SILVER

THE MILESTONE

According to my numbering system we've reached the one hundredth posting with this entry. That means that for every week during the past two years we've found something interesting enough to write about. I can't say that it's been easy every week. There have been weeks when the Wednesday before our self-imposed Thursday deadline I've felt desperate and drained of an idea, but there have also been weeks when I've had to shelve some little bits of inspiration for a future posting. I have a folder on my desktop and another one in my bookmarks titled, "Blog Ideas" and until those folders are empty I guess I can still come up with a reason to keep my fingers running over the keys on my antiquated Mac.

I have no idea of what metal or material is assigned a one hundredth anniversary. I don't want to look it up and find out it isn't silver because I've chosen silver as the topic for this anniversary blog. Since I'm in New York and it's Wednesday I don't have time or an available internet connection to switch gears at this eleventh hour. So trust me, my one hundredth anniversary is silver.

Here goes. Silver. It's not the most expensive or prized of metals, platinum and gold probably take those honors. Yet it's more revered than iron or brass. I know in my own design preference I'm more attracted to silver than I am to the other metals. I know there's the gold standard but for me there's always a silver lining in everything we do. That said, there's nothing wrong with shimmering gold tones or an industrial inspired rusted wrought iron, but because it's our one hundredth anniversary I get to promote the reflective, watery finishes of silver.

I'll start with our own uses of silver. The Venitian Stucco walls in this library were hand applied by David Wilson in soft grays with an undertone of metallic silver. The result of five different layers of paint gives a watery effect that ripples across your eye as the sun plays on its sparkling surface. To this we added the silver-gelatin prints of Lynn Gessaman bringing the outdoors inside creating a serenity that made reading books turn into long afternoon naps.

Who could resist the luxury of a sea of silver bubbles foaming up from this silver clad pedestal bathtub?

There's a luxurious benefit to silver. Imagine slipping under these silver sheets and resting your head against this silky silver tufted headboard. It's almost as if you're living in a thirties black and white romantic comedy where everyone's eyes glisten with silver flecks.

Old Hollywood sparked the inspiration for our "Dining by Design" table where black and white formed the platform for our design and silver reined as its star. It was old Hollywood inspired and I had the honor of sitting next to Carleton Varney the foremost authority of the era and Dorothy Drapers protégé.

The canvas side screens, that we painted ourselves, were inspired by the amazingly talented Edgar Brandt's 1924 metal screen that sold at auction for $1.8 million in 2006.

Silver is the color of winter. It's the way those glints of light reflect off of snow. It's the color of the moon in December. It's the holidays.

Silver is elegance in a traditional scheme.

It is appropriate in spaces that exemplify the transitional.

Silver can be minimalist. Its power is extraordinary in its ability to hold focus.

Silver can also be the unexpected. Take this silver clad chesterfield sofa.

So in honor of a hundred posts, I can sit back and close the top of my laptop with the knowledge that even though our list of friends is small the drive still exists to write and be inspired by the world we live and recording its high points and its lows is still as stimulating as it was on our first posting.












THE GALLERY

Lost in the Fog
Jan Machata, photographer
17 year old beginner