CHEZ FIFI

PLAYING HOUSE...& GARDEN

I finally took the time to clean my house from top to bottom. I mean scrubbing the floors, washing the walls and every single curtain, dusting, polishing, ironing....you know...but, as the saying goes "a picture is worth a thousand words." In this case several thousands................

About 3 motnhs ago, I found 4 cane chairs at a yard sale ($5 each!) perfect conditon but wrong color. I painted them on Friday morning. They are now in my DR.

 

 

Moved a few things around. That little round table used to be in the corner, near the fireplace, where the old wood chair is now...........change is good .............

   

The kitties LOVE a clean floor (I bet they can't wait to get their little flur all over it, again...)

 

When everything is clean you get really inspired to create lovely vignettes.......

   

The roses above are from my garden, the ones on the right are from the grocery store..

 

Above, ginger and rose from the garden and tulips from the grocery store......................

Above: left, on the little white table. Right: on the coffee table

Miss Lucy sunggles between books and magazines.....pretty hard to find a spot without either!

Every time I clean I fall in love with my house all over again...it looks so inviting and it smells so good!................After working day after day on the computer I don't see what's around me and when I get a chance to refresh and reorganize I see it with new eyes and realize how lucky I am!.............................................................

I love this basket (got it in Virginia) and the heart- shaped "blackboard" my sister brought me from France. She also gave me the heart mirror/candle sconce from which it's hanging.....

I got this beautiful pillow from LESLIE. It's on the guest bed......................also moved the gorgeous Chez Fifi sign from Heather & Denise into the guest room..................... and the

"OUI" & "NON" pillows my sister Sylvie made are on my bed....where they belong...........

My neighbor, Blair- she is the one who looks after my kitties when I go on shoots- mentioned she had seen some colorful umbrellas at Big Lot. I got a pink and a green because the colors are perfect for my garden...............................

the pink one is in the front garden, the green one on the back deck off the kitchen............they are cute but pretty flimsy........one little hurricane and...bye bye....

                        

                           Above: cabana bed before

Today I   had to clean up the cabana. I used to have a day bed in it but the raccoons "nested" in it and also took all my pillows apart.....go figure! I threw the bed away, actually I put in at the curb and somebody picked it up within 10 minutes....matress, box spring and frame! Yikes!

After I removed the bed, I picked all the day leaves that had collected underneath. Then I bleach the wood to get rid of the mildew. Then the fun began..........fixing up the place that is......The idea was to use what I have instead of buying new stuff...........

That little sideboard was in the guest house but it's pretty beat up so it won't matter if gets worse..........in the meantime it's great for storing garden things....................

The lanterns were already there...............I brought the heart back from France last year...the Adirondak was part of a set I bought 9 years ago but the table and bench rotted away...in fact, the chair is on its last leg....so to speak......will have to replace it soon but I got my money's worth..................

So, here it is. Now you can see how the cabana relates to the entrance of the kitchen and the back deck.......

                     

Well, that's it. I have stayed away from the computer long enough but I neede that. After doing all this cleaning and "makeover" I feel in control of my life again. All this paid off. Now my mind is clear and I am ready to tackle the work at hand without being obsessed with having to clean. Better yet, I can step out any time and breathe in the fragrance of the jasmine and the roses. it doesn't get any better! LOVE IT! Hope you do to!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoFifi

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SPRING HAS SPRUNG.......................

..............at least in Florida. Everything is blooming. Walking though the garden and picking  flowers is a treat................................................

...............come into the garden......... through the gate.................................

                      

....the azaleas and the bougainvilleas are just gorgeous...............................

..............it's perfect weather for drying clothes outside.............

 

................they smell kind of lemony, like the angel trumpets (below)...........

.........the vines are clambering up the trees and the roses are draped over the kitchen door...

................and the chandeliers are hanging from the trees....................

....................it's hard to decide: should I take nap in the hammock.........

                   

............or join the kitties in bed................hum...................

.............looks pretty inviting..................................

................Hope you enjoy the little tour...................

                  

....one more thing: Look for the spring issue of ROMANTIC COUNTRY...........should be on the newsstands pretty soon. This is what the cover looks like.

                   

xoxoxo Fifi.

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BE MY GUEST.....

.......I can say that now that the guest room is finished! Finally hung the mirror over the dresser and my SO NICE rhinestone words..............

   

 

I am trying to keep the room simple but romantic. It still needs a little something but I am not sure what that is yet.....it will come to me sooner or later...........I just don't want to crowd it with too much stuff..........................................................................................

...put the smaller "Fifi" bucket on the plant stand.......and the little metal hearts I got in Fredericksburg, Texas, between the 2 closets.......................

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Today was a major "cleaning the house day".......even polished the silver.....................

 

...............and reorganized the kitchen shelves and cupboards....................................... 

..........................and took out some glittery fruit to add to the holiday mood................

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..............also moved a bunch of accessories, including putting all the mercury candle thingies on the fireplace mantle.....................

                  

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I forgot to mention how much the gourds have grown!.............

From this...................................to that..................................................................

          

.......to these...................................................................................................

   

That's it for today....................don't forget to turn the clock back tonight!................

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

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SOMETHING FISHY...

Funny how news get around. I was not able to add an entry yesterday because I got a bad case of food poisoning. If you ever had one of those you know how miserable it can be. I mentioned it in an email to somebody and, when I finally got around to checking my emails I found several lovely "get well" e-cards! It made me feel better right away. So, a BIG thank you to these caring people...you know who you are....

Today I have been trying to make up for lost time as well as working on a craft project, which is turning out quite nicely. Unfortunately I could not complete it because the craft store ran out of the size and shape rhinestones I need. What I am doing is embellishing ordinary cardboard letters to spell "SO NICE."  Below is a peek at the work in process. Last week I also found this great crown, sparkly Christmas balls and the "dream" rhinestone sign.

    

   

Since I have been on a "before and after" roll I thought it might be nice to show my office transformations. It was not too bad before but it sure is a lot better after.

BEFORE                                    IN TRANSITION

STILL IN TRANSITION

                                                GETTING CLOSER

AFTER

Chair cover, desk skirt and drapes by PJBRACKIN@aol,com, rug: Ballard Designs

Boxes from Home Goods. Magazine files IKEA.

 

Rhinestone word ("fabulous") and crowns on boxes from www.meandmybigideas.com

 

Black & white files from Pottery Barn

 

            

The photo of Lucy and I was taken by Dan Mayers when he shot my office for the current issue of Romantic Country.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. If there is anything you see for which I did not mention a source, just ask and I will tell you where you can get it.

I will try to post one more entry before I leave for California on Monday. I will be gone all week so I won't get a chance to "blog" until I come back. Then I should have lots of great photos and neat stuff to talk about unless I eat more bad fish.........

ROOM TO PLAY

My tiny cottage (it's only 900 sq ft) came with a nice little bonus: a 500 sq ft garage. On the plus side it did not look anything like a garage. It was (and still is) built in the same style as the cottage and features a tin roof, open rafters and old-fashioned barn-like doors. On the down side, it was a wreck. In fact, I was amazed it had not collapsed as the termites had had a feast chewing away at the support beams and walls. The concrete floor was too low so when it rained the water came in. The bottom of the walls was rotten. BUT, compared with my home in Provence epic trauma, this looked as a minor challenge.

I won't bore you with too many before photos, a few will suffice to give you a taste of the definitively-shabby-and-not-so-chic condition.

BEFORE

The room to the right of the washer and dryer became the a laundry room. Notice the washing machine up on bricks to prevent it from being flooded...That's the way it was when I bought the house.............

Ugly walls, pegboard, no windows (just the openings) yucky floor, fluorescent light....need I say more? These photos prove that "a picture is worth a thousand words."

DURING

The transformation began with a (new) raised concrete floor being poured. I had to let it cure for several months before painting it to look like boards. I am not the patient type and found it very hard to wait. But I was warned that if the concrete was not allow to fully dry before painting it would absorb the paint and I would have to start all over again....for once I listened....glad I did! Originally I was going to clean up the space to use it for storage but the thinking evolved to making it a guest house where I could have parties.

I bought this fireplace mantle to create a faux fireplace. Also found the little bed to use as a sofa. The dresser moved into my bedroom. Just too good a piece to be stored in the "garage."

I was going through my "Santa Fe" period and this was the perfect place to play with the colors and style of New Mexico but with a Fifi twist. To build the fireplace out I used plywood for the sides, coated them with plaster then painted it. Because I could not burn wood in it I layered the back and floor of the hearth with a sheet of copper (as well as the top of the mantle.) The idea being that when the heart was filled with candles the copper would reflect the flames and glow like a fire. It worked! Yeah! I had a small window added behind the sofa/bed, hung a chandelier and used a lot of accessories I had forgotten I had! Amazing how creative you can get when you don't have a lot of money to spend.....

I already had the architectual elements and repainted them to fit the new look. The crosses were part of a collection of Christmas ornaments except for the big gray one, which I found in France.  The little bed/sofa is to the left of the bureau (can't really see it here.)

The table below was in the far right corner and the shelves face the fireplace wall.

GETTING READY FOR A PARTY

This, and the garden, turned out to be the perfect spots for entertaining.

The French armoire stands where the old washer/dryer were. The doors (near the ladder) open into the new laundry room.

But, eventually, I got tired of the bright colors. Last year I changed everything back to my true loves: white, pink and blue. This is the current look. All it took was moving furniture around (some from the cabana, other from the house) and gallons of paint.

   

The window valence, below, is actually wall paper border. I hung some tulle remant to make a light "curtain." The shutters used to be green. They were painted gray then white washed.

The table is where the little sofa/bed used to be. The red bureau is now white.

The red and orange curtains have been replaced by these (found at Ross for $7.00 each!) I painted a bunch of gourds white.

The laundry room is behind the ladder and through the doors. The door near the table opens to the back deck and the cottage. The upper parts of the pink armoire were dressed with wallpaper border to create a background for a photo shoot for Romantic Country.

And here is the photo shot by the talented Dan Mayers.

                   

I am pretty sure that the "guest house" is going to see some changes again.....I am leaning in the direction of a streamlined version of the present look. All I need is to find the time to act on it and for the weather to cool down. But I can already feel the "winds of change" sweeping through my head............

ONCE UPON A TIME

Before buying my present cottage I had another house in Sarasota, which I sold when I decided to move back to France for one year. It was a cool cottage too but when I bough it there was no beautiful garden and though the interior was in great shape it had little character. So I quickly applied the "Fifi Principals."  1) Create a garden. 2) Make the inside inviting and cozy. 3) Add something magical. Being in Florida was a definite plus as far as getting the garden to mature in a hurry (lots of hard work and heavy breathing and sweating to go with it...) Making the house into a home was the easy part. Adding the magical element took a little more thinking and all of the sudden the light went on! I wanted to build a tiny one room house in the backyard. A sort of playhouse where I could keep the "Gourd People Family" I had made from gourds I grew the year before.....Yes, I know, it sounds a bit odd coming from a city girl. Truth be told I am a country girl at heart. Never liked living in the city. I'll take fields of sunflowers, orchards, vegetable gardens and a remote mountain cabin over the hustle and bustle and bright lights of Paris any day. Cities are great for a long weekend of shopping therapy and culinary indulgences but when it's all said and done there is no place like a cozy little home surrounded by nature. The "gourd family" was a Halloween inspiration.

ONCE UPON A TIME....(actually that year) I had made a "gourd couple" to display in the front garden with carved pumpkins. Unfortunately it rained so much that night that my new friends did not make it outside. Instead they stayed in my bedroom where they remained for several weeks. They seemed a bit lonely so I proceeded to give them a family.....eventually I had so many that I had to find them a home.....hence the little house in the garden.....

The house before and after

   

                  

This was part of the front garden. The gate opened on to the side garden and the path turned behind the house to the little house. See how tall the sunflowers next to the gate were!

THE LITTLE HOUSE

 

    A family of wild peacocks used to come visit

                         

THIS IS THE TYPE OF GOURD I USED TO MAKE THE PEOPLE

Of course, I painted the gourds and gave them "hair" and clothes. The body are made from sticks and stuffed pillows. Standing behind the gate is the original couple, the one who lived in my bedroom for weeks....

Monsieur and Madame DeGourd moved into their home. They soon had a daughter, "Gourdette." Gourdette met the Professor (!) they got married and had twins (give me a break..there is no time for a few years in between or for accounting for quick multiple births...it's my story..I can write it any way I like...)

 

Monieur et Madame DeGourd and Gourdette and her husband, "The Professor" (he just looks like one...)

                             The Twins

                 Gourdette and her twins

Some distant relatives joined the family

There was a family reunion on the back porch and in the little house

Some wandered in the garden other rested

           It had been a very good day

         

And a few months later, a lovely Christmas

       

THE END!

WHILE LOOKING FOR THESE PHOTOS I FOUND A LITTLE POEM THAT RINGS SO TRUE.

There is so much good

in the worst of us,

And so much bad

in the best of us,

That it hardly becomes any of us

To talk about the rest of us

-----G. W. Cooke----

A YEAR IN PROVENCE

It was 1998. I had been living in Florida for 18 years. Although I had come back home to France regularly, all of the sudden I had the "URGE" to move back permanently. I sold my house in Sarasota (it was on the market only 1 week), packed everything and shipped it to France. Got in a plane and arrived in Paris the next day. Took the train to Provence to stay at my sister's and look for a house to buy. 

Though I had sold my Florida home for a tidy profit (I had bought it 7 years before) I did not have a lot of money once the mortgage was paid off and taking the cost of moving into consideration. I began my house hunting and came upon a decrepit home in a little village. The garden was overgrown, the gate rusty, the wood shutters hanging precariously, and the front door broken. But the location was great. I called the agent who warned me that the house had belong to a drunk who lived in it for 40 years and never cleaned it....but worse, yet, he had died in it. He had brought his bike in the entry to fix it and started a fire....the house did not burn down because it's built of thick stones but, she said "the main floor is black with soot....I said to myself "Let's take a look anyway."

We met at the house the next morning. It was odd how she used keys to unlock the front door when in fact it would have been just as easy to put your hand through a gaping hole the fire had caused.....We entered into a  room so dark (no electricity and black stones from floor to ceiling) that I could barely make out the shape of the space. She opened windows and doors to let the sunlight in. It truly was a disaster from the huge cobwebs reminiscent of a Halloween decor to the stench coming from the tiny refrigerator of the adjoining kitchen. To the right of the entry/foyer a narrow staircase appear to go to a mezzanine. Indeed it did. On that level was the bathroom. In fact it was so disgusting that you could barely call it that but, as you turn around an looked up, the narrow stairway became a beautiful wide stone staircase leading to the first floor and its 3 bedrooms. Again each room was a disgrace but the view was spectacular.

To make a long story short, I bought the house on the spot, for next to nothing. And the trauma of hiring workmen and getting the work done began....but first, take a look at the before and after photos.

 

        Before                         After with new paint and shutters

 

Painted gate and sunflowers    New front door (used to grace the facade of a famous bordello......)

 

Here I stand in the entry (I had already cleaned the soot of the walls and the workmen were putting in a new stone floor as well as filling all the cracks between the old stones on the walls.

I ended up making this room into the dining room. The weathered doors, behind the curtains, opened to a room in which farmers used to bring their sheeps in at night. It still had a big stone troth for them to feed from!!

 

A few details and overall view of the  DR.

The kitchen before.    After: The curtains were made with some Ralph Lauren sheets I had.

I added open shelves because the vaulted walls and ceiling did not allow for cabinets. The great farmhouse table came from my home in Florida, as did 90% of the furniture. Between the table and the pantry, which I revamped by adding the chicken wire, fabric and a fresh coat of paint, was a beautiful stone archway with an ugly door leading to the living room.

Living room before..................After. Walls, ceiling and floor refinished. I designed the new fireplace with little alcoves on the sides and wood storage underneath.

 

Before:from the LR to the kitchen.     After

 

These were on each side of the archway to the kit from the LR. I painted and stenciled the old sideboards. The beautiful Italian angel shelf ended up being broken in the return move...

This before shot shows a side of the living room with a dismal closet and water damaged wall. It's hard to see on the after photo but I cut out the closet doors and fitted the openings with chicken wire to lighten up the look and display favorite books on the shelves.

Back to the main entrance/dining room.

 

Before.            After cleaning the stones. From the DR to the mezzanine. To the disgusting bathroom.

Bathroom after

Though you can't see them, I did put a new toilet and shower!

Up to the bedrooms.

My bedroom

 

Before  and during getting the FP back in working order and installing the plumbing for a bathtub (I always wanted to have an antique tub in my bedroom.)