Bon Weekend!
It's been a very long hard week and I wish I was sitting next to this pool right now. Maybe if I put it on my inspiration board, it will become a reality. Until then, I'm signing off for a few days. Bon Weekend! It's been a very long hard week and I wish I was sitting next to this pool right now. Maybe if I put it on my inspiration board, it will become a reality. Until then, I'm signing off for a few days. Bon Weekend! Living with Design
I was thinking this past Sunday that I should really try to finish reading all of the great design that I own, especially the vintage ones. So I got a few of them out including the usual suspects, Dorothy Rodgers, Ruhlmann, Mark Hampton and Billy Baldwin, which is what prompted me to post the photo of the Eastman apartment. But it's always David Hicks Living with Design that I come back to time and time again. I find his use of color and art always inspires me, especially the dark walls and modern paintings. I also love how timeless his designs seem. I think all you would have to do is get rid of some of the dried flowers and replace the outdated technology and you'd be all set. His quotes about interior design are also what draws me to his book. They are some of the best. Enjoy!
"The best rooms have something to say about the people who live in them."
"Good design is in no way dependent on money. I like to spend the minimum of money and yet gain the maximum effect. Style is not what you do but how you do it." Amen! 
"Function is just as important as aesthetics; but there is no reason why, if a problem is properly considered, function should in any way interrupt aesthetics. Very often the practical aspect of an idea can improve the aesthetic pleasure one gets from it. Function dictates design."
"Good lighting is subtle lighting; the more sources of light, the subtler the effect. Fluorescent lighting has no place in the home." 
"I am always looking for total simplicity and practicality in modern design."
"I dislike brightly coloured front doors, they are more stylish painted white, black or other dark colours. I hate wrought iron. I loathe colour used on modern buildings - it should be inside. I do not like conventional standard lamps - I prefer functional floor standing reading lights." 
"A seventeenth-century house may have dark paintwork but rarely a dark ceiling. In general, all ceilings and most paintwork in rooms should be white or of a light colour."
"I am inclined to begin with a room looking very bare but, being an inveterate collector, I nearly always end up with a good deal of clutter. It is not a question of what you do but how you do it which adds up to style. Even in a hotel room I unpack all the books and sketch pads that I travel with, put them on a table and arrange them, but then I am an arranger by nature."
"Too little real consideration is given to good detailing."
Today there are far too many good fabrics, carpets and wallpapers available to the few and not enough good ones available to everyone. Expensive antiqued velvet is hideous yet plain course linen is inexpensive and elegant. I hate satin, particularly when it has designs printed on it."
"I like rows and rows of tonic water bottles, apple and tomato juice, two of three syphons of spirits lined up behind each other; it gives a generous, welcoming atmosphere, and if a bus-load of friends does descend upon you, you are ready for them."
"Patterns can give great atmosphere, as can be seen in the paintings of Vuillard and Matisse and earlier Pre-Raphaelite interiors. I love pattern and use it a great deal, especially in carpets."
"I have always had a passion for what some people consider clashing colours. I call them vibrating colours - for instance, vermilion, shocking pink, puce, salmon pink and blue pink. I like them with aubergine. All reds go together , and I include both pink and orange in the red family."
"Good taste is something which you can acquire: you can teach it to yourself, but you must be deeply interested. It is in no way dependent upon money."
"I like to mix modern paintings with antique furniture."
"An enormous number of ideas come to me whilst I am lying in the bath in the morning or the evening, so I always have something readily at hand with which to write."Bachelor Pad Update
Maison 21 just emailed and asked what was new with the Bachelor Pad since I hadn't posted about it lately so I thought I should put together a little update. No, that's not it above. That's the fabulous living room that Billy Baldwin decorated for Mr. and Mrs. Lee Eastman. It was your typical white gallery until Billy got a hold of it and made the walls glossy brown vinyl which makes the Rothko, de Kooning and Kline pop. Can you imagine having such an amazing art collection?! I'm swooning! Anyway, the Bachelor Pad doesn't look that handsome yet but we're getting there. I posted that photo since the brown walls were a bit of an inspiration for the brown entry walls and accents of orange. Some of the furniture has arrived and looks great and more will be delivered on Friday. The lamps are also being delivered and I can't wait since the bedroom is in some serious need of light. The electrician also finally came and pried off the painted over light switches and replaced them so they not only look better but actually work. Woo hoo!
The artwork I bought from Christopher Filley in Kansas City also arrived today and everything looks just as beautiful as it did when I bought it. I will be dropping off one of the pieces along with some others I bought elsewhere at the framer soon. I also bought some great Asian accessories including marble Buddha heads, brushes and a gorgeous horse head from my favorite dealer on 25th Street. If you're lucky, I might tell you exactly where to find them but maybe not until after I go back for some more things. Their prices can't be beat.
After staying with David Jimenez, I realized that the Bachelor Pad needed some books so I've been ordering art books. You certainly can't decorate a straight man's apartment with decorating and fashion books! I can't wait until more furniture arrives I can style everything. I did actually find one thing that even David hadn't thought of...monogrammed matchboxes! The Bachelor now has burnt orange boxes with his name printed on them on brown font. They really are a ridiculously fabulous extra touch that we both got a kick out of. I like them so much that I may have to order blue ones for the bedroom. But maybe with just his initials on those. I don't want to go too crazy!
H is for Horse and Hermes
I went to the Hermes website last night just to check their store hours and ended up finding all sorts of surprises including the beautiful portraits of horses by South African born, British raised photographer Koto Bolofo. They are a testament to his skill and patience as a photographer. Enjoy. 
If Madonna Calls, I'm Not Here
I knew Madonna was chic but in her new video for Give it 2 Me directed by fashion photographer Tom Munroe, she shakes her groove thing in what appears to be David Hicks wallpaper. Seeing as it was shot in London, it's entirely possible and looks fabulous regardless of who made it. Funny how I noticed the wallpaper before her thighs. I think I need to go to the gym now. Sigh.Shiny Happy Feet!
I told you that I never met a pair of gold shoes I didn't like so of course I couldn't resist this pair from the Calypso Outlet on Broome Street. They make me feel like Sienna Miller, albeit a slightly less Bohemian version. They also come in silver. You've been warned!
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