Redefining Style Here: The RSH Catalog Blog

Passover Week ~ Easter Week ~ Holy Week

A Time of Reflection, A Time of Light

Cast a perfect light with candle glow.

For any room in the house, for any occasion

~ for no reason or any reason ~

Turquoise, the classic color that never ages.

Lovely decor for a joyous Easter.

Tall Glass & Turquoise Swirl Candles

Mirrors for light and reflection, create sparkle in every direction

Mirrors carefully placed pull light from many directions ~ daylight, windows, indoor lighting

The illusion of doubling any space, depth and height~

don't underestimate the drama a collection of mirrors brings. 

Mirror Trays

 Not your grandmother's crystal chandelier! You KNOW she'd love this bling-bling!

Spectacular fun ~ color outside the lines 

Spring is on its way! Plant some creativity and see what comes up!

Multicolored Chandelier

Hoppin' Your Way!  

Easter is March 31st ~ don't say we didn't remind you!  

Robin Eggs

There's still time to think about decorations and niceties ~ for family and friends to celebrate this very special time. Tasteful treasures ~ meaningful treasures ~ future family heirlooms.  Love them now, love them forever. You won't forget the glorious, serious side of Easter, the Reason for the season.

Cutwork Lanterns

 

It's not ALL about candy, but it's ok if it is!  How about a bit of candy at each place setting ~ breakfast, lady lunch, or dinner party.  Just enough and not too much.  

Party Baskets

Head on over to RSH and see what's hopp'nin' for Easter!

Fishy Fun!

Nemo Fish Vases

In German, fische; Italian, pesci; French, poisson; Spanish, pescado;

and in English of course ~ fish!

Fish lovers, beach lovers, water lovers. Christians, pagans, and Saints.  

Delightful and decicious. 

 Art, walls, tabletop ~ for function, form, or food ~

fish figure in! 

 

Reclaimed Wood Fish

Fish as Art

Fish for Food

Malibu Fish Plates

We adore our fish! Glistening glass, weathered wood.

 Delectable!Yellow Ceramic Fish

 

Note from management:

We've heard that after 3 days fish, like guests, are ... odoriferous.

While we cannot speak for your guests,

~ OUR fish are SWEET SWEET SWEET~

no time or date expiration at all!  

Not Your Grandmother's Green

 

Kiss Me ~ I'm Irish!

We mentioned the Pantone Color of the Year 2013 is none other than Emerald ~

NOW is its time!

St. Paddy's day approaches, and the wearing o' the green is upon us.

And it's certainly not only for the Irish!  

Take a wee peek at a few bonny RSH features ~ even the Shamrocks are green with envy! 

Tall Mossy Urn ~ think misty moor beside a castle ~ rises a majestic 17" high.

Understed elegance for your tabletop.

Painted metal Bird Wall Hook ~ the perfect weathered green ~ and a  wee chirping birdie to greet ya, lassie! 

Green with envy

Fresh Color Squares ~ foliage and bird motif in 4 fresh green frames.

Think green this week!  

and don't forget Tea For One, Circus

 4pm is Tea Time! 

 

 

 

Consoling Consoles

 

 

Console Table! How do I love thee?

The perfect love! ~ Doing double duty for space definition, for precisely placed lighting, for accessories and decorating elements that need a place to shine.  In an entry hall, introduce family and friends in special photos and gold and silver frames.  The back of a sofa is never so lovely as when it's keeping company with just the right console table.  Eclectic, period, contemporary ~ let me count the ways! 

Fun facts about fashion in the 1800 ... and thoughts of design today

 

 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC) has a don't-miss exhibit through 5/27 titled, "Impressionism, Fashion, and Modernity," that looks at the role of fashion and design in the works of Impressionist masters, such as Manet, Tissot, Monet, and Renoir (and many others).  Paintings are exhibited alongside period costumes, accessories, fashion plates, and photographs, highlighting the relationship between fashion, accessories, and art in the mid-and late 19th century, when Paris emerged as the fashion capital of the world.

Does art mimic life or is it the other way around?  WSJ comments on the exhibit with Five Fun Facts about Fashion in the 1800s:

• Black was the new black -- black was no longer a color reserved for mourning.  Where on earth would we be without the little black dress? Black became a staple in design and architecture ~ hello Harelquin!

• Fast fashion flourished -- new production technology flourished for everything from fashion to furniture, creating sudden and mass accessibility.

• Luxury labels arrived -- the elite wanted better than the masses -- will this ever change?

• Adaptability mattered --travel was suddenly more common with new technology and transport; fashion ~ and even furniture ~ adapted quickly.

• There was name calling -- a tongue-in-cheek note to remind us: there will always be fashion and design police! Take note! 

• PS. Yes, I know Whistler's Mother is not a French Impressionist piece, but by James McNeil Whistler, an American of the same period.  A bit of levity, and showing a stark interior and an old world fashion snap...I wanted to see if you were paying attention :) It does however, hang in the Musee d'Orsay today.  C'est magnifique!

 

Hearts turn toward beach...

I don't know about you, but just about now, my heart starts longing for the beach.  This North Texas winter has been so mild and nice, especially considering what other parts of the country have suffered, that I have no business pining away for the summer ... which will inevitably be very hot and suddenly upon us!  Still, the thought of sun and sand is a constant in my heart...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you still have little ones at home, what better baby sitter is there than the beach?  And if you're missing your college students or grads, there's no better draw to get them home than your beach invitation.  Make your beach home or beachy home a place they'll want to return to again and again! Take a sneak peek of a few of the RSH treasures that willl out your sumer life this year! ~ for your home at the beach, or your home away from the beach 

Hopping right up to an early Easter this year March 31, since you asked! ~ sweet fuzzy, feathered chicks to Barney & Bonny Bunny, don't zip past Easter without announcing it around your home.  It's the sign Spring is on its way.  Pastels are right for Spring, along with the happy bright rainbow of color that comes with this very special holiday! And never forget the Reason for the Season with our  handcrafted, hand painted Shell Crosses #28701 & 28702. 

Getting down to beachy business,

its wind-worn casual styling, pastels, fishy fun, and relaxation.  Summer is that time of year we have license to take it easy, take it slowwww ... do it with great taste and stylish charm. Don't miss the Rebecca cabinet # 28938.  Pair this fabulous piece as shown, with the Framed Sea Life Prints # 28922.  Or for a bit of seafoam color, see the Olivia Chest, item # 28932.  Finish off the look with the stunning Coral Lamp #28728.  

Seaworthy ~ beachworthy! ~ tabletops: Whale Weathervane #17977 and handsome Seagull on Stand #28711.  Oyster Bowls #28923 do double duty as beauty and function.

And don't pass up the Malibu Fish Plates! ~ guests will always show up at the beach, delight them with your tasteful choices, a reflection of you! ~ and your hospitality!  

  

Minimalist, purist, color-blocking, monochromatic ... what gives?

Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts.  Thanks, wiki.

What? 

In words that make more sense, minimalist could describe a girl I knew years ago.  She was stunning, and never wore makeup.  She wore the world's plainest clothes. Naturally platinum hair pulled back in a thick pony tail, away from her face.  It all worked for her; she turned every head in the room. But at 17, we could never figure it out, till one day we realized the plain clothes and hair drew attention to her beautiful eyes, hair, face. Had she been full of what we now call bling, her beauty would have been lost in it all.  Purity.  Minimalism. 

Drenching a room in one calm, neutral color -- ceiling to floor -- calling attention to its innate architecture, it's bones.  Over-decorating should happen only when you're trying to hide the fact there's not much natural charisma to the space itself. Same goes for people, but I digress.  But, this is a totally legitimate tack.  Interior design and decoration is often about camouflage, and to make a plain-Jane space something special doesn't take a magician, it simply takes a bit of study, a very good eye, and a bit of camouflage to dress up or down, whichever direction the space or the face! needs.

Imagine a completely creamy white bedroom, ceiling to floor ~ ceiling, trim, walls.  Cream-white bed linens & bed skirt, cream-white carpet, thick and lush.  Then imagine this Chinese 6-panel screen over the bed.  84"l x 42"h., shimmering metallic gold rice paper.  Your eye is drawn immediately to the innate charm of this one piece, and the room is done.  That is minimalism. Don't forget some of the wisest words from one of the wisest philosophers (St. Augustine): Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Is everyone on Earth an Oprah fan?

Cuz I'm really not. By that I mean ~ I definitely do appreciate her gift, but I doubt I've ever seen a whole show.  Imagine my surprise when I started receiving -- without having ordered -- her monthly magazine. I hardly look through it.  But this month, I have stopped on several articles, and it's really got some interesting pages this month!

Of interest here ~ Oprah is re-doing her main home.  Oprah's had many lovely homes (palaces & mansions!), and in various stages of her success, she's done each home to the absolute finest in last detail, spending a TV Queen's ransom on each. But she says, each one has been a step along the road to this one, the one she will do as she wants ~ and not as a designer would have her do ~ or do for her.  A designer recently walked through her home with her and casually commented that the house as it is "has nothing to do with" Oprah! wOw ~ That is bravery!  I found it particularly interesting that Oprah says she finally talked the designer into taking Oprah on as a client.  Now that is success!

As I've said on these pages and elsewhere through life ~ what Oprah is doing ~ she is taking new stock of all her most beloved possessions and ridding herself of all the others.  To begin again, begin anew, to create the life and home she loves, among the things she loves ... beloved paintings, photos, comfortable chairs and sofas.  As opposed to some items of furniture she admits she never sat on in 10 years of owning, for fear the silk upholstery would get soiled.  No way to live! 

Very interesting direction from one of the world's wealthiest women, who can have what she wants, when she wants ~ the sky is the limit.  What brought Oprah to this place in life? It started when she worked on The Color Purple.  She discovered love, she discovered beauty.  She set about then in one way pursuing those, and has come with life's experience and age, to a place of living more simply, surrounded by her choices.  In people, in art, in dogs, in chairs, tables, and wall colors.  What makes YOU happy?  Pursue it! There's no reason to live any other way.  

Designer ...... Dogs?

What's beauty, anyway? It's in the eyes of the beholder, sure.  Is that just another way of saying something hasn't met the standards of classic beauty?  I'm sure you've heard that even infants will fixate on a particularly beautiful face.  We are drawn to what is beautiful.  Why?  Are there certain proportions, certain lines, certain colors, colors together? Is it a smile?  What about in the case of a building? A car?  Of course a famous curiosity would be art.  Few people realize Picasso was a fine portraitist before his cubist periods.  Gustav Klimt -- look into his artistic evolution. He did paintings you might mistake for photographs, long before he made famous his well known style. Yet both these artists were acclaimed in both early and late periods.  Whatever they touched ~ was beauty? 

Next week (2/11 & 12) is the Westminster Dog Show, something I've always been inexplicably drawn to ... and not because I'm a dog owner.  I could probably love a dog, just based on the fact that so many people do.  Unconditional love, etc.  In fact I think I might know a few people who love their dogs more than they seem to love their spouses.  But I digress.

There is a standard for all beauty, whether it is stated or not.  Who could state it anyway?  That's why we're drawn to certain lines of a chair, a sofa, a lamp ... and others, the less popular, are less popular for a reason.  Line, proportion, color. Yes, even in dogs!  Show dogs must have particular proportions, colorings ~ to even qualify!  These elements ... are they learned, or do we come into the world knowing ... as in the case of that infant?  Interesting stuff. 

Yep, you guessed it.  Maybe it took a while? That is indeed a dog!  I promise!  This is the Best In Show for Westminster 2012.  Honestly, it's slightly frightening; looks like a furry foot stool that suddenly took flight across the floor!  Is that just me?  This is the standard of Pekingnese by which all other Pekingnese are measured.  I know! I know! You love your mutt!  Say no more.