Upgrading InThe Bedroom - The Big Girl Drapes!

Alberto (the hubs) wants to know if I ever will be "done" with decorating our home, or rather will I ever be satisfied and just leave things alone. What do you think ?
You can click on images for larger unstyled snap shot style I'm in a hurry to show you this photos.


I am having my 60th birthday July 21. I tell you this so I can own it ha ha, and to let you know I have had a life long love affair with decorating each and every home I have ever inhabited. I have never had the luxury of a big budget. I am very resourceful and often make do and make it look fabulous too.



Working at Perch has afforded me the ability to get a couple of really nice things. Custom made drapes. Big Girl Drapes. No drop cloths drapes, no hand sewn pieces of fabric by me, no off-the- rack curtains masquerading as drapes, but really beautifully made drapes. The rooms that got the Big Girl Drapes are my office, our bedroom, and the guest bedroom for now.


My fabric of choice is Dupioni silk without a slub. The color is the same for both bedrooms, as is the size, to afford me the flexibility of using them as a pair in another room if I choose to do so sometime along the line. The color is called: Rain.
Jack Mayberry the head designer of Perch, and Eva Spencer our head seamstress advised me (and have been teaching me how to measure, order the fabric, and choose the finishes, etc. for our custom drapery clients).


I chose thermo suede lining, a heavy cotton lining encasing the thermo suede, and the finished silk top sewn with seven inch French pleats. There is a small puddle at the bottom. It's like getting luxury insulation for the house! Not a drop of air or light penetrates this beauty!


The rod is the return rod, meaning the ends return to the wall. Perch makes a hefty, made to measure return rod, with a custom hand painted finish that is gorgeous. A local artist who works in many mediums including metal, makes them. Even with an employee's benefits, this rod is a little pricey for me, and I wanted to have the flexibility of an adjustable rod, always keeping in mind how I move things around. I found the perfect rod at the perfect price from Country Curtains on line HERE.
Jack from Perch, painted the rings for me, in his signature color he always uses for Perch clients.

I also upgraded a couple of accessories in the bedroom. I love these metal antlers, which also look like a branch, placed on top of the old cabinet that houses the television. I like the simplicity of one unique object, as opposed to the fussy vignette I had before. The old wood lyre is a piece of found folk art.

The new metal antlers from Perch
I think it adds a "wow" factor to the old armoire

"Before" a sweet little vignette on the armoire that I found too fussy

I also painted the dark brown wood nightstands a pale turquoise (and added a cut-to-size piece of 1/4 inch thick mirror for the top). It's the same color I used to paint the accent wall in the kitchen. I like to carry at least one color from another room to the next. I also have been taking color cues from the painting over the bed. As always I combine antique, vintage, and contemporary things with touchstones of French furniture.


There's a different painting in a little nook by the door that combines the new and the old.


I also upgraded the lamps that are on the dressers. I use one lamp on each dresser. Two would be too much. I got these lamps on HSN (Home Shopping Network) HERE, from the Nate Berkus line there. They are mercury glass, and very good looking. They cost $129. each and came with the nice linen shade. I think they are great quality at any price.

Almost sold out at HSN! Go HERE to get yours now

While I'm at it I'm thinking of upgrading our bedspread. Right now it's all white with a deep 28 inch drop ruffle, and I love the look. This was another bargain basement make-do. I found two twin spreads on line at a pretty pedestrian site called Brylane Homes. I had my local seamstress sew them together to make a king size bedspread..
After a couple of washes, the cheap poly fill shifted and bunched up, so I slit a small but large enough opening in one end, and pulled all the stuffing out. Now the spread looks like it's made of vintage handkerchief fabric, and lays much better. The stitched trellis effect has grown on me, even though I prefer a plain and pattern free look.
All is well, except that there are a couple of ink blots (made by a black Sharpie) on the spread (hidden by toss pillows at the top), because my lovable school boy Alberto likes to do Sudoku in bed, and sometimes falls asleep with pen in hand. He promised me a new spread of my choice.

I like the deep drop ruffle ones from Horchow.


They are made of twill, a heavier fabric, and they look very nice. I like both colors, the white or the tan.


I also love these contemporary sets from Dwell Studio at Target.
This beige-y one is the most conservative one, and would pick up on the fabric covered wall behind the headboard, and play off the white accents throughout the room.

This shade of green is one of my favorite colors, and I use throughout the house as an accent color. If I got this spread, it would bring this color into our bedroom, thus fulfilling my philosophy of having a little color from another room travel into the next. Somehow this allows the eye to see the house as a total picture.

This turquoise blue bed covering would play back nicely to the colors in the painting over the bed.



So which do you like best? Remember I change out the bedding from summer to winter. I have a black and white contemporary duvet cover now that looks pretty good for winter.

The winter look of the bedroom with the black and white duvet
So much has changed!
The stripe rugs are gone replaced by mountain grass (a beautiful cousin of sea grass)
The nightstands have been painted
The pink lamps are now faux finished to look like alabaster

PS Stay tuned for photos of the Big Girl Drapes in guest bedroom and my office, and the kitchen where other small upgrades have happened.

Happy Fourth Of July Weekend!

This looks like fun! We can stay late and watch the fireworks on the levee! Algiers Point is a very old neighborhood across the river from The French Quarter. It has the same vintage and pedigree of architecture and jazz as The French Quarter. If you're in New Orleans check this out. Yum! BBQ Oysters, Jazz, and Fireworks!

Marlon Jordan: Cooking-n-Jazz Algiers Old Point Bar Saturday, July 4th in this issue Marlon Jordan The Old Point Bar in Algiers Talk of the Nation Twins Jazz: Review by Michael J. West THE 2009 ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL WELCOMES J. PIERRE Marlon Jordan "Marlon's trumpeting, chameleon-like, assumes the colors of the music he plays ..." "Marlon, the daring and dashing trumpeter of the group, was the star of the show, peppering each tune with the brash and braying, Buddy Bolden trumpet sounds ..." "Marlon starred in George Wein's brilliantly- conceived supergroup of "Young Lions," which included Roy Hargrove and Mark Whitfield..." "Marlon, one of the world's top trumpeters ..." "Marlon Jordan is a young Big Easy native who is quickly making a name for himself with his energized take on the classic Miles Davis Quintet sound. His style is less introspective than his hero's allowing his vitality to grab hold immediately..." "Marlon Jordan Quartet gave a rousing concert at Berlin City Hall in gratitude to the German people for assisting Katrina victims in New Orleans..." MarlonJordan.com Summer Vibes In Colorado Live Concert Online Click to listen NPR's JazzSet with Dee Dee Bridgewater WWNO 89.9 FM New Orleans Click to Listen Glenwood Springs Summer of Jazz 2008 Video and Photography by J.R. Thomason Please join us! Marlon Jordan: "Cooking-n-Jazz" Old Point Bar Saturday, July 4, 2009 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Just added: The Artwork of J. Pierre The Old Point Bar in Algiers The Old Point Bar is very excited to have Marlon Jordan entertain our patrons on Saturday, July 4th from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Join Marlon as he serves Hot Jazz as well as a sizzling dish of Shrimp Creole made in the tradition of his family through several generations. Located at 545 Patterson, The Old Point Bar is located in historic Algiers Point, New Orleans just minutes from the French Quarter by ferry. Call 504-364-0950 for details See you on the 4th of July! Barbecued Oysters Jordan's Grilled Fish www.oldpointbar.com Talk of the Nation Marlon Jordan was one of the "Young Jazz Lions" who were signed, recorded and promoted on major record labels in the 1980s. He recorded three impressive LPs for Columbia from 1988 to 1992, For You Only, Learson's Return, and The Undaunted, and one for the Arabesque label entitled Marlon's Mode in 1997. His latest album, Marlon Jordan featuring Stephanie Jordan; You Don't Know What Love Is announced the return of an exceptional trumpeter . . . "Marlon's trumpeting, chameleon-like, assumes the colors of the music he plays ..." Jordan has toured with the JVC Jazz Festival, opening for Miles Davis. After the label pulled back, Marlon kept moving. He worked with "Jambalaying in Rio," a music festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil that celebrated the kinship between Rio and New Orleans. Then on August 29, 2005, Marlon was in New Orleans and it almost cost him his life. Later, he told his story to NPR's Talk of the Nation. Marlon looks to his music for a sense of normalcy after nearly losing his life to hurricane Katrina. Trapped on his roof for five days, a long-line helicopter rescue mission pulled Marlon and his girlfriend to safety. But not before he himself rescued two neighbors who were trapped in a burning house, fracturing both his ankles in the process. His current project, 3 Faces of Marlon Jordan allows him to transverse along an uncharted path; classical, jazz, and hip hop music all in a three CD compilation. Scheduled for a 2009 Fall release, the classical wing of the of the album will include recordings with the Czech Film Orchestra which boast of the best European musicians, including principle players from the Czech Philharmonic, The Czech National Theatre Orchestra, The Czech Radio Orchestra and others while the Hip Hop version will include cuts from Marlon's daughter Lori Jordan whose stage name is Honey Chyl. The Marlon Jordan Quartet brings Marlon's clean, boppish lines laced with power, and an encyclopedic knowledge of the entire jazz trumpet tradition . . . Permission to re-print is granted Twins Jazz: Review by Michael J. West June 13, 2009 - The son of New Orleans jazz polymath Kidd, trumpeter Marlon Jordan works largely in mainstream post-bop - a glut of which has been heard by this second weekend of the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. But Jordan rescued it from ennui at Twins Jazz Friday night with some of the most distinctive stylings the fest has had so far. Armed with pianist Allyn Johnson, drummer Aaron Walker, and a bassist whose name even Jordan couldn't tell me (it was their first time playing together, he apologized), the trumpeter began inauspiciously enough with a program of jazz standards. But by the beginning of his second tune, Ellington and Juan Tizol's "Caravan," Jordan had well established his arsenal of high-pitched, triple-tongued squeals that weren't just for accent or surprise: he'd make long phrases and even full choruses out of them. But he'd also balance them out with aggressive low-reaching growls that called to mind Bubber Miley in the early Ellington orchestra. These sounds continued through a full set of classics from "What Is This Thing Called Love" to Coltrane's "Impressions" to a slam-dunk reading of "Cherokee," with Jordan also running sonically everywhere in between. Literally everywhere: his horn style was manic, busy, and intense; Jordan himself often looked like he was fighting the trumpet off him, jerking it in wide arcs in front of him and raising it to the ceiling for his high squeals. The quartet was an incredible asset, too. Johnson, brilliant and flashy as always, worked glorious block chords and runaway right-hand melodies, also pulling a neat new trick in having the left hand doubling the right about three octaves down on "What Is This Thing Called Love." Walker was a spectacular time keeper with great force on the rides and singular grasp of percussive color: he even played hand-drum on the snare during "Caravan." It's hard to know what to make of the bassist, though; his buzzy, clipped sound wasn't quite the finesse that one expects in jazz, but he more than made up for it with his ear for chords and his melodic sense on solos. The indisputable highlight was a slow, subtle take on Wayne Shorter's classic "Footprints," about two-thirds of the way through the set; for once Jordan kept great space in his solo phrases, and concentrated on thoughtful lyricism only occasionally punctuated by bursts of adrenaline. Johnson and Walker did their best work here, too, Johnson with a rolling, pacific piano line that Walker supported with atmospheric cymbal work, and the bassist supplied an impressive solo that was slow and plodding, but also surefooted and clever . . . Twins remains one of the best jazz clubs in DC, but their audiences aren't winning any awards. Marlon Jordan Photo Gallery THE 2009 ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL WELCOMES J. PIERRE JULY 3, 2009 - J. Pierre will be showcased at the 2009 Essence Music Festival Friday, July 3rd through Sunday, July 5th. He will be signing prints throughout the weekend at his booth in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center at the Essence Marketplace & Art Expo. J. Pierre is a New Orleans native who incorporates the spirit of the City of Jazz in each of his vibrant paintings. The expressive reflection of New Orleans culture in his work led to the opportunity to exhibit and sell his art in international and national galleries and museums. J. Pierre was commissioned to create the exclusive 2007 Essence Festival official poster and one of the 40 Fleur De Lis displayed in the New Orleans Central Business District. His paintings have been exhibited at the Jazz and Heritage Festival and the Mississippi River Festival and shipped worldwide through J. Pierre's Fine Art Gallery. His fans laud his unwavering dedication to the preservation of New Orleans' music and culture within fine art. J. Pierre will have his artwok on display during Marlon Jordan's July 4th performance at The Old Point Bar in Algiers. See You There! Click to view the Art of J. Pierre Email Address:: vincent@sylvainsolutions.com Website Address:: http://www.marlonjordan.com

Do You Still Picnic?

Ah the Fourth of July! When we were kids my parents would pack a basket and a cooler and a few blankets, and we would head to the park for a picnic during the day, and staying into the night for fireworks.



I still carry those old time images in my head, kind of like the 1956 William Holden movie Picnic HERE


But who am I kidding here in hot New Orleans! I think the chances are better of us having a picnic in the living room.



But I love the idea of elegant hampers with real silverware and china. Beaux Monde Designs has a great posting on them HERE



Romantic images of elegant picnic parties in Central Park really did happen to me! I would pack up china and silverware, and even a candelabra for nights the opera or symphony played in the park.


I would love to shop Fortnum and Mason style for the provisions.


But most of all I love to make fried chicken . Paula Deen has a great recipe HERE. Her secret is to fry it once and then fry it again for extra crispy chicken.


My favorite chicken in New Orleans comes from a French Quarter dive called Fiorella's. My 90 year old friend Miss Anne and I used to meet there once a week for lunch. Popeye's is also great chicken if you don't want to cook, and the new grilled chicken form KFC is really good too. There's just something about picnics and chicken being the perfect thing to have.



When I was young thing dating about town, I loved to make a picnic for the first date, and head off to Central Park, or even Prospect Park in Brooklyn.


It was also great to meet friends in the park for a picnic for the many concerts in the city parks.


You don't have to sit on the grass to have a picnic. You can set a table. It should be in the open, and not on the patio, or in some uber outdoor "room" all the houses seem to have nowadays.



Being under the trees, with grass under your feet is picnic.


Okay maybe a porch picnic is still old fashion enough to qualify as a picnic.


And why not style up the old picnic table with cute cushions on the benches, and a cute table setting.


Nothing wrong with paper plates either. I love the stone used on top of the napkin to keep it from blowing away.


The picnic on the beach is another fun thing to do, though my beach going days are not what they used to be.

So do you still picnic? I hope so!!!

PS Please check out the Perch blog HERE to see this week's Tablescape Thursday. Jack made another delish lunch for us!