Eli's First Hurricane Party

Not knowing there was a hurricane approaching the Gulf Coast, I left perch., Jack, and Valorie for a little jaunt to Florida this past weekend with the hubby and the baby. If you haven't visited the panhandle of Florida, you must! They call this stretch of the Gulf of Mexico "the Emerald Coast" for good reason. The water is electric blue-green and the sand is like bleached sheets.

We stayed in an absolutely beautiful home on the gulf side of Watercolor and it can be YOURS (to rent) on www.vrbo.com #138205.

The owner of this house has an eye for design that is conveyed in every nook and cranny.

pretty nook

lovely cranny

breakfast room overlooking front of the house.

bedroom in the perfect shade of aqua with a metal four poster bed.

area with two perfectly comfy chaises for reading.

The art throughout the house is fantastic and most was purchased locally along the main highway 30A.

This painting of facing faces is by a local artist named Rolland.

Eli was particularly drawn to this print of a seahorse in the kitchen.

I loved this giclee of a wave crashing.

While the house was amazing there was much to do in the out-of-doors (of course until impending hurricane Ida started heading straight for us).

There was a great film festival going on in partnership with the Telluride Film Festival. Along with the films (all having some theme on food), they served good wine from Frances Ford Coppola's Winery and great local seafood.

It was nice to sit under the pine trees in the cool air. We got some angry looks having a babbling 7 month old in tow, so we didn't stay long.

On Saturday we drove east from Watercolor down Highway 30A and stopped at Alys Beach another beach community.

Alys Beach's architecture is inspired by the Mediterranean.

There is something so dream-like and wistful about it. I love the simplicity of autumn's bare trees against all of the white walls.

They create such beautiful lines and shadows.

There we stopped and had lunch at George's. I highly recommend it! I had the most delicious curried chicken salad with dried cranberries on a bed of organic greens.

Across Highway 30A from George's is an amazingly bizarre structure that has been in the making for years. Locals call it the "bird house" (as it's shaped like a bird.) I would love to meet the mastermind behind it. The back which overlooks the ocean is made almost entirely of glass, so I can only imagine the view from the inside.

The bird house is on a gated private street, so my picture taken from the highway doesn't do it's massiveness or design justice.

Sunday we got word that hurricane Ida was heading in our direction. So due to the weather we stayed in for part of the trip - which was actually quite lovely, given our home away from home.

The storm was downgraded to a Category 1 and made landfall just west of us, so we only got heavy wind and rain, which I love experiencing at the beach.

After the storm blew over, the skies cleared to the most radiant blue. (Naturally, it was our day to leave.) We strolled through Watercolor and came upon this beautiful garden.

The garden had a never-ending fountain flowing through the middle of it.

And it was flanked by butterfly and bee loving flowering plants like snapdragons, orange bulbine and geraniums. Eli and I sat and watched this little ecosystem a long while.

We then walked through Seaside, the beach community directly adjacent to Watercolor.

It is filled with row after row of adorable sea cottages.

I loved this little walkway between the homes and the allee that the oak trees made over it.

This little garden was lovely in its simplicity.

We made a last stop to spend a little time on the beach before hitting the road for home.

Eli was in awe of the seagulls and the ocean.

And I'm in awe of Eli.

we need a little christmas right this very moment!

Peace signs are THE symbol of this season!

We know! It's so early for Christmas decorations. But sadly in retail nowadays Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas often share floor space.

We use an antique drying rack as an ornament tree

So here a perch. we've started to deck the halls a little bit. And people are buying holiday stuff like crazy.



We combine antique and vintage and contemporary in our holiday choices.

White birch branches from Fisher and Page in New York are bundled into
an antique vineyard grape carrier, and festooned with vintage style ornaments

We feature mercury glass and German glitter ornaments with a vintage feeling.

Vintage style feather trees in pale perch. colors nestled in silver urns are favorites to display our whimsical ornaments - we love the vintage style boxes and Santas

This year owls, peace signs, and beetles are very popular ornament choices.

This beetle ornament is very popular

An oversize silver wreaths festoons an antique statue

We love using silver and pale blue, and a touches of color mixed in.

Our tree won't go up until the day after Thanksgiving but we decorate our tree bed now
with over size mercury glass balls, a zinc stag head, and Dwell Studio bed linens and pillows

We put up a real 12 foot high tree in our center hall the day after Thanksgiving.

The life size dog sculpture gets a silver wreath around his neck

And sometime next week we'll do the front windows and the outside of the store.

Even the serious cardinal (an antique Italian bust) gets the holiday wreath treatment

We try to spread out our Christmas decorating to match the season. So more holiday decorations to come later...

Click on images to see more detail.
If you see anything you'd like to purchase please phone us at 504 899-2122. Holiday things don't last long enough to get up on the web site!

on our street.

perch. is on Magazine Street, the hottest street in New Orleans for shopping and eating.
We love our neighbors, and will feature them from time to time, so you can get to know Magazine Street.



Today it's Mahony's Po Boy Shop, 3454 Magazine Street.

From The New York Times:

Saving New Orleans Culture, One Sandwich at a Time
By JOHN T. EDGE

THIS month, New Orleans is having a party for the po’ boy.

At the New Orleans Po-Boy Preservation Festival on Nov. 22, as brass bands play and celebrators hoist drinks, serious-minded panelists will tell tales of long-lost po’ boy shops. They will speak of the import of this city’s signature sandwich, piled with roast beef and gravy or corn-flour-breaded and fried shrimp, slathered with mayonnaise, paved with sliced pickles and sliced tomatoes, strewn with shredded lettuce, wrapped in butcher paper.

Cooks, from restaurants as varied as Emeril’s and Jack Dempsey’s, will fry, stuff, dress and wrap for what is expected to be an overflow crowd.

And in what organizers are calling a French Bread Fight, a combatant portraying Jared Fogle, the calorie-conscious Subway pitchman, will square off against a combatant representing John Gendusa, the baker who, in 1929, fashioned the first modern New Orleans-style, French bread loaf, the base on which po’ boys have since been built.

If all goes the way it’s planned, as fragments of crust fly and a partisan crowd shouts, Mr. Gendusa will beat Mr. Fogle with a loaf of stale bread.

Such sturm and staging is good fun, but the sobering thought is this: If a sandwich needs a street festival, for which press coverage has been curried and stale bread weaponized, then that sandwich might be imperiled.

Po’ boy preservationists recognize a range of culprits, inside and outside the city limits.

A creeping monoculture is the most frequently cited threat, exemplified by chains like Subway and Quiznos, which are making inroads south of I-10.

Katherine Whann, who, along with her brother Sandy Whann, operates Leidenheimer Baking Company, the city’s dominant baker of po’ boy bread, frames the struggle in practical as well as cultural terms.

“Most po’ boy shops don’t have off-street parking,” she said, from a perch at Hermes Bar in the French Quarter, as she bit into an oysters Foch po’ boy, stuffed with fried oysters, smeared with pâté. “They don’t have advertising budgets. They don’t have Jared. But what they do have is a history in this place.”

A problem that’s more difficult — possibly reflecting a drop in expectations set by fast-food purveyors — is that the quality of some po’ boy shops has declined.

Of course, many still hew to tough standards.

The uptown stalwart Domilise’s Po-Boys, in business more than 75 years, cranks out textbook roast beef po’ boys and fried oyster po’ boys, cooking each batch of bivalves to order, and piling all on Leidenheimer bread, delivered twice daily.

At Zimmer’s Seafood, a working-class market established in 1980 in the city’s Gentilly neighborhood, the proprietor Charleen Zimmer buys Louisiana shrimp from her cousin. (Her husband, Craig Zimmer, works a shrimp boat, too.)

When a customer orders a fried shrimp po’ boy, she reaches first into a bin of iced shrimp, then for a coating of corn flour. And her bread could not be fresher, for Mrs. Zimmer buys sesame-seeded loaves from her neighbor, John Gendusa Bakery.

But a recent tour of old-guard makers found that some paradigmatic players, like Mother’s, a tourist favorite in the central business district, are not aging well.

In suburban Metairie, Radosta Grocery, a beloved checkered-cloth joint, still cooks top rounds for roast beef po’ boys. But Don Radosta, an owner, said slicing lettuce for sandwiches is now too laborious. Instead, he buys shredded iceberg, delivered in plastic-wrapped bundles. And he’s not alone.

Preservationists rail against the lowering of standards. In response, they’re setting standards of their own and, perhaps, kindling a renaissance.

Benjamin Wicks, proprietor of Mahony’s Po-Boy Shop on Magazine Street, open since the summer of 2008, is a raver and ranter with the heart of an old-timer. He makes money selling soft-shell crab po’ boys but also offers po’ boys made with liver cheese, a cold-cut analogue to liverwurst, to signal his respect for the sandwich’s Depression-era roots.

At the close of a recent lunch, Mr. Wicks, 32, a veteran of white tablecloth New Orleans restaurants like Rio Mar, sat at the back of his cottage restaurant, boasting of fried shrimp po’ boys made with Louisiana shrimp and Creole tomatoes, and of grilled shrimp po’ boys, shingled with fried green tomatoes and slicked with rémoulade sauce.

He talked of how to glaze a ham with a slurry made from root beer extract so that the resulting hunk of protein tastes of both sassafras and pig. And he spoke of his reliance on the downy crumb and parchment crust of bread from Leidenheimer.



READ the rest of this great article HERE

perch. in the wall street journal

We are so pleased to be included in an article about New Orleans in The Wall Street Journal!

Wandering New Orleans in the Heart of Oyster Season

By Andrew Harper
Read more HERE



photo: Valorie Hart for perch

Interiors both quirky and modern at perch, a Magazine Street boutique.

perch: Inside this bright house dating to the 1860s you'll find an eclectic mix of antiques, furniture, decorative objects, lighting fixtures, pillows and fabrics. You will find items as varied as an antique sewing table, a Venetian mirror tray and mercury lamps. In short, all things that would add an eye-catching element or accent to almost any style of interior. Perch also offers a selection of custom furniture.
2844 Magazine Street, Tel. (504) 899-2122; perch-home.com

the cult of nest.

We have a cult following. It's the Cult of Nest. People buy these candles in multiples. Everyone has a favorite fragrance. The pretty box and glass candle holder make the perfect little hostess gift.


You will love this NEST Holiday candle by Laura Slatkin. This Holiday candle provides approximately 50 hours of scented illumination. The NEST Holiday Collection pairs the comfort of a traditional holiday fragrance with festive red velvet packaging. An extraordinary scent combination that captures the aroma of the sparkling holiday season is housed in a custom designed glass lightly touched with gold. This collection will bring the warmth of romance of the holiday season into ones “nest”.

We carry the regular size for $28., a box of six votives for $32., and the mac daddy large three wick candle is $58. All three sizes come in very pretty glass holders.

You can order them on our web site perch-home.com

Get the regular size Nest Holiday Candle HERE


Get the large three wick Nest Holiday Candle HERE


Get the box of six votive size Nest Holiday Candles HERE



Don't wait to long. They sell out fast, and won't come out again until next year.

we love to set the table!

We love to set the table! We change it around every week. There are so many cute things coming in for the holidays! Our colors are aqua, white, blue, green, and silver.


The cute little lions and hippos look like vintage Bitossi from the 1960's and make perfect party favors. Vintage silver plate chargers had a little holiday glam.

We started with this gorgeous table, in Swedish gray, with just the right tinge of blue. It's nine feet long and 39.5 inches across. It can seat eight to ten. Our French Louis chair in natural looks wonderful on one side of the table. We pulled up a camel back small sofa to the other side of the table and tossed a Dwell Studio Chinoiserie pillow on it.

We set it with pale plates, old silver, our paper mache birds and blue marbled eggs.

Etched crystal wine glasses are so elegant.

Natural willow mini wreaths make wonderfull napkin holders.

We added the Italian hand made aqua dinner plate. And look at the fabulous cappello in cream (also handmade and Italian). And look at the beautiful Kravet fabric on the pillows in the background.

Here's our chair du jour! We just love this Lucite ballroom chair! It sparkles!

Click on image for larger view to see all the details.

Check out Tablescape Thursdays at Between Naps On The Porch for more table setting inspiration.

we are now carrying bedding from dwell studio!

We have this incredible bed in our show room, a one-0r-kind art piece really. It was made as a sample for our space, and it is so heavy we cannot move it around willy-nilly. So we decided to start styling it up with some cute bedding, and we turned to Dwell Studio who has some lovely things.

Chinoiserie takes an old world theme and pairs it down to the essentials:
bare branches, birds, and flowers, creating a fresh, decorative minimal style.
full/queen duvet set, 88" x 90" comes with one pair standard shams, 20" x 26" (2" flange)
king duvet set, 106" x 92" comes with one pair king shams, 20" x 36" (2" flange)

We are starting with four patterns. The hand of the fabric is beautiful. Dwell is a green company, and they are using highest quality cottons and linens from Portugal.

Talon
This pattern, inspired by traditional French textiles,
features architectural details blown up to an iconic scale.
Duvet set includes: 1 King Duvet Set, 106" x 92" and one pair king shams, 20" x 36" (2" flange) - $250.
Full/Queen Duvet Set, 88" x 90" and ans pair standard shams, 20" x 26" (2" flange) - $220.
Machine wash cold. Do not use bleach or detergents containing bleach.
Tumble dry low. Warm iron if necessary.

These are duvet cover sets, with two matching shams. We actually use the duvet cover without a quilt in it. It makes a wonderful coverlet.

The symmetrical forms of plant life take shape in this updated version of a shadow print.
the mirrored composition of garden imagery brings a modern twist to a classic theme.
hidden amongst the foliage are unexpected creatures. available in persimmon and saffron.

Unless you have a low platform bed, we suggest you order up a size.

Our Visual Vamp Valorie Hart has it at home in her guest room, and she uses the king size on a queen size bed. You can see how this size drapes to the floor.

Hedgerow Duvet Set includes:
Full/Queen Duvet Set, 88" x 90" and one pair standard shams, 20" x 26" (2" flange) $280.
King Duvet Set, 106" x 92" and one pair king shams, 20" x 36" (2" flange) $320.

We have a couple of sets in stock, and can order any size and color you want. It takes about a week to get it in. We are happy to be the exclusive seller of Dwell Studios in New Orleans.
We also carry their pillows, which are on our web site perch-home.com
Click on the tab 'contemporary accessories' (page 11).

And check out the new Dwell Studio blog HERE
We've added it to our blog list! It's very cool!

perch. gets a nice mention!

We love other blogs and bloggers. Many of you stop by the shop when you are in New Orleans and we love having you visit us.
The blog Flotsam and Jetsam did a nice post about us HERE.
Take a look!
It is so sweet and we thank them and are adding them to our blog list.

rogues gallery.

Happy Halloween from the Kreepy Krewe of Perch!
Where's Jack?
We've chosen a few scary images from our favorite bloggers! Enjoy!

Visual Vamp

Petunia Face

Our own Thing at perch.

girl world decor

eddie ross

Tongue In Cheek

book party.

We went to a fabulous book signing.

Tara Shaw and shop dog Jack

It was at Tara Shaw's up the street. Tara's showroom looked fabulous, and it was great to catch up with her.


There was a beautiful table set up with libations and nibbles. There was a great turn out. Everybody wanted to meet the authors of this #1 best selling design book.


The book is Swedish Country Interiors by Rhonda Eleish and Edie Van Breems.
You can see more images from this beautiful book HERE and HERE.

Don't you love this stack of books!


We know Tara has a special way with displaying books!

Edie Vam Breems looking so cute

Edie and Rhonda are our blog buddies, and we feel like we've know them forever.
You can read their blog HERE.
When we met them, it was like meeting long time friends


Rhonda (seated at the back) and Edie seated at the front) were supposed to give a little talk. But they had so many books to sign, and so many people to meet they didn't have the time. But the one on one time they spent with everyone was way better!

Caroline Robert, Rhonda Eleish, and Valorie Hart - BFBs - Blog Friends Forever!

So do get this book. It's a must-have for your book shelf of design books. It would be a wonderful Christmas gift too. You can get HERE or at your local book store.

vote for the vamp again today!

From Visual Vamp:



Here's Cholo's baby picture taken when we first got him three years ago (and before the settee got recovered). I'm really trying to soften you up to take the time again to vote for me in the next round of Apartment Therapy's Room For Color! I can't go out and kiss babies, but I can send you a cute puppy photo. Cholo says: "Please vote for my mommy!"


This is the link HERE

My competitor is strong! A slim margin separated us in our last run-off.
So please vote today. If you voted before you are already registered, so it will only take a moment.
If you haven't voted before, please go through the process, even though it seems a bit confusing at first.

Only 24 hours to vote for me in this round!

Vote HERE

perch. new orleans and it's #1 shop dog!

Jack Mayberry is an interior designer, artist, and manager of perch., and most important: "father" of Girl.
In the November 2009 issue of CUE, he and Girl are featured in a monthly feature called "Shop Dogs". Caroline and Valorie are so proud of them!

The photo shoot in the shop was so much fun! Posing Girl had its challenges, but as you can see, she turned out to be a Top Model! And handsome Jack always takes a great picture, and well the shop looks pretty too!
So pick up an issue today. Or just read the article below retyped with love for you to enjoy.

From November 2009 CUE by Lee Cutrone (photography by Cheryl Gerber):

Anyone who has ever loved a dog knows canines are great companions. For many people, dogs are a constant source for entertaining stories as well. John Grogan, author of Marley & Me, clearly knew the value of a good tale. So does Jack Mayberry, manager of Perch (2844 Magazine Street; 504 899-2122; www.perch-home.com;) and owner of Girl, one of the store's three resident shop dogs.

Mayberry's repartee on the subject of Girl is peppered with one-liners that manage to convey affection and exasperation at the same time. His account of the moment last summer when he selected Girl, a fawn-colored-Boxer-Catahoula mix, from a tangle of puppies being shown at an LASPCA adoption day at Canine Connection: "I went ti Harry's Hardware for spray paint and came home with a dog." His instantaneous reply when asked Girl's official position at Perch: "Sitting."

An interior designer and artist, Mayberry works with Perch owner Caroline Robert and design diva Valorie Hart to bring customers an inspired mix of antique, vintage and modern home furnishings. All three are dog owners and are responsible for the rotating mix of shop dogs, which explains why visitors may encounter different dogs du jour when they make return trips to the store.

Girl came from a little of 13 puppies rescued from the 9the Ward last year and works off some of her youthful, super-frisky energy as a part-time shop dog three or four times a week. She's especially fond of licking customers, sitting next to a statue that resembles her in the store's window (where tourists love to photograph her), and playing in the courtyard behind the shop.

The other two days a week she attends Camp Bow Wow, a doggie day care on Tchoupitoulas Street, where she can mix with like-sized pets. wade in a pool and romp outdoors. "The best thing about Camp Bow Wow is if I'm busy, I can go on the computer and see what she's doing," Mayberry says, referring to Bow Wow's "camper cams," cameras focused on the dogs so owners can check on them anytime.

Trying to corral Girl is a little like asking the wind not to blow, Mayberry says, so he and his charge maintain a structured schedule. In the mornings, they rise early, often walk to Coliseum Square Park, where Girl plays in the fountain, and arrive at work by 8 a.m. "She loves coming to work," Mayberry says. "She gets really excited. She's very people-friendly."

She's equally fond of Mayberry's two cats, as well as popcorn, her toy squirrel, red bone and rubber tire, and hanging on her owner's every word. Mayberry's final thought about Girl:
"She's my angel."

please do this now!

Vote for The Vamp and for New Orleans!

You only have 24 hours! Do it now! Please!

It's a bit of pain the way Apartment Therapy has set up their Room For Color contest.
You have to register to vote.
And now you have to vote again for those contestants who have made it to the next round!

Visual Vamp Valorie Hart has made it to the next round with her spicy Modern Creole room.

She lives in New Orleans for ten years now, and brings her New York style to her love for her adopted city of New Orleans.
The room you are looking at is her office.
You peek through an original archway into her office, which is flanked by a pair of vintage skeleton charts. One of them sports a Mardi Gras mask.
The color palette is Late Creole Tomato (a coral based red), Vibrant Turquoise, and Sophisticated Chartreuse.
Generous built in shelves house her collection of design books. A white cowhide rug makes the space cozy. A pair of pale aqua lamps with couture lampshades from Paris grace her desk, which is an antique table from France. Majolica oyster plates hang on the wall behind her desk.
Nestled into a corner is a Gris-Gris altar, filled with mementos found and given to her over the years. During Katrina, the home was spared, and many credit the power of this altar for saving it!

So please vote! A vote for this room is a vote for New Orleans, as well as for The Visual Vamp!

But please vote right away! You only get 24 hours to cast your vote in this round. If we pull her through to the next round, you'll be ready to make her a winner!

Go HERE to vote NOW! Look for the skeletons. It's in the section called "The South".

It's a little confusing, but please try- but remember you can only vote in this round today Wednesday October 21.

Thanks!

dwell studio in new orleans.

perch. is proud to announce it now carries dwell studio!

Dwell Home Furnishings was founded by Christiane Lemieux in 1999 in an effort to bring modern textile design to the world of home. Christiane was soon joined by Jennifer Chused as Partner and Vice President of Sales and Merchandising, and later by Christiane's husband, Joshua Young, as President and CEO. The company quickly established itself as a leader and innovator in the bedding market - and expanded to a fuller offering of home furnishings products, including table, baby, and junior. With a unique sense of color, an unwavering commitment to quality, and always remaining a step ahead in design, DwellStudio continues to create its own distinctive interpretation of home furnishings design.



Right now we are carrying their pillows. They are so chic, a couture style pillow at a department store price.
Zippered linen covers, with down feather inserts, the hand of the fabric is exquisite. Dwell has it's fabrics done in Portugal, a place know for centuries of producing very fine textiles.


Dwell products are environmentally friendly. Organic cottons are used, as well as low impact dyes. Dwell has a whole line of baby linens, as well as tabletop, and bed linens for adults.

We'll be getting in bed linens soon.


In the meantime check out these pillows on our web site perch-home.com
The pillows shown are well priced at $98. and $112.

halloween at perch in new orleans.

We love Halloween!


Trick or Treat! We ave some very special Halloween Decorations in the shop now.



Stop in and get something for your little ghost or goblin.

Or get something for your Halloween home decorating or party.

Wish List

• Sassy Cat in a box - $74.
• Porcelain style doll - $75.
• Skeleton on bike - $32.
• Candy boxes - $24,and $45.
• Mask on a stick $46.
• Mini crow with a treat $24
• True Grace black candles - box of 6 $45.
• Mini antlers. $25. each
• Owl - $65.
• Black candle holders - $5. each
• Thomas Paul Goth Platter - $20
• White ceramic "Thing" hand - $25.
• Crow dish - $33.
• White bird - $65.
• Candy corn dish - $25.
• Mossy Lady Head (hold a plant) - $65.
• Pair of Italianate gilded chairs - $850.

Click on images for more detail...

lonny, if only i could hold you in my hands.

Online magazines. They're here to stay. Some are good, and some are great.
Lonny is great. Go HERE to read about it. But don't stop buying a magazine you can hold in your hands. But do go HERE to read lonny online.

we had a party!

We had a little party, an art opening for Jack Mayberry HERE


It was a swell night with beautiful people amongst beautiful things.



The babies stole the show!



From outside the place is all lit up!



We covered the chandeliers, a combination of Christo and New Orleans Summer dress, an old custom when homes where redecorated with lighter fabrics to make the house cooler. We wanted Jack's paintings to stand out.















Great art, great food and libations, great people! What a night! Can't wait for next year!

our new favorite lucite chair.

We love this Lucite chair! Fashioned after the classic Chiavari or ballroom chair, which is a versatile party favorite.



Ballroom chairs were invented for ladies with big ball gown skirts to perch upon. Once in awhile you can find an antique or vintage one, and use it as an accent chair,

It is the quintessential party chair. Above Preston Bailey dresses it in lace.


Many people use ballroom chairs as dining chairs. They look great in a home setting.



These two are from the early 1800's


The antique or vintage brass Chiavari hails from Italian roots.

These two are mid 20th century.


The delicate lines and faux bamboo texture give it an airy feeling. However, thousands of these chairs do hard duty for zillions of events, so they are sturdy.


Here are some antique French ballroom chairs.


We think our new Lucite chair would make a great desk or vanity chair, or a set of 4, 6, 0r 8 would make wonderful dining chairs.


It's very well priced at $275. for one chair. Come in and get yours today, or order it from our our web site HERE. We can make a comfy custom cushion in your choice of fabric too.

please vote for the visual vamp!

Apartment Therapy is having a contest for rooms with color, and the vamp has entered her office space at home. Nobody loves color like she does!

Please go HERE to vote for her! You only have 48 hours!

Click on image for more detail.


Thanks!

perch. is proud to announce the artist jack mayberry

Jack Mayberry at perch.

The Fall season kicks off the gallery season with art openings happening all over the city.
There is an annual city wide event dedicated to local artists, called Art For Arts Sake. It runs the entire length of Magazine Street from the Central Business District, all the way Uptown.
This year perch. is proud to present the paintings of our own Jack Mayberry

#1 - mixed media on canvas
36 x 60
$1650.

Jack came to Louisiana from the northeast for his university years, and has made New Orleans his home ever since.

#2 - mixed media on canvas
36 x 36

$1375.

He has been a beloved fixture on Magazine Street for nearly twenty five years, where he had his own design business.

#3 - mixed media on canvas
22 x 30
$700.

His business took a major hit due to Katrina, and in the aftermath he joined the team at perch.

#4 - mixed media on canvas
42 x 34
$1500.

He has been a much respected interior design consultant, and there is probably not an Uptown home that hasn't been graced by his expertise and generosity.

#5 - mixed media on canvas
24 x 24
$700.

Jack got his graduate degree in art from LSU, and also taught art and design there.

#6 - mixed media on canvas
22 x 28
$975.

His creativity knows no bounds, whether it's put to use staging fantastic store displays, designing custom drapes, or choosing just the right colors, fabric, furniture, art, and objects for a home, or commercial space.

#7 - mixed media on canvas
36 x 48
$1350.

He's very handy, and fearless on tall ladders. He manages perch. and keeps the store looking fit and trim.

#8 - mixed media on canvas
20 x 30
$650.

And through all the years he has made art. Fabulous art.

#9 - mixed media on canvas
24 x 36
$780.

This year we dedicate Art For Arts Sake to the talent of Jack Mayberry.

#10 - mixed media on canvas
21.5 x 26
$800.

#11 - Mixed Media
25 x 34
$975.

Please come to perch., 2844 Magazine Street, New Orleans for his one-man-show, on Saturday, October 3 from 6 to 9 PM. There will be libations and snacks from Cochon, and beautiful people among our beautiful things.




If you see a work of Jack's that you would like, and cannot attend the opening, please call us at 504 899-2122 to put a reserve on it.

10% of the proceeds are being donated to The NO AIDS task force here in New Orleans.

Click on images for more detail.

the mother of invention.

perch. has a new shipment, and so we rearrange and re-stage and play.
We got these fantastic crates with huge wine bottles in them. For some reason it looked like they might make a cute table if you put a top on them! So we found two pieces of broken marble in the shed, and voila! what cute tables. A piece of glass or a mirror would work too.

The antique English chest got moved too, with a new vignette above it.

So look around the house, see what you can move around and maybe you have something you can make out of nothing!

Click on images for more detail.

If you see anything you like, phone us at 504 -899-2122 and we'll tell you all about it.

tongue in cheek in new orleans.

Lynn King, Jack Mayberry, Caroline Robert. and Corey Amaro at perch. in New Orleans

Corey Amaro of the famous blog Tongue In Cheek, stopped in the store on her way to Round Top, with Lynn King from Side Door. They had a truck filled with French antiques that Corey had helped Lynn find in France.


Corey took a ton of pictures in New Orleans and a couple in perch., and has a wonderful road trip post about Round Top and getting there on her blog now HERE



And here's Corey's story..

"I am American who has lived in France for nearly 20 years. My husband is French, and when we met, at I-BEAM, (a dance club,) in San Francisco, he spoke several words in English and I spoke three words in French; moi, beaucoup-bucks and oh-la-la.
L'Amour followed!

When I arrived in France, French husband had a tiny apartment. Without any "feather-fluff!" That is how my flea market passion started, transforming our tiny apartment into a nest.

This blog was created on a dare, November 29th 2005, after having lunch with fellow blogger Kristen, "French Word A Day." Kristen, daringly, encouraged me to write about my, (as she called it;) "Tongue in Cheek," collection of French flea market finds.

My tales are woven from my experiences of living and loving France. Mostly stories collected at the, marché aux puces, (flea market,) in the south of France. Tales of linens, letters, vintage scraps, and moments of these worn true objects whispering in my ear.

...life is too short to say no...
I left a beautiful country on a yes for love...
love has lessons that nothing better can give

A leap of faith has given me many adventures- most I never dreamt possible!

Dare to be yourself, there is nothing better to be!"

We are adding her to our blog list so you can become a regular reader.

using oversize photos in interior design.

Using over size photos and prints and images in your home or office is so exciting!


It adds an edge to any decor.

Fabulous over size photo we have at perch. by John Michael Smith

The October 2009 edition of Elle Decor shows this Geisha by Julian Schnabel hanging in Jill Stuart's home.


Bunny Williams did a wonderful room for the Kips Bay Showhouse in New York, and used two oversize images.

It was so striking, it made the cover of House Beuatiful August 2009.


Here's a look at one of the oversize drawings by Sarah Graham.


These over size prints of botanicals are just right in this dining area.


The Septmeber 2009 issue of House Beautiful showed how Windsor Smith used a large scale photo.



We love this polar bear by William Curtis Rolf. You can read more about it HERE


This pair of vintage anatomy charts are a unique way to use something oversize.
Go HERE to see more.



Come in and see the over size photos perch. is carrying by John Michael Smith.
Or visit the web site in the art category.

Click on images for larger views

how to display art - lesson 1 from velvet and linen.

Displaying drawings or paintings of nudes can be tricky.
Fellow blogger Brooke from Velvet and Linen HERE does it just right!

Her husband Steve is the artist of the drawings she hangs perfectly in their beautifully designed home.

She also used this fabulous flea market painting in their living room. .

The collection of Steve's drawings in the master bedroom are so romantic.

We love the drawings hung on the book shelf in their library.


Brooke purchased an antique drawing of a reclining nude from us when she and Steve visited New Orleans some months ago.

Inspired by Brooke and Steve from Velvet and Linen
Nude displayed on an antique Swedish secretary at perch . in New Orleans

It's been very hard to replace! We finally have a few very pretty paintings in the shop now.

You can also see them in the art section on our web site perch-home.

Click on images for larger views

There is another post on this subject HERE and HERE

casanova's gondola chair.

We have a new piece in the shop that is so exciting! It is a very rare 18th century Venetian gondola chair. It is so amazing that it has survived these last centuries, from the time of Casanova!


The gondola is a symbol of Venice, an elegant black boat that can be driven easily with a single oar by one man, or perhaps by one woman? Up until now, no woman has been admitted in the official gondola service because female candidates have failed to pass the exam. The official reason is inexperience and lack of skill. But everybody knows that admitting a woman to this profession would break a die hard tradition.
How do you drive a gondola? As you may recall from endless photographs, the gondolier stands up and turns to the direction of movement: this is called "voga alla veneziana", rowing Venetian style. The oar is supported by the characteristic "forcola", made from a single piece of walnut, like an arm folded at the elbow.

This gondola is a reproduction of one from the 1700's - note the closed cabin
It was made for a movie about Casanova

The gondola was not only a means of transportation. The closed cabin ("felze") placed in its center (not in use nowadays) offered both a shelter from bad weather and privacy for the passengers, who could enjoy reading, food, drink, conversation, or romance without being seen. The dark side is that escaped criminals and kidnappers have favored the felze. With open cabins, Venetians cooled off on hot summer nights ("fresco") while showing off their finery.

1700's Venetian gondola chair - our "new" pride and joy!

The gondola as we know it today is the result of an evolution responding to the need for increased manoeuvrability and practicality. For instance, the original wooden cabin disappeared as tourism spread. The view of Venice from a gondola is so exceptional that it would be a pity to hide it from passengers. The gondola chair we have is from the 1700's when the closed cabin was still in use.

We love the old paint surface
You can see the faint image of a crest

We are displaying this fabulous Venetian gondola chair as a piece of art

The curve of the side of the chair is poetry in wood
And look at the faint but beautiful hand painted decoration

The origin of the name "gondola" is uncertain. It may come from the Latin "cymbula" (little boat) or "cuncula", diminutive of "concha" (shell). It made its first appearance in paintings in the late 15th and early 16th Centuries in works by Gentile Bellini, Vittore Carpaccio, and Giovanni Mansueti. According to documents of the Serenissima Republic (the ancient state of Venice), the gondola was born in the early 1000s. With time, the gondola acquired characteristics that distinguished it as a boat designed for the private transport of persons of a certain rank.

These gaudy gondola chairs are very different then the ones from time of Casanova

Thirty six feet long, 1323 pounds in weight, made with eight different kinds of wood in 280 pieces (the only elements in metal are the "iron" of the head and the "risso" of the stern), the gondola is asymmetric. The left side is larger than the right by nearly a foot. The asymmetry makes it inclined on one side. The bottom is flat, so that the gondola can navigate in shallow water, only a few inches deep.


The iron of the gondola head, used to gain stability by counter-balancing the gondolier's weight, is a mini-map of Venice: the six strips called "pettini" (comb) represent the six "sestieri" (quarters); an additional long strip represents Giudecca Island; the double "S" bending represents the Grand Canal; on top is a stylized dogal horn and, under that, a lunette representing the Rialto bridge.


Nowadays in Venice, it's common to see gondolas used for tourists (called "charterage gondolas", as they are hired), the gondolas for celebrations (weddings), the gondolas "da parada" (or "traghetto") for the quick crossings of the Grand Canal. Their hulls are all black thanks to pitch, which is used for waterproofing.


The upper and inside parts may have decorations in gold and colored velvets and carpets (usually red or yellow). These are the gondolas especially used for marriages or special occasions. By contrast, it seems tawdry and meaningless to see the plastic flower bouquets that sometimes adorn them.

Our find is on the perch-home web site (look in antique seating).
It's waiting for a true collector...

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