Thoughts on Design, Metropolitan Home and Chit Chat

Well Ok....lets just get caught up!

No excuses, just mounds of life stuff that creeps in and makes the days fly by. 

Happily I wave bye bye to this crazy winter and yell hello to spring.

Honestly I have really struggled trying to find something relevant to talk about that doesn't wind up seeming, well, sort of irrelevant.  

We have been working on a little house project in Santa Barbara (photos above) and I will be starting a kitchen remodel in about two weeks.

Unfortunately the only thing I have chosen thus far is this sink faucet.

Looks like I'm having commitment issues but hopefully I will snap out of it quickly or this kitchen project will be really long! 

For those who have followed this little blog for the last few years, you know that we sold our Ojai ranch house and moved to Los Angeles for a year.  

While in LA we rented a very cool condo and I started messing around with modern furniture

mixed in with a few of the usual "country" details....just couldn't help it : ))

I have loved modern design since I first popped open 

a Metropolitan Home Magazine, many years ago.  

It was the first magazine that really inspired me and I tried very hard to emulated the hip modern rooms Met Home featured. 

The magazine published its last issue in 2009 

but Hearst decided to relaunched Met Home last summer 

aimed at Gen X and Millennial city dwellers.  

Many current design trends remind me of Metropolitan Home features from the 80's and 90's.

But design is so much more consumer friendly now and sharing information, sources and competitive pricing are the norm.  

And did I mention FREE shipping!! 

Just about everybody ships furniture for free or for a flat rate.

On a young working mom's meager salary, most of my purchases were from Crate and Barrel and everything else came from thrift stores and antique malls. 

 Extra money was used for diapers and bouncy chairs, certainly not furniture.

Not much of that scenario has changed except I'm no longer young 

and yes, I still like Crate and Barrel.

I especially like the latest collaboration with Ross Cassidy for the CB2 line

I have recently

splurged on a few new pieces of furniture

 that are really modern but will work well in any setting

A Saarinen table...a classic

Here I paired it with inexpensive chairs from All Modern ,

a vintage Gas station sign from the 50's

and collectible American red ware circa 1880..ish

An Eames lounge chair in white Edelman leather...delish!

Looks right at home next to the firkin stack ;)

The coffee table is from Serena and Lily and the English bamboo side tables and some of the new antique pottery pieces are 

from Revival Antiques in Pasadena 

The large Steel Console is a fantastic piece designed by Giulio Lazzotti from Design Within Reach.

This is an office credenza but it works wonderfully  as a media console.

The couches and chairs I designed and slipcoverd in basic white twill 

 with pillows in orange velvet from Schumacher 

I'm loving black accent pieces right now 

 and recently purchase the Antoccino shelving in black oak from RH Modern.

 I don't have a photo of this in our apartment but it is a beautiful piece 

and I can see it in so many different settings.

Now back to the story....we moved (again) from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area, a little over a year ago. 

 I know...we move a lot.  Believe me, we are really tired of it.  New places are really stimulating and exciting for the first few months but it just starts to get crazy and unsettling.

Today we are in an older, smaller rented condo but it's still pretty 

and the location downtown is amazing.

Here is essentially all of the same furniture with a few new pillows.  

It really looks different and yet works nicely in this older smaller space.

Interesting however, is that nothing looks very modern here.

The walls are a sage-ish odd green... I'm just living with it

 but I think the paint really dates this condo. 

In our spare time (?)  we work on the little house in Santa Barbara

Many of the things I have purchased for this house have a 

more modern and spare feel as well.  

While this is a 1920's Spanish Colonial house, 

modern and current looks right at home

A dresser in the master bedroom is from Room and Board with swapped out hardware paired with a purple over-dyed rug 

A lovely minimalist painting from Jean Jack mixes with vintage American pottery 

and antique Hubley doggy doorstops

The walls are hand troweled stucco which are left unpainted and raw.

 The original oak floor will be sanded and refinished in the next few weeks

and any thing but this orange will look sooooo much better...

I've changed out most of the lighting 

including the chandelier in the dining area which just didn't work for me.  

I know a lot of people would have kept it but it didn't allow 

for any changes in the dining room configuration 

which is important in a very small house. 

Choosing artwork that has a connection to this style of house 

but can work in a more contemporary setting has been fun and something of a challenge 

because of the limited space.

Add in the garden we have less variety of plant material 

and more linear sight lines, with clean walls and pathways

Vegetable gardens can look messy at times but the stone beds keep things in check 

and the gate provides a private garden room entrance.

Now that the rain is finally letting up a bit 

you can be sure I will be gardening more.

Tomatoes got planted a few weeks ago in February ....seriously Kelley? 

don't you think its too early?

I guess we will find out

xoxo

K  

and follow along daily on Instagram here

Perfecting Pizza At Home

If you are somewhat adventurous in the kitchen 

I highly recommend making homemade pizza.

It's really fun and actually really easy 

and perfect for dinner in the summer time

I tried 3 or 4 different recipes and finally figured out how 

to make great dough that's perfect every time

I like a thinner dough 

with a nice chewy well browned crust

This recipe is an adaptation of "Now or Later Pizza"

 from the King Arthur website

but here is what I discovered along the holy grail of pizza making....

It's all about the flour! 

The secret is to use a "00" flour (dopio zero)

which is more finely ground that the typical bread flour we find here in the US

I found this beautiful flour imported from Italy on Amazon

It is a bit more pricey than regular flour but I think well worth the money.  

You won't be using it every day (unless you are a pizza fanatic)

so it goes a long way if you just use if for pizza 

Here is an interesting blog post about this flour if you are curious

The second ingredient is adding Semolina flour

I purchased this brand form the same Italian supplier but semolina is widely available and 

Bob's Red Mill is also excellent

This third ingredient is defiantly optional but does add something to the flavor 

which I can't really explain.  

It's sort of like a sour dough/cheese/garlic flavoring 

You can get this from King Arthur Flour 

and it costs about 9 dollars

It lasts quite a long time too

OK soooooo

You will also need 

Yeast

Salt

Olive oil

&

water

pretty simple list

I make my dough by hand with the help of a 

batter spoon thingy (sometimes called a Swedish Wisk)

in a large mixing bowl

I will give you the entire recipe at the end of the post 

but quickly take you through the process

The 00 flour is on the left and the semolina on the right

They are both super fine flours and mix together beautifully

Combine the flours and the pizza flavoring

add in the yeast

some olive oil and the salt and combine well

the dough will start to pull together really quickly 

when it looks lumpy but well hydrated you are ready to knead

I like using the semolina for my bench flour but what ever is nearby is fine

When you dump out your dough you can quickly combine

and start to shape 

to begin kneading

Dust your hands too 

Knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is soft and well formed

I try not to over knead this dough 

and leave it a bit rough looking

Put your kneaded dough into a plastic container like this Cambro

Tightly seal and let rise for 1 hour

It won't really double in size at this point...but just wait!

Refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours or up to 36 hours

I have been making the dough once per week 

and usually use it about 3 days after I have made it

This is what it will look like after a few days

Awesome!

At this point I divide the dough either in half or in quarters

Use now or use later

It also freezes great 

Watch this to get inspired....I dare ya

Here's the recipe:

1 3/4 cups Italian "00" flour

1 1/4 cups Semolina flour

1 Tbl Pizza dough flavoring

1 tsp yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tbl olive oil

1 1/2 cups water

next post....fire up the pizza oven

xo

kelley