French Decorative Paint

A few years ago in , through a friend of mine, I had the pleasure working with a French artist Philippe Brault.

I wanted something architectural, BIG and trompe l'oeil.

Colors to match what I had done on the walls in the room
 Hmmm, something they could take with them if they ever moved.

Philippe Brault, artist who painted on linen, from France was introduced!

I fell in love with his images!

This is the room before it was finished.
 The clients had a day bed, round table and sofa.
We found the Bergere chairs at a second hand shop in Houston
(already upholstered! + perfect colors)

This is the wall we hung Philippe's work on.  The piece  measured 7'H x 8'W.
The clients trusted me, so I sent the colors, size & images we liked out of his portfolio to Philippe in France.
I loved each one of them!
 Then let him work his magic... magic he DID.

When the package arrived from France, the clients called me. I was in CA but I could hear their excitement. I was so sure it was perfect and it was! They adored the piece.

 It enlarged the room beautifully, was so realistic that we had to put a sofa in front of the piece because guests wanted to walk through the arches! Imagine that! Success!

These are some of Philippe Brault's work.

Below are the samples from Phillipe that I show to clients.
Painted on linen.

I added the tassel on this one.

 

They are truly magnificent.

A Grand Idea!

Let me know what you think of Philippe's creativity.

Love, Peggy

To see your vision come to life, email us about our design services at Peggy Braswell Design. 

You can purchase many of the items found on this blog, according to BRASWELL and much more at  BRASWELL. 

We will work with the trade.

I heart Screens

I love and adore screens.
 In my humble opinion, they are the most underused items in a home.

They are all over at our shop, BRASWELL.

Chinese 6 panel screen

Same screen with a  picture hanging. 

Same screen with a Japanese scroll. 

A mirrored screened with wooden details.

We used paintings from the 40's to form a screen to separate the office from the shop.

I found this screen in Alabama. I adore the wood color and diamond glass panes.

Coconut screen in the left corner + Alabama screen in the right corner

Chinese short screen -  used for windows.

Hand painted screen + Pine screen

 Japanese 2 panel screen

Great Screen from France - glass, needlepoint and petite point.

A Fabulous 1930 stainless and bronze screen.

For a client, we floated the bed with a screen behind (my favorite way if you have room).

The screen was designed by me in LA and was made in China by traditional screen makers.

We stained the screen in that glorious color of sea foam. 

Unique because the screen was custom designed, both sides of the screen carved (most of the screens from China are carved only on one side).

 Behind the screen, a passageway & built in storage space.

Dear Readers,

 Tell me how you would use screens?


Have a wonderful weekend.

Love, Peggy

To see your vision come to life, email us about our design services at Peggy Braswell Design. 

You can purchase many of the items found on this blog, according to BRASWELL and much more at  BRASWELL. 

We will work with the trade.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mr. Bambi, waiting for his date

Love,

Peggy

To see your vision come to life, email us about our design services at Peggy Braswell Design. 

You can purchase many of the items found on this blog, according to BRASWELL and much more at  BRASWELL. 

We will work with the trade.

Great gift ideas from BRASWELL

Here are some great gift ideas from BRASWELL, not just for Valentine's day!

CA pillow, $150

Floral  zinc finial, $290

Carved frame mirror, $125

Bone pulley, $60 each

Antique plates, $30 each

 Terra cotta globe, hand made (each one is different), $50

 Liqueur bottles, each one is different,  from $70- $90
For the Don Draper in your life.

"Vin Blanc" glass, $15 each

"Cheers" glass, $15 each

"23f" glass, $12 each

"Vin Rouge" glass, $15 each

We ship anywhere in the U.S.  If you have any questions, please contact the shop 
pegbraswelldesign@msn.com

For the month of February, if you mention my blog, a 10% discount will be applied to your order.

To see your vision come to life, email us about our design services at Peggy Braswell Design. 

You can purchase many of the items found on this blog, according to BRASWELL and much more at  BRASWELL. 

We will work with the trade.

2 dinner parties @ BRASWELL

Last Weekend I had a series of dinner parties at BRASWELL. I adore cooking and entertaining. I asked good friends to join me and made some good food and enjoyed their company.

This was taken before my guest arrived.

The red wine breathing!

Part of the fun was the table decorating...you can pretty much use anything you have.

These are empty perfume bottles & tin boxes with candles, of course & some bits of greenery & flowers

A wonderful dinner!

The next night I invited more guest! 

How blessed I am!

Fabulous smelling lilies. They last such a long time

Chop sticks, napkins, joss paper, paper fans (My guests took them home after the dinner as gifts) & my red trays

These are the place settings

I used a different Chinese Robe for each setting

I used the same dining table & chairs with different place settings for the weekend parties.

This is the what the table looked like on Sunday 

Below is what I served. Enjoy the recipes.

I managed to take one picture of the liver pate.

BIG DEAL CHOPPED CHICKEN LIVER / CHICKEN LIVER PATE

Serves 8

1 pound chicken livers

2 medium onions, chopped

3/4 cup butter

1 clove garlic, mashed

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

Pinch of thyme

Pinch of oregano

Pinch of tarragon

3 tablespoons brandy

Clarified sweet butter(To clarify, melt slowly and let all sediment settle to bottom- what remains on top is clarified butter)

Sauté onions in 1/2 cup butter with garlic until just tender. Remove from skillet. Add 1/4 cup butter and sauté livers until almost tender. Sprinkle with flour and stir in salt, pepper, bay leaf, thyme, oregano and tarragon. Cover and simmer for 1 minute over very low heat. Remove bay leaf. Cool slightly and combine with sautéed onions. At this point use a blender if possible. Put livers, etc., in blender a little at a time; add brandy gradually. If no blender, use meat grinder with fine blade and put through 3 times.(you can see how old this is by the word Meat Grinder-who has one of those!!!) Then add brandy and taste for seasoning.

To assemble and garnish: Let liver pate cool to room temperature. Pour into serving bowl or wide mouthed crock or pottery jar. Cover with thin coating of the clarified butter and refrigerate. To seal more permanently, a thicker coating of clarified butter should be used. Do not freeze. 
This is so easy and everyone loves it...I use with  toast points or any crackers that are easy to spread. 

STANDING RIB ROAST
(Martha Stewart)

Serves 6 to 8

1 rib roast (7 to 8 pounds), with 3 to 4 ribs trimmed 

2 teaspoons dry mustard 

2 teaspoons sugar 

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 

2 cups beef stock

Roasted potatoes 

2 pounds cooked brussels sprouts, for serving

Horseradish Sauce(you can buy this at the market)

1. Remove any excess fat from the roast, leaving a thin layer. In a small bowl, combine dry mustard, sugar, and Dijon mustard. Brush mixture over the fat and cut surfaces of the roast. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.(I do this the night before)

2.  Heat oven to 450°F. Set the roast, rib-side down, in a heavy, shallow roasting pan. (The ribs act as a natural rack.) Using a paring knife, score the fat. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and continue to roast, basting every 15 minutes, until it reaches a temperature of 125°F for medium rare on an instant-read thermometer. Remove roast to a platter. Let rest for 15 minutes before carving. 

3. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the roasting pan. Set pan on stove over medium heat. Simmer until juices begin to darken, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in flour and cook, scraping up caramelized bits, until flour is deep golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil, stirring until thickened. It should very lightly coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt and pepper. Strain gravy and serve with potatoes, brussels sprouts, and horseradish sauce.

I have tried many recipes and this is the one I like the best.

B's LEMON MERINGUE PIE
Prep: 25 minutes, Bake: 15 to 20 minutes, Makes 8 servings

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1 1/2 cups cold milk
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
Grated peel of 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 baked 9" pie crust
3 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In medium saucepan combine 1 cup sugar and corn starch.
Stir in water until smooth. Stir in egg yolks.
2. Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium heat; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon peel, juice and butter. Spoon hot filling into pie crust.
3. In small mixing bowl, beat egg whites at high speed until foamy. Gradually beat in remaining 1/3 cup sugar; continue beating until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue evenly over hot filling, sealing to crust. 
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Cool before serving. 

This was my mom's lemon pie recipe. It is SO delicious! Trust me.

I am determined to entertain more this year.

Occasionally I will post recipes I use.

Have a great weekend!

To see your vision come to life, email us about our design services at Peggy Braswell Design. 

You can purchase many of the items found on this blog, according to BRASWELL and much more at  BRASWELL. 

We will work with the trade.