allora.signature.ROSLYN

It is appropriate that the grandmother for whom I'm named, Mary Lide McArthur (better known as Ga-Ba), was attaching memories and meaning to chairs long before I was born. One of my earliest memories is being photographed in the large, marble throne of a chair that belonged to Ga-Ba's father, my great-grandfather--a tradition that continued for all of the children and grandchildren well into my adult life, and one that I'm sure my own mother will continue with her grandchildren. Ga-Ba loved the metaphoric connection of sitting in the same place that so many have sat before you; the cold marble of that chair on a summer day always reminds me of her. During the days I spent with Ga-Ba on Roslyn Drive, I first learned to sew and knit, and she humored me, allowing me to make whatever I could come up with: pillows, washclothes, blankets, dresses. To celebrate Ga-Ba, her love of flowers, and her affinity of all things pink, allora.chair.ROSLYN is named in her memory.

beaufain. kathwood. roslyn.

As of late, the weather in Charleston has been wonderfully and uncharacteristically temperate, reminding me of the sunny, early days of spring when I spent many a weekend in my yard enjoying the blue sky, priming chairs, and hoping to catch some rays. I thought today might be an appropriate day to show a (semi) before image of these chairs--look for finished images on Facebook!

allora.signature.E82ND

217 E. 82ND ST. NO. 5A. Though the location was ideal, the countertops granite and the appliances new, this wonderful address was lacking only one thing: space. My roomates and I took to decorating, focusing on organization to overcome the minimal area. As for my room, I decided to conquer the square feet with color. With the first few strokes of paint came the overwhelming feeling that I had made the wrong decision. My deep salmon was more of an electric coral, but I didn't have the time, energy, or budget to back down. I painted through the week, one wall a night, until my little room was complete. My white bedding and shelves helped offset the color of the walls, and it actually started to grow on me. Convinced that bold was the way to go in this small space, I went to West Elm and picked up a zebra rug, which managed to successfully hold its own with the bright walls. I was in love!

A short 13 months later, I primed the walls, rolled up the rug, rented a Rav-4, and reluctantly left my cozy oasis in the city. In my new place, the kitchen is the same shade of coral, and the rug is in my room. When I came across this brown and white zebra fabric, I just couldn't resist!

allora.signature.THACH

Recently featured in Charleston Home magazine, the color pairing of gold and deep aubergine is nothing short of regal. Though both colors made an appearance in the Crayola bold color collection at some point in my childhood, it has been awhile since I personally have put them together. Because of their relative richness, these tones can sometimes be an overpowering couple, but this particular chair, with its cabriole legs and gentle curving lines, is at once elegant and understated enough to host them both. My recently renewed affection for "power purple" has as much to do with its current emergence in fashion as it does with eggplant's ability to merge effortlessly and subtly into most traditional and contemporary settings. The brown hues of stained wood that one might expect from a sideways glance at an occassional chair are not far from the undertones of aubergine, which lends a wonderful element of surprise on closer inspection. This same characteristic is what gives an otherwise cool color the warm depth to offset and complement the gold, fantastically textured fabric. Pair with white for a clean, crisp look!

allora meets vale'

BLOG NO.2. Here we go. I was recently lucky enough to visit Spain--which is great for a lot of reasons, but particularly wonderful because I got to travel for two weeks with my sister, Lauren. I might add here that Lauren is fully fluent in Spanish and a master of the Spanish lifestyle, making her the perfect guide. She not only spent two weeks translating my terrible Spanish to shopkeepers and waiters, she also patiently indulged my need to visit everything of architectural significance in each city we went. Although I am slightly conflicted by the work of Antoni Gaudi, I couldn't imagine being in Barcelona and not paying homage to some of his most famous works. It turns out that I'm actually a much bigger fan of Gaudi's than I initially thought. I particularly enjoy his ergonomic details, from oddly but appropriately shaped door knobs to highly designed furniture, such as this great chair at the Casa Mila. Obviously made for a couple, the chair almost forces you to lean in, and every inch is made to accomodate your body. We had a great time testing it out!