Wednesday, December 15, 2010

About That Wallpaper



Alot of you asked about the wallpaper.  And I had always planned on posting about it, just to show off a little (and pat myself on the back) about the projects that we HAVE managed to accomplish this year.  Despite our peripatetic life, and feeling a little chained to the computer sometimes!!!!  (Oh but I do love you all so!)

So.  Glad to share!  The wallpaper!  NO.  It's not Piet Hein Eek.  YES.  It is Dutch though.  

And ABSOLUTELY YES.  OH YOU BLOG WORLD!  YOU MADE ME DO IT!!!!!

I found this paper on somebody's blog earlier this spring.  Who was it?  Step up please!  It's actually by Studio Ditte and it was our big splurge from The Collection on the Rue de Poitou in Paris.  Pia at The Collection was SO nice and so helpful despite me feeling like my brain was going to explode trying to visualize it, translating metres into feet and inches and Euros into Dollars all from French to English with Mr. Paradis and (deep breaths) trying to figure out repeats and if we were going to have enough since we didn't bring any measurements with us at all!  

If you click the Studio Ditte link you'll see that the paper comes in two color choices.  The one is mostly white with greys and neutrals and the other has alot of turquoises in it.  I love the turquoise but felt it could easily be too much so we decided to live dangerously and buy just one roll of it and all the rest white.  It adds a nice irregularity.  The room needed a pop of interest in that alcove, and I had always been inclined toward something more girly and silver-y. But as you can imagine,  Mr. P. was not so enchanted with that idea.  This was actually a GREAT solution because it's not girly but not macho, softens the space and references our deck outside.  So it really brought the outside in and unified the whole feel of our house.  PLUS Hey!  You can remove this wallpaper and use it again!  Mr. P. is a little skeptical about that, but it helped to justify the larger chunk of change (more than a couple of cans of paint) that it cost.  Putting it up was so much tidier and more fun than painting though.  It IS cozy isn't it?

Someone asked about the flowery pillow cases, those are old Ralph Lauren.  I spent my last couple years in NYC going around consolidators and buying marked down sets of his flowery sheets cause I knew they wouldn't last forever.  And they still won't last forever, sadly!

But can I now move on to the nifty bedskirt that I sewed in the Summer Of 2010?  A whole lot of satisfaction in a very simple and easy little project which I made from curtains from my old house.  To the right of the bed is the Ikea "Billy" book case with glass doors that I'm now calling my "prop cabinet".  I really wanted a shorter one of those stripped steelcase cabinets with a glass front, but the universe did not provide.  And I was anxious to "complete" the room.

So there you have it!  (Thanks for asking!)  My petit coin de Paradis and despite the picture from last week - no, I actually do most of my blogging from the sofa.  And the editorial staff....well you can imagine.....

For all the Corner Viewers, I'll do a Christmas Traditions post next week, since it seems it will dovetail with the next theme along.  Meanwhile I have four huge baited traps stationed around my house tonight and apparently a couple of skunks having a very noisy romantic life under my living room floor!

Wish me LUCK!  (It's always something isn't it?!)





11 comments:

  1. Its perfect....nothing more to say!
    Perfection,
    S x

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  2. Mais il est très joli ce papier peint. Et avec lui, la chambre s'anime. Merci pour le lien et bonne chance ;)

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  3. The wallpaper is ABSOLUTE HEAVEN. Is that your bedroom?!?! AMAZING! Martha Stewart can shove it; I'd hire you in a heartbeat to decorate our house. (If we had a house. And some extra rupees lying around for decorators.)

    Shabash, Mlle. Shabash.

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  4. yes, i've heard of studio ditte before, and love what i've seen of them, since. this looks stunning!

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  5. I love the room. Thought it was drift wood you had collected on many long walks on the beach.

    As for the skunks? Millions of years ago, I lived in an old farmhouse with similar Raccoon problem.

    Previously, you have used a harmonica to rid your abode of unwelcome visitors. Perhaps now?

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  6. Billys rule the world. They are everywhere. I don't know anyone who doesn't ha a billy hidden somewhere. Billys make the world a smaller place.

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  7. !!! ...and I always thought those were repurposed slats of wood! It's beautiful Mlle P!

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