Aged and Gilded (Palazzo-Interiors & Gardens)

Have an Amazing Weekend

Wishing you an exhilarating weekend of flying high.

More...or less?

I just bought this wonderful book, Domestic Art-Curated Interiors by Holly Moore, Rob Brinkley and Laurann Claridge from Assouline Press.

 

It's this wonderful compilation of interiors. I tend to vascillate between wanting a lot of "stuff" and living in a spare environment. I love books and flowers, fabrics and objects and tend to want to have that around me. At other times, I find it very peaceful in a room with very little. I love when a room doesn't look decorated but is instead filled with the history of the person who lives there. This book offers a glimpse of just that.

This room is so eclectic. I'm not a fan of animal prints but I do like it in this room. (Hopefully, it's not real.)

 

Adore this room. That mirror is fabulous!

 

If only this room were mine! This is exactly what I meant about the beauty of having very little. But how DO they do it?

 

Are these colors just to die for? So rich.

 

I don't know what the five stands for but it makes such a bold, graphic statement. Love it.

 

Had to throw this in because I love old books and old mirrors. See? I just can't decide.

 

Well, enough. You'll probably want to go out and buy this book for yourself. Lots more gorgeous rooms and ideas.

Working, working, working...

I have been diligently working on the Palazzo newsletter. Every season we choose a destination and build a collection around it. The newsletter serves to bring information about that location. As usual, I am behind schedule. This summer's choice will definitely have you looking for your suitcase. I don't want to give it away but here are a couple of clues.  Stay tuned...

 

 

Think you know where it is?

Happiness is...

The grand essentials of happiness are:  something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.  Allen K. Chalmers

 

Are you happy?

Mosaic Monday: Heaven Only Knows

1. Ghost in the Cathedral, 2. Rouen cathedral panorama, France, 3. Carlisle Cathedral 1, 4. St. Nicholas Cathedral, 5. Cathedral, 6. Westminster Cathedral - Hidden Treasure of Victoria Street, 7. Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral, 8. Gloucester cathedral cloister, 9. Una catedral dintre d'un college / A cathedral inside a college, 10. Inside the Seville Cathedral, 11. Granada Cathedral, 12. Cloister in the Oldest Cathedral of Germany, 13. St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, 14. Raising the Roof at Ely Cathedral!, 15. La Seu (Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca), 16. Cathedral of Saint Paul

Dreamy Weekend

Hope you have a weekend of the sun streaming through your window as you lie in bed dreaming of something wonderful.

In Bloom

As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.  Denis Waitley

 

There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.  Anais Nin

 

Flowers are not made by singing "Oh, how beautiful," and sitting in the shade.  Rudyard Kipling

 

With a few flowers in my garden, half a dozen pictures and some books, I live without envy.  Lope de Vega

Grey's Anatomy

Grey is a color that I know quite well. I used to consider it cold and imposing. Much of that had to do with my disdain for the foggy weather here. I found that waking up to days shrouded in fog made me feel suffocated and suicidal. Perhaps that is a bit strong, but the point is that I was not a happy camper. The French have an expression, "se griser" to describe being half-drunk thereby referencing grey as a color to represent a state of semi-consciousness. A "grey area" symbolizes a bit of a problem; something that can't be easily resolved because it cannot be clearly defined. Perhaps it is this ambiguity of grey that so easily allows for its seamless integration in the environment. It is a color that is easy to live with because it is there, and yet it is not.

The French love grey. You can find it in their homes in the nubby weave of an unbleached linen slipcover, the silvery cast of a weathered wooden table, or perhaps a vignette of zinc finials and the like. Depending on the warmth or coolness of the chosen shade of grey, it is also an excellent foil for silver or gold to create a quality of understated luxury. As time goes on, I find that I too, have developed a love for this color--silver, dove, oyster, pearl, slate. It's quietness appeals to me.

  

British Homes & Gardens/Tom Leighton

 

Provence Style of Living/Jerome Coignard

 

Campagne Decoration/Stephen Clement

 

Creating the French Look/Annie Sloan

 

 

Campagne Decoration/Christophe Madamour

  

Campagne Decoration/Stephen Clement

 

 

Au Naturel

Natural - genuine, provincial, rustic, simple, uncontrived, unpretentious, unstudied

A simple approach to decorating means using natural materials and a soothing palette. I'm particularly drawn to warm creamy vanilla tones, biscuit and ochre. It also means infusing texture like the weave of an old basket and the roughness of stone with the time-worn appearance of wood. Thoughtfully combining these elements creates a sense of comfort without artifice.

 

Campagne Decoration/Stephen Clement

 

Campagne Decoration/Guy Bouchet

 

Romantic Country/Mary Emmerling

 

French Country Living/Caroline Clifton-Mogg/Christopher Drake

All Curled Up

1. Iron scrolls, 2. Iron Scroll, 3. IMG_0064, 4. Heart shaped web, 5. coil, 6. Untitled, 7. London, 8. gate detail, 9. Open, Please, 10. more scrolls, 11. Scrollwork-09, 12. Oxidizing Heart, 13. Dust of the ages, 14. scrolls, 15. Privet scrolls, 16. Facade