A Glimpse of My Home...

    I am at home today with a sick child, so you have to come visit me.  

Welcome to Casa Mende!  

  

    As you will see my style is eclectic.   My personal design philosophy is that a house has to evolve over time.  This is certainly the approach I have taken in my own home.  I like to add things from my travels, sentimental treasures like hand me downs and ohhh that piece that I cannot resist from market.  The only piece in the room that I wouldn't give up is the little table to the right of the sofa.  It was my grandmother's.  It is nothing fancy, actually it is veneered and probably not worth much, but it is priceless to me because belonged to her.  Everytime I look at it I can mentally see it in her house.  That makes me smile!  

 I painted the base of my grandmother's table but not the top.  The table top folds in half, so when I painted it, I had planned to keep it closed.  Guess what...now it's open! I really need to paint the top but I kinda like it the way it is, even with the paint brush strokes that were accidents.  I might finish painting it one day, but for now it's how I like it. Nothing in life is perfect and this table reminds me that things can bring joy even if they are not perfect.  That rule applies to my entire house.  See Fred and his sister Adele in the photograph?  This is my favorite of all the vintage photographs that I have collected.  I have 100's of them.  I have another photograph I hope to get framed soon of Grace Kelly with her siblings when she was five years old.   One day I am going to wallpaper a powder room with collection but I am waiting for my forever house before I do that.    

 My coffee table has magazines all over it and under it!  I found a lucite coffee table that I want but until I purchase that one I borrowed this from our playroom. I had a Baker table in here that I moved to the den and then replaced with a John Richard table that was ordered by accident.  I never really liked it but it was a nice table so I used it for a while before taking to consignment.  I also have my eye on a shagreen side table with nailheads.  I think my little Union Street Glass lamps needs a pretty table to sit on, don't you? One day when I decide what I want I will frame the painting.  Until I decide on the frames, I may wrap the edges
 with velvet or french grosgrain ribbon. 

 On the other side of the room is a Julian Chichester silver leaf chest with lamps and my favorite accessory, my topaz prism. (It was my Christmas present To: me From: me)I have pieces to hang on either side of this botanical(you can see one of them in the picture on the floor behind the chair)  but for some reason I haven't gotten around to it...  

Here's a picture a little further away to show the entire wall.   These chairs  aren't going to be

here for long, because I am moving them to my bedroom and replacing with  some antique high back chairs my aunt gave me.  Still trying to  decide what fabric I want to use on them.  I have thought about using neural linen but I keep digging the thought of using a deep pink velvet.  Of course if I do that, it will probably happen after my son's portrait arrives.  It will be replacing the botanical.  In the painting he is wearing a pale pink shirt which would look good with the chairs.  I'll about it posted once I decide.

 My prism is perched on top of two of my favorite books.  One is Patina Style by

Brooke and Steve Giannetti and the other is a book about Coco Chanel. 

If you don't own The Giannetti's book you should go out and buy it tomorrow.  

The pictures are beautiful and the writing is so interesting.

 I had a hard time getting this photo with the light streaming through the windows.  

This guy(I thought it was a girl) my son "H" named "Mr. Pink"!  I am not sure why other

than the fact the face is pink!  This was done by an outsider artist from Atlanta.  

If you flip it over there is a landscape painted on the back.  

 Close up of "Mr. Pink"

 If you see something you please send feel free to email me.  If it is a line
I sale I will be glad to order for you and give you a great price.  If it is not a
line I sell, I will tell you where I purchased it! 

 I hope you enjoyed our quick little tour of my living room. 

 I will show more of my house in future posts.  There are all

kinds of changes on the horizon for Casa Mende.  The carpet in

the room above is soon to be hardwood floors along with several 

other projects I have in store that I can't wait to share with you!

 Hopefully, Ciabatta (my son's nickname, i know it's silly but he did look like a little loaf of bread when he was a baby!) will be well tomorrow and I can have more time to work!