Another Secret Shopping Spot - DOMUS

This week kicks off the Brimfield Fair; the famous antique show in Massachusetts. I am always excited to head west of Boston, but recently its not because the Brimfield Fair, but because of a secret shopping spot I found along the way.

The store is called DOMUS and is open year round. It is filled with wonderful treasures. Gorgeous antiques, unusual reproductions, fabulous accessories. It is one of my most secret spots for finding wonderful unique items for the homes of my clients (and myself!).

DOMUS formerly known as HOME, located in historic Sturbridge, MA is the brainchild of the famous Alex Pifer of the hugely successful SERAPH store. If you are a fan of the primitive, colonial decorating style you will know that Alex is icon. Over the years she has been featured numerous times in Country Living, Primitive Homes and several other magazines. Her eye and attention to detail has made the most discerning collector come back to the SERAPH again and again. But, Alex is a multi-dimensional and multi-talented designer and buyer. She has ventured into the world of Swedish, French and Belgian decor. And, as you can guess like everything else she does, her new venture is outstanding. Let's have look:

On the property right next to the SERAPH, Alex and her charming husband had a spectacular Post and Beam shop built to house the gorgeous DOMUS inventory. Here a pair of gorgeous armchairs are covered in grainsack slipcovers. Notice the garden table and statuary and how wonderfully it goes together.

Here is a beautiful reproduction chaise covered in linen. The finish on this piece is incredible.

The displays in the store are worth seeing. Alex and her staff, including the talented, Laura, do a fantastic job of putting things together. You can guess how much I fell in love with this vignette.

DOMUS has an incredible selection of antique mercury glass, grainsack covered furniture and Swedish antiques.

But if you like a more refined look, you can find it here as well. Another fabulous vignette; and it has a completely different feel. With such an incredible collection to choose from its easy to find spectacular items for myself and my clients. The store is very large. Here is a more contemporary look. I just adore the linen sofa.

DOMUS is not limited to living room and dining room decor. Above is a beautiful French bedroom set. Notice the lighting as well, Alex has chosen a wonderful mix of lighting options for the most discerning customers.

On my most recent visit I was enamored with this dining room table and chairs. Notice the urns and the birdhouse.

It is a common theme at DOMUS to mix garden items with more formal indoor items.

This mirror stopped me in my tracks. Isn't it stunning? You will rarely see the same thing twice here.

Alex prides herself in obtaining the unique. So if you want to find something extraordinary that no one else has, this is the place. So of course you are thinking that wonderful unique items like this are just too expensive and out of reach - I almost don't want you to know...the prices are very reasonable! So my secret is out - I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!!

DOMUS is a 45 minute drive from downtown Boston. To see more of their ever changing inventory click their Facebook page here. To get directions click here. And when you head out there, do tell Alex and Laura hello from Gina at Willow Decor. I know you will be glad you made the trip. (Out of state customers can call the store directly as they ship anywhere in the US!)

PS. Sturbridge is wonderful town to visit - plan to stay for lunch at one of the many little cafes and inns.

And that's what I've been doing...

It's been such a whirlwind these past few weeks. My children finished school, we headed to the beach house and opened the long closed windows and let the sea air in.

Just as we started to relax, we headed to Lake Santeelah for a week for a family visit. Dave's sister and her husband own a spectacular waterfront home there. We had coffee every morning overlooking this outstanding view. Add in the boating, waterfront dock and jet ski - well we almost didn't' leave!!

As usual Dave and I scoured the real estate listings. We fell upon this wonderful retreat, just down the road from my sister in law's. Oh how I wish we could live near them!

Look at the beautiful kitchen - I love all the wood and the rustic lake feeling this kitchen has.

And what a porch -I love the fireplace and willow chairs! You can't really see the view from here but believe me - it is amazing. To see more of this wonderful property click here.

Then back to Boston to water the trees (can't wait to post my new landscaping!), then to my 25 year college reunion (Yeah WSC!), finally back to the beach! In all the craziness I have had so much fun, but not much time to blog!

In the midst of all the traveling I had a welcome visit from Kristin Mullen of Covetable Designs. You may remember last year when I introduced you to Kristin. I did a post on her and her blog - click here. She emailed me as WD reader, and I learned that she is a wonderful person and an incredibly talented interior designer. It was the beginning of our year long email friendship! Kristin's son was headed to summer Lacrosse Camp in Massachusetts so we hatched a plan to get together on her visit!

It was a crazy day for her, and we had only a few minutes to meet before she needed to catch her train to NY, but we squeezed in a quick coffee. You can read all about it on Kristin's blog here. In case you missed my post last year, I wanted to show you some additional photos of Kristin's kitchen - isn't it fabulous! Kristin designed it and William Ohs created the beautiful cabinetry.

Her kitchen is going to be featured in Beautiful Kitchens Magazine. No surprise to me!! And the rest of her house is amazing as well, so make sure you stop by Covetable Designs and see her absolutely gorgeous house here.

We finally got settled back at the beach and spent yesterday afternoon at the Rockport Garden Club's Coastal Garden Tour. What spectacular gardens! I was so inspired. To see more photos click here.

We also got a lobster license this year, so we spent the afternoon pulling up our traps!

It's so exciting to see what's in them. Here is our first catch - a small crab which we threw back! (but it felt like we won the lottery!)

In the end we caught three lobsters! We had so much fun! Camp starts tomorrow so I will be able to get back into the swing of things. Check back Tuesday for one of my favorite secret shopping stops - its on the way to Brimfield, so perhaps you can stop there on your way. Enjoy the weekend!!

(photos: Covetable Designs, Mountain View Realty, Life at the Loom, Willow Decor)

Red, White & Blue Decorating

c.everad

While I am on a family vacation I wanted to re-post a popular summer post from the Willow Decor Archives! Enjoy and see you in a few days!

In the summer, who doesn't love decorating with red, white and blue?

Coastal Living

This is a wonderful room and the addition of the 50's diner style stools add a great punch of color. Notice the vintage signs and bouys which contrast the shiny floor, table and stools creating interest.

Coastal Living

What a fabulous painted floor - this room is primarily blue and white but the few red accents really give it life. The red chair, side tables, pillows on couch, and floor accents help direct your eye around the room.

c.everad

Perhaps a bit unpatriotic for 4th of July, but I love how this antique textile becomes art and makes this room.

red door by the beach

Stripes rule this room, with flag, quilt and antique barber pole(?). Painted furniture and antique signs add a rustic warmth and charm. This could be a very busy room, but the white walls add a perfect backdrop and it is charming.

Coastal Living

A fun beach themed room complete with red coral pillows and shell mirror. The striped couch is fun with an interesting trim, but the chair is a bit too loud for me. I also would not have used the striped rug by the stairs.

Home Sweet Home

Okay, so not many people have big red barn, but if you did wouldn't this be fun?!

Country Living

A simple tablescape uses a striped tablecloth or extra material over a white tablecloth for a great accent. Blue splatterware becomes a great vase for sunflowers and checked napkins, white enamel dishes and small flags finish off a great holiday table. Is that Sangria in the pitcher?

Check out other Tablescapes at Between Naps on the Porch

Coastal Living

Here is a lovely porch adorned in red, white and blue. Bright red wicker with striped cushions, blue door, window box and pale blue ceiling are all accented by white trim. A perfect spot to sip lemonade.

Hope these rooms have inspired you! Have a wonderful 4th of July!!!

Gorgeous Grisaille!

(down east dilettante)
Grisaille painting and wall papers have always been a love of mine. Grisaille (pronounced "griz eye") is the french word for shades of grey. This monochromatic technique was done both because artists could travel and do the work with out supplies, and the Grisaille painting could be a sample and/or under painting over which pigments could be applied.
Linda Coulter, a wonderful painter explains in her website: This concept was developed many centuries ago when pigments were very scarce. The Old Masters had only a handful of pigments to accomplish their beautiful results so they had to push each individual pigment to its fullest capacity to be able to achieve the luminosity in their art work that made them famous. In those days when pigments were extremely expensive, and it was also a way to save money. A sister to Grisaille is the less known Brunaille - which is in shades of brown. Below are some of my favorite examples.

The first is Martha Stewart's entry hall in her Turkey Hill House. This large mural stopped me in my tracks the first time I saw it . Lovely!

(Degage)

Here a common suburban two story entry turns extraordinary with this hand painted design.(down east dilettante)

This historic house turned museum is in Portsmouth, NH. The Moffat-Ladd house mural is likely Dufour wall paper from early 1900's, which depicts the Bay of Naples. To learn more about this wonderful house click here.

(architect design)

Here antique wall paper panels found at the Louvre are stunning. Read more about them on Architect Design here.

(Cote de Texas via Edie van Breems)

One of my favorite images is from Cote de Texas via Edie van Breems of Libby Holsten's home click here. The curves of Mora clock wonderfully compliment the mural behind it.

(decorative imaging)

I love the room above, though not traditionally Grisaille or Brunaille, the addition of the shades of green and the side panel painting make for a gorgeous wall.

I adore this 18 century hand blocked Grisaille wall paper from Wendy Lewis at the Textile Trunk. You may not be aware of this, but Wendy also has a gorgeous selection of rare antique wallpapers.

This particular piece took my breath away! It is just stunning in shades of cream and gray. I envision it framed in my Living room or Dining room like a rare work of art, or perhaps I could cover a screen with it. Oh the possibilities!

(photos above Textile Trunk)

Though Wendy does not always list every gorgeous paper she has (her wallpapers move fast and are in great demand by her interior designer buyers) send her an email and she will let you know what treasures she has recently found. Click here to contact Wendy.

If you do decide to buy this let me know how you use it. But if its sold by the time you read this, you may end up seeing it in one of my clients homes or even in my own house because I just can't stop thinking about it!!

One of My Secret Shopping Spots!

Now that the crazy end of the year school schedule is over and my children are in camp, I have a few moments to get back to blogging and share with you one of my secret spots for finding interesting things for my home. One of my favorite types of places to shop are consignment stores, especially in more affluent areas. Homes are large, filled to the brim with designer selected treasures and when these same families want to remodel, redecorate or down size, these wonderful items end up at consignment stores. Fabulous high quality furniture, antiques and accessories at a fraction of the original cost.

So image my delight when Boston Consignment opened their new shop, strategically located only a few minutes drive from some of the most affluent zip codes in Massachusetts.
(mark thomson)
Owner Sheila Ryan Roy and her husband Real, have been in the consignment business for many years in Connecticut, but wanted to be closer to their grandchildren. Lucky for us those grandchildren live in Massachusetts. Sheila has an incredible eye and their store is stocked to the brim with some wonderful treasures. Let's have a look at some of their recent acquisitions.

A wonderful vintage Louis Vuitton suitcase with a perfect worn patina; a great accent in any room.

How about this fabulous art deco print by Jay Spectre - The frame is stunning.

A wonderful Bavarian amoire - hand painted - If only I had a space in my beach house - The blues would look beautiful against the white walls and ocean views.
You could put this linen tufted armchair in almost any room of your house!
I adore gorgeous andirons and this pair almost came home with me. Sheila mentioned that many designers and antique dealers frequent her shop. I am not surprised! I sent a photo of this mirror to one of my clients - I thought it would look perfect in her home.

I sent this photo to a different client - She had been searching for a Venetian mirror for her living room- and here it was at a fraction of the cost.

These hand painted beds were fabulous. I wish I had room for them. There are so many great finds (and buys!) at Boston Consignment, it makes me want to redecorate my house all over again! If you are nearby do stop in and tell Sheila and Real that you heard about them from Gina at Willow Decor.

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If you want to browse their items on line click here. And for directions and hours click here. If you do score an amazing find please send me an email - I would love to see what you bought! Happy shopping!!

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(unless otherwise noted, photo credit: Tabitha Sherrell of Sherrell Photography)