Last October I posted about the CWAJ Print Show and in particular, this print Nature story-(heaven), by the Young Printmaker Award Winner Kyung Sun Kim. It is an edition of only 3 prints and at the time I knew that the artist would keep one, the Daigaku Hanga Gakkai (Committee of Universities of Art for Print Studies in Japan) where it was originally displayed would keep one, leaving only a single print for sale at the CWAJ show. At the time I thought it would be fun to try to follow where it ended up and while I wanted it very much, I was sure a donor or VIP would buy it at the opening reception before I had a chance to. Little did I know that my true competition would come in a much closer and more personal form – my mother!
My mom never worked as a professional designer, but her house was famous for its perfection in our neighborhood growing up. While everyone else of her generation was falling prey to the excesses of faux French Provincial in the 1970s, my mom held tight to her modernist ideals and her Paul McCobb bedroom set (walnut mind you, not the blond stuff). She suffered the disappointment of a so-called “friend” who stole her long-planned decorating scheme, but triumphed in the end by doing it better. And who can forget the year of the “Great Flood”? No, not Noah’s flood, but the year the pipes burst in our house during Christmas vacation. Water ran for days before it was discovered and I recall crossing the Verrazano Bridge at midnight on New Years Eve, racing to get home. The flood ended up being a blessing in disguise, allowing her to pull out all the original ceilings and raise high the roof beams, realizing a creative vision she had for a simple development house. Nowadays, besides a bad back, her biggest problem is all the neighbors coming over to question and copy her best ideas!
My mom often reads the blog and sends me emails on the side wondering what I like so much about a particular room. We can be such opposites – color and clutter versus bare and beige. But over the years her palette has expanded and she has squeezed in a few good Louis pieces too. (And the famous family saying “all antiques are just firewood” was actually coined by my dad.) Having seen my post on the Print Show, she promptly called me and said she “had to have it,” and a good girl never argues with her mom. But truthfully, it is so rare that our taste intersects so exactly and so difficult to find things that she truly wants that I was thrilled. So this YPA winner’s print has traveled from Tokyo to Florida to take up residence with her.
Nature story-(heaven) now hangs above the bed, the color and size just perfect in the high-ceilinged room. She has come up with a few other ingenious ways of dealing with the huge volume of space, like the hanging night lights.
My mom likes to think things through (often at odd hours of the night, which works with a daughter halfway round the world) and get it right. Before she committed to the hanging night lights, she photoshopped some examples to be sure. That brings me to the first of her decorating and life rules – Positive visualization.
Continuing along with the list:
Mix custom with ready-made.
Strive for balance and scale.
No detail is too small. Arrange untill perfect.
Recycle when possible.
Buy souvenirs wherever you go.
My mom comes from a long line of knitters and she taught me that so many things in life are like a knitting pattern. When you read it all at once, it makes no sense. The key is to start at the beginning and read one step at a time…Cast on 58 stitches…Decorating can be like that too.
And by the way, that isn’t the only large artwork from my life to make its way home with her. For more on Sakura in the Moonlight, click here.
Mom, thank you always and forever for everything! I love you!
Maja Smith
super chic mom! no wonder you have such great taste!
xo
Kendra
What a beautiful Mother’s Day post! Thanks for sharing your wonderful mom with us!
Angela
What a beautifully chic home your mother has, I am totally in awe!
Anita
What a great Mother’s Day gift! Missing you as I do, it makes the day easier. Thank you for this wonderful post. Love you too!
George
Wow what a fabulous home! Jacq – or should I say Anita, its beautiful! Love the hung night lights, we have a problem with reading lights in Fuji’s room and this idea is perfect ! Requesting to copy…. Wishing you both a Very Happy Mothers Day!
greenkooka
A wonderful tribute to a wonderful mom! Anita, this is your other “brooklyn” daughter, who needs a few lessons in organizing to perfection. Lots of love to J, a terrific mom too! xoxo
michal
I love seeing the Sakura in the Moonlight quilt…and know the effort and love put into acquiring it for her. Thank you for “sharing” your mom with us. She raised a beautiful , intelligent, talented daughter and now mother. Happy mothers day to you both!
amblerangel
Great post JJ! The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree did it?
Kristin
Wow! Thats all i got! No wonder you are so fabulous J! Love you!
Anne
This one brought tears…your admiration for your mom is so apparent. I’m in complete awe of your mom’s home…and, I have to admit, a little envious of both yours and your mom’s incredible decorating style and talent. Wow! Finally, another tid-bit from one who knows you a little…and in this instance meant only as a true compliment to you and your mom: “Like mother, like daughter”. Happy Mother’s Day to you both!
Robin
What an enjoyable post and sweet tribute to your mom. I just crack up that your parents say that “all antiques are just firewood” and get a kick out of how opposite your decorating styles are. Your mom’s bedroom is ultra chic – the print looks perfect. So fun to see where the quilt has made its home and of course looks fabulous. That is one of the coolest hanging light fixtures I have ever seen (near the quilt) – where did she find it?
Marianne Kiil
Loved this tribute!! Also, what amazing style your mom has. Wow!
Tokyo Jinja
Thank so much!!
Cora
Wow, now I understand why you wanted me to read this. Your Mom has amazing taste, love her decorating style.
What a wonderful tribute to her for Mothers Day!
Tokyo Jinja
You guys would get on like a house on fire!
Tokyo Jinja
I just wanted to thank everyone on behalf of my mom! She really enjoyed your comments and they added to her Mother’s Day treat!
Sandy
I can’t believe I missed this one. I’ve always wanted to see pictures of Anita’s decorating style after having heard about it for over a decade. She has great taste and placement, scope, color scheme, varying textures….etc….it’s all impeccably done. Jacqueline, you and I share much more similar tastes in decorating style, but you do get your keen sense of proportion and attention to detail from Anita! Missing you, and hoping your folks are safe from Irene.