LA, are running a show
featuring the bronze sculptures of artist adam p. gayle.
the sculptures combine cast organic forms and a unique abstract style, the sculptor calls "dimensional".
they are quite striking, and if you are in the area, m21 suggests a visit before the exhibition closes on october 15th.

Habité LA

145 N. La Brea Ave., Unit D
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Tel: 323-692-0023
Fax: 323-692-0024
info@habitela.com

h for hannah bone china

h for hannah "stickers" plate

local los angeles ceramicist , hannah morrow, recently brought her line of fine bone china to maison21's attention, and while her debut "stickers" collection has garnered a bit of press attention, and her new "jewelery" collection is bound to as well, it was the simple, sculptural shapes of the underlying bone china that grabbed m21's attention, so he was pleased to see it offered on her website in plain white as well, as the "hedy" collection.

h for hannah "hedy" bowl

maison21's personal taste runs to plain, white china, and the casual, yet refined and elegant shapes offered by the "hedy" collection would fit in great with his own stock of vintage and modern white china (that's one of the great things about sticking to plain white- different pieces from different collections and vintages can all be mixed seamlessly to form an unified and exciting table setting, whether serving for 4 or 40!).

h for hannah "hedy" cup

here's what hannah has to say about her collection, designed here in los angeles, and hand made in the UK:

"I have been in LA for about 5 years (love it here) and started the line about a year ago. While I was studying ceramics in the UK I really fell in love with bone china and although most of the factories have gone under, there are still a few that produce amazing work. To me, England is really the home of bone china and I love that link back to the old country plus their amazing craftsmanship. All the pieces are hand cast and hand finished rather than mass produced which really adds to their personality."

maison21 thinks you should go visit her "h for hannah" website today!

veni, vedi, vamoosi

last night was the long anticipated (for moi, at least) west coast launch party for domino: the book of decorating, held on the grounds of kelly wearstler's glamorous estate. no peeking inside the house (quel bummer), but the lovely pool area, bordered by tall hedges and a chic 1930's beverly hills regency poolhouse was treat to see. m21's pictures are not a treat to see- just too darn dark. sorry, you'll just have to take our word for it!
the crowd was fashionable, of course, led by our hostess, ms. wearstler in a short, short skirt and long, long legs. she is absolutely stunning in person, and her handsome husband was herding one of their adorable little boys around at one point. some people really do seem to have it all... (total gossipy side note- speaking of someone who seems to have it all: gwen stefani is much prettier (and taller) in person than maison21 expected. gorgeous).
but alas, the evening was about 90 degrees and humid- a rarity for l.a.- and that made m21 uber-cranky, uber-quickly (ok, the *!#@! back didn't help). so after a brief twirl to soak it all in, maison21 and his glamorous date, the bachelorette, made a hasty exit- heading down the hill to the delightfully dark and air-conditioned environs of dan tana's (old school hollywood rat-pack italian, at it's best). and yes, m21 admits he is an old & jaded angeleno, perfectly willing to trade the "photo-op" atmosphere of a crowded and glamorous party for an icy martini and a veal chop in a dark restaurant, catching up with a good friend.

last, sadly, there were lots of copies of "domino: the book of decorating" scattered around the party when we arrived, but none left on our exit, so we're just going to have to order our copy on amazon in order to check it out, right along with everybody else! you snooze, you lose!

some pinkness for patricia

patricia shackelford, of the delightful (and superbly well-written) blog, mrs. blandings, recently sent out an email requesting that her fellow bloggers "post pink" on october 1st for breast cancer awareness. maison21, lazy-ass blogger though he is, couldn't ignore the call to arms from his blogging buddy, patricia, and though he personally probably doesn't need to worry about breast cancer (you know, being a boy and all), that doesn't mean breast cancer hasn't touched his life: he's seen close friends go through the surgery, and the chemo, and all that hideous and painful, debilitating stuff, and no one should ever have to go through that kind of thing- ever.

but much as maison21 wants to support his sisters, what to write that hasn't been said? how can maison21 take his silly 'lil blog, and turn it serious?

the answer is, he can't.

but what he can do is turn breast cancer awareness into something that he can relate to, something every design devotee can relate to, male or female. something like, oh, um, lets say- shopping! yeah, that's the ticket! and more specifically, how about shopping at m21's favorite 'lil money pit: le tarjay! god- what an insanely great idea- we're helping the economy and curing cancer too! two birds, one stone!

so we make the following solemn vow: in honor of breast cancer awareness month (and mrs. b), maison21 will make the ultimate sacrifice and drag his lazy butt to target today, to purchase at least one pink breast cancer awareness product! ooooh, that maison21- such a giver, he is...

and furthermore, maison21 is challenging each and every one of his half-dozen readers to do the same: go to target today (or really soon) and buy at least one pink product! don't let them go to clearance markdown- it's for a good cause, and you know you have to go to target soon, anyway!

you could get something inexpensive and practical, like these pink post-it notes:

or the slightly lesbian chic of a pink pocket knife:

or brighten up your refrigerator with a pink brita pitcher:

the pink mixer is very cool, but completely useless in m21's wasteland of a kitchen:

or should maison21 just get what he really wants (and has been coveting) anyway? a pink dyson hand-held vacuum? yeah, we think we're butch enough to rock a barbie pink vacuum while cleaning out the truck. what sacrifices we make...


so what pinkness will you be buying today? come on, let's shop for a cure!