Wallpaper Off, Paint On---Den Transformed

While we were away in Florida a few weeks ago, Steve transformed our den.  He removed the wallpaper which had been up for at least 15 years, repaired the plastered wall, painted the trim and ceiling, and painted samples of wall colors.  It was good to get this done while we and our pets were away. 

The trim throughout the house is painted with Benjamin Moore's dove white in an oil based paint, and it was nice to have that done while we were away.  I am bothered by the fumes.

Steve had painted samples of a pretty yellow, "manila" by Benjamin Moore that I suppose is named for the color of manila file folders but it's a much richer yellow with a hint of terra cotta.   The second color he had chosen was a taupe which was pretty, but the yellow seemed so bright and cheerful that Dan and I liked it best.  In one day he painted the walls with a flat latex paint---no unpleasant fumes.

Benjamin Moore's manila. (Patrick suggested the color should be called "cantaloupe".)

After the painting was done I allowed Steve a wide berth in going throughout the house to select art work, pottery and African baskets in our collection to use as accent pieces.  We  purchased only two new items---a pretty narrow bench and new pillows from Crate and Barrel for the sofa.

Narrow tribal bench, jute and acacia wood.

Accent pillows for the sofa. 

One of our favorite paintings, a black giraffe in a black frame, was moved from the living room into the den where it provides a nice sharp contrast against the yellow wall.  We moved a jade plant that requires little light from the dining room into the den, and we purchased a narrow tribal bench to anchor the painting.  I found the bench online from CB2.  The jute rope for the seat hints of Africa and the acacia wood blends nicely with the black frame of the painting. 

Giraffe painting with black frame provides nice contrast to wall color.

Jade plant moved from dining room to den.

Our TV is housed in a corner cabinet and the cable box and framed photographs were sitting on top but Steve remedied that.  He was able to find space within the cabinet for the cable box and the DVD player freeing up space for pottery and other accent pieces on top.  

Corner TV cabinet.

Pottery and other accent pieces.

Dan's James B. Duke chair was moved across the room to blend with the other black pieces.

Two unique art deco pieces were moved from the guest bedroom to the den, and a Rwandan basket was moved from the study to the top of the bookcase.

Unusual art deco pieces.

African basket that Dan brought back from Rwanda many years ago.  Still a favorite of ours.

Our favorite Dhurrie rug. 

We have kept the small Dhurrie area rug that matches a larger one in the living room.  I looked for a new area rug, but found nothing that we like as much as this one that we have had for years. It's "an old friend".

We are delighted with our "new" den.  It is more cheerful and inviting and for a very low cost---less than nine hundred dollars---for the whole project.   It's amazing what a new coat of paint and some rearranging of accent pieces can do for a room.

P.S. Everyone needs a Steve.  He's great!

In Memory of James Tucker

Painting by James Tucker.

We lost a dear friend last year when James Tucker passed away from West Nile Virus.  James was an artist and for many years was the curator of the Weatherspoon Art Gallery on the campus of UNC Greensboro.  I met James and his wife Virginia when they and I were vendors at the same antique shows.  For over ten years Dan and I were fortunate to enjoy their friendship, to visit here and at their place, to travel to antique shows together and to play many close Scrabble games.  One of our favorite times together was May several years ago when we spent a month traveling to and from Nova Scotia together.  In fact, they celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at our place in Cape Breton at a fun party that year. 

James and Virginia Tucker and Dan in the snow on the Cabot Trail in May 2007.

Dan had always admired James' painting The Yellow Nude that hung in their living room and that later was included in an exhibit of James' paintings at the Weatherspoon Gallery.  When I learned that some of the paintings in the show, including the Yellow Nude, were for sale, I quickly bought it as a surprise birthday present for Dan.  James and Virginia came over and hung it in our foyer to surprise Dan when he got home from work.  And Dan was surprised!  Now we feel that a part of James is always here with us in our home. 

James with his painting The Yellow Nude at home in our foyer.

On Friday night a number of James' friends got together in Greensboro at Virginia's to honor his memory.  It was a party that James would have loved.  Good drinks, good food, and good conversation.  I took along some Marcona almonds that James loved, and I felt that somehow he knew we were celebrating his life and that he wished he were there to enjoy the almonds, the martinis, the good food and the fellowship.

Good food.

Dan enjoying the party.

Virginia sitting beneath another of James' paintings and surrounded by his art deco collection.

Rest in peace, dear friend, we were so fortunate to have known you.

Art Deco Auction Items

Art Deco 1920s book ends.

 Last weekend Leland Little Auctions in Hillsborough auctioned part of the James and Virginia Tucker art deco collection.  I was unable to attend the auction, but I was able to bid for some items by telephone.  These are the items I won.  I'm glad to get them not only because I like art deco style, but because they come from the collection of my dear friends, the Tuckers.

 

Art deco perfume atomizer.  I love the art deco design on this.

1920s powder box.

Isadora Duncan dancer flower frog. 

Isadora Duncan was a dancer in the early twentieth century credited by some as the founder of modern dance.  Duncan's fondness for flowing scarves was the cause of her death in an automobile accident in Nice, France when her silk scarf, draped around her neck, became entangled around the open-spoked wheels and rear axle of the car in which she was riding, breaking her neck.

1930s art deco flower frog.

 I can't wait to use the flower frogs in a flower arrangement.  I must go and get some flowers.

James and Virginia's Art Deco Collection

Gilt spelter deco figure lamp with 3/4 circle of frosted glass with white deco design over bulb.  A deco chrome display stand is behind the figure.

Art deco is an eclectic artistic style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era.  My Greensboro friend, Virginia and her late husband, James, collected art deco since the early 1960's and when I visit, I imagine I am in a museum devoted to art deco.  James was an artist, and his beautiful art throughout the house adds to the feeling of being in a museum. 


I visited Virginia the other day and used the opportunity to photograph some of the splendid collection.

Early art deco lamp; spelter with copper finish and white glass globe shade.

Clear glass art deco bowl with deeply cut stripes of bright blue.

German deco vase, c. 1930, marked SMC, Schramberg Majolika Hand-Painted Germany, stamped 3228.

Bronze figure of dancer signed on base by French sculptor Pierre Le Faguays.

Art Deco Lamp: reclining spelter figure with enameled finish seated on an alabaster base and holding an alabaster lotus; attributed to the French sculptor Max Le Verrier.