Gaultier & Epperson Share A Gay Birthday

John Epperson: “Tolerance isn't enough. Acceptance isn't enough. Understanding may be enough. But I don't know if you can understand unless you're inside a person's skin. What could be enough is just to somehow shed the fear & loathing, but the only way that can be done is if all the people who hate homosexuals realize there's a potential homosexual lurking in them. Sexuality is a transitory thing that could shift at any moment. It's bigger than all of us”.

After leaving his native Mississippi, young John Epperson moved to NYC & landed a job as the rehearsal pianist for the American Ballet Theater. He also began doing drag performances at nightspots Club 57 & the Pyramid Club. Epperson quit his job with the American Ballet Theater in 1991 in order to perform full-time as Lypsinka. He has since returned to his position at American Ballet Theater. Last year he had a non-drag role as the rehearsal pianist in the Film- Black Swan. What a stretch. It would have been more thrilling if Lypsinka had played the role, not to disparage Epperson's estimable talents.

Fueled by the early 1980s avant-garde, pop culture art scene in NYC, Epperson let flow his creative pluck into one of the more distinctive personas to emerge in contemporary performing arts: Lypsinka.


For the past 2 decades, Epperson's performances as Lypsinka have met with international acclaim for elevating drag & lip-synching to a beguiling world where Lypsinka speaks only through intricately interlaced bits of dialogue drawn from the considerable catalogue of American entertainment. Epperson turns 56 today.

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Starting out as Pierre Cardin’s assistant in 1970, Jean Paul Gaultier showed his first collection in 1976 at the urging of his boyfriend- Francis Menuge, who was his partner in business & life, until he died of AIDS complications in 1990. Gaultier’s collections have always been influenced by street culture & the media & he’s known for twisting gender roles in his designs, often overshadowing the elaborate design & construction of his work. Gaultier has literally made a career for himself out of nothing but sheer determination & dedication. With no formal training, he has managed to create a self-made empire with no indication of slowing down. He is a magical master of the theatrical in his runway shows, displays & advertising.

An unconventional designer, Gaultier claims to finds inspiration in everyday life, drawing from what he says, “is the truth of an object”. His shows are fabulous events, & he uses every shape & size of model. Fearless & passionate in any endeavor he takes on, whether it is the biggest pop star of all time & her sold out world tour, or blockbuster sci-fi thriller movies, Gaultier is one the best. The bad boy of fashion turns 60 today.

Great Moments In Design: Veuve Clicquot

It is a very sexy shade of yellow/gold. I have long dreamed of having a glass front refrigerator filled with Veuve Clicquot perfectly faced.

I hold the idea that Yellow is one of my least favorite colors, until I remember how much I love the color of the packaging of my favorite champagne, the eponymous Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Yellow Label.

It is a color that captures self confidence, rare emotions & a sense of well-being: Tangerine, Nasturtium. Rothko put away his dark & tortured tone with squares of yellow. India's Yellow tends toward Gold: the setting of the sun to the break of dawn, symphonies of saffron, curry, papaya, amber mustard, pulpy orange. Buddhist monks of Tibet live in the beating heart of yellow, the color of wisdom & eternity.

The yellow of Veuve Clicquot labels came to life in late 1800s to distinguish the sweeter champagne preferred by the Russians whose bottle had the original white label. The yellow label was for the dry Champagne loved by the Brits & Americans. The first yellow was pale of hue, & faded by the time it made its way to the customers aboard cargo ships.

A decision was made to a deep yellow-orange. In 1877 it was officially registered as the Veuve Clicquot color so no other champagne manufacturer was allowed to use it. The color & design of the label has remained the same for over 140 years. It is a daring, dateless, delightful, divine color.The color of autumn of the sun, audacious, anxious, & spiritul.

Today is the 3rd anniversary of Post Apocalyptic Bohemian. I started to blog as a challange to myself on my 55th birthday. It took me 21 days to do the first post. By April I was asking myself to create a post a day. I had supposed that I could post about my fairly interesting life so far & celebrate famous gay folk on their birthdays. I dared myself to put out, into the universe, a mention of the things that I embraced with some passion: Design, Fashion, Music, Books, Film, Theatre, Adventure, & Love.

Nearly 4 months into daily posts, I was delighted to discover that someone on the World Wide Web would stop & read what I had posted. I had no inkling 3 years ago that individuals around the globe would desire a dose of the life of The Post Apocalyptic Bohemian every now & then.

Thanks to The Husband for the photographs & edits & for sticking it out. When I started PAB, we were, quite certainly, on the verge of divorce. The Husband: "I wasn't ever going to divorce. You get through the tough times with your partner..."

Thank you, from deep in being, to every person that ever peeked, pondered, & participated in my little spot on the Internet. When I return home I will toast you, the readers.

The Husband's Art

The Husband calls them assemblages. He is an interior designer, a set designer, a book illustrator, but the work that he has given his heart & hand to are the constructions made of found objects, put together in the manner of one his idols- Joseph Cornell. His pieces speak of memory, nostalgia & loss. Click on an image & it will get better... magic!

Born On This Day- July 7th... George Cukor

I just am crazy for the scene in one of my favorite films- Gods & Monsters: director James Whale brings his hot gardener stud to a party at George Cukor's home, with Princess Margaret as a honored guest. So well filmed & telling, director Bill Condon claims he shot the budget wad on that scene, but it was worth it.

George Cukor's private life was well known in Hollywood. His Sunday afternoon pool parties were legendary in gay circles, having been described at lurid detail by some of the party guests, including writer John Rechy. His home, decorated by actor-turned interior designer William Haines, was the spot for Hollywood homosexuals to gather. The close knit group included Haines & his partner Jimmie Shields, Alan Ladd ,W.Somerset Maugham, James Vincent, screenwriter Rowland Leigh, costume designers Orry-Kelly & Robert Le Maire, & actors John Darrow, Robert Walker, Anderson Lawler, Robert Seiter & Tom Douglas. Frank Horn- secretary to Cary Grant, was a frequent guest. Cukor & his sophisticated & artistic friends socialized with their boyfriends- often hustlers, rough trade, actor wannabes, or ambitious artists & writers who saw his parties as way into the exclusive Hollywood life.

My favorite anecdote: Hunky, young Forrest Tucker, who was straight, would show up at Cukor's Sunday afternoon parties & swim naked in the pool for the viewing pleasure of Cukor's famous gay guests: W. Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward, Cecil Beaton & other assorted influential gays in the art, literature, & movies. Tucker realized these men were important contacts & was one of many up & coming young studs who were willing to make a naked appearance for the sake of their careers. Among them was handsome, hunk, hairy Aldo Ray, whom Cukor seemed to like well enough to cast him in Pat & Mike & The Marrying Kind with Judy Holliday.


Cukor's personal reputation has suffered somewhat from these anecdotes. Rechy: “Cukor was a catty, sometimes cruel queen who was as gifted at separating his private & public personas as he was at making films.” Yet among his close friends, those important enough to him to have his home filled with their photographs: Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Joan Crawford, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Lauren Bacall & Humphrey Bogart, Claudette Colbert, Marlene Dietrich, Laurence Olivier & Vivien Leigh, Stanley Holloway, Judy Garland, Gene Tierney, Noël Coward, Cole Porter, James Whale, Edith Head, Norma Shearer, Irving Thalberg, Sinclair Lewis, Theodore Dreiser, Aldous Huxley, Ferenc Molnár, Christopher Isherwood & Don Bachardy, & close friend Somerset Maugham.

As a semi-closeted gay artist in Hollywood, one of Cukor's constant themes was how to reconcile a double life, an outsider or artist always at war with his or her own demons & the limits imposed by relationships & society. In other films, there is the meeting of 2 sides. For Cukor this seemed to represent true happiness. In Holiday (1938), Cary Grant rejects his rich, stuffy fiancee in favor of her spinster sister (Katharine Hepburn) who turns out to be a dreamer like himself.


Cukor is often given the title. “women’s director”, but he was the 1st to show Cary Grant as a romantic comedian in Sylvia Scarlett, & he launched the careers of Jack Lemmon, Aldo Ray, Tom Ewell & Anthony Perkins as well as Katharine Hepburn & Angela Lansbury. He directed W. C. Fields, Lew Ayres, Spencer Tracy & James Mason to performances that should have won Oscars, & James Stewart, Ronald Colman & Rex Harrison to performances that did. Plus: Max Carey in What Price Hollywood?, John Barrymore in Dinner at Eight, Cary Grant in Holiday & The Philadelphia Story, Ronald Colman in A Double Life, Spencer Tracy in Adam's Rib, & Laurence Olivier in Love Among the Ruins. All these actors discovered new dimensions to their screen personalities under Cukor's smart, shrewd & sympathetic direction.

Photo by Cecil Beaton

Among his most personal films are Little Women, The Marrying Kind, Pat & Mike & A Star Is Born. None of them is glossy, & none of them started as theatre. Cukor usually filmed from the viewpoint of his female main character. This is evident in his Katharine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy romantic comedy Pat & Mike & as it is in more obviously female-centered stories such as Little Women, & Gaslight . His concentration on Strong women, along with Clark Gable's "ick factor"over Cukor's homosexuality, were the reasons for the director's firing from Gone With the Wind by producer David O. Selznick.


All of his life Cukor fought an inferiority complex based on his ugliness, weight & life in an anti-Semitic America. His biggest secret was his active homosexuality. Among the major directors of the golden years of Hollywood, only he & James Whale were, more or less. basically openly gay. He died in 1983, 2 years after his last film- Rich & Famous. He is buried in an unmarked grave at Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery.

My favorite Cukor Film: Philadelphia Story. My Favorite Cukor moment: Cary Grant's speech on kindness to haughty Katherine Hepburn as haughty Tracy Lord.

What is your favorite Cukor moment? I really want to know.

Born On This Day- Opera Greats, James Levine & William Fregosi

In Manhattan, mid-1970s, I was studying acting at HB Studios & I was working for ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors, & Publishers). My cubicle at ASCAP had a view of the Chagall tapestries in the Metropolitan Opera House lobby. Because my shift was in the evening, I was often treated to a special of view of the art & the fountains at Lincoln Center. When the weather was acceptable, I would have my lunch on the steps of the Opera House.

NYC being one of the most expensive places to live, I jumped at the chance to have an extra income when one of the staff members of the Met told me of an opening doing part time in the box office of the famed opera house.

The Met had a series of concerts to introduce classical music & opera to school age children. These magical afternoons were hosted by Danny Kaye. At a certain point in the concert, Kaye would explain how many people it took to put on an opera production & the curtain would rise to reveal about 200 people: technicians, stagehands, designers, orchestra members, chorus, soloists, office personnel, & front of the house staff. There I would stand for 60 seconds as the audience gasped & applauded, sounds I have always loved.

I stood near to a chubby, frizzy haired gentleman with large aviator glasses. This would be James Levine, at the time, the musical director of The Metropolitan Opera Company. Today he is the Artistic Director of the company, & in rather ill health.



Levine's tenure with the company is considered it's golden era. He developed the orchestra & chorus to an unparalleled level of achievement, excellence & recognition. Levine spends more than 7 months of the year with the Company, unique in the music world. This season at the Metropolitan Opera, he leads a new production of Wagner's Tristan & Isolde, the first at the Met in 25 years, Verdi's Otello, Schoenberg's Moses & Aron, Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier, Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande & Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Wagner's Ring des Nibelungen & the world premiere performances of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby, commissioned in honor of the 25^th anniversary of his Met debut.

Why am I blathering on & on about a figure in the world of opera, when I care so very little about this art form? Well, Levine is gay & a major musical figure & today is his 67th birthday, but mostly I am framing this post around the birthday of one of my true favorite figures of the world of Opera & Theatre: William Fregosi.



I met William "Cha Cha" Fregosi in the world of blogging when I became a fan of his- Designerblog. He is one of only a handful of fellow bloggers that I have had the pleasure of meeting in person. I spent a lovely summer evening in the Boys' Fort with him, his husband, my husband & the critters. We had some wine & told some stories.

Fregosi is an amazingly talented & celebrated set & lighting designer.  He is retired as Technical Coordinator/Scenic Designer for Theater Arts at MIT after 35 years. He has also been a Visiting Instructor at University of Chicago. Fregosi grew up in NYC, & attended many concerts & theatre experiences while growing up.

He holds a BFA from Boston University & an MFA from Brandeis.Fregosi has designed for Theater Company of Boston, Hasty Pudding Shows, National Jewish Theater, & Boston Center for the Arts. He designed for the Boston Symphony Orchestra Young People's Concerts, the first 2 seasons for Boston Lyric Opera, & 5 seasons for Associate Artists Opera. Fregosi has lectured nationwide for the Wagner Societies of New York, Boston, Honolulu & San Francisco). He is a regular reviewer for The Opera Quarterly. 
 
For Intermezzo Company in Boston, Fregosi was the set & lighting designer for Vaughan Williams' Riders to the Sea in 2009 & this season's The Andree Expedition. This spring he designed & co-wrote the libretto, along with his handsome husband Fritz "boom-boom" Bell, A Place of Beauty, an opera about Isabella Stewart Gardner.

What's up next for Fregosi? This autumn he is debuting his new work- Steve's Hot Pants, an operetta about climate change & masturbation techniques, for which he is doing the sets, lights, costumes, score, lyrics & book for The NoPo Community Players. This new work will join the repretory of my all canine production of Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba & my all naked Fiddler On The Roof *(that's some hairy Jews!).

The Cossack Chorus from Fiddler On The Roof

* Footnote: I had "appeared in the Danny Kaye Concerts for Children at The Metropolitan House at Lincoln Center" on my acting resume for 20 years.

Pears & Blass... A Pair Of Birthdays On June 22nd

"Style is primarily a matter of instinct.”

William Ralph Blass was a very handsome man, who happened to be gay. He produced clothes for many renowned women including Jacqueline Kennedy, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Pat Buckley, Brooke Astor, Nancy Kissinger, Happy Rockefeller, Gloria Vanderbilt, Jessye Norman, Barbra Streisand, & Barbara Walters.

Bill Blass's life epitomised the Gatsby-esque American dream. Along with Oscar de la Renta, Blass was the American designer who most successfully brought together the roles of couturier & social butterfly.

At one point in my life I thought that escorting society dames to parties, lunches & events might just be the ticket for me. I had my eye on Diana Vreeland in the mid-1970s. Blass was one of the most successful 'walkers' ever. He was an indefatigable partygoer, showing up with some of the richest women in Manhattan at every party, gallery opening & hip restaurant. He not only loved the world of glamour, big money, high profile & style, but understood how to dress it, which is why his company was so successful for more than 30 years.

He was one of the founder members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). He was the first to receive the CFDA Perignon Award for Humanitarian leadership beyond fashion. He donated the $25,000 prize to the AIDS care centre of New York Hospital. He was also a major donor to Gay Men's Health Crisis at a time when well known people were silent about AIDS. Bill Blass died of cancer aged 79.

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Pears on the left & Britten on the right.

For 40 years, Peter Pears was the lover/partner of composer Benjamin Britten, who wrote the leading roles in many of his operas & song for Pears.Their partnership is important for the vast body of music & recordings it produced, & because many homosexual subjects figured in their work. Because Opera is just not gay enough.

Pears became a leading lyric tenor of the Sadler's Wells Opera, where he developed an extensive repertoire, but Pears's greatest triumph in this company, was his creation of the title role of the tortured & homosexual outcast in Britten's Peter Grimes (1945).

For the next 30+ years, Pears created many operatic roles that Britten wrote for him, including the title role in Albert Herring (1947), Captain Vere in Billy Budd (1951), Essex in Gloriana (1953), Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw (1954), Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), the Madwoman in Curlew River (1964), Nebuchadnezzar in The Burning Fiery Furnace (1966), the Tempter in The Prodigal Son (1968), Sir Philip Wingrave in Owen Wingrave (1971), & Aschenbach in Death in Venice (1973).

In 1974, Pears made, at last, his debut at the Metropolitan Opera Company, New York, in the 1st American performance of Death in Venice. I wonder if my friend Will, the esteemed theatre & opera designer was in the house?

Even after Britten's death in 1976, Pears continued his singing career until nearly the age of 70. He spent the remainder of his life teaching & administering the Britten-Pears School. Pears was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1977, & died on April 3, 1986. He is buried next to Britten.

A Morning With The Post Apocalyptic Bohemians...

This is an aesthetic that the Husband finds to have an agreeablely austere allure:

This is the actuality..

with ample amounts of accountability on my part: 



Born On This Day- April 4th... Designer & Hip-Hop Artist Lil' Jake

Today marks the birthday of my good close personal friend, the designer/ hip-hop artist- Lil'Jake.

Jake came into my life via the Husband. They became fast friends while working together at a posh, pricey Portland Pearl District shoppe that sold bedding & linens to Portland's monied, nouveau riche, & old guard. The Husband & the Jaker were held together by their mutual love for the exclusive, entitled customers who desired lavish, lush, luxurious linens... but only if they didn't need to be pleasant.

Lil' Jake & I have always gotten along. We have never had a cross word, intrigue or fight in the nearly decade of being friends. We speak a special, secret language that mortals can not hear- Show Biz Talk. Other people in our lives tune us out, but we can go for hours. One of our favorite pastimes involves recasting Broadway Shows & movies.

Emmy winning rapper & Broadway veteran, Jake France enjoys a rich, varied performing career as soloist, chamber musician, recording artist, recitalist, university professor, design librarian, editor, publisher, fine arts administrator, set designer & commercial designer. His work as a designer has been featured in Popular Mechanics, Boy's Life, Highlights, & Elle Decor Libya, NW Home Chickens, New Age Traveler & Portland Poser. He also very occasionally posts on his own site: The Kenton Collective.

Jake graduated summa cum laude, with an AA in the Hospitality Arts from Obsorbine Junior College in 2000. His senior thesis involved canning insects for fun & profit.

During the late aughts, Lil'Jake was a leader in the early 21st century Brooklyn Hipster movement & was responsible for several special facial hair selections. While living in Brooklyn, Jake released an EP- Foot & Mouth Disease which spawned the hit dance re-mix- I Wanna Touch Your Body With My Body. He is listed in Who's Who in American Women, Who's Who in Brooklyn, Who's Who in American Design, Who's Gay in America, & the International Who's Ho Is Whose. He has performed with the Biscuit Boys, The Tel Aviv Twisters, Viva Iraq!, & The Tri-Met Clown Posse Players. He was the recipient of The Minnie Maddern Fiske award for his work as Second Whore From The Left in the Chateau d' Ville Dinner Theatre production of the Christian industrial rock musical-  Babble On, Babylon!

Next up for this busy boy? He is working on a special project with my husband. I don't know what it is. Everything is hush-hush. 2011 brings the release of his long in the making Art Book-  The Annotated & Illustrated 101 Gay Love Making Positions.



Today,on this special birthday, Jake comes out as gay publicly, right here at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia!

Fine Dining

When we moved into Post Apocalyptic Bohemia 9+ years ago, we dismissed what had been described as the "formal dining room" as a nook of little importance. The Husband announced that this space would never be a dining room & that we would be treating the space as a "nook" off the front room.

In 2004, the Husband took this space down to the bare studs. We lived with it this way for 6 years. I loved it! It was very Post Apocalyptic Bohemian, the style that I go for. I was always inspired by spaces in Venice that were elegance layered with decay. I always thought I could love in a reclaimed ruin.

We seem to be getting all grown up. Darn! The Husband, with some help from T, has been finishing this space (or at least until he gets his next big idea). What I enjoy the most is the gradual transformation from the least desirable part of the house to my favorite spot to sit & just be. Larry & Junior find it to be inviting also.

Two of the walls are boards that the Husband cut, bleached & stained to look the color of Oregon driftwood. In late February, he plastered the other wall, repeating the stripe made from the joining of the boards of the other wall. It took the Husband 5 tries to create an effect he was pleased with. At one point the Husband had buffed the plaster, without the stripes, so that it looked like animal hide. We both hated the result. Tears were shed, with the Husband doubting his own talent. I never doubted him.


The Husband & I met 34 years ago in the Theatre World. He was an extraordinary set designer & his talent is what first drew me to him. The telling is in the details. Here are a few details from a space truly transformed through talent & tenacity:

The Chrysler Building Turns 80 Years Old Today

I am zany about architecture & design, & certain buildings & structures really grab my attention & move me, among them (these are structures that I have actually visted): the Woolworth's Building (NYC), the Duomo in Sienna, the Space Needle, the Hollywood Sign, the Boston Public Library, the Brooklyn Bridge, Chateau de Versailles, Church of San Spirito (Florence) The Cliff Dwellings of Mesa Verde, the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building, The Flatiron Building, Freeway Park (Seattle), The Golden Gate Bridge, the Customs House (Portland), Leaning Tower of Pisa, Lovejoy Fountain Plaza (Portland), Lovell House (L.A.), Mount Vernon (Virginia), MOMA (NYC), Paris Metro Entrances, Piazza del Campo(Sienna), Piazza of San Marco (Venice), Rockefeller Center, Santa Maria Novella (Florence), San Simeon (California), San Stefano (Venice), Sears Tower (Chicago), Seattle Public Library, Seagram Building (NYC), Saint Mark’s (Venice), Statue of Liberty, Stonehenge, the Louvre, the White House, Transamerica Pyramid (SF), the Custom House (Venice,), Washington Monument, Watts Towers (L.A.), Capitol Records Building (Hollywood), Shaker Barns, Covered Brudges, Tuscan Farmhouses, Yurts, Fairie Structures at Collin’s Beach- Sauvie Isalnd, & St. Johns Bridge (Portland).

My favorite man-made structure in the world is The Chrysler Buliding in NYC. At the beginning of the 20th century, the race for the tallest building in the world was on & the Chrysler Building was the first building to top the then tallest structure, the Eiffel Tower.

The Chrysler Building was in a race with the Bank of Manhattan (40 Wall Street) for the distinction of being tallest building in the world. It seemed certain that the Bank of Manhattan would win the race, with an expected height of 927ft against 755ft for the Chrysler building, but the spire of the Chrysler building was constructed in secret inside the tower.

Just a week after the Bank of Manhattan had reached its top, the spire of the Chrysler Building was put in place, making it 318 meter (1045ft) high, thus beating the Bank of Manhattan as the tallest building in the world. It would not keep this title for long, a year later the Empire State Building was erected.

The Art Deco Chrysler Building features gargoyles that depict Chrysler car ornaments & the spire is modeled on a radiator grille. The building's Art Deco interior is even more magnificent than its exterior. The marble floors & the Art Deco patterns on the stylish elevator doors make the Chrysler Building one of New York's most beautiful towers.

Annie Leibovitz attempting to get that perfect shot

When I lived in Manhattan in the mid-1970s, I never grew tired of looking up & I never was less then thrilled when I caught a glimse of this stunning tower. Like most of the structures on my list, viewing them was made more special by watching the Husband’s reaction to expereincing these wonders of design.

On The Street Where You Live

The Street of Dreams is a charity event that started in Portland 34 years ago. You get the chance to tour luxury homes & see how the rich people live. The event is usually in the ‘burbs at some development of McMansions & it always seemed horrifying to me. But this year Street Of Dreams is urban for the first time. 9 penthouses in 4 luxury condominium towers are open to tour starting today. The Husband does occasional work as an Associate Designer for his friend's firm- Kimberlee Jaynes Interior Designs Inc, & they were honored to be asked to design a penthouse at The Encore on the Park (it is sorta a big deal to be asked). He & the very lovely Kimberlee have been hard at work for the past 8 weeks. Tomorrow will be the Husband’s first day off in 2 months. The name of their creation is- An Uncommon Life.




The silver wall was silver leafed & hand burnished by our friend Tad, who is a gilder by trade & the wall just glows at night when candles are lit in Quan Yin's cage.



On Thursday night we attended the Black Tie Gala & we got to see all 9 units. I really loved 3 of them, but Kim & the Husband’s penthouse really was the stand out. The Husband had really raided our house of objects & treasures & I was not all that happy about it, but it became a very valuable lesson. When the stuff was out of the house, I really didn’t miss it that much & I realize I can live with a lot less. He used a lot of our books. I collect loving cups, orbs, Rs, & architectural pieces & many of them were used & can be spotted in the pics. I think that Kimberlee & the Husband are world class talents & they seem to really enjoy working together & bringing out the best in each other. On her blog Kim says of the Husband- “we finish each others’ design sentences.” I was able to see the penthouse at each stage of their work & I loved to walk around & pretend I lived there. The Husband’s background is in theatre set design & it has been fun & crazy spending 30 years with his projects & designs in our homes & apartments. Because of his set design experience, he tends to not do the backs of things that are not in the” audience’s view”. He can upholster a couch, but he doesn’t do the back if it is facing a wall. He also tends to do 9/10 of a project & then move on to the next. I have gotten used to it through the decades. I didn’t even complain when he tore down the dining room walls to the bare studs & lathe 3 years ago & then never did anything with it (please note the top picture). I call our style of design Post Apocalyptic Bohemian & it has now become our entire lifestyle.