To Elsie, With Love

When I started this blog three years ago, I started it with a post on Elsie de Wolfe's The House in Good Taste. Today, some of my favorite quotes from that famous text. If you don't have a copy, I suggest you go purchase one. 

"Our ancestors built for stability and use, and so their simple houses were excellent examples of architecture. Their spacious, uncluttered interiors were usually beautiful. House and furniture fulfilled their uses, and if an object fulfills its mission, the chances are that it is beautiful."

"The strongest, the most intense, feeling I have about decoration is my love of color."

"We must learn to recognize suitability, simplicity, and proportion, and apply our knowledge to our needs." 

"The house was very simple, you see, and very small, so when the time came to leave it we had grown to love every inch of it. You can love a small house so completely!"

Photos courtesy of Darryl Carter, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Elle Decor

Cocktail Hour & Campaign Furniture

If you have not yet read Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness, I highly recommend it. It is a story about life in Africa, and stories like that are always exciting. This story, unlike West With the Night or Out of Africa, provides a little more comic relief. Reading this book has put me in the mood for British Colonial decor. A style I have always admired, I am hoping to incorporate it into the design scheme of the Charleston house. 

This is in fact extremely appropriate, because Charleston is often thought of as part of the Caribbean - made clear by areas of town such as Rainbow Row above. Instead of arriving directly from Great Britain, most of Charleston's early settlers came by way of the Caribbean; and unlike many of the settlers arriving in New England, these early Charlestonians came to South Carolina already wealthy Caribbean landowners. 

These British ex-patriots arrived in Charleston already well versed in the trials and tribulations of living in a hot and humid climate. Taking a cue from the homes that they had built in the Caribbean, or rather some of the mistakes they had made, Charlestonians built houses that faced south with double and triple height piazzas so that they might take the utmost advantage of the breezes coming off the harbor. It is in keeping with this British Colonial history of Charleston that I look to British Colonial decor of the Caribbean for inspiration. 

One cannot really admire Caribbean decor without looking to India Hicks. Daughter of the late great designer David Hicks, and a flower girl at Princess Diana's wedding, this Brit has made her life in the Caribbean, incorporating all of the things that I would like to see in the second bedroom in Charleston. Campaign furniture, such as the chest in the photo above, is a must - and caned furniture like the bed in that photo is an added bonus. 

Books are everywhere, and the floors are painted white - notice the lack of rugs. The all white scheme helps with the heat, and the palm fronds bring the outside in. I love the contrast of dark antiques with the white walls, floors, and upholstery. 

Ah, yes, and one of my favorite aspects of campaign furniture ... that it is portable! Again the contrast of the dark wood folding chairs against the white table cloth and porch - wonderful. So far I only have antique campaign bed side tables in place ... but I'm getting there. 

Booking It

You know those places in your life that just make you really happy? Well for me one of them is a bookstore in New York called Archivia Books. Located at 993 Lexington Avenue, this store is my shangri la, specializing in books on art, architecture, design, fashion ... all those things that are aesthetically pleasing. When I lived in NYC, this store was in my neighborhood, and luckily for me, on my walk to work. Everyday I would slow down and look in the windows getting the scoop on the next fabulous design book that I had to have. Now that I am no longer living here, it is always one of my first stops whenever I come back. 

The bookstore itself just has a wonderful vibe, and the center table (shown above) is always overflowing with books. Most days, as I did yesterday, I can spend up to an hour just circling the table looking at all the featured titles. They are always playing great music, yesterday it was Annie Lennox, and the environment is really quite conducive to just perusing the shelves. 

My visit yesterday was particularly rewarding as I had a lovely interaction with some fellow customers, and discovered a whole slew of new books that I am just dying to purchase. Books are my drugs, I cannot stop buying them. I have absolutely nowhere to put them in my tiny apartment, and honestly could spend $50 dollars on sooo many other things, but I can never seem to say no to a book. Clothes I can put down, and books just seem to speak to me. 

First, Apartments by Mariette Himes Gomez. From the woman who brought us the fabulous Houses, I am so glad that she has come out with Apartments, for those of us who see ourselves as perpetual city dwellers. The photos are absolutely beautiful, and really capture the essence of luxury apartment living. Yeah, they're not exactly photographing 12x14 studios, but a girl can dream. 

I just love the subtitle, Style in Sun Drenched Climates, yes please! The photos in this book are amazing. All the key players are featured: Jackie, Elizabeth, Grace ... and there is a whole chapter on Stripes. Long Island, St. Tropez, Caribbean ... its all there. All in amazing one piece bathing suits and printed caftans--perfection. 

In a similar vein is Dream Palaces of Hollywood's Golden Age. Maybe its my recent obsession with Hollywood Regency or just my love of old movies, but this book had some amazing houses in it that just remind you of Sunset Boulevard--I'm ready for my close up! 

Finally, I had my first opportunity to flip through American Modern, and let me tell you, it is as good as the cover makes it seem. O'Brien's ability to mix the old with the new is exactly what a preservationist like me loves to see. He has really captured those things which I believe to be truly American in our interior design canon and expanded upon them--and the pictures are fabulous. 

So next time you are in New York, be sure to check out Archivia Books on Lexington Avenue, because you will not be disappointed. 

Cheap and Chic of the Week: Zebra

I have decided that Wednesdays are a good day for my weekly post, "Cheap and Chic of the Week." Every week I will scour the web, and the stores, for the one thing that I think deserves the title, "Cheap and Chic of the Week." For my inaugural post, I want to talk about zebra. If the infiltration of Osa Johnson's I Married Adventure into every designer living room isn't enough of an indication, zebra has been quite the craze. Although I'm sure there are those critics out there who feel that zebra is "over," I say that a little zebra can always go a long way! Now I am not advocating that one "deck the halls" with zebra, cheetah, and leopard; but just a small hit of zebra in any room can exclaim, "I'm into adventure!"--and give that room the edge that it was looking for.

This week, the "Cheap and Chic of the Week" is at Urban Outfitters. It is a small, cotton, 5x7 zebra rug, at a cost of only $68! This is definitely a worthwhile purchase, which will add a hit of adventure to any room--big or small.

About a year ago, I purchased a similar throw rug from Urban Outfitters, and it was a staple of my apartment in NYC under a CB2 lucite coffee table, and has become the focal point for my tiny Philadelphia studio. I purchased a brown and white 3 x 5 version for $11 (!)--and I am still kicking myself that I didn't buy them for friends, neighbors, relatives, strangers and a few extra for myself.

Lacquered Life Philadelphia Studio

House Beautiful

House Beautiful

Grant Gibson's San Fransisco Apartment ... Rental!

The First Lady of Interior Decoration

For my first post (yay!) I would like to call everyone's attention to what is perhaps the greatest asset to all of us DIY designers: The House in Good Taste. Written by the first lady of interior decoration, Elsie de Wolfe, in 1913, it holds an amazing amount of practical advice in decoration, and is an indispensible addition to any bookshelf. Furthermore, de Wolfe is charming and witty, and this practical guide reads like your favorite novel. A great holiday gift for all the decorators in your life.

"What is the goal? A house that is like the life that goes on with it, a house that gives us beauty as we understand it--and beauty of a nobler kind that we may grow to understand, a house that looks refined."