Real Property Lust: The London Apartment of Broosk Saib
04/01/2012 § 2 Comments
London-based interior designer Broosk Saib may originally hail from Baghdad, but his style is quintessentially British, with a bit of an irreverent twist. At once masculine and luxurious, Saib’s apartment immediately gives me the impression of a well-travelled and good-humored gentleman who I earnestly hope will allow me to move in…and give me an invite to his next dinner party:
But it’s at night that the rooms truly come to life. Sometimes the entry hall’s hanging light fixture is taken down and the peripatetic table is moved to make way for as many as 70 guests; the walls of the drawing room reflect the warm, clubby glow given off by lamps with red-silk shades. An exotic Vietnamese incense fills the rooms, while the aroma of roast lamb escapes from the kitchen. “I love to entertain at home,” says Saib, “to cook and feed my friends. My doors are always open.” (via Elle Decor)
I especially love the Union Jack upholstered chairs and this gorgeous entry way shown below. I like how Saib manages to accent what is obviously an amazing collection without turning his apartment into some kind of jumbled antiques roadshow nick-knackery. The restraint really allows the pieces he has chosen to shine.
All images via Elle Decor and Broosk.com
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
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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
Real Property Lust: Gelskov Gods
26/05/2011 § Leave a Comment
While Gelskov Gods, a manor house on the island of Funen in Denmark, is a touch on the barren side for my taste — were this my manor house I’d need some pictures on the walls, lots more fresh flowers, well-loved tsotchke and curiosities tucked into the corners, dozens of richly colored rugs strewn about, and (of course) a peacock or two — there is something about the stripped down surfaces and the masterful mixture of the classical, the baroque, the rococo and the modern that draws me in for hours. Feminine without being precious, masculine without being overbearing, this is an aesthetic that I would love to immerse myself in. Luckily, the couple who owns this beautiful home have added a bed and breakfast, gallery space and antique shop — so at least I don’t have to go doing any breaking and entering. I’m unfamiliar with Danish law on the subject, but I have to assume it’s frowned upon…
Gelskov Gods
Gelskovvej 10
Hillerslev
5750 Ringe
Tel.+45 26638094
