Coco Couture

Catching up on the highlights from Europe's fashion weeks in Sunday's New York Times, I came across this ad for Chanel.  Wicker has never looked so chic, nor have I seen the classic Chanel camellia as a male accessory.  The black and white 2.55 purse may be worth breaking my shopping rule of no more Chanels in this shape.  Coco had such a vision in the early 1900s, and now with the mysterious and unbelievably talented Karl Lagerfeld at the helm, the French fashion house continues to demonstrate how black, white, and beige are simple, elegant, and glamorous combinations.  Here are some black and white interiors I like and for more, you must visit one of my favorite UK sites for color contrasting furnishings Black Orchid Interiors.  Most of their items are very affordable and they have a big inventory.  I love their black cashmere bar stools and their art deco mirrored bedside tables.  I will definitely be purchasing a few of their pieces once we are settled into our first house.

black and white rug meet black and white dog
(freshome.com)

simply decorated but the color contrast above and below the
chair railing gives it the wow factor; I also love
the pattern on the door's frosted window
(skonahem.com)

I like this circular mirror in an unexpected place
but don't you know it's rude to put your feet (foot) on the coffee table?
(jaquelinezinn.com)

  

glamorous bathroom,
the geometric tiling are balanced with the curved sink
(Elle Decor)

Mary McDonald interior, for more visit her site



All About LA

Kelly Weastler design
(aestheticallythiking blog)

With all eyes on Hollywood tonight for the 83rd Academy Awards, I thought I'd list my favorite LA designers whose rooms I'd place on the best dressed list.  It's much harder than selecting the most fashionably clad celebs who stroll the red carpet because there are so many talented visionaries in Southern Califorina creating spaces I admire.  So that this post doesn't take half your Sunday morning to read, I have highlighted four designers I find myself drawing inspiration from most often for my first house.

First on the list is the queen of color and unexpected accents Kelly Wearstler. One of my favorite places in NYC is the BG Restaurant designed by Kelly Wearstler on the top floor of Bergdorf Goodman.  When your feet are sore and your arms are aching from carrying too many shopping bags, settle into one of Kelly's signature leather pod chairs and order an iced tea and the seared ahi tuna salad.  Her rooms are whimsical and dramatic and I love her consistent incorporation of graphics.  Kelly's interiors are a true feast for the eyes with many eclectic accent pieces, unique colors, and luxurious fabrics.  In case you haven't checked it out, Kelly's new blog My Vibe, My Life, is colorful and fun to follow, though she hasn't been posting as much as I hoped!

BG restaurant designed by Kelly Wearstler

note elephant on the mirrored side table, Kelly likes them too!
(pomegranita.com)

(Kelly Wearstler website)

Number two on the best dressed interiors list is the fearless, exuberant Mary MacDonald. Mary knows drama and elegance and she isn't afraid to mix modern with vintage, Indian silks with French antiques.  Her first book was published last year and I have tabbed many of its pages for inspiration.  Mary says, "A well designed room should beckon you, make you feel welcome and wanting a bit more."  After devouring her first book I definitely welcome Mary's sensibilities into my first house.  All images are from Mary McDonald's website.  Her portfolio is divided into her four signature styles: classic glamour, livable elegance, whimsical and modern.  The first two styles are my favorite in her portfolio.

And the third best-dressed home designer on my list is the youthful Californian Ryan Brown.  You might know him from Bravo's "Flipping Out," but before he went prime time, I was following him and his creations. I admire his style of rustic, yet contemporary and his ability to create clean lines for a sleek, serene interior.  While some of his rooms are more modern than my usual taste, I am drawn to his ability to mix vintage pieces with current stylized furnishings to create spaces that are inviting and livable.

living room by Ryan Brown
(La Dolce Vita)

Ryan Brown's own dining room
(ohbytheway blog)

And the fourth and final designer is the ever so stylish old Hollywood glamorous Windsor Smith.  I first discovered this designer while working at Vogue after college.  Her interiors often feature fashionable photography from Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton.  Her interiors are timeless classic masterpieces that celebrate the elegant detailing of architecture such as crown moldings and intricately carved cabinetry.  She creates spaces where legendary men and women of immitable style would have felt at home, saying, "I like to create libraries where men with names like Howard, Bing and Spencer sat in cashmere sweaters and contemplated the 13th hole on the Bel Air golf course. I am drawn to a simple but elegant time when the women were so legendary that surnames weren't necessary.... Slim, Babe, Coco."  I framed some of my favorite Irving Penn and Patrick Demarchelier and placed them around my New York City apartment.  I'm planning to reclaim these for one of the rooms in our first house drawing inspiration from Windsor and her romantic sensibilities.

All photos from Windsor Smith's website.  Her portfolio is absolutely gorgeous.

Tray Chic

glam bar try
(Epiplo Aris)

My husband and I usually sit for dinner at our dining room table, but there are occasional Sundays when we will eat our meal in front of the television on (trays in our laps, eyes glued to the tube).  For our first house, I'd love to find two retro folding trays that recall the Leave-it-to-Beaver days of tv dinner stands.  When not in use for our Sunday couch dining indulgence, they could be folded and hidden in a broom closet.  However, it's more fun to display them in the living room as an additional bar set up for entertaining (I love layering of a second smaller silver tray on the top).  Another option is we place one, complete with vintage bar ware, in our office (thank you Don Draper, I would like a scotch on the rocks with my afternoon paper work). 


bar tray in Bagdley Mischka's home
(Elle Decor)

(Lily Lemontree Blog from Domino Magazine)

love the black lacquer top
(Paco Munozo in Spanish AD)

wide wooden folding tray
(Domino Magazine)

Winging It

Chelsea wing chair
(casadiseno.wordpress.com)

I have never owned a wing chair, but I'm on the hunt for one for our first house.  There is something so elegant and regal about them.  Estate sales are one of the best places to start looking, but if that doesn't yield something I like, I might go true DIY.  I'll find a shape I like at a yard sale or on Craig's list, saving the money on the chair, and put it toward reapohlstering with a fabric of my choosing.  Elle Decor did a great piece on wing chairs in their December 2010 issue.  I'm thinking for my house I'll either do one statement wing chair, with a high back in a bold pattern and sleek shape, or a set of more traditional ones framing the fireplace.  Below are some other wing chairs for inspiration.  I'm hoping that soon enough we will have one (or two) on display in our living room.

I'm really drawn to art deco style black and white motifs;
these are a more modern take on a wing chair with a lower back
(2.bp.blogspot)

pale yellow and leather...i bet it feels like "buttah"
(apartmenttherapy.com)

The grey stone, the turquoise chairs, the pop yellow pillows...so fun
(thefrenchchair.com)

I usually don't like pink, but this set is so French and happy,
I would break my color rule for these
(John Kernick Photo)

a bolder fabric works for a more modern shape
(images.vandm.biz)



classic white wing chair with a zebra rug
(david jiminez and jose picayo photography)



Un Reve Parisien



(newark1.com)

Today is already good day.  Despite staying out late last night with friends, I awoke before my alarm bright eyed and ready to charge. I put on my new grey Calvin Klein dress and admired how my hair actually obeyed the round brush this morning, flipping out quite nicely. Walking out of the house I'm staying in Washington DC this week, I was greeted  by a cold, crisp temperature and glowing sun.  Hands jammed in my pockets, I clipped along making record time from Kalorama to Dupont Circle.  The white glow of the walking man welcomed me to cross as I arrived at every street corner along Mass Ave and I reached the door to my favorite Belgian patesserie finding no line at the counter.  As I ordered my ususal soy latte and tried to bring some life back into my numb fingers, I heard the voice of the French chanteuse Edith Piaf over the speakers.  La Vie En Rose. Today did seem quite rosy.


Edith Piaf
(penhittingpaper.com)

I listened to the music and thought about my upcoming trip to Paris.  My husband and I are going to Europe for just over three weeks this summer.  It's an optimal time to get away between his business school graduation and starting our new life in Norfolk.  Our itinerary is as follows: Santorini, Crete, Rome, Tuscany (where we'll meet up with his parents and stay at their villa for four nights), Florence, Venice and then (we've saved the best for last)..a week in Paris.  One of our favorite world traveler couples are flying over from NYC to join us in the city of lights where we've rented a two bedroom apartment on Place des Vosges in Le Marais district.  Marais is one of the most centralized part of the city for art galleries.  I'm looking forward to exploring as many of them as possible. 

Place des Vosges; our apartment is in this building
(subwayhotels.com)

With winter refusing to release its grip and give way to spring, I'm especially dreaming about l'apartement a Paris en ete.   So voila.... I am posting some pictures of gorgeous pied-a-terres.  Our first house will definitely have Parisian influences like a crystal chandelier and gold scones in the dining room and a gilded mirror above a tufted chaise in the bedroom.  Eventhough there are images online of the place we're staying this summer, I'll wait until I can capture them with my own camera.

This apartment is on Place des Vosges and I love the green couch and tiled flooring
(parispalais.com) 

I love this flower box of pink geraniums against the dark and delicate wrought iron
(rentalapartmentparis.com) 

A lot of furnishings and accent pieces works with this neutral color palate
The French have never shied away from excess!
(elledecor.com)

I wonder....could I make a pink chaise like this one work in a small Norfolk home?
(farm3.static.flikr)

Couldn't resist including this...
I think she's saying "Take me to Paris or lose me forever!"
(etsy.com)

Stoked

marble mantel and layerd mirros
Michael Bruno's Paris apartment
(citified.blogspot.com)

I grew up in a house with five fireplaces.  While we rarely used more than the largest one in our family room throughout the farily mild Virgnia winters, it has become tradition at Christmas to have fires burning in all four of the fireplaces on the first floor.  After the presents are opened over two pots of coffee and slices of my sister's homemade gingerbread, we prepare for our mid-day, three course Christmas meal.  Our family changes out of pajamas and assumes our posts:  mom and sister in the kitchen, dad bringing in firewood by the armload, and I take to tidying up the gift-giving aftermath.  I'm the OCD organizer in the family and my inability to leave messy spaces drives me to consolidating and compartmentaling boxes and bags into perfect piles by the places each of us sat.  A few hours later, the house filed with mouth watering aromas and fires crackling in the kichen, living room, and dining room, we sit down to feast.  The warmth and coziness of the fires in my parents country house is a comfort I want to bring to my first home.

(fancyhouseroad.com)

English country great room
(lodging4vacations.com)

One of the best features of our apartment in Charlottesville is a wood burning fireplace and lucky for me, my husband loves to make fires.  Here is our collection of oversized matches (perfect for lighting our Orvis fatwood and really getting the fire going.)  We keep left over Wall Street Journals and large matches by the hearth.

When my husband and I sat down to make our must-haves and our would-like-to-haves for our first home, working fireplace is high on our wish list.  Most of the homes we've seen built anytime before 1940 have beautiful fireplaces in the living rooms and we immediately ask our agent if it is a working, wood burning fireplace. More often than not the answer is in the affirmative.  In our first home I'd like the fireplace to be the focal point of the living room (not the tv!).  This can be accomplished by the way we paint (contrasting colors of black and white or dark grey and white are always a sure way to draw the eye) and by placing a statement mirror above the fireplace's mantle.  I have a gorgeous French antique mirror currently being stored in my parents' attic because of its size.  I cannot wait to debut it in our first house.  Depending on the size of the mantle, it can be another palate just waiting for decoration.  A statement mirror, perhaps some silver candlesicks balanced by an urn in a bold color.  But no matter what I decide to place on the mantle, I will let the fireplace truly light up the space.



farmhouse fireplace
(Avery Design Interiors)



dark wood floors and bright white fireplace
(decorpad.com)

plush purple sofa and a cozy fire, perfect apres ski spot
(Elle Decor)

Trunk Show

Richard Avedon photography

My favorite animal has always been the elephant. They are majestic and graceful relative to their enormous size, and they have better memories and display true humanistic emotions more than most creatures in the kingdom.  Flipping through the winter issue of Luxe magazine this weekend, I found this porcelain urn by French artist Jean Boggio.

My earliest indicator of my love of elephants is recalled by my parents when they took me to see Disney's "Dumbo" in the theater.  I was four-years old and apparently I could not bare the scene when Dumbo is separated from him mother.  Despite attempts to keep her little son with enormous ears by her side, she is helpless to the circus' metal shackles and Dumbo is torn away, sold to another circus.  I became hysterical, and crying ran out of the theater, flinging myself on the lobby floor.  I never finished watching "Dumbo" that day and scarred for life, I adamently boycotted Barnum & Bailey and began collecting elephants.  Throughout the years, friends and family have bestowed upon me many elephant-themed gifts.  I have over 30 minatures mainly attributed to my grandmother.  She has travelled the world--literally every continent--and whenever she saw a pacaderm figurine she would purchase it for me.

gold elephant necklace
my friend in NYC found it at a street vendor in the city for me

I have collected pictures of elephants in fashion photography for my inspiration book.  They include Richard Avedon's famous photos (see above), Keira Knightly with a baby elephant from Vogue, and a photo of an elephant in front of a gorgeous facade in Paris.

Vogue June 2007

Here are some pieces I'm trumpetting for the home.


a carved wood elephant carries the weight in this airy sun room
(decorpad.com)

gilded bookends take a set of novels Out of Africa
(amazon images)

Thomas Paul Bali red pillow adds pop to a white chair
(apartmentherapy.com)

never forgt your luggage with this tag
(johnrobshaw.com)

white ceramic garden stool
(West Elm) 

elephant toy keeps guard in a children's room
(wolfeyebrows.wordpress.com)