My Creative Blog [Search results for Philosophy] 

If you don't already know her allow me to introduce you to Victoria Hagan a New York City designer extraordinaire who owns her own design firm named Victoria Hagan Interiors here that caters to both residential and commercial projects.

Hagan began designing interiors in 1985, founded Victoria Hagan Interiors in 1991 and established Victoria Hagan Home, a line of furniture, fabrics and accessories, in 2002.

Her design philosophy is 'keep it simple', 'keep it comfortable', 'keep it interesting' but most important 'keep it fun'. She keeps interiors very clean with a neutral palette and isn't drawn to any period or style but rather goes for versitility in a room. Her interiors look very relaxed and stylish at the same time.

Love the pop of red, dark wood with the clean crisp white. You get a taste of old with the new. Victoria's interiors are both masculine and feminine.

Designed by Victoria Hagan
Victoria's style reminds me so much of Darryl Carter's style, below, I love both. They both use a mix of the traditional and modern, the old and the new with clean lines.

Designed by Darryl Carter, pictures via Elle Decor

Designed by Darryl Carter, Washington DC Row House, photo Simon Upton
Darryl Carter used masculine looking leather-covered doors as a headboard, above. While Victoria designed a feminine leather screen, below, for her home collection here.

The Carroll leather screen by Victoria Hagan
Victoria's furniture collection it's so stylish and clean and fits beautifully in today's interiors.

The James footstool designed by Victoria Hagan

The Wainscott chair from her home collection

Enjoy more of Victoria Hagan's Interiors here
I hope you've enjoyed meeting designer Victoria Hagan and seeing a few pictures of her design work. There are a lot more pictures on her website here of interiors and here of her home collection, I just love her look!

allison's living room heirloom philosophy
I'm not the only one who lives like this...

H ere's a little sneak peek before I show a few before photos.

BEFORE #1
This was our original dining room (also referred to as the toll booth). It was long and narrow with a single homemade bay window. Unfortunately, this is the only before picture I have of the original room. It measured about 6 feet by 10 feet.

BEFORE #2
This is before picture #2. The new structure was reconfigured to 12 ' x 16' and french doors were added at the transition between the kitchen and new dining room. Shortly after completing this round of renovations (which was two years ago now), we knew that we should have put windows on the east wall instead of the dining cabinet (there wasn't room for both). Luckily, we had the foresight to have the contractors put a header in that wall so that we could opt for windows down the road....good thing. And here are the afters....

We recently added those two new windows on the east wall, which lends a whole new feeling to the room. As you can see, the dining cabinet no longer fit, so instead we hung a nice long mirror.

The antique table is a family piece from my Grandmother's house that I grew up with. It isn't what I would have typically chosen for this room but it has sentimental value and it really is a beautiful piece. We added two leaves to create a farmhouse style feel rather than the square we originally set up.

To create a less cluttered and more open feel, I decided to place chairs on two sides rather than all four. And to lighten the weight of the table, and because I really love the look of Parson chairs, I found slipcovers to fit over the armless dining chairs we had up in the guest house. This was the cheapest way I could attain the Parson chair look without the $500 plus price tag.

We also added a sea grass rug (relocated from the living room as it was too small for that space). I also decided to add curtain sheers to frame the french doors going out to the dining patio.

Because most of the wall space in this room is either windows or french doors, there isn't much space to hang art work. So I decided to lean a piece up against the mirror as I love art in rooms that isn't expected. To learn more about the portrait, go here .
I kept the walls white because I really wanted the room to feel light and fresh. I also wanted the outside to come in so I didn't want colors to distract from that. I'll accent with different things to transition through the seasons (fall decorating is so close!).
Total expense of decorating, not including the two new Marvin windows: $334.98
JC Penny sheers were on sale for $69.99 a pair (I bought two pairs) Allen and Roth curtain rod and hardware from Lowe's ($95) Shabby Chic slipcovers from Target ($24.99 each)
Everything else we repurposed from other rooms.
I've included our expenses because an important part of my design philosophy has always been to decorate within a reasonable budget. In this case, we had already spent a lot of money on the new windows, so my goal was to be as creative as possible for the least cost.
I hope that you like our 'new' dining room!

wisteria via pink wallpaper

design*sponge

via heirloom philosophy

Last night they sent a new Swedish documentary about Wikileaks / Julian Assange. First of all; I totally agree with his philosophy. All classified information must out to the people. We have a right to know what's going on 'behind closed doors', which the videos shown clearly prove. I got a stomach and heart ache when I saw it. I nearly cried when I heard how they bragged about killing innocent people in Bagdad. They didn't care whether it was children or grown ups.

American authorities demanded that Wikileaks returned all their information immediately and it's of course obvious why; they don't want the world to know how their soldiers really act inhuman and evil and show what video games and being a long way from the consequences of killing means. It does something with them. They lose their sense of understanding what a human life is worth. They don't give a damn. Simple as that. They should be prosecuted and get  death sentences or at least life in prison for what they've done.

And honestly, I don't believe a word of what Assange is being accused of. I think these women has been bought to stop him from doing what he does. That's politics for you. That's how people with power act. That's how it works. He's done nothing wrong but shared with us information. And that is not illegal!

Now, I guess you've all heard it. Stockholm was attacked. Of course it was terrorism, even if the police won't confirm it. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out! Luckily he didn't really succeed in what he planned to do. No one died but him. Ironic. But of course the country is in chock. We thought we lived in a country that would never experience terror. We thought we lived so far away from all that. We're just a small, unimportant place up in the north. We were wrong. And now it will never be the same. It may very well happen again. All the Nordic countries are suddenly at risk. A terrorist attack could happen at any time. There's no way of knowing.

The fact that he did it on a Sunday, two weeks before Christmas when a huge amount of people were out shopping, on the most crowded place in Stockholm shows the evil behind it. I doubt he was alone. And as the CIA sad, if Al-Qaida takes responsibility we are definitely 'screwed'. In that case we are suddenly side by side to London and New York.

I'm worried!   

Have you ever walked into someone's home and wondered about their objets d'art? Objet d'art is defined as something decorative, an object of some artistic value. Henry David Thoreau once said ' There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.' I wonder if he was envisioning my home, looking at my objets d'art when he said this?
As I was sitting in my studio stitching away I briefly looked up and had to smile at a beloved treasure. I think we've all done that, purchased an item simply because they make us smile. Louis is such an object, he's a 17th century French wig last for making wigs. The top of the woodenhead is covered in layer upon layer of vellum paper for sizing a person's head. Big head more paper, you get the idea. Balanced upon coverless French book inserts Louis hangs about holding a beautiful antique French crown in regal splendor
Perhaps it's because of the type of job I have, antique textile dealer that I'm around and see more antiques than my fair share. Mainly because my dealers deal in more than just textiles and are always showing me items that don't relate to my business in hopes of a sale. Being female this appeals to me greatly. Plus having an artistic side let alone not being able to help myself I end up with what I think are rather amazing things decorating my home.

Meet Henri, he stands about like a sentry on duty presiding over my pillows. He's an 18th century child's clothing mannequin straight from France. His body is stuffed with horsehair and wrapped in burlap, I love the stitching up the front of him in French waxed string. Sometimes I dress him up in something old, do we ever grow tired of playing dress up?
Objects add so much life to our rooms and antiques bring history, an artful intrigue. Imagine a room devoid of our decorative objects, a room with just furniture, it doesn't look finished. Our objects are what keep our eyes moving, what makes it interesting. As I sit here in my studio I notice I have several human form objects, what is it about the human form we try to bring into our rooms? My guess is the human form finishes off a room the same way living people do.

Kay O'Toole has several mannequins, above and below, in the form of a Mexican Santos and garden statue enlivening her hall bringing it to life. Ms. O'Toole's shop is called 'Antiques and Eccentricities for all the weird things she's drawn to' but are they weird or comforting? Photo courtsey March, 2010Veranda magazine.

Katie Stassi Here used a mannequin near a French daybed, her philosophy is her interiors are ' defined not designed'. So do our objects define a space as well as decorate?

Alain and Brigitte Garnier incorporated a French mannequin artfully into their lives in their Belgium home. Photo courtesy of Cote de Texas Here
Antiques, accessories, objects all tell a story whether about the room they inhabit or the people who purchase them, they bring a room to life. So whether you're using mannequins, Santos or statues for accessorizing your home incorporating a human form adds a touch of life and intrigue into a room. Or if you're like me you spend way too much time alone and have made inanimate objects your friends'.lol.