Early Spring: Intentional Living - Pursuing Beauty in the Everyday
Weekend Chic Video: At Home with Designer Isabel López-Quesada
Her new book: Isabel López-Quesada AT HOME is beautiful and personal as it showcases her designs in her various homes. I believe how you feel in your home is more important than the individual items or their pedigree. It should feel like you, your tastes, what's important to you, and how you want to live.
This beautiful video and her book will inspire you to live beautifully your way.
Collections: Intentional Living - Living with what you love & Beautiful Instagram accounts to follow.
Joy
Sunday Chic: Australian Designer Cameron Kimber's Love of English Country-House Style
Inspired by the late American Philanthropist Bunny Melon, Australian designer Cameron Kimber built a new home in New South Wales and filled it with his love of English Country.
It is in his "stirring" that his home and his designs frequently are featured in magazines, blogs, and Instagrams, and are worth revisiting again and again. His pale neutral rooms are the perfect backdrop for his large-scale furnishings, he says, "I like everything to be comfortable", and changing or adding to his collections of vintage fabric, English and Chinese ceramics, antiques, layered rugs, and oil paintings allows him to do so with ease. He also includes a snug room with rich colors for evenings: "In all my houses, I've had a room that feels cocooning and enveloping."
Along with his gorgeous designs, it is this 'Intentional Living' that inspires me most. Living with items you love and in the way your family's life and home functions best. Our homes should be beautiful, welcoming, appointed... but they should have "us" in them, regardless of where you live. Welcoming friends and family into our homes is a gift to them and us. Here is some Sunday Chic for inspiration! Enjoy!
House & Garden article: Here
At home in her lovely garden with Landscape-Architect, Bunny Guinness, Cambridgeshire
We are currently in the middle of refreshing our garden. I want it to look neat and lovely from the windows, with a small raised bed for a kitchen garden, flowers of course for vases, and a stylish space for entertaining by the pool. I have long-admired English gardeners with their seeming ease and dexterity of plantings: gorgeously unruly flowers, and vegetables in manicured beds. I was thrilled to find an article in House & Garden of Cambridge's landscape-architect, radio host, and columnist Bunny Guinness who frankly never disappoints, always inspiring and makes a weekend gardener announce with great confidence and sincerity to her husband: 'Of course, you know... we can espalier the apple trees next to the pottager.'
Bunny's half acre formal garden surrounds her charming stone house, along with a kitchen garden, gravel and stone paths, espaliered apple trees with glorious riot of flowers in and out of the vegetables, and another eight acres of orchard, including twin avenues of pleached hornbeam in the pool garden, woodland, and pasture for livestock.
To view the entire House & Garden article written by Clare Foster and photography by Andrew Montgomery please view here. Enjoy!
Summer Time and the Living is Easy
Brooke and Steve Giannetti's New Book PATINA LIVING - Intentional Living: Beauty in the Everyday
There is beauty in the everyday, in the items we touch and use on a daily basis. How we live, better yet how we decide to live, with beauty and inspiration is tactile, sound, color and light. Once we decide we can live intentionally in life, there is no going back it continues on into friendships, design, cooking, the "living parts" of our lives. Garden roses freshly cut in the morning hours for the kitchen table, gathered eggs for an impromptu omelette, the crunch of gravel on a path to the potager for butter lettuce, lavender dried and made into sachets for the linen closet, is the essence of home. That is the journey and beauty of Patina Living. Brooke and Steve Giannetti invite us once more into their life at Patina Farm where everything was considered and designed for how they wanted to live daily, from the rose and lavender gardens, to the potager, chicken coop, and those darling animals; nothing was over looked, everything was meant to slow down and engage in a life well-spent and enjoyed on a daily basis. When their new book Patina Living arrived I spent the weekend reading, savoring, and taking the time to incorporate the beauty of "Patina Living" into our family's daily life.
I have to say we are the better for it.
Design Inspiration: A Normandy Vacation Home of Peter Copping in Pictures
Designing a Beautiful 1940's Cottage - Hanna Seabrook Founder of Gadabout: Creative Design and Digital Direction
The walls are painted Farrow & Ball's Vert de Terre. |
The dinning room is painted Benjamin Moore's Woodlawn Blue and the trim is Wedgewood Gray. |
Her beautiful magpie collection on her dinning room table. |
More of her collections beautifully displayed. |
The impeccably styled master bedroom is gorgeously painted in Benjamin Moore's Mountain Mist. The gilt-metal floral mirrors had me at hello. |
Daughter Eaddy's bedroom is a lovely, muted pink with a timeless feel of collected items and Schumachers' Cabanon Stripe fabric. A lovely, timeless room to grow and play in. |
A Room with a Jaw-Dropping View: Aerin Lauder's Gorgeous Modern Apartment in Paris
Gowns by Giambattista Valli, Paris - Instagram |
Designer Caroline Gidiere's Alabama Georgian Home - A Garden Inside and Out
My love of Georgian homes started when I was young at the home of my mother's friend. The perfect proportions and the symmetry is always so pleasing; nothing seems "out of sorts" as my mom used to say. The gardens always frame the house beautifully and they are delight to visit. For designer Caroline Gidiere who's parents had taken her to Colonial Williamsburg every summer for 20 years, she wanted a home based off the George Wythe brick Georgian, and she hired Architect James F. Carter to bring her dream to life. It's a romantic home inside and out with beautiful gardens designed by landscape architect Randy McDaniel which boast a dahlia garden, trained espaliered hornbeams, boxwood, fruit trees, a petite greenhouse by Eden Brothers, a private side garden swathed in creeping fig, and the classic beauty of myrtle topiaries in pots. Inside is just as beautiful, designed by Gidier's deft hand with a lovely mix of color, fabrics, and prints with a timeless traditional feel.
A lovely garden inside and out... Enjoy!
California Designer Mark D. Sikes 'MORE BEAUTIFUL' new furniture line with CHADDOCK
Spring is a time of renewal, beauty, and inspiration. You only need to look at the new Mark D. Sikes collection for CHADDOCK to see that living beautifully and being inspired just got easier. His customizable furniture and his color choices by the famed Farrow & Ball allow you to design or refresh your home with ease. Sikes, who is known for his love of blue and white and gorgeous Chinoiserie, also has his second book More Beautiful: All -American Decorating to be released September 1st.
Happy Spring to us!
Weekend Chic: You're Invited Classic Elegant Entertaining - A Must Have New Book By Stephanie Booth Shafran
I had the pleasure of watching my mom prepare for guests to come to our home. She had a beautiful way of entertaining. Her desire was to create a stylish, thoughtful event tailored to the guest(s). Once, a dear friend of hers was in town for a few hours, which prompted her to cut a large sheath of mimosa-colored Forsythia blossoms from our backyard, her guest's favorite flower, placing them in a large clear vase with the stems surrounded by lemons, and "finger foods" and a small basket of travel luxuries for her trip. Whenever she entertained it was about the guest, where every detail was thought through and the conversation and their time together, no matter the length, was what was important.
Stephanie Booth Shafran's new must have book: You're Invited - Classic Elegant Entertaining is a lavish guide to entertaining at home which includes Recipes, The Menu and Party Inspirationfor each event, a Pucci by the Pool Party for her daughters and friends,Holiday Magic, House Warming Party, Dinner Under the Stars, and Parties with a Purpose. Buy one for yourself and a friend, read it cover to cover; it's a luxurious book with practical, beautifully detailed information presented with grace and hospitality which are the essence of entertaining at home.
—Jeffrey Bilhuber, author of Everyday Decorating
**All quotes and colored text are by Stephanie Booth Shafran unless noted.**
PD Book Club: Designer Matthew Patrick Smyth's New Book "Through A Designer's Eye"
"So much of design is finding the delicate balance among all the various parts of a vignette, a corner, a room, or a home. The calculus of what stands out, what remains quiet, and what harmonizes in ways that draw and please the eye without overwhelming it is different for every person, occasion, space, and function."
-Matthew Patrick Smyth
Ihad just returned home from a trip to Virginia to find designer Matthew Patrick Smyth's new book Through A Designer's Eye - A Focus on Interiorswaiting for me. It's lovely. As I had just visited the National Gallery of Art exhibits of Degas at the Opera, and True to Nature: Open-air Painting in Europe, 1780-1870, I was immediately taken with Smyth's use of art, it's placement, and of course his use of color. Like the artist that he is, he describes his designs in a first-person narrative. One of my favorite projects showcased in his book is a new house designed by architect Peter Pennoyer (pages, 122-143 not showcased here), it has a sophisticated appeal that hints at the "summer house" feel of Bunny Melon's Oak Spring estate which I recently had the privilege to tour in beautiful Upperville, Virginia.
"Year after year, these rooms evolve. The dining room bookcases reflect how life proceeds. Children's board and books have slowly given way to chapter books and young fiction. Mementos from recent family trips ... Summer trophies ... rainy-day art projects that chart the seasons - the kind of changes that every family, and every house, welcomes."
From a Park Avenue apartment to a home in Connecticut, Smyth achieves his goal of creating a comfortable environment and an ambience that suits the people who live in them. And isn't that the essence of coming home...
"It seems so simple to say that design and decoration should reflect location... But perhaps more important are the quality of the light, the degree of seasonal change, the character of the surroundings, whether urban or mountain, suburban or seaside. Every aspect of the world beyond our walls and windows can and should affect our choices within them - everything from architecture to materials, fabrics, and finishes to color palettes and types and styles of furnishings."
FAMILY HISTORY
"Some homes just feel meant to be. Others, especially when newly built, need love and attention to make them that way. This house is the second kind. When these longtime clients purchased it, it had good bones but lacked any sense of architectural style or focus. To fill it with the welcoming living spaces they envisioned, they knew they needed the backgrounds that only good architecture provides. Before we started to build up the decoration, we worked to correct what existed not just by adding ceiling beams, wall panel details, moldings, and metals, but also by fine-tuning each element to get its scale, profile, and silhouettes right."
My sincerest congratulations to Designer Matthew Patrick Smyth on his new design book.
All the best to you and yours.
To Jill Cohen and Melissa Powell of Jill Cohen and Associates - Where Beautiful Books Begin
Thank you for the opportunity which is always my privilege and pleasure.
All the best to you and yours always.
My Fall Inspiration Go-To Instagram Account: Sarah Patrick @Sarahkjp
The smell of crisp air ... long walks chatting all the way ...
Hometown bicycle rides to see the changing leaves ...
wrapped in blankets for just five minutes more
after watching the harvest moon rise ...
🧡🧡🧡
These are a few of my favorite things for Fall.
The personal blog and photographic Instagram account of New Englander Sarah Patrick @sarahkjp, (which includes photos of her husband Kiel James @KJP, baby Harry, and Golden Retriever Bennie who has his own Instagram account @puffinandbenny) is my go to account for all things Fall inspiration ...
🍂🍃🍁🍃🍂
For our family October begins the holiday season with our son's Birthday and the first fallen leaf. Sarah brings inspiration with what to wear for fall, pumpkins, firelight, recipes, gatherings and places to travel.
Each and every photo is an inspiration board. I thought you would like to see her lovely account. I know it will inspire you as well. She is #onetofollow ... Enjoy!
As always I hope to inspire you to
. . . live beautifully
xRié
You're Invited: Spring is Here, Join us on Portobello Design Instagram
See March 15th's Post |
See February 22nd's Post |
See January 18th's Post |
On The Coffee Table: MILIEU Spring
Spring has arrived after a long winter. For me, I was in much need of some inspiration...One of my favorite sources is MILIEU Magazine; with famed designers Pamela Pierce and Shannon Bowers as Founder/Editor in Chief and Editor at Large respectively, you can imagine how gorgeous it is. With our new series, On The Coffee Table, we want to showcase products and publications that highlight living beautifully across design, architecture, travel, cuisine, and lifestyle, and it only makes sense to start with MILIEU which brings all of these elements to life. It really is the Best in Show; here's a sneak peak...Enjoy!
Charlotte Moss and House Beautiful's Robert Rufino Video: How To Arrange Flowers Like An Expert
House Beautiful Digital Director: Hadley Keller
Photography from Charlotte Moss | Site: charlottemoss.com
... live beautifully
xx Rié
Weekend Chic: AERIN Springtime Entertaining
April Book Club: Designer Melanie Turner's New Book - Inviting Interiors
To Purchase Click Here |
NEW BOOK: Visions of Home: Timeless Designs, Modern Sensibility By Architect Andrew Cogar & Partners of Historical Concepts
L-shaped property serves as an enjoyable summertime pool and party area
- the perfect retreat for a young, active family."
"Architects often start with a blank slate and let their imaginations roam freely. Yet homes that incorporate parts of earlier structures, or sit upon storied properties with a past, require a heightened sensitivity and awareness."
OF HOME
TIMELESS DESIGN, MODERN SENSIBILITY
and Partners of HISTORICAL CONCEPTS
Written with Marc Kristal
Photography by Eric Piasecki
This new volume from the esteemed architecture firm Historical Concepts features extraordinary homes rooted in traditions and enriched with a modern sensibility.
All quotes by Andrew Cogar
Congratulations to Andrew Cogar (President), James L. Strickland (Founder), and all the partners of Historical Concepts: Todd Strickland, Kristy Tindall, Aaron Daily, David VanGroningen, Kevin Clark, Elizabeth Dillon, Terry Pylant, Clay Rokicki, and Domenick Treschitta.
With special thanks to Sarah Burningham - Little Bird Publicity - for the opportunity.
Thank you to Andrew Cogar for a signed copy of your gorgeous book.
Designed by Doug Turshen and David Huang
Rizzoli International Publications, Inc. NY
... live beautifully
April Book Club - HOUSES: Robert A.M. Stern Architects, Gorgeous New Book!
Patina Homes: Steve Giannetti and Brooke Giannetti
Autumn's Melody - Peter Pennoyer Architects: City | Country
Click here to pre-order on Amazon.
#book #fall #design