You are currently browsing the Ted Kennedy Watson posts tagged: Diptyque


Surrounding Yourself with What You Love

20130502-065448.jpg The world is filled with quite a bit of stuff. Some good, some quite good, some bad, some quite bad. It is just up to each of us to search out the things that have meaning to us. For this post I am talking about objects, but as I am writing this, I realize you could take out ‘stuff’ and insert quite a few other words, like people, experiences. Bottom line, we should be surrounding ourselves with stuff, people and experiences that bring us joy. Back to stuff. The above and below are of a game board that sits atop an ottoman we use as a coffee table at our home on Vashon Island. It is filled with things that bring us much happiness. The white pottery is something we have collected over the years, and this is a piece of that collection. It is filled with vintage pool balls with my favorite No.11 on them. The Diptyque candle is one of our very favorite scents. The tulips are, and you already know this, one of our very favorite flowers. Also included in this tableau is a gold hook that we bought from the estate of Albert Hadley, that was a gift that was given to clients when a project was completed by his firm he had with Sister Parish, Parish-Hadley. We actually bought 2, and the other one sits on the coffee table in town. I feel such a creative vibe just by having them around. And lastly, a small bowl we bought on a memorable trip to Maine, that has a piece of moss/lichen (not always sure of the difference) that TPS found on a walk with Bailey. It all conjures up this quote that I used to have painted on my showroom wall years ago about only having in your home what you believe to be beautiful and bring you happiness. Again, it really is just all stuff. But by surrounding ourselves with the things we love, it really does bring joy & fond memories of how you acquired the object. All resulting in happiness as your eyes glance over the things through the course of the day and then a lifetime.

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My Favorite Things Today

20130302-070032.jpg We are heading to Los Angeles tomorrow for work and then onto Santa Barbara for a little relaxation. I like to do a thorough walk-around of the shops before we leave for any length of time, to see what has come in, and see what things/categories we could use more of. Travel is such great inspiration–on many levels. Here is what caught my eye. The French Pillivuyt in the graphic black & white next to the Barbara Barry Citrine tea is always a winning combo.

20130302-070757.jpg The new Denise Fiedler of the sailboat looking swell in our shell nautical area.

20130302-070934.jpg I always love when we add a new Diptyque scent to our mix.

20130302-071028.jpg These brown sugar cubes are always a winner in the Mariage Freres tea display.

20130302-071135.jpg A big vintage silver bowl filled with letterpress magnets makes me happy.

20130302-071236.jpg As does a big pail of vintage letterpress stamps.

20130302-071339.jpg Our cocktail section always looks spiffed up with new titles floating about.

Tomorrow the other half. Happy Saturday and Happy March!



 

 

The Beauty of Black High Gloss Paint

20130103-070658.jpg Interesting how as you get older/wiser your priorities on gifts change. One of our Christmas gifts to one another was a “refresh & new paint job” of our bathroom in town. Now this certainly is not a spiffy new pair of shoes or some other ‘can’t wait to have cooking gadget’ but it something we both thought we would derive a tremendous amount of pleasure from. So while we enjoyed our week out on the island, our city bathroom was getting bit of a re-do.

20130103-071549.jpg We had wanted to have the bathroom painted with a high gloss black paint for quite some time. I thought it would add real interest to the room. We could not have been happier when we arrived back in town the other day to see the end result. The black just made the room so cozy and cocoon-like. The black playing off of the original black band of tile swimmingly. We were so excited to start hanging artwork and put the room back together.

20130103-072019.jpg The tile is original from when The Gainsborough was built in 1929. We adore the tile work, so we just wanted to play off of that, and have all the tile super cleaned, have the grout redone, and just make the original tile sing.

20130103-072433.jpg The work on the original floor tile just brought them back to life. The hand-painted shower curtain by local artisan Janell pulls out all the green from the floor. The pattern in the Yves Delorme towels playing off the pattern of the shower curtain. The green and white adding light to the dark black.

20130103-072833.jpg These 2 pieces are by Hugo Guinness, which were a gift from the artist, become a sort of window in the room. The creamy white background again adding a bit of light against the black wall. The flowers in the piece just make me happy being in the room.

20130103-073201.jpg We just filled the walls with some of our favorite pieces. I think artwork really belongs in every room of a home. The high gloss black working nicely as a background for the various pieces of art to be enjoyed each and every day. No wrapping needed.



 

 

It’s a Beautiful Lifestyle

20111030-054700.jpg We were honored to be the featured retailer this month in WHERE Seattle magazine. “Celebrate the beauty of the everyday” was such an accurate description to not only what all of us at WK work to bring you each day, but it also pretty much sums up what I personally strive for every day. “Each Watson Kennedy store is a cornucopia of considered, delicate and wonderful objects displayed in thematic (often color-driven) vignettes,” is also such a lovely way to describe the shops. Thank you so much, WHERE Seattle for the mention and the very thoughtful words.

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Lighting a Candle

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With a crispness in the air, and the days getting darker earlier, I walk right in the door and light a candle when we arrive home. There is something about the ritual I find immensely soothing. I am not sure if it somewhat relates to growing up Catholic and being an altar boy, but I have a strong suspicion it might. When we have guests, the task of lighting all the candles I like to have lit can take quite a bit of time. It almost becomes a form of meditation. The repetition of the match hitting the striker, the flame touching the wick and transferring the flame–creating light and warmth.



 

 

A New Diptyque Favorite

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I go back and forth on my favorite Diptyque scent. Fig is always close to the top, as is the verveine. But my newest fav is the Cypres. It is a mix of green, woodsy, with just a bit of floral mixed in. It is a lovely late Spring, early Summer scent. Both the candle and the room spray are available at the Watson Kennedy shops & website.

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