More of This @#$ Ballroom!!!!!

I love it when people 

(you know who you are.....) 

ask me questions about what I'm showing you 

and it neatly dovetails into what I was planning to write about in the next post.

Lots of you (2) asked about the servers against the wall.....

Eric Roth Photography

If you notice the pipe running from the floor to the ceiling.....

you may have an inkling of what I was covering up.....

There were honking big ugly radiators.

IN THE

 MIDDLE

 OF MY SHOWHOUSE ROOM!!!

I drew up the design for these babies, and had my workroom, Drape It, make them for me out of plywood.

Then I had them upholstered in more of the cabbage rose linen.

I found the legs in a catelogue that we screwed into the bottom of the boxes.

Eric Roth Photography

We used cream colored fabric cording for the criss-cross effect, and glued  fabric covered buttons over the points of the diamonds.

I had glass cut to fit for the tops, and this way created serving areas in the ballroom.

These cabinets had no back, so we were able to just slide them over the radiators.

I am very clever!!!!!! 

The server above was used for the dessert station.

There was LOTS of chocolate.....

I didn't have nothin'!!!

The other server was used for BOOZE!!!!!

Eric Roth Photography

Chocolate and Booze.......

PARTAY!!!!

Sooooooo......

The radiators were just one of the awkward elements to the space.

The two bay windows were lovely, but how the @#$ was I going to decorate them to make them make sense in a BALLROOM?????

Soooooooo.......

In the dancing area, I placed a chaise, so someone who was tired from all that there dancing, could have a pretty place to put up her tootsies.

Eric Roth Photography

I'm sorry the picture is so blurry, but I had to blow it up from a scanned image.....

In 1997 we didn't have digital stuff, ya know?????

In the other bay window area, I fell back on the tried and true trick of lazy decorators.....

I stuck a topiary in the window!!!!!

A really big sucker!!!!

I still have some of this ivy hanging around. 

Fake ivy is a really useful thingy!!!!!

I put some on my outside trellis, and have received nothing but grief from my family and friends.

Look you guys.....

NOTHING WAS GROWING THERE!!!

I wanted at least something green.

So that's it for today.

It's so much fun to look back on my old designs and realize that I still like them.

Latah, Gatah

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11th Answer part of OY VEY Q&A Tuesday

Well everybody, my thumb still hurts.

I had my family over for dinner last night, and there were 4 doctors sitting around the table discussing my cut thumb.

Of course,

no one did anything,

 because my father (the oldest doctor at the table), told them to leave it alone.....

My youngest brother,

 (the one who operated on me),

 wanted my oldest brother

 (the one who usually tends to bleeding emergencies in the Speert  households)

to change my outer bandage, (aka: band-aid.).

By now the band-aid is covered in blue and green and white chalk paint.

My brother told me not to get my thumb wet, but he didn't say anything about keeping it unpainted.....,

But my Dad

(the oldest doctor at the table.....)

insisted that I just put another band-aid over the existing one, since the bleeding had stopped, and we didn't want no more of that there blood coming out to possibly stain any white slipcovers.......

Betsy Speert's medical fact #1...

If you put a clean band-aid over a dirty one, it looks like your finger is clean!!!!!

My sister, Nancy

 (another doctor)

 wisely stayed out of the conversation....

 but as she was sitting next to me, I graciously and generously

made

let her look at my band-aid.

Yeah.... OK.....you can maybe tell from this story.....

I'm the youngest of my siblings.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now!!!!

ON TO THE QUESTIONS!!!!

The first one is from Debi Jaynes

Tried to to the above link--wow too early in the AM for that. Love your tropial bedroom ideas in Trad Home and as I live in the Tropics, would love to do the bead-board on the headboard wall in our bedroom. What is the best height? I was thinking to go just past the top finials of the headboard which still leaves a good bit of wall. Finials are a bit over 5 ft--it's one of those really nice iron beds in a verdi finish. Rest is green walls, mahogany floors and an antique persian rug. Thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

She's referring to my guestroom in Florida.

My advice is to go up more than just to above the headboard.

It's just as important to consider the proportion of bead-board to the height of the ceiling, as it is in considering the height of the bed.

I don't know what your ceiling height is, but if it's 8 feet, and the bed is 5 feet, I would probably do the bead-board up to the ceiling.

If your ceilings are high, as many are in Florida, then I might do the bead-board up to around 6 feet.

If I were in Florida, I would measure my wall for you.

But I'm not.

I'm in Massachusetts, serving dinner to my family with a dirty band-aid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next.....

RKay asks.....

I think I was the one who pushed your number up to a more desirable one :) I found your blog and spent the entire day here content, enjoying your beautiful homes, design tips and witty sense of humor. Does this get me brownie points for getting my question answered? I did come up with one naturally during my day here, so here goes: I just love design, so I appreciate many design styles. The problem is, I'm saying I love it to everything! How does one pinpont their own style and stay true to it without getting sidetracked? I guess this is a general question without a picture, but I could include something if you would like. Thanks! ps, love the Sanderson room, gorgeous! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a hard question.....

It's easy to get distracted, side-tracked, and confused when trying to figure out your style.

I think the most important question is: what feels the most like home to you?

What's going to make the tension leave your body, when you come home at the end of the day, walk through your front door, and really make you feel HOME.

Just because you think a style is pretty, doesn't mean it's going to make you happy to live in it.

Once you've chosen what makes you feel the best...

STICK TO IT!!!!!

I used to repeatedly bark at my clients.

PICK A STYLE!!!!

ANY STYLE!!!

(isn't it cute, how I let them think they were in control?????)

The main point, is once you have the major pieces, and have a direction, 

Don't go off into some other style!!!!!

Hope that helped.

It's hard to do it.

Unless someone pays me a gazillion dollars, and then I am able to figure it out.

'Cuz I'm the

goddess of decorating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next....

Virginia Allyn asks.....

Betsy, I'm ponderously decorating my apartment and have made several hideous errors along the way. I would be interested to hear the story of the worst decorating mistake you ever made. (Misery loves company and all that...) 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Silly, silly girl.....

I've never made a mistake....

Decorating or otherwise, 

in my life!!!!!!!

OR!!!!!

THERE ARE NO MISTAKES!!!!

ONLY LEARNING EXPERIENCES!!!!

The truth of the matter is.....

I've blocked them all from my memory.

That is one of the great benefits of aging!!!!!!!

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Ballroom Dancing...and Eating....and Drinking!!!

Continuing right along.....with the ballroom stories.....and how I lived to tell the tale after decorating such a

BIG

room.....!!!!!

As I said, 

I arranged the room into dancing, eating, chatting and drinking areas.

This is part of the chatting area,

You could also eat and drink here!!!!!

The coffee table is higher than normal.

This is actually called a tea table when it's this height.

So to confuse things.....

I put a coffee service on it!!!!

 I borrowed all the china and silverware from Schreves Crump and Lowe.

For those of you who don't live in the Boston area, that's our version of Tiffany's.

I had to actually buy the napkins.

Sheesh.....

But I still have them and use them on lots of photo shoots.

I piled the dessert stand with little cakes, and hoped the photographer would wait until after the shoot before he ate them.

His name is Eric Roth, and we've been working on shoots together for around 30 years.

He always wants to eat the props!!!!!

I controlled him by promising that he could take home the Chinese food after the shoot.

I bought food that I thought would photograph nicely....

The split second the last shot of the food was done,

 Eric had an egg roll in his mouth.....

The sterling silver chopsticks are a nice touch!!!

Now don't get too excited,

but I actually used.....

(wait for it.....)

Real Flowers!!!!!

This was all set up in the dining area of the ballroom.....

I placed a table behind the central sofa, and arranged chairs facing out towards the dance floor.

I'm going to have to end this post here.....

I cut my thumb yesterday while I was slicing an apple.

I cut it really deeply.

I would have had to go to the emergency room for stitches, 

but my brother 

(the doctor) 

was visiting my parents next door. 

So I went over there and showed him what I had done.....

He zipped me right off to CVS 

where we picked up some butterfly band aids 

 and then he taped me together just like a real pro.

However.....

It hurts like a son of a gun,

so I'm going to stop here.

I know, I know, if I hadn't taken so long to tell you my tale of woe,

 I could have shared more decorating.

However.....,

I like to complain.....

Latah, Gatah

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Betsy's Bodacious Ballroom!!!!!

O-KAY CAMPERS!!!!!

Let's continue the story of the Back Bay Ball Room.....

Design Times Magazine/ Eric Roth Photography

For those of you joining the party late, the story begins here.....

SOOOOOO......

as I was saying.

I was able to go hog wild in my use of the Sanderson Fabric.

I could choose any fabric that made my little heart sing

 (as long as Sanderson approved it.....)

So.....

quelle surprise!!!!!

I CHOSE A CABBAGE ROSE!!!!!

I am truly a sucker for a tea stained look, and this pattern had the whole aged faded charm thing going for it.

One reader asked how I decided to do a red room.

Well, I don't decide on a color when designing a space.

I choose the fabric I like, and then work off its colors.

If I were to design around this fabric today, with today's styles and fashions, I would have chosen a cream color to match the rose fabric's background for the sofas and drapery trim.

But I did this room in 1997, and styles change.

One way I used to hold down the cost of a showhouse space, was to work with as much of the existing room as possible.

I was able to keep the color of the woodwork, from the painted window and door casings right up to the gaudy gold paint on the ceiling details and mirrors.

The great thing about the rose linen pattern, was the yellowy green leaves brought out the color of the crappy gold paint, and made it look like it was actually OK.

Normally in a room of this grandeur, the paint would have been a gold leaf, or a facsimile there of.

But this gold was like

 cheap radiator paint!!!!! 

Sooooooo.......

the mirrors were already on the wall.....

The chandeliers were already hung from the ceiling.......

So I did what any crazed decorator would do, and I had the walls covered in fabric.

LOTS AND LOTS OF FABRIC!!!!!!

I arranged the furniture to create a dancing area and a hanging out and eating area.

'Cuz that's what you does at a pahtay!!!!

In the dancing area I designed a dance floor that I had painted on MDF and placed in a cut out area in the middle of the wall to wall sisal carpeting.

(The floors of the room were really horrible, and I didn't want to have to refinish them. So I covered them with sisal.....)

Design Times Magazine/ Eric Roth Photography

The dance floor has a poem running around the perimeter that I wrote, 

myself!!!!!

I can't remember it......

It went something like....

"Kick up your heels and 

dance the night away,

Something, something, something,

Until the break of day."

OY, OY, OY,

my old mind can't remember......

I am such a hostage to detail, that I even went to a (cheap) shoe store to find a gold pair of heels.

Then I added the diamond clips!!!

I used to apply this kind of attention to things for my boyfriends....

They thought it meant I liked them.....

They didn't know that I am just project driven!!!!

At the end of the dance area was the dais for the musicians.

I had a semicircle made out of plywood and covered it in the sisal.

All around the ballroom were needle point pillows with 

pithy sayings!!!!!!

Designed by Moi!!!!!

Needle pointed by Moi!!!!!

For the musicians pillows I came up with four words that ended in "ate"

Coming up with those four words

 created much hilarity in the Speert Design Office.

There are lots of words that end in "ate".

Really good words.....

BUT I COULDN'T USE THEM!!!!

I am so grown up.....

So that's it for the dance area of this room.

I really need to go outside for my walk.

I had a check up this week and told the doctor that I walked at least every other day.

I am sort of a liar...

Latah, Gatah

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OY VEY Q&A!! on Wednesday!!!!!

Yesterday was a loooooonnnnnggggg day.

So I didn't get to work on my blog.

But it was Tuesday!!!!!

THE FIRST TUESDAY OF THE MONTH!!!!!

Which means it was supposed to be OY VEY Q&A Tuesday.

But it wasn't.....

Because I was MIA, AWOL,

NOT AT MY COMPUTER!!!!

Let's just say that I was doing family stuff.

You know.....

Stuff for my family.....

They come first......

OY, OY OY!!!!

WHEN DID I BECOME SO 

GROWNUP?????

Anway, I'm here now.

So this month I have decided to once again tweak the parameters of

my question and answer blog.

NEW RULES!!!!!

I am only going to answer questions that I feel would interest lots of my dedicated and loyal readers.

(translation: only questions I find interesting)

I know, I know.....

I am a meany!!!!!

Don't be offended if I don't answer a question you've submitted.

It doesn't mean it's a silly or stupid question.....

It just means that I've been around a looooonnnnnggggg time,

and I find

EVERYTHING

boring.....

SOOOOOO.....

with that said, let's get on to today's post, and you can ask your questions at the bottom of the post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FIRST OFF!!!!

I want to thank whoever it was who just signed up to be my newest follower.

IT'S BEEN VERY SCARY ON MY BLOG LATELY!!!!!

I had 666 followers!!!!!

Now, I know, I know....

I'm Jewish.....

But that doesn't mean I don't go to the movies, watch TV and read books.

After all.....

One of the new shows on television this fall is 999 Park Ave.

So, thank you to whoever changed my number of followers to 667!!!

Now....

back to decorating....

 A lot of you had shown an interest in the room I designed for the Sanderson ad.

So.....

Today I am going to start showing that space and telling the story behind it.

This was the ad I did.

The picture was a shot of a Boston Junior League Decorator Showhouse.

Here's a bigger shot of the room.....

Design Times Magazine/Eric Roth Photography

Here's a shot in the other direction....

Design Times Magazine/Eric Roth Photography

IT WAS A VERY BIG ROOM!!!!!

What was called a double parlor.

It was used as the ball room in this house in Boston's Back Bay.

So this is the story.....

I had won a design award from Traditional Home, and at the awards luncheon, I was seated next to the North American president for Sanderson Fabrics.

If memory serves me correctly, I gave the poor man a hard time about their cuttings for approval policy.

I can't remember, but I think that's what I was yammering on about.

For those of you not in the trade, 

a cutting for approval is a small cut of fabric from the piece the designer orders that is sent to the designer to approve before the whole order is shipped.

This is supposed to check for any errors, or die lot changes that are not acceptable to the overall design.

I am a stickler for cuttings for approval.

I DON'T TRUST ANYBODY NOT TO SCREW UP!!!!!

Soooooo......

A little while later,

(a month, a year.....I can't remember.....This was a loooonnnggg time ago)

I ran into Bill (the Sanderson Pres.) at a House Beautiful Party in Manhattan.

He reminded me what a "charming" lunch companion I had been, and much alcohol and hilarity ensued.

So, having partaken of some "Dutch Courage", I pitched an idea at this sweet man's poor head.

I said....

"Hey, Bill!!!!! How about I design an ad for your company, and all I want in return is a credit under the picture?????"

And rather than shoot me down,

(which is what I was expecting)

he said,

 "Let me think about it."!!!!!!!!!!!

And then he agreed to it!!!!!

It was a little more complicated than that, but that's the simplified version.

I had to get selected to do a showhouse room,

 and Sanderson and Hickory Chair would supply the fabric and furniture.

SOOOOOO.....

when I went to view the Boston showhouse, and I saw the size of that ballroom......

I called Bill, to see if that would be too large a space to do......

He told me to go for it!!!!!

You gots to love a man who tells you to go for it!!!!!!

So, I wrote my proposal and kept my fingers crossed, because the Junior League Showhouse in Boston was a very competitive showhouse.

You had to submit your design, and then the committee would choose the designer they wanted to do each room.

(My dad just helped me edit that sentence, I was going off in a no man's land of who and whom.....)

Needless to say....

I was chosen to do the ball room.

So this is where I will leave off this story.

I will continue my saga in my next post.

oh boy!!!!!

A CLIFF HANGER!!!!!

Now onto the questions.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a question and answer party!!!!!

Only questions, please you guys. 

If it isn't a question, I'm taking the @#$ link down.

This is how it works.....

On the first Tuesday of the month

You ask some design questions,

and I answer them for FREE!!!!

Just remember-----

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

(Just sayin')

So ask your question at the end of this blog post.

 link up to the "party" by linking a particular post's url, add your question to the end of your post with a link back to my blog. My button is on my sidebar. 

It looks just like a button!!

For those of you who don't have a blog, you can email pictures with questions.

email me at:  betsyspeert@gmail.com.

If you just have a question, with no pictures, leave it in the comment area, below.

IN ORDER TO GET AN ANSWER,

YOU GUYS BETTER BE A FOLLOWER!!!!!

It's easy, just click on the blue box at the right; over the pictures of my members.

I would also love it if you became a subscriber.

I will then post your pictures with my suggestions and answers on the following Tuesday.

So link up below!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Latah, Gatah

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