So we haven't been up yet a week, and the response to our community has been fantastic!  Businesses are connecting and people are communicating in ways that even we did not imagine.  Take for instance Style Curator Blog:

We added a program where you could connect your Twitter account to your B&B Encyclopedia profile and before we could starting using it ourselves, Style Curator was already on the case and a line of recent Tweets appeared.

An exciting aspect of the Encyclopedia is member contributed articles.  Author Cathy Whitlock ( re-de-sign: New Directions for your Interior Design Career (Fairchild Books) inspired us to create a new category "Design in Cinema".

Whitlock has contributed the article "The Cinema as Muse:  Then and Now".  We look forward to her upcoming book  "Designs on Film: A Century of Hollywood Art Direction" (Harper Collins, 2010) which will feature design and set decoration from all genres of movies.

We are thrilled to also count Nick Harvill of Nick Harvill Libraries as a member.

Of course when Nick joined, we could only hope he would bring with him his vast knowledge of design books - something we can never get enough of.  His first contributed article is a fantastic review of the classic "Twentieth Century Decoration" by Stephen Calloway.

This is only the beginning.  There are many exciting new members joining this week and we will keep you posted here!

Head over to the B&B Encyclopedia to find out.  Decor Delux, a drapery workroom in Orange County, CA and member of the B&B Encyclopedia writes about the beauty of this bed treatment here.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our companion site, the Balustrade and Bitters Encyclopedia - an online community for the design and arts industries.

For those of you in the industry -  designers, upholsterers, antiques dealers, collectors, design bloggers, trade showrooms, writers, fabric houses, experts, photographers, manufacturers and much, much more, this is a place where you can present your work and/or products and connect with others in the industry. 

Because this is a community site, we welcome any feedback or suggestions you might have at info@balustradeandbitters.com

Click here to learn more.

Some of our current members:

Line Vautrin was a designer whose work is as fascinating as her life story.  In the manner of her compatriot, Coco Chanel, she was strong, creative, ambitious and inventive.  Line was born in Paris in 1913 and left home at 14 unfulfilled with school to find her passion. At age 20, after various employments, she decided to set up her own jewelry business.  She initially learned her craft from her father who ran his parents foundry. 

Line’s career took off after the 1937 Universal Exhibition in Paris.  Working primarily in bronze she incorporated symbols and text into her pieces.  The primary motifs being: fire, stars, sun, moon, love, friendship, masculinity, femininity, among others.  In 1950, Line developed and patented a new material, Talosel, the name derived from the combination of the substances used to create it: cellulose and acetate.  Using Talosel she encrusted small pieces of colored mirror into frames and other larger objects that became highly favored in the interior design world. 

Vautrin was also a woman that embraced change.  She moved to Morocco in 1949 and opened a boutique in Casablanca through1952.  At this point, she returned to Paris with her daughter, having left her husband, and opened another boutique on the Left Bank.  Here she gained a celebrity clientele such as Brigitte Bardot, Ingrid Bergman and Yul Brenner.  Unfortunately, due to her limited management skills, she had to close shop in 1967.  She then decided to open a school to pass on her knowledge and expertise especially in the area of Talosel.  The school was open only for a few years as it was not a sustainable venture.   She continued to work and innovate and wrote a book until her passing in 1997 at the age of 84 of a sudden heart attack when advised she had cancer. 

In 2006, Christie’s auction house in New York had a sale of her work totaling $2.6 million.  www.christies.com

Please visit: www.line-vautrin.fr for a more information on Line Vautrin.

Above: 1970 - Line Vautrin working on a mirror in her workshop at 29, Quai des Grands Augustins in the early 1970s.  Photo: from www.line-vautrin.fr

Above: "Soleil" mirror Photo: from www.line-vautrin.fr

Above: This "Créte de Coq" circa 1950 mirror sold at the Christie's auction for $72,000 Photo: © JCM from www.line-vautrin.fr

Above: "Gribiche" mirror Photo: © JCM from www.line-vautrin.fr

Above: "Étincelle" mirror Photo: © JCM from www.line-vautrin.fr

Above: "Perruque" mirror Photo: © JCM from www.line-vautrin.fr

Above: Bronze cigarette box Photo:  from www.line-vautrin.fr

Above: Sample decorative brass and talosel panel  Photo: © JCM from www.line-vautrin.fr

Above: "Canard" wall sconce Photo: © JCM from www.line-vautrin.fr

Above: 1995 - Line Vautrin poses for Jean-François Gaté at her home in the 12th district of Paris.  Photo: from www.line-vautrin.fr

This simple yet brilliant idea can make use of a spare closet or the end of a narrow room.  All you need is some shelving, a twin bed, 30 yards of fabric and your favorite books or laptop.

Illustration from "The Interior Designer's Bedspread and Canopy Sketchfile"

by Marjorie Borradaile Helsel

Illustration from "The Interior Designers Bedspread and Canopy Sketch File"

Written by Marjorie Borradaile Helsel - 1975

We could find no other words to describe this beauty in all its tufted black silk moire splendor.  Note to the right, the Louis XIV goblets hung from the ceiling like a mobile.

Interior design by Pierre Barbe

From "The Finest Rooms in France",  a French House and Garden book - 1966

Photographer unknown

Sandra Davolio, an Italian born artist who has lived in Denmark since 1974, creates these intricate, ruffly lettuce-like vases from stoneware and porcelain.  We came upon her work while perusing the website of the J. Lohmann Gallery.  Gallery owner Joern Lohmann offers an exquisitely curated selection of vintage ceramics, metalwork and silver as well as presenting new works by selected artists.  We couldn't help but wonder how he came about representing Davolio.

Lohmann:

"I saw a photo of a piece by Sandra in a German decorative arts magazine
("Kunsthandwerk & Design") about one year ago. It was a piece that is in the
collection of the Grassi Museum in Leipzig Germany, a large decorative arts
Museum. Sandra was also part of an exhibition in that Museum about ceramics
from 1946 until present. I loved the piece in the magazine and got in
contact with her. Since then a great working relationship developed and I
represent her now in the United States. I introduced her work at Modernism, in November 2009 in the Park Avenue
Armory with great success. She also visited New York during the show as her
daughter lives here (and works in NY as a successful model). During
Modernism Sandra had two "gallery talks" about her work at my booth at
Modernism.
Collectors and art lovers were thrilled about her work." 

Modern showed in many forms this year at the Palm Springs Modernism show.  From natural and industrial to high gloss and high glam.  Click here for B&B's coverage.

"Tissues" by Ed Ruscha hangs above a tailored skirted dressing table.  An upholstered x-base stool mimics the artwork.

Interior design by Arthur Smith

Architectural Digest New York Interiors - 1979

Photograph by Peter Vitale