Zebra wallpaper and in Spades

Heather of Habitually Chic posted photos from Kate and Andy Spade's NYC home a while back and it was fun to get a peek of what their place looks like. Obviously I loved it (how could you not with style like theirs?), but one room in particular stuck out in my mind: the guest bathroom. I'm crazy for the crisp white and black color scheme, with that amazing pop of fresh green from the wallpaper. Good, right?:


I thought I recognized the wallpaper, but it took me a day to figure out where I knew it from:

Remember Margot Tenenbaum's 3rd floor in The Royal Tenenbaums (one of my favorite movies, by the way)? I always loved that safari-papered bedroom and bathroom.

It turns out that the wallpaper has quite a story of its own beyond a guest appearance in TRT. It was designed in the 1940s by paper company Scalamandré for Gino Circiello, the owner of the iconic Gino restaurant in New York. As explained in The New York Times, "Mr. Circiello was a hunter without the means to pay for an African safari, but he reasoned that he could at least afford zebras on his wallpaper." The Scalamandrés, family friends, designed the leaping zebra and arrow paper for Gino's, and the rest is history (and supposedly Gino ended up going on his safari later in life, so all was well in that respect too).

Pretty good back story, no? And it helps that I love that paper, even if it had just come out of a boring old factory.

Oh, and in case you're wondering what the rest of the Spades' home looks like, here are some of my favorite rooms from the lot:

That bedding is very Kate Spade.


Although what's up with the men-with-dots-on-their-faces art?


Cute kitchen.


Lurrrv the built-in bench, with its black and white stripes against the black and white checkered tiles. Brilliant use of pattern. (And again with the pop of green against the b/w - I sense a theme...)

Bugs begone

Besides Lemongrass being one of our favorite restaurants in Annapolis (serving delish Thai food in a cozy setting - we can't go there without devouring their crispy string beans appetizer), it turns out that lemongrass has alternate uses other than being a place to stuff our faces.

Now that summer has fully arrived, so too have the bugs. I know my legs are sporting a few bites from eating outside the past few days, so that means it's time to break out the bug repellents.

The ever-helpful boyfriend, B, was just telling me about how bad DEET is, so he suggested instead using lemongrass. Turns out you can plant it in your garden (ah, if only we had one), wear the oil on your skin (in a diluted form) or even burn lemongrass candles (they smell much better than citronella). The candle above is from a company called Hillhouse Naturals, and they sell two kinds of mosquito-repellent candles: eucalyptus, lemongrass & mint leaf or wild mint, juniper & tea tree. I like the simple, non-wasteful packaging and that the candles are made from all-natural soy wax. They're citronella and DEET free too and when the candle's burned down, you can reuse the concrete holder as a planter.



Also check out this link to a recent post from Danny Seo, environmental expert and "co-conspirator" of Method (a fab green product line), who recommends crumpling dried rosemary in old newspaper and throwing it on your charcoals next time you grill. The newspaper will help the charcoal ignite and the rosemary will emit essential oils that will not only flavor the food, but keep mosquitoes away too. Great tip for summertime grilling in a green way and keeping the bugs away.

All of these ideas sound much more appealing than sporting nasty red bumps all over or even reeking of DEET (marker high, anyone?).