Grand Old Hotel (and a few more wedding photos)

When we were in San Francisco for the wedding we stayed at a lovely hotel called "The Palace."  The hotel is over 100 years old with wide hallways, high ceilings and windows that actually open!  I love to take photos of architectural details and often find design inspiration from the patterns in ironwork, carpet, light fixtures, molding and trim.

The hotel is right in the middle of the city - not too far from Union Square.

This is a small piece of the exterior trim - it would make a great border for a scrapbook page.

The main entrance lobby is full of arches and curves.

This enormous bowl of roses was on the center table in the entrance lobby.  I don't know how many dozen roses there are in the bowl - but these were replaced with another variety after a day or two.

The hotel occupies a full block and there is a massive central hallway that runs from one street to the other.  There were two "thrones" in this hallway and many souvenir photos are taken there.

This is the carving at the top of one of the "thrones" - I particularly like the shell shape at the top.

This photo was taken very near the street entrance - you can see how far it is to the opposite side!

There is an enormous painting by Maxfield Parrish called "The Pied Piper" in the hotel bar and restaurant.  The paneling is dark and the ceiling in these rooms is elaborately decorated.

Here is a closer view of the painting.  The colors are so vibrant with a lot of the glowing blue that you see in many of his paintings.

This design in the mosaic tile floor also caught my eye - it would be lovely at the top of a frame design.

The Palm Court is the magnificent centerpiece of the public space.  The ceiling is curved glass and there are many large crystal chandeliers.

The space takes on a different look depending on the time of day and the weather.

 There is a breakfast buffet in this area each morning.  On the Saturday night, when we returned to the hotel from the wedding, this room was closed off for a large wedding reception.

  The lighting at night is very dramatic!

 Even the floor lamps were interesting. 

There is a tiny motif on the horizontal bands that could be used for a design element, possibly for a lace pattern.

Here are a few more photos of the bridal party.  I don't have the "official" photos yet but many of you have been asking to see more photos.  I have another wedding project or two to share as well (another day).

Our weather has turned cool - the season is changing.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

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Interesting places...

When we were in San Francisco, these houses caught my eye.  I particularly like the style of decoration - it reminds me of the "buttermold carving" on one of our old family furniture pieces.

It is interesting to see the difference between the monochromatic paint scheme and the more "fussy" paint work on the house in the background (and in the close view at the top of this post).

I thought these facades were interesting - it reminded me of the false fronted buildings in movies of the Old West.

Sometimes when you live in the city you have to create your garden in an unusual way.

The door is actually in the garden path - if you look carefully you can see a doorknob in one of the sunflowers (click the photo to make it larger).

Coming home to this view would make even the worst day seem a little brighter!

This tile pattern gave me a great idea  - now I just have to work out how to do it!

I wasn't able to do much crafting on Wednesday - a few unexpected family things came up.  I wanted to share these photos because I thought you might find some inspiration from them.  I may be back later today with the post I had planned - we'll see how things go.  I hope you have a crafty day!

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