Your Tango Shoes Under My Bench

Pink monogram plate: V & A
Caroline gave me these for my birthday HERE

When Alberto and I met, it was through the tango. I was a new dancer, and he was quite a few steps ahead of me. We met in July and we were a couple by October. I left my home in New York to move in with Alberto in California. I left behind an apartment, a beach house, a design business, and many, many friends.

I was sick at the time, wrung out and damaged. The tango gave me solace and strength, and Alberto gave me back my life.

To this day we are part of an urban myth in the tango world, the fancy New York woman getting the prize of the Argentine tango man. Many said it would not stand the test of time, that I would have my little tango fling, and get back to New York and my "real" life.

Sixteen years later I am deep into my life with Alberto. I never looked back, but always looked ahead to what we have between us, and what we continue to build upon.




Ours is not a romance of youth, but one started in middle age, and growing into our golden age.
Much comes with the territory that you never think about when you are younger. You never think you'll make it to be the age of grandparents, much less have the romance of your lifetime happening.



Alberto is a romantic. And so this morning he sweetly and shyly asked me to be his Valentine ~ again. And I accepted ~ again. He said I saved his heart, so he he is giving it to me.

Our long time friend Michael Pelkey sent this perfect Valentine

The tango is the back drop to the love affair of Alberto and me. Sharing our dance with one another is still thrilling, and touching, and magical.

Recently I have been updating our at home dance studio HERE
My friend Jack made a gift of the same green silk drapes I have in the living room. We both did out drapes at the same time two years ago, and he is changing his and passed them onto me. This prompted me to spruce things up. I painted some mirrors white, re-hung some art, re-purposed our old dining room chandelier and painted it orange, and added some seating HERE

White patent leather chair at perch.

The last piece for the studio is a bench I covered in white patent leather. I was inspired by the white patent leather chairs at perch. I saw over three years ago. I borrowed a pair for a photo shoot then, but never purchased them HERE


Wishing all of you love and Valentines, today and everyday.

The tango shoes of Alberto Paz and Valorie Hart

Guest Blogger Jamie Herzlinger

Of course it's already yesterdays news that another online magazine is coming via the brains behind Lonny HERE

Trad Home - not your G-Mom's traditional

Apparently Trad Home is geared to all the trad decor (traditional) girls and guys out there, though it's not your granny's trad so to speak. The lines have been blurred by the blending of antique, vintage, and contemporary elements that all combine into the new traditional decor.
Touchstones of elegance and comfort with a nod to icons of the past are key ingredients.

The first issue of Trad Home is coming this Spring, and the buzz is the Top 20 designers they name as bringing the best of the new traditional. You can see them all named HERE at So Haute.

A week ago I didn't know a thing about all of this until one of the Top 20, Jamie Herzlinger – Jamie Herzlinger Interiors, dropped me a very sweet note saying she's a fan of the Vamp, and asked if I'd like her to do a guest post sometime. I love having people do guest posts, so before I even knew a thing about Trad Home, I said sure, send it along. Jamie has her own blog HERE and could have easily posted this piece there. But I am thrilled she asked to do it for us here.

The stylish and Top 20 Trad Home designer Jamie Herzlinger
(and our new BFF - Blog Friend Forever!)

So read along and enjoy the images she chose for us too.


The Hidden Trend: Orientalism Meets Boho Chic
by Jamie Herzlinger for Visual Vamp

Jamie says Alberto Pinto epitomizes modern Orientalism

Jamie writes ~ I am so excited and flattered to be doing a guest post for Valorie today. Everyone at the office reads her blog daily so it is a huge honor for me to be able to post a few words of my own.

Everyone at the office of Jamie Herzlinger reads Visual Vamp

Today I am going to be writing about a particular trend that has recently piqued my interest and it is, Orientalism. It seems to be a designer secret and yet only the best are using it. I have done a little research of my own and come up with the roots behind Orientalism and why it is such an exciting trend right now.

Juan Pablo Molyneux ~ New trad Orientalism

Orientalism or interest in the Orient soared in popularity in Europe and the United States when the East India Trading Company was established in the mid-18th century. It was the first time the exotic nature of eastern design could be explored by those in the west. With this discovery came sumptuous materials and luxurious motifs that were both simple and complex. Westerners became obsessed with silk, embroidery and porcelain that was only available from these faraway lands.

Jamie Agnes Emery Orientalist tile

In the West, there has been no decline in interest in exoticism and foreign countries. However, the word “oriental” is often understood to refer to the Far East instead of the places to true Orientalism such as India and Morocco. While many aspects of Chinese and Japanese culture have been adapted as a part of American culture, the traditional nature of true Orientalism has received little modification.

Molyneux uses exotic influences

Since Orientalism of the Mediterranean has not been as popularized as that of far east, it far less widely understood, but if you look closely, you will see that the best current designers are taking time to understand the style and use it in subtle ways.

Alberto Pinto uses trad Orientalist elements

However, this style no longer being called Orientalism in the world of interiors or fashion. The current trend interpretation of traditional oriental is now referred to as Boho – Bohemian Chic.

Marc Jacobs does Boho Chic

(Vamp says: I spy a floppy hat I have from the 1970's)

The style is very recognizable with its unique materiality and nature inspired motifs. Boho chic is all about extravagance and over the top color and texture. Attention to detail is a key characteristic that is often accentuated by a handcrafted touch seen in much of the tile and woodwork.

Gorgeou luxiurious rug by Jamie Agnes Emery

This style is so luxurious because of the combination of natural materials like iron and wood with lavish materials like sumptuous textiles and precious stones like mother of pearl. This style is all about creating an experience that engages all senses.

Sumptuous Muriel Brandolini

These characteristics can be taken in contemporary design and implemented strategically to create a historic contrast. There are many masters of modern Orientalism including Alberto Pinto, Catherine Ferrier, Germain Boffrand, Muriel Brandolini, and Juan Pablo Molyneux.

Boho Chic for Spring 2011 via Polyvore

The sophistication of Boho Chic won’t be a secret much longer after seeing the various spring collections in fashion. You can start by adding a little Boho to your wardrobe, and even though oriental furnishings are more difficult to find, you only need a few key pieces to make a statement. I hope you are inspired by the photos I chose, and start observing the exotic oriental characteristics that surround you that you may not have noticed before. Thanks for letting me share today. ~



Vamp Here ~ Well I loved what guest blogger Jamie brought to us today and I thank her very much! What about you?!

Part 2 - A New Orleans Traditional Home Is Updated

This week I am sharing another room in the New Orleans home I have been working on HERE

It is the room adjacent to the living room, a second parlor. Even in a grand townhouse such as this one, the shotgun floor plan is in evidence, that is one room flowing into another. The two living rooms are used for entertaining.

Before - This is the room as I found it on the first day I looked at the house
You can see a glimpse of the chandelier we moved to the living room

The client said she wanted to get rid of her "old" furniture, but I felt she had some lovely pieces that just needed updating. For this middle room, we did not purchase any new furniture, but rather reupholstered existing pieces.

I loved the rug when I saw it, and again it was a pivotal piece in choosing colors.

This is the room as it is today
You can clearly see the relationship of the two living rooms

The daybed before it was reupholstered
Too many frou frou pillows, and the art work needed to go elsewhere

I loved these pale blue leather chairs
The client wanted to get new ones because the cat has left her mark
But I convinced her to keep them,
and to consider the very minor marks as patina
We removed the antique table and replaced it with a zig zag glass table

The room with the daybed gone to the upholsterer
The pair of club chairs is waiting for the fabric we ordered to come in
Various paintings were tried in this spot
The client was attached to to the lovely French mirrors and sconces
So it was decided to would work with them
We also kept the antique side tables and glass lamps

A painting by Louis St. Lewis was a consideration

Ultimately this Ed Smith painting won out
The antique mirrors are back under the sconces
The daybed is back with the new fabric, a Fabricut velvet

Ed Smith painting

The two club chairs were covered in an embroidered linen

Closeup view of one of the club chairs

This is the drapery before - cream color linen with balloon shades

This is the new drapery after
I continued with the same apricot silk that was used in the living room
No more balloon shades!

Apricot silk drapes made by perch.
All fabrics were ordered through perch.
All upholstery by Leonels

Here's the room again as it is today. It's fresh, filled with beautiful color and using all the pretty things the lady of the house had lovingly collected over the last ten years. As I said no new furniture was purchased for this room. Editing and updating were all that were needed.

Updated and refreshed double parlors in New Orleans

Repeated elements such as the apricot silk drapery, and the colors in the rug unify the these two rooms.

There is a third connecting room, the dining room that I will show you soon. The Mouille chandelier we ordered is taking forever to come, but I think I'll show you the dining room without it, and then show the room again when it comes in.

Thanks again for your interest in my projects. I love sharing what I love to do with you!

Tabasco Time!

Painting by Kristine Kainer

The food in Buenos Aires is delicious. But it is not spiced. Nary a pepper shaker appears next to the salt shaker on the table. After a few weeks there I could have put a nipple on a bottle of TABASCO® Original Red, because I craved something good and spicy, and that had some flavor from home. Now I travel with a bottle or two so I will never be deprived again.

Have Tabasco, Will Travel - Get it HERE

Tabasco is not just hot sauce. Its vinegar base makes it a flavor enhancer, and just about everything tastes better with it. One day I am going to put it on red velvet cake or on chocolate ice cream, because peppers and chocolate are a match made in heaven.

My favorite Tabasco infusion is in mayonnaise. It's so simple. I just add a few drops to mayo, sometimes home made mayo. And every time I serve it people ooh and ah. Tabasco has a pre-made mayonnaise that's very good too HERE

Mayo infused with Tabasco - Yummy!

So with this weekend being Super Bowl Sunday, I reckon a few bottles of Tabasco will be cracked open. Try it on pizza, in dips, and in mac and cheese. The options are endless! Tabasco is "So Much More Than Hot." It unlocks or enhances the flavor of food so you can get the best of every bite. Check out ten ways to doctor up delivery HERE

How do you use Tabasco? Got any great recipes or tips for us?

Every table in the South has a Tabasco bottle holder - HERE

Tabasco comes from Avery Island, which is 140 miles west of New Orleans. It's a salt dome island, and salt was actually mined there up until the Civil War. In fact Avery Island supplied 22 million pounds of salt to the Confederate army, up until the Union army invaded the island and destroyed everything.

New York Times Magazine's Oliver Schwarne Albright declares,
"Every well-set New Orleans table has an
Adler's silverplated caddy for when company calls." HERE

Avery Island is the home of the McIlhenny family and their employees, who are the only ones allowed to live there. Among other things, the McIlhennys are expert pepper growers, and have been growing them and making Tabasco since 1860.

Avery Island is also a major nature preserve, and a living museum of 450 species of camellias, many of them rare and endangered HERE

Read about the camellias of Avery Island HERE in The New York Times

Spring is just around the corner, and I plan to take a road trip to Avery Island to see it in its first glorious bloom, and to stock up on a few gallons of Tabasco.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of TABASCO® Original Red. All opinions are 100% mine.

Watch Out Miami!

Coming Soon - "Real Housewives of Miami" HERE
Rumor has it the producers have been sniffing around New Orleans.
Everyone here says they would NEVAH do it!
We'll see.

Bravo is not really filming The Real Housewives of Miami. Finally putting that rumor to rest is the announcement of the voyeuristic network's new series is, Miami Social Club (working title). Read more HERE

Have lots to do this weekend...
Come back Monday for another look at the trad home that got rocked...
Also thanks to Joni I am putting a look book together of the changes our home has gone through over the past six years ha ha.

Happy Weekend!

Your Thoughts Please - Naming Names

Room #1

Naming paint colors and decor styles seems to be a full time job for somebody. So many of us are comfortable when we can put a name or a label on our decorating style. Why? Does it validate what we do? Help us make choices? Offer a shorthand for others to understand?

Room #2

Earthy Modern; Industrial Countryside Chic; French Gothic Arboretum; Rustic Zen Ranch; Boutique Hotel Traditional; Glam Vintage Chic Office.

This are the labels Hi Fashion Home has put on their room displays. Really.

Room #3

Can you match the name with the number of the room?

Room #4

Personally I chafe under any kind of label. What about you?

Room #5

I squirm when people ask me to define my style, because my style is organic and always evolving. I don't like to be put in a box, or painted into a corner. Certain touchstones are always there. I want a room to have style and verve; to be pretty; to be comfortable; to be interesting; to be hospitable; to have a certain quality. I guess that conveniently describes my fashion sense, and my life philosophy too.

Room #6

Of course definitions are needed to identify furnishings: French, Swedish, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Asian, African, Moroccan, antique, vintage, modern, retro, Mid-century modern, etc., etc. And we define patterns: Geometric, floral, solids, textured, etc.

Room #7

The answers:

• Room 1 - Rustic Zen Ranch
• Room 2 - French Gothic Arboretum
• Room 3 - Vintage Chic Office
• Room 4 - Earthy Modern
• Room 5 - Industrial Countryside Chic
• Room 6 -Boutique Hotel
• Room 7 - Traditional Glam

Are you smiling? Smirking? Laughing?


ALSO - Be there or be square - Go to perch. who is giving away the cutest red Chinoiserie style chair HERE

Go to perch. to get this chair for free!

Warm and Cozy With Brown Velvet

This is the front door to our house
The Union Jack armoire is our coat closet
This room is our dance studio

I had another old ratty vintage chair reupholstered. I bought it for $20. eleven years ago, and it was in such good shape, it stayed the way I found it, gold velvet with brown wood arms and legs.
The chair has good classic lines, so I decided I would re-up it.

Leonels has done all the upholstery in our home, and we use them at perch. the high end home furnishings shop I work in. They are simply the best for workmanship, and they are fair with pricing.

Leonels is the upholsterer to Visual Vamp
View from the living room into the dance studio

I meant the chair for the dance studio, placed by a window, a nice spot to just sit and gaze, or an handy place to change into dance shoes, or sit and teach from the chair ha ha.

Uh, no. Too "Mr. and Mrs."
So I broke up the romance, & moved Mrs. Brown Velvet Chair

But I got seduced by the "newness" and moved the chair into the living room. It didn't quite fit, and paired with the lime green wing chair, it looked a little too much like "Mr. and Mrs. Chair", too granny even for this granny.

Mrs. Brown Velvet does a tango in the dance studio

So Back to the dance studio it went.

I painted the arms and legs of the chair white, and distressed the paint a bit. The new fabric is brown velvet, purchased from Fabric.com. The old chair had nail heads, but for the new version I chose self-piping. I have nail heads on the couch and French settee, and my breakfast room chairs, and just thought, "enough with the nail heads already."

A place to gaze or change into dance shoes

Then I moved it back to the living room, and moved it this way and that way. Fuss and fidget, fuss and fidget. Oh the silly restless illness of a decor addict. Don't judge/laugh. I know you do the same thing.

I moved the chair this way...

Then I moved the chair that way...

And then I finally moved it back to the studio where I wanted it to be in the first damn place! So now the chairs are all at rest for the moment, cozy on this winter day.

Striped doors in the dance studio adjoin the living room

Visual Vamp living room February 2011
Cozy - Do you see Cholo?

I have some exciting news. The Preservation Resource Center invited Alberto and I to be on the first Shotgun House Tour since Hurricane Katrina. We are so honored and excited. It's Saturday April 2 in case you are in New Orleans.

I needed to snap some photos, and I got a new camera from Alberto for Christmas, so I am experimenting with settings and exposures. I always shoot with natural light which is tricky, since even though our house doesn't feel gloomy, it's not exactly flooded with light.

So these photos are part of the learning curve, and since I had them I thought I'd share them, in hopes to give you something to look at during the MONSTER STORM OF THE CENTURY!

Visual Vamp living room looking into the dance studio - 2011

PS Thank you all for the great response to my project with the apricot silk drapes. Next week I will show you another room....