while you are making that holiday list

Those who know me know that I tend to get a little over-focused sometimes. And I know that I mentioned the great good stuff at Ancient Industries a few posts ago. But I didn't show you of any of the marvels I was raving about, and since these are the sugarplums that are dancing through my head this December I thought it would be fun to share.

There's lots more (as you'll see when you go). Elegantly selected and perfectly delectable. Useful, each and every one! Perhaps that's why it all seems so completely desirable this year. Who needs stuff they don't need? These days, there's no reason for it. (Not that there ever is.)

So. Be good to yourself. Go have a peek. It's beautiful.

Shop Ancient Industries. (But please go easy on any hedgehogs you might encounter. It was a war-time thing.)

All photos and text, above,
via (of course) Ancient Industries.

How to: Brick Patio

Fell in love with a bunch of bricks last fall.

While scouting materials for a friend's landscape project, a pallet of completely magnificent antique bricks appeared at the building yard and begged to be taken home.

Found space in the backyard: simply had to. Two brilliant students of architecture set them out in unique pattern, and we created a sweet little launch pad for small summer soirees.

It's the perfect place for a single cup of tea, accompanied by a good book, on a spring afternoon. A cozy cup of coffee, while wrapped in a warm coat, on a winter morn.

We are smitten with our new old bricks. Isn't it marvelous to bring into one's life treasures from the past, rescued by someone who carefully saved them?

I thank goodness these were salvaged from their first home. They have found a new one.

(please note the comment section for great how-to info)

Room for a Boy. Space to Read.

as the resident of the room was a manga fan,

it seemed a good idea to create walls that

echoed ancient japanese landscapes via superflat...

and i tried to do so in a way that

would last for a good 10 years or more,

still pleasing after the manga moved on.

the child's roll-top desk: an eBay find.

tatami mat found in menlo park;

canvas water bucket

courtesy of the French Army.

antique scoop draped with ship's standard

holds ancient document

(pirate's treasure, as it's quite old)

re-purposed french army canvas creates

the tent beneath the bed;

duvet covers are vintage, via ebay

& here

again

design

victoria thorne

room for a boy

an interior.

just a glimpse.

or two (and here).

design:

victoria thorne

photography:

norma lopez for

the mercury news

Gorgeous Ghosts I

weimar, 2007

photos copyright victoria thorne

Something Different is in the Air

Looking for Something Different?

Got it.

This is a bit of fun, out-takes from a shoot that was actually for a house that was under construction (I selected many of the finishing materials and colors for the interiors and exterior).

Margot, Megan and I took a few moments off to do a riff on "Brooke Astor Meets Eloise by Way of The Little House," or something like that (Brooke Astor had just passed away, and I was reading Patchwork Child, one of her autobiographies, and was enchanted by it).

I'd hoped to create a little advertising campaign for my design business around one the other shots--a close up, with the binoculars.

It was to say:

"Looking for Something Different?

Victoria Thorne Design."

Photo Design|Style: Victoria Thorne

Photographer: Margot Hartford

Design for a Willow Glen Cottage

When a place has good bones, be it a cottage or a palace or a treehouse in the woods, one simply doesn't want to disrupt this fine circumstance.

Staying true to what already works...what is already beautiful...is important to the harmony of the house and those who inhabit it.

A lovely little cottage wants to grow with reason and care. A palace wants an Inigo Jones to create that perfect addition. And a treehouse, done well, feeds the souls of those who must climb the ladder to get there.

Therefore, I believe, one must try to build without rattling the bones.

Long ago, at this cottage, the sweet 20's garage might have housed an early version of Henry Ford's masterwork. Perhaps there was a cart, also, or a wagon, or some such thing--something to bring home baskets of cherries and bushels of plums from the surrounding orchards.

All things considered, the little building cried out for a good solid set of doors that looked like they'd been crafted to keep the cavalry mounts in for the eve. Somehow, in it's soul, the now-vintage space seemed far grander than a garage/fruit drying shed.

It might have held cherries, but I couldn't help thinking that the first inhabitant of the sturdy structure might've been a horse, rather than a horseless carriage. Anyway, it--the structure, not the long-ago-imagined horse--wanted us to make these doors. Bespoke, as it were.

Either way, I find myself hoping the Buffalo Soldiers would have approved wholeheartedly.

Above, the as-yet unpainted doors await final touches.

design: victoria thorne

Hearth for Home

The truly important part of home design is the collaborative effort behind it.

When the project is finished, the goal is to have created something that is useful and beautiful: the design needs to fit, like a glove, those who live there.

If you can create a space in which your clients can live well and happily...a space that holds, with care, the essence of their lives...then you've done your job.

To get a call from someone gifted with a great eye, an open spirit, and the desire to roll up their sleeves and work toward this vision with you...that is, clearly, the best of all possible worlds. This project is that.

When we started the work, I had just returned from France and had seen, in the Louvre, the original foundation of the Great Tower. The rough beauty of the 12th century stones was astonishing. There was a sort of quiet enchantment to the whole business...something that made you just want to be there, a solid peace.

To build a fireplace--the virtual heart of the project--and incorporate a bit of the feeling from this remarkable fortress seemed ideal.

The result sits firmly centered in the back of the yard now, holding down it's own little fort. It is solid and well-used, and has a bit of a sense of humor in it's stout and stalwart appearance. (When riffing--in California and elsewhere--on an ancient french chateau, a grain of Cleeseian Salt seems advisable.) The fireplace became the inspiration for much of the building and masonry that followed. Grand in it's own happy way, it brings a quiet bit of peace to the family on many a weekend, and work night.

A Little Cottage Project

This week: will be showing a few details from the cottage I've been working on...first, a little taste of the barbeque doors. The feeling I was going for was a bit of Brian Keith's groovy cali-ranch in the 1961 "Parent Trap" (one of my favorite movies, as a kid...still is...doesn't it just make you want to run away to camp?)...with a little touch of Connecticut Yankee thrown in.

The doors are set in the outdoor grill-o-rama, which is actually pretty subtle (read: not on steroids, thank goodness)...so these were sort of a fillip, adding a dash of elan with a sense of humor.