A Look at Baskets

Baskets are some of those key versatile objects in your home. They can add organization and serve as scupltural elements in any room. Here are some great examples and some selections from Installation Antiques - a wonderful shop out of Houston, Texas owned by Becki and Jur van der Oord.

Photos: Skabelonloft, Coastal Living, The Sister's Agency, My Scandanavian Retreat, Purple Area, Keith Scott Morton, Tom Scheerer

American Display Basket

Swiss Provision Basket 1930s

American Remco Trashcan

Ditch Tulip Basket 1930s

Dutch Metal Basket

Dutch Bicycle Basket

Belgium 1920s

Find Your Way to Freeman's Alley

Freeman's family of services are tailor made for pleasure. Among the entities making up this brand are Freeman's Alley Restaurant, the Freeman's Sporting Club and the FSC Barber Shop. Taavo Somer is the leader of a group of friends striving to achieve a balance between the city and country life. Everything they touch has the naturalist/new antiquarian vibe that brings class and traditional craftsmanship to their products. Together they've created three very good things. Find work shirts and suits at the Sporting Club, eat and drink within the rustic chic interiors at Freeman's Restaurant, and finally trim that grizzly beard at the Barber Shop. Each experience, I assure you will be stylish and satisfying.

By the Sea

Artist Christopher Marley collects and frames beautiful specimens ranging from beetles and butterflies to carnivorous plants and crystals. Always in awe of the design found in nature, these pieces amaze me. Here are just some of the subjects he mounts and frames.

Shots from Sardinia

We're back from vacation! Happy to be home, but already missing the beauty of Sardinia. Here are some HallReady shots to share. This first one is an altar from a church built in the 1300's.
House facades and cafe tiled floors

Agriturismo at its finest. Food fresh from the farm served in this rustic farmhouse.

Sculptures from a precious church in Porto Cervo

The Sardinian crest. Some show blind folds, others show headbands. In the middle of the XVIIIth century, the representation was fixed: the Moors faced left and were eye-banded. A given reason for this is the lack of liberalism of the Piemontese government against the Sardinian population

Porto Cervo Centre had some amazing boutiques. These snapshots are from an interior design shop. Regretfully, I didn't get the name of it because I was running out of there after they asked that I stop taking pictures. This shell shelf is over 13 feet tall.

Coral is quite popular in Sardinia and this display has some beautiful pieces.

This is a matching mantel and mirror set - unbelievable craftsmanship.

Shots from the streets in Cagliari

Our first hotel in Cagliari had the most amazing paper exhibit in the lobby. Here you see paper costumes on manequins placed in a fountain.

Sit and Read at ACL's Pop Up Flea

Sit and Read is a source for Mid-century and industrial furniture and accessories. You can see their pieces by appointment only in their Williamsburg showroom or peruse their goods on their blog. However, what I really recommend is to check them out at the ACL Pop Up Flea. Michael Williams and Randy Goldberg curate this market of men's goods in Manhattan. Local merchants help shoppers, "get handsome". Beyond clothes there are also home goods and vintage items for decor. Turn your man onto Michael's blog, A Continuous Lean (ACL). It's fabulous! Sit & Read at ACL's Pop Up FleaAuthentic NYC/Brooklyn bus scrolls Medical poster on red blood cells

Vintage rolling shelves in orange

Antique quilt channeling the work of Gee's Bend