An outdoor homage picnic for 2

This backyard picnic for 2 was inspired by one of my favorite designers, Ralph Lauren.  
 

My family visited Ralph Lauren’s beautiful flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York City during Christmas week.   

Love the mixture of velvet,paisley,leather and animal prints.  So Lauren!

Chinoiserie inspired dining room

 Happy 2024!  I hope your year is off to a great start.  My family spent NYE at home in our PJs watching the Times Square countdown.  

Just wanted to share photos of my latest finds for the dining room.  The pair of Canton Rose Famille lamps are from the Facebook Marketplace for $50.00 for both.  

The demilunes were purchased from EBay for $175.00 for both.  I embellished the demilunes with liquid gold on the rosettes for a little dramatic pop! Happy the way they turned out and how the lamps and tables work perfectly in the room.  

Easter Brunch on the California Coast

Greetings!

  This year's weather for Easter was perfect for hosting an outdoor brunch for a party of 8.   When we offered to host this year's Easter brunch, we did not share with them our vision for the celebration.  The inspiration came from William Sonoma's Famille Rose tableware collection.   

The particular piece that inspired me was the collection's porcelain chargers that closely resembled one of my favorites, the classic Rose Medallion china.  The flatware is Yamazaki Byzantine gold tip collection

I used the color palette from the charger plates for my flowers and linen.  I was in charge of decorating and setting the main,buffet and dessert tables.  Papa Dan was in charge of the menu.  Another big inspiration to our setup was the artisan floral cupcakes by Wahinebakes in Davis, California.  

For 2 weeks leading up to the occasion, pink and green was all the colors I could see as I kept visualizing the end result.  The heavy gold banded champagne and wine glasses were a vintage from an antique store outside of Sebastopol.  Unfortunately, there are no maker markings to determine the manufacturer or the age.  

The light gold rim water glass is by Gorham.  Unfortunately, charger plates were not available as dinner plates.  So, I used clear glass dinner plates so the chargers could still be admired even while plated.  

Aside from the dessert table, the French empire crystal chandelier was a surprise and hit with our guests.  I purchased it online at Galleryhomelighting.com.  I had it converted to a plug in at my local lighting store. 

Once I received the delicious menu from Chef Papa Dan, I created it using the online website, Canva.com.

Alas!  the main attraction....the dessert tableaux!  I purchased the black and white striped pop up canopy on Amazon.com.  

The decadent and delicious artisan floral cupcakes was definitely one of the highlights of our brunch presentation.  I was introduced to talented Najia Rosales, owner of Wahinebakes from a neighbor who purchased Najia's creations for her daughter's birthday. 

I immediately fell in love her work and reached out to her to place my first order which was back in December for a Christmas holiday party. 

 Needless to say, they were a big hit.  Many couldn't believe they were actually edible cupcakes.  Not only are they beautiful, they are DELICIOUS. 

The delicious ice cream Bon bons are the creation of the locally famous Gunther's Ice Cream Parlor.

Gunther's ice cream is a family owned establishment since 1940.  In 2021, Food & Wine awarded it the best ice cream in California. 

Preparing the buffet table for brunch

For Chef Papa Dan, his particular "cool" moment was being able to have our toaster outdoors for the bagel station.  

Slow cooked creamy scrambled eggs

The delicious Ham and cheese croissant casserole.

Bagel station with Lox,capers,cream cheese and red onions...yum!

Slowing cooked creamy scrambled eggs with the vegetarian hominy green chili and cheese casserole

Hope you enjoyed the photos.  Thank you for stopping by.  Until next time!

The Renovated Russian River Dacha

Grey Matters! Leopard print obsession and great Asian decor finds in the Marketplace

Image captured by home security camera

Seasons greetings!!!  Now that the summer is clearly out of the way, I've been able to focus on redoing the Dacha.  In February, the Dacha took in 3 1/2 feet of water from the Russian river overflow due to heavy rains. It was painful to see the aftermath.  Everything below 4' was damaged and had to be removed.

Image captured by home security camera

 It would take months before we could get a reliable contractor since they were in high demand not just in our town, but the entire Sonoma county.   The average wait time was 6 to 8 months.  In early August we finally got the ball rolling once we passed the county's contamination clean up inspection.   The goal is to be completely finished by Christmas.

As a fresh start, I decided grey everywhere!!  Papa Dan and Daniel were dead set against it but I convinced them it would still be as warm and inviting as our original look once the grey walls were layered with the artwork that thankfully survived the flood.  

The Dacha sample board which pretty much is the same color palette as before.



Lately, I have been overly obsessed with leopard print and asian decor.   An even bigger obsession is currently the Marketplace on Facebook.   A platform on the popular social media that allows its users to sell items from household goods to campers.   The above french style arm chair was one of a pair that I purchased from the Marketplace.

 I purchased the chairs for a steal of a deal.  $40.00 for the pair!  Chair frames were in great shape.  Fabric was slightly worn with stains from the prior owners with children.

(Before)  I actually liked the fabric color which a teal blue.  However, I wanted to stay with the Dacha's original design color palette.  So of course, it was a great excuse to pull out the leopard print fabric. 

The beautiful vintage lacquered folding screen was another Marketplace find for $200.00.  

Seller originally asked for $500.00 when the item was first posted.  I patiently waited watching as the price dropped every week the item did not sell.   3 weeks later, it dropped to $325.00 then another week after, $300.  That's when I submitted my offer for $200.00.  It was well worth the gamble and wait. 

And yet, another great Facebook Marketplace find! 

 This old black lacquered cabinet was purchased for $25.00.  The seller inherited the beautiful piece from her grandfather but could not fit it into her home design aesthetics.  Lucky me!

There's more...... the tapestry and leather Ralph Lauren chairs!!!

This is one of a pair found on Marketplace.  At $75.00 for both chairs, I thought it was already a steal of a deal and paid the asking price.

Leaving 1 of the pair of Ralph Lauren chairs in the main home's red room

The couple I purchased the pair from were recent Los Angeles transplants downsizing to their retirement home.  

 A pair of ceramic foo dogs for only $20.00!!  

Spray painted the pair in a high gloss black lacquer. Used a small brush to hand paint a few of the details on the pair with a gilded gold paint.   

It's mid November here so just a few days left enjoying the backyard before packing everything up for the rain.

Finally, a little sneak peek of the progress at the Dacha.   I hope to post the final reveal at Christmas time.  Happy holidays!