One Sheep, Two Sheep...

I'm Smitten.  I have seen this little guy for years but all the sudden I'm in love!

Francois Xavier Lalanne, a painter by training wanted to bring usefulness to sculpture  He, along with his wife, Claude, working out of their studio in Uly, France, created a menagerie of animals that served a purpose.  A rhino that was also a desk; a bird that was also a bed.  But nothing was as successful and as coveted as their sheep.  They are lovable in a way their other sculptures were not, in my opinion.

They graced many a chic home beginning with Coco Chanel's.  She owned a flock of them.

Francois and Claude in their studio, c.1967

The sheep have become highly collectable, and therefore rare.  They are garnering a lot of money at auction and on 1st dibs.  My husband saw me looking at one and I asked if we could find a place for one in our home (not that I could afford it, but I live in fantasy).  He said,  "Absolutely not, it's ugly!"  And I said, "Honey, it's not like I want a meat dress!"

~Xavier's credo:  ''The supreme art is the art of living.'' ~  Here, here!

photos:The Selvedge Yard, Robert Passel,Elle Decor,Veranda

You have read this article with the title . You can bookmark this page URL https://ourpicturewindow.blogspot.com/2010/11/one-sheep-two-sheep.html. Thanks!

peek into our his/her shoe & coat closet

Good morning, I hope you had a very scary Halloween. Our weekend was a very relaxed one. Many people say that to start decorating a house you should choose the rug and go from there. In my opinion it's actually the closets. Storage is critical and it doesn't hurt if you customize the space specifically for your needs. Once everything is out of the way in its respectively functional space then it's easier to see clearly what you need to make your life more comfortable and easier. Of course it doesn't hurt if every door you open is beautiful or appealing inside. When we moved into this house we lived with our utilitarian closets as we found them for about two to three weeks until I took care of it with a trip to Lowes, Container Store and Ikea. It doesn't take much money or effort to do this. I ended up reconfiguring the closet, turning it into a small walk-in. I painted the walls in a beautiful teal color, which is one of my favorites, got thin rails and spray painted them in brass. I think brass looks stunning against teal or any kind of blue for that matter. The shelves are from Ikea and the shoe racks are stackable that we fixed them to the walls to make them more stable. I think that the beautiful Quadrille fabric on the stool and the bow scarves on the wall encourage us to keep the closet organized. My hubby has long coveted the Mechanic's Beacon light so that is my contribution to the masculine side of the closet.

Below is a picture (sorry, I don't mean to hurt your eyes) of how it used to look like, the coats were removed when I took this photo, here you can see how the rod runs across the closet making it non-functional.

You have read this article closet / snippets of my home with the title . You can bookmark this page URL https://ourpicturewindow.blogspot.com/2010/11/peek-into-our-hisher-shoe-coat-closet.html. Thanks!