WHITE KITCHENS

Stalking the modern white kitchen.

 I mentioned earlier in the week that I'm pretty much over the white kitchen.  Yes, I realize that puts me at odds with the vast majority of American home owners, can't help it.

I decided to give pinterest and google a week to change my mind...show me a world of white kitchens that would blow me away.  My criteria was this...

• white cabinets
• white walls
• modern aesthetic
• can't look like an operating room
• absolutely no farmhouse style

Easy right?  Have you researched white kitchens lately?  Don't try this at home unless you have lots and lots of time and coffee.

End result?  I did find a few kitchens I actually do like, some I even love, and  a couple I lust after.  Wanna see?

Love...the industrial quality, the white bricks, the hardware.

Like....this one is borderline OR.

Like...it's small, simple...maybe a little too simple.

Lust...I know, I know, it's sooo similar to the last one, perhaps it's the sunlight streaming in, or those perfectly adorable stools, or the JA pottery...but lust it is.

Love...the industrial clock, the hardware, the galley style.

Like...this one is borderline farmhouse.

Lust!...this one breaks two of my own rules.  Only the top cabinets are white and the walls are papered, but OMG that paper!  I could absolutely see myself in this kitchen.  Dancing, cooking, drooling.

Like...again, borderline OR.

Like...the black counter tops add a lot of warmth, the black/white tiles give me a headache.

Lust...the wooden floors, the stools, the adorable lights, the lit cabinets!

Love...the pop of red...this one is just so fun!

Seriously, it was very difficult to find white kitchens that were not farmhouse or country in style, or too sterile.  Which one's your favorite?
Have a beautiful weekend!
yancey

WHITE ANIMALS - OR - MY MOST BEAUTIFUL POST EVER, IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF

 It's not my fault.  I was researching the perfect white dress, not to bridal, or too first communion, not too virginal blah blah blah.  Then I moved onto the perfect white winter coat, not too impractical (impossible BTW), not real fur, not too...oh hell you get the point...I just wasn't into it, didn't feel the love.  Then I accidentally on purpose researched white animals.  After seeing these gorgeous pictures of actual creatures, in actual nature...how could I ever care about a damn coat or dress  again?  Totally, not my fault.

A rare white kiwi...I mean come on!

What could be cuter than one westie puppy?

Doesn't this make your heart swell?  Even just for a minute?

All together now....Awwwwww!

May they have a thousand kids.

For Ashley

I won't feel complete until I have my very own white squirrel.

The end.

Hope this helps you have a beautiful day!
yancey

SYRIE MAUGHAM...DECORATOR OF WHITE

I believe this is a 1970's re-do of Syrie Maughams famous all white living room in her London Home....scroll down for the orignial.

Syrie Maugham 1879-1955

 When Syrie Maugham began her interior design career at the age of 42, she was determined to show the world something new...the all white room.
Recognizing that her London home was potentially her best form of advertising, Syrie staged a midnight candlelit dinner party where she unveiled her all white living room, decorated with matching white sofas, white lilies, and huge mirrored screens.  Seriously, this was something new, many of her peers were still stuck in the Victorian ideal of small, dark and shabby...what a breath of fresh air she must have been!

Jean Harlow was not only a private client of Syrie Maugham's, S.M. also decorated the set of her movie Dinner at Eight.  Eleven shades of white were needed to create enough contrast for the black and white film.  Notice the fringe on the chair?  A hallmark of Maughams style.

A Cecile Beeton photograph, of his sister, in Syries all white living room in her London home.

Maugham's famous sleigh bed with tasseled trim.

Syrie Maugham in her 70's.  In her life she suffered a nervous breakdown, contracted tuberculosis, and killed a cyclist in a car accident, which I suppose could account for her "difficult" personality (a word which history books seem to love to apply to driven successful women of any era).

 And now...just because there are not enough Syrie Maugham photographs ...a few lovely white rooms I bumped into while nosing around.

 Have you noticed that when decorating with white, it's a short trip from sophisticated/modern to country/twee?  That trip usually begins with a gallon of white paint and a piece of wooden furniture...and usually ends badly.  In my opinion white painted furniture is always (okay, usually) a bad idea.  If you are decorating a mostly white room and must paint a piece of wooden furniture, consider black.

You really can't beat a black/white combo.  So smart and sophisticated.

When I was a little girl I wanted to be nun, must have seen The Sound of Music once too often.  I suppose my room would have looked something like this...thank goodness I didn't become a damn nun! 

I have no idea what that is hanging above the bed...that's between you and your imagination.

Awww....cool blue and white, such a refreshing combination.

Am I the only one who's grown a little weary of things with antlers?

Words fail me...just know that I really really love this room!

Have to ever decorated a white room? Wanted to be a nun? 
What's your favorite color to pare with white?
Have a beautiful day.
yancey

WHITE LINGERIE: NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN...COTTON....AND LACE

The naughty/nice of white lingerie

 If I were the type of person who would allow a total stranger to wonder through my lingerie drawer...you would learn a few things about me.
1.  I've been many sizes through out the years.
2.  My husband prefers short.
3.  I'm relatively modest,with a few exceptions,  thanks to a few battle scars, ya know.
4.  My lingerie is as colorful as the rest of my wardrobe
5.  I've been married a really long time
6.  I have every thing from spanx/granny panties to Hot holy mother of god, the kids have left for college...and at the same time!!!  Did I mention exceptions?
7.  I definitely need to stock up on more white undies.


Once upon a time, when I was a frequent flier at Victoria's Secret, they would send me a new catalog several times a month.  Those were the years of the Canterbury nightdress,  remember those?  They were white cotton, long, thin, cool and comfortable and improbably sexy.  Braxton loved them, and would buy me new one a couple of times a year.  If you've never slept in white cotton, you don't know what you're missing.  White cotton (or satin, lace, silk...) is both sweet and sexy, naughty and nice, innocent and knowing...depending on how you wear it of course.

"Every year, the goddess Hera took a bath to regain her virginity, then she had a good time the rest of the year.  So maybe wearing white is like getting your virginity back"  Vera Manzi,Schacht
                                                                                       

Do you wear white lingerie?  Does it make you feel like a goddess? 
Have a beautiful day
yancey