sari trim

Curtains and a Canopy for a Double Digits Girl

There is nothing like a big birthday and a move to spark a bedroom re-do. Both of my girls were due for a change, moving from their tiny closet sized bedrooms in Tokyo to their much more expansive bedrooms in Doha. The elder had a plan and a Pinterest board from the beginning. But the younger wasn’t sure of what she wanted when we first moved in. Personally I had a plan in my mind for a full size bed using this wedding noren as part of the bed hangings. Once settled, she had other ideas, mainly a desire to keep as much floor space as possible for play area, so a single bed against the wall made more sense. She quickly commandeered the French iron campaign bed and the painted French armoire from her sister’s room. She wanted to keep her Claire Murray Alphabet Garden hooked rugs (which have since become collectors items I am given to understand) because they are soft and provide interesting backdrops for imaginary play – and even nixed the idea of a Madeline Weinrib dhurrie. Can’t argue with the recycling or the continuing interest in play!

The bare room had a lot of promise, including this very sunny east facing window. All varieties of small birds come and perch along the windowsill to my daughter’s great joy. The campaign bed fit perfectly underneath it, leaving lots of play space as requested. But my daughter felt something special was needed, some pretty girly centerpiece to make the room special. I suggested bed hangings and some kind of fitted valance/canopy as the solution and she was hooked.

We went straight to images of Katie Ridder‘s whimsical bed hanging designs (and frankly, you know you are in trouble when your nine, soon to be ten-year old tells you she has a favorite designer). Here in Katie’s own daughter’s room she has installed the basic combination I am planning on – valance type canopy, roman shade for light control and ornamental bed curtains. It looks like there may be real curtains as well in the pink fabric although I am not planning to make those.

We knew for sure we wanted to pair two different fabrics, a solid and a pattern, just like all these examples.

This bedroom designed by Katie has to be one of the most pinned girls rooms ever and continues to be a favorite of mine. It demonstrates how successful this kind of arrangement can be with a daybed. I also love the idea of a small light fixture tucked into the canopy and you can just see the pierced brass lamp peeking out here. Many of these brass globes with scrolling arabesque pattern or karakusa were made in Japan and I am lucky enough to have a few.

I can’t resist showing how pretty this one looks in the stair hall. And I have another one if I wanted to use it over the bed.

Back to the topic at hand, Barrie Benson has a similar set of bed hangings made from an Indian block print in this lovely bedroom. I really like a soft fabric valance for my project, rather than a stiff pelmet.

All of the above designs have the canopies mounted to the ceiling. With the crown molding in the room, ours would need to be placed below it and I was a bit worried about whether or not that would look good. Inspiration examples were not hard to find, including Rebecca de Ravenel’s lovely blue and white New York apartment recently featured in Vogue. The dreamy soft canopy in her bedroom has just the feel I am going for.

Palmer Weiss used the same wallpaper as Rebecca in this oft blogged about show house bedroom which is another example with a daybed against the wall. Note that the box is also below the ceiling…

…as are these in another showhouse room by Elizabeth Dinkel.

Since I have arrived here in Doha I have been farming out projects to different upholsterers and fabricators to find the ones that I like and I think I have found the right person for these. Ironically Qataris love incredibly ornate over the top window treatments which means the skill set here is high. It’s just a matter of simplifying the fabrics and details. After a bit of searching through all the velvets and brocades I found a very nice cotton just the color of the walls (Benjamin Moore Silver Crest 1583). And as the client requested girly, I went into my stash (yes I even have a stash with me abroad) and pulled out a huge amount of yardage of an old and discontinued Rachel Ashwell Bemberg silk fabric called Trellis Rose or something like that. One of the main things we are planning on doing differently from all the examples above is reversing the fabrics – in other words, having the solid on the outside and the pattern as the lining. To jazz up the plainer exterior curtain and valance, I have found an elaborate and detailed trim.

For those of you who have been following me on Instagram, you’ve seen the incredible trims I have been finding here. Both vintage and new, made anywhere from Oman to India, designed for trimming abayas and saris, they are extraordinary and I have been incorporating them into decorating projects wherever I can.

I have one sweet ten year old who is very excited about hers!

Nov 18, 2013 By tokyojinja in Doha Move, Interior Design, Kids, Lighting, Textiles Tags: Barrie Benson, canopy beds, daybed, Elizabeth Dinkel, girls room, Katie Ridder, Palmer Weiss, Rebecca de Ravenel, sari trim, trim, valence, window treatments

Ja Mata Japan…Hello New Beginnings

So it rained pretty much the entire time of our last week in Japan and the weather on the day we left was a good indicator of my feelings. Since we’ve been home I’ve had no time to post or even lie low and sulk in the whirl of doctor’s appointments and quick visits to long-missed friends. I’m definitely in a state of denial – it doesn’t feel like I have left Japan forever – as we always spend the summer back in the US. And I know I’ll be back as I already have work visits planned for next year, but that is somehow different. For now, a chapter in our life story has finished and we are on to the next adventure, but I am continuing to feel a bit ambivalent about it all. I’ve said ja mata (see you later) but not sayonara (goodbye)!

Here at the beach things are mostly looking good. The boardwalk has not yet been entirely rebuilt since super storm Sandy, but our town was hit much more gently than some other shore villages. Although I lost a few things in the garden which is expected, the hydrangea report is excellent – to compare with the last two years, click here. I’ve still got the crazy variegated thing going on which causes people to stop and ask me how I did it, but honestly, I’m not sure.

I’ve got lots of projects up my sleeve, one including this amazing vintage sari trim. And get this, after all that crazy work on the bathroom last year, the shower has a leak. If we can’t just re-grout and re-seal, I may end up having to rip out the tile after all.

Managed to hit up a few of our antiquing spots and picked up a steal on a pair of chairs with fabulous lines for my Chicago friend and client. These are going in her living room…

…reupholstered in John Robshaw’s Lanka Oyster.

On the new horizons front, it looks like we have found a house in Doha. From my very first visit there I preferred one “compound” (think housing development) to all the others, both because I liked the architectural integrity and middle eastern lines of the houses and the very white (not beige) palette of the interior and exterior, but also because there seemed to be a sense of community centered around the pool and restaurant inside the gates. Of course everybody else likes this development too, so it was full, but my sweet husband went every week to see the managing agent to remind him of our existence on the waiting list. As luck would have it, one has become available and they are renovating as I type, which you can see by the load of construction materials out front. It’s as different from my Tokyo house as it could be.

I am an absolute sucker for all the lovely arches – door, openings and windows in the downstairs rooms. Ignore somebody’s old crib!

And the row of tiny ones in the master bedroom is divine too. The interior shell is very pure, especially when compared to some of the other places we saw.

Less exciting are the protruding can lights (how to fix those is still unresolved in my mind) and tile floor, but tiled floors seem to be de rigueur there. At least these are quite white and not brown/tan based.

I’ve had numerous inspiration photos filed away for a while, but none so apropos as Sarah Davison‘s lovely Tamarama apartment. The windows are incredibly similar, although obviously my floor can’t compete with her unglazed Moroccan terracotta tiles.

Her apartment in Sydney is in a 1920s Spanish Mission-style building, so in many ways, not that dissimilar. The living room boasts a few pieces quite like those I will be working with – Japanese screen, bamboo, and big glass bottles.

Along with the green, some lavender will be sneaking its way in there, much like the pillows on her sofa.

I have plans for a long-stored amazing piece of Chinese embroidery, an antique bed valence…

…as well as a piece of vintage silk ikat gifted to me by friend and designer Maja Lithander Smith. For more on Sarah Davison and her beautiful home, take a look at her website or the Design Sponge Sneak Peak.

Bittersweet to move on, but I am trying to roll with the excitement change can bring. And if anyone has a solution idea for those can lights, please let me know!!!!!

Jun 27, 2013 By tokyojinja in Doha Move, Expat Life, Gardens, Interior Design, Textiles Tags: antique textiles, arched windows, arches, byobu, Doha, hydrangea, Japan, Sarah Davison, sari trim