Rainy day

This rainy day has inspired the strangest thoughts...I found myself gazing into the soggy garden, looking at the decaying blossoms and the watered down flowers, the slowly dying daffodils and small weeds and wild herbs, which have taken hold in some of my flower beds. 

There I found beauty within the decay and after that, looking at the abandoned breakfast table, I sense the same. The candles are still burning and the bread has not been packed away, eggs still sitting half eaten in their cups, yet left behind. Maybe it's this, this being abandoned, which makes me look at these things again. 

I think of the just passed conversations and how our words have evaporated into memories already. How some words turn into actions and some into nothingness.

I love the lived-in table, where I read the paper and begin to think of this and that!
It is the beauty of ebb and flow, it's of being born and death, the steady rhythm of on and off, beginnings and endings...laughter and tears. I am not sure I am making sense to you.

These are the moments, when I muse about life and it is a feeling hard to grasp...
I am  thinking of impermanence, the only constant.
We try to reach equilibrium, just to realize a moment later the permanent imbalance of it all.
So we shall enjoy every moment of imbalance, for it is the fabric of our lives.


March is leaving us, he has been kind and gentle and April knocks...


Emily Dickinson wrote:


Dear March, come in!
How glad I am!
I looked for you before.
Put down your hat -
You must have walked -
How out of breath you are!
And the rest?
Did you leave Nature well?
Oh, March, come right upstairs with me,
I have so much to tell!

I got your letter, and the birds';
The maple never knew
That you were coming, - I declare,
How red their faces grew!
But March, forgive me -
And all those hills
You left for me to hue;
There was no purple suitable,
You took it all with you.

Who knocks? That April?
Look the door!
I will not be pursued!
He stayed away a year, to call
When I am occupied.
But trifles look so trivial
As soon as you have come,
That blame is just as dear a praise
And praise as mere a blame.


What can I add? 
It is still raining out there and, watching, I sit patiently, knowing the future will bring sunshine.
All is in flux...


Wishing you all a delightful Sunday!










All images by V.Zlotkowski

Albert Hadley

I have just learned of Albert Hadley's passing today in his home in Nashville! I am saddened, a most remarkable man has died. I have admired his work for as long as I can remember being interested in interior design. He was one of the first interior designers, which became known to me after I moved to the United States in 1994. Not only his legendary work with Sister Parish for countless clients has made a lasting impressions on me and surely many young aspiring designers.

Committed to classic and truly timeless design and gifted with a wonderful sense of style, color and proportion, one of the great ones has left us!

He leaves an enormous legacy behind and will not be forgotten!

via Elle Decor Feb 2000

Albert Hadley 1921 - 2012

Image via Elle Decor 2/2000

Friday love

Good morning! 

This little fellow was singing his heart out this morning!

While I was preparing breakfast. 

And there was nothing better then to listen to his happy song while doing it!

For it all made me grateful to be alive!

Happy weekend!

All images by V.Zlotkowski

Sail away

Or rather row, row, row away...
It's just wonderful, how whimsical some ideas are!

via

Perpetual summer, sun and water must be the feeling in this bedroom.

Is tomorrow Friday again???

Image via stumbleupon.

Pink wonder

Speaking of girl power, seeing the blossoming Magnolia, I thought of dresses, lovely, delightful gowns to wear at a spring ball, the prom or the wedding. Not for me, but for the girls around me, who aspire for one or the other! And for the girl within, the forever girl, who still likes to dress in such a gown once in awhile....

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Don't we all have a little Cinderella dream hidden inside?

Yesterday I picked a few of the low hanging branches and the blossoms were all closed tightly, this morning they had bloomed and opened to such glory!

And although it's a cliche, I still liken the blossoming girls to flowers!

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These years, when our girlish body and soul awakens, 

becoming aware and ready to be released into the world!

There is tenderness and a little rawness, still the last moments of growing up within...

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There is nothing lovelier to behold!

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A gown can be all this, representing the form inside, gentleness, hope and beauty!

Like the Magnolia blossoms, full of beauty and a reminder of the passing time!

Flower images by V.Zlotkowski all others as indicated.

Girl power

For the first time our daughter (15) has been leading an interior design project all by her own. 

She designed her room (10'x12'), selected colors, created a layout and worked with a - rather tight - budget. She was also the project leader and her own contractor, doing most of the needed work herself. She asked for help when she felt needing it and otherwise was her own cheerful happy client....

Before

The only thing my husband and I have been involved with were to shop with her for necessary items and to hang a curtain rod and shelves. 

We did not want to let her use the power drill just yet. Of course, one day soon I will teach her this too. Every woman should know how to use a least some power tools! 

Attaching the wall lamp

She prepped, sanded and painted the walls. 

Metallic Tin color and shag rug

She had packed up all her belongings, telling me with a wistful smile that all she owns does fit in two boxes.....Unlike me, she is not a pack rat! She parts with things she doesn't need rather quickly!

Apart from the contents of her closet. Which stayed thankfully untouched.

She had picked Glidden's 'Light blue' and Martha Stewart's metallic 'Tin' color for an accent wall. She bought a shelf and desk at Ikea and a wall lamp at Home Depot. After realizing wall to wall was not within her budget, she got a rug - a lovely gray melange shag - at Home Depot as well.

While I am typing this, she is upstairs, cleaning the floor from some of her paint splatters. We had explained the importance of a good prep work, but some of this must have gotten lost along the way. Well, she knows now.

All the while music is blasting from her room, telling me of the great mood she is in. The crowning glory, literally, are the three dimensional clouds she has painted on the ceiling! I am very impressed.

Our daughter has shown great girl power! We are so proud of her determination! She is happy with the results and all I can say is: Very well done indeed!

The room after:

She had chosen early on a faux four poster look

A look at the shag rug

Wall shelves, a wall lamp and a cozy full size bed

She hang the lamp herself!

Between bed and closet

Check out the sky...

Now we are still hanging art work, particular her own lovely photography, of pets, friends, family and travels....

Furniture, curtains: Ikea

Chandelier:Westelm (existing)

Wall lamp, rug and paint: Home Depot

Table lamp: Home Goods (existing)

Budget: $ 650

Being proud and happy about her own achievements: Priceless!

All pictures by V.Zlotkowski

Magic colors

The garden was tinted in the softest colors this morning and, while taking pictures, in my mind the garden turned into rooms. Misty, magical rooms. Soft boudoirs, feminine flair.

And I could not take my eyes off the pearly tones and dew drops hanging on every branch!

I did feel the early warmth of the sun, slowly coming up behind me in the sky. Birds began to sing.

Young maple tree buds, still small and fragile, soon turning into blossoms and leafs.

 The Magnolia in all it's glory opened her flowers yesterday.

These are soft colors, and to see them come alive in rooms
like these is magical too!

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Nature is still the strongest inspiration for me, from spring to winter and morning 'til night...I feel like nature's interpreter...

Have a magical Friday!










All images by Victoria Zlotkowski