Real Property Lust: Revival
14/12/2011 § Leave a Comment
Built in 1925, this farmhouse in Österlen, Sweden sat quietly rotting until it was bought in 2000 by its current owner. Initial plans called for a serious overhaul, but as the new owner took stock of the little house, she realized all it needed was a good scrubbing and some fresh air. I love how it turned out, especially the surfaces of the walls and floors — gorgeous. I also love the old Range Rover, and if you added a horse or two, I’d be apt to lose my head.
If you’d like to read more about this darling house, hop over to Skona Hem.
Study: Deco State of Mind
11/11/2011 § 2 Comments
Ralph Lauren Home Fall 2011: One Fifth Collection
I found myself in an Art Deco sort of mood this week. While sometimes a bit too glamourpuss for my taste, Art Deco’s simultaneous obsessions with luxury, eclecticism and aerodynamic lines are always alluring to me. I’m just not confident I could live completely surrounded by it. This notion was seriously challenged when I happened upon the Fall 2011 One Fifth Collection by Ralph Lauren Home.
All images via Ralph Lauren Home.
A new look indeed from Ralph Lauren Home. I expected duck decoys, plaid and burnished leather (nothing wrong with that, mind you!), but I received a dramatic pairing of black and gold, chevron patterns and sleek piles of velvet and fur. However, I suppose this departure from de rigueur should have come as no surprise once you reflect upon Mr. Lauren’s glorious Spring 2012 collection. Interestingly though, where Collection Spring 2012 was weightless shimmers and light, Home Fall 2011 is solidly, albeit luxuriously, grounded — jewel-box deco.
If you’d like to peruse the One Fifth collection, head here.
The Great Gatsby at the Washington Ballet.
It seems Mr. Lauren and I are not the only ones with the 1920s on the brain. This last weekend the Washington Ballet revived Septime Webre’s production of The Great Gatsby, an original ballet based on the Fitzgerald novel set to live 1920s jazz, for a short run. Looking at the production stills, I kick myself for not hearing about this sooner and making my way down to DC to see it. I’m hopeful they’ll bring it back in short order.
Doesn’t this look great?!? So jealous.
All images via Washington Post.
I’ve decided the best way to comfort myself for missing out on the ballet, is to head over to the Brooklyn Museum to catch the new exhibit Youth and Beauty: Art of the American Twenties. Featuring 140 works by artists including Aaron Douglas, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alfred Stieglitz, and Edward Weston, the exhibit examines how American artists represented the Jazz Age. I’m going this weekend, but if you happen to attend on the evening of 17 November, there is a free live jazz performance. Find more details here.
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn, New York 11238-6052
The Chrysler Building. Classic New York Deco.
Real Property Lust: Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch…
26/10/2011 § Leave a Comment
There were plenty of things to love about this Spanish-style California ranch home belonging to supermodel Tatjana Patitz: the endless light, the double high living room ceiling (Patitz actually knocked out a floor to make way for it), dark wood and white walls, gleaming concrete floors, the horse stables that are on the two acres of land that surround the house, the ocean views, the jumble of mismatched furnishings…
What sealed the deal was the bedroom.
This is a place to disappear for hours. For days.
In. Love.
All images via House to Home.
Real Property Lust: Parisian Dream
26/09/2011 § 3 Comments
Come away with me to Le Marais?
We could be artists, you and I? Or intellectuals?
We can sit on our chevron floors and discuss Sartre. Or Duras.
You know how I love Duras, Cherie…
You can sit in your chair and roll your eyes at Le Monde,
while I laze on the bed like a Siamese cat…
…or perhaps draw.
I shall read to you in bed…
and you will cook for me…
…while I fill your glass with wine, and your lips with my kisses.
There will be no time…
Only Paris.
All images via Designsponge.
Real Property Lust: Massachusetts Beach House
08/09/2011 § 1 Comment
This is damned close to perfect…
Love the use of paint-by-numbers kits here.
A deft balancing of glam Hollywood Regency with beach shack antique chic (a la Nantucket by way of the tropics), and a liberal use of the colors white and turquoise? I’m going to need whoever decorated this beach house in Massachusetts to remove themselves from my brain immediately…and of course from the house itself because I’ll be moving in. Decided!
This picture is like a dream.
The colors, the map, the radio, the frame, the lamp.
Every time I look at it, something new appeals to me.
Driftwood mirror, driftwood on the table…
…driftwood lamp!
A little high on the kitsch, but we can fix that in no time…
All images via BHG.
About Last Night: Gentleman/Budoir at Overbey & Dunn
25/08/2011 § Leave a Comment
Last night I had the pleasure of attending the opening for the newest installation at Overbey & Dunn in the West Village. Why do I love Overbey & Dunn so much? Mainly because the owners — Tom Dunn and Molly Kavanagh — have embraced a concept (that I adore!) of constant recreation and evolution for their darling interior design boutique. This may actually be a bit of an understatement, actually, as every 8 to 10 weeks, the shop undergoes a complete transformation all the way down to the light fixtures and the paint on the walls. It then reopens with a new “theme,” stocked to the gills with gorgeous antique finds for the home, all of which are for sale.
Last night was the official launch of the latest installation, called “Gentleman/Budoir,” which was curated by designer Russell Piccione. Far and away my favorite installation thus far, it is refined masculinity personified: deep, rich colors; lush patterns and textures; bar carts in brass and glass; crystal decanters; leather bound books; taxidermy (isn’t that massive caribou a beauty?); classic games; smoking accessories; and the like.
With the party-goers crammed into the small space, it was difficult to get pictures, so I plan to return in the near future and do a full rundown with the lovely Mr. Dunn. Be on the lookout for that over the next few weeks.
In the meantime, do drop by Overbey & Dunn to view “Gentleman/Budoir.” Just don’t you dare buy anything that I already have my eye on…
Overbey & Dunn
19 Christopher Street
West Village
212.242.3003
Also on Facebook
Real Property Lust: Danish Station House
08/07/2011 § 1 Comment
There is a certain romance about trains, no?
Jealousy.
Obsessing this morning over how a young Danish family has converted a train station built in 1901 in Ormslev, Denmark, into a simply gorgeous home. Aside from the design choices I am usually drawn to — white walls, painted floors, mismatched chairs, patinaed surfaces, a dash of the modern, interesting vintage touches, a jumbled gallery space — I love how the couple kept some of the features from its former life as a station house: the ticket office, the safe and the waiting room bench. While I sometimes have trouble with the conversion of public spaces into private spaces (most frequently the “church to house” conversion), this space pulls it off beautifully while retaining the romance of old-fashioned travel.
Waiting room bench.
Ticket window.
All images via Sköna hem
Quite Continental Loves: Frédérique Morrel
08/06/2011 § 1 Comment
‘My Dear’ by Frédérique Morrel
This handsome buck has been sitting in my drafts folder since January, patiently waiting for the day I would find him and share him. Well, today is that day — mainly because the WSJ reminded me of him over the weekend. Artist Frédérique Morrel and husband Aaron Levin are at the helm of this quirky design firm that deals mainly in tapestries and antique fabric remnants, with an inclination towards faux-taxidermy (of deer, bulls, rabbits, and people) (yes, people), seating and interesting tabletop accents.
Hop over to Frédérique Morrel for more. She’s also on Facebook. If you decide to pick up this buck, I’ll be very jealous indeed…
La Maison de Quite Continental: Hues to Choose
19/05/2011 § 4 Comments
Cherie, remember I mentioned that I would be undertaking a rather large overhaul of la maison this spring? Well, I have taken the first steps down that path and have been focusing on the colors I’d like my walls to be. Currently, they are your average, run of the mill shade of white, which I don’t entirely mind but I am now of the mind to try something entirely new. After taking some time with books and my favorite decor sites, I narrowed down my preference to three colors: blue, teal or grey. Next, I had to pick the exact shade I wanted.
Being a complete painting newbie, I was in need of some guidance. I headed over to Tribeca Paint (217 West Broadway, between Franklin and White), a lovely paint and hardware store in the neighborhood, where I was confronted with color wheels and swatches and diagrams. I took much too long to decide and asked a million questions, but the store clerks were eternally patient and very happy to help me. I highly recommend Tribeca Paint! I was then sent on my way with three Benjamin Moore color samples to play with and teeny tiny rollers to paint with. I’m now armed and ready to paint small squares of paint in random spots, in order to help guide myself to a color.
Contemplating: clear skies (2054-70), marilyn’s dress (2125-60),
jamaican acqua (2048-60).
Though I love deep colors, I am leery to go too dark, lest I render my apartment some kind of dark cave, so my selections are on the lighter side — which I have been assured will dry darker. Paint, why must you be so fickle?! Why can’t you just be the color you say you are going to be?!
A bit of my inspiration below:
via La Dolce Vita.
via Desire to Inspire.
via La Dolce Vita.
via Home & Garden.
via My Paradissi.
via House of Turquoise.
via Desire to Inspire.
This last home — a Milanese palazzo, owned by designers — is simply amazing. It’s been all over le interwebs so I won’t post all of the images, but if you would like to see more, head here. These cool grey walls definitely have me leaning in favor of Marilyn’s Dress (2125-60). What do you think?
