“A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
- from poet John Keats’ Endymion
The other day at a jobsite, we were with our cabinetmaker installing some new custom cabinets. After the wardrobe closet was installed, we all stepped back in admiration, and our fabricator quoted Keats saying “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
We couldn’t agree more! Keats’ words resonated. We all admired and found joy in the built-in cabinet with its dark, oak-stain, beautiful wood grain, elegant construction and handsome hardware.
In our Summer Notes, we share some of our favorite pieces and design elements that consistently bring us great joy - the furniture classics or design ideas that stand the test of time. We took a look back through our projects and are sharing those photos that always provoke us to say ‘that was a good idea!’
This is why we love our job - to bring beauty to our clients and their surroundings.
We also have some fun summer finds, and our usual ‘What We Are Reading.’ Let us know your favorites. We love to hear from you.
Here’s to some summer beauty!
Terrell and Joyce
Beautiful Design that Stands the Test of Time
These pieces always seem to bring joy when added to a room.
Classic Eames Stool
We’ve used this Eames oak stool in several projects because when it works, it works!
Leopard Pattern
Leopard is a “neutral” and can be used in a variety of colors and applications.
White Saarinen Table
This table, round or oval, works in almost every scenario and with almost any style of chair. It’s definitely a classic beauty!
White Marble
Real stone is always in fashion and stands the test of time (unlike this relationship.)
Statement Light Fixture
We always like a statement light fixture, but one per room is enough.
Keat’s poem continues…
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
We agree! The above classics will keep their beauty for years and years and years.
Check out our portfolio to see more of our project photos. Lots of new beauty to browse!
Summer Colors
Spring for some colorful pieces that will brighten your summer day.
Hip, young ladies in Copenhagen were sporting colorful flip flops with their stylish outfits. Hurry and get in on this fashion trend.
Bright up your husband’s suit for the next summer wedding with this colorful striped tie by Rowing Blazers.
Up your camping game with these colorful tumblers in colors apple/mint, tomato/blue, pink/mustard. So happy, you’ll even forget why you said ‘yes’ to camping.
Get rid of those gift with purchase Trader Joe’s containers and use this decorative trellis planter in coral red.
What We Are Reading
In their heyday, department stores loomed large in daily life, especially for women.
Given how much department stores focused on female consumers, it is perhaps surprising that there have not been more women in charge of such businesses.
This carefully researched book focuses on how three women, Hortense Odlum (Bonwit Teller), Dorothy Shaver (Lord & Taylor) and Geraldine Stutz (Henri Bendel), each turned these stores into retail meccas. It is a great read with lessons in fashion trends, marketing and customer service along with glimpses into each woman's struggle to balance work and home life.
Find at your local bookstore or linked here.
I remembered Dominick Dunne began his crime reporting with Vanity Fair after the death of his daughter. I knew nothing about the Dunne family other than a little bit about this terrible murder, and also a little bit about their famous family members, writers John Dunne and his wife Joan Didion.
The Friday Afternoon Club, written by Griffin Dunne, the son of Dominick and brother of Dominique, is the wild and true story of his family. Growing up in Los Angeles and ultimately living in New York, the author takes you on his roller coaster life story with loads of Hollywood stories and tidbits, wickedly funny family escapades and ultimately a family’s heart-wrenching loss.
You will not put this book down; it’s SO good.
Call your local bookstore or find it here.
What We Are Watching
Nothing Good - send recommendations please!
And let us leave you with the poem by Keats….
Endymion
By John Keats
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read:
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.
Joyce and Terrell