Hermann house renovation

[pinkytoe]

Very nice. Good to have a handy hubby!

[iris lilies]

My new decor inspiration is an Instagram account that perfectly captures the aesthetic for our Hermann house. She shows things I want, things I already have, or things I have shopped for but rejected due to functional reasons. It is perfect for me.

That Insta account is: our1925home

My other decorating guru is Laurel Bern, love her work and her blog. There was a period of about 18 months where nearly every week she touched on some aspect of interior design I was working on. I also listen to YouTuber Garrett LeChic, a nice young interior designer who designs in a traditional style.

Garrett, on the other hand, lives in some sort of modern California house that never looks interesting at all but his furnishings are nice if a little bit too…18th century wannabe for me. But I like to hear him talk about current decorating trends and problems.

[catherine]

I looked up that instagram account, and I agree--I would be very comfortable in that setting.

[iris lilies]

I looked up that instagram account, and I agree--I would be very comfortable in that setting.

Laurel has a kick-ass condo in a Boston brownstone. She is gearing up to make mega changes to her kitchen, staircase, and lower level. Her ceilings are around 14” and she has stunning plaster work in her 1bedroom unit.

[littlebittybobby]

I am going balls-out on my helluva kick-ass backyard cottage. I got more VERY exquisite file cabinets, salvaged from a public defenders' office. Yup. So you kids will dirty your drawers when you see how awesome and amay-zeen it is. Sure will.

[iris lilies]

44418D73-81B4-4E0D-A803-B317591E1E83.jpgI have finally selected the dishes we will use in Hermann. It took two years. I am a dinnerware aficionado, and I have to be careful not to collect too much stuff. Years ago, I gave away several sets of dishes.


I knew I wanted something with a 1940s vibe. Fiestaware was always a possibility. I really would’ve loved some Clarice Cliff inspired cottage scene dishes, but they are very hard to find and are super expensive, and then I didn’t feel that I should actually use them hard like in the microwave and in the dishwasher.


Then I came across this pattern that everyone of a certain age has seen and I decided Oh yeah, this is it! These inspire a Cottage feel, they’re easy to get, they’re not very expensive. So I buy bits and pieces on eBay.


The pattern is Franciscan Ivy.

[catherine]

44418D73-81B4-4E0D-A803-B317591E1E83.jpgI have finally selected the dishes we will use in Hermann. It took two years. I am a dinnerware aficionado, and I have to be careful not to collect too much stuff. Years ago, I gave away several sets of dishes.


I knew I wanted something with a 1940s vibe. Fiestaware was always a possibility. I really would’ve loved some Clarice Cliff inspired cottage scene dishes, but they are very hard to find and are super expensive, and then I didn’t feel that I should actually use them hard like in the microwave and in the dishwasher.


Then I came across this pattern that everyone of a certain age has seen and I decided Oh yeah, this is it! These inspire a Cottage feel, they’re easy to get, they’re not very expensive. So I buy bits and pieces on eBay.


The pattern is Franciscan Ivy.

Very nice... I can see the table set with [my] emerald green table cloth, and maybe unbleached muslin napkins. They almost look hand-painted, which I love.

Another decision made!

[iris lilies]

Very nice... I can see the table set with [my] emerald green table cloth, and maybe unbleached muslin napkins. They almost look hand-painted, which I love.

Another decision made!

Supposedly this pattern IS hand painted, but that doesn’t have much meaning to me. It just means someone sat at a factory table and slapped paint on a predetermined stamped pattern.

This pattern started in the 1940s and was made through the 1970s, and they do vary somewhat. I have purchased dinner plates from several sources, and depending on what decade it was made, they vary a bit in size and shape, but just a bit.

I like buying dishes this way. I don’t have to buy mugs or coffee cups. Who uses coffee cups anymore anyway?

I also like that I can go back in time to purchase vintage shaped bowls. I hate the modern bowls that you get with modern dinnerware sets. Also, that particular kind of ceramic dinnerware seems to retain heat from the microwave oven, but this old style Franciscan ware does not.

I think these are probably full of lead, but at my advanced age I don’t think it much matters. I’m not sure I would feed small children on these plates though.

[catherine]

Speaking of dinnerware, DH and I have used a checkerboard Fishs Eddy pattern for years. We bought the set on a visit to NYC--we passed by the shop at their downtown Broadway location and just purchased the set on impulse. We haven't used it since we've been up here, but we just recently brought up back up from NJ, and we decided to donate our cheap second-hand dishes and go back to using our beloved Fishs Eddy. Problem was we had broken 3 of the plates over the years. I was happy to live with 6, but we only had 5. What if you have two couples over?? That pattern has long been discontinued.

I searched Replacements, EBay, and nothing turned up--finally I found an Etsy seller who had one plate. It was $60 plus $10 shipping, but I had to buy it to complete a set of 6. 8 would be better, but we can only seat 6 at our table, so what's the point of buying more?

$70 was an extravagant purchase for one plate, but we made the choice to use our Fishs Eddy pattern, so we had to pay it.

ETA: adding the Fishs Eddy web address. Some of you know how much I love whimsy, and Fishs Eddy has it in spades. https://fishseddynyc.com

[iris lilies]

Cause she made me look up those fishes eddy plates! I assume you have the black ones. I see they also come in red. I like them.