La Recoleta Cemetery - More Photos From Buenos Aires

Cementerio de la Recoleta is one of the most magical places in Buenos Aires. This cemetery is like a little city full of different architectural styles, and the wealthy of Buenos Aires have been buried here since the early 1800's. I love visiting old cemeteries and imagining the lives of long-dead strangers from the names, dates and epitaphs on their graves. But cemeteries full of statues and mausoleums - like the ones here in Buenos Aires or in New Orleans - I find interesting because of the experience. It's urban architecture on a smaller scale.

Modern Fabrics

A great online source for discounted fabric is Modern Fabrics. A friend gave me these danish modern chairs and I had new cushions made for them. Modern Fabrics "rescues" leftover designer fabric and resells it at a steep discount. As you don't need a lot of yardage to make cushions, this was the perfect place for me to find upholstery fabric. The website lists how many yards they have and offers free swatches. And best of all, they have a variety of modern designs that are usually only available to the trade.

Teatro Colon - Buenos Aires, Argentina

I'm living in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a few months and thought I'd share some of its interesting Architecture and Design. I visited Teatro Colon for a performance and a tour recently.

Teatro Colon was completed in 1908 and was the largest opera house in the Southern Hemisphere until the Sydney Opera House opened. It seats 2,500 and has standing room for 1,000. Three different architects worked on the theatre, and it is an eclectic mix of architectural styles. It is said to have the 3rd best acoustics in the world. The opera house was completely renovated and reopened in 2010.

View of Teatro Colon across Avenida 9 de Julio

Main entrance hall

Entrance hall dome

Grand staircase

Entrance hall from the 2nd floor

Salon Dorado (Golden Room)

Salon Dorado ceiling (the dark holes are air conditioning vents added during the renovation)

Salon Dorado - the dark rectangular patch shows the color of the walls before restoration.

The stage is set up for an orchestra performance

The next photos were taken before a performance of the opera La Pasion Segun San Marcos - a modern Argentine opera.

The view from our seats in the 5th tier of the balconies - la tertulia

Heat-N-Glo Twilight II Indoor Outdoor Gas Fireplace

We turned on the gas fireplace for the first time yesterday. It actually heats the porch quite well (and provides super ambiance as you can see below). My Mom enjoyed her cocktail in front of the fire, but she's not completely sold on it's efficiency indoors. We'll keep you posted...

Kitchen Update

The kitchen is almost done - just a few odds and ends to complete. The cherry door and drawer fronts are installed. They have curved cut-outs instead of door and drawer pulls. The sides of the island are tiled in the same glass tile as the backsplash. We plan to unpack our kitchen boxes this weekend, so we will have something to put on those shelves...

The pendant light fixtures are from Niche Modern. The cherry shelving and door and drawer fronts are custom made, but the cabinets are from Ikea. The glass tile on the island and backsplash is Genoa Champagne 2"x8" from Medici Mosaics.

The Riga wall sconces are from Fontana Arte. The counter tops are Bianco Romano granite from Brazil.

The indoor/outdoor see-through fireplace is the Twilight II from Heat & Glo (it's not finished yet).

We re-used all of the appliances from our previous kitchen.