be back soon

Photography by Tim Walker
 

In Chicago for a few days. I'll be back soon.

friday farewell

Its been a crazy week over here. Our house has been plagued by serious drama and sickness. I'd love to crawl into this bed for the weekend.

Photograph from The Givenchy Style

I'm a sucker for a traditional French bedroom with a lit polonaise and little chair and table. And I am loving all of the blues in this guest room at Hubert de Givenchy's mediterranean getaway, Clos Fiorentina.The block print fabric used on the walls, bed and shades is lovely — pretty but not too feminine. The balance blues–the inky blue matelasse quilt and indigo chair and the floral linens — make the space feel thoughtfully put together but not overly done. Almost like some favorite pieces just came together effortlessly. 
Can you believe Givenchy designed this room in the 70s?

Have a restful weekend!

domestic discord

Far be it from me to dole out any decorating advice. I'm no designer, just an avid  aficionado but, yikes! When I came across this real estate listing this morning I wanted to put black bars on the photos a la Glamour Magazine's Dos and Donts. 

I'm a firm believer in establishing flow throughout a house. It doesn't mean that every room has to have the same colors or even be in the same palette, but I do believe in incorporating colors or elements that help you transition from one space to the next. The stark white and aqua living room followd by the red, gold and black bedroom was too much for me eyes. This feels a bit like living in a black and white cookie.

the beautiful and elusive french basket

This recent post on This is Glamorous reminded me of my long hunt for these gorgeous french baskets.
Over the past year this basket has popped up in a number of interiors. I love how it adds a great rustic/refined element to each of these rooms. The weave adds great texture while the scallop liner a touch of femininity plus it scores bonus points for practicality! In my opinion the bigger, the better.

Kim Fiscus used a pair baskets at the bottom of matching toddler beds for her two young daughters. What a great solution for toy overflow.

Photographed by Reed Davis for House Beautiful

I also spied this beauty in one of Joni's posts on Cote de Texas. Hint, its under the console, right at the bottom of the photo.

At this point I think everyone has seen this bedroom from Cote Maison. I first spied it on Anna Spiro's amazing Absolutely Fabulous Things.


Anna was lovely enough to include a link to her original source, Aged and Gilded. I was able to track down Ursula's post and voila! Ursula sells these beauties at super reasonable prices. They are not currently available on her site but send her an email and I am sure she can help you out.

And one question for all of you francophiles, what are these baskets called and what were they originally for?

d. porthault

I took a very quick business trip down to New York last week—all told i was gone from home for a grand total of 37 hours. While I was there I managed to squeeze in a visit with my lovely friend Peninah, who was gracious enough to entertain me even though she is about to have a baby any moment now. The other highlight of my trip was to D. Porthault. We've all seen their linens in House Beautiful, Elle Decor and countless other shelter magazines. 

The image that first made me crave a hit of Porthault in he bedroom was Rita Konig's own bedroom in Domino. I love the play of the prints in her old bedroom.

Then this Michael S Smith bedroom in House Beautiful sealed the deal. I love the mix of blue patterns: paisley, hearts, stars and a bold border.

Visiting the store was so much fun. I snapped some photos while I was there with my iPhone and thought I would share. Here is a view from the entrance of the store. I loved the antique mirror walls and display tables.

The store was very appropriately decorated for the month of March with the pois de senteur, lilas yellow, and trefles green patterns heavily featured throughout. 

 What I love about Porthault is the mix. Check out the riot of pattern in this sachet display.

 

I love how all of these pillows work together even though they are different patterns and different pinks. 

 

This display wall was particularly inspiring. I just love how the company effortlessly mixes their prints to create a very fresh look.

Here is a close up of one of the pairings. Very Kelly Wearstler, non?

It was also interesting to see the range of merchandise. Porthault has much more than bed and bath linens, you can pick up these adorable robes to coordinate with your interior. And check out those cute frames and lingerie bags on the table.

My focus was on some of the more well known Porthault patterns such as the coeurs and bouquet éclaté which I wanted to pick up for my own home. 

Sadly the pillows I wanted in the bouquet éclaté were not available, but fear not, they are ordered. In the meantime, these two darlings made it safely back to Boston with me and have now taken up residence on one very lucky little girl's bed.

friday farewell

Yes, I know we've all seen Bunny Williams' awesome canopy bed countless times. Yawn! 

apologies, source unknown

But I had never really thought about the rest of the room. Here is what Ms. Williams' has to say about her new york bedroom in her book Point of View, "If your bedroom is large enough you may want it to double as a sitting room. I live in my bedroom in the city, which has bookcases, a television, a dressing table, a chair and ottoman."

Photographed by Pieter Estersohn for Elle Decor,December 2002

Can't you just imagine Ms. Williams' working from her bed? A la Edith Wharton—I've heard that Ms Wharton would write her manuscripts in longhand from her bed and just let the pages fall to the floor. Whether or not it is true, I love it.

I for one LOVE working from my own bedroom. Its a place where I can clear my mind and really focus. I know some people are completely against bringing any kind of work into the bedroom. What about you?

Wishing you a restful yet productive weekend.

winging its way back

Used to be that wing chairs, like chintz were the icons of stuffy homes from days gone by. These chairs are a dime a dozen at tag sales and on Craigslist. But have you ever sat in one? The whole point of a wing chair is to cradle sitter. They are perfect for reading and dozing, they are designed to be comfortable! 

Functionality aside though, wing chairs DO take up a lot of visual space in a room. That and our associations with stuffiness can make them a challenge to use. Three designers during the past few years have used wing chairs (in three really different ways) and slowly I find myself considering one for my own living room.

Darryl Carter has long used wing backs in his quiet interiors and the chair features prominently in his book The New Traditional (which happens to be one of my design favorites). Of the wing chair, Carter says they can "define an entire room." And he uses them masterfully in his spare and pared down interiors. The chairs add visual weight to the room, but he keeps them from overwhelming the room by recovering them in pale linen or leather. So smart! Carter even included a wing chair in his now sold-out collection for Thomasville a few years ago. 

apologies, source unknown

Photographed by Simon Upton for Elle Decor 

Carter's design for Thomasville

While Carter has been using wing chairs in a restrained way, Tommy Smythe did the exact opposite in his living room in 2009 by using two smaller chairs as exclamation points. Smythe's living room caused a minor sensation on the blogosphere when it was featured in Canadian House & Home. Admitedely every element in this room —from the french giltwood mirror to the gallery wall and Hermes/Brit accessories— is on trend, but to me the vintage wing chairs recovered in Brunschwig & Fils Les Touches is the rebirth of the classic. Tommy made a bold statement and he nailed it!

Photographed by Michael Graydon for House & Home, December 2009

My personal favorite though is beautiful Georgian wing chair that Kim Fiscus used in her own home. The patinaed brown leather with the nailhead trim looks so luxurious and comfortable. The chair is at once an exclamation point but it also harmonizes with everything else in the room. 

Photographed by Reed Davis for House Beautiful, June 2008

Here is another shot of the wing chair, as it appeared in San Francisco magazine a year earlier. Interestingly the chair is one of the only pieces that made it to the HB shoot. I much prefer the way the room was styled for SF Magazine. The room is much less fussy and those viburniums are the perfect punch of color.

 Photographed by David Duncan Livingston by for San Francisco Magazine, August 2007

As I mentioned before, wing chairs are a dime a dozen. I'm starting to think that a leather or faux leather wing chair could be the perfect solution for a difficult corner of my living room and a safe place to send young sticky fingers to sit on. Sounds like its time to go hunting!