River House Diary

 This giclee painting is from Pottery Barn. I needed something big to fill up the wall. The painting is no longer available. Abstract coastal art

The two watercolors I purchased from Derek McCrea were hung above the bed in the rear guest bedroom. The Tybee Shrimp Boats are on the left and the Cape San Blas Florida piece is on the right. Things would have been a lot easier if we'd hung them before the bed was delivered. Art above the bed in the guest bedroom; personal collection

 It may be the smallest piece of art we own but it has special meaning. It's a ink and watercolor painting of Jamaicans on a raft. It reminds me of a rafting trip my cousin, Joyce, and I took down the Rio Grande river in the same country. We plied our pilot with Red Stripe beer purchased from vendors wading in the river and listened to him talk about the pilots' efforts to unionize. Small watercolor of Jamaican rafters Joyce and I rafting down the Rio Grande river in 1984 We lost Joyce in September of this year, which makes this small piece of art even more special.

 All of our art that we've been collecting for a gallery wall in our great room has finally arrived or been framed. It took all afternoon to hang everything after figuring out the arrangement, but it sure adds a terrific pop of color to the room. Gallery art wall in the great room; personal collection

We purchased this signed and numbered print from a gallery in the historic district of New Bern while we were still living in New York. We finally got it framed and I love how it turned out. The frame with the weathered white and silver gilt splotches reminds me of oyster shells. How perfect! It now hangs in our powder room, or half bath. Aww Shucks! in the half bath; personal collection

 We got our large Derek McCrea watercolor back from the framers and hung it between the French doors in the great room. I think it will look great with a small chest underneath. I just need to find the right one. Art in the great room; personal collection

 You may recall from our tour of the foyer , that we hung the large herons we purchased in Myrtle Beach in 2002 on either side of the entry into our den. The mats were olive green and cream and didn't really work in the new house. So we had the pieces re-matted and were so surprised at how much more the white heron popped; before it had been kind of invisible. Re-matted herons in the foyer; personal collection

 I've purchased two watercolors by Derek McCrea already, but I really loved this one entitled Waves Seascape Painting. I think it will go well in our great room between the French doors. An original watercolor by Derek McCrea

Cape San Blas Florida original watercolor by Derek McCrea; courtesy of Derek McCrea I think this will work well on the gallery wall of art I am creating in the great room.

 Today we purchased two paintings to hang on either side of the mirror over our dresser in the master bedroom. Pastel Marsh; courtesy of Ballard Designs Calm before the Storm; courtesy of Ballard Designs

We have a watercolor painting of the creek behind our Oakton house that we bought from a local artist. We love it but finding a place for it in River House has been a challenge. If we don't use it in the back guest room, then it really doesn't have a home. So that's what we're going to do.  Bull Run Creek by M. P. Strickler; personal collection It's has lots of blues in it which would continue the blue theme of our coastal home, but it also provides the opportunity to go in a different direction. I think this is okay in guest rooms. Fabrics from Eastern Accents; personal collection And a better swatch of Sloane Prism -- the floral/botanical print: Sloane Prism; courtesy of Eastern Accents We have decided on the Eastern Accents Carmine upholstered headboard -- fabric yet to be determined.

 The date for the delivery of our long awaited sofa is growing closer and closer so I am thinking about the finishing details of the great room more often. I've started collecting art for the mantel and the gallery wall above the bench. I also purchased a floor lamp to place beside the chair (yet to be purchased) that will be placed near the fireplace. Crossing at dusk; courtesy Pottery Barn Secluded Coast 1; courtesy Pottery Barn Kate Spade Walker Floor Lamp by Visual Comfort; courtesy Lumens

 Fishing boats are apparently my new thing. This small oil painting is by a Russian artist, who sells through the GoArtAbstract Etsy store. Evening fishing; courtesy of Etsy GeoArtAbstracts

 While waiting somewhat patiently for our sofa to be delivered, I've been spending time looking at original art. This watercolor reminded me of the many shrimp boat fleets in our area. I'm hoping we can find a good spot for it in River House. Tybee Shrimp Boats by Derek McCrea

In 1984 my grandmother and grand aunt took my cousin and me on a Caribbean cruise. Our first port of call after leaving Miami was Port-au-Prince, Haiti, during the administration of Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. He was overthrown two years later. Haiti is known for great art and crafts though perhaps their metal art is most famous. Most of which is made from the steel of abandoned 55-gallon oil drums. When we were there I purchased a wall sculpture of sea turtles. When we moved to Oakton, I hung it above the sliding glass door in our kitchen. We found another one in a gallery in Swansboro, North Carolina, for the sliding glass door in our family room. Haitian metal art above sliding glass doors; courtesy MLIS I planned on hanging them over the two French doors in the great room in River House but those doors are 6 feet wide and will not have drapes. In Oakton the sliders were 5-feet wide with drapery panels covering parts of the windows. When we tried out the scu...

The new sideboard in the dining area of the kitchen has been styled with a large basket we bought in the Catskills made out of grape vines and vintage Japanese fishing floats I've been collecting since my first trip to Hawaii in 1982. A new piece of art from Horchow  arrived just before Memorial Day and we hung it yesterday. Kitchen eating area; personal collection

Sideboard with buffet lamps; personal collection Now that the sideboard has finally been delivered, my thoughts have turned to how to style it. A fairly large piece of art is needed and we don’t already own something suitable. Zuniga Interiors specified this piece — Escapism from Horchow. It’s a large piece at 37 inches wide by 48 inches tall, which is what the space needs. Escapism; courtesy Horchow But then ... what to place on the side board that won’t be dwarfed by the artwork? Surfing through some of my favorite design blogs, I found this idea on for the love of a house  — adding antique Japanese glass fishing balls to an old dough bowl. I like the juxtaposition between vintage items and abstract art while both are true to coastal theme. Etsy, here I come!

My original plan for the Den was to frame Pete’s Dad’s important World War II medals and hang the three of them on the wall above the bar chart. Pete had another idea. And because of all the red and brown leather books on the shelves, it sort of works. It’s not coastal, but I don’t think every room has to be, especially if it doesn’t have a water view. This oversized glicee copy of Audubon’s Scarlet Ibis painting now hangs over the bar cart. I bought it several years ago to hang over the sofa in the den of our home in Oakton. Who knew It became one of Pete’s favorites? I found out when I tried putting it in the donate pile of art because the colors weren’t right. Scarlet Ibis glicee reproduction; personal collection And since we’ve introduced a little red and brown into the room, one of my favorites pieces — a Picasso sketch of a woman reading, probably done in his teens when he still created realist drawings and paintings. Picasso sketch; personal collection

I thought it would be a long time before we hung any art in the house. Pete hates hanging groupings more than he hates Ohio State University. (He’s a University of Michigan alumni.) But we’ve been in our attic for two days unpacking and cleaning all our artwork, which we haven’t seen for three years as we moved none of it to New York. We first had to decide if the art would work in our new house or if it needed to go. Several hard decisions later, we began thinking about where to hang individual pieces. An easy decision was the female nude by Raphael Soyer. It’s an unusual work for him as the painter and printmaker was known as one of the most important American scene painters. His detailed works of people and places in New York City are very well known. Our Soyer piece is much more intimate than his usual work. And because it is so intimate and we are living in the Bible Belt, we chose to hang it in our bathroom. Soyer lithograph in the toilet closet; personal collection T...

Flash sale websites are dangerous. This time Joss & Main got me with this cute little seagull. Seagull Cove I; courtesy of Joss & Main