Luxury Silk Flowers

Spring is in the air, can you smell it?  After weeks and weeks of rain we finally got a sunny day in Sausalito.   Who knew the sun could feel so darn good...

We just got an email from our silk flowers vendor today and we have to show you their new stuff.  It's gorgeous and it's a great way to bring spring inside your home all the time.

Don't forget, silk flowers are kinda like perfume.  You CAN NOT get the cheap stuff! It has to be upscale or you better off not having nothing at all.

Take a look at these...

Aren't these beautiful?  We'll be loading them up in our luxury silk flowers section soon, so please check back in a couple of days...

Un-decorated

Just out is this book, illuminating the latest tendency to undecorated spaces. It is lovingly assembled by Christiane Lemieux, founder and creative director of Dwell Studio. You can buy it here. It's certainly not a new concept, thinking of the gloriously undecorated rooms of the Bloomsbury Group. 

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Or the artistic salons at the turn of the last century: Gustav Klimt comes to my mind. 

Image (View of Gustav Klimt’s studio on Josefstädter Strasse 21, Vienna, ca. 1912. Photograph by Moritz Nähr. Furnishings were designed by Josef Hoffmann and executed by the Wiener Werkstätte. The painting is Klimt’s Hope II(1907-08), now in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York.)
True, these stand out through their incredible creative energy, but any honestly grown place will always exude it too. Picasso held court, showcasing not only his art, but found objects, ceramics, his children's toys, beach gear next to design proto-types or his latest love...

Image (Picasso's Villa La Californie)

Image (Picasso's last day in Villa Californie 1959, before moving to Provence)


Of course we often just see these outstanding homes of artists or, occasionally, writers. 
 But this development reverberates with my own design philosophy and once in a while there comes a moment where it surfaces in a trend. There will always be the un-decorating fellowship.
It's a state of mind and for time being maybe even people with order and perfection on their minds will subscribe to it for a while.

Perhaps what's so intriguing is the simple fact that it looks rather naturally lived in, not too groomed and perfect. 
In these times, when nothing around us is perfect - and when is it ever - we might answer this by living just like that.
So go on, relax, have that bundle of books you read on the floor next to your bed, coffee table or on the kitchen counter! Make momentous exhibitions on the window ledge of these small treasures you just picked at the flea market or the consignment store, don't paint that old table to a perfect turquoise, less is more! Live happily with what you have and don't take decorating too serious! And let these pillows artfully lounge around your couch.

Image ( from the book Romantic Homes of Ireland (above) and my own work/family
            room (below).

Enjoy some un-decorated time!
Until it all changes again and we move on to the next best thing.... ; )
XX
Victoria

twa terminal jfk

nytimes.com

Today I love

Painted floors! I have a weakness for painted floors. I love the sophisticated or relaxed look of it, it evokes country side and ease, but at the same time I can see it at an old castle.

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I love white floor boards, Swedish design often relies on it, but also the intricate designs by skilled artisans to faux finish a floor to perfection.

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There are endless possibilities and the only thing that stops me from painting my floors light is the fact that my dog is black and sheds more then I like! And more over, my children are in and out year round, tracking their boots into the front door and way more often into the family room. It would be a nightmare!
But I love them...

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Look at these wonderfully painted stairs!
Done by Karen Oakley, a faux finish painter with incredible talent! She lives in Mystic, CT. If you are lucky it's your neighborhood...

Or these ones!

They can be such fun too.

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And these add some flair to a bathroom, which would otherwise look like any other!

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But honestly, a white painted floor is just wonderful!

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My floors certainly could use some serious refreshing, I might just paint them! Perhaps a sophisticated muddy gray?
What is your take on it?


xx
Victoria



All images as indicated.

How divine

This is some divine seating if you ask me. By Designers Guild! In good company with Finn - Juhl's beautiful settee...Poeten!

Introducing the Julep sofa!


And browsing todays Wall Street Journal, there I found an extensive and fabulous article about 'The Rise Of The Personal'! Just how I always felt about decorating...
What has been analyzed for months in the blog world has reached now mainstream: UN- DECORATING is the new black! 
It looks pretty to me.


xx
Victoria





Image via designers guild.com

Favorite Thing-Marble Kitchen Island

We just came accross this modern kitchen island the other day and we just love it.  It's so versatile. You can use it as an island or a kitchen counter or a dining counter or extra shelving unit.  Plus it goes so well with the new modern, white marble kitchen that is all the rage right now. 

It's priced at $2700 including shipping and you can find it here.

Old and yet so now

What seems already so long ago - our winter break was spent in Woodstock, VT.
There is a wonderful place nearby: Billings Farm. It is a working museum farm, with livestock, gardens and a wonderful farmhouse museum, built for the farm manager and his family around the 1890's.
What was so interesting about the place is the fact that it was designed very forward thinking for the time, with central heating, with running warm and cold water, a airy basement and many of the luxuries of the time.

Walking through the rooms I felt they would easily satisfy residents today, give or take a few things. I was delighted to find beautiful wallpapers.

Just look at this place! It's wallpapers are absolutely now!

The bathroom, with a hand painted sink, very fancy!

Build-in china closet in the dining room.

 I love the pantry! Why don't they build houses today like this anymore?

Look at the incredible coffee storage and grinder!

I loved these rooms, the light and the thoughtful layout.
This is the dairy, they had the first mechanical butter maker in the country!

And transportation....

Enough land to go on a sleigh ride!

More then 120 years ago doesn't seem so old-fashioned at all! I was reminded of images I have seen only recently...

A happy weekend to you my friends!
xx
Victoria



Images above by V.Zlotkowski, Country Home magazine, Zoffany wallpaper and Tribal Home.

A year ago....

A year ago I wrote of stepping stones! It is so nice to read an old post and still find it relevant! There have been changes since then, the stones lay now imbedded in the garden, they are still as beautiful and they remind me daily to smile, exercise and live happily ever after!
Do you go back and read your old posts?


xx
Victoria






All images by V.Zlotkowski