Shopping in DC: GoodWood

In anticipation of 'Black Friday' later this week I thought I would share with you some of my shopping from this past weekend. I stopped in one of my usual haunts on DC's U Street NW, Goodwood.

GoodWood used to be more of a vintage furniture store but has turned itself into an authentic version of what Anthropology tries to be. The styling in the store is always artful and really fun to walk around. As with most vintage shops there is something for everyone hidden around the next corner, no matter your taste.

I love this antique cabinet which holds antique china, tea, and teapots. I wish I had a cabinet like this in my apartment for my collection!

 These antique Minton cups and saucers were selling for only $8 a set and there were dozens of them.

One of the most interesting item(s) was this pair of faux "faux bois" French armchairs which are very Michael Taylor'esque.

Some details of the chair -really charming- I wish I had a place for these! Also notice the vintage carpet on the floor: lots of affordable antique rugs.

This lovely antique French mirror is deceivingly tall - it wouldn't look out of place in any embassy in town.

Unfortunately there was only one of these mid-century sconces with a Greek key motif or I would have snapped it up!  Someone had done an unfortunate paint spattering to the shaft but thats easy to undo with some sandpaper and a can of black spray paint.  Did you do any fun shopping this past weekend?

decorative lamp shades

Lampshades don't always have to be white (or my much preferred black with gold foil interior).  These sconce shades in a house decorated by talented Katie Ridder are a reminder of that fact and add such a nice detail, or layer, to the room in question.  Ridder is wife to architect Peter Pennoyer; talk about the designing duo of talent!

Neues Palais, Potsdam

Under heavy renovation and possibly finished by 2016, The Neues Palais (or new palace) in Potsdam is one of the more impressive structures in the area. Parts of Potsdam are basically a suburb of immense palaces, now nearly all museums.  There are many excellent books available on the many palaces and the area itself.

The Neues Palais wasn't meant as a home for the King when it was completed in 1769 but rather as official state apartments for entertaining other royals and ambassadors. Therefore it was built to impress and not necessarily be very homey for the monarch who retained a small apartment in the palace.

Opposite the palace (above) are the Communs (seen below), creating an entry courtyard. The Communs held the kitchens, service spaces, and offices for the palace - a sort of 'downstairs' if you will. The king had underground passages built connect the Palais to the Communs so servants could get between the buildings unseen but also undeterred by weather.

The ornate interiors are astounding. Designed in the Baroque style favored by the king they're beginning to show traces of upcoming Neoclassicism. Frederick the Great didn't like the strict lines of Neoclassicism so you have to look hard though!

The palace was originally designed by Johann Gottfried Buring.  Buring had completed other buildings in Potsdam for the king but was fired from the job after it was started after disagreements on the palace facade. Perhaps Buring wanted to bring in the 'new' Neoclassicm.

 I don't know, I think some of the rooms look pretty Neoclassical to me, wouldn't you agree? They could have been remodeled at a later date.

 The floors in the palace are stunning. The parquet floor above looks absolutely modern to my eyes.

 Carl von Gontard took over construction of the palace after Buring's dismissal.

 The salon above is really interesting -I love how the treatment continues to the ceiling.

Almost a sort of garden room. Also notice the modern light fixtures which are hung holding all of the modern necessities like security.

While these modern fixtures might seem strange to some, I like that they don't damage any of the delicate walls and finishes and stand separate and discreet as their own 'thing'. Europeans do this exceptionally well.

 More gorgeous parquet floors, almost like fine furniture.

 After awhile all of these grand rooms start to look the same; gold, gold, and more gold.

 I think we need to bring back the use of bed niches.

I imagine particularly in the 18th century Germany the alcoves felt really cozy and warm before central heating.

 More gorgeous painted paneling - chinoiserie here. No gold here!

The palace was later used by successive monarchs as a full time residence and it was therefore renovated with modern conveniences. I love the Victorian heat grate above.

But not all of the rooms are gold. A number of rooms are silver gilded like the bedroom below. I suppose the silver would reflect candlelight just as well if not better than the gold gilding.

As always thanks so much to my Australian penpal Neil for supplying us with these gorgeous images from his travels. If you find yourself in Berlin a visit out to Potsdam is really heavily encouraged: read more about visiting Potsdam palaces here.

Hines & Company at the new DC Design Center

Last week I attended an event at Hines & Company in the new nearly finished Washington Design Center. I'm happy to report the new design center is a HUGE improvement on the old one (which isn't saying much), spacious and light filled.

The Design Center officially opens in about a week on November 12, 2014, but many of the showrooms are already open for business. Walking into most of these showrooms just make you want to redo your entire house with so much eye candy, which is always a problem!

 I'm dying to find a place for this Zoffany Wallpaper called 'Trade Routes'.

Lighting is one of my many passions ( see all of my previous posts on my favorite antique lighting store, Artisan) and the selection at Hines ranges from the contemporary to the classic.

My favorite lamp was this rock crystal column from Vaughan. It bridges the line between classic and contemporary with a luxe material; it would look great with a gilded and/or black shade.

I always love paisley fabrics, particularly natural linen, and this Fonthill fabric by Stark checked all of the boxes, named Amelie.  Thanks for inviting me Hines & Company and thanks for all of the inspiration too!

Window shopping: Artisan lamp

I hadn't been to my favorite shop, Artisan Lamp Co, in quite awhile so window-shopped the other night. As it turns out thats the best time of day to check out a lighting store!

The store is enormous and they have a larger inventory on their newly revamped website as well as on 1stdibs. They've been carrying a larger number of vintage 'modern' fixtures since they sell well.

 The owner loves to mix up the front window and it changes a few times per week. I especially liked this interesting lamp above.

 And an empire style boulette style lamp is always useful!

What do you think about window shopping? Beats shopping online!

Couch vs. sofa - a dialogue

I was thrilled to have lunch recently with one of my favorite bloggers, The Blue Remembered Hills, while he was traveling through DC. As so often happens when bloggers meet for the first time we began chatting at once like old friends and eventually the topic naturally veered towards design.

Both of us have 'pet peeves' with wordage, his being the incorrect use of the word couch instead of sofa (mine is the incorrect use of home vs. house). Above you see the famous couch of Madame Recamier.

The term sofa is what we normally are talking about, the article of furniture found in everyone's living room. It's not a 'formal' term or interchangeable with couch -they are DIFFERENT things. A couch is a specific term reserved for pieces of furniture on which one lies. I immediately thought of Madame Recamier, so well known for having been painted in repose by numerous artists.

While in the Louvre on my last visit I loved Madame Recamier's furniture made for her by Georges Jacob as well as 2 very well known paintings of her, in which she is lying on a couch.

 The rest of her furniture is really beautiful and I just had to have an excuse to post!

In the future think of Madame Recamier on her couch and the sofa you have at home; unless you have a fainting couch or daybed, well then that's another story!

Shopping at Foxfire antiques, Middleburg

This past weekend I visited charming Middleburg, Virginia, the heart of Washington equestrian life. While there I shopped -  naturally! One of my favorite finds was the antique & design shop Foxfire.

Located in the heart of town Foxfire features a number of continental antiques, primarily French, but a few in particular caught my eye.

 These French metal armchairs would be great sanded and painted a deep forest green or even black.

I spent a lot of time lounging in these 1930s club chairs with original leather. I love that the seat has been reupholstered in a brown velvet so your legs won't stick or slip on the leather cushion, depending on the time of year.

These artistic mirrors were my favorite piece in the store, though clearly not real antiques. An artist takes a number of different minerals to the backs of regular mirror to create very colorful versions of 'antiqued' mirror (the stylish smoky glass you so often see).

Some versions of this were imprinted with designs but I loved this matching pair of smoky versions (much like traditional antiqued mirror with the addition of color) in warm sunset colors.

The marble top of this antique table was so patterned that at first I thought it was faux-painted. This would make a great kitchen table and remain cool to the touch for baking.

The sides of these upholstered chairs were beautifully detailed with a natural oak finish. Be sure not to miss Foxfire Antiques when you visit Middleburg!