entertaining Archives - Hadley Court

DESIGNING: A COMFORTABLE RECLINER FOR SUPER BOWL MANCAVES

Next Sunday, Feb. 2nd 2104, is the Super Bowl, starting at 3:30 pm between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos and, if you live in Texas like my family and I do, Super Bowl Sunday is hallowed ground for entertaining and cooking.

Some of my interior design clients here in Midland, Texas ask me to design luxury *mancave* rooms for them. Don’t we all dislike that word? …but that’s what my male clients call it when they request I design a room for them, where they can relax, watch football, play billiards and practice their putting with their friends and spouses. Golf is big here, too, for both men and women.

The room above, designed by Twin Cities Construction, inspired me with its luxurious use of architectural materials and textures, while at the same time being elegant and gracious and incorporating all the features my clients would like to have.

THE PERFECT RECLINER FOR A MANCAVE:

The search for the ultimate recliner, for these types of rooms, especially for those of us that are interior designers, is never easy - especially as the most comfortable ones tend to be notoriously ugly. In addition, once you find one that’s a complimentary blend of masculine and feminine, often the choices for it are limited with respect to colors, fabrics and finishes.

Today, I am going to share with you a recliner I found that I like. { Tomorrow, I will share more recipes with you so that you will be prepared to welcome your family and guests, graciously.}

Is started last fall, when I attended High Point Market and was introduced to a manufacturer that had one of the most comfortable and best looking recliners I’ve seen, with all the options I needed: the AVA by American Leather.

An added bonus is that the company is headquartered in Dallas, making it very easy for my clients here in Midland to get delivery quickly.

Below, I’m sharing with you the AVA in different options.

As a designer, what I especially appreciate is that it can come with both legs and a swivel base and that that they will accept COM fabrics.

Here is the AVA in brown leather -which would look beautiful in my inspiration room above and would be practical when purchased with a treated leather so spills are easily wiped away.

The articulating headrest of the AVA recliner is a feature that makes it very comfortable to watch a big screen TV and still have your head supported properly at the correct angle - especially important for my clients that have their parents visiting or living with them. { I wrote earlier about living with multi-generations. If you missed that post and would like to read it, please click, here. }

This is also the AVA recliner, below, but shown with this articulating headrest feature and in a more modern version:

Here are 2 more pictures of the AVA, recliner, below, the first with a wooden leg option versus the swivel base in the 2nd picture, in a couple of fabric options I think my clients might like. What do you think? Which one do you like best?

I enjoy being able to choose different bases, leather and fabric options to give my clients the comfort they need and the visual uniformity often required in these kinds of rooms, but allowing me the creative freedom I need to design a visually stimulating room for them that’s not populated by 9 identical chairs in the same color.

Another option this company offers is TORAY ‘s Ultrasuede - which has a warranty of 10 years - and is very practical with small children, pets and the elderly and it allows for thousands of colors and combinations.

Here’s the AVA in TORAY Ultrasuede’s pale blue, very similar to Benjamin Moore’s 2014 Color Of The Year.

[ If you are contacting me to design a hospitality project for you here in Texas, where an order of 200 or more yards would be needed, I can also custom design an exclusive TORAY Ultrasuede for you in patterns similar to this one, below, developed exclusively for Hickory Chair. ]

Lastly, here’s another room that inspired me and that I think my female clients could live with, too. I could even enjoy sitting at the bar, watching the Super Bowl on this big screen TV..or, later, Downton Abbey. Could you?

Comfortable recliners are essential for gracious entertaining in a room designed to accomodate the men in our lives and their joys and hobbies and I hope this post has helped you know there are comfortable, beautiful, luxurious options when your husband turns around one day and says to you, “Honey, I’d like a mancave” and you silently cringe.

Have a blessed week ahead as you plan for gracious Super Bowl entertaining with your own family and friends and I invite you to please subscribe to my blog and visit Hadley Court’s homes on the web, here, here , here and on G+ , here .

Leslie Hendrix Wood
Founder

http://hadleycourt.com/blog

Gracious Living: What Are The Differences Between Fine Bone China and Porcelain?

Fine bone china and porcelain, what are their differences? What should you know to make the right decision about what to buy? On today’s post, I’ll share with you examples of each so you can make informed decisions - a foundation of gracious living.

It all starts for me with this picture of a gorgeous antique Minton pate sur pate bone china plate, below, found on my Pinterest Page about Gracious Entertaining, here.

You will often hear the term *china* and/or *porcelain* used interchangeably to refer to many types of tableware, but there are major differences between fine bone china and porcelain. What are they? Fine bone china is translucent, its clay body is white and, while still strong, it is more fragile than porcelain.

What gives real bone china it’s beautiful whiteness, translucent quality and fragile nature? Fine bone china has at least 25% bone ash added to its kaolin [ clay ] body. It’s the addition of this bone ash that creates these 3 distinctive differences between fine bone china and porcelain. A vintage piece is shown below to demonstrate bone china’s translucence. If it’s porcelain, you won’t be able to see this shadow effect.

Beautiful fine bone china is the epitome of luxury, but its practicality for family dining is limited due to its fragility. Although bone china’s kaolin [clay] body is still strong and is used on the finest tables in the world, porcelain’s clay body is stronger, and I recommend you choose fine porcelain if your children are often dining with you at table.

One of the earliest and finest makers of porcelain in the world is Wedgwood. You can read a timeline of their history, here. Founded in 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood, the piece below, part of the infamous *Frog Service*, ordered by Empress Catherine II of Russia, is now in the collection of the Wedgwood Museum, and is one of my favorites, especially due to the story behind it, which I attached with the picture.

Today, Wedgwood has updated its offerings. In addition to continuing to produce its more well known patterns, the Wedgwood company licensed designer Jasper Conran to create this porcelain collection for them, known as *White Chinoiserie*, along with many others that you can find designed by Mr.Conran for Wedgwood, by clicking, here.

Interestingly, last year, my post on creating Dramatic Focal Points with English Chinoiserie, here, was your #1 favorite, readers.

Clearly, Chinoiserie is a timeless, traditional decorative motif that continues to resonate down through the generations.

This video, here, of how fine porcelain by Wedgwood is manufactured, shows their collaboration for London Fashion Week, with the British fashion and accessories brand, Mulberry. It’s a wonderful video that will help you understand the painstaking hand craftsmanship that goes into owning a collection of fine tableware that can be handed down through future generations.

If you still have your heart set on fine bone china, however, Royal Crown Derby , would be my first choice. Here you can see Prince Charles, on a visit to their factory with the Duchess of Cornwall, trying his hand at the delicate hand painting:

If you’re more adventurous, their collaboration with world famous ceramicist and design director for Asprey’s, Peter Ting, who reinterpreted their famous IMARI pattern, might be one you would like.

But if you’re a classicist like me, this Royal Crown Derby fine bone china pattern could be the one for you.

If you haven’t yet selected your own first set of fine bone china or porcelain, I hope this post has helped to educate you in the differences, so you can make an informed decision. Who else is looking forward to the wedding celebrations coming up this spring and summer? One day, it will be my daughter, Amy’s, turn ~

What pattern do you have? Is it bone china or porcelain - please let me know in the comments below and if you have any other questions on fine tableware, please let me know. I’m here to help you learn to enjoy your lives through gracious living, timeless design and celebrating family traditions.

Have a blessed day, readers, and, if you’d like, please subscribe to my blog, Hadley Court, and follow Hadley Court on Pinterest here, on Facebook here, and on Twitter here.

Thank you~

Leslie Hendrix Wood