Maison Decor: February 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Pink and Blue~do they go together?

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Ah, yes pink and blue.....

The question of pink and blue going together isn't really a question for me.

An old hooked rug I picked up at auction has coral pink and aqua blues in it.

I'm planning to paint my bathroom vanity in duck egg blue

so I dragged the rug up to the bathroom

and threw it on the floor.

This bathroom makeover kind of stalled

and I am ready to set about finishing the task.

I wondered about introducing the pink Antoinette color into the bathroom color

palette along with the the duck egg blue~

and as I was thinking about this pink and blue idea an

old childhood memory popped into my head while I showered.

When I was in second grade I was invited to color at

my grandmother's neighbor's house, Lucy.

I loved to color~and I colored a page with a puppy dog

and used powder blue and baby pink.

It was so pretty and when I finished it off I proudly showed

it off to Lucy and her friend who remarked,

"Oh! Pink and Blue don't go together!!" and laughed knowingly.

I was perplexed....what did she mean that pink and blue don't go together?

I was trying to understand why she said that, when my picture was so pretty.

Well I couldn't understand it, and I was too embarrassed to ask why.

When she laughed at me, I didn't feel very good about my coloring~like it was a failure.

I don't have many crystal clear memories, but this one is clear.
And it popped into my head while I pondered adding Antoinette pink to the blue~
funny how that happens, isn't it? A vintage memory just comes to the surface and
you can remember exactly how it felt that day.

I thought to myself this morning that I was so

glad that woman's comments didn't crush my creative spirit.

I was glad I survived it even though it was a sting so strong I didn't forget it.

And now my house is decorated with lots of pink and blue~

and that woman has probably been dead and buried for a while now.

Wonder if you get to read blogs that apply to you up in heaven orwherever you go.

And then something strange happened.

I checked my email this morning

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what was there.

My sister Susan's (almost) 2 year old twins had just colored

their first pages out of a coloring book!

And it was a puppy!!

And look at how much fun my god-daughter,

Audris, had with her crayons!

Seeing the puppy coloring book pages was a jolt~

Its so strange and wonderful when the universe sends you a message~

"That was awful about the negative comment on your artwork

when you were little~and pink and blue DO go together"

Yes they do.

About Mora Clocks~

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The story of the Mora clock is quite romantic~

the farming town of Mora, Sweden, fell upon hard times in the late 1700s.

The farmers all banded together and started making clocks!

Each farmer's family had a specific task,

like in a production line, and together the town

created these unique clocks to sell to the wealthy.

They made about 1000 clocks a year for 80 years.

The clocks were sold without the wooden case~it was up to the buyer

to arrange for a carpenter to make a clock case for the clock works.

This explains why each Mora clock looks so different.

These Mora clocks were for sale at the
Brimfield Fair when I visited last September.
They all averaged roughly $3500 a piece, and they are reproductions.

This Mora clock in one of the booths at Brimfield
was an original, with the same price~!
You can find many examples online as vendors are uploading
their inventory to the web to capture American shoppers
as this clock is the darling of the antique world right now.

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This pretty mora clock has the original works

and is for sale in my state of Massachusetts!

This shop has an extensive selection of authentic Mora clocks.

Early Mora clocks have the inscription of A S S Mora

on the face, which are the initials of the first clockmaker in Mora.

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Early secondary paint in pretty pink covers this clock case!

This looks much like Annie Sloan Antoinette and Old White with dark wax!

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This original 1820s Mora clock has a signed face as well.

If you are shopping for an authentic Mora clock

you must check out Cupboards and Roses,

the Swedish shop located in Sheffield Massachusetts.

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This 1810 Mora clock has its original paint with a garland of roses

and a painted landscape scene reflecting the popularity of chinoiserie.

The clock were often painted in lighter colors such as white or powder blue

as they better reflected the candle light and were easier

to read during the long dark winter.

The curvy female shape and the figure eight shape clock cases was standard

however taller and thinner cases were constructed in Northern Sweden.

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This tall Mora has its original blue and salmon paint.

The idea of a band of poor farmers coming together to create

a thing of beauty that is now iconic is wonderful to imagine.

This is what I have learned and can share with you about Mora clocks.

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Take a peek at this original and rare Mora 31" wall clock.

In cream, taupe and green it is for sale at only (!) $6500.

And a peek at the reproduction mora clocks we used to sell at Maison Decor.
They were very popular, and we sold hundreds!

Shopping and Decorating Ideas

Super excited over the new things that I just picked up for my shop.

Number one on the list is this vintage crystal waterfall pendant!

I have a pair~so that makes it doubly exciting!

Truth be told, I did not want to give these up.

But I can't keep everything for myself~

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This image of waterfall pendants has been in my files for a long time~

don't you love how this looks? However these fixtures shown are modern,

and I prefer vintage glam like the ones I just bought at auction.

I had to fight to get them~there was an antique lighting guy in the crowd. Grrr.

Crystal Waterfall $130 each SOLD

And check out the heavy molded pear crystals

and the faceted ball crystal at the bottom.

They are the real nice ones with the metal pins,

not the shiny gold clasp type pins.

You could remove and sell all the crystals and make a profit!

I don't expect these to be around for long~
(note: one is sold and the other reserved for a sale)

Watercolor of Roses $90

This vintage watercolor is in a chippy gilded frame and has romantic appeal.

Botanical in gilded oval frame $48

There are a pair of these in the shop~

one is pansy the other wild violets.

I picked up several pieces at the auction for the shop~

when I pick what I want to bid on, it has to

be something I would put in my own home.

That is my rule~if I wouldn't want it,

I can't imagine expecting someone else to buy it.

Wouldn't it be nice to do a whole wall in pink antique cake plates?

These came from separate sources, but look so pretty together.

Antique Pink Cabbage Rose Cake Plate $18

Pretty cabbage roses with gold scrolly details

with dashes of lusterous pink.

You may wonder why one plate is $10 more than another~

if I can get a good buy,

I will pass it along to my shoppers.

Antique Pink Cake Plate $28

This plate has a sugared pink color

that fades to white in the center

where the floral bouquet and sprig are featured.

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Wouldn't it be nice to have a variety of cake plates?

With their cute handles they would make fabulous chargers!

You could do bohemian style table settings like this one.

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I love this~~

A wall of mismatched special china!

This could be filled with cake plates~or pink plates!

Pair of Ruby flash ashtrays on marble and brass pedestals $30

Now I know~who needs an ashtray~

but look at what I am thinking on these.

They have great bases and that little

brass rosette unscrews and the ashtray

comes right off. You could drill a hole in a

pretty plate or bowl and screw it right on.

Here is is with an old cut glass lamp globe in my shop

that is sitting on the base. Think of all the things you could do with these

two marvelous pedestal "ashtrays".

They could even be wired into lamps.

How about drilling a hole in a teapot and

turning it into a frenchy lamp for your kitchen counter?

I really had to think that this would be needed by SOMEONE out there

who has a light fixture in a bathroom that they want to replace~

but they still need to plug in a hairdryer!

That "someone" still wants some glam in her bathroom

despite needing a plug.

Ornate french style wall sconce $29

Top it off with a cut crystal globe or hurricane and

you are on your way to a frenchified powder room!

Where else are you gonna find this?

Mid century brass serving tray $15SOLD

Last, but not least~the deal of the day is this brass tray.

Perfect for the front hall for mail, or in the bathroom holding powders and soaps~

set on your console table or sideboard and stacked with a few drink essentials

it becomes an instant petite bar station.

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Look at this simple idea: a bar created by using a tray~!
I have an idea for a bar cart that I hope to
work on this spring or summer.
Having a bar station in your home or apartment gives the
feeling of a party can happen at any moment!
Don't you love that?

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Thanks for looking at my latest finds~

I have joined forces with my sister in Kansas City

where she is busy scouring the mid-west for me to add to my inventory.

My sister and picker~Susan

And you can count on me to be leaving the
auction house with treasures for all of us!

Leaving on a sweet note~

A pretty Mora wall clock

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The white painted staircase, the cow painting,

the bucket of garden flowers and of course, a Mora clock.

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This photo was taken by Heather Bullard, and I have always loved it.

But I recall reading something more about this house...

who lives here, or maybe it was about who painted the cow...

if you know anything I would be glad if you could share.

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Ever since I saw Brooke Giannetti's mora clock

I wanted one. Such a pretty graceful shape!

These two photos are similar in that they have

white painted stairs and vintage furnishings

in addition to the clocks. Brookes version is creamier,

the first version is pure white~both stunning.

Now this miniature mora clock is for sale in my online

shop at www.shopmaisondecor.com

I have one in my living room finally and love the look.

Are you a Mora clock fan?

Its been almost a week and I haven't picked up my camera. My creative brain was cruising right along when I had to switch gears and start the taxes. I get all the numbers for my husbands business, my business and our personal taxes ready for our accountant. It is a big undertaking~and sucks the life right out of me. At the same time my dad came up from Florida to stay with me for a week for some serious dental work and I was helping him coordinate his flurry of appointments, visits in town to Boston Tufts Dental, and keeping my fingers crossed that all would go well. We had school vacation week too, which meant our visitation with our 10 year old meant more than drop off and pick up at school and helping with homework in the afternoon~instead he was in the middle of hockey finals. His team, The Charlestown Townies, kept winning and winning and that meant more games to attend and more dinners prepared early, and the dogs needing to wait for us to get home well past their feeding hour....it has been a hectic week around here.

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I realized I had been enjoying a fairytale existence~and with that came tremendous creativity and output!

This week confirmed for me that there is no way I could be a blogger with a full time mommy job or a 9-5 job. So to all of you who are able to do it and keep up a decent blog~hats off!